Poker tips for the Newbie, Las Vegas adventure.
- Want to become a better player, fast? Follow these 10 tips to boost
your poker performance & profits. While geared to beginner players,
there’s poker tips that even seasoned pros should remind themselves of
once in a while. Play poker for $10,000
1. Don’t Play Every Hand / Do Fold More
Probably the number one mistake beginning poker players make is that
they play far too many hands. When you’re just starting out playing
poker, you want to play poker, and that means staying in
hands that aren’t very good just to be part of the action. But playing
more doesn’t mean winning more, it usually means losing more. If you
find you’re staying in half or more the hands you’re dealt, you need to
upgrade your starting hand requirements.
2. Don’t Play Drunk
Countless nights have I sat across a table from someone &
watched them get plastered silly and throw away their entire stack of
chips. I’ve been that person too - and there are nights where you’re
just playing with friends for low stakes and it’s more about the fun
than the poker - but if you’re in a casino, watch the alcohol. The
truth is, while you may be more relaxed after 2 drinks, it may lead to
you playing looser and less sharply, even if one’s not ‘drunk.’
Related: Vote: Should Poker Players be Allowed to Drink at Tournaments?
3. Don’t Bluff Just For Bluffing’s Sake
A lot of beginner’s understand that bluffing
is a part of poker, but not exactly how. There’s is NO rule that one
must bluff a certain amount or at all during a poker game, but many
players don’t feel like they’ve won unless they’ve tried a poker bluff.
Bluffs only work in certain situations & against certain people,
and if you know a player always calls to the showdown, it is literally
impossible to bluff that player. It’s better never to bluff than to
bluff “just to bluff.”
Learn more about bluffing dos and don’ts
4. Don’t Stay in a Hand Just Because You’re Already In It
Another common mistake beginners make is to think that “Well, I’ve
already put that much in the pot, I have to stay in now.” Nope. You
can’t win a pot just by throwing money at it. There may be cases when
pot odds warrant a call, but if you’re sure you’re beaten, and there’s
no way your hand can improve to be the best hand, you should fold right
away. The money you’ve already put in the pot isn’t yours anymore, and
you can’t get it back just by playing a hand all the way to the end.
5. Don’t Call at the End of a Hand to “Keep Someone Honest”
This one follows the last tip. I see a lot of players look at
another player’s final bet, look at the hand, & say “I know you’ve
got me, but I have to keep you honest,” as they throw in a final call.
It may be worth it to see if a player really has the hand if you’re not
sure & you’re gaining information that will help you later on, but
if you really feel a player has the hand he’s representing & you’re
beat, why give him another pile of your money? Those bets will add up
over an evening.
6. Don’t Play When Mad, Sad, or in a Generally Bad Mood
When you play poker, you shouldn’t do it to escape from being depressed or having a really bad day. You start out on tilt
— playing emotionally, not rationally — and you won’t play your best.
Likewise, if during a poker game, you lose a big hand or get sucked out
on and feel yourself going on tilt, stand up & take a break until
you feel calm later on. Fellow players will sense your mood & take
advantage of it.
7. Do Pay Attention to the Cards on the Table
When you first start playing, it’s enough just to remember how to
play and pay attention to your own hand. But once you’ve got that down,
it’s incredibly important to look at what’s going on at the table. In Texas Hold’em, figure out what the best possible hand would be to fit the flop. Make sure you notice flush & straight possibilities. In 7-card stud, pay attention to what’s showing & what people have folded when you consider calling opponents.
8. Do Pay Attention to the Other Players
As you play, one of the single best things you can do is observe your opponents, even when you’re not in a hand. If you know if one player always raises in a certain position, & another has a poker tell
when he bluffs, & a 3rd folds to every re-raise, you can use that
information to help you decide how to play against them. Once you know
that player 3 always folds to a re-raise on a river, that’s when you
can bluff & steal a pot.
9. Don’t Play at too High Limits
There are many reasons people move up to a higher limit game than they usually play. Good reasons like they’ve been winning consistently
at a lower lever & are ready to move up, & bad reasons like the
line is shorter for higher limits or you want to impress someone. Don’t
play at stakes that make you think about the actual money in terms of
day-to-day life or with money you can’t lose. Even if you had one
super-good night at $2/4, resist the urge to play $5/10. The next tip
explains more why.
10. Do Pick the Right Game for Your Skill Level & Bankroll
game after winning a huge bunch of money at $2/4 is because as the
stakes rise, so does the average skill level of the players sitting
there. You want to be one of the best at the table, not the fish who sits down with sharks. If you’re making stacks of money at a lower level game, why move? You’re winning stacks of money. The swings up & down at higher limits are much bigger, and one big night’s win won’t last long at a high-stakes game.
Tags: chips, countless nights, playing poker, poker bluff, poker game, poker players, poker tips, profits
Hoover Dam attracts over 7 million visitors from around the new world every year feeding vast tourism into the Las Vegas Nevada and Arizona economy. The building of Hoover Dam took the brilliance of over 200 engineers to pull-off what many deemed as almost impossible. And it was the fortitude of over 7,000 dam workers that endured amazingly harsh conditions and extreme dangers to complete Hoover Dam almost two years ahead of schedule.
