Poker Articles
Poker Articles - Poker Strategy, Controversy, and More. Poker is a constantly evolving game with an endless amount of information to learn. These poker articles range from beginner to expert concepts, with a variety of subjects to keep your poker mind fresh. We also have a full poker strategy section that outlines all the major strategies needed to play winning poker
Recently, I conducted an experiment with regards to online poker freerolls. The results were rather interesting, and suggest a course of action that players should take when participating in online poker freerolls.
Freerolls are, of course, multi-table tournaments that have no entry fee, but award prizes such as cash, an entry into another tournament, or sometimes just a poker book. These tournaments draw a lot of players, mostly those who haven’t risked any of their own money to [...]
When playing in tournament poker there will frequently be a situation when a short stack goes all-in and sees two or more callers. A standard practice here is for the players who called the all-in to check the hand down in order to increase their chances of eliminating the all-in player. However, checking the hand down may not always be the smart move. The strategy of checking the hand down has one huge weakness: it depends on the cooperation [...]
“He’s got a good poker face.” This phrase is heard a lot, and usually refers to a person who is able to make their face look like a stone sculpture, unmoving and emotionless. The person doesn’t give away any information, making it hard to get a read on him. One poker player who is like this is Phil Ivey, who is frequently said to be able to play 7-2 offsuit like it is pocket aces. On the [...]
A type hand that many poker players love is suited connectors. They enjoy being able to make a straight or a flush, as they will have a good chance of raking in a large pot, and suited connectors are the hands best suited to fulfilling the players’ desire to make a straight or a flush. However, many players have a tendency to fall in love with suited connectors, causing them to make bad plays and lose a large [...]
Imagine you’re in a Texas Holdem tournament or Sit and Go, and you are starting to get close to the money. Unfortunately for you though, you are one of the shorter stacks, and your prospects for making the money are grim. You are, however, in control of your destiny for the moment as the blinds are not yet crippling your stack and are merely an unwelcome nuisance. What do you do in this situation? Do you sit [...]
In my last article, I explained many factors to consider when deciding whether or not to play small pocket pairs before the flop. Now, I will continue to explain small pocket pair strategies, this time dealing with the factors that should be considered once the flop has been revealed.
The first situation I will describe is also the simplest one, where you got a cheap look at the flop, while there are several other players in the hand. If [...]
Playing small pocket pairs can be a very challenging aspect of poker, because while they can form a monster hand if a set forms on the flop, which will happen about once every seven and a half times, they are also very easily beat by players who hold overcards and improve their hands with the community cards. Small pocket pairs are also weak if a big hand forms on the board, such as two pair, as the small pair [...]
One of the most fundamental and important principles of poker is to minimize your losses and maximize your profits. One of the best ways to do this is to fool your opponents, making them think you are bluffing when you’re not and making them think you aren’t bluffing when you are. You need to suit your strategies to fit the players you are up against, and this requires patient observation of your opponents. However, a strategy that [...]
Oftentimes while playing poker, you will need to make your opponents fold, as you are either making a move to pick up chips, or you are fearful that your hand will not hold up if your opponents can see some more cards. You might have made it to the late stages of the tournament, but find your chip stack dwindling, or you might be simply be trying to steal a cheap pot on the flop. Whenever you are [...]
As more and more players drop out of a poker game you will have to be more aggressive as the average quality of starting hands goes down. The trick to short-handed play is to balance aggression and caution, so that you do not throw chips away for no purpose. If you are a short stack, you will be wanting to be patient while looking for a suitable all-in hand. If you have a decently-sized stack you will [...]
