There of a Kind or Full House
If you’re trying to play a good game of poker, knowing your hand rankings comes in handy. At first you might be a little confused on who actually plays what hand, but there’s no reason to think that you can’t pull of a very good run in terms of the game at large.
Let’s cover two of our favorite hands — the three of a kind, and the full house.
Keep in mind that a lot of poker hands are going to be won by common hands, like the two pair and even the high pair. So if you come into a hand swinging a three of a kind, you are highly likely to walk away with some chips. But is that always the case? We’ll let you know in just a moment.
You see, it all depends on what else can be made with the cards on the board. You don’t just want to rejoice in the fact that you have cards to play — you want to make sure that someone else isn’t carrying something higher. For example, if you have a three of a kind, there is a threat of someone having a full house — which would be your three of a kind along with another pair that can be made on the board.
The full house is going to eat your three of a kind for breakfast. Does that mean that you don’t play it? Not at all. You will always want to push and test the waters. If a strong raise is met with a mere check, you might have a “calling station” type of player that will go into any pot. However, if they fold, then you know they weren’t packing anything.
But what if they raise? If they are the type of player that constantly raises even when they don’t have anything, then you know you can push in a little more. However, if they are the type of player that only raises when they have something good, then you need to make sure that you don’t just push in crazy. If you can take the risk, you may want to go ahead and go to the showdown. On the other hand, you may want to ease back.
Every poker situation is going to be a little different, so don’t be afraid to test the waters, experiment, and even fail a little bit. That’s how you get really good at the game, and that’s how you really grow as a poker player. Now is the perfect time to practice your skills, so don’t you dare think of giving up — greatness may be just around the corner!
Your First Sit N Go – Yes, You Can!
Are you looking at breaking into tournaments? A lot of new players get seduced by the sheer amount of money that you can win in tournaments. However, one of the first things that you need to understand is that you are also going to have to go against a lot of people that are much better than you. So that means that unless you’re really ready to take on a field of very experienced poker players, you might want to try to aim for a smaller tournament.
Sit N Gos are actually perfect for this purpose. This is because you have a very small group — anywhere from 5 to 9 players — and this means that you don’t have to fight through everyone. There is also a good chance that you will run into other players that are just as new. This means that as you get better, you can pick these new players off and still, be able to take care of your needs. What would be honestly better than that?
So let’s cover the SNG format a bit more. You will basically be playing the game in such a way to knock out all of the other players. The gameplay will continue until this happens, but there are prizes for usually the first 3 places. If you place 4th, you don’t get anything. This is called being “on the bubble”, and it’s a horrible place to be. Try to avoid being on the bubble if you really can help it.
One thing that you have to know is that when you first start the tournament, everyone is going to be playing very loosely. This means that they’re not too terribly worried about being bumped out, which means that they might take a few more risks. They may bluff you in order to see if they can knock you out first.
What you will need to start doing right from the beginning is look at the way people play. There’s always a bully, and there are usually a few people that are afraid to take risks.
If you’re going to play this format, stick to very small tournaments where you don’t lose too much money if you don’t wish. However, there are free tournaments that you can enter every now and then. Sometimes your casino will do this is a way to get people to come, stay a while, and socialize. The more people that come to the poker game, the more that the casino will be able to introduce you to everything that the casino has to offer.
It’s going to be a matter of getting in the money, and you will have to play smart, carefully, and well. Don’t be afraid to fold, especially when you get to the final two. There is a big difference between first and second place, and you want to take home that top prize!
Give Yourself a Chance to Rise in Poker
New to poker? Been watching the World Series of Poker or the World poker Tour and wishing you were right there in the action? Don’t worry if the answer to all of those questions is a resounding yes — we’ve all been there, and we all know how exciting those things can be. However it has to be said: don’t put pressure on yourself to get there.
A lot of beginners in poker have the potential to be really great, but they give up on themselves. They see how long it takes to really be a legend in the world of poker and then they stop altogether, figuring that it’s something that’s just going to be out of their reach. It would make a lot more sense to figure out how you’re going to progressively make progress.
So let’s start form the top. If you really want to build a nice adventure through poker, you have to start with the fundamentals. Top football players go back and do a lot of drills and other mind numbing routines in order to get and keep their edge — you’re going to have to put in the same type of time if you really want to do big and powerful things. The goal here is to make sure that you’re always thinking about taking that next step. What do we mean? You need to always be practicing. You don’t want to just end up getting into all of the big players and their winnings without doing anything to get winnings of your own. That would just be silly!
Starting with the foundation of poker is a good thing. Don’t be afraid to play a few games for free until you’re really ready to play for serious money. Even your favorite online poker casino will have a free section for you to practice different strategies.
Poker is also a mind game as well as a card game — you have to make sure that you’re in the right frame of mind. Beating yourself up about not being Doyle Brunson or Scotty Nguyen isn’t going to get you very far! Good luck and keep practicing and studying — you’ll get there when the time is right!
