Online Poker Game – Moving Up in Limits

Moving up in limits is the goal for the majority of online poker players. After all, who wouldn’t want to play with the best of the best for cash at any given time?

Players Only Poker

But the fact of the matter is that many players have issues when it comes to moving up in limits. Some players move up too soon, either before they have an adequate bankroll and/or skill set. Others will move up when they’re ready, yet will psyche themselves out and not poker games online to the best of their abilities. And then there are players who are more than ready to move up but for some reason, they choose not to.

So with all of that in mind, the goal of this article is to highlight what you need to consider when deciding whether to move up in limits or not.

Poker Bankroll

Your online poker real money bankroll is going to be one of the most important variables to consider before moving up in stakes. The reason being is that no matter how well you play or how confident you are in your game, swings will happen. You want to be prepared for these swings by having an adequate bankroll for the games and stakes you are moving up too. This will ensure that you have the best possible chance at succeeding at your move up the attempt as well as avoid busting your whole roll.

Skill Set

Being a winning online poker real money player at your current game and stakes is also extremely important when looking to take a shot at higher limits. I mean, why would you bother to move up if you’re a losing player? You’ll only lose more and lose it faster.

So how good do you need to be to move up? That’s difficult to say. The best way to determine whether you’re ready to move up is to look at your statistics for the games you’re playing. Do you have a high win-rate or ROI? How does it compare to your peers or the players at the level you’re trying to move up too? If you’re crushing your current game and have decent stats for the games you want to move up to, then you very could be ready. Be aware though that you should have a fairly large sample size when determining if your skillset is good enough. This is even more important the higher in stakes you go.

Confidence

You can have all the money and skills in the world, but if you aren’t confident in your abilities to play on a higher level, you won’t.

From experience, it’s easy to look at the dollar amount and psyche yourself out thinking that just because you are spending more to play, the level of competition is going to be higher as well. But that’s not always the case. You’ll notice that fish and recreational players do play higher limit games. Even the regulars at those particular games and stakes aren’t always “good” and are in fact fish themselves.

Quite honestly, as long as you have the bankroll, confidence can often time even override the skill set needed to move up. This is not to say you can suck and succeed at the higher levels. But you can be a marginal poker player and as long as you are confident that you can compete and are willing to work hard at your game, you will succeed.

Happy playing!

 

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Tips to Stealing Blinds in Poker Tournaments

As you get deeper and deeper into poker tournaments, the increasing blinds and antes place more and more pressure on your stack. Because of this, you are forced to make aggressive plays to maintain your stack and survive until the later stages. One of the simplest ways to survive is by occasionally stealing the blinds/antes.

Each pot has quite a few poker online chips in it just from the blinds and antes, and most of the time no one has a premium hand. Because of that, aggressive players are able to steal the blinds and antes in the right spots, which helps them pad their stack and survive.

The most important part about successfully stealing blinds is knowing when to do it. This post will explain the best times for stealing blinds, and exactly how to do it:

When to Steal Blinds/Antes

Stealing blinds early on is not essential because the blinds are not significant enough to matter; however, as the poker games online advances, so do the blinds. Stealing blinds in the mid to late stages of a tournament is very crucial. In the early leg of the tournament, you can’t go for the blinds aggressively because it is nothing for your opponents to call you. If you are going to steal a blind, you don’t want your opponents to call you. You need to win the blind and move on.

When the blinds grow larger in comparison to your best online poker chip stack, you should steal the blinds at least once per round. This will pad your stack and allow you to maintain an average stack and not fall behind in the tournament. Winning means increasing your chip stack and preparing your bankroll for the final table. Therefore, your goal from the beginning should be to win, not just to make the final table. You should be in an aggressive frame of mind; poker tournaments are not won by passive players.

This aggressiveness should pick up during the mid-stage of the tournament because this is the time when players begin to tighten up their play, not defending their blinds as much. Players are less likely to gamble at this point because they want to sustain their chips. This fact is particularly true in no-limit.

How to Steal in No-Limit Hold’em

For No-Limit Texas Hold’em poker tournaments, you can be more aggressive. Your raise should be typically 3-4 times the amount of the big blind, rather than 2 times the big blind, as in Limit Hold’em. When you do this, it is a good idea to attack middle-sized stacks as opposed to big stacks or small stacks. The reason is that big stacks have chips to blow, so they might call your raise just to look you up. Alternatively, small stacks have little to lose, so they might re-raise all in with a mediocre hand just to make a play.

Don’t forget your opponents might be utilizing the same strategies to steal the blinds from you with any hand from late position. By being aware of this, you can re-steal their steals. Don’t give credit to other players at all for a decent hand if they raise from late position in late stages of the tournament.

Happy playing!

 

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5 Poker Online Myths You Should Know About

Although this is a poker online site, we like to cover other topics well, including tournament poker games. Gaming club and home poker games have been around for decades, and throughout that time countless myths and urban legends have come up regarding the online poker game. This post will look at the most common poker myths and will attempt to either prove or disprove each one.

Online Poker Myth #1 – All Online Players are Old

One common belief that online players hold is that if you go to a local gaming club, you’re going to find a group of 70-year olds playing poker while chatting about their grandkids. Although it may be true that poker online players are typically younger, there are still plenty of young guns who play at online gaming clubs. You’ll be really surprised with all the 18-20-year olds who grind at gaming clubs instead of getting part-time jobs.

Online Poker Myth #2 – It’s All About Hold’em

Another common misconception with best online poker is that it’s only No-Limit Texas Hold’em. At the smallest of gaming clubs, this may be true, but at any decent sized poker room, this is a complete myth. My local gaming club offers mainly NL Hold’em, but also has Limit Hold’em games running 24/7 and has PL Omaha games running about 90% of the time.

Online Poker Myth #3 – All Poker Rooms have Hourly Fees

Players are used to online poker real money rooms raking each pot and not charging hourly fees like some online poker rooms. However, you should know that most online gaming clubs actually just rake the pots and avoid the hourly fees.

Online Poker Myth #4 – Everyone is Out to Get You

If it’s your first time playing at an online gaming club you probably will feel really intimidated with all of the online poker etiquette and quirky rules at the tables. Unlike online poker, you actually have your cards, chips, and opponents right in front of you, and you have to know how to interact with each appropriately.

However, don’t feel like players are going to scream at you if you screw up. Let everyone know that you’re a beginner, and they’ll help you out and take it easy on you until you get the hang of it.

Online Poker Myth #5 – Tipping = Good Karma

This one is a common myth believed by many people, and it’s actually up to you. A lot of players feel that if they always give dealers nice tips that they’ll be rewarded with more hands and bigger pots. Mathematically, this is ludicrous, but if you believe in karma or “what goes around comes around” then this might actually hold true.

Happy playing!

 

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Online Poker Language to Pay Heed Upon

Online Poker has exploded as a result of more poker on TV. Through the televising of the World Poker Tour and World Poker Series, everyone seems to want to get online for a piece of the action. Anyone can be playing online poker within minutes of setting up an account with one of the growing numbers of poker sites

Knowing the basic poker rules and poker online strategy is vital but it is also important to know how to talk the talk. There is nothing that will mark you out as a learner quicker than asking what NH means in the chatbox. So, check out the basics below to look like a pro.

Here is a quick summary of terms you need to know and online abbreviations for playing best online poker.

Typing in the chatbox at an online poker room

NH – short for Nice Hand

NB – Nice Bet / Nice Bluff or Nice Buy

NP – Nice Play

BB – Bad Beat

PP – Pocket Pair

GG – Good Game (well played) or Good God (how did you play that junk)

TY – Thankyou

Some other terms to know

All-In – When a player bets all his chips in on a hand. No-Limit Hold’em is the most popular and probably most skilled and exciting variation of Texas Hold’em when a player can go all-in on any hand. In Limit games, the bets and raises are fixed.

Bad Beat – A Bad Beat is when a player with a much stronger hand loses to a player with a much weaker hand who gets a lucky card or two when statistically he shouldn’t have. Generally, when a player with a strong hand makes a big bet early and gets called by a weaker hand only to get outdrawn on the river.

Blind – In Texas Hold’em, the blinds are compulsory bets made by the two people sitting to the left of the dealer. The first person to the left of the dealer is the small blind and the second is the big blind.

Check – When a player decides to not bet, he checks. This gives the possibility of a free card to all the players.

Heads Up – When there are only two players left playing a hand, they are playing heads up.

The Nuts – Statistically the best hand you can hold with the cards on the table.

Offsuit – Cards of different suits ie “I got dealt 72 off” (suit)

Pocket Pair – When you get dealt a pair in your hand.

Rake – The small percentage of pot over a certain amount that the poker room takes for hosting the game.

Short Stack – A player with the least amount of chips at the table.

Tell – A tell refers to players’ action which gives an indication to the other players of the strength of their hand.

The chat box in poker can be a useful tool for gathering information but beware that players will be trying to do the same as you or trying to feed you false info.

Above all do not get sucked into poker games online chat if you are easily tilted or can’t concentrate on your game. You want to be in control of not being controlled.

Happy playing!

 

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Strategies to Play Poker on Bubble

In a play poker game, the bubble is the point in the tournament at which the next player out will not win any money, but the rest of the players will win money or cash. In other words, if the tournament pays out the top 27 players, when there are 28 people left, they are on the bubble. That unfortunate player knocked out in 28th is said to be knocked out “on the bubble,” or to be “the bubble” and have been “bubbled.”

Playing on the Bubble

The bubble period is where things can get quiet, weird, or wild. Players often change their style of playing online poker real money depending on their stack. It’s a do-or-die time when you have to decide whether you can survive to take the prize or you need to be actively playing to bust out the other players.

Bubble best online poker players can generally be broken into two categories. There are those whose goal is to simply survive the bubble and take home some cash. Then there are those who are playing to win, and who can use the bubble to accumulate more chips.

You are likely to see some players folding every hand, even good hands, playing as tight as can be. Meanwhile, other players start raising and going all-in on many hands. Your choice will depend on the size of your stack and how the other players are playing.

Your strategy will also depend on how many players are left at your table, which determines how many hands you can survive folding with the antes and as big blind and small blind. The bubble also presents a good opportunity to accumulate chips by playing loosely and aggressively, especially if you have a big stack.

Big Stack on the Bubble

You are in the best position if you’ve accumulated lots of chips before the bubble. Now you can play aggressively and take advantage of the tight survival play by the other players. You can steal the blinds with preflop raises. You are under less stress because it’s actually to your advantage to keep the bubble going and giving you these opportunities to add to your stack. That means you don’t have to call every raise as you can cut your losses on any one hand. You’ll need to observe the medium stacks carefully as they are the ones that can eat into your stack if you misread their play.

Medium Stack on the Bubble

It can be tempting to play passively when you have a medium stack on the bubble, but that will usually result in only a small prize and losing out on the opportunity to the bigger prizes. It’s a wiser choice to play tight but to keep playing, looking for opportunities to add to your stack.

Short Stack on the Bubble

If you have a stack of 8-10 big blinds on the bubble, you are short-stacked, but you aren’t quite into the danger zone where you need to either fold or push all-in. Your stack can still be intimidating enough who you open raise. But when you are down to 5-6 big blinds, you have little choice but to fold or go all-in, choosing your starters wisely and determining whether your opponents are playing loose or tight.

Happy playing!

 

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Different Types of Poker Online Tournaments to Play

A poker online tournament is a structured event in which players compete against each other to acquire all the chips in play. Unlike cash games, players cannot simply get up and walk away from a tournament. Play must continue until one player has all the chips.

Sit N Go Tournaments

The most frequently played elimination tournament poker online is the Sit N Go, which typically starts out with up to 18 players and begins immediately once all the seats are full. Typically, the top three finishers are paid. The reason these are so popular is that a good player can win consistently by playing Sit N Go’s.

Satellite Tournaments

Satellite tournaments of best online poker are the preliminary events for larger tournaments, often referred to as qualifiers. Usually, the top finisher will advance on to either another satellite event or will win the grand prize, which is typically a buy-in package for a very large live or online tournament. Sometimes a big event will have satellites starting at a few dollars. Winners of these events will graduate to the next level satellite that would otherwise cost more to enter. Players can work their way up to the highest-level satellite event to compete for the actual prize package that will often include the buy-in price to the large event and many times additional cash for travel expenses if the event is a live tournament.

Bounty Tournaments

Bounty tournaments are new to online poker real money and have become especially popular online. The twist on these tournaments is that every player has a “bounty” on their head. By knocking out a player, you receive the bounty. Technically, winning this tournament isn’t that important because you are consistently gaining cash by knocking out your opponents throughout the tournament. You don’t have to last until the final hand in order to come out ahead. In general, half of the buy-in to a bounty tournament will be the bounty on you, and the other half will go into the prize pool for tournament finishers.

Re-buy Tournaments

In re-buy tournaments, players are given a certain amount of time to re-buy chips once they have lost all their initial chips. These tournaments typically show more aggressive play early on due to the fact that players will not be eliminated for losing all of their chips; they can simply re-buy if their risks don’t pay off. If early risks do pay off for some players, then they are at a large advantage early on. This is different from typical other tournaments in which players start off playing very tight in order to wait for other players to go broke first. These tournaments typically have a higher prize pool in relation to entry cost than other standard tournaments.

Freeroll Tournaments

Freeroll tournaments cost nothing to the player to buy into, with no entry fee but do award real prizes. These are usually promotional tournaments, so many freerolls have stipulations attached. For instance, they may be for new players only or require a certain number of loyalty points to register. It is quite possible to build up a decent-sized bankroll by starting out at a freeroll, winning real cash, and then moving your way up the limits.

Happy playing!

 

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Understanding Re-buying Basics in Online Poker Games

Some big multi-table online poker tournaments allow you to re-buy chips. When your stack falls under the initial buy-in size, you have the opportunity of paying another entry fee to get another stack of chips. However, re-buy tournaments frequently become nothing more than a simple challenge to see who owns the biggest bank account, since some folks have chronic re-buy frenzy.

The ability to re-buy may cause loose playing style, which means that the bad beats begin to increase. Any player with an adequately deep pocket will, in the end, knock out all single-entry player in a re-buy tournament.

In some re-buy poker online games, you may try to do a re-buy any time your stack size falls below the earlier amount the site allotted to you (although a few tournaments allow you to re-buy at any moment during the game). The stack size you get after a re-buy is usually equal to the stack you had at the start.

Steps to rebuy

You can typically request best online poker re-buys by clicking re-buying button on the chip tray. If you bust out, the site automatically shows a dialogue to ask if you wish to re-buy before summarily kick you out from the tournament.

The re-buy debate is mostly a matter of choice. When it is the time to make the actual decision, analyze the situation at your table. If you are sitting at a table with a typically sub-standard playing level, and the average chip stack size isn’t out of sight, you usually get good value for the money if you choose to re-buy, since you have a legitimate opportunity at snagging some of your old chips back and re-grow your stack.

If, however, the play seems hard or some online poker real money re-buys still leaves you seriously under-stacked (frequently due to plenty of chaotic and wild playing style followed by a lot of re-buys at the table), you need to quit and try again tomorrow.

There are two main thoughts on re-buy:

* Only re-buy when your current stack is about thirty per cent of the largest on the table. The underlying idea is that if you do get a nice hand, you should have strong firepower by collecting enough chips. This strategy has merit, especially in no-limit games, since when you have a great hand, you want to get as much return as possible. No-limit permits you to bet big, increasing your potential profits.

* Wait until you lose the whole stack before you re-buy. There are moments where you are in a hot streak and does not have to re-buy. For others, great power can be summoned by being all-in. After you place the rest of your cash in the pot, you can no longer be bluffed out and you will be able to see the remaining cards freely. Or if other players fight with each other and you may patiently wait until the end, all the better – a hand that could beat you promptly may get bet out by another player.

It is good news for the tournament owner; bad news for all single-entry players trying to slog through the tournament, because the tournament had twice as many add-ons and re-buys combined than plain entries. It essentially makes the playing field nearly three times as big as it appears and gives each player a couple of chances to kick any given opponent out.

Happy playing!

 

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Getting the Best Position in Online Poker Game

One of the most subtle but influential assets you can have in online poker games is your position of play. Many people that play poker have little to no concept of the importance of this position, or what position of play even refers to.

Most players are so focused on their card-playing strategy that they overlook other important aspects of the game. But if you are serious about improving your online poker playing this one simple trick can make a huge difference.

An important part of being good at real money poker is understanding the many different things that contribute to the game and how it is played. So many players let themselves get sidetracked by card strategy alone, that even a good hand can be ruined by narrow-minded playing. Once you are aware of the contributing factors you can better protect your hand and even manipulate them in your favour.

What Is the Best Position?

One of those underrated factors is playing position. This is where you sit at the table and the

order that it designates you to play in. Whenever possible having the dealer position is optimal. Otherwise, you want to be as far from the dealer as you can get. On one hand, this means your cards are dealt last which has very little impact. On the other hand, it means you make your moves last.

Worst Position

Alternately the worst position you can have is the first position or the small blind position to the immediate left of the dealer. As the name implies the first position means you have to make all of your moves first. You will set the tone of the hand and have less time to consider your cards.

What a Good Position Can Do for You

The last position is the best poker online position for a number of reasons. Playing last allows you to gauge the choices made by other players. Did they bet or check and how quickly did they do each?

These observations can be used to determine the right move for you. The farther your position from the dealer the more time you have to consider your hand, calculate pot odds and analyze your fellow players and their moves.

Obviously, the first player has no position advantage, while the last player has the largest advantage. All of these are advantages that give you a huge edge against players in early position.

Happy playing!

 

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Spot a Poker Online Bluffer

Bluffing is a part of every poker online game. It is a plain and simple art of pretence that can help increase your odds at winning. Successful bluffers walk away victorious at the end of each poker game.

It takes an enormous amount of talent to bluff your way to the winner’s pot. But it often takes keen observation to reckon when an online poker real money gamer is bluffing. More often than not, buffers aren’t able to take full control of their actions and movements. That is why it’s easy to pursue bluffers through some psychological hints that tell when a gamer plays tricks.

Understanding “Tells”

Most players have certain habits that make they’re bluffing overly obvious. These gestures are more commonly known as “tells”. The latter qualify as giveaways especially when a gambler is a novice poker player. For professional online poker real money players, understanding these “tells” may be a tad difficult to do.

Amongst the most common of tells is when the player acts that he has a strong hand when he is actually holding a losing card combination. As you play poker game, you can learn more “tells” that can help increase your chance of winning.

Behaviours to Watch Out For

There are many behaviours that indicate when your opponent is bluffing.

Melodramatic Raises

It is always a great idea to trace the methods of betting in an online game. It is easier to track players whom you have played with for a long time. But for new opponents, you have to make a correlation between how a player wagers and what type of card he unfolds. More often than not, a bluffer overdoes his actions when he holds a losing hand. However, he might also exaggerate when he’s secure of his cards.

Unexpected Friendliness

You can tell when a player is bluffing if he suddenly becomes friendly in an online game. If the gamer is peculiarly sociable, then that could mean he is bluffing. Be careful in such cases since you do not really know what card he holds.

What Players Do When They Have Good Hand

Some best online poker players would try to convince you that they have a weak hand when they are actually holding a good hand. Here are some time-tested signs that could help you tell they’re bluffing:

Overly Obvious Hints

There are online poker players who exhibit palpable signs of their bluff. This includes gamers who “appear” to be very relaxed and calm despite the intensity of the online game. Another positive sign of a player who is holding a good hand is when he suddenly gets short or irritable with his rivals.

If a player begins to talk in a conversational or easygoing style, this could mean he is bluffing. One of the most apparent hints is when the player starts to act in an indifferent manner.

It is best to come prepared with the list of tells and apply this in your poker games. Start folding once you spot an opponent who displays such signs. In an online game, you are at the most advantage when you keenly observe other gamers as they play.

Happy playing!

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Best Tips for No Limit Hold’em Online Poker Players

If you have seen the movie Rounders than you have heard the line as spoken by Mike McDermott. “Always leave yourself outs”, he said. McDermott wasn’t speaking specifically about the cards in this situation – he was referring to life itself, your online poker bankroll, and your stake in the game; the moral of the story is, don’t blow your roll in one shot.

If you have no bankroll, you have no chance to win. If there are no cards that can improve your hand, you muck. If there are no chips to put into future pots, you’ve mucked for the last time.

Play Poker to Win, Not to Gamble

Poker can be a gamble if that’s what you want it to be. Lord knows we all love a little action-induced adrenaline rush now and then. However, poker online shouldn’t be a gamble if you’re looking to win money.

Decide on and Employ a Buy-in Strategy

How many chips you buy when you sit down at a cash table has little to do with the maximum or minimum allowed buy-in at the table. It has to do with your predefined buy-in strategy. Are you playing a solid stack and picking off the short-stackers? Are you going to be playing a short stack yourself?

How many chips do the other players have, and what sort of stack do you want to start out with in relation to that? That’s what you need to ask yourself. Winning poker strategy begins long before the cards ever hit the table. Learn more about buy-in strategy.

If You’re Afraid, You’ve Already Lost

A solid online poker real money player can’t be afraid to shove their chips into the middle, and they can’t be afraid to fold the winning hand. It’s about knowing/learning what plays are the most valuable in a game of poker. You may have to shove your chips into the middle of the table without so much as a pair to take down a huge pot.

Chips Move in a Clockwise Motion

You’ve heard all the sermons when it comes to position, but here’s one you may have missed… Nobody cares about the guy to your right. If he bets, you can re-raise and steal the pot from him at any time. If he checks, you’re free to bet. He’s not very scary at all.

Take Advantage of Online Poker Coaching

Spend a buck a day on Poker Coaching, stay level headed, learn tricks of the trade, get a new perspective, and improve your poker games online!

Get a Feel for the Table Reserves

Every poker table has a table ‘reserve’ that is the amount of a bet that will be called by mediocre hands. You want to get the hang of that bet as soon as possible. Either way, once you have a feel for the table reserves you can take advantage by adjusting your opening bet accordingly.

Staying Even and Grinding Forward

Every time the button makes its way around the table, you’ll have been charged a small blind and a big blind. To stay even, you simply need to pick up one small pot (including the big blind, small blind, and perhaps one caller (taking rake into account) to stay even.

Practice Bluffing

Here’s a tip. If you’re not really a bluffer, and unsure about getting into the pot with absolutely nothing in worth having in your hand, try this:

Pick a card from the deck, any card at all. Let’s say the six of diamonds. Now every time you see the six of diamonds preflop before a raise has been made, you raise. No matter what the second card is.

Remember this is practice, so bluff when you can afford to fail; you’ll be surprised how often you win the pot!

Texas Hold’em No Peaky

Another tip for improving your Texas Hold’em game is playing your cards without ever looking at them. A key part of a poker game is learning to read your opponents, and believe me, playing against them, without knowing what your cards are will help.

Keep Your Emotions off the Table

Sometimes we get mad during the game. Shocked, and horrified by the crazy things people due. In fact, a very common strategy is the tilting of other players, getting them off their game, and subsequently separated from their bankrolls.

It’s ok to get steamed, everyone does, and it’s a great time to take a break, grab an apple, crunch loudly, refill your water, and get back to the mindset that best allows you to do business at the poker table.

Play with your mind sharp!

Get plenty of rest, leave once you’re tired. You’ll funnel less. We become more passive when we’re sleepy, and passive is no way to play poker.

Happy playing!

 

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