Rake Rounders exclusive poker info. Here you will learn great poker strategy and how to be a winning player. If you ever have a question on certain strategy or how to play a hand, please feel free to drop us a line and our pro's at RR will gladly assist you.
Poker is a Game of Skill
The biggest distinction between poker and gambling is that in pretty much all gambling, you are playing against the house. In poker, the house has no interest in the outcome, and is an impartial provider of services-for-a-fee, a forum for the players to compete equally against each other. Another major difference between poker and gambling is that the rules of poker accord every player a statistically equal chance to win, but the rules of gambling games all give the house a definite advantage against the player, which over time is inexorable and inevitable. In essence, poker is fair, gambling is not.
Poker is a game of skill. It is a contest of abilities, more akin to bridge or chess than it is to gambling, in that more-talented players will prevail against less-talented players. Chance can and will affect short-term results, but skill separates winners from losers over time.
You'll never get to play a pickup game against Michael Jordan or a round of golf against Tiger, or tear up the track against Matt Kenseth, but you can plop your buy-in down and take on Doyle Brunson or Howard Lederer.
-CardPlayer.com-
When is the best time to play?
One thing that people should consider, especially if they have limited time, is when the best time to play poker is. Very few people have the time, the patience, or the desire to play poker all day every day. Most of us just play it some in our free time, have some fun, and hopefully make some money. So the question is what is the best time to play in order to maximize the making of the money.
The two things that need to be considered for this are if there is a game available, and how people tend to play at different times. Now in general, a game being available isn’t generally an issue. Unless you are playing at one of the smallest or newest sites there are almost always games going on. Large sites such as Party Poker never have less than 10 or 20 thousand people on them, so availability really isn’t an issue.
So the real question is, how people are playing. Through the use of poker tracker, and my own observations, I have noticed what you might expect. Late night games are generally looser, wilder, with most hands being won at the showdown. As a college student, my schedule is pretty free so I have played at a variety of times. Sitting down at tables during a week day it is generally hard to find a table with more than 25% of the people seeing the flop, and often the table is even tighter than that. Also during the day there are much less calls, pot sized bets will often take the hand, and you don’t have to show down as frequently.
At night, and especially Friday and Saturday nights, everything changes. Presumably this is because many of the nighttime players just got off work and they want to kick back and have some fun, not sit there and fold every hand. Also presumably on the weekends, many of them are drunk. Because of this, at night, it is not unusual to sit at a table that has 35 or 40% of the players putting in money to see the flop. Throwing in the big blind that means almost every flop has 5 people in it, and sometimes this is a low estimate. Additionally it is much harder to get people out of a pot, flush and straight draws are chased until the bitter end, and top pair hands are never thrown away.
As a result, if you have a limited time to play poker I recommend doing it in the evening when most people are getting home from work and finishing dinner. The play will be looser and your hands will be paid off more. This situation is ideal and very profitable. However you need to know that with all the callers people will suck out on you more frequently and your bankroll has to be prepared to handle it. If you are playing these games be very aggressive with premium hands preflop, you will get callers, so get the money in when the getting is good. Additionally you should be much more reluctant to bluff hands; you aren’t going to get people out.
If you are playing in the day try to steal pots more frequently. If people are willing to throw away their blinds they might as well throw them your way, and if people aren’t willing to stay in and defend a pot, so much the better for you.
-College Poker Tip-.
Texas Holdem is the "Cadillac" of poker, quotes by none other than Doyle Brunson himself.
Each player starts with two hole cards. There will be three rounds of community cards. These cards are dealt face up, for every player to use. There will be betting after each round a card has been turned face up. At the end, the best 5 card hand wins. Each new hand begins with a small blind, a big blind, and a round of betting. The betting rules vary depending upon whether the game is Limit, Pot Limit or No Limit.
When the first round of betting is complete, the dealer then puts out the first three community cards, or "the flop". There is a round of betting.
The dealer then deals out the fourth community card or "the turn". There is a round of betting.
The dealer then deals out the fifth community card or "the river". There is a final round of betting.
After the last round of betting, the dealer will award the pot to the best hand, using both community and whole cards.
How to play small suited connectors preflop.
Small suited connectors pre flop are 45s, 56s, 67s, 78s, 89s and 9Ts. The 43s and below are not considered small suited connectors because there is less ways to make a straight. Again like lots of hands that have potential, players in Low Limit Hold'em games love to play suited connectors although they are not great starting hands. Treat small suited connectors as drawing hands, because that's what they are. You should look to get in and see a cheap flop as it is likely that you will need a lot of help to win the pot. The odds are stacked against you in making 2 pair, a straight or a flush so don't commit lots of your stack calling one or 2 raises. Don't preflop raise suited connector hands, unless you are simply bored and what to mix up your action. The odds suggest that if you continually play these, you will loose money over the course of a session. Odds are everything in poker if you don't get the correct ones than you should not be considering these hands!
Playing suited connectors after the flop.
When you are playing these hands, other players that have been grinding it out catch hands like AA, KK, AK, AQ. When players have these hands the will almost always play them very aggresively. If your hand hits, you can easily take advantage of the player(you should know which players are only playing top hands) and take him for as much as possible. Now with this, it can always bakc fire, and you suffer a bad beat. Here's several examples of what kind of situations you can find yourself in. 1. You flop a flush. Your going to want to bet this hand hard, and if you get called be carefull of the next to cards coming. If a 4th card to that flush comes, you should give up on the hand and know your beat. Otherwise play it out and you should almost always be paid of by a big hand. 2. You flop a low end strait. This means if your holding 43s and the flop comes 567. You need to be very cautious here and only bet small amounts that a big hand will call you with. If you get reraised be carefull with what you do, don't ever raise back at the other player. 3. You flop the nuts. Your holding 56s and the flop comes 234 rainbow. Play this hand based off of how the table has been playing. If they have been aggresive and you know you'll see a raise, than play passively to the river or turn. If they are playing passively and your scared of losing your opponent, let them catch up a little. Check your hand on the flop and than raise on the turn. 4. You flop a flush draw or strait draw. These are the hands that can get you into trouble!!! Play these hands as cheap as possible untill you MAKE your hand. If their is a big bet on the flop you should fold your draw, unless you have a flush and strait draw. As a rule, if you hold 15 or more outs, you are a favorite and should stay in the hand. The flop will provide the indication as to the strength of your small suited connectors. Most of the time you will know right away whether there is any potential in your hand. If you miss the flop completely, fold and wait for a better situation.
Playing small pairs in tournament poker.
Racing in tournament poker. Why it can be a very bad decision, or a very great one.
Playing flush and strait draws.
