Ok, so you won a few freerolls
and/or were given a few dollars to play poker with and now want to play a
Ring/Round game. Do not just sit down and start playing, find the poker table
that fits your style of play, do a little research, gather some intelligence.
Internet Poker Rooms (Online Poker Rooms), Holdem, Omaha, or Stud give you the
opportunity to learn a lot about a table before you ever put a chip at risk.
Look at the table stats, how many players see the flop, what is the average pot
size, how many hands are played an hour (1 slow connected player that plays
every hand can slow this way down). These statistics will start clueing you into
the Personality of the poker table, is it a tight game - few see the flop 40% or
less, or a loose game, 70% or more see the flop. Is there heavy betting with
lots of calls (large pots) light betting with few calls (small pots), if you
have a limited bank roll, the latter may be the table for you, the former can
wipe you out with a few bad beats.
Ok you found one you think is good for you, wait, I know you want to get into
the action, but watch the table for a round of Blinds or two. Gather more
intelligence, note each poker player, who is aggressive, who is passive, who
check raised, what each player had at a show down, who mucked cards in the small
blind with no raise (sign of an experienced or at least educated player) Now
that you have valuable intelligence on the players, its time to sit down but
keep taking notes, do not assume your 1st impressions were correct, adjust these
as you play. Initially play very tight, only premium poker hands, if not sure of
your hand, muck and wait, if they bluffed you out, they will try again, in fact
having folded to a bluff with a better hand only encourages them to try you
again and again. In a No Limit or Pot Limit game, it only takes 1 hand to get
all those chips back and then some. After an hour or, the table should see you
as a tight solid player (Your Table Image) - if you followed the tips earlier on
this page. Time to start opening up the game, take advantage your image and your
notes, who is susceptible to a bluff, who is supper aggressive, susceptible to a
check raise, Take notes on your own play, the process of writing down a mistake
and the corrective action will improve you play faster that just thinking, Darn,
that was stupid, forgetting and doing it again 10 minutes later. Some sites have
places to take notes on players, use them!!
Poker, Texas Holdem to Omaha High/Low to 7 Card Stud, is a thinking game of War
and intelligence is the most valuable resource in any form of War.
Thanks to TechMan Poker for contributing this article!
Poker Theory - Poker site for the
improvement of poker skills. Site reviews, articles, Blogs, Gambling and Sports
Betting - Special Member Only Freerolls. A great site for both new and
experienced poker players. Good LuckTechMan
