All PokerSoup.com Blogs

1. 2013-05-23 09:38:16

   Table Selection in Poker

   Table selection is one of the key principles when it comes to cultivating a winning poker game. It’s vital because the better poker player will achieve that mantle by making fewer mistakes than his, or her, opponents.

   To increase the likelihood that this becomes a reality, you need to make sure that you avoid playing with people who are better than you.

   To create a good strategy for table selection you need to create a colour coding system to identify different player types. Most online poker sites offer this facility, and it allows you to quickly browse the lobby to see if there any tables that are top-heavy with weaker players.

   So how do you know who is a good player?

   The two main ways to ascertain whether a player is talented, or not, is to pay attention when you play, or alternatively, use tracking sites like Sharkscope or Official Poker Rankings. Then create a colour for each type of player: Top quality, break even, fish and the jury is out.

   Once you have a system to categorise the strength of your opponent’s it’s time to choose a table. A good rule of thumb is to find tables that possess at least three weak players on a nine-handed table, but this is easier said than done. If you can’t find that Golden Goose then try to find tables that contain one fish and then a consistency high in break even players.

   If this all seems a little too much for you then you can always simplify things by collecting a Betfair free poker bonus and purchasing table selection software. Products like TableScan Turbo and even your Heads-Up Displays (HUDs), like PokerTracker and Hold’em Manager, possess table-scanning software that does the hard work for you.

   Keep up with the latest from the poker circuit or download the latest gaming software at http://betting.betfair.com/poker/

   Posted by KCasey at 2013-05-23 09:38:16 | permalink | Discuss (0 comments)

2. 2013-05-22 13:32:02

   Three Types of Tournament Play

   The game of poker is evolving all of the time. At this years World Series of Poker (WSOP), the Carnivale of Poker mini-series is going to hold an Open Face Chinese event, which if successful might be a bracelet event in 2014. Nobody would have thought this was possible a few years ago, but tournament poker is an ever-changing feast these days.

   Here are three very different forms of tournament poker, all of which can be experienced with Betfair Online:

   #1 Ante Up

   An Ante Up tournament is a form of tournament poker that doesn’t see any increase in the blind levels. They may begin at 5/5 and remain that way throughout the tournament. Instead the antes increase each blind level. So if you were playing 5/5 with an ante of 4.5k there would be 36,010 in the pot to play for, each orbit, and only 5 to limp into the pot.

   #2 Crazy Pineapple

   Crazy Pineapple is a tournament format where each player is given three hole cards and a pre flop round of betting ensues. The flop is then laid and another round of betting ensues. Each player must discard one of their three cards to leave them with a two-card hand and play resumes as in standard No-Limit Hold’em (NLE).

   #3 Irish

   There are different variations of Irish, but the commonly found game on the Internet is one where players are dealt four cards face down. There is a round of betting, a flop, another round of betting before players must discard two of their cards before continuing like in NLHE.

   Read more about playing poker online at: http://betting.betfair.com/poker/betfair-poker-no-deposit-bonus.html

   Posted by KCasey at 2013-05-22 13:32:02 | permalink | Discuss (0 comments)

3. 2013-04-29 09:54:42

   Play Tight

   Imagine you are walking into the casino and are about to take your seat in your local game, or you are on line playing Betfair Speed Poker. You have a friend who is desperate to play, but they have never played poker in their life. You have about two minutes to offer some advice. So what is it going to be? What few words can give the maximum impact in just a few minutes?

   PLAY TIGHT#

   Those two words are the best pieces of advice that you could give to a beginner and there is a lesson to be learned for the experienced player as well. Poker is a game that takes you on a journey and the experienced player can sometimes lose their way. They too once received this advice but now find themselves playing far too many pots. Becoming a coach can often help you screw that head on the right way around.

   If you are on the Betfair iPoker Site and teaching someone to play poker for the first time, then teach them that they can only play a strict number of hands irrespective of what position they are in. Limit their options to any pocket pair, KQs+ and AQs+ and let them loose.

   At least this way they are always going to have a fighting chance when in the pot. It also gives them the vital lesson of learning to fold, whilst affording them the time to focus on what else is going on in the game. How much are people betting? What are they showing down? When, and why, are they raising?

   Playing tight is a great foundation from which to start your poker learning.

   Posted by KCasey at 2013-04-29 09:54:42 | permalink | Discuss (0 comments)

4. 2013-04-24 09:39:57

   Understanding Player Types

   Poker is a game of incomplete information and your job is to piece as much of the jigsaw together, look at the incomplete picture and take your best shot. Your opponents are an important part of this jigsaw, and so you need to make sure that you eyeball them at all times. Put down that iPhone, place the iPad in the bag and throw that online poker tips book underneath the chair. The only time your eyes should avert from the table is when the pretty lady comes around to ask you if you want a drink.

   But what should I be looking for?

   Be is in a friend’s front room or at one of the WSOP 2013 Qualifiers, the first thing you should be trying to determine is how experienced they are. You should be able to piece together what you have in front of you to make a decent informed decision. Their mannerisms and moves at the table will paint a pretty accurate picture of how experienced they are.

   Next you need to understand if they have a handle on position. Who seems to be opening up from early position too often? Who is only opening from early position sparingly? When you pick up on the positional knowledge of your opponent’s it helps assign more accurate hand ranges.

   Another area you should be creating a judgment on is how loose or tight are they playing? Once again this allows you to set your own hand range when deciding to call or three-bet. Lastly, always try and remember the little nuances that stick in your mind. Maybe you saw a player check-raising the flop and then always check/folding the turn? Maybe you saw a player squeeze from the same position three times in the last six or seven orbits?

   Collating information on your opponents is vital. Save your electronic gadgetry for your spare time at home.

   Posted by KCasey at 2013-04-24 09:39:57 | permalink | Discuss (0 comments)

5. 2013-04-23 13:22:39

   Yay!! The Monday, April 15th sign out sheet has been located .

   Points are now updated thru Tuesday,April 16th. I Still have a problem with Don Lynn's points, I'm going to research his before I post Mondays points. I know he said he had a First and another final table, sometime this month. Sorry about the mix-up, I will triple check from now on!

   Posted by Margie S at 2013-04-23 13:22:39 | permalink | Discuss (0 comments)

6. 2013-04-21 22:14:16

   Monthly Final Tournament

   The Monthly Final tournaments are now scheduled for the 2nd Monday of the month,with a 6:30 starting time.

   Posted by Margie S at 2013-04-21 22:14:16 | permalink | Discuss (0 comments)

7. 2013-03-28 10:03:35

   Hand Reading in Poker

   When the super heroes all gather around Spiderman’s house for their Friday night game of poker, there is always one person who fails to make the list. Poor old Superman is stuck with Friday night TV as the rest of the guy’s battle it out for pot after pot. It’s not that they don’t like Superman. In fact, they think he’s a nice guy, but he does have x-ray vision.

   If you could see what hand your opponent was holding then you would win all of the money. But normal human beings are not blessed like the man from Krypton. But the understanding that Superman would win most of the money, if he could see the other persons hand, it one worth examining in deeper detail, and this is where hand reading skills come into play.

   Poker is a game of incomplete information. The job of the poker player is to acknowledge the pieces of information that are available to him, and then by using his skill and experience, fill in the missing pieces. The better you become at this art, the closer to the red and blue cape you become.

   A lot of beginners don’t understand how to hand read. They spend their time trying to identify their opponent’s particular holding, instead of widening their perspective. In poker, it’s not the exact hand that you are after (although that would be nice); instead it’s the range of hands an opponent is holding that is most important, especially in Betfair Poker Live Prague events.

   Starting pre flop, each time your opponent makes a play, ask yourself what possible hands could he be holding to make him want to act in that way. Then as each street progresses remove or include hands that make even more sense.

   By the time you reach the river, you should have a pretty good handle on the type of hands your opponent is holding. This is the process of great hand reading.

   Read more about the professional poker circuit on the Betfair WSOP website.

   Posted by KCasey at 2013-03-28 10:03:35 | permalink | Discuss (0 comments)

8. 2013-03-15 15:57:06

   Dan Smith Slips From View

   The poker world is a fickle thing, especially the WSOP Qualifiers.

   In 2012, the poker world belonged to Dan Smith. The Rick Moranis look-a-like walked away from the tables of world poker with $3.7 million and change, whilst winning three back-to-back $5k events at the EPT Grand Final at Monte Carlo, and two seven-figure scores in the Aussie Millions and EPT Barcelona High Rollers.

   That feat of magic placed him at the top of the Global Poker Index (GPI) for most of the latter part of the year, and he was deservedly crowned the GPI Player of the Year.

   What a difference a year makes?

   Well not quite a year, but you know what we mean. It’s 2013, and despite cashing at the NBC Heads-Up Championship in January, Smith has yet to cash in anything.

   If you add the fact that his final table appearance at the 2012 Partouche Main Event has since waned from the figures, then you will not be surprised to learn that he has slipped out of the top ten.

   The man who was snapping at his heels throughout that barnstorming run, ‘Mad’ Marvin Rettenmaier, has taken his place in the number one spot. The London-based, German pro, has maintained a steady pace in the first few months of the year.

   No huge scores to speak of, but a series of cashes and a final table berth at WPT Baden showing that the flames that light his heater have not been fanned just yet.

   The GPI waves bye-bye to last years WSOP National Championship winner Ryan Eriquezzo and the former WSOP Main Event final tablist Alexander Kravchenko. The highest riser is Barry Hutter who climbs 40 places into 256th place. Olivier Busquets and Salman Behbehani also make some big moves this week.

   If you find the regular poker game too ponderous, why not try your hand at speed poker online at http://poker1.betfair.com/how-to-play/speed-poker

   Posted by KCasey at 2013-03-15 15:57:06 | permalink | Discuss (0 comments)

9. 2013-02-18 12:04:11

   Chip and a Chair

   The quote, ‘Chip and a Chair,’ is an iconic one in poker. But where exactly did the term come from? Let’s find out.

   It has been attributed to the World Series Of Poker (WSOP) hall of famer Jack Strauss, and the famous words were mouthed during the 1982 WSOP Main Event.

   The stories vary in number, but the most common one is that Strauss moved all of his chips into the middle, was called and lost the hand. The legend got to his feet to leave, but discovered that he had one chip left underneath a napkin lying on the table in front of him. As Strauss had not used the words ‘all-in’ the tournament directors allowed him to continue playing.

   It’s believed that this incident happened on Day Two of the Main Event and his tournament life now hinged on a solitary 500 chip. Strauss managed to spin that solitary chip into every single chip in the tournament - Strauss defeating his fellow WSOP Poker Hall of Famer Dewey Tomko, heads-up, to capture the WSOP Main Event title.

   So that’s how the phrase ‘Chip and a Chair’ found its way into Betfair Poker folklore. There have been numerous skin savings acts since that famous day, but none better than the story of Bill Edler.

   It was 2007, and the tournament was the World Poker Tour (WPT) Gulf Coast Poker Championships. With just 17-players remaining Edler found himself with just two chips and a chair. They were $1,000 chips meaning he didn’t have enough change to even make the blinds, which were set at $4,000/8,000. Edler threw his last two chips into the middle and eventually won the event for $747,615. Now that’s what you call a comeback!

   If you fancy playing online yourself make sure you head over to: http://betting.betfair.com/poker/

   Posted by KCasey at 2013-02-18 12:04:11 | permalink | Discuss (0 comments)

10. 2013-01-23 10:57:39

    Vanessa Selbst Makes History in the Bahamas

    The world consists of certain cases of inevitability: one day we will all die, we need to eat in order to live and Vanessa Selbst was always going to become the highest earning female professional poker player on the planet.

    Kathy Liebert has held that top spot for many years, but after her recent success at the $25,000 High Roller event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), Selbst has finally ousted Liebert from that position and nobody is arguing that she didn’t deserve it.

    Just days after announcing her engagement to her partner, Selbst overcame what she said was her toughest final table in her career, to capture the High Roller crown and join the millionaires club at the Atlantis Resort. The final table was beaming with brilliance as Vladimir Troyanovskiy, Mike Watson, Ole Schemion, Shaun Deeb, Bryn Kenney, Tobias Reinkemeier and Micah Raskin captured chips, collided cards and chased the cup.

    The action started like a bull in a china shop. Micah Raskin, Tobias Reinkemeier and Bryn Kenney all sent packing within the first 12-hands. That flurry of action saw Selbst rise to the chip lead and she extended it after eliminating Shaun Deeb in fifth place albeit under rather fortuitous circumstances.

    It was a blind battle with Selbst holding Ah Ks and Deeb holding Ad Tc on a ten-high flop. All of the money went in with Selbst behind, but a cruel king on the river sending Deeb out and Selbst soaring.

    Watson eliminated Schemion and Selbst eliminated Watson to set up the heads-up encounter between Selbst and Troyanovskiy. Troyanovskiy played brilliantly to close the gap on Selbst, but once again a key river card came to her rescue. The final hand of play saw Troyanovskiy and Selbst playing for the title: Kx Kx v Ah Qs, and the Ac hit the river to hand Selbst the title and $1,424,420 in prize money.

    If you fancy playing Omaha poker online then why not head over to Betfair, where you will find all the latest games to play, from beginner level right through to advanced , big money games like the 2013 Aussie Millions

    Posted by KCasey at 2013-01-23 10:57:39 | permalink | Discuss (0 comments)