The tells
November 29, 2007
How do you know when someone is lying? This is one of the most important things to know in poker. If you are an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation then you should be an expert at this. You should be able to apply this knowledge to your poker game. If you are not an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation then you might have to rely on the basics. So what are the basics anyway?
One of the things that will make you find out if someone is lying is if he or she swallows when pulling off a move. If you notice that someone swallows then there is a big chance that this person is telling a lie. If this person is unusually raising the pot then you should be wary of this person. Try to find out if this person really has cards or is he or she trying to bluff his or her way out of the pot? If you think that this person is bluffing then there will be tells. If this person swallows while raising or while making a move on the poker table then be weary. You might want to out bluff him or her!
Another tell that you should be aware of is the moving of the feet or the moving of the legs. If your opponent unusually moves his or her feet then this is another sign of lying. You should not be obvious when you are looking at your opponent’s feet or legs or else you will expose yourself. You should simply allow your opponent to make his or her moves and you should be quiet on the sideline. You should not be obvious when you look at your opponent. Remember that.
The eyes are the window to the soul, as great poets would say. In the game of poker, the eyes are also a great way for you to find out if the person is lying or not. A simple look in a person’s eye can show the signs of a liar and an honest person. When you look at someone and this person constantly looks away then this is a sign that the person is lying. Again, you should not be obvious when looking at your opponents. Allow them to make their move and be an observer on the sideline. If you notice that your opponent keeps looking away when you talk to them then this is a sign that your opponent is bluffing. If you want to make sure that your opponent get knocked out then you have to be very observant of these tells. If you are a keen observer then there is a high chance that you will be the winner of the pot at the end of the day.
The science of tells is a very complicated thing to study but at least right now you have something to work with. In the game of poker, it is the observer that learns a lot from his or her opponent. If you want to win then you have to observe.
Finances at the Poker Table
November 27, 2007
How much are you willing to invest? This is the age old question of financiers through time. When it comes to the game of poker, the questions still holds. If you have two pairs on the flop, how much more money are you willing to invest in your cards? The same question is asked and the results will be very similar in the real world as it is on the poker table.
One of the basic principles in finance that you have to remember is that for anything that is high risk, a high return must compensate you for it. For example, if you are going to invest in stocks that are risky, the company must give you a commensurate amount of return if the stocks increase in value. On the poker table, the principle still applies. If you have an ace and a king on the pre flop then you can ask yourself the same question, if I put my heart out and go all in on this hand, there are high rewards at the end of the day. Although there is a chance for me to lose, there is also a high chance of me winning. If you ask yourself that question before you go all in then you are thinking of the principles of finance. If you are ready to go all in and take the plunge then you are a high risk high return player.
Another basic principle in finance is never to put all your eggs in one basket. In other words, you have to diversify your risk. You have to make sure that all your bets aren’t in one place. In essence, this principle tells you never to go all in. But does this make any sense? Sometimes you have to go all in, right? What finance is telling us is that when you are about to go all in, you might want to rethink your odds. If you go half all in on this hand then may be you can try your luck on another hand in the near future. Finance is telling us that two chances are better than one. You may agree or disagree with this but at the end of the day; any added knowledge will help you.
A principle in finance is never to bet the farm. What the finance books are trying to say is that you should never bet the lifeblood of your business. You should never allow your business to be exposed to total risk. If the farm is gone, where will you get the resources to make money? In poker language, this is translated to never bet a substantial amount of your chips if you are unsure of a reasonable return. This makes a lot of sense. You should not be betting half of your chips if all you have is a two three off suit and you only have a paired three on the turn card.
Finance is something great to learn. In the world of business, it is one of the most powerful tools. If you apply this knowledge into poker then you are going to go very far.
Marketing and Poker
November 25, 2007
Playing poker has a lot of similarities when it comes to the art of marketing. Marketing is basically finding ways and means of selling a product. For example, when you market Diet Coke, you try to find ways to make it sell more in the market. You launch campaigns, you have promotions, and you make all sorts of advertisements to help your product sell. In the game of poker, you are also trying to sell something. You are trying to sell your hand. You are trying to sell what you have. You may be trying to sell a bluff. You may be trying to sell a two three off suit against someone who has a pocket ace. If you are playing the game of poker then you are going to learn a lot from marketing text books.
One of the things that you should keep in mind when it comes to marketing is branding. How do you brand yourself as a poker player? Are you a bluffer? Are you a safe player? Are you outright risky? If you play with some poker players often then they will brand you as such. You can use this to your advantage. If a lot of people think that you are a safe player then you can pull off a bluff once in awhile. Just make sure that you do not get caught! If a lot of people think that you are a risk taker then you can reel in people when you have a hand. These are the things that you should be aware of when it comes to branding and marketing yourself. You should know yourself and you should know how people perceive you so that you know how to act around them.
Another thing that you should keep in mind is public relations. You should know when to talk and when not to talk. Can talking help you in your poker game? The answer is yes and the answer is no. If you talk too much then people might find out what you have. If you do not talk at all then people will think that you are hiding something. You should simply just talk enough. You can actually lure your other competitors to talk too much if you ask the right questions. If you are able to get it out of them then you are a good public relations manager on the poker table.
The homework that you need to do before sitting at the poker table is market research. If you know who your opponents are then you should do your homework on them. Where are they from? What is their occupation? What is their job? These are clues on how to determine the style of a poker player. The more clues you have, the better your chances of selling your winning hand. If you can master marketing and if you can master poker then you will be able to take your poker game to another level. Make sure that you have fun doing these things so that you can enjoy and win at the same time.
The Gulp Buy In
November 23, 2007
What is the gulp? What do you do when you gulp? When you gulp, you feel a bit uneasy, right? The gulp buy in is the amount of buy in recommended to make poker players feel uneasy, not too little to make them feel like the game is pointless and not too much to make them feel like if they lose, they will never come back again.
If you are hosting a poker tournament at home, you should make sure that you know the demographics of the people playing. For example, if you are playing with a bunch of unemployed teenagers then you should not make the buy in so large. You should make it just enough so that they will lose their allowance for two to three days. If you make their buy in as much as their allowance for a month then if they lose, they are likely never to come back.
If you are hosting a group of tycoons then you should make the buy in around the ten thousand dollar range. You have to make sure that they will feel the money or else they will not care about the poker game at all. You have to make sure that they are a bit uneasy when they play. Imagine, if there are ten players on that table, the winner will end up with one hundred thousand dollars. That is still some money for a tycoon, right. He or she could buy a Porsche with it.
If you are hosting a poker tournament with normal people then you should put the buy in at around fifty to one hundred dollars. This is the normal buy in range for the average home invitational poker tournament. If you have ten players then the winner can win as much as a thousand dollars. That isn’t bad. At least you know that the people will be taking the poker game seriously to some extent, right?
If you think about it, the ideal gulp buy in is the amount of money you earn in one day of work. If you are earning three thousand dollars a month then a hundred dollar buy in is just right for you. If you lose then gone is a day’s work but if you win then you can spend lavishly for the next week. That isn’t bad, right? If you want to enjoy life more then make sure that you keep winning your poker games!
Imagine if you were earning three thousand dollars a month and the buy in was three thousand dollars! What would happen if you lose? If you lose, gone is a month’s work for you. That is so horrible. If you earned that money with your sweat and blood then you will feel it go away. You will curse gambling and you may never play a poker game ever again. This is certainly not the goal of the gulp buy in. Make sure you compute the gulp buy in right so that you can keep having poker tournaments in your house.
Host a Poker Invitational
November 21, 2007
Sometimes it would be great to have an invitational poker tournament in your house, right? It is great to be among the company of friends and colleagues having a good time. So why not host a poker tournament or a poker invitational at your house? It is very simple to host a poker tournament in your house.
The first thing to do in order to have a poker invitational in your house is to invite the right people. Make sure that the people that you invite are people that are fun to be with. Do not invite any party pooper or war freak that will ruin the evening. Once you are done with your guest list, invite all of them and inform them of the buy in.
The next thing to do is to prepare a long table for the event. Normally, a poker table should sit nine to ten people. If you are inviting more people to an event then you should have two long tables then, and so on and so forth.
The big night has come and you are ready to host your poker invitational. Depending on the number of players, if you have a lot of people, you are going to be spending a lot of time. This means that if there are nine to ten players - expect the match to last for about three hours. If you want to speed up the game then you can increase the blinds faster.
Make sure that you have some sort of loser’s lounge in your area. Pop in a DVD and put on that high definition television in your living room. You might want to play a feel good poker movie like Ocean’s 11, 12, or 13. If the losers are happy and having a good time then the winners will certainly have a good time also.
If you are hosting the tournament then you might want to chip off ten percent of the pot to cover the expenses. If you are the type of person that simply loves to treat his or her friends to a good night of poker then you should leave the pot with the winner. It is up to the winner to decide if he or she wants to share the wealth among the group. He or she may decide to treat pizza. He or she may decide to buy drinks. He or she may even be so generous that he will treat the whole group to food and drinks! All of you will have a good time and all of you will enjoy the game of poker. Hosting a poker tournament at home is certainly one of the things that you should do in your lifetime. If you haven’t hosted a poker tournament yet then you should certainly start hosting some as early as now. You are missing out on a lot of fun and excitement. Make your list right now and start messaging everyone so that you can get a poker tournament rolling as early as this weekend. Go now and make your move.
Tipping the Dealer
November 19, 2007
When you play poker, especially in casinos, make sure that you give a tip to your dealer. Why? It is important that you throw in a few bucks to a person that is making minimum wage. If you think a dealer’s job is easy then you got it all wrong. It is hard to be a dealer and it is tiring as well. Even if you enjoy the job of being a dealer, it is still pretty hard. Imagine the life of a dealer. Day in and day out for three hundred and sixty five days in a year, with some day offs of course, your dealer shuffles up and deals every time he or she goes to work. If you think that is easy then try doing it yourself. I am sure that you have tried dealing once in a while. You may think that it is easy for the first few rounds but when you are dealing for eight hours or more, that is tiring.
You may be wondering why tipping is important for your dealer. If you win a pot, especially a large pot, then you should give tip to your dealer. You should not be greedy. After all, there you are having the time of your life, gambling a couple of thousands of dollars while the dealer is working his or her ass off for only eight dollars an hour. If your conscience does not bother you then something else should. You are not giving a tip to the dealer because you pity him or her for the work that he or she is doing. You are giving a tip to the dealer because it is you personal way of thanking him or her for a job well done. The cards turned to your favour and he or she was dealing during that time. Isn’t it right to simply give a tip to this person? I’m sure that this person deserves it right? Who put the luck in the cards? Who dealt those two lucky cards to you? If you give a tip to the dealer after winning a huge pot, it is your way of saying thank you for sharing that luck with me.
Some people think that the world owes them something. Some people think that they deserve to be lucky. Well, if you think this way, if you think that society owes you something then there is something wrong with you. Society doesn’t owe you anything. If you are lucky then you just happen to be lucky. Luck is not something that you can buy. Luck is not something that will be given to you by default. Luck just happens. When you play poker in a casino and you win a huge pot then you should at least give your dealer a share of that luck. Your dealer has been working long hours already and he or she isn’t driving a Ferrari or a Lamborghini, right? Give a tip to your dealer when you win, I’m sure he or she deserves it.
Getting into the World Series of Poker
November 13, 2007
Have you ever dreamt of getting into the World Series of Poker? Have you ever thought about yourself as a poker pro? Sometimes you simply have this gut feeling that you can take out Phil Gordon and Scott Nguyen on a heads up match. Well, if you think that you can take out these guys then why don’t you give it a shot? I am not kidding. You can join the World Series of Poker anytime. All you need is the guts to actually walk that path.
The first step in getting into the World Series of Poker is raising the cash to get in. The cheapest way to get into the World Series of Poker is online. You can upload amounts from around fifty to two hundred dollars online and see where it takes you. There are people who have uploaded less than a hundred dollars and have actually won a seat at the World Series of Poker. These people earned their World of Series Poker seat right at the comfort of their own homes.
If you aren’t that lucky on the internet then maybe you have to earn your seat at the World Series of Poker the traditional way. Go to any Harrah’s casino and try your luck in their poker events. The buy in will range from two hundred dollars up to a little over a thousand dollars. The chances of getting in to the World Series of Poker becomes pretty okay in these poker tournaments.
If you aren’t lucky on the internet and you aren’t lucky at Harrah’s then you might have to buy your way in to the World Series of Poker. Yes, I said it. You can buy your way into the World Series of Poker. The amount of money that you have to shell out is not one thousand, not two thousand, and not five thousand, the amount that you have to shell out is ten thousand dollars! They might have even increased this amount lately!
Well, at least you now know how to get into the World Series of Poker. If you really want to get into this great event then you have to be determined to do so. If you are only half hearted in this event then you are merely wasting your time and your money. If you want to make it to the big table then you have to play like a big winner.
If you are the type of person that does not have the guts to compete in a worldwide poker tournament then you should not even think about joining the World Series of Poker. The World Series of Poker is for people who have the guts to call and then go all in! If you have what it takes then you should get your pocket ready and go for the big ticket. You only have one life to live so you might as well make it as exciting as possible. Take the plunge and risk some of your hard earned money. You never know, you might make it to the final table and take home more than a million dollars in cash!
Poker Movies
November 8, 2007
If you are the type of person that loves playing poker and loves watching movies then you certainly have to watch California Split. This movie is about a bunch of poker players ending up in a tough spot in the city of Reno, Nevada. This movie is quite old but you are certainly going to love the classy way in which the director portrayed poker.
If you want to watch an action packed movie with poker in it then you should get your hands on a DVD copy of Casino Royale. Casino Royale is a James Bond movie that was filmed only recently. One of the best scenes in Casino Royale is the poker match of James Bond and his enemy. I will not tell you how the poker match went and I will not tell you who won but you are certainly going to experience a lot of poker drama when you watch it. Casino Royale is a perfect movie to watch if you want a lot of action and a lot of poker. If you are a James Bond fan then you are certainly going to love Casino Royale even more.
A nice poker movie to watch that has comedy and drama in it is Honeymoon in Vegas which stars Sarah Jessica Parker. Nothing is actually more hilarious than losing your fiancée in a poker match! You will get more of this hilarious stuff when you watch the actual film. Sometimes you just need to sit back and relax and enjoy a film like this, right?
One of the more recent movies out there is Lucky You starring Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore. This movie is about how one plays his or her cards in life. It is the kind of movie that keeps you thinking. If you like movies that make you wonder even after the show is done then you should certainly watch this movie. This movie is also a great date movie. If you simply want to take someone out and have a good time at the movies or even at the comfort of your own home then you can select this movie. It is great for a first date or even for your one hundredth date! There are so many layers to analyze in the movie.
I personally think that watching poker movies makes playing poker much more fun. You can add a certain personality when you play. You can pretend that you are like James Bond in Casino Royale. At the end of the day, watching movies will help your poker game. Who ever named the television set an idiot box is an idiot himself. That person never realized that television can actually educate a lot of people out there. Sometimes in poker, you may try to bluff and think that you are successful but in the end, the real bluff is on you. Those who do not realize that television is fun and educational are really missing out on a lot of things lately.
Folding Pocket Aces
November 4, 2007
There are some moments in the life of a poker player where he or she needs to fold a pocket ace. When are these instances? When do these occurrences happen anyway? Have you been in such a situation? The pocket ace is the strongest hand on the pre flop. If you are a bully then you can go all in and see if anyone calls your bet. If you are smart then you will know when to actually fold a pocket ace.
I think that you should fold pocket aces in the following situations. The first situation where you fold a pocket ace is when you start seeing possible five card combinations. When your opponents can make a straight or a flush then you should think about being so bold about your pocket aces. Remember, your pocket aces are still a pair. Any five card combination, any two pair, and any trio can knock you out of the game. If you start sensing that your opponents can get five card combinations and you know that these people do not bluff then you should start backing off. You will save more chips this way.
The second situation where you actually fold pocket aces is when you are the chip leader and you just want to get to the final table or reach a certain ranking in a tournament. Having pocket aces will always tempt you to become bold and daring. You may be tempted to go all in but at the end of a round, you may still end up losing. The mentality to keep here is that when there is too much risk at stake then you can go fold your pocket aces. If you become daring and start raising your bets then you are exposing yourself to risk. You have to keep your eye on the ball. Do you want to make it to the final table? Do not be greedy and try to win more chips if your goal is to simply make it to the final table. If you have enough chips to cover the blinds then you should play safe and keep risk away. After all, if you are guaranteed to make it to the final table in a tournament then that may be an achievement in itself. Why should you blow away that chance?
The above situations are great ways to keep that betting beast at bay. If you do not want to be a betting monster because you have the strongest pre flop cards then always keep these situations in mind. If you want to become a good poker player then you should always keep your head working at all times. The pocket aces are very flashy when you get them before the flop but you should always keep in mind that there are five more cards coming up. If you do not end up so lucky then your pocket aces can be knocked off by a person with two three off suit hitting a straight. Be careful and do not be overconfident with your pocket aces. Sometimes you just have to let go.
Welcome To SeriousPokerBlog.com
November 4, 2007
Welcome to SeriousPokerBlog.com. This blog will provide you will poker room reviews, tournament strategies, poker analysis, and anything else regarding poker. If you are a poker player this a blog that you will love. Hopefully we can post some interesting posts that will help you become a better poker player.