When it comes to boosting your win-rate in , there are a few things you can do that will instantly make you a better player, put more money in your pocket and have you dominating the table in no time.
1. Stop Caring About Your Image.
One of biggest leaks in most people's game is caring too much about how they're perceived by other players or even bystanders.
No Deposit Bonus USA 2023 - Top Sites & Offers for American PlayersMaybe you like to play loose and aggressive but every time you raise and get re-raised you fold instead of raising again to "protect" your image. Or maybe you're a tight player who gets raised and decide to fold instead of calling because you don't want to look like a fish.
Or perhaps someone calls you out on a bluff and you feel the need to prove them right next time so you change your game to avoid being called out again.
Thoughts like these race through all of our minds from time to time but they will lose you more money than they will save. Most of the time you should be focusing solely on making the most profitable decision for that hand at that moment.
It doesn't matter if anyone thinks you're a fish or a pro, if raising is going to make you the most money in the long run, then that's what you should do.
If if feels like everyone is on to you, then isn't such a good game for you any more and you should think about moving up in stakes or finding an easier game.
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2. Always Consider All Possible Outcomes and Odds!
A lot of new poker players only consider their own cards and their own hand range when deciding on a course of action. Once you start thinking about what your opponent might have and the odds of the different possibilities you will be able to make much more accurate decisions.
live casino philadelphia promotionsAn example: You're playing six-max No-Limit Hold'em and a player raises from first position. A couple of players call and you look down at [K[h] [10] [d].
You decide to re-raise since it's an impressive looking hand. The original raiser calls and the flop comes [8] [9] [J] [d]. Your opponent bets out. Now what?
If all you've been considering is your king kicker, you might think that your hand is good and you can just call. After all, you have top pair with a decent kicker. But that's not enough information.
You have to take into account that your opponent could have anything two jack-high, including flopped sets. You're drawing dead to almost half of his possible hands. Even if you assume he never has a set (which is wrong), he could still have a number of jack-related hands that put you in a difficult spot on later streets.
([K] [10] [d] x2 + [J] [x] = 9 outs x 2 = 36 total outs)
([Jj] x2 + [Jq] x4 + [Jjack] x2 = 10 hand combos)
So we can see that there are 10 hand combinations that give him a better hand than us, and those hands account for 36 of the 132 possible combinations (36/132 = 27%)
Even if he never has a set (which is unlikely), there are another 10 hands that are better than ours! If he were to only ever show down those 10 hands, he would be shown down the stone cold bluff 27% of the time. That's not a likely scenario though because he would never let us bluff him off his pockets jacks or better more than a handful of times before he starts adjusting his play.
Taking all of this into consideration, you should now be able to see that you're actually worse than your initial assessment indicated. You can't call thin here because you leave yourself nowhere to go on the turn.
Gulfport Casinos You Need to Check Out This YearInstead you should raise, continue barrelling on the turn or even check-raise the flop to take down the pot right there or set up a big pot where you're more likely to be ahead.
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3. Think About How Your Actions Will Be Perceived!
Once you have considered all of the relevant information, such as your hand, the board, your opponents' probable hand ranges and all of the possible outcomes and odds of each situation, you also need to consider how your opponent will perceive your actions.
This applies both to preflop play and postflop play.
Pre-flop examples:
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If you raise occasionally with hands like [10] [9] but sometimes you min-raise to trap people and get huge pots, your min-raise is now a weakness and should be treated as such. Anyone who knows you have this move in your arsenal will just call your min-raise with all sorts of hands and then shut the door on you after the flop.
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On the flip side, if you always min-raise in this position, defend your raises with weak holdings and then overbet the pot on the flop, then min-raising is now a strong move.
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If you play exclusively by the book and always follow the strategies outlined in Harrington on Hold 'Em, eventually your opponents will pick up on this and you'll never be able to deviate from the strategy without tipping them off that you're on to something. At this point you're forced to always play by the book and consequently you're leaving a ton of dollars on the table.
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If every time you have ace-king you raise to $12 and every time you have ace-queen you raise to $10, believe me, someone will pick up on it and you will start losing to harder and harder hands.
Post-flop examples:
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If you always bet three-quarter pot on the flop and then on the turn you switch to either half or full pot, depending on the size of the bet, your opponent will always know exactly what you have. If betting three-quarters pot is strong and you bet three-quarters on the flop, then on the turn when you find out your opponent has a king in their hand and is drawing bare, they call down everything you have. Conversely, when you hit your hand and the draw fails, they fold to any bet, knowing you must have a full house or better.
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Another common mistake you should try to avoid is always checking your monsters and always betting your slow plays. This makes it very easy for your opponent to get a good read on you. They can essentially put you on having a monster anytime you check to you.
In summary, you don't just have your own hand to worry about; you also have the strength, or weakness, of that hand to consider, as well as how you've played previous hands in the past. Anybody who's played with you for any length of time can and will use this information against you. So if you want to stop bleeding money, you need to start mixing up your play.
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4. Stop Blind Calling!
The majority of poker players enjoy playing the game so much that they're willing to pay rent on hands that don't even make. This is especially true in tournaments where often a player will make a standard-sized bet and the caller will call without even thinking, despite the fact that it's going to cost them twice the amount of the previous bet to see one more card.
The key word here is "without even thinking," which is exactly what you want your betting to induce. You want your opponent to call a three-barrel blindly without thinking of the math involved.
Best Casino Apps for Android Smartphones - Top Mobile CasinosThe best way to get someone to make blind calls is to maintain a consistent, somewhat boring, "book" style of play. People love to guess what kind of hand you have based purely on your playing style.
They figure if you always vacuum up every draw and never show down a hand, you must be a tight player with premium hands only. Then, when you have the opportunity to betray your "tight" image, they can't rationalize calling because of the investment and the possibility of running into a stronger made hand.
Secrets to Winning Real Money on Free SlotsHowever, if you allow yourself to go on absurd heaterst and tilt-fold everything in sight, you aren't giving your opponents much to go on when trying to categorize your play. So when the time comes for them to make a crucial call, all they can do is ask themselves, "Should I be in this pot or not?" That's exactly the question you want them asking themselves -- because nine times out of 10 they won't even realize they're being set up.
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5. Don't Get Too Attached to Top Pair!
This is a tough lesson for most players to learn. As a general rule, top pair is a poor hand. It doesn't offer much in the way of odds or equity and should generally be avoided unless you're in late position and get to act last.
When you hit top pair you should always put your opponent on a range and then consider where they might be coming from on the board. For instance, if your opponent raised from under the gun and you called with [A[h] [Q] [d] and the flop came [K] [10] [6] [c], your opponent's range is drastically reduced. He could have kicked himself with a pair of kings or been dealt A-10, but other than that his range is extremely strong.
On the other hand, if you limped in with the same hand and a lone villain pushed in the big blind, your top pair is gold. His range isn't nearly as drastically reduced and you may very well be ahead.
Consider this example: You are playing a solid Limit Hold'em game and you pick up [K[h] [K] [q]. You raise in middle position to $6 and are called by the button and the big blind.
Largest Casinos in The World - Casino WhaleThe pot is $18 to compete with and the flop comes [K[c] [10] [7] [s] . The solid player in the button position checks, the big blind bets out $12 and it is back to you.
Now you're wondering whether you should raise or just call and go head-up with the bigger pot size. Before we look at your opponent's range and try to figure out if you should be raising or not, let's talk about the equity of your hand.
Paired hands account for half of all possible combinations so right off the bat your hand has 50% equity. Of the other possible combinations, half of them will have you beaten and half will beat the table. Since the solid player to act behind you is in the hand, we know that our opponent in the big blind does not have a higher paired hand or he would have been raised by the button.
Therefore we can discount all of his combinations with higher pairs from the equation. In other words our equity just jumped from 25% to 37.5%. That one simple factor increases our chances of winning the pot by more than one-third!
We also have to consider that the button could be drawing. Assuming he wouldn't make a move with nothing, the only reasonable draws he could make would be Jack-Queen or Jack-Jack. There are eight combinations of JQ and 13 ranks that could be the hole card for the JJ combo, so that adds another 6.25% to our equity.
100% up to€100 MGM Grand Casino No Wagering Bonus!At this point top pair, even without any kicker, is the favorite and we haven't even touched on the button's range beyond those two hands. Does he have a ten for middle set? Does he have a seven-kicker for a straight? Does he have A-J for top pair? We just keep chopping away at his range until we're comfortable calling.
Chances are you won't have enough information to say with certainty whether a call is plus-ev or not, but at least now you have some idea of where your opponent's range begins. Without looking at your own hand, you have to reverse-engineer each player's range to come up with your opponent's winner percentages. Only then will you have the information you need to make a proper decision.
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6. Learn to Play the Player!
Understanding your opponent's playing tendencies and styles is critical to becoming a winning poker player. Nobody buys into a poker game with a fixed set of cards; rather, everybody buys in with a range of hands.
As the hand progresses, each player removes hands from his range until there is only one left. The person who figures out how to narrow each opponent's range to the thinnest possible point will typically end up taking the pot.
Let's use an extreme example to illustrate this concept. You're playing in a small tournament and are sitting near the bottom of the stack rankings. Suddenly you find yourself sitting across from a very timid player who has only limped into a handful of pots and has yet to show down a hand.
Well, you can pretty much put this player on a range of junk hands. Anytime either of you is involved in a hand, you should be assuming that you are way ahead of your opponent's range. You have to consider that she could have gotten lucky and picked up a big hand, but until she shows otherwise, it's safe to assume her range is weak.
Now imagine you're sitting at the same table in the same tournament and this timid player has shifted gears and started raising the majority of plays. Every time one of her opponents folds to her raise she gets more and more confidence, and soon enough she's pushing on the big stack in mid-position. Guess how I'm going to play that player's range? That's right-- I fold almost everything I have!
This example highlights the importance of recognizing when a player's game changes and then reacting accordingly. Sometimes a player will make a conscious effort to change the way they play -- perhaps they've realized that they are too tight and are actively trying to become more aggressive. Other times a player's aggression can be attributed to a heater -- they've gotten a few lucky moments and are now on an adrenaline rush, so they start pushing on everybody in sight.
Either way, the goal is the same: Use their aggression against them. Since they are pushing so often, many of their pushes will be light -- meaning we should be calling them with a wide range. Because we know their range is weak we can call with a wider variety of hands, implying that we too have a weak range.
What they won't realize until all is said and done is that our range is actually quite strong. By calling their pushes with top pair and a decent kicker or even a pair and an average kicker, we're going to show down far ahead in this match-up far more often than not.
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7. Keep Meticulous Notes!
Unless you're a mind reader, keeping notes on your opponents is absolutely essential if you want to maximize your profits. Whenever somebody does something strange or worthy of note, sit down afterwards and jot some info in the comment section of the player in your database. Here's a short list of popular tags people use to describe opponents:
- AGGRESSIVE
- TIGHT
- LOOSE
- CALLS BETS ON MISSED DRAWS
- WILL RAISE YOU IF YOU RAISE THEM
- ALWAYS CHECKS MONSTERS
- SLOPE TO FOLDING WHEN BLENDED WITH STONE COLD BLUFF
- WILL SHIP ON ANYTHING AFTER THREE BETS
- MINS/RAISES WITH EVERYTHING
- WILL SHIP MONSTERS VIA CHECK-RAISES
- CAN BE MAD TOURNAMENT DEATH
- GIVES RESPECT AND PLAYS A GREAT SHORT STACK GAME
- WILL FOLD ALL Pairs ELEVEN AND LOWER
- WILL PUT YOU TO A TEST WITH ANY PAIR
- ONCEthey GET SMOKEN, FOLD EVERYTHING FOR HOURS
- DOESN'T CHANGE GEAR WHEN IN TROUBLE
- ONLY PLAYS Big Pocket Pairs
Obviously, this list can (and should) be expanded upon, but you get the idea. The better the notes you take, the more accurate your reads on your opponents will be and therefore the more money you will win.
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8. Don't Autopilot!
It happens to the best of us. You're playing along minding your own business when suddenly your mind wanders. You start thinking about all the chores you have to do around the house or reliving that awesome shot you made during yesterday's basketball game. Before you know it, four or five hands have passed and you have no recollection of how you acted in any of them.
Most Profitable Casino Bets That Can Make You RichThis is commonly referred to as "autopilot." Essentially you're letting the site automatically place you into the game after you fold, thus forfeiting any chance you had of profitably playing that hand.
Some players are obsessed with playing a specific type of hand in a particular way. Maybe they always want to raise with [K] [Q] and fold [K] [J] no matter the situation. Perhaps they're a strict calling station who never reraise and fold anything that isn't a decent drawing hand or top pair. Whatever their tendencies may be, when they fall asleep at the wheel and fold the hand they LeBron-ed into oblivion, they are leaving money on the table.
The beauty of having a poker account with a database function is you can easily track your tendencies and hold your peers accountable. If you catch a friend folding that K-Q hand or getting folded out with a monster, you can gently remind them that by falling asleep on autopilot they're burning cash. Over time this will help cultivate better poker habits.
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9. Steal More!
Every time you steal a blind it's money earned, pure and simple. There is no bigger leak in most players games than the failure to steal the blinds adequately.
Many players are scared to steal. They fear being looked through or called and having to sling it out in a Pot-limit or No-limit game. This simply isn't a realistic concern and these players are throwing away $.50 at a time.
Best Online Casinos in UK Review - Top Sites for British PlayersSure, once in a while you're going to get looked through or even raised off the hand. And yes, in those situations you might have to get out of the way, but more times than not you're going to take the blinds with little resistance.
Remember, the players at your table want to be involved with big hands. They are waiting for AA-JJ, A-K, a set or a straight draw to make their day. Unless you're in early position with A-A, it's unlikely that you have either of the top Rank hands or the implied odds necessary to justify playing at this stage of the hand.
The goal of stealing the blinds is to play every orbit or two without putting in a single bet and then getting up and repeating. You want to remain unpredictable. Some orbits you'll steal as expected in early position. Other times you'll squeeze in a quick UTG raise before stealing the blinds. Every method you incorporate into your repertoire makes it more difficult for your opponents to read you, and that difficulty directly translates into dollars in your pocket.
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10. Mine the Rake!
Nobody likes to pay the rake, but when you're trying to improve your results it's important that you recognize the impact the rake has on your bottom line.
Generally speaking, the more players there are at the table, the more the regulars are going to end up paying in rake. Also, the longer you stay at the table the more rake you're going to cough up. Shortening the orbit or even just a few rotations around the table can add up quickly, especially in a juicy game.
There is no magic number of players required before one can consider a table "good," but the more the merrier usually holds true. However, it's important to remember that the more players at the table, the longer the wait to get a seat will be. Sometimes you have to weigh the potential increased earnings against the time invested in queueing.
Ways That Playing Poker is NOT Gambling | Everyway StreetAdditionally you should try to understand the ebbs and flows of the players in your games. Some players just seem to go on epic heaters, laying coins out left, right and center. Other times, no matter what they do they cannot buy a pot.
Most regulars in an online game have some sort of bankroll management plan. Many will set aside a specific portion of their bankroll to gamble around in the smaller games in an attempt to build their roll without risking their precious BR. These players are excellent targets for steering a game in your desired direction.
Quite often you'll notice one of these players starting to dwindle. If you enjoy the soft game while it's plush, it's in your best interest to quietly and subtly encourage the player to top up and get back in the game. The more times a player does this, the more frequently they will show up to find the game going strong.
Conversely, if you notice one of these players is doing particularly well for themselves, it's again in your best interest to encourage them to capitalize on their hot streak and graduate back up to their usual game level.
This art of massaging the rake can add anywhere from $.50 to $2 or more per orbit depending on the size of the game and the enthusiasm level of the player. The difference between breaking even and making a dollar per orbit may seem trivial, but over hundreds or thousands of hands, those extra pennies really start to add up.
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