Fundamentals of Odds

In Texas Hold'em, odds are one of the key to building a huge stash. Reading the flop is when you decide to go for the money or wait for the Poker Gods to give you a different opportunity. I see so many people chasing stuff after the flop and got empty handed in the end because they did not consider what their opponents had in their hand or the odds to hitting your own hand compared to pot odds.

Hold'em Arena

Tournament Strategy

Tournaments are a fun and interesting way to play poker. For beginners, someone who has played less than 1000 to 5000 hands, it's better to play smaller buy in tournaments. 1-10 dollar buy ins are small tournaments. This way you can observe how to play poker for a small amount of money for a long period of time.

First stage
There are 2 strategies for the first stage of play;

1. Play real tight, only with the top 5-10 starting hands and don't chase
Or
2. Play loose/aggressive trying to build your chip stack by outplaying weak/looser players.

Online tournament have tons of inexperienced players and you can easily trap them in the beginning of a tournament.If you are an inexperienced player, use strategy number 1. If the flop does not help your hand, throw it away. Do not chase a hand if it is going to cost you most of your chips. You objective is to double up your chips. If you have lost your chips in a small amount of leaks and chasing then when those aces do hit your pocket you will not have any chips to double up.

Another good reason to play tight is because the blinds are fairly small. When you bet in poker you are essentially saying you are going to compete for the blinds. If the blinds are only 15 chips then you are competing for pennies of what is needed to win the tournament. You want to have a hand that the weaker players will risk all of their chips against and you have the best of all possible worlds. Remember not to go after the unnecessary stuffs.

Middle Stage
The middle stage of the tournament is where people start to shift gears, turning on the aggressive button. There is a clear chip leader and usually half of the entrants have been eliminated. The blinds are starting to get larger and hopefully your chip count is large enough where you don't have to worry about the blinds eating you away. The money places are still far away but you have gotten past the loose players and are heading into the stretch run. In other words, show me the money babeh! Remember to shift your gears because you want to double up.

Final Stage
It's getting hot in here! And you are in the money round or at a final table. People will go all in at any time. Since everyone is going to make some money the play gets looser. Premium cards are what you need and want when you enter a pot. You must loosen up but you must also ask yourself, would I call an all-in raise with these cards? If the answer is no then throw them away (remember the first stage lesson). A majority of the hands will have all-in bets pre-flop or on 4th street. This is why you should NOT panic in the middle part of the tournament if you are not the chip leader or even in the top 20. If you have the average amount of chips then a double up or a triple up from a pivotal hand will happen. After the first bubble pops the all-in bets get more frequent until the next bubble level.

Hope this helps in your poker journey. Do bring us some feedbacks. Have a pleasant weekend! =)

Building A Huge Stash

Good evening, something that I read today that I would like to share to all poker players. This applies from newbies to the professionals who can use em as reminders from the good ol' saying. Enjoy reading. =)

Building Huge Funds Online aka BANKROLL

The term bankroll is the key to building a huge stash and I mean REALLY HUGE. It is also a very important word in a poker player's vocabulary. You need it to play poker just as you need a boat to travel on water ( unless you can swim well).

Here is what's going on, most sites offer first time deposit bonus. In addition, this is the key to building a bankroll. By depositing money at a site, you get the deposit bonus, an investment that pays off better than any bank interest rate. Play a good game of poker and you can leave the site, cash in hand to deposit into another site, and then get that initial bonus.

Play only the the best hands and don't go chasing hands that will blow up your account. It's like playing a tournament, play only the hands that will win you the cash without risking too much of your money, and after a certain amount of hands you can cash out the bonus free and clear.

One of the best ways to get the required amount of hands to keep your deposit bonus is to play limit poker. This will eliminate the decision to match opponents all in bet. You may know that person is bluffing, but you are trying to build a bankroll. Fair enough, winning a huge pot would build your bankroll, but think about this :

1. Most pro poker players suggest having at least 300 times the amount of the big blind as your bankroll. For starters, you need at least 200 to 400 times the big blind. Because if you have a bad string of hands, you will have a large swing of cash flow toward the negative side. When this happens, you do not want to change your poker style (unless that is the reason you are losing).


2. If you are playing your best poker, the odds are always in your favor, and your opponent catches that lucky river card or a runner-runner to make the nut straight then just chalk the problem up to the poker Gods evening things out. You do not have to change your game, but you need the bankroll to get past the string of bad beats. If your bankroll is getting small, then you may start playing differently, like you have to make up that money (looser) or to tight to protect your small amount of money. These are the worst things that can happen -- changing your poker style to meet a bankroll problem.

Here's the tip, build the bank at five to six different sites, slowly, and build it into $500 to $1,000. Then you can start playing some real poker. With a sufficient bankroll, you can start playing the $2/$4, $5/$10, or $10/$20 no limit tables.

You should have at least $200 or even better $800 to $1,200 bankroll for the $1/$2 no limit game and at least $400 or probably $1,300 to $1,700 bankroll for the $2/$4 no limit game. $5/$10 no limit game is like trading in an equity market as they often swing your bankroll. Play that game after getting some experience because of the amount of tough players. Sometimes, there are players who just want to bully you around, and you can slow play the nuts for a big win. You need a larger bankroll with a minimum of $3,000 to $5,000 to cope with such players.