Online Poker Playing Heads-Up

Play Heads-Up

Seize The Showdown

If you want to win poker tournaments you’ve got to be a skilled heads-up poker player.
It hurts more to make it all the way to heads-up and finish second, than it does to be the first player out of a tournament.
Remember, a second-place finish in a World Series of Poker event pays less and doesn’t come with the infamy of winning a WSOP bracelet.

With the advent of online poker rooms such as the OddsPoker Room, you can now practice your heads-up play whenever you want without grinding through an entire tournament and hoping luck occasionally finds you.
All poker rooms offer one-on-one heads-up tourneys or multi-table heads-up tourneys in which you can test your heads-up skills.

When you finally get down to just yourself and one other player in a poker tournament, it’s time to change gears.
Heads-up play should be played differently than how you would play a table with three or more players.
The worst thing you can do is continue playing the same way, especially if you were playing tight.
Tight play should be abandoned when you reach heads-up.

Winning while playing heads-up is all about one thing… Aggression!
If you’re not aggressive you’ll need luck to win, and you’ll likely end up getting repeatedly crushed by your opponents.
Scared money never lasts because once your opponent picks up on your tame play, they’ll run over you with big bets.
Since there’s just the two of you, most flops will be a dud for both players.
You need to be aggressive because the only way to win a pot it to have the best hand or cause your opponent to fold.
Don’t give your opponent free cards and free looks at the flop.
Be aggressive and make them pay to play.

One thing a lot of beginner poker players don’t realize is that the value of your starters changes considerably in a heads-up situation.
This about how valuable a hand like Q-8 whould be on a full table…
It isn’t really a hand you would want to play very often.
However, in heads-up play the general consensus is that you want to play any hand that has a vaule of Q-7 or higher.
Experts (and a computer) have worked out that hands valued Q-7 or higher will win more than 50% of the time during heads-up play.

This leads to two other important aspects of heads-up play:
Trapping, and reading your opponent.
By varying your play you can trap your opponent when you have the nuts and bleed a ton of chips out of him.
By occasionally betting and raising with nothing, this will make it harder to read your play when you actually have a hand.

While making your own bluffs and traps, carefully observe your opponent for betting patterns, tells and other gateways.

How often do they raise?
Do they only raise preflop with certain cards?
How often do they call your raise?
Do they call your raise with draws or with made hands?

Answering these questions will help you make the right decision when it’s your turn to act.

One last tip on heads-up play:
Don’t be afraid to occasionally chase flush and straight draws if it won’t cost you too much.
If you hit these draws heads-up they’ll often pay off big and make you more money then you will lose when occasionally chasing.

So remember these poker tips about heads-up when you play online poker!
I also would like to remember you that OddsPoker is offering 7 x $200 Daily Freerolls!!!

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Pick Your Pleasure

The game of poker has changed in many ways over the last few years.

In the past table selection was a simple skill for anyone to learn.

But in online poker, especially Texas Holdem, the game has become increasingly difficult to beat.

This makes table selection even more important than it’s ever been if you want to gain an edge on the competition.

Years ago, good table selection came down to finding action players who were willing to dump chips, and then playing tight style against them until they were cleaned out.

The modern game has so many aggressive players that this strategy no longer works, and a new approach to table selection is required to maximize your changes of winning.

What you are looking for in today’s games are the loose-passive players, otherwise known as calling machines.

These players have little skill and depend on the cards they are dealt to play the game.

They like to play as many hands as they can limp into and rarely display any moves or bluff at pots.

The best way to find these players is to watch for tables that have a high viewed-flop percentage.

More players in the pot means more calling machines playing any two cards in hopes of hitting a flop.

Multi-way hands also give you better pot odds when you have a big draw, and timely position bets will often take down small pots when your limping opponents miss.

Another Good way to find weak players is to have a time-zone sheet with you.

Lots of players like to come home from the bar and get on their computer to play poker in the wee hours of the morning after a night of partying.

You can track what time it is for any opponent by looking at where an opponent is from, and if the hours match up to 2 am or later, and that player is dumping chips, you will know it is likely because he or she has over-indulged prior to the session.

There are no bigger fish than drunken fish, and trying to find these players will almost always be profitable.

Another type of player that will often be easy to beat is a player with a short stack.

If a new player sits at your table and doesn’t buy-in for the maximum, or they have a stack with change, you know they are likely at the end if their bankroll and have everything with them at that table.

A player at the end of their roll is very likely to take unnecessary changes with their remaining chips to either try to double up, or they will just tilt it off because they have been loosing.

Choosing the right tables to play on will always be one of the most important decisions you will make.

Take the extra time to find a good game to play in, otherwise you give away any edge you could have had on the game.

And remember, just because it’s a juicy game it doesn’t mean you will win every time, but it should increase your overall take in the long run.

Hope you enjoyed reading this article…
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Cheers once again and happy poker adventures!!

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Know the differences of a Loose and Tight Poker Player

A definition of loose or tight play in Texas Hold’em is like describing what a beautiful lady looks like.

Namely, the explanation is in the eye of the beholder.

A general rule would be:

A tight player starts the hand with a high pair or with A-K.

A loose player would start the hand with low cards or unsuited K-4.

The tight player raises when he feels he has the advantage.

The loose player may raise more often than he should.

He may call too often on the possibility of an inside straight or full house draws.

Typically he plays too many hands which depend on luck to win, rather than play according to what he currently holds.

Both types of players can hurt you, but the fight player is probably easier to play against.

You can usually identify the tight player from the flop and the betting.

The loose player is not easy to read as he may hold anything at anytime.

It is his unpredictable play which makes him more dangerous in many hands.

He may not flod when bet against, like the tight player would.

The loose player may play for the miracle draw and when he gets it, he puts a bad beat on you.

The tight player will only raise when he thinks he has a sure thing.

This gives you an advantage as you can get cut of the hand or at least nor re-raise.

Loose players have a small edge, when they raise, you don’t know if they have a hand or are just trying to win by betting.

Since their starting hand can be any two cards, an odd flop may fit their hand very well.

This makes playing a big pair against them a more risky proposition than it would be with any tight player.

Loose players are great pot builders, since they are likely to call bets more freely.

In the end we can summarize all this into Play Strong, not weak and above all PLAY SMART!.

And remember that one of the best, reliable places to play online poker is Odds Poker

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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”.