Poker Strategy

Avoid the Fancy Moves in Limit Poker

This is something that you see new player try quite a bit when they are first starting out in limit.  There really is nothing but television to blame for this one as the only poker that is televised is no limit.  Limit tournaments are few and far between because producers tend to think it is much less interesting, and the result is that newcomers try and make the same moves in limit as they do in no limit.

Why this does not work is because of the odds that are present in limit poker that you can eliminate in no limit.  For instance, if you make a pre-flop raise in limit, there are few draws that will not have odds in a multi-way pot.  Once the flop hits and that flush, straight or over card draw is present, you can only make a single bet. If the same thing were to happen in no limit, you could bet 3 times the pot and virtually take away any odds that a player was looking for.

That being the case, you are going to get called.  While you will want to keep the hammer down if the draw does not hit, you have to take a second look at how you are going to play when the board blanks you or the draw pops. If you bet, you are going to get called.  If you are behind the player, you may very well get check raised.

The issue with all of this is if you get check raised on the river, you pretty much still have to call because of the money that is in the pot.  If you are playing in a $20/$40 limit game and bet $40 into a $500 pot and then get raised, it is costing you $40 to see a pot that is worth $620 at that point.  Regardless of what you have, you are forced to make the call because of the 15:1 odds.

The entire thought process in limit needs to be straight forward.  When you don’t hit, play very cautiously and try to keep the pot to a minimum.  If you are the raiser, stay aggressive if nothing hits the board and you think you are still ahead.  If you hit, continue to pound the pot and give no mercy to anyone.  If the board hits a draw, you are better to back off and give up the pot if that is the hand that you put your opponent on.  You do this before you get into the 2 bets and you are forced to call and waste money on the river.

Limit is not a place for fancy moves.  Plain and simple, it is about crunching numbers and playing the odds.  The ONLY time that you can get away with a move is when you have the absolute nuts.  In that case, you can try a check-raise that may set up one bluff down the road, but for the most part, you need to play ABC poker and take the odds when they are there.

Tags:
ABC Poker, Limit Poker, Online Poker, Poker, Poker Tips, Pre Flop

Making the Most out of the ‘Nuts’

There is nothing like flopping the absolute nuts in poker.  Your eyes pop out of your head and all you can think of is how to get the most money out of the hand.  This is not often very easy to do, but when you are in late position, you can make some more sophisticated plays that will allow you to get a little more money out of your opponent.

For the sake of argument, we will assume that you are on the button and have a middle position raiser in front of you.  The flop comes out and it is all you.  There is no other draw or card that can hurt you unless the board was to pair and give someone a boat.  As your opponent will probably throw out a continuation bet regardless of whether or not he hit, you know there is going to be more money in the pot.

This is where most poker players will make an error.  They get a little excited and decide to throw out a raise.  If your opponent does not have a hand, they are going to get out cheap at this point.  Just make the call and see what the turn brings before you make a move.  Now the turn hits and you are still in no danger or getting beat regardless of the river (except of course if the board were to pair and the danger of the boat is brought in).  If your opponent throws out a check, this is the one time that you may want to give him the free card and let him think that you are on a draw.

What this does is induce him to make a bet on the river regardless of what card hits. He will more than likely put you on some type of a draw and throw out a decent bet in order to take down the pot.  If you are lucky, the river card will improve his hand just a bit and then you can drop the hammer.

Reading your opponent is the key to the success here as it is going to dictate how much of a raise that you put in.  If you want to get called, the raise is going to have to be perfect.  Some players will come right back at you when you simply double the bet and others will wait for an overly aggressive raise, such as 6 or 7 times the last bet, that evokes a feeling of you trying to be a bully.  Pay attention to how they are playing and you may just end up getting all of your chips in with the nuts.

Flopping the nuts and making money on poker sites is not an easy thing to do.  You sometimes have to be very patient and let things develop before you can try and get some money from playing poker on poker sites.  Evaluating your opponents and patience will be the key to your success when you are building a pot with the nuts.

Tags:
Chips, Flop, Nuts, Online Poker, Poker Game, Poker Sites, Poker Tips

Ladbrokes Poker Review

	Details:
	Country of Origin	:	United Kingdom
	License	:	Gibraltar
	Year of Foundation	:	2004
	Software	:	Microgaming
	Currencies Used	:	EUR, GBP, USD
	Audited By	:	PWC
	Language	:	English, French, Danish, Spanish, Swedish, Dutch, Portuguese, Norwegian, Finnish. Italian and Greek
	Accepts USA Players	:	No
	Bonus	:	Sign up Bonus of Up To $500

Summary:

Ladbrokes is a well-known name in the field of gambling and now it has also ventured into the world of online betting with a bang. Ladbrokes Poker came into existence in 2004, wherein it planned to offer players not only the joys of playing their favorite game but also to indulge in some of the hottest casino games too. Ladbrokes is one of the very popular online room among all poker sites. These action packed games combined with the various promotional offers make it lucrative enough to draw a considerable amount of traffic. Traffic has noted to be a good 1,400 players at the cash tables and more than 5,000 players playing tournaments during the European peak hours. The services offered are exceptional as is common to the Ladbrokes efficiency.

US players are however not allowed to wager at Ladbrokes any more because of their country’s legislation that has put a ban on online gambling.

Software:

Ladbrokes uses the software of the Microgaming network though it has been customized especially for Ladbrokes and operated by it too. The graphics are clean and straightforward with a touch of 3D effects. The lobby is clear-cut and easy to navigate, giving access to all details such as hand histories, player notes, live table stats and many other useful features. An event organizer in the form of a calendar is available for players to mark their favorite upcoming events. Three table size options are offered to suit the needs of different players.

Bonus:

Every new player who signs up at Ladbrokes Poker along with making a first time deposit is offered a generous bonus of 100% up to $500. This bonus can be availed by them by betting thirty times the deposit amount in the form of raked hands and tournaments. Players have 30 days in which to wager for this bonus amount.

Games Offered:

Texas Holdem in fixed limit, no limit and pot limit versions, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, 5 Card Draw, 5 Card Stud and 7 Card Stud. The games move at a fast pace and players are not made to wait for new games to begin. The turbo tables offer some really fast hands and experienced players can have a good time here. There are various stake limits available that allow players with different budgets to indulge in games of their choice that fit their pocket too. Most of the action as usual is seen at the Texas Holdem tables but the other games also draw a fairly good amount of traffic.

Tournaments:

Tournaments are the most favored at Ladbrokes Poker and there are several tournaments on offer. These include single table and multi-table tournaments. Also available are various satellite tournaments with some of them having buy-ins to larger poker tournaments such as the European Poker Tour and Monte Carlo Millions. Buy-ins to tournaments can start as little as $1 and these are quite popular among the players. Tournaments begin at intervals of every fifteen minutes so that you have several tournaments taking place in a day, as games are available around the clock.

Promotions:

Ladbrokes pampers its players with a lot of promotions but the prevalent promotion are the player points that are awarded to players every time they play with real money. These points can be accumulated and exchanged for the bonus amount and thereafter for cash deposits to your account or for buy-ins to live tournaments.

The other promotional offer is the rake race leaderboard program that rewards the top players on the leaderboard every month, with cash amounts that total a whooping $1,000,000. So the more raked hands you play, the higher you go up on the leaderboard.

Tags:
5 Card Draw, 5 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud, LADBROKES POKER, MicroGaming software, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, Online Poker, Poker Game, Poker Room

You want me to fold AA pre-flop?

While it may sound like a crazy and unorthodox thing to do, there is a time when you need to fold AA. While you are never likely to fold it in any situation in a cash game, there is a time when you have to let the hand go in either a SNG or a MTT. It is a rare time, but sometimes surviving is better than risking your stack.

Sooner or later you are going to be in a SNG tournament or a MTT and you are going to be sitting somewhere from the button to the BB and you are going to have multiple players that are pushed all in ahead of you. If you are looking at a stack where you are covered by most or all of the players that have already pushed, you are going to have to let this hand go. The time to do this of course is when you are on the bubble. It may be difficult to do, but if you want to make the money, this is a golden opportunity to slide right in there with absolutely no risk.

Let’s say that there are 6 people left in the tourney (of a SNG) or there are only 2 positions left to go for the money in a MTT and you are on the button. Everyone has started the tournament with $2,000 in chips and you are sitting at $1,200 and you are in the BB. Under the gun pushes with a short stack of $1,000 and next position immediately pushes all in with $4,000 in chips. The next player also pushes in and has $2,100 and the button also pushes and has $2,400 in chips. If you double up, you would be looking at $5,800 in chips, but you have to get through 4 hands to survive.

Before you rush and just throw those chips in there, start to break down the hand and really figure out where you stand. In most cases, the short stack is going to be sitting on some type of pair. The big stack will more than likely be looking for isolation and would have two high cards or a pocket pair. The third and fourth players in almost certainly have a pocket pair. Best case scenario, you are looking at three pocket pairs and AK or AQs.

While you are still the favorite on the poker table, your percentages go dramatically down every time someone else puts in their chips. You are not going up against only one hand here, you have to beat all of them in order to be alive. For arguments sake, let’s assume that they all have a pocket pair. At pre-flop, you now have 8 cards that can beat you in the deck. That means that you are actually a severe underdog to the rest of table as any one of those 8 cards can beat you and send you to the rail.

While the ‘technical odds’ have you much higher, AA will really only hold up about 70-80% of the time. In this situation, you are better off dropping the hand and letting other players get eliminated. You can actually make the money right there if the big stack wins, but either way, you are going to be a lot closer to the money and in no risk of being eliminated.

This is not an easy play to make as most people will rush to get their chips in the pot here. However, if you have the discipline, you are must better laying down the hand and letting everyone else go to war. We all know you will get sick to your stomach if the AA holds up, but you can be assured that in most scenarios, it is more likely to go down that it is to win that hand. Take solace in knowing that you made the right call.

Tags:
MTT, Online Poker, Poker, Poker Games, Pre Flop, SNG

When to put your chips in on a draw in a tournament

This is something you see quite a bit in tournament play, especially poker online. However, there are good times to do this and bad times. Remember, just because you won the hand does not mean that it was the right play. There are several situations when it is okay to get in there on a draw, you just need to know what they are.

Let’s get the time that it is not good to throw your chips in on a draw. Let’s say you see a flop that has 2 cards to a flush and your hole cards are suited. You fire out a bet and someone comes right back over top of you to put you all in on a call. What do you do here? Odds aside, you have to let the hand go. You are going to see arguments for both sides of this, but the bottom line is that this is not a cash game. You cannot re-buy and you are risking everything pretty much knowing that you must improve or you are gone.

On the flip side of that, you get the same flop but hold position on the other player. He fires out and you are short stacked and decide to come over the top of him and go all in on a draw. This is actually a good play. You have two ways to win this hand. Your opponent could fold thinking you already have the made hand and of course if he calls, you are still alive with a 35% draw. The difference in the two situations is that you are being the aggressor and putting someone else on a decision.

Finally, you can also make this call when you are stacked and not in danger of putting yourself at risk by covering the bet for the all in. In most cases, you don’t want to risk any more than about 25% of your stack and you have to make sure you are getting odds for the play. You are going to need to see about 2:1 to make the call off of the flop and about 5:1 to make the play on the river. If the odds are there, make the play.

Draws are great when you catch them, but they are way to overrated and lead to a lot of early deaths in tournaments. A good way to keep your head straight about it is to remember that you can always push on a draw, but you should never call on one. You only need a chip and a chair to stay alive. Putting your money in on a hope and a prayer will more than likely get you to the rail rather than to the final table.

Tags:
Chips, Online Poker, Poker Tips