Often overlooked, this fundamental question must be answered before you can pursue your dream of becoming a long-term successful poker player.

A poker player’s decision as to where he/she is going to play poker is perhaps the most important decision affecting the player’s enjoyment of the game and his/her bankroll. Generally speaking, a player has four possible venues to choose from, they are:

1) Online poker sites

2) Casinos/Local Poker Rooms

3) Home games with family & friends

4) Local Charity/Fund-raising tournaments

Each of these four venues has their own unique plusses and minuses to be considered. One venue may be best for Player ‘A’, but not necessarily a good choice for Player ‘B’. The correct venue is relative to your personality, bankroll, and skill level.

Let’s take a look at each of the four venues more closely, and discuss the characteristics of each. I will be speaking in broad generalities which are consistent wherever where you live, but you should realize geography plays an important role in venue selection. Gambling laws vary from one locale to another, so please research the laws in your area and play within those laws. With that caveat in place, let’s examine online poker first.

ONLINE POKER

Without a doubt, online poker’s popularity has exploded in recent years; so much so, the Federal government has placed limits on the ability of US players to move money to and from the poker sites. These restraints pose a real problem for poker players, and several player associations are trying to fight these restrictions. The future of online poker laws is uncertain at this time. A full discussion of the legalities of online poker is beyond the scope of this article, but I encourage all poker players to do their research before you jump into online play.

Pros of Online Poker:

- The best thing about playing poker online is the ability to play from the comfort of your own home any time you wish. Sites such as PokerStars, Full-Tilt, Ultimate Bet, etc. will literally have tens of thousands of eager players online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Whenever you are ready to play, you will have no problem finding an available game.

- Online play allows the player to play a wide variety of games. If you would like to take a break from Texas Hold’em and have the urge to play Omaha, Stud, Razz, Horse, or virtually any other game you can think of, the online sites will accommodate you.

- Another benefit to playing online is that you can play any stakes you are comfortable with. If you are conservative, or just starting out, you can play for as little as a few pennies a hand. If you are looking for an adrenaline rush, you can play for as much as several thousands of dollars. The sites will offer a wide variety stakes in between these two extremes as well.

- Finally, because the online sites keep the games moving quickly, you can improve your game by playing a high volume of hands in a relatively short period of time. More experienced players may play multiple games at the same time. These players are seeing an extraordinary number of hands per hour.

Cons of Online Poker:

- Online poker can quickly become addictive. Online poker addiction can have severe negative consequences for the player’s physical, emotional, professional, and financial well-being. An addicted player will often start staying up all night playing while ignoring his need for sleep. This may lead to emotional problems and ultimately lead to a strain on the player’s home and professional life. A player must be vigilant to remember poker is not as important as family, friends, or your career away from poker.

- The online player may also become a victim of cheating while playing online. The poker sites try to catch cheaters through the use of sophisticated software that monitors play and looks for irregularities, and I believe they are partially successful in these efforts; however, it cannot be denied some cheating goes on without be caught. The problem for the individual poker player is that he can never be certain he is not being cheated. The poker world was a buzz last year when the media reported the scandal involving UltimateBet and Absolute Poker. Some cheating occurs between the players themselves when two or more players gang up on an unsuspecting player through the use of telephone communication while the hands are being played out. If your opponent has more information about the hole cards than you do, you are at a significant disadvantage.

- Because poker is played quickly online, the less skillful player will likely lose more of his bankroll online than if he played elsewhere. If a losing player plays more, he will naturally lose more over the long run.

CASINO POKER

For this discussion, I will consider full service casinos (which you are likely to encounter in Las Vegas or Atlantic City) and local Poker Rooms (commonly found at Kennel Clubs, Horse Racetracks, or other Pari-Mutual facilities) to be one in the same. The size and degree of sophistication may be greater at a full service casino, but Poker Rooms have come far in recent years and can offer similar services to a poker player. Each facility provides the tables, chips, dealers, and pit bosses to manage play, and each provides a comfortable atmosphere for the players to enjoy. In exchange for providing these services, the ‘house’ will rake the pots or charge you an hourly fee to play (more on this later).

Pros of Casino Poker:

- Casinos/Poker Rooms typically do a good job at offering the player a comfortable environment to play. As more and more card rooms spring up, they realize they must compete for your business; therefore, you are likely to be treated well because the casino would like you to become a regular player at their facility.

- A player can be relatively confident the games will be run by professionals. The entire staff from the dealers to drink servers know their jobs (and their tips) depend on providing the players with excellent service.

- Casinos and card rooms are generally conveniently located within a community, and they are open 12 or more hours a day seven days a week. On short notice, a player can head off to the casino and expect to find plenty of action. Texas Hold’em is king at casinos, but other games are offered when enough players are available to fill a table.

Cons of Casino Poker

- Playing at a casino can be an expensive experience. A casino has considerable expenses, and must recoup these expenses through a ‘rake’. Some card rooms charge an hourly fee to play, say -12 per hour per seat. Others will take a percentage of each pot, or a percentage of the total tournament entry fees. A house rake of 10-20% is not unusual and must be overcome to be a long-term winner. A player must also be mindful that good etiquette dictates the player should tip the dealers and servers for the service they provide. These tips will add to the cost of playing at a casino.

- Another pitfall to playing at a poker room is that you may be the victim of a couple of ‘regulars’ who team up to soak the new fish that sits down at their table. Players can communicate their holdings through subtle hand signals which puts the unsuspecting player at a disadvantage.

HOME POKER GAMES

Every night in America there are thousands of home poker games underway between families and friends. Poker requires very few supplies to host a game, and these items are readily available through the internet. You can start playing at the kitchen table and eventually move up to a true poker table complete with drink holders, padded rails, and a felt playing surface. The next thing you will need is a good case of poker chips, a 500 count set of 11.5 gram (or higher) chips will be adequate for up to 9 players. The final and most important item you need for the home poker game is a setup (two decks) of 100% plastic playing cards. Expect to invest between -25 per setup for quality cards.

Pros of Home Poker Games

- The one big advantage home poker has over venues of play is that you can pick and choose the players you play with. Typically, a group of 3 or 4 hard core players will decide to start a home game and they will invite their friends and family to play. This selection process nearly assures a group of players that get along well with each other. Chances of a loud or obnoxious player being invited to the game are minimal. The more harmonious the game is, the more you will enjoy playing there.

- A home game fosters social networking which may lead to new professional relationships as well. You may make a helpful contact with a lawyer, accountant, contractor, etc. through poker. – Home games are great opportunities for husbands and wives, fathers and sons, etc. to share some quality time while playing poker. – Generally speaking, little (if any) ‘rake’ is taken from a home game which means the money stays where it belongs, with the players!

Cons of Home Poker Games

- Don’t fool yourself, organizing and hosting a home game can be a lot of work. If you are the host, you must be prepared to make calls, provide a place to park and play, provide the snacks and drinks, as well as the cleanup afterwords.

- A potential problem with home game poker is that in some localities, it may be against the law to wager money while playing. You must research and abide by the laws in your community.

- In a worst case scenario, a disagreement make break out in the card game which ultimately leads to a dissolved friendship or hurt feelings. All the players must be respectful of each other and sensitive to each others needs.

CHARITY/FUND RAISING POKER

In these turbulent economic times, some well known charitable organizations have turned to hosting poker tournaments to bring in much needed funds. Some private schools are even hosting poker games to supplement their scholarship funds. A poker player can give back to his community by supporting these events.

Pros of Charity/Fund Raising Poker

- Charity tournaments can be great social events which bring together large number of poker players to support the cause. Somehow, it is more palatable to pay an ‘entry fee’ than it is to write a donation check!

- The skill level of the players that show up to these events is poor. Playing good poker is secondary in the minds of many players to having a good time while supporting a good cause. This mentality presents an opportunity for the skillful player to “clean up’ at the expense of the social players. Depending on the size of the tournaments, the payouts can be significant. You may be able to parlay a entry fee into a ,000 pay day for winning.

Cons of Charity/Fund raising Poker

- The biggest problem with these type of poker games is the lack of professional management by the event organizers. A serious player can quickly become irritated when a tournament starts a half hour late, or he gets seated at a table with an inexperienced dealer, etc. Violations of the rules and etiquette of the game are commonplace at fund raisers.

- The ‘rake’ can be quite high at these events. Remember, the primary reason the charity organization hosting the game in the first place is their desire to raise money. A rake of 25-40% is not unusual at these games which is unacceptably high to a player trying to boost his bankroll.

- A word of caution regarding the legality of these games, the charities often believe they are immune from compliance with local laws regarding gambling, but the sheriff doesn’t always agree! Do your homework before deciding to play in fund raisers so you can make an informed decision.

SUMMARY

Let me restate my original premise that deciding where to play poker is perhaps the most critical decision a player must make and will have the greatest impact on the players’ bankroll. There is no right or wrong answer to this question, you must decide which venue is best for your situation. In my opinion, the player that plays only occasionally and just wants to have a good time should probably head over to a casino and enjoy the atmosphere and service. However, if you want to build your bankroll, I recommend finding a few good home games with little or no rake. These games will provide you with the best opportunities to make money in the long run.

Now let’s go play some poker!

Playing HORSE poker involves playing five different poker games, Limit Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Razz, Stud and Stud Hi-Lo, throughout the course of the game. Boost general poker skills by playing this multi-game event with instructions from an experienced card player in this free video on poker games. Expert: Dean Hale Contact: www.wearehdtv.com Bio: Dean Hale has been playing board games and card games for over three decades. Hale and his family spend a lot of quality time playing games. Filmmaker: Christopher Rokosz

fulltiltpokerrigged.blogspot.com officialpokerrankings.com I believe my poker skills are slightly above average. I can go play in a live casino and make money greater than 50% of the time. I also can sit in a tournament for an hour or two, and not win a hand. I realize poker has its ups and downs. Well, background information: I played on and off on Full Tilt for a while, mainly just for fun. I deposited or so to play in one of their guarantee tournaments. Basically I grew that money to upwards of k and then lost a few hundred playing cash PLO. For some reason I could do well(at first…cashed in 6 of 9 tournaments played)in tourney’s, but never could hit anything in cash. I was playing .25/.50, so I would just rebuy on and on. I then told myself F cash games, I’m strictly playing tourney’s. What do you know, I kept on losing early and often…..which in live tourney’s I can usually last to the latter parts of the tournament……On Full Tilt, I kept on getting big made hands and then losing on the river to two pair and straights. One instance, I would flop middle set, I bet it, guy moves all in with top pair and draws out a straight. I know this stuff happens in real live poker, but really, tournament after tournament I am getting knocked out on the river. It won’t end. Finally I was down to my last and I searched for Full Tilt Rigged on google. I came about this blog……fulltiltpokerrigged.blogspot.com it was ridiculous how true some of the things he …
Video Rating: 3 / 5

In this free online poker strategy example we’re looking at the situation and options open to players in head to head play where both believe they have the best hand and both elect to slow play. This could be called Trap vs Trap.

To illustrate the lesson we’ll look at the situation by example. For the example we’ll use a truly critical hand example, a WSOP final table head to head.

The scene:

BLINDS 100k/200k, ante 30k

PREFLOP:

A has Ks-10s, raises to 400k

B has As-Ad, calls 200k

A’s raise is standard for K-10, which isn’t as weak in short-handed play as in a complete table.

B might have reraised A, but A might fold. B may be worried provided that the Flop came up paired like J-J-7, but B thinks that a continuation test bet will detect if A has a hand after the Flop.

Reraising preflop and this test bet has the same effect of making A fold if A has not got anything, but calling not only conceals A’s hand strength, but also makes it dangerous for B to bet if a King or a Ten comes.

FLOP: Kc-5c-3h

B checks

A bets 525k

B raises to 1.45m

A calls 875k (Pot now 3.76m)

Now A suddenly had top pair which he may think is the best hand!

B checks, again to conceal hand strength.

A bets to build the pot, then B raises.

A may interpret B’s raise as being a bluff because he may think B is drawing (note the two Clubs) or that B might have a smaller pair, say, A-5 or A-3.

A just calls because he’s now the one looking to trap.

TURN: Kc-5c-3h-6s

B bets 1.5m

The 3-Flush didn’t come. B’s bet will now be challenging A.

If A folds, B still wins a significant pot. If A calls or reraises, B can push him all-in if action comes back to B.

A’s trap seems to be working up to now. Now B might have decided that A is still on a Flush draw with perhaps a small Pair, say Ac-3c.

In addition, because preflop A concealed his hand strength well (just smooth-calling), B can believe that A also has a King, but with a weaker kicker.

Now he is convinced that A is preparing to call anything he hauls in the middle, and he also thinks his trap is working. So what does he do?

A moves All In

B calls 3.6m (Pot now around 14 million)

Both think their traps are working! In poker, the bigger the hands, the higher the chips in front.

Both did well in protecting the balance building the pot and disguising hand strength, but only one hand can win.

A can only win with a river King or Ten.

RIVER: Kc-5c-3h-6s-10c (!)

A wins! But had A carried on trapping through to the river with this river card, it’s still the same. Both still have big hands, both are willing to trap, and both are prepared to ravenously hoard each other’s chips once the chance arises.

Summary of the Trap vs Trap

Take time to read and thoroughly grasp the principles behind this article. Make an effort to consider the concepts behind what’s going on with this example and consider strategies to put these lessons into your own play.

Poker, while not so difficult to learn if very difficult to make a living from, or, indeed, not lose money at most of the time!

But if (and when) you figure out how to play online poker well then you will make some great money. Why?

It’s because 80% or more players won’t ever make this sort of play level.

So you, if you can get to a good standard will do very well very easily. You don’t have to be a TV pro to make good money in poker!

The fact that most players are at such a low quality ensures that when you hunt/play them on free online poker or low stakes sites you’ll be able to clean up.

HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON 5 Episode 12
Video Rating: 4 / 5

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Many people sit around and play stud poker in their homes and in casinos. However, if you are mainly an at home player you may not be playing by the rules that you will see at an online poker room or in a casino. This could be very bad, if you start playing and make a big mistake that can hurt your pocketbook. The best way to ensure you are ready to play is by learning the rules of stud poker. All casinos offline and online use the same basic rules of play. This article will give you the basics for playing 7-card stud poker, even though there are other varieties such as 5-card stud poker.

The way in which the game of 7 card Stud Poker is played is that each player begins by putting the ante in the center of the table. This is normally a predetermined amount of money set by the casino or online poker room.

Once everyone has anted the dealer begins with the player on his or her left and deals two cards down and one card face up to each player. The player that has the lowest card face up begins the betting, known as the “bring in”. The betting goes around the table in clockwise fashion until every player has made their bet with each player either calling, raising the bet, or folding.

After this round of betting, the dealer deals the fourth card to every player that is still in the game, meaning they have not folded. Now, the player with the best hand showing begins the betting. Then the betting goes around the table again with players once again calling, raising, or folding.

The next card or fifth card is dealt to each player face up with another round of betting as before. Then the sixth card is dealt face up with a round of betting. The last card or seventh card is dealt by the dealer to each player that has not folded face down.

The players after this have another round of betting and then show their hand, known as the showdown. The winner is the one with the best 5-card hand. Each card that is dealt is also referred as street such as Fourth Street instead of the fourth card and so on until reaching Seventh Street or the seventh card.

Of course, this is just the basic game play, in order to play poker well, you must learn all about the rankings and what hands beat which hands. You may think that you have a great hand just because you have 2 pair, however, if another player has 3 of a kind or a full house, you will loose. The better you are at learning the rankings and the way in which to play the various types of poker games, the more likely you are to bring in some winnings.

Single Table Tournaments, STTs, Sit and go, Sit n go, SNGs and all other nicknames refer to the same thing, a type of Texas hold em poker where the player ‘buys in’ to the tournament for a set fee, receives the equal amounts of chips and then battles to be the last one standing.

Sit and Go poker tournaments are extremely convenient for the poker players at beginner’s level as they have a set fee only unlike cash tables with no limits. Also this type of Poker is quick to play.

If you are a beginner it is always better to start from lowest stakes table and gradually build up the budget once you are comfortable with the game.  Also, as these Single Table Tournaments are ‘freeze-out tournaments’, so these are the best for beginner level players. The term ‘freeze-out’ means that the player cannot re-buy into the game if he loses his chips. So the worst that can happen is that a poker beginner can only lose his buy-in fee.

The following section gives you few Sit and Go tips to poker beginners and will help you to learn sit n go poker.

As a beginner you should always play to your level and should not enter expensive tournaments where the skill level of other players will be high. The other reason to avoid these tournaments is that it will affect your confidence and can drain any enjoyment out of the game.

Don’t engage yourself in making silly bets. In the beginning you should always fold any poor hands and play tight.  At this stage it is extremely important to act in position and use control to your advantage, as well as preserving your all important chips.

As the game progresses and few players are knocked down it is a time for you to loosen up and start bluffing and play weaker hands. The key at this point is survival. So keep on taking as many pots as possible to ensure you can keep paying for your blinds and stay in the tournament.  Most of the profit in a sit n go tournament will come from opponents making mistakes at the bubble. Bubble can be defined as the point where there is just one opponent to go before the paying places begin.

And if you are lucky to get to the last two or three players, then that’s the time to get really aggressive. Use the chips you have to lead the betting and start reading the opposition rather than simply relying on the cards you have in your hand.

And remember, that you won’t be able to win every Sit and Go tournament, but as long as you stick to the games with low buy ins, you can pick yourself up and give it another go without wasting your precious money.

There is always some aspect of the poker player’s game that can be improved. So at the end of play, always look back at the hands you played well and the ones which could have been played better. The more you practice the better the chance of you winning more. So look for the best poker school online and start honing your poker skills and improve your poker play.

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Lets check out some of the key advantages to playing online:

One of the key advantages of poker on the web is that its global, people from all over the world are playing and there is always someone up for a game 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This is great it makes it easy to play when you want to especially if you want to play some sit and go games.

Because of the volume of online poker players the choice of game and tournament options is almost never ending. Compared to playing against friends at home or playing in a casino or card room where you are tied to the type of game everyone wants to play, picking online gives you the opportunity to decide how you want to play by the value of the game, or number of players or loads of other options.

So there is nothing on tv and you fancy a bit of poker, instead of phoning around to see if anyone is about, getting ready and getting yourself out the house, fire up the computer and you can be playing in 10 mins. All you need is to be signed up with one of the trusted online poker rooms. Good news is they almost all offer bonuses to new sign ups and you can find them all here.

Loads of beginners play online, in fact players at all levels play which is great for finding games you will be well matched to. Pretty much all the online poker sites offer pretend money games, which you can play just for fun.

Of course if the chance to win some cold hard cash is more your style then playing poker is ideal. You can of course play several tables at once if you like to improve your hourly earnings. Or if you’re a beginner sit at your computer with a list of tips and our hand guide open to guide you through. As long as you know the basics and stay patient anyone can win online. Brush up on your skills with our free videos here.

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