One of the things I like about poker and poker people is their willingness to share what they've learned. Big name professionals are exactly the same, and are often giving out advice to newcomers who may well turn up at tournaments a year or so later and trounce them with their own advice.
We've compiled a useful list of simple poker tips from a variety of celebrated players for new players among you to cut out and use as inspiration.
1. The check-raise is an excellent tool in no-limit because you can win all of your opponent's chips at one time. So if you get a hand to trap them with, you can open the noose with a check and then tighten the noose with a check-raise when they bet.
2. Don't ever be a calling station in pot-limit or no-limit. When you do call, make sure that you have rewal purpose.
3. If you are last to act in no-limit tournaments, you can often pick up the pot with a modest bet when it's checked to you.
4. Changing gears is one of the most important parts of playing poker. It means shifting from loose to tight play and vice versa. Don't do it gradually. It works better if you switch suddenly. Once the opposition catch on, change gears again.
5. Remember, in no-limit you only have to win certain key hands. This is true because the pots that you win in no-limit are usually much bigger than they are in limit games.
6. Having position in hold 'em or being one of the last players to act in a hand is a great advantage. You can just sit back and wait for everyone else in front of you to act. If your opponent bets and you have a good hand, you can raise, effectively doubling the amount of money that is put into the pot and raising other strong hands out of the pot by making it twice as expensive for them to call.
7. Don't play games just for the sake of wanting fast action. Don't play a shorthand game just because you want to play more hands. If you're in that state of mind you'll lose more often than you'll win. Take a break. Watch some TV and relax. Come back when you cool down and have tie to play solid poker.
LEGENDS OF POKER
Gus "The Great Dane" Hansen has taken only three years to make himself a legend. This rampaging Viking has cut a swathe through the poker ruling elite. He even managed to top the earnings league a year or so back with a whopping $2,150,000 catapaulting himself into the World Poker Walk of Fame alongside poker royalty like Doyle Brunson.
This thirty year old world-class backgammon player has even managed to establish the term "Having a Gus" into the poker lexicon. This was spawned by his ability to take normally unplayable hole cards and turn them to his advantage. "Having a Gus" is the belief that almost any starting hand can be used to win if used with invention.
His David Beckham good looks and sharp style of play has most pundits hailing him as the future of big time poker, and the marketing contracts are already rolling in. Hansen's celebrity future is guaranteed primarily because he is exciting to watch and brings a high risk, aggressive approach to the table coupled with an instinctive mathematical wizardry. If you can get decent odds on him for the 2006 World Series of Poker, he's a value bet.
Q: I have so far played just five online games of Texas Hold 'Em and I haven't yet been dealt a pair as my hole cards. Am I cursed?
A: No. Your odds of receiving a pair as your hole cards are actually about 17 to 1. So if you don't get a pair in your next ten or twelve games consider a visit to the luck clinic.
Q:As an old-fashioned stud player I'm curious as to why Texas Hold 'Em has become so amazingly popular?
A: Easy! After the first round of betting on the hole cards, the flop takes place delivering another three cards to the game. This means there are five cards in play, over seventy percent of the total cards, for just the cost of one round of betting. It's this fact that makes the game so exciting. The first bet, the pre-flop bet is completely critical to the game's outcome and it happens right at the outset of the action. This is a very compelling game of poker to the majority of players. Even the purists are converting in droves. Join us!
POKER JOKER
A big name poker player at a casino calls out to a waitress starting her first shift: "Got any wild turkey?"
Waitress: "No sir, but I'm sure we can arrange to catch a tame one and irritate it for you!"
All The Aces daily poker column: Sunday August 7th 2005: Simple Tips From Poker Legends
