Archive for the 'Lady Luck's Lair' Category

Simplifying Opponent Reads

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

poker players with any experience know that have to size up their poker opponents. This can be very complex and requires careful observation over the course of the game. But sometimes you don’t have a lot of time, and need to quickly categorize the other players. There are many different types of poker online playing styles, from loose aggressive maniacs, to ultra-tight rocks, to passive callers. Stereotyping a player into any of the many categories is based on each individual’s actions. Those actions are limited to three plays: calling, betting or folding. Figure out which tendency of those three actions each player follows, and then you stick to a simple pattern against each player. However, once you have identified an opponent’s tendency, always be on the alert for when a player’s style might change, such as when there are chip swings at the table. When up against a player who to tends to call a lot, it’s best to bet or raise. Because they call a lot, the odds go against them more often. However, you do need to mix it up with these types of players too, so change gears occasionally and check into them, with the goal to win more chips later. If your opponent folds easily, then bet out three times the blind. Most often you’ll win the pot there. If it goes to the river, bet again, but this time make is a minimum raise. When you are facing an opponent who bets a lot, then you must exercise strict discipline and fold until you finally get a premium hand. Statistically, you can expect two playable hands for every ten you are dealt. With a betting type of player, you can expect to be raised, so be aware that it is coming and only play hands that you would raise yourself – then let the bettor do the raising for you.

A Primer Discussing Ultimate Bet Rakeback

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

With Ultimate Bet rakeback, Paradise Poker Rakeback, and websites offering what they have sucking in such a large player base, it’s to be expected that there is a notable focus on this approach to the game. So what, precisely, is the lure of rakeback and the websites that offer it? And what sets them above existing websites that only guarantee reload and signup upsides? Simply put: “lots”.

Simply put, any noteworthy site promises perks. Signup dividends are basically a specific amount of additional credit paid to your tab when you register and pay in a certain initial payment. It merits pointing out — on the majority of websites, you’ll receive only this throughout your time there. Sad to say, in the event of a run of bad luck you might be required to pay more to play — which is how you garner a reload bonus. Just a single award — and for a set price. This results in a concrete, finite upper limit on all additional rebates you can earn. You encounter no such limitations when you gamble at rakeback websites. Sure, all forms of web poker have the house take a certain price of the stake, but with these websites, a set share of that intake is given back to the gamblers each month. You can anticipate approximately thirty to forty percent, determined by the time spent playing during the month.

You can readily understand the flexibility this allows you. To obtain the payouts discussed earlier, you must spend your cash. Catch the difference compared with the rakeback method? Quite — there are no ordinances governing your expenditure. You shouldn’t forget that over the course of regular gambling, restricted awards disappear disturbingly quickly. In addition to all that, websites operating rakeback arrangements will regularly sponsor diverse promotions and short term deals so you can get back yet more cash Since entry to big tournaments can be the top prize in their online competitions, it’s clear why so many card aficionados are active on these websites.

What this all boils down to is that websites such as Reefer Poker rakeback provide a chance to play without stress. They needn’t stress over how much they’re betting on each hand as they’re certain to earn more back every time they play!

Continuing Aggressiveness

Monday, February 8th, 2010

Out of position play is one of the hardest positions to play from. Raising under the gun, for example, then checking when called on the flop is most likely a sign of weakness. There is of course the occasional check raise possibility, but most of the time this is just bad online poker play. Let’s say you have AKs and you bet UTG 4x the big blind. You get called by someone at the cutoff. The flop comes 7-8-4 two hearts. How do you make this online poker hand profitable for you, or on the flip side make it less expensive in the event you have to lay down your poker hand. First things first, we need to read the board. We’re getting called by someone in position so their hand could be anything from a lower pair hoping to improve to a set to suited connectors. It’s not likely they’re slow rolling a big pocket pair here. So, the first step is to figure out where you stand. Usually a small continuation bet is best here. With AKs this is a dangerous board, so an overbet bluff may backfire and you’ll lose more than you’ll gain. You just probe bet and your opponent calls. This doesn’t give you much information. Him just calling though does give you enough of an idea to realize that chances are he’s not on a set. A good play with a set would be to reraise you to put you off of any draws. The turn comes 2d. This is an innocuous card. So we continue our aggressiveness toward the pot. We fire a second barrel, about pot with air hoping to get our opponent to fold. He calls again. Ok, let’s dissect the action. He almost has to be on a draw here. We’re representing a big pair and are trying not to give our opponent odds to draw. If he calls on this street, we can usually give up our hand if we get reraised. The river comes another 2, this one spades. There is no flush on the board. Do we think our ace high is good enough to take the pot? In this case, I would say yes, and would recommend firing third bet out. If he has a set, then he just improved to a boat and we can expect to be reraised. If he doesn’t have a set, then he should put us on top two pair and lay down his busted draw. This time we bet out pot.

My Two Cents Apropos of Badugi Poker Sites

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

Everybody can enjoy a hand or two of Internet poker. Thanks to a collection of top online poker sites, a game rarely found outside of Las Vegas has been transformed into the world-wide craze we see today. So, what has driven poker to grow into the billion dollar industry it is now? Since the first poker website was launched in the late 1990’s, the adrenalin rush, ease of access and the opportunity to train before wagering hard-earned money have driven the growth of online poker. Of course it did not take too long until poker sites were being launched at an impressive rate to get in on the action. The excitement resulting from online poker resulted in competitions such as the World Poker Tour being given live coverage in ‘02. The following year saw an increase in participation of almost fivehundred percent, the World Series of Poker hit TV along with the famous amateur player Chris Moneymaker. Poker devotees were fascinated as Chris made it look easy to go from having 2 jobs to having the life of a high-roller in a single game. Moneymaker was living the dream everyone wanted and was gambling for a living. By 2004, the industry had raked in an impressive one billion dollars and the profits were still growing.

So now, the game has a global appeal; people like to play in tournaments with colossal cash prizes, but a few just want to play a couple of games without any risk. With the colossal array of choices available, there is a spot for you at the table regardless of whether you are a beginner or a pro.

From time to time it can be enjoyable to simply watch the professionals on one of the top websites, you can easily spot the game’s most celebrated stars playing all the time on TV. Though today with the choice of gaming without putting up real money means that you have essentially eliminated financial risk entirely. You might even discover that you enjoy it. Internet poker has brought the game back to life in a few years. Now that playing online is so painless and so enjoyable, it’s a safe bet that the business is going to go from strength to strength.