How Best to Teach Friends Poker
Teaching your friends how to play poker is fairly easy really, considering that each hand played provides that little extra bit of experience, its mostly just a case of keep practicing whenever you and your friends are free to play. At first of course if your fellow players know nothing about poker you will have to be patient and explain to them everything in great detail as we were all beginners once. Also playing with just chips for fun as opposed to money is preferable when learning the basics of the game, as people dont tend to enjoy a learning process quite as much if they lose all their money each time. Once the basics have been grasped I would advise my friends to watch televised poker games and try to gain a better grasp of good and bad moves in certain positions and why they are the correct or incorrect moves to make, some plays are open to debate as good or not, and giving these consideration or discussion is helpful too. It is important to commit the general layout and hand rankings to memory to gain a fundamental grasp of the game, to become skilled at the game however, can often take much longer. Although poker cannot be treated as something you can study and play intensively for a few days and then consider yourself talented at, just play as often as you can and learn by your mistakes and the rest will fall into place over time.
With a regular home game for you and your friends to play in and some time well spent studying the game you may at some point feel you are ready to try tournament play either live, or online, and this will be helpful to your development too. However you choose to learn the game it should always be a priority to both enjoy the game when you are playing, and consider everything that has gone right or wrong, during, and after the game itself. Never play outside your financial means too of course, and generally try to help each other along on the learning curve by playing as often as is possible.
Classic Bad Beat Story
The following isnt a bad beat that happened to me, but one I put on a friend of mine a year or so ago. Having been quite lucky thus far in our small stakes cash game, I raised preflop with (4,4), after a flop of (K,Q,8) I think it was, my opponent checked to me. After considering bluffing at the pot I thought better of it as I felt he might have made a high pair and been waiting for me to raise. I was relatively disinterested in the hand at this point as I felt he was probably going to raise me on the turn and I could throw my hand in, the moment the turn came down a 4, I was inwardly smiling and thinking ‘lucky for me he didnt raise me on the flop’. I decided to put in a little raise as I felt he would call with his supposed high pair, especially as the 4 looked so harmless. Needless to say, I was rather surprised when he threw all the money in front of him into the pot and said ‘im going all in with this one’ after much thought I concluded he felt I was bluffing him due to the fact I had raised on a seemingly harmless card, but then he should really have known me better than that and so I couldn?t be sure. I announced ‘call’ expecting to see something like (A,K) in his hand and felt my heart sink when he turned over (8,8) for a board of (K,Q,8,4) and a bigger set than mine, I was practically drawing dead.
‘What have you got this time, four of a kind?’ he said with a laugh, due to my recent good luck with the cards (it wasnt even possible to have that with the board showing of course). ‘no, you’ve got me’ I said, turning over my cards unhappily. ‘I knew Id get you eventually!’ he said with a huge grin, as he turned over the river,and my fourth 4! Il never forget the look on his face, it was priceless, Id caught the one and only out in the entire deck. ‘Unbelievable’ was all he could manage to say as he got up to order himself another pint, I of course sat there arranging the notes and coins in front of me trying not to burst out laughing, I wouldnt ever laugh at anyone losing a pot at poker normally as its extremely rude to do so, but as it was just between friends and due to the sheer comical aspect of his words before turning over the river, I had to allow myself a chuckle. I felt bad for him of course, but it was a truly magic moment for me, I will always remember it, and besides, thats the nature of poker and will always be one of the reasons we love playing it so much.
Can Online Poker be Played for Free?
The simple answer to this is yes, every site that I know of offers free play for beginners to practice playing, or just for those that enjoy playing the game and don?t wish to risk any money playing it. I must make the point that I dont find ‘play’ money games all that helpful in terms of developing your game, mostly because people will raise recklessly and play differently to how they would if there were real money on the table.
In terms of playing poker online in a profitable manner for free, well that is a different matter, I feel it is possible to do so, if there are freerolls available onsite for cash prizes then there is a possibility of a bankroll being built from scratch, albeit with a lot of careful decisions, and a few initial failures in the process. I personally have turned nothing into a few hundred dollars before and it is certainly not easy, but the upside of the situation is that, if you lose it all, you can always take a deep breath, enter a few freerolls, and start over again.
Once you have got yourself a small amount of money together and do not have to sit down at a cash table with all you have in your bankroll each and every time, you will probably find your funds will stabilise and if you are skilled enough, gradually begin to grow.
So I would have to say that for the most part, playing for free online is indeed possible, and moreover, playing for free and eventually winning a decent amount of money is plausible too given the right application of time and patience. After that first freeroll win your Subsequent bankroll and successes are limitless, it is, as always with poker, entirely in your hands.
partypocker – Basics of 5 Card Draw Poker
In terms of poker games, 5 card draw is certsinly one of the easiest to understand and can prove a good starting point for getting the hang of the general rules and hand rankings involved in poker. I myself started with small stakes 5 card draw games before later progressing to Texas Holdem, and although it is a more luck based game than Holdem it is still an entertaining game to play.
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The game begins with ante bets being placed and cards being dealt around the table until each player has five, a round of betting follows and is an important round because even at this early stage, you will have a good idea of how strong your cards could be by the end of the hand. Following this, each player has the chance to swap as many cards as they please and are dealt replacement cards from the deck, when I played we used to allow two draws of this kind but mostly the game is played as only having one draw.
With the latter being the case in our example, there would be another following round of betting before the showdown takes place between any unfolded hands. As mentioned early, you can see that the way the game is played is simplistic and easy for a beginner to understand, although there is still some level of bluffing and skill involved.
Most online poker sites do not provide 5 card draw games, although Pokerstars is one site that does provide such games, and with a slight sense of nostalgia from my earlier poker playing days, I couldnt help but sit down to a game and I have to say even now, I found it a refreshing way to relax in between games of the more high pressure, Texas Holdem variety.
888 pacific poker latest news
The world of 888 Pacific pocker is always changing, with new bonuses, product offerings and exciting competitions popping up every month. There are also plenty of bonuses!
This month, there has been quite a lot going on for the passionate players of this famous pocker room. As a result to a player survey carried out recently, 888 Pacific pocker has just released a variety of tournaments and buy-ins to satisfy the hunger of its competitive players.
The new offerings include a massive $20,000 Guaranteed tournament, run daily for its players at 15:30 PPT. In addition to this, the prize pools have been upped along a range of their most popular tourneys, with a stack of new Guaranteed games on offer as well. New re-buy tournaments and a ton of new buy-in games, with varying entry requirements mean more options, more competition and more games to suit each individual player, no matter the size of their bankroll (they’re even offering some brand new 1c/2c tables)! 888 Pacific pocker have even extended their ‘Live event qualifier series’ which holds numerous satellites and guaranteed tournaments with entry prizes to massive off-line live events.
888 Pacific pocker is also taking time to support their player-of-the-moment, Michael Keiner – their 2007 sponsored player who recently won his first bracelet prize in the WSOP. This backed player won an astonishing $146,987 prize pool along with his priceless bracelet and is rumored to be working closely with 888 Pacific pocker over the next year to run both player-tutorials and promotions based heads-up competitions.
The bonuses and monthly promotions at 888 Pacific pocker are ever-changing and always impressive, with the April 26th $3Million dollar Guaranteed tournament on the minds of everyone.
Always keep an eye out for 888 Pacific pockers latest news and watch as the promotions extend, bonuses increase and new products emerge for your pocker playing pleasure.
Land Based Tournaments Other Than the WSOP fulltiltpocker.com
Land based tournaments on a relatively small scale can be found in almost any town, it’s often just a case of asking fellow pocker players where they play their local games, such tournaments are the basic starting point for any aspiring player and can be used to gain valuable live playing experience and understanding of how a tournament is properly staged. A great way for a novice to learn about live play and tournaments is by playing at reputable online site like fulltiltpocker.com
With the surge in pocker and online pocker across the globe, many sites are beginning to sponsor players in many tournaments not just the WSOP. One site that is starting to sponsor players into land based tournaments is fulltiltpocker.com
If you are fortunate enough to pick up a sponsorship from a site like fulltiltpocker.com you can expect to be treated like royalty at these events with fulltiltpocker.com putting on first class flights, accomodation and luxury items a plenty!
For the more experienced players and professionals there are many large scale land based tournaments going on every year in many countries across the globe, these include, the monte carlo millions, the aussie millions, the irish open and various others on both the European pocker tour and across the globe.
These are the major tournaments which the professionals frequent and are not tournaments for the faint hearted, with some of the finest players in pocker turning out for them each year, some are given television coverage too and should be watched and learnt from by young pocker players everywhere.
Although many of these tournaments aren’t as prestigious as the WSOP in the eyes of some people, the fact that they attract a similar strength of players and offer huge prize pools shows that they are a very important part of the fulltiltpocker.com professionals yearly circuit and can often end up playing host to some of the best battles at the tables, making excellent veiwing.
So if you do not have the bankroll or the talent to be a part of such tournaments it is certainly worth paying attention to these major events and their outcomes regardless. For more info on tourneys and how to become involved you can visit fulltiltpocker.com
Variations of Pocker at 888 Pacific Pocker
The way in which 888 pacific pocker has varied over centuries of play has given rise to many different hybrids of the game, in most of these games the basic hand strengths and listings of which hands beat others has remained the same but not in every case, in three card pocker for instance, a straight beats a flush, and three of a kind beats everything. If you are after some great bonuses and the best variations of poker available you can’t go past 888 pacificpocker.com
It isn’t just the game of 888 pacific pocker itself that varies of course, often the way it is played at home games changes too, sometimes there is a system in place of taking turns in choosing the game after a set number of hands or placing limits on the betting either in full limit or pot limit format.
Aside from these types of variations in pocker many of the most played games in 888 pacific pocker are differing types of the same original game of pocker, Omaha, for instance is not unlike Holdem, except for there being four hole cards instead of two, Seven Card Stud involves no board cards at all, but is played with what ends in seven hole cards, these are all variations of what began as the same game, and I am sure there will be other games developed from those which are in favour today, over a period of time.
Whichever particular game is your favoured one, the one thing that it will have in common with all other 888 pacific pocker variations is a universal attraction and and enjoyment amongst people from all walks of life, and whichever pocker games develop at a later date I feel this is one trend that will never change.
Jump to it and get on over to 888 pacific pocker now and enjoy all the variations of pocker you love! 888 pacificpocker.com
Online Pocker vs Live Pocker at pockerstars.com
In recent years the advances in technology have made it simple for players, whatever their skill level, to convene for a game of pocker at pockerstars.com, not in the usual face to face way however, but in vast internet pocker rooms that never sleep.
You could certainly argue that there a numerous plus sides to this, anyone interested in playing pocker can sit down and play from the comfort of their own home whenever they choose and have many sites, all with their own sign up bonuses, promotions and freerolls, to choose from at pockerstars.com.
This ease with which players can play, at whichever times are convenient for them has surely aided the expansion of the game no end, but is this really how pockerstars.com should be played? I certainly feel that online pocker takes away some of the fabric of what pocker truly is in terms of the whole atmosphere of the game and the long continued tradition of people being sat around a table together whilst they play, but perhaps I am merely failing to embrace what technology has brought to the game and might continue to bring to it in the future.
Although I do not wish to see the traditional aspects of the game eroded away and prefer to play live tournaments when I can, I cannot deny the effect that online gaming has had on pocker and it’s growth and as such, I must grudgingly accept it as intrinsic to the future of pocker and our lives as a whole.
Despite this I will always feel that you are never a truly talented pocker player until you can sit down and play, eye to eye, with your opponent and still make your style of play function successfully when it matters most and when the pressure is really on to make that crucial decision under the watchful gaze of your fellow competitors.
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Pocker on Television – fulltiltpocker.com
Televised fulltiltpocker has grown to a vast extent in recent years, with coverage of the world series and various other tournaments being shown each night, and televised pocker has even begun to be shown on pocker sites very own channels, with live online tournaments being shown as they happen (with a time delay of course).
Sites like fulltiltpocker.com can be seen in advertisements and sponsorships on most pocker channels across the globe. It is interesting that online pocker rooms like fulltiltpocker.com are embracing pocker on television and even sponsoring their own players in televised pocker tournaments!
Television has played a great role in bringing poker to the forefront of peoples minds and capturing the imagination, and also gives the opportunity for a prospective pocker player to watch the game and determine the basic rules and how the game is usually played so that they don’t have to turn up at a game not knowing how to play.
Watching the professionals at work with under table cameras showing their hole cards, acts as an aid to fledgling pocker players development and adds a whole new dimension to watching the game, it wouldn’t be quite so exciting not knowing what was going on and why until the showdown, after all.
With the continued growth of pocker, it is not unreasonable to think that perhaps in a few years time major tournaments might be given the game coverage as large sporting events which would be very productive for the game. Such continued coverage of pocker is extremely beneficial and serves bring the game to a much wider audience than ever before, and I for one am glad to see pocker given the televised recognition it deserves.
Head on over to fulltiltpocker for more info on televised pocker tourneys and player sponsorship!
partypocker – Calling Your Opponents Bluff
Calling an opponents bluff is never an easy task and often it seems that it?s easier to let them have the pot and let the money you have invested so far go, provided its not a large proportion of your chips. In a way I can sympathise with this outlook and agree with it to an extent, after all if you make a habit of calling big bluffs down in tournaments, you need to be very sure, it only takes one mistake to severely damage your stack.
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In fact calling an opponents bluff is something that will not always yield the most favourable results, unless of course you have assimilated a good deal of information during the hand and you really feel sure youre opponent is bluffing, often a bluff comes on the flop or the turn when dealing with Omaha and Holdem and I personally would advocate a raise here if you really believe your opponent to be bluffing. If you choose to flat call a bluff such as this you show a potential weakness by not reraising and are likely to face a secondary, often larger, bluff in the next round of betting, so unless you are drawing to a big hand yourself, it is unlikely your hand will improve enough to call the second bluff, and consequently calling the first bluff would be a waste of chips.
If however, you really feel you are up against a bluff then a reraise will immediately make the opposing player worry that they are up against a real hand, and you will find them far more reluctant to try following the bluff up again on the next round of betting. I have often had the other player check to me on the next round of betting and quickly fold to a raise, the previous reraise had convinced them that they would get called if they continued to bluff at the pot.
So for the most part I would firstly put in a reraise if you felt you were being bluffed, but if the other player does not fold and continues to bet with confidence on the next round of betting then you need to be very careful, your assumption here may be wrong and it could cost you everything. But if you can confidently read someone as bluffing and call an all in bet on the river then by all means do, but if I am faced by a bluff I prefer to try and show some strength back to them by raising, this averts having to call a large follow up bluff later in the hand, and that?s often regardless of whether I have a hand myself, although if I a have a very big hand I will of course smooth call and let them keep firing out at the pot most of the time.
