Capitalizing On The Check-Raise – Poker Pro Series

2010 Feb 23

Capitalizing On The Check-Raise

Poker Pro Series

The check-raise is one of the stronger moves a player can make in poker game.

The play sends an instant message to an opponent that you either have a strong hand or that you’re putting them to the test, and are forcing the action in an attempt to take the pot from them.

Properly utilized, the check-raise will be dependent on the situation in which you find yourself.

Sometimes it’s a play to steal the pot, while other times it will be used to defend a lead you may have.

On rare occasions you can even use the play to build the pot when you have a monster hand.

Check-raising to steal the pot is best attempted against an opponent who can easly be forced off a medium-to-weak-strength hand.

Check-raising novice or loose players when you have nothing will often get you in trouble because those players are much less likely to fold their hands.

They don’t give you credit for a hand, and you’ll be in a tough situation out of position after the next street.

Save the check-raise moves for players whom you expect to take a stab at the pot with weak holdings if no one has raised the action before them.

When you check-raise an opponent who is trying to make a move for the pot, you’ll almost always pick it up right there.

If you do get called, you can either fire another barrel at the pot or you can get off the hand and hopefully you’ll get a free card from your opponent if they also decide to check.

The type of opponent you’re in the hand with should help you determine whether or not to make another bet into your opponent after they called the first one.

Flopping the lead in a hand, when you’re out of position, is usually a situation where you should consider the check-raise.

Unless you have the nut hand, your hand will be vulnerable somehow.

To bet into your opponent or opponents will rarely be to your advantage.

Betting your hand for value in this situation creates a lot of question marks if you get called.

But a check-raise will tell you where you’re going to get your action from, and after your check-raise you’ll most likely win more than you would have if you decided to bet out your big hand right away.

This type of situation usually requires that you have a big lead, and that you make a big raise so that any drawing opponents will have to make a bad play to stay in the hand against you.

Make sure that possible straight and flush draws pay at least the size of the pot to draw another card.

Get your chips in there when you have the best of it, and don’t wait until they draw out to a bigger hand before you make your move.

When you are in an aggressive situation, like heads up or shorthanded games with aggressive players, check-raising to build a pot can be a tricky way to get an opponent to play when they normally may not have.

If the action has been going back and forth between you and another player, check-rasing would look more like a weak move than a strong one.

It looks like you’re just trying a re-steal, and players with big cards will give you action because they feel you’re just trying to push them around.

You’ll be able to value bet all the way to the river, getting called by an opponent who doesn’t believe that you would have check-raised with a big hand in that situation.

by Dean Stone

So don’t forget to apply what you learn, and win big time at Odds Maker Poker Room…

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Posted by mOrrI in Poker Online

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The Key To Winning Poker

2009 Dec 28

Playing aggressive isn’t just about throwing in big raises and making wild bets.
It means putting in those raises and bets with value when the situation is right.

What’s one attribute that most successful poker players possess?
Is it the ability to read people?
A knowledge of number?
A good grasp of the fundamentals of the game?
The best answer to that question is actually “aggression”.

If you want to be a winning poker player you must be aggressive.
A lot of bad poker players find it hard to be aggressive at the table, and their passive tendencies make them fish bait for the sharks.
Some people say you can’t teach a poker player to be aggressive because it’s a natural instinct.
However, if you sat down a fish with a pro and showed him how being aggressive helps him win, it would definitely help them see why it’s so important.

Before we get too far let’s explain the difference between playing aggressive and playing like a donk.
Playing aggressive isn’t just about throwing in big raises and making wild bets.
That’s plain stupid play, not aggressive play.
Being aggressive means putting in those raises and bets with value when the odds are in your favor, or you think you can bluff the pot, or you’ve picked up a tell from your opponent that you can exploit.
Playing like a donk is throwing in a huge bet with no reasoning to back that bet up.
This would include chasing improbable draws and trying to bluff at the wrong time.

Playing aggressive will give you an advantage over your opponent because it puts all the pressure on them.
They have to make all their decisions in reaction to your moves.
By putting this preasure on your opponent you open up more instances in which they might make a mistake and pay you off.

There are three things that playing aggressive will do to help your game…

Reduces the number of players – When you’re always betting and raising nobody can check or call a small bet to get a free or cheap card.
This should limit the number of players playing against you, unless you’re up against a bunch of donks.
The number of players you are up against makes a big difference no matter what cards you are holding.
You’ll hear some donks say that by betting and raising you’re keeping the pot from growing.
This is actually false, and it doesn’t matter how big the pot is if you allow players with crap cards to tag along to the river cheap, only for them to get lucky and beat you with a hand you could have made them fold by betting.
Increases the pot size – Playing aggressive really does keep the pot growing.
If you’re repeatedly betting and raising it will make it harder for other players to know when you’re playing a strong hand and when you’re bluffing with garbage.
Since you’re hard to read you will receive more calls when you bet big instead of having everyone fold, leaving you only the blinds.
Think of it like this: “Two players calling a bet of $100 creates a bigger pot than four players calling a bet of $25″.
You can win two ways – If you’re betting and raising you can win two different ways.
You can either win with the best hand or you can win by causing everyone else to fold.
If you’re not aggressive no one will ever fold to your bets and you’ll only win when you have the best hand.
That’s playing by luck instead of skill.
Remember the old adage – “luck fades, skills doesn’t”.

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Posted by mOrrI in Poker Online

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Poker Rookie – Dealing With Maniacs

2009 Jul 16

I came across this great poker article, writen by David Harrison.

I’m posting this here because it explains, in a clear way how to deal with all those rookies that enter the poker rooms…

So read a long… enjoy…

One of the hardest things to deal with at the poker table is the play of a “maniac”.
A poker maniac will play any hand, and dump raise after raise on the table even when the cards call for a fold.
Going up against a maniac can be frustrating becayse they’re so dificult to read, and it can be impossible to know if they’re holding pocket Aces or 7-2.

Poker maniacs usually fall into one of two categories.
They’re either a brilliant tactician who actually knows exactly what they’re doing and plays ultra-aggressive, but still very smart.
Then there’s the idiot maniac who flies by the seat of his pants and might as well be flipping a coin to make his decisions.
If you’re playing at low liimits, most of the maniacs you’ll come across will more likely fall into the idiot category.

Many inexperienced poker players end up getting beat up by a maniac because they don’t know how to deal with them.

The wrong approach to take is to go after the maniac with their own game.
Unless you can be even more aggressive than the maniac, or get lucky over and over, butting heads with a maniac head-on isn’t smart poker because you’re not always playing with the odds in your favor.

If your opponent is going into a hand with junk and you’re going after him with more junk, you’re not giving yourself any kind of advantage to stick it to him like you really want.
Don’t even bother attempting a bluff with a maniac.
If they’re willing to make or call a raise with a hand you don’t even feel comfortable checking with, then why would you expect them to run from whatever large bet you make?

Toppling a maniac takes patience to wait for hands that you can bet with confidence, and we mean bet big.

To successfully battle a maniac you need to be very aggressive when you’ve got good cards.
You need to bleed out as many chips as you can when you make a hand, so throw in large bets and hope that the maniac continues to play crazy, either he calls you, or if you’re real lucky he will throw in a raise.
Even if you do somehow force the psycho into folding, at least the chips are going your way.

The most important thing to remember when confronting a poker maniac is to avoid going on tilt at all costs.
Putting other players on tilt, and causing them to make bad plays and bad bets, is how the maniac makes money at the poker tables.
Maniacs are going to get lucky sometimes, and a lot of the time it seems like they get cards more than everyone else at the table, even though they probably aren’t.

Even if a poker maniac flops a 7 and turns over a 2 when he’s holding 7-2 versus your pocket Aces (yes this actually happens!), you still have to keep your cool or you’d be better off handling over your entire stack without playing another hand.
Don’t chase down improbable draws just because you have a chance to bust a maniac if you hit it.

Remember keep you cool, keep your head on straight, and use the poker maniac’s outlandish play again them.

Good Luck! © by David Harrison

Hope this information was of good value to you, and that you learn something about this type of poker player… the poker maniac type…
So, if you also want to know of a great place to get some fine poker experience, you should give a drop by the best and most innovative online poker room that offers great poker action to their players, checkout OddsMaker Online Poker Room!…

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Posted by mOrrI in Poker News, Poker Online

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Cool Video Poker Tips

2009 Jul 15

Sometimes I feel like just playing some video poker…
Yes, it’s very different from playing online poker against other people…
Never the less the excitement of doubling out the money is really nice….
So I remembered to leave here some Cool Video Poker Tips:

Take your time to work out your strategy
Know the pay tables to maximize your winning potential
Know your cards. Learn which combinations are the best to win the maximum.
The Jack is key! By holding a Jack over an Ace you’ll have better winning opportunities.
Never draw five cards if you have a Jack or better.

Enjoy… I off to play some poker at Bet US Poker….

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