Month: February 2020

For Hold’em players the blinds are as unavoidable as death, taxes, and bad beats – just a consequence of life at the poker online table. How you play the blinds, however, will have a large bearing on your success at the game.

Small blind:

In Hold’em and Omaha, this is the mandatory bet required of the player to the left of the dealer.

The big blind (limit poker):

In poker games online using a blind to put money in play, the big blind is generally equal to the lower amount of the stakes for that game. The big blind follows the small blind, which is put up by the first player to the left of the dealer.

When the pot has not been raised:

One of the advantages of being the big blind of the best online poker is in a situation when the pot remains unraised. You’ve gotten to see the flop for free and might just flop a huge hand with two cards you otherwise might never have played. When you’re in the small blind, you can get to see the flop for half a bet, or one-third of the bet, depending on the game structure

Holding a big hand in the blind:

Every so often you’ll be dealt a pair of aces, kings or queens, or A-K in the blind. There are some players who automatically raise with these hands, regardless of any previous action. Players who routinely do this give their opponents too much information. By raising from the blind, you are announcing to the table that you have an exceptional hand. Not just a good hand, a great one. Most players in low- to mid-limit games are not going to release a big pair unless the board overtly threatens a straight or flush, and there are a bet and a raise in front of them. Take advantage of this tendency by check-raising your opponent from the blind when you know he plans to bet a hand you can beat.

Marginal hands in the blind:

Most of the time you’ll be dealt marginal hands in the blind. If you’re in the big blind, and there is no raise in front of you, simply check when it’s your turn to act and hope the flop is favorable. If there is a raise, you’ll have to carefully consider whether to call or toss your hand away. When you’re in the small blind, you need an even stronger hand to call a raise, since it will cost you more than half a bet. In most games, it will cost you a bet and a half to call a raise from the small blind.

Considerations in the small blind:

Even though it costs only a half bet to call from the small blind when the pot hasn’t been raised, you still shouldn’t call with just any hand. Unless you have a really good hand – the kind which plays well from early position – you need to limit your calls to those hands which offer real potential for improvement. If you’re playing in a game where the small blind is two-thirds of the big blind, you can play just about any hand from the small blind in an unraised pot. Just be prepared to throw most of your hands away on the flop, it’s one of the disadvantages of this position that you have to accept as part of the game.

Raising in the small blind:

If you’re dealt a big pair or A-K in the small blind, and there aren’t many callers, a raise might prevent the big blind from playing, unless he also has a very good hand. Any rational player respects a raise from the small blind. If you’re in the small blind and only one opponent called from late position, you can occasionally raise regardless of what you’re holding. If any big cards flop, your bet stands a good chance of eliminating your opponent. Since your opponent only called from late position, it’s difficult to credit him with big cards and he’s likely to fold in the face of a bet. This is not a tactic you can use routinely, however, since anyone who is observant will simply take note of your behavior and soon begin re-raising you.

Happy playing!

Read more:
Mistakes Players make in Poker Online Tells
Footballers who are Really Good at Poker Online

The skill involved with No-Limit games is tremendous, even seasoned professionals admit that they still have a lot to learn at No-Limit Hold’em. However, don’t let this scare you; No-Limit Hold’em is, in our opinion, the most fun of all poker online games as well. It can also be profitable, sometimes even for beginners.

After playing No-Limit extensively online, we’ve noticed that the keys to winning No-Limit are one’s knowledge of the online poker game and his ability to adapt to his opponents’ knowledge. You must know what your skills are at No-Limit; what stages of the game you have mastered. Once you realize how you are good at No-Limit, you must then apply this to how badly others at your table play No-Limit.

For the sake of simplicity, we are going to divide the skills of No-Limit into several stages. After mastering each of these stages, the best online poker player can expect his/her profit potential at No-Limit to increase.

1.Pot odds

You must understand what odds you are getting if you call a bet with a draw. Since you can determine the size of the bet (it’s not fixed), you should know if you are getting or giving good odds to someone.

As basic as this may be, many No-Limit players have not even mastered this stage! So, if you are still insecure about pot odds, don’t worry. Many others are too and often they don’t even realize it.

2.Realizing the differences between Limit and No-Limit

Check-raising for value is far less valuable in No-Limit than Limit because you may be giving your opponent’s a deadly free card. In Limit poker games online, if you have the second-best hand, you will lose a little bit. In No-Limit, you could lose your entire stack.

3.Aggression

Betting is far better than calling in No-Limit. When you bet, you can win if you have the better hand or if your opponent folds. If you call, you can only win if you have your opponent beaten. If you bet, you determine the best size. You determine the pot odds. If you call, you are accepting someone else’s odds.

If you bet, you force people to pay off when you have a good hand. If you are a caller, you have to hope someone else will willingly pay you off. The importance of aggression is why tight-passive players can win a lot more at Limit than No-Limit.

4.Quick Adjustment

Different types of games require different amounts of aggression. Shorter games require one to be looser and more aggressive. However, if you’re up against many loose opponents, you must tighten up and wait until you have a strong hand. Generally, the opposite of what the game is does well. If the game is very loose, tighten up. If the game is very tight, take advantage and steal pots.

You also must adjust to your opponent’s quality. If you are up against weak players, simply giving them bad pot odds and taking money from them bit by bit works well. If you are against better players, you must set some traps.

5. Reading skills

Getting an idea of your opponent’s cards is very important. This takes time and experience.

6.Psychology and Traps

Once you hold the whopper and your opponent also has a good hand, what’s the best way to double through him? Learning to get out of and set traps is very difficult and the only experience will help in this department.

Fundamentally, game psychology and traps are used to manipulate the three questions mentioned earlier. Generally, this sort of game psychology is to only be used on good players (players that have mastered the first 4 steps). Against weaker players, you should just build a good hand and extract money out of them bit by bit. Weaker plays just play their hand; they don’t think about what you have.

Happy playing!

Read more:
Turn an Expert Playing Poker Online Game
Poker Online – A Short Guide to Basic Odds