Poker Novice Questions

[brael]

Re: Poker Novice Questions Split pots... having watched quite a bit of the 888.com open this week, I'm getting the impression that a split pot happens when, for example, 2 players are holding something like K8 and the other K7. Flop, turn and river does nothing for either but so long as the river is less than a 7, the pot gets split? Feel free to correct me if this is BS! :$ HOWEVER... while playing an STT at Blue Square tonight they seemed to give the pot to the player with the bigger kicker. Am I missing something or is there differing rules for this at different sites? :cheers

[GaF]

Re: Poker Novice Questions The rules are the same - it is only a split if the best 5 cards for each player are identical. So If Player A has K7 whilst Player B has K8 and the community cards come down K3349 then it is a split pot, however if the community cards were K3345 then Player B wins with the 9 kicker(assuming no flushes)

[kevsul]

Re: Poker Novice Questions riight my question is i have only just realised that quite a few sites are connected, As regards the freerolls, So could some one let me know which are the ones that are connected which means i won't be able to log on at 2 sites at once .. I think betfair and holdem are related..thanks for help kev..

[GaF]

Re: Poker Novice Questions This should be most of our regulars - missing anyone? BossMedia Sporting Odds Virgin Canbet Prima Network Ladbrokes (uses Prima software, but not on Prima Network) Royal Vegas Bet365 NordicBet BetHoldeEm Gaming Club Stan James Party Network PartyPoker Cryptologic Betfair Interpoker William Hill Littlewoods UK Betting PokerRoom Coral/Eurobet Tribeca Golden Palace Blue Square Victor Chandler Tain Parbet Expekt Eurolinx

[kevsul]

Re: Poker Novice Questions :ok thanks GAF all the best kev:hope :hope

[leroyloverod]

Re: Poker Novice Questions After a lousy week full of bad beats i have decided to go back to the start and re-learn the game. I was regularly placing in every 2-3 stt's but would have the occasional bad night like everyone else. On sunday i decided to give up the game for a bit as its costing too much. Some of the blame lies at the feet of people calling with poor odds, holding onto their ace and hitting it on the river etc. But most of the blame surely has to lie at my feet as i make my own decisions. I tend to move up to £10 stts when thigs go like this as they seem to be a bit more even as people tend not to call raises with less outs but it happened again there. Again, I'm sure i was making the mistakes too but i kept going out in the early rounds to bad beats. If i can get towards the last 5 then i normally give myself a good chance as i rather like the strategy in playing the last 4 or 5 players on a table. It just kind of kills your confidence when it keeps happening.:wall So i have now decided to start at the beginning where consider myself an experienced novice rather than an average player. I am now only playing freerolls and £1 stts, speaking of which i have just won one on BF as i wrote this lament. Any guides for an experienced novice?:notworthy

[leroyloverod]

Re: Poker Novice Questions Sorry i forgot to post my main question. Does this seem like the right way to go about things?

[georgej]

Re: Poker Novice Questions Looks like a plan to me. When dealing with badbeats, either over a few days, or weeks, the most important thingis to act - not react. Staying away from the $10 tables is the first step and a good one. I found that playing a few MTT's helped, getting a slight lead, sitting out for 10/15 min then rejoining kept me thinking and more focussed on the basics of my own game as i would not be trying to read the other players so much. This does not really help the bankroll, but does get you back on track. Playing for 2 hours solid in a MTT makes the STT's seem fairly tame after a while. Just make sure you are not playing when tired and not chasing losses (or gutshot straights). Seems you are on the right road though. Sometimes a break is just as good to clear your head.

[leroyloverod]

Re: Poker Novice Questions Thanks for the advice. It already seems to be working. Tonight i have played 2 £1 stts and finished 1st and 2nd in both. It beats spending money.:tongue2 With regard to the previous post, i also want to point out that i am aware that in some cases i should face up to the fact that i was beaten by better players in some games. I can handle that but i found on some occasions people were staying in against my raises with poor hands even pre flop. Examples being : Holding onto low suited pocket cards Hanging in with one ace and low kicker. Any low pair (I would fold pre flop with 33 against a large raise - i think that is sensible) middle hands like j 10 unsuited I would consider that a risky call against a preflop raise. Even post flop i was getting some poor calls, stright and flush chasers calling with one card playable at the flop, then hitting their cards on the turn and river. I'm not kidding it was very frustrating and i have shouted "NOOOOOOOOOOOO" into the darkness a few times. Saying that though, I think there were a few mistakes made by myself. 1, Playing too many games 2, Not taking a break between games 3, Playing when mad at the previous bad beat and being too aggressive. (in one £5 game i had jj first hand raised 60 chips preflop, hit a jack, raised another 60 got called and a guy raised all in with jc, 6d 2c on flop he had 3+5 d in his pocket. Turn 9 d river you guessed it, 2d. how do you play that kind of betting?):@ I tried changing my strategy from aggressive to tight and nothing seemed to work but determined, i ploughed on and kept getting to 6th place. In some games i was well beaten by guys slow playing good pocket cards. That i can take, but my morale was severely deflated by the time i turned the pc off. Tonight has been good as i started to like playing again a little more.:) Any advice would be much appreciated from you guys:ok

[DC]

Re: Poker Novice Questions OK Leroy I'm glad you've not given up completely. Starting at £1 level is good but not neccessarily the best way forwards. Ok, so it's cheap and you don't feel that angry when you lose because you're not losing much. Plus you're up against people who are generally new or experimenting or not as clued up, so you're going to get strange outcomes and possibly even MORE bad beats than you are used to at £5 and £10 level. Here are a couple of pointers, and I'm no expert but they seem to work for me. Don't play every hand. Learn to fold the rags often. Consider what your position is. You should only really call or raise when you are in late position once you've established what other players have by their raises and calls. If around 7 or 8 people call or raise before you it indicates you need an extremely good starting hand to beat all these players who are going to see the flop. If a lot of people are folding before you and you're only up against the blinds then you can think about calling and raising depending on your hand. During the later stages of the game look at people after you who are struggling/short stack and likely to go all in. Can you risk calling the blinds knowing they may go all in soon? Is your hand worth calling their possible all in, or is it better to fold now? Consider the number of outs you have once you've seen the flop. Is it really worth calling that raise to hit one card from the remaining deck? Learn to fold your pocket pairs if there are over-cards on the flop. Classic example: you hold QQ, put in a raise and 2 people call. The flop shows a King and an Ace. Admit defeat here unless you are getting negative vibes i.e lots of checks. People will stay all the way to the river calling left right and centre only to have been beaten well before. FOLD THOSE QUEENS! It's hard but better for you in the long run! Don't be afraid to put in small bets to find out where you are. In the above example put in a small bet if you are first to act, you can guarantee if you get a call you're up against someone holding an ace or king. If you have a decent hand after the flop and are worried about someone else improving theirs, make them pay. Don't let them hit there flush or straight on the river. Be agressive and get that pot early. If people are beating you on the river, which is what you say, DON'T LET THEM GET TO SEE THE RIVER. This is very hard on £1 tables mind you, these players WILL call anything, so remember this. There are probably more tips I can give you but it's late. There are much better players in this forum than me so I hope they can contribute. Remember you can't be a world-beater overnight. I've been playing about 18months and it's only just clicked really in the last 3-4 months. Experience is everything, the more you play, the better you become and the quicker your brain will be able to calculate outs, when to be aggressive and when to fold. Good luck mate, DC

[leroyloverod]

Re: Poker Novice Questions Thanks danny thats almost exactly the way i have been playing for the last 3 nights now. I've entered a few mtts and struggle there as players are too aggressive to go up against early in the game (bad pockets doesn't help either) and i end up relatively short stacked. Learning though got halfway in laddies freeroll last night, but got pretty much blinded out after getting beaten with a straight against 3 of a kind. (river card did it for them) fair enough you have to take a chance as there was always the possibility of the last card being the straight, but i was holding one of the fgour he needed so i thought the odds were in my favour. Some tips for the early going in stts and mtts is what i need as thats where i fall down mostly in the past.:( As for the small stakes stts, i have been doing remarkebly well. Out of 6 played so far on bf, i have won 4 come 2nd in 1 and nowhere in the other. Been playing a lot less than usual and it seems to be keeping me sharper. Its uncanny what danny has said as after reading a few posts on here and relaxing a bit i seem to be doing just that and find that 75% of the time i can tell whats gonna happen after my turn. With the £1 stts i find the best thing to do is not to play a hand for the first 2 rounds or so (unless nuts in hand) this way you always watch at least two or three go. The people who are well stacked at this stage are easy to separate: 1) They play almost every hand and inevitibly give a large chunk of their stack back 2) They sit tight on their large stack ond don't give much back checking and raising until good cards come by. Its at this point i normally start playing as the table has lost most of the early volatility and good hands tend to do well. I give myself a good chance once down to 4 even short stacked. (last night, someone beat my kk with a flush, knocked me down to 160 chips at blinds 100/200- i came back and won. Even for a fiver that had my heart going as i hit a run of the best pocket cards & flops i have ever seen. Kept getting called by the chip leader think he got a wee bit frustrated! Lucky i know but i would havew paid £1.20 to watch someone else do that! Anyway less is more for me now and i'm enjoying my cards because of it!:ok Merry Christmas everyone on PL. Hope to see every one about the forum over the next few days. :cheers

[Hedonist]

Re: Poker Novice Questions I will not offer any advice as there are better players than me on this forum to do so. I play mainly freerolls and low level sit and goes, I started on Betfair and played 10 games during which my winnings were £9 from a stake of £10 + £2 charges (20%). I therefore lost £3. I then moved to a site where I play $2 + .20 (10%) charges, I have been playing there for a couple of months and am currently showing a profit of $5.80. If I had been charged 20% I would be showing a loss. The one thing I know is that I am playing at the correct level for my capabilites, if my profits increase I will move up the levels, if not I will continue to enjoy my poker. Have a Happy Christmas all.

[Valiant23]

Re: Poker Novice Questions

There are probably more tips I can give you but it's late. There are much better players in this forum than me so I hope they can contribute. Remember you can't be a world-beater overnight. I've been playing about 18months and it's only just clicked really in the last 3-4 months. Experience is everything, the more you play, the better you become and the quicker your brain will be able to calculate outs, when to be aggressive and when to fold. Good luck mate, DC

Danny, that was an excellent post and good common sense advice.

I will not offer any advice as there are better players than me on this forum to do so.

Hedonist, you opinion also makes a valid contribution too. Some people find a level and continue to show a profit, regardless of whether it's £1 or £10 or $10. Another point is that a £1 STT at Betfair may have a better level of player than a £1 STT at Sporting odds, so sometimes it isn't finding your level, but rather finding your poker 'home'. But guys please remember that any opinion is valid. There are better players than me on here too (and a lot of them), but that doesn't and won't mean I'll be reluctant to post. It is possible that you could help a 'better' player with one aspect of their game with something that you regard as second nature.

[Dodger]

Re: Poker Novice Questions I'm not an expert either (been playing less than 2 years online), however want to pass an a tip I read in a poker magazine a few months ago... If you feel down, tired or poorly...then DON'T play poker at all...save it for when you feel well and wide awake! Yes, well that's a bit obvious, isn't it? Maybe so, but I was on a bad 2 week long losing streak, battling against toothache to play my beloved poker! Now how stupid was that? My concentration was shot to pieces and I was playing the worst poker of my life without realising what I was doing. So now, if I don't feel 100%, I just will not play at all.

[socky1]

Re: Poker Novice Questions A quick question to those in the know if you are playing stt say A Six pack would it possible for sombody to manipulate it say with more than computer or somthing cus thought of that always tends to put me off playing STT

[GaF]

Re: Poker Novice Questions You mean one person playing 2 hands and therefore seeing 4 pocket cards? There aren't many people who have the skill to profit from that I don't think - if you pay 2 entry fees out of 6, you have to be pretty confident one of them will hit the money every time..... and those that do have the skill to profit from it probably play at high limits, where they wouldn't get away with it (because their opponents would soon realise!!) I've always thought as well - if I were to cheat - then I wouldn't chose Texas Hold'em - I'd choose something like Omaha where you get 5 private cards (:unsure) - that way, with 2 players, you're seeing 10 cards - or 20% of the pack!!

[Jaded]

Re: Poker Novice Questions GaF, Omaha you only get 4 private cards! :P (Yes, this is a pointless post, but it's making me feel intelligent, so hey...)

[Pocket Lady]

Re: Poker Novice Questions Are you sure that you are playing Omaha -Jaded and not having double vision?:tongue2 I saw somewhere that you are as nissed as a pewt and still trying to play poker!

[GaF]

Re: Poker Novice Questions Ok - fair enough :$ :$ :$ :$ You can tell I don't play Omaha!!!! The point stands though - there's twice as many visible cards as in Holdem!!!

[Jaded]

Re: Poker Novice Questions Me, PL? You must be officer, joking! I'm nowhere near as think as you drunk I am!

[kevsul]

Re: Poker Novice Questions Hi Guy's & Gals.. Well i have been playing quite alot of the freerolls lately and i believe getting better..But i seem to look at where i am in the game and how many chips i have for me to get in the money... E.G yesterday i was 1st/243 payout at 27 only 65 left in so now i start thinking about staying towards the top as i want to beat my P/B.then you get hands that you raise on JJ or QQ someone raise's you on the flop with a king there but rubbish otherwise. So you fold only to see all they had was Ace..Something you could of beat.. So then you start to play tight just to get in the top part for the money hoping along the way u get a chance to hit a good flop... any advice as to how i should play a little better ...BTW i have also read what D/C say in the thread earlier.. that has also helped G.L all KEV

[Valiant23]

Re: Poker Novice Questions

Hi Guy's & Gals.. Well i have been playing quite alot of the freerolls lately and i believe getting better..But i seem to look at where i am in the game and how many chips i have for me to get in the money... E.G yesterday i was 1st/243 payout at 27 only 65 left in so now i start thinking about staying towards the top as i want to beat my P/B.

Kev it took me a while to realise that although it's nice to be chip leader it doesn't really matter until the last 2 tables or so, and even then it can change very quickly. I have found that in any tournament the people at the top leapfrog each other, so if you find yourself dropping down the leaderboard don't panic. Don't worry about your position, just how you are playing.

then you get hands that you raise on JJ or QQ someone raise's you on the flop with a king there but rubbish otherwise. So you fold only to see all they had was Ace..Something you could of beat..

That boils down to watching a player and deciding if they are bluffing or not - if someone rarely bluffs and makes a raise to represent a bigger pair then you could either call his raise or fold. If someone bluffs a lot then you make a decision there and then, but even bluffers are allowed good cards occasionally. BUT I tell myself that if I get bluffed off a hand that it was a good fold anyway. What you must remember about pocket pairs Kev, is that they are only strong before the flop. After they are just a pair, and could be beaten by any 2 raggy pair. Not a complete solution, but one to help you progress I hope. :ok

[robilaruk]

Re: Poker Novice Questions Shove or fold dependant on your chip stack compared to their chip stack compared to the blinds:tongue2 :tongue2 :tongue2 think about this - heads up you will not see a PP very often (1 every 16 hands or so) so if you get one, you are AHEAD:dude if you see a flop 50% of the time you miss it completely so if you do hit anything - BET, and bet big - make them pay to chase and be prepared to play rags - Q8, K6 etc - any face card has tremendous value against one opponent - suited connectors etc have similar strengths - as always, the closer together/higher the cards are the better At the end of the day, you will only get a feel for the game by playing it - so play as much as you can - VC poker has 10 and 20c STT so you can get lots of cheap practice Hope this helps Damo

Any advice please ! , When it comes down to heads up play or down to last 3 ,can anyone please give some tips . It is SO different a game .

[Hodgey]

Re: Poker Novice Questions Total Newbie Alert here! I've been reading lots of the threads in here and also some excellent links provided by various people too. And until 2 weeks ago I had never played a hand of poker in my life. So I decided to give it a go. However, obviously, I didn't want to risk real money. I didn't know where to start to be honest so have ended up at Yahoo Games poker tables. Now I'm guessing this is probably not the best place to be, however I only went there cos I didn't want to download any software initially. I have a couple of newbie questions: 1) Where would be a good place for me to start playing? Ideally I want to get some experience playing STT or MTT's rather than these ring games at Yahoo, but still for play money. 2) My second question is regarding sign up bonuses. If I download a poker site (for example Bet365 or VC), do I have to create a real money account to be able to play for play money? If I don't, then great, there is no issue regarding bonuses. But If I do, do I forgo any bonus entitlements. Obviously eventually I would like to be able to play this game properly and do not want to do myself out of bonuses cos they are a good way to start a bankroll. Thanks in advance.

[GaF]

Re: Poker Novice Questions Hodgey Good to see you take the plunge - I'm sure you'll become as addicted as the rest of us. Practically all of the sites offer "play money" games - so you should have no troubles there. If you don't want to download sites, some have now started offering games that work within the browser - so downloads can be avoided (though I don't feel you have anything to fear from downloading!!). Real Money accounts are not usually required to play for play money (and indeed, deposits/banking details are not usually required to have a real money account, which will allow you to play freerolls - games free to enter with real cash prizes). As a newbie, you shouldn't worry about sign up bonuses - you have to turn over your bonus (in the form of raked hands) at cash tables to release it, and cash games are the surest way for newbies to lose money. With freerolls, there is absolutely no need for new players to risk their own money, yet they can start building a bankroll (at no risk!!!) - for example Mr V won over £300 in a Freeroll just last night!!! Practice with play money, yes - to understand the rules of the game, and how the software functions - but don't trust these games to learn any strategy - start that in Freerolls!!! (though don't expect the strategy in Freerolls to be that high either!!) Any questions - feel free to fire away!!

[Hodgey]

Re: Poker Novice Questions Thanks mate. I shall download Bet365 this arvo and give it a go...

[Hedonist]

Re: Poker Novice Questions Hodgey Bet365 also do playmoney sit and goes, I have found them very good for learning as people play them more seriously than cash play money games.

[Hodgey]

Re: Poker Novice Questions God damn it's addictive!! Played around a bit on all sorts of tables to get used to the software, then played 4 STT's for play money. Came 2nd in one and won the last one. I know it's not real but I'm well happy with that! And totally hooked! Not that I'm gonna start playing for real cash yet, but are the cash STT the same format. Ie - if it's a $2 buy in on a 10 man table do you all get 1000 chips and compete for $10 first place, $6 second place and $4 third place? Also one other question - my Bet365 sports account is in £ but all the poker seems to be in $. Is there a conversion rate or is it in effect £=$ ? Cheers.

[GaF]

Re: Poker Novice Questions The format is similar - may be differences between games, speed of blinds, amount of starting chips, but the difference is more site by site and game v game than play money v real money. Typically a 10 man STT has top 3 paid at 50%, 30% and 20% (so the same). Almost all poker (though there are a few exceptions) operates in dollars - I can't think specifically for Bet365, though the sites usually do the exchange at the mid rate (i.e. between buy and sell rates) - and your winnings are converted at the same rate as the buy in - so as far as I am aware, they don't profit at all with exchange rates. If you play in a $1 game, then something like £0.60 will be deducted from your account. Seriously consider playing a few Freerolls - it sounds to me like you're ready for it, and you are risking nothing of your own!!! Popular ones amongst the beginners are Safety Net at Sporting Odds at 19:00 each evening and Bankroll Booster at Blue Square at 19:45 each evening. The Europoker Freeroll at 17:00 each evening is good value. I'd recommend you pick one and make it your mission each time you play to finish higher than you did last time - you'll be hitting the money (with no investment) in no time!!!) :ok If you want to play a freeroll on Bet365 to avoid getting any more software - they have a $5,000 freeroll every Saturday evening. This does have in excess of 5000 entrants though (with top 130 I think receiving cash prizes!!!)

[GaF]

Re: Poker Novice Questions Just to be sure as well - I presume from your first post that you have seen them, but make sure you have read http://www.punterslounge.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21979 and http://www.punterslounge.com/forum/showpost.php?p=274308&postcount=4