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“Hold’em is a lot like making love: Position is everything.” – WPT Host Vince van Patten

Determining your opponents’ playing styles is important, but gaining knowledge from your position is more so. Where you sit in relation to the dealer’s button is called Table Position. The three basic table positions in poker are early (the Big Blind, Small Blind and Under the Gun), middle and late (including the Cutoff and the Button). The reason the dealer rotates the button after each hand is because table position is crucial to determining appropriate odds and bets.

If you are sitting in late position — which is the strongest position — you will be able to see other players’ reactions to their cards before the action comes to you. This simple idea is behind the pokerism “Position is Power.”

Though the strength of your hole cards is important, how you use position in deciding your betting strategy is the most important tool in your poker skill set. Playing your starting hands the same no matter what position you are in is one of the gravest mistakes you can make. Though you may understand the strength of playing premium starting hands, incorrectly entering every pot without considering position is costly. The more information you possess, the more you increase your chances of winning the hand.

Your margin for error is less when you are sitting in early position. If you bet with a marginal hand pre-flop from early position, you can easily end up with a raise or even re-raise by players betting after you. This places you in the untenable position of immediately having to decide whether your hand is worth losing the extra chips (two or three small bets in limit, to an All-in in no-limit) just to see the flop. If you make the correct move and fold, you lose the chips you already put in the pot. Therefore, if you are in early position, you should restrict the hands you play to the top premium hands, because you have no way of knowing what the other players in the group are holding. Statistically at least one of the players behind you also has a premium starting hand. Though the big and small blinds are in early position, they have the advantage of acting last pre-flop.

If you are playing from middle position, you have players waiting for action and others that have already played. Though your pre-flop hand selection increases in middle position, in most situations you are still limited to playing strong opening hands. Since several players may be in the pot, you get better odds when playing weaker hands, but still have greater risk with the players behind.

Being in late position with a good hand has major advantages over being early with a good hand. Poker Legend Doyle Brunson once remarked, “If I had position on a player, I wouldn’t even need to look at my cards.” A player in late position holding a premium hand has the ability to manipulate the pot size, making future bets easier to call on the turn or river. When playing marginal hands, such as suited-connectors or Aces with weak kickers, it is especially important to be in late position.With the advantage of seeing your opponents’ actions before you act, you can expand the range of your starting hands, often playing weaker hands from late position. If you do not consider position when playing a hand, you give an edge to players who do understand its importance.

Since the button is the strongest opening position, many players try to bluff or over-bet a weak hand from this position. Gaining knowledge of other players’ styles helps you determine if they are overplaying a hand from the button or actually have a strong hand. Learning your opponents’ styles also provides a clue to how strongly you should protect your own blinds.

The type of game and the stakes involved can magnify the importance of position. In a low-stakes, limit game, with a table of loose players, position means less, since these players tend to play any two cards and draw to the end regardless. As the stakes get higher, position becomes more important. Position becomes even more important in no-limit play, as the threat of the All-in on each hand considerably raises the stakes more than in limit play.

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an ezine dedicated to poker. He is also the award-winning author of “Winning Blue-Collar Hold’em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments” and four upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMag, where he gives you a daily poker quote or pokerism.

If you are thinking about going to Las Vegas for a break but are not only looking for a bit of the casino life but some peace and quiet too, then its a very good idea to consider some of the off-strip hotels. There are lots to choose from, many of which are about a mile or so from the strip so you can venture to the strip when you feel the wish.

the strip if you wish to avoid the casino life entirely. If you want a bit of both though – peace and quiet some of the time, and at other times casino life and hustle and bustle, then there are a plethora of hotels about a mile or so away from the strip which allows for easy access when you feel the inclination.

I really like the idea of being surrounded by the sounds of a busy casino while being in the confines of an oldy worldy building. You can imagine sitting there for a couple of hours just dreaming about being in the same place 100 years or so ago, while you are sipping your champagne after winning at the blackjack table.

On the other hand its a God-send that modern-day buildings offer up the possibilities of being either in downtown Vegas or some place nearby but yet you are not constantly disturbed by the noise.

One positive thing about modern buildings to note is that even though they may be located in town center, they are still great at noise reduction. Imagine being in a hotel on strip Vegas with single glazed windows and a plywood door?! Oh dear, no rest for you for sure! Modern day hotels tackle this problem very well indeed, fortunately enough!

If you are keen on finding a good discount on your hotel then off strip is good for that. While these hotels are competing with each other on price and service, at the same time they have to compete with the on strip hotels too. Thus the prices at almost any time of year are real keen.

So even if you are struggling to find a great discount its certainly not the case that you will find hotel prices in the area particularly high.

So it is possible to find some great off strip hotels that will offer you the best of both worlds. Many are situated within a mile or so of the strip so if you care to venture there on occasion its easy and quick to do so, whereas at the same time if you are not interested in the strip at all then you are far enough away to avoid it entirely. Have a great time!

Want to find out more about cheap Vegas hotels, then visit Joseph Archibald’s site on how to choose the best Vegas hotels to meet your needs.

Betting on sports ‘futures’ is an enjoyable and potentially profitable way to wager, but there are several potential risks that can lead to losses. Here’s a rundown of things to avoid:

Search for the best price: A common mistake is to assume that the price on a specific futures wager position will be the same at every sportsbook. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, you’ll often see a greater degree of difference between futures prices from book to book than any other form of bet. This is because that books aren’t as worried about what price other outfits are offering as they are about keeping their own financial position balanced.

Don’t fixate on picking the winner from a competitive field: This may sound like strange advice, but from a theoretical standpoint it makes perfect sense. As with every other element of sport wagering its crucial to always focus not on winners and losers, but on the value you’re getting on individual bets. For example, in most years there are several teams with a realistic shot of winning at the start of the NCAA basketball tournament. The problem is that these top teams invariably offer low paybacks that are less than their ‘true odds’ of winning. Every team is subject to the same variables like injuries, slumps, bad matchups but backing teams that are ‘under the radar’ at higher prices offer more compensation for these ‘risks’.

In mathematical terms, we’re simply not being offered odds on a favorite that offer a good value in comparison with the ‘true odds’ of the event occurring. Let’s say we bet Duke at +200 to win the NCAA tournament. If we could magically play the NCAA tournament over 100 times, would Duke come out on top more than 33 times? If not, they’re a poor value at the price. At a higher price, I might be interested but at +200 the value is simply not there.

In a less competitive field, there can be instances where even a big favorite is a good value. For example, lets say a book was to take action on a bikini contest between a Victoria’s Secret supermodel and three members of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The model would essentially be a 100% probability to win the contest, meaning that even a high chalk price would be a good value. Risking a lot of money to win a little is a tough thing to justify, however, even if the math makes sense.

Don’t try to make a huge profit with little risk: Sports betting provides few opportunities to make a ‘big killing’. It may happen occasionally, but even the big payouts when it occurs doesn’t make chasing big longshots a good value. If you’re serious about sports betting it is crucial to maintain your focus on the underlying numbers and look for value at all times. If you want to take a longshot at a huge jackpot, play the lottery but don’t try to do it at a sportsbook.

Simply stated, the concept of value works the same at the bottom of the wagering ladder as it does at the top. Even if you’re betting a big underdog at a huge price make sure that it accurately reflects the ‘true odds’ of the event occurring.

Don’t waste your money on ridiculous prop bets: Occasionally sports books offer ridiculous bets to get press or to be funny. For example, a book once offered odds on Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher and Bruce Willis all hopping into bed together and releasing a video tape of the proceedings. You’d no doubt get a huge payback were this to happen, but the ‘true odds’ of such an event transpiring far exceeded even a big potential payback.

Ross Everett is a freelance writer who has written on sports gambling and how to successfully bet on NFL football. He has appeared as a guest on TV and radio talking about boxing, hockey and NFL pointspreads. He lives in Southern Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a wombat.

It’s always easier to point out what mistakes other people are doing, but so much harder to not do them yourself. I started dealing blackjack when I was twenty three, and was always fascinated in peoples decision making.

Of course it was only when I stopped dealing and started playing that I realized its not as easy as it looks. Pressure can turn a simple decision into a difficult one, add to that a wager that your not comfortable making and blackjack can become more complicated than it needs to be.

The Basics of Blackjack The object of blackjack The object of blackjack, like many other casino card games is to beat the dealer. After a series of cards has been dealt by the dealer, to the players and himself, and your hand totals more than the dealers without exceeding twenty one, your a winner.

This rule does not change even though there are many variations of this great game. If your total is the same as the dealers the result is a push (not a win or a loss).

Playing Blackjack All cards from two to ten have a value equal to the number on the card. All face cards, that is, kings, queens and jacks have a value of ten. The ace has a value of either eleven or one.

For example if you are dealt an ace and a nine your total is ten or twenty, if you are dealt an ace and a three your total is four or fourteen. If you are dealt a card value of ten and an ace you have a blackjack, which beats all hands unless of course the dealer draws a blackjack which would result in a push.

For some great tips on playing and winning blackjack, visit How To Make Extra Money Playing Blackjack.com now. How will you fair against our blackjack simulator? Choose between one to eight decks, and try to beat the house.

Every major sport that people bet on has a point spread system.

People new to betting may not understand the point spread system Point spreads make the sport more interesting and increase understanding of the teams because sports analysts on TV often refer and compare teams’ skills by discussing point spreads. Of course one must remember that although point spreads are widely discussed, betting is not legalin all US states.

A knowledge of point spreads will increase your understanding of the sport and of the teams and this will also increase your chances of maximizing your betting wins.

An understanding of point spreads will require that you have to understand sportsetting in general. All sports have a point spread or line associated with them. These are determined on a game-by-game basis between the two teams that are playing each other.

For instance if the University of Texas is playing the University of Oklahoma then a point spread will be associated with that particular game as these are 2 major college football teams.

Any two teams are rarely equal in skills and experience one team will therefore have a better chance of winning the game depending on the teams this can be a large number.

In a game between OU and UT, then the spread is going to be lower because the teams are relatively close to each other in terms of skill and competition level.

It is always obvious that one team is going to be better than the other and that is why we have the point spreadsystem. If bettors only gambles on the better team, then on average and according to probability bettors will win 50% of the time. The point spread evens the odds for bettors and for teams. The teams have to win by a certain number of points to win the game.

Another example would be if OU is favored by 10 over UT, then OU would have to win by 11. If they win by 10 then it is called a push. You wouldn’t lose or win any money if they won by 10 points.

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