Poker Guide

Phew.. how do you live with these huge swings in poker fortunes that the poker pros go through?  I was reading that Tom Dwan was over US$ 4 million down year-to-date.  No matter who you are, that has to hurt.  But now it seems that he has had a bit of luck and managed to win back some of that money.

Online cash games is where Dwan has managed to earn some of his poker losses back, in the past few weeks.  It seems that the high stakes online cash games is where the players like the thrill and like to try and win the big money.

How do they live with the stress of these sorts of swings in fortunes… fortunes in deed!!  And I think my swings are big…

There have always been a couple of good Russian poker players on the circuit.  But now there seems to be quite few more Russian players that are finishing at the top of the leader boards.  15 Russians have cashed thus far at the WSOP, thats not bad at all!!

So far at the WSOP Vitaly Lunkin and his compatriots have done pretty well for themselves.  Lunkin, the winner of this year’s Russian Poker Tour, won $1.9 million at the inaugural no-limit holdem event at WSOP.  Not bad earnings, especially when you convert them back to rubles…

So is Russia the new poker frontier?  I don’t know but I bet there are going to be lots of great players from there.  After all there were many great chess players, so why not poker players?

Keep a look out for Kravchenko, Evdakov, Alekhin & Demidiv.

Advanced holdem strategy will advise to use pre-flop betting to get profitable returns.   Poker school will teach you the basics of a raise or fold game, which is fine if you want to try and stay in the game and play conservative poker.  However, playing this way will sometimes earn you very little return, as the blinds eat into your stack and you wait for the good cards to come along.

Try mix in some aggressive play, like pre-flop raising and re-raising, it will get your opponents to think twice about challenging you and committing chips.  Its really difficult to stand up to a player that is coming at you aggressively and you are either, not in a position to counter them or you do not have the cards, to take them on.  The correct use of pre-flop betting will increase your returns in the poker room.

Over use of the pre-flop bet will start to raise suspicions so use it with care, otherwise players will get suspicious and start calling you.

So we talked about betting pre-flop to show strength and to play aggressive poker.  But you can also bet strongly post flop, or even after the turn and river cards.  As if you’ve been waiting for a card, by just checking and then luck suddenly came your way… its my favorite bluff, but once again you can’t over use it.

Even if you have a relatively weak starting hand, yet a hand that could get some help from the table… and thats important!!   Always think about the possible combinations that the shared cards on the table and an imaginery hand could have.  Then think about how many chips you could commit, obviously if you are deep stacked then you can afford a high raise.  The payback for taking this chance is always worth it in my opinion.

Sounds like a title for a self help book for the bedroom…

But what I actually meant, is to talk about how hard it is to sustain performance and keep winning.  There is nothing like sport to bring you down to size, after victory.  It is the teams or individuals that manage to win consistently that are truly great.

If you have ever played in a league, then you will know what I mean.  One or two brilliant games, some mediocre games and then some that you would wish to forget – make up a usual season.  The anguish of trying to stay on top of the leader board and fight off the opposition.  It is a lot harder than what it seems, to stay at the top and play consistently well.

Planning, preparation and determination were always requirements of our good games.  These lessons from my sporting life I carry through to the poker room.

Have you ever been fly fishing?  You have to play the fish, its all in the art of landing a big fish on light tackle.  You do this by gently playing the fish, applying constant pressure but not too much pressure that something breaks.  Eventually the fish tires and you real it in.  Or at least that is the theory…

Poker is just the same… you get fish and you get sharks…

A smooth call helps to get the fish biting.  You don’t always have to use a continuation bet.  Sometimes a flat call gets opponents thinking they are stronger than what they really are.

Then all you have to do is play them on the river and reel them in when they are tired…

Easy!

Rumour has it that a new series of “Shaq Vs” is coming out, where basketball legend, Shaquille O’Neil will take on poker players at their own game.  Now where there’s smoke there’s usually fire, so hold onto to your seats, buckle up and stay tuned folks!

The popular Shaq Vs TV show is where the big scary guy, Shaq, challenges other famous sports stars at their own sports.  Hence the name Shaq versus… In the first series he played football, volleyball, baseball, wrestled, boxed with the best whatever…you name it, he add audiences glued to their screens.

The Shaq Vs Show

Although poker is a sport, this is going to be a bit different for Shaq, he is going to have use all his tactics and guile to take on the best at poker.  I hope he is reading some books to learn poker strategy, because this aint going to be any usual ball game!  Will Shaq go for the all out aggressive play and be the attacking player we know he can be?  Or will he be a bit more circumspect, and tighten up to be defensive player – It will be interesting to see him battle his natural instincts.

Keep a look out for the start of Shaq Vs, its going to be good entertainment, whatever happens.

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My picks for the top 10 card games published in 2005.