(Click Here for the Latest Online Poker News Stories)
Copyright © 2006 The Online Wire
HEADLINE: Online poker
strategies - Game selection
Body:
The difference between starting your poker career off as a winner
or as a loser is Game Selection. Choose the appropriate game for
your bankroll and your skill level and you will be rewarded with
a long and winning career in poker.
Bankroll
Make sure you have an adequate bankroll for the stakes of the
game. Normal game fluctuations dictate that playing in a $3/$6
game with a $50 total bankroll will normally see you leaving the
table broke and looking to deposit more money. A good rule of
thumb is to have a bankroll of about 20 times the big bet to consistently
play at a particular limit (e.g. $20 to play at $.50/$1).
Evaluate The Game
Some games are tougher than others, even though the limits are
the same. It is important to find a game that has weaker players
as opposed to a game that has stronger players. This is a very
important ingredient to poker success that you will pick up as
you continue to learn the game.
Take some time to observe a game before sitting down. If it looks
like a game full of tough players, then you should consider looking
for another game. Look, the last thing you want to hear in the
back of your mind is Matt Damon from the movie Rounders saying,
"If you can’t spot the sucker in the first half hour
at the table, then you ARE the sucker."
Tight/Loose & Passive/Aggressive
There are two major ways to describe games and players: Tight/Loose
and Passive/Aggressive. And if you think that these game styles
might also describe your ex-girlfriend or wife, well, that is
probably fine too. Tight/Loose describes how many hands a player
will play. If they play very few hands, then they are considered
Tight. If they play a lot of hands, then they are considered Loose.
Passive/Aggressive describes how often players tend to bet their
hands. Passive players do not bet very often and prefer to call
or check. Aggressive players tend to heavily bet their hands and
rarely call or check.
The easiest and most profitable games for the smart beginner
are those that are Loose/Passive. These are games where players
tend to play too many weak hands, and do not raise often enough
when they have strong hands. These are games that beginning players
should seek out.
The toughest games are those in which players play fewer hands
and bet heavily when they do enter the pot. This is a Tight/Aggressive
style of playing that all poker players should aspire to; conversely,
these are exactly the types of players that you should be cautious
of.
Thanks to a little thing called the Internet we can play
poker at home, the office, on road trips, or even at televised
World Poker Tour events. We have been mercifully freed from the
chains of the poker dark ages and now can play at Bodog.com. Click
here to play poker now.
Originally published on July 7 2006 - TheOnlineWire.com
Exclusive Titan
Poker Bonus: TPF150
Article
downloaded from the World Wide Web on July 8, 2006:
http://www.theonlinewire.com/articleView.aspx?ID=1021 |
(Click Here for the Latest Online Poker News Stories)
|