We must first understand what a good position on a poker table is. A lot of people will say that a good position is when you are acting after the other players. True but of course this is not the case in all of the betting rounds. It is hard to simplify the discussion about position and just say that the optimal seat is always the button on the betting rounds post flop. Even the button can have a bad position when the position can be compromised by a preflop raiser.

Depth of Stacks

The more money on the table, the higher the chances that the poker players will get involve during the betting rounds with more chips being pushed into the middle. When this is the scenario, you can maximize the potentials of your position to outplay the other players. Become a good player and use your position to give your opponents problems. Without using your chips, you can make people commit mistakes as you present them a potential big loss.

Number of opponents

If there are a lesser number of opponents on the table, the lesser the risk you have when checking a card or putting a small bet to see a cheap one. The position is less valuable when you are on a heads up and the other player deceives you by betting when he has weak hand or checking when he has monsters. The more players in the pot, the more honest you can expect the betting to be. Late positions in a big field of players is the optimal.

Your cards

Your hand matters a lot in determining the quality of your position. Drawing hands often needs a better position compared to made hands. Other players acting before you may spell a free cad, or a hint to steal, or a chance to complete a draw.

Winning in low limit poker games is straightforward. On these tables, you will not be on the spotlight. Other players will not be paying too much attention on you since they will be thinking of their own cards. They will be playing the cards they have as they always do it regardless of you being in the pot or not. If the players are like these, just keep things simple and play straightforward poker with not much of aggressive bets when you have a monster bluff, fancy bluffs, and just playing it tight.

If you want to deceive your opponents in low limit poker, you may want to try slowplayinig. You can easily fool other players that they have the best cards if they get a pair upon the turn, so letting them see another card when you got a strong hand can give you some advantage. Bluffing though is still complex at this level of play. Remember keep it simple and take advantage of the other players’ weaknesses without being too fancy.

While you are still beginning to hone your poker skills, try to master how you choose the starting hands that you will play, making use of pot odds to your advantage, and betting aggressively when the timing is right. Psychological techniques of poker does not apply much in low limit poker games as the other players do not give much attention to it. Keep it simple since being too fancy might just hurt your game.

Poker tells are audible or visual clues given out by players and these behavioural clues give you a clue of how they will play their cards. You can classify poker tells as those you will see, you will hear, and also can based them on the betting patterns of your opponent.

Poker players will somehow giveaway a clue if they have strong hands or weak hands. These poker tells are instant and subconscious most of the time. Most player who are new to the game cannot control these clues. Be curious with how opponents use their hands, their eyes, breathing, and other gestures.

How to control poker tells

You really can try to control giving away your real intention by avoiding the obvious things like excessive talking, re-checking your cards whenever you hit a set, or warning other players that you have a great hand.

Try to standardize your movement. Make a routine movement when you bet and how you bring those chips to the middle of the table. Make your movements similar to each other all the time to conceal any clue about your cards and your real intention. Be consistent and you will no thave so much give away poker tells.

Be conscious with how you speak on the poker table and how you breathe when you see a good card or a bad card.

Also watch your eye movements (no pun intended). Most players will check the chips when they make a hand or maybe look at their opponents. Bluffing players will often avoid eye contact.

Study very well how you can standardize your betting. Take the same pace when you bet or call raises. Do not act too quickly but do not be too slow. Also be wary of being too excited and betting really big when you raise preflop.

Being robot like when playing is really a good way to conceal your poker tells. And that takes some practice.

Understanding the Concept

Playing it tight has something to do with making decisions in playing poker. In any game, any one who decides better or best end up winning the game. The road to being a better poker decision maker is to make most of all the information that you have around you. When you play loose, you may be acting with the least amount information because it will be a guessing game what your opponents will do. Play it tight and you will be able to see how a player looks at his cards, look at the other players, see their posture, hold their chips, and other things which may be vital to make your calls.

Business Analogy

When you are negotiating for a business deal, you don’t want to throw a figure out the other way when you do not have an idea what they are thinking of. Do that and you might be throwing opportunities that should really be in your favor.

Like business, you should be doing things from a position of strength in poker. You want to offers something that he will bite and you end up winning from your end of the deal.

When you are second to make a move, you can really loosen a bit since you know something about the one who made the first move. The opposite is true if you are under the gun.

Making a decision

You need to play tight since acting first in poker is like having handcuffs during the decision-making process.

TEXAS_HOLDEM, NO_LIMIT, R5-13131583-426
played at “Elsinore” for USD RM from 2010-01-02 20:23 until 2010-01-02 20:24

Seat 1: SoLivePlayer ($1,943.25 in chips)
Seat 2: FANTASTISKT ($1,032 in chips)
Seat 3: rumanoff ($215 in chips)
Seat 6: china2030 ($185 in chips)
Seat 10: donnydedyne ($1,511.65 in chips)

ANTES/BLINDS
FANTASTISKT posts small blind ($5), rumanoff posts big blind ($10), DEALING_HOLE_CARDS

PRE-FLOP
china2030 folds, donnydedyne raises to $35, SoLivePlayer folds, FANTASTISKT folds, rumanoff raises to $215 and is all-in, donnydedyne calls $215.

FLOP [board cards: AC,JD,9H ]
DEALING_FLOP

TURN [board cards: AC,JD,9H,QC ]
DEALING_TURN

RIVER [board cards: AC,JD,9H,QC,TC ]
DEALING_RIVER

SHOWDOWN
rumanoff shows [ QH,AS ]
donnydedyne shows [ KC,JC ]
donnydedyne wins $432.

SUMMARY
Dealer: SoLivePlayer
Pot: $435, (including rake: $3)
SoLivePlayer, loses $0
FANTASTISKT, loses $5
rumanoff, loses $215
china2030, loses $0
donnydedyne, bets $215, collects $432, net $217

One of the best positions in the game is on the button. This advantage makes the player play the last turn in almost three betting rounds out of four that is post the flop, after the turn and the river. When you have to play your turn you have gained an insight of how many players are proceeding into the game and it gives you a comprehensive understanding of betting in the game.

One of the most horrible positions is the small blind because you would be the first person to play your game after the flop, the river and the turn. This may put you in a precarious position. But good players use this situation to their advantage and play an aggressive game.

You must focus on all the players playing the game. You should examine their style of playing and betting. Always remember that the lesser number of players would provoke you to bet and you would have to be an aggressive player like Yukon Brad.

Playing bluff in poker is not a taboo. It is one of the mannerisms adopted by the players to dupe the opponents. You should avoid winning pots if you have premium cards. Sometimes you should severely punish the other players on the table by either bluffing or semi-bluffing and you should win the pot and laugh your way to the bank.

You should concentrate on your own hand and observe the opponents as well. You should be aware of the chips being used and a sketchy idea about their game play which would facilitate your playing strategy.

I you observe that a player has lost a hand and makes a comeback with an enormous bet you should be assured that he is trying to debut with his renewed playing style. One of the major problems faced by players is folding hands after the flop. Always remember you should play with premium hands as it would help you win the pot. You should have a killer strategy to eliminate all the poker players from the table if you are moving ahead with marginal hands.

You must remember that a great hand in the start will help you earn but a flop may sabotage your No Limit Hold’em game. You must try to obtain the river if you are waiting for a single card to form a straight or flush.

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You’ll get your big live cash soon, Kenny!

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I feel a little bad for Daniel Negreanu, he ran so Bad in High Stakes Poker Season 5…

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