Playing Consistently Well in MTT's

It's always great to hit a huge score in a poker tournament after finishing really high. Of course, due to the variance in poker, just about anybody can occasionally place high in a tournament and haul in some major cash. However, it's a lot harder to do this on a consistent basis and make long-term profits. And for those who are not consistently placing high in tourneys, it's important to evaluate some of the most important tournament strategy concepts.

The first and most basic thing to realize with MTT strategy is that you need to stick with solid plays, and let the aforementioned variance take care of the rest. This contrasts the approach some players take in that they treat every buy-in like it's their last. Unfortunately, this leads to playing overly-tight and letting the blinds eat away at your stack, rather than playing aggressively and making strong plays when the opportunity arises. Assuming you make a good read on another player and take your chance, don't worry if you bust out trying, or your stack is crippled as a result.

In regards to other general concepts, you need to focus on stack size and position when making moves, instead of only focusing on the cards. For instance, let's say that you have pockets 8's in late position with a big stack, and you're facing a 3X the big blind raise from a super-aggressive short-stacked MP player. Seeing as how you are facing a decent-sized raise with pocket 8's in your hand, you might consider folding in most situations. But since you are the bigger stack against a short-stacked player, and the other player has been extremely aggressive so far, this presents an excellent opportunity to either get the opponent all-in, or force a fold with a re-raise.

In addition to this, paying close attention to the increasing blinds is important towards being consistent in MTT's. In fact, the blinds in relation to your stack is perhaps the most critical element to playing well. When your stack falls below 10 BB's, this is the time where you really need to open up your range and be more aggressive. Along with this, you need to be willing to shove with the hands you play, and avoid limping because the stakes are too high at this point (in case a raise comes). On the other hand, with a stack of 20 BB's or more, you have the ability to sit back and wait for stronger hands/position before getting involved in hands.

One final point worth mentioning is that it takes quite a few MTT's before your reading skills and ability to define opponents' ranges come through. After you've played between 500 and 1,000 MTT's in a general range of limits, you will have a good idea as to whether or not you are a consistent MTT player. Likewise, you'll know if it's a good idea to move up in stakes based on how well you're playing.

View the original article here

Playing Consistently Well in MTT's

It's always great to hit a huge score in a poker tournament after finishing really high. Of course, due to the variance in poker, just about anybody can occasionally place high in a tournament and haul in some major cash. However, it's a lot harder to do this on a consistent basis and make long-term profits. And for those who are not consistently placing high in tourneys, it's important to evaluate some of the most important tournament strategy concepts.

The first and most basic thing to realize with MTT strategy is that you need to stick with solid plays, and let the aforementioned variance take care of the rest. This contrasts the approach some players take in that they treat every buy-in like it's their last. Unfortunately, this leads to playing overly-tight and letting the blinds eat away at your stack, rather than playing aggressively and making strong plays when the opportunity arises. Assuming you make a good read on another player and take your chance, don't worry if you bust out trying, or your stack is crippled as a result.

In regards to other general concepts, you need to focus on stack size and position when making moves, instead of only focusing on the cards. For instance, let's say that you have pockets 8's in late position with a big stack, and you're facing a 3X the big blind raise from a super-aggressive short-stacked MP player. Seeing as how you are facing a decent-sized raise with pocket 8's in your hand, you might consider folding in most situations. But since you are the bigger stack against a short-stacked player, and the other player has been extremely aggressive so far, this presents an excellent opportunity to either get the opponent all-in, or force a fold with a re-raise.

In addition to this, paying close attention to the increasing blinds is important towards being consistent in MTT's. In fact, the blinds in relation to your stack is perhaps the most critical element to playing well. When your stack falls below 10 BB's, this is the time where you really need to open up your range and be more aggressive. Along with this, you need to be willing to shove with the hands you play, and avoid limping because the stakes are too high at this point (in case a raise comes). On the other hand, with a stack of 20 BB's or more, you have the ability to sit back and wait for stronger hands/position before getting involved in hands.

One final point worth mentioning is that it takes quite a few MTT's before your reading skills and ability to define opponents' ranges come through. After you've played between 500 and 1,000 MTT's in a general range of limits, you will have a good idea as to whether or not you are a consistent MTT player. Likewise, you'll know if it's a good idea to move up in stakes based on how well you're playing.

View the original article here

Playing Consistently Well in MTT's

It's always great to hit a huge score in a poker tournament after finishing really high. Of course, due to the variance in poker, just about anybody can occasionally place high in a tournament and haul in some major cash. However, it's a lot harder to do this on a consistent basis and make long-term profits. And for those who are not consistently placing high in tourneys, it's important to evaluate some of the most important tournament strategy concepts.

The first and most basic thing to realize with MTT strategy is that you need to stick with solid plays, and let the aforementioned variance take care of the rest. This contrasts the approach some players take in that they treat every buy-in like it's their last. Unfortunately, this leads to playing overly-tight and letting the blinds eat away at your stack, rather than playing aggressively and making strong plays when the opportunity arises. Assuming you make a good read on another player and take your chance, don't worry if you bust out trying, or your stack is crippled as a result.

In regards to other general concepts, you need to focus on stack size and position when making moves, instead of only focusing on the cards. For instance, let's say that you have pockets 8's in late position with a big stack, and you're facing a 3X the big blind raise from a super-aggressive short-stacked MP player. Seeing as how you are facing a decent-sized raise with pocket 8's in your hand, you might consider folding in most situations. But since you are the bigger stack against a short-stacked player, and the other player has been extremely aggressive so far, this presents an excellent opportunity to either get the opponent all-in, or force a fold with a re-raise.

In addition to this, paying close attention to the increasing blinds is important towards being consistent in MTT's. In fact, the blinds in relation to your stack is perhaps the most critical element to playing well. When your stack falls below 10 BB's, this is the time where you really need to open up your range and be more aggressive. Along with this, you need to be willing to shove with the hands you play, and avoid limping because the stakes are too high at this point (in case a raise comes). On the other hand, with a stack of 20 BB's or more, you have the ability to sit back and wait for stronger hands/position before getting involved in hands.

One final point worth mentioning is that it takes quite a few MTT's before your reading skills and ability to define opponents' ranges come through. After you've played between 500 and 1,000 MTT's in a general range of limits, you will have a good idea as to whether or not you are a consistent MTT player. Likewise, you'll know if it's a good idea to move up in stakes based on how well you're playing.

View the original article here

Grospellier Snags WSOP Bracelet

 The World Series of Poker $10k Stud event is over and done and has it's winner. Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier is the latest WSOP bracelet winner. ElkY, who once said he would retire from being a poker pro, beat out 126 players to win the prize and $331,639. This event was number 21, and ElkY has added its winnings to his total live tournament career earnings, which now approach eight million dollars. His furthest run in a WSOP event before this was a 9th place finish in 2007.

The Building Blocks of Poker Instinct

Todays poker tips is about a poker players/poker pros instincts when it comes to playing Texas holdem. First of all no creature on the planet is born with good instincts toward Texas holdem. More and more we are finding that the things that were once considered instinctive in the animal kingdom is simply learned behavior. If a bear who was born in the forest doesn’t have some innate knowledge of best to bring down a mule deer, it is unlikely that most poker players will instinctively know what to do with an straight draw in Texas holdem. For the most part, a poker players/poker pros “instincts” are simply a combination of knowledge and experience.

So how do poker players hone their instincts? In Texas holdem, and just about everything else in life, trial and error is generally the best teacher. It is a fact that we learn more from our failures than our success, but there is a cost associated with that. No poker tips in the world would encourage a green player to throw themselves out there and a cripple their bankroll by gaining experience on the wrong side of encounters with more skilled poker players and predatory poker pros. While practical, real world experience is going to need to happen, reading is the best way to prepare for that.

Lions have to learn how to bring down prey by trial and error because reading is not an option with them. If there were a field guide to the most efficient way to smother a water buffalo, they probably all be reading it. There are a plethora of books out there about how to play Texas holdem; many of them written by highly decorated and battle tested poker players and poker pros. Absorbing the teachings of these books will help hone ones Texas holdem instincts, and make them better poker players.

Some of what the poker pros have to tell you in their books will work for you straight out of the book, other times it needs to be seen in real life. While poker television often offers a skewed view of the game (because the television cameras don’t cover every hand, just the exciting ones) many poker tips talk about the value of watching televised tournaments. It will give players a flavor for how the game is played without having to risk their own stack.

Finally, instinct is rarely developed by taking on the big dogs. Baby wolves don’t learn how to fend for themselves by taking on a moose during their first hunt. Most of them cut their teeth on field mice, rabbits, and generally creatures weaker than they are. This translates to the world of poker tips by showing players that they can gain valuable experience by beating up on the weak. Newer players should not throw themselves into the volatile, no limit, games. Newbies should find a limit they are competitive playing at (that will take some trial and error) and drop down to the limit below it. Here they can take advantage of weaker players and learn from what the competition does wrong. Isn’t it a more palatable idea to let somebody else gain experience losing to you then you handing over your bankroll and calling it an education? As you beat up on these players, you will learn their mistakes and chances are you will not repeat them. In the “wild kingdom” of trial and error, let somebody else pay for the lessons.

Poker Hand Nicknames

 You may be wondering in Texas hold em what beats what, and even though you understand poker hand ranking and the poker hand names (like flush and straight) you may be completely confused when playing Texas holdem because of the Texas holdem poker hand nicknames - things like Dead Man’s Hand, and Gay Waiter. The good news is that Texas holdem starting hands and the poker hand names all carry the same value of the poker hand ranking you are used to.

So when it comes to in Texas hold em what beats what, it’s the same in most poker games. It just comes down to you getting comfortable with the poker hand nicknames so that you know what you are playing with - or more realistically, what other people are playing with.

Texas holdem starting hands

Poker hand ranking does not come into play here, and you don’t have to worry in Texas hold em what beats what when it comes to starting hands, because the showdown between hands comes later. Most of the poker hand nicknames come from Texas holdem starting hands, by the way. Pocket Rockets are two aces, Fishooks are two jacks, Ducks are two Dueces and so on. Sometimes the names seem a bit contrived, like “A Royal Wedding” for a king and queen, but names like “Sailboats” for a pair of fours makes sense, because the angle of the number 4 on the card looks a bit like a sail.Texas holdem starting hands aside there are other poker hand nicknames.

For example, Dead Man’s Hand comes from holding a pair of eights with a pair of aces, because that was the hand that a famous cowboy was holding when he was shot dead during a game of poker.

Poker hand names

The hand names that are based on poker hand ranking are High Card, Pair, Two Pair, Three of a Kind, Straight, Flush, Full House, Four of a Kind and Straight Flush.

Variants on Poker hand names

Three of a Kind can be called “trips” or a set. A low straight from 2 to 6 is called a baby straight or a wheel.A Full House is sometimes called a boat or full boat, Four of a Kind is often called Quads and if a Straight Flush is made up of Ten through Ace it is called a Royal Flush.

So the next time you ask yourself in Texas hold em what beats what, just keep in mind that the value of the poker hands are just what you would expect them to be, even if the names may sound a little strange. And don’t worry, people who play poker love the game and all the nicknames that are a part of it, and they love to share their expertise (as long as it wont cost them chips!) So if you get a little flustered when someone’s set gets cracked by a pair of ladies that turned into a full boat, just ask.

Things to Remember when Playing Poker

Poker is a sport that is not only unique in the universe of table games, but is unique to the casino culture as well. With that in mind, there are a few things you should remember when entering a casino and sitting down to play Texas Hold’em, Omaha poker, or any other variation of the game.
1.First of all, when playing poker the house is cut completely out of the competitive mix. Unlike Blackjack and other table game, the odds are not skewed in favor of the house and your only worry is the rest of the opponents at the table. While this may not give a poker player a competitive advantage, it does give gambling enthusiasts a reason to give up other games in favor of poker.
2.At many casinos the drinks are free to poker players (and everyone else). Alcohol dulls the senses and can have a negative impact on your game. Players should avoid making drinking an integral part of their game. Just because a waitress is willing to fetch you a drink, it doesn’t mean you have to take it.
3.Playing poker in a casino is much different than playing online poker. One of the biggest differences is the lack of turnover at the tables. This means they group you start playing with will be largely intact several hours later. Players in a casino are going to have to learn to change their game up within a long session. If not, your opponents will figure you out.
4.Finally, online players are used to a hyper-aggressive environment. This is not the style that dominates most casino poker tables. Aggressive play may bring short term success, but those who do not tighten up will wind up giving away all their chips.
Those are just a few poker tips to remember when entering a casino to play some Texas Hold’em.