NA2

Anyone can learn poker rules quickly enough, online access and interface are easy, and there really is no reason not to try. Online poker is vastly successful. There isn’t a gambling site online which does not offer poker games. A dedicated player becomes part of a community, acquires friends, and perhaps even his livelihood.

Free downloads are available for all or most poker game varieties. For the novice, they offer safe practice. You can adjust difficulty so as to easily experience successive winning by trying your hand against p.c. opponents. This enables you to feel the pleasure of addiction spread through your system safely like a shot of good liquor.

All online games are played with you cozily in front of your computer. You don’t have to worry about minimalizing your body language or reading the faces and posture of some ten human opponents, each with his or her make up, ticks, and poker-face tricks. But despite this fact, the mild fun of perfecting your strategy against software is rather like doing your best at tennis against a wall or shooting up cardboard targets – it is not really comparable to live action. Technically, there may not be much similarity between a gun fight and a game of poker, and you can depend on a professional not to have a sawed-off shotgun pointed at you at the other end of the table, unless you are shooting a Robert Rodriguez movie. But the parallel is warranted since both gun fights and poker for real (as opposed to virtual) money involve a constant sense of danger.

And this is precisely what makes games against a human opponent not merely lifelessly fun, but eerily fun, – the kind of fun which makes for the most powerful addiction. Somebody who has never handled anything more dangerous than Spider Solitaire on their laptop in the lecture hall may well wonder whether poker is anything more than a game of patience. And it is important that he or she realize that besides skill, chance (or luck, however you might choose to evoke this deity) is the essence of the game. And hence, a live poker session without the possibility to reset, and only the possibility to Fold, is pervaded by danger.

Many people are turned off by this. While others feel irresistibly alive while betting on the value of their hands. The controllable factors are having the money, time, and energy to spend. Learning the strategy is an effort you must be willing to make, but to the element of chance you must have the lucid and refined appreciation. A player will lose and grow tired trying if they do not, and instead approach the game simply in crude hope for a few quick wins. One wishes to rinse out, as quickly as possible, the sour taste of danger.

Danger is delicious to the real player, that is why he sits at the computer or table. The player does not indulge in vain fantasies, he knows what is practically within his power. The player knows his stuff and bluff. Just as sheer height is what the rock climber is there for, he or she is there for the chance. In the game the music of chance must be heard, then an unlucky session will have been worth the effort.

The author is a full time online poker player and makes the majority of his income from his online play and rakeback at Paradise Poker. To sign up for a Rakeback account of your own visit Rakeback Solution.

The first step towards becoming a player who does not merely build his poker ego on baseless arrogance and luck or a player who never deviates from a few set rules in order to stay safe against better players, the first step to becoming a good player is to realize that there is always room to improve. Poker is a game of introspection as much as a game of skill, luck, or of “reading” opponents. You must first decide whether or not you want to take the winding way of the tireless perfectionist (who never achieves his goal) in the first place. Then you want to learn to be frank with yourself and define precisely your current strengths and weaknesses.

There are also talented players out there who do not project arrogance and do not play by a few rules they learned either from the literature or at the table. Their roadblock to improvement is to rest on their laurels and never grow. No inspiration here, these lazy players rely on rare strokes of brilliance to win a couple of hands..

Neglecting weaknesses and relying on a few strong points is perilous behavior for a poker player. Opponents aren’t all nitwits and can zero in on the fact that you constantly make the same moves, although successfully, and can figure out a way to get around them. They will eventually surprise you with one large move against you. Such players have paid attention to more facets of the game and have improved their skills. They have confidence in the variety of moves they make.

No boxer ever boxed with just one hand. Hone your best qualities, but do keep sharpening as many of the other required abilities as you can. The next step towards progressive improvement after you recognize your weaknesses is to learn to do that which, as Bartleby the scrivener would say, “you would rather not to.”

To learn this takes two basic things: to realize that a game isn’t worth it unless you intend to win and to acquire a disciplined habit of doing things you dislike. The first may be a subtle point. Some people mechanically try to acquire a habit without know why they are doing it and they eventually give up or don’t get far. You must see that to blindly follow a routine or to rely on a single great skill in the blind hope that you will not have to deal with the rest of the game is not engaging the game for real.

A good golfer will have visions of where he wants the ball to go and the ideal way to put it there. A good poker player must do the same: envision himself as more than a competent player of the game, feel the rush of excitement that leads to triumphant results, and come to the decision that this is a good thing. If your imagination is too stifled to experience this feeling, you need to admit to yourself that you really don’t get it and explore other opportunities that will successfully engage you. If this vision, however, stirs your passion, work on improving all your skills and the results will amaze you. As an added bonus, achieving the discipline it takes to consistently do things that do not appeal to you and you may even fear, is in itself rewarding.

The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Rakeback at Poker Nordica and Rakeback at Doyles Room.

People play poker for a lot of different reasons. Some play for the competition, some for the social aspect, and some play for the pure fun of the game. When these players sit down an play poker they generally don’t mind much if they loose a few bucks. This is the price of entertainment for some players. Other players play strictly for the money. This group of players is all business and have only one goal in mind. The reality of it is that most of play the game for some combination of reasons and money is on most of our minds to some extent or another.

If your main motivation at the poker table is money, you should be looking to improve your poker at all times and move up to bigger games. Bigger games are where the bigger money is at and if that is your motivation, you need to stay focused. With the higher stakes generally comes tougher competition. If you continue to evolve as a poker player you should grow as a player along with your bankroll so that you will be ready when you get to the bigger games. Unfortunately there are some traps for online poker players that often stunt the growth of a player and prevent them from ever making it to the big game.

Most online players play more than one table at a time. This is fine as long as you keep in under control. A lot of online poker players find that they can double their win rate by playing 2 table at once. Why not quadruple your win rate and play on 4 tables at a time? This is probably fine too but some players take it way too far. There are players who play 16 table at once at the micro limits and make decent money. The only problem is they never seem to get any better. This what I call “The MultiTable Trap”. Your bankroll will grow but you will not continue to learn and improve as a poker player. This means that when your bankroll is ready to move up to the next limit you probably will not be. Players who fall into this trap often spend years bouncing between the micros and small stakes getting pounded every time they try to move up to the tougher games. This is a tough place to be and in the long run you will probably find that you’ll make more money if you focus on becoming a better poker player.

Another related trap is the rakeback trap. While rakeback is great and should be taken advantage of by every serious online poker player, you should treat it as what it is; Something extra. Players often get caught up in earning as much rakeback as they can rather than trying to get better and move up. I often see players playing online who stop moving up when they get to 3/6 or 5/10 limit hold’em. These limits will allow you to make good money just in rakeback if you play enough tables, but, again the real money is in the big games.

If you play poker to make money, real money, than make sure that you keep your goal in mind and remember where that real money is being made. Its being made in the big games. Not by playing 16 tables of 1/2 limit hold’em with a 30% rakeback deal.

The author is a full time online poker player and makes the majority of his income from his online play and rakeback at PKR Poker. To sign up for a Rakeback account of your own visit Rakeback Solution.

I’m sure everyone at one time or another has seen a painting of a group of gentlemanly canines engaged in an anthropomorphic game of poker as created by Cassius Coolidge in his wonderful series of poker playing dog paintings. But check this out, the artists whimsicality was not entirely removed from reality. You may be nave enough to think that chips and chimps cannot play together as a team and it sounds more like something out of a Douglas Adams novel. Should you ever play online poker with a player who has an ape photo for his icon, it may not have been just a player with an odd sense of humor, the dude that took your money by his excellent play may really be a poker playing primate. I kid you not. Apes can do a lot more than wield tools in this twenty first century of technological advances and “intelligence explosion” they can also beat you at online poker.

Primate Programming Inc has found that great apes (who share 97% of DNA with us) are competent IT specialists and are employed by PPI. They enter a training program and upon graduation perform their services with PPI’s clients while demanding very low wages. Somewhere down the line, it was discovered that these employees also can be taught to play poker showing a particular knack for no-limit Texas Hold’em.

They favor no-limit poker, PPI informs us, because of their proclivity for playful (or half-playful) displays of aggression. In other words, the apes are naturally great at aggressive bluffing. In no-limit games, a player has the possibility to bet all they have at any time – this requires risky, aggressive play and the ability to bluff.

Since there is no way to identify the poker players online due to its anonymous nature, no one knows if their opponents are human or something other than human. That player who started off betting small and showing his lame cards to all, the one who much later bet large, had everyone call, then gleefully showed aces was probably one of the non-humans. The players had no idea he then jumped up and down, pounded his chest and demanded a banana.

The primate-players’ initial employment as computer programmers is not coincidental. It seems, according to PPI, that they independently develop programs which aide them during games. The nature of these programs has not yet been revealed. One thing is sure: “DrDestructo” and “ThePikerMan” could have a full-time professional (online) poker career, if only they wanted to. Outside the laboratory/office, they may neglect their training and prefer the old game of hurtling themselves at the bars of zoo cages and then grin their monkey grin at the startled adults and children. Still, as long as they are paid and fed regular, with bonuses, and are allowed to mate, David Sklansky and Ed Miller may need to update their No-limit Hold’em books in the nearest future.

For the past several years, Norm McAuliffe, a Yale biology Phd and the scientist heading the research team behind the discovery of programmer apes, has been investing money and effort into a Primate Poker Inc, “hiring” profitable ape-players to play for money in rotating shifts, 24 hours a day. He has been quoted as saying: “I’m completely committed to this business model. It is reasonable to say I am “all in”.

The author takes advantage of the highest Doyles Room Rakeback. Please visit Rakeback Solution to also sign up for Doyles Room Rakeback.

Discipline in every sport is an important factor to success on a regular basis. This holds true of poker as well. Even though most considerate it to be a game of chance, to be a money making pro at it, you must build on a foundation of the sportsmanlike attributes of learning, understanding and endless practice. This takes discipline. Natural ability is certainly a good part of it, but even the most blessed require a method, and a method is gotten by a serious and careful study of the game and how it is played by experts.

There is actually no real spontaneous talent. Think of Mozart, truly a talented child protage. One who practiced without end even as a small child, without which he would be just another composer/pianist of some merit. Mozart proves the old adage that talent is oft-practiced potential. No one learns discipline by someone else beating it into them. It must be self-imposed.

The amateur plays for the thrill of risk and the adrenaline rush that comes from fighting against blind chance. Poker is kept alive by this rush. The pros leave nothing to chance, the pro knows what his basic odds are and takes full advantage of his opponents’ errors, notes if there are familiar patterns, and calculates the risk. The serious professional player will not expect to enjoy himself at a friendly game of cards, this is his job. And his job is to take every cent he can from the other players gathered around the table having a casual game of poker to pass the time. The professional’s strategy is to match his wits against chance and his opponent’s methods and come out with a win.

It is vital to be familiar with the varieties of poker games and to know which of them best suit your abilities and predispositions; not only to realize what your weaknesses are, but to know also which game incites you to your best effort and best engages your intuitions. Players who haven’t the habit of self-introspection keep sullenly playing a game which doesn’t engage their best faculties. Sometimes a benevolent professional looking from the side may advise the person to try another game type and the player is surprised to discover that they are much more talented than they thought.

Make no mistake, there is a vast difference between limit and no-limit poker. The disciplined player will keep temptation in check and will prefer the game at which he feels fully in control and can go about it calmly and cautiously, all the while gathering data on his opponents to use against them relentlessly in small moves. They will only play the hands that seem to be the best, disregarding about 80% of the hands that are dealt.

A disciplined no-limit professional will evince the opposite of reserve, will be aggressive before the flop, and will play hands that to the limit expert would seem reckless stunts, always knowing, however, what precisely he is trying to achieve by every aggressive move.

No matter which type of poker the pro is playing, he knows when to fold up his tent, quit the frustration, and move on to other things.

On better days, never trust chance to maintain your good fortune forever – learn to leave before you loose the edge. Good players learn to establish not only the limits of their losses, but also the limits of their gain during each session.

The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Rakeback at Poker Nordica and Rakeback at Doyles Room.