what is the best way to play better poker?

[vash]

(without losing my arse, and looking like an idiot)

get a video game?

[juanbenae]

dumber friends.

[kumma]

Play online for free. Use partypoker or similar ones then bleed them dry. You will soon figure out the aggressive players take the most pots. Of course dumber friends is a good alternative.

[bryanthompson]

I played Hold 'em at games.yahoo.com yesterday for the first time. I suck, really bad as it turns out. I'm down $300. I think I play too conservatively and throw away hands that don't look good at first, and then when I get something good I get too aggressive and either win too small of a pot, or run it up with someone who has better cards and I lose it.

Anyone else play on Yahoo? I love to play Cribbage and Backgammon there. bryanthompson03.

[cantdrv55]

I'm going to a poker tournament Saturday night. Come along and play. It's only $20 plus food. Practice makes perfect.

[cstreit]

Vash,

Unfortunately even playing free poker at the various sites like partypoker.com and empire, etc.. etc.. isn't going to teach you much. The free players are so wild and so bad that the money swings and hands that you play are not realistic.

You best bet is to play real money either in a casino or on-line to get an idea how the real game works. You'll probably start out with low-limit games where the players are wilder and the suckouts are frequent, so expect big swings...

Tournaments are another story entirely. No-limit poker is a VERY different game from limit poker. Each has it's own set of skills.

I recommend starting with some good books, most of the poker pro's have them out, but I recommend TJ Cloutier's books for no-limit and Sklansky's books for limit poker.

[tabs]

Originally posted by kumma
You will soon figure out the aggressive players take the most pots.

LOL......When can we get together for a game....

I presume that you mean Texas Holdem....

Two Types of Betting.....Structured...which the limit of the bet is set and All In....Where the limit of your bet is the amount of chips in front of you....With Low Limit games people tend to chase cards to make their hands...it's cheap...the higher the limit the less LIKELY to chase..

You play....AA, AK suited, KK, AQ suited, AK..these are definite raising hand before the flop...and especially in late position...after everybody or nearly everybody has bet...Here your position or turn in betting is important...you want everyone to have acted before you raise...the best case is if someone does the raising for you...then your power hand remains hidden...you just call..

AJ, A10, KQ,KJ,K10, QJ, Q10, J10.....of course suited is better...I will play Q9 suited, J9 Suited...and sometimes if bored 10,9 suited...but these are limp in hands....I play
any pocket pair....under a pair of 77's are limp in hands...and folded after the flop if not helped...also I will play down to A2 suited until the flop if you can limp in...cause if a flush in your suit is floped you got the nutz...with the A...

For instance if you hold KK and A,5, J unsuited are floped you better start thinking FOLD...especially if someone ahead of you bets....cause he's more than likely holding an A....for a pair of AA...

Any time you see a pair on the board get turned on the flop or turn cards think Full House...or 3 cards suited a flush......then you have to watch the betting....I will sandbag my hand if I'm Full early and let ole Kumma do the betting for me...

The fewer people you hve playing at the table the further down the scale of playable hands you can go...

If you notice I generally don't play lower cards than a 10...this is the importance of a KICKER say you have A8 and A , J, 3 unsuited are floped than a 6 and a 9...your oponent at the end of the hand throws over AQ which wins over your A8...your low kicker with the A just cost you money...

Now you need unlimited patience...to throw away hands until the cards start to fall your way...I have sat for 15 hours straight without playing much of anything...

I play with the Las Vegas LOCALS....aka Vultures.....if you can beat a locals game consistantly you can beat anything.... These guys go down to the strip on weekends and wait for the TOURISTS who come to town to play POKER...These guys call it "going to work"....cause it's like picking up a paycheck for them...

The old adage is if you can't tell who the sucker is at a table within 1/2 an hour your the sucker....I can tell who the sucker is and it's ME!

[tabs]

When palying 7 CARD STUD....you gotta count cards....it's also more volitile of a game...you can control your money much easier in Holdem....being $400 or $500 down in a 4/8 Stud game is easy to do...wheras it's a $100 to $200 in the same limit Holdem..

[cstreit]

Good descriptions tabby... your position in the hand is also important. Certain hands you may play in "late" position (last to act) that you might not play in early position as well...

...as for the patience thing, you're right on. An old poker pro once said that he considered cutting holes in his pockets so he could play with him self while waiting... Panic and boredom.

[tabs]

Hey I know that guy...

[smoak]

My philosophy is patience is a virtue in life and it the way of life in no limit hold em. It really sucks to sit there and muck your cards over and over again while you watch inside straights hit to your folded cards and 20-1 5th street flushes come up, but being patient and playing hands that you are comfortable with is key while you are learning. Once your game improves with your increased patience then you begin to play more marginal hands and develop your own style. Everyone has there own style of poker. The key at any table is to get some kind of read on what styles the folks sitting around you are. Over time, learning this information will pay very large dividends in the pots that you rake. You powers of observation and patience are a no-limit poker players best tools. Those skills with some luck here and there will typically lend themselves to some money making at the table.

Also, on-line poker is just plain frustrating. Much more difficult to "read" players on the internet and patience wears thin when you see some of the loose play. I've played tables of varying buyins and find the internet to be equally frustrating. My best advice for internet poker, DONT PLAY. If you have to, well, all I can say is good luck. I don't know many who are being honest with you that are up over the long run of internet poker. There are some who make the jump and do very well, Gavin Griffin last year at the WSOP for one, but they are not the norm.

Try to find as many live ring games to get into with lower buyins. You might lose in the beginning but you will learn the game as you keep playing and keep telling yourself that your goal is to keep watching everyone with a lot of patience.

[tabs]

I just love it when, you have your rush after hours of play and it nets $36.00....and another good player btw sits down a little later and in 1/2 an hour rqacks up $260.00 on his rush...(the dynamic of the game changed from tight to loose).

[lendaddy]

Good info from Tabs and Chris. Hold em is unique, and aggressive is a bad way to play your cards regardless. Now that doesn't mean you're not playing the game aggressively, if that makes any sense. OK, in limit you can almost think of the game like blackjack, it's all numbers, play a standard way and you'll get repeatable results. No Limit is a whole different ballgame, and it has very little to do with the cards. You do not need cards to win at no limit, but it helps. The trick is getting the table to believe you are either loose or tight without actually being so. Bide your time till the moment is right and strike. Sounds alot more glamorous than it is Like the other guys said, patience.

[lendaddy]

Also, DO NOT play online for real money. Unless it's so little it doesn't affect you. And be sure you have the self control to stay small ($ wise) if you do. KNow your self

The reasons for this are many and obvious, but the biggest one is you cannot ead people nearly as well. Go to a casino with a cash game and play live. Best time is just after the bars close or slowdown, the idiot drunks will come in and play loose-as-hell. It's usually easy money (easier would be a better term).

[Moses]

Poker is all about probability and statistics. If you don't have solid mathmatical instincts you might have a short gambling career chasing inside straights while the other guy is showing four to a flush.

[legion]

I play Texas Hold'em once a month with my college friends. $5 to buy in, go until one winner owns the whole pot. I play very aggressively. This means that I either win big, or flame out very quickly. Last time we played (eight of us playing), I won two out of the three pots.

Statistics are useful, psychology is more useful.

The first game I intentionally threw out certain "tells". I stayed consistent until the end, when I could use them to bluff. Fortunately, I never had to show my cards when bluffing, so no one discovered the ruse. The second game I intentionally mixed up my "tells" left and right, so no one knew what I was doing...

It is useful to characterize other players. Some are conservative, some are aggressive, and some are crazy. The crazy ones (read: unpredictable) are the hardest to beat.

[cstreit]

Originally posted by legion
Statistics are useful, psychology is more useful.

I'm going to disagree with that... Each hand you play in poker is an investment. Calling for a 20:1 drawwhen your bet or call is 30% of the pot is NOT profitable long term. You must know and play the odds.

Pot odds is the essence of poker, whether limit or no-limit. Psychology does seperate the men from the boys though. However in low limit games is practically useless to try and "read" players because they are generally so bad that they play unpredictably and rarely play anything but the two cards in their hand...

[MikeSid]

Watch "Rounders".
Nothing wins pre-flop.
And just 'cuz yer sailing a boat don't mean it's a yacht. In Hold'em, if there's a full house, there's often two. Be sure you're holding the big boat.

[kumma]

Originally posted by tabs
LOL......When can we get together for a game....

I presume that you mean Texas Holdem....

Of course I mean texas holdem.

Last time I tried to be aggressive at omaha it was the shortest tournament I played in. A much different game and more enjoyable in my opinion than hold em.

[Milu]

There used to be a book called the education of a poker player that gave a good explanation of the probabilities in poker.