Full Tilt Poker Enforces Ban On Poker Bots
As reported on the Online Poker Rigged site, Full Tilt has banned more than 1400 accounts for using poker bots.
Seems like we were right all along!
Read the full story here.... Full Tilt Poker Enforces Ban On Poker Bots
Showing posts with label fulltilt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fulltilt. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
What a Rush! Rush Poker at Full Tilt
Full Tilt poker just introduced a new way to play poker, called Rush Poker. User input and suggestions helped to formulate this new method of online poker with a twist. Much like speed poker or the turbo Texas holdem tournaments, Rush Poker has a twist that will keep you addicted.
I took the opportunity to try out this new way to play poker online and here is my review of Full Tilt’s Rush poker.
The way the game works is you register in a ring game (cash game poker) and buy in for your desired amount. The game is not a poker tournament, rather a regular cash game. The twist is you are playing against hundreds or even thousands of other players as each table you sit down to will rotate the players.
When you first join a Rush Poker game, you are set at a table with 8 other players, and dealt your hole cards. If you choose to fold your poker hand, you are immediately sent to another table with 8 different players.
To facilitate even more speed in the game, you can ‘quick fold’ before action is on you, to go to the next table. If you do not like the poker hand dealt to you, simply click quick fold and BAM! You are at another table.
The speed in which you are dealt hands is incredible, as I played for one hour and saw 312 poker hands! In a normal online poker cash game, that would be about 5 hours of play, and in live poker, that’s about 12 hours play.
In addition to the speed in which you are deal hands, there are a few more advantages to Rush Poker: the changing players, elimination of cheating or colluding and better hand selection.
The Changing Players
Since each table you are moved to has 8 other players and there are usually hundreds of players in the game, the chances of you seeing the same people again are slim, (although it happens). This is an advantage, because if you bluff or slow play or trap, these opponents may not see you again, and hardly have time to take notes on your play.
Elimination of Cheating / Colluding
This is a big plus! Since the players constantly rotate and the odds of any two players sitting at the same table are greatly minimized, poker cheating and colluding becomes practically non-existent.
In a normal game, two or three players can easily dominate a table using text, instant messaging or any number of other methods to communicate their hole cards to each other, giving them an advantage over other players.
Colluding becomes harder and therefore the Rush Poker game becomes a better game.
Better Hand Selection
One of the hardest things for poker players is the wait between hands and folding constantly until they get a good hand. Sometimes I personally have sat one or two hours without seeing a quality hand and scooping a big pot. When I played Rush Poker, I saw 312 hands and was able to win 26 pots that tripled my buy in!
The hands come a lot faster and it seems to me that people were a lot more selective about their starting poker hands. This adds to a good game, as you have a less chance of poker bad beats when a guy is so bored he plays a junk hand and hits a miracle card to river you.
Faster poker, it appears to be the next wave in online poker, as more sites are adding turbo texas holdem tournaments, but Full Tilt is the first to introduce this new idea to the poker cash games. I look for PokerStars to add a competitive method soon as It will catch on quickly with poker players.
Learn more poker strategy by visiting the How To Win At Poker Blog
I took the opportunity to try out this new way to play poker online and here is my review of Full Tilt’s Rush poker.
The way the game works is you register in a ring game (cash game poker) and buy in for your desired amount. The game is not a poker tournament, rather a regular cash game. The twist is you are playing against hundreds or even thousands of other players as each table you sit down to will rotate the players.
When you first join a Rush Poker game, you are set at a table with 8 other players, and dealt your hole cards. If you choose to fold your poker hand, you are immediately sent to another table with 8 different players.
To facilitate even more speed in the game, you can ‘quick fold’ before action is on you, to go to the next table. If you do not like the poker hand dealt to you, simply click quick fold and BAM! You are at another table.
The speed in which you are dealt hands is incredible, as I played for one hour and saw 312 poker hands! In a normal online poker cash game, that would be about 5 hours of play, and in live poker, that’s about 12 hours play.
In addition to the speed in which you are deal hands, there are a few more advantages to Rush Poker: the changing players, elimination of cheating or colluding and better hand selection.
The Changing Players
Since each table you are moved to has 8 other players and there are usually hundreds of players in the game, the chances of you seeing the same people again are slim, (although it happens). This is an advantage, because if you bluff or slow play or trap, these opponents may not see you again, and hardly have time to take notes on your play.
Elimination of Cheating / Colluding
This is a big plus! Since the players constantly rotate and the odds of any two players sitting at the same table are greatly minimized, poker cheating and colluding becomes practically non-existent.
In a normal game, two or three players can easily dominate a table using text, instant messaging or any number of other methods to communicate their hole cards to each other, giving them an advantage over other players.
Colluding becomes harder and therefore the Rush Poker game becomes a better game.
Better Hand Selection
One of the hardest things for poker players is the wait between hands and folding constantly until they get a good hand. Sometimes I personally have sat one or two hours without seeing a quality hand and scooping a big pot. When I played Rush Poker, I saw 312 hands and was able to win 26 pots that tripled my buy in!
The hands come a lot faster and it seems to me that people were a lot more selective about their starting poker hands. This adds to a good game, as you have a less chance of poker bad beats when a guy is so bored he plays a junk hand and hits a miracle card to river you.
Faster poker, it appears to be the next wave in online poker, as more sites are adding turbo texas holdem tournaments, but Full Tilt is the first to introduce this new idea to the poker cash games. I look for PokerStars to add a competitive method soon as It will catch on quickly with poker players.
Learn more poker strategy by visiting the How To Win At Poker Blog
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Daniel Negreanu Blasts Shortstackers
While sitting at a $100-$200 cash game on Pokerstars, Poker Pro Daniel Negreanu (KidPoker) went slightly on tilt and began blasting the shortstacks at the table. The max buyin was $20,000 with a minimum buy in of $4,000. Daniel had come to the table with $20,000 and shortly built it up to nearly $38,000 when his pocket Aces got cracked by pocket Kings.
Daniel was in early position and raised to $1200 while middle position player re-raised to $3600, Daniel was holding $38,000 while his opponent had just under $20,000. Daniel's response to the reraise was to move all-in. His opponent called and showed KK vs. KidPoker’s AA. The flop hit the K and rivered a full house for Daniel’s opponent.
Left with about $9,000 in chips, Daniel made another move when a shortstack pushed all in with a little less than $4000, Daniel made the call and showed JJ vs. shortstacks Ace rag. Daniel won the hand and a few hands later he held A9 of hearts and again tangled with another shortstack having less than $4000.
Daniel managed to river a flush against the shortstack, increasing his chipstack to almost $19,000. Again Daniel found himself involved in another hand against a shortstack at the table holding JJ; he flopped a set and took the shorty’s chips.
The frustration of having to call an all-in so many times against so many shortstacks at this cash table seemed to wear on Negreanu as he began to berate the shortstacks. Daniel said “I don’t know why I sit down at a table where they allow a minimum buy-in like that” and later he said, “This is just bad for the game”.
Another player remarked that Daniel should not blast the shortstacks that are feeding him chips. To which Daniel responded, I will never sit at a table like this again. A point was made by another player that Daniel could easily move to a table that has a 50BB minimum buy in.
At one point the heated debate brought in a moderator, who apparently saw nothing wrong with Daniel’s tirade. Apparently, a player at the table called in a moderator, the moderator stated he did not see a problem and quickly left.
Although Daniel Negreanu is considered the ambassador of poker and he is always willing to take a few minutes time to sign autographs or shake hands, I think he should not complain so much at the players who just wanted a shot at sitting at a table with him and playing poker.
Hey, Daniel, we all go on tilt, it happens and I agree the shortstacks do sometimes cause undue frustration. However, I think you should not complain, since it is just as easy for you to get up and move to another table. A table that does not allow someone to buy in for a mere $4,000.
Daniel was in early position and raised to $1200 while middle position player re-raised to $3600, Daniel was holding $38,000 while his opponent had just under $20,000. Daniel's response to the reraise was to move all-in. His opponent called and showed KK vs. KidPoker’s AA. The flop hit the K and rivered a full house for Daniel’s opponent.
Left with about $9,000 in chips, Daniel made another move when a shortstack pushed all in with a little less than $4000, Daniel made the call and showed JJ vs. shortstacks Ace rag. Daniel won the hand and a few hands later he held A9 of hearts and again tangled with another shortstack having less than $4000.
Daniel managed to river a flush against the shortstack, increasing his chipstack to almost $19,000. Again Daniel found himself involved in another hand against a shortstack at the table holding JJ; he flopped a set and took the shorty’s chips.
The frustration of having to call an all-in so many times against so many shortstacks at this cash table seemed to wear on Negreanu as he began to berate the shortstacks. Daniel said “I don’t know why I sit down at a table where they allow a minimum buy-in like that” and later he said, “This is just bad for the game”.
Another player remarked that Daniel should not blast the shortstacks that are feeding him chips. To which Daniel responded, I will never sit at a table like this again. A point was made by another player that Daniel could easily move to a table that has a 50BB minimum buy in.
At one point the heated debate brought in a moderator, who apparently saw nothing wrong with Daniel’s tirade. Apparently, a player at the table called in a moderator, the moderator stated he did not see a problem and quickly left.
Although Daniel Negreanu is considered the ambassador of poker and he is always willing to take a few minutes time to sign autographs or shake hands, I think he should not complain so much at the players who just wanted a shot at sitting at a table with him and playing poker.
Hey, Daniel, we all go on tilt, it happens and I agree the shortstacks do sometimes cause undue frustration. However, I think you should not complain, since it is just as easy for you to get up and move to another table. A table that does not allow someone to buy in for a mere $4,000.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Online Poker The Random Number Generator
As many people are aware, online poker rooms (as well as any online gambling site) uses what is called a random number generator to produce what would appear to be a random outcome in each hand.
This article will explain the Random Number Generator (also called Pseudo-Random Number Generator, PRNG or RNG). The purpose of this article is to familiarize players with the 'inner workings' of the software used in the Online Poker rooms and the way cards are produced in a deal.
The use of a RNG is nothing new, as it actually dates back hundreds of years before the computer was even conceived. Mathematicians as early as the 1700's used a random number process to try and determine outcomes of specific problems.
The advent of the computer presented a challenge for scientists and programmers wanting to produce a seemingly random action from the computer, and therefore an assembly code language function was implemented called RAND also known as randomize and RND. This function would be attached to a program and assigned a variable to select a random number.
However, the program required a 'seed' number to begin its process of selecting what would appear to be a random number, otherwise it would produce the same series of numbers each time the program ran. Therefore, early programmers used the timer function on the CPU in order to produce a different series of seemingly random numbers each time the program ran.
This was somewhat acceptable and appeared to produce a different random result each time. However, after several thousand runs of the program, it became easier to 'predict' what series of numbers would come out. This gave a challenge to programmers to find a way to actually produce what would seem to be a truly random result, one that could not be predicted or repeated in any short course of time.
Ultimately, a mathematical method was derived that gave the RNG's a better way to produce a more realistic way of generating random numbers. In addition, experiments using white noise generators to produce the seed were also successful. Both of these among other secondary methods to produce a seemingly random result are used today in all major Online Poker rooms.
Now for the DEAL!
How does that affect the deal of cards, you may ask. Well, actually, the modern RNG programs are more beneficial then the software used several years ago. The sophistication of the randomness is better for the player, because the predictability of a card is much harder, and the RNG is designed to curtail cheating. However, it is not the best method and has many failures.
The Major Fail
A standard 52 card deck has a total number of possible combinations of 80,658,175,170,943,878,571,660,636,856,404,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
Thats a BIG number, in fact, there is no name for a number that large except to say it is 8 times 10 to the 67th power.
What this means is that if you lay out all 52 cards in order, that is one possible combination of the deck, you shuffle the cards and lay them out again, they obviously are in a different order, and that would be a second combination, repeat this process and each time you would get a different sequence or combination of cards laid out on the table. It would require a minimum 8 times 10 to the 67th power 'deals' to repeat the exact same sequence of cards.
In essence, a deck of cards is ideally suited to an RNG because of the endless variety of combinations of a deck. However, there is no possible way any computer in existence has the ability to store every combination (it would require at the bare minimum a 256 bit processor and a whole lot of speed!) and since most servers use only a 32 or 64 bit architecture they are only able to process a small fraction of all possible combinations.
Two Pigeons; One Hole
This is known as the Pigeonhole Principle, wherein the theorem states that there does not exist an injective function on finite sets whose co-domain is smaller than its domain. In other words, you can not put two objects into a container that is physically only able to hold one object.
So what happens to the billions of possible deck combinations? Simple, they are never used, processed or even appear in the online poker RNG. They do not exist as far as the program is concerned.
In reality, out of the 8x10^67 possible combinations only about 4 billion deck combinations are used in a 32bit architecture. This greatly reduces the number of possible hands you can make, and also is a basic explanation as to why there are so many bad beats and made hands in online poker.
For this reason, you will notice more straights, more flushes and more often full houses appear at showdown. The program, by reducing all the possible combinations down to less than 1/20^58, now forces a lot of action and produces a lot of big hands, because it strips away all the outer-dimensional deck combinations. (How often do you see high card, one pair or two pair win?)
In conclusion, the RNG used in online poker is never able to truly produce a random deck or outcome, simply because the program does not use all possible combinations of decks. There are other reasons the deck may be stacked against you and we will explore those in upcoming articles.
I hope this article is helpful to you in understanding how the RNG produces a 'random' deck of cards and invite you to subscribe or bookmark this blog to learn more about online poker.
This post is intended to give a brief oversight of some of the inner workings of the online poker RNG, in the next post, I will explore how the RNG can actually be manipulated to your advantage.
This article will explain the Random Number Generator (also called Pseudo-Random Number Generator, PRNG or RNG). The purpose of this article is to familiarize players with the 'inner workings' of the software used in the Online Poker rooms and the way cards are produced in a deal.
The use of a RNG is nothing new, as it actually dates back hundreds of years before the computer was even conceived. Mathematicians as early as the 1700's used a random number process to try and determine outcomes of specific problems.
The advent of the computer presented a challenge for scientists and programmers wanting to produce a seemingly random action from the computer, and therefore an assembly code language function was implemented called RAND also known as randomize and RND. This function would be attached to a program and assigned a variable to select a random number.
However, the program required a 'seed' number to begin its process of selecting what would appear to be a random number, otherwise it would produce the same series of numbers each time the program ran. Therefore, early programmers used the timer function on the CPU in order to produce a different series of seemingly random numbers each time the program ran.
This was somewhat acceptable and appeared to produce a different random result each time. However, after several thousand runs of the program, it became easier to 'predict' what series of numbers would come out. This gave a challenge to programmers to find a way to actually produce what would seem to be a truly random result, one that could not be predicted or repeated in any short course of time.
Ultimately, a mathematical method was derived that gave the RNG's a better way to produce a more realistic way of generating random numbers. In addition, experiments using white noise generators to produce the seed were also successful. Both of these among other secondary methods to produce a seemingly random result are used today in all major Online Poker rooms.
Now for the DEAL!
How does that affect the deal of cards, you may ask. Well, actually, the modern RNG programs are more beneficial then the software used several years ago. The sophistication of the randomness is better for the player, because the predictability of a card is much harder, and the RNG is designed to curtail cheating. However, it is not the best method and has many failures.
The Major Fail
A standard 52 card deck has a total number of possible combinations of 80,658,175,170,943,878,571,660,636,856,404,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000
Thats a BIG number, in fact, there is no name for a number that large except to say it is 8 times 10 to the 67th power.
What this means is that if you lay out all 52 cards in order, that is one possible combination of the deck, you shuffle the cards and lay them out again, they obviously are in a different order, and that would be a second combination, repeat this process and each time you would get a different sequence or combination of cards laid out on the table. It would require a minimum 8 times 10 to the 67th power 'deals' to repeat the exact same sequence of cards.
In essence, a deck of cards is ideally suited to an RNG because of the endless variety of combinations of a deck. However, there is no possible way any computer in existence has the ability to store every combination (it would require at the bare minimum a 256 bit processor and a whole lot of speed!) and since most servers use only a 32 or 64 bit architecture they are only able to process a small fraction of all possible combinations.
Two Pigeons; One Hole
This is known as the Pigeonhole Principle, wherein the theorem states that there does not exist an injective function on finite sets whose co-domain is smaller than its domain. In other words, you can not put two objects into a container that is physically only able to hold one object.
So what happens to the billions of possible deck combinations? Simple, they are never used, processed or even appear in the online poker RNG. They do not exist as far as the program is concerned.
In reality, out of the 8x10^67 possible combinations only about 4 billion deck combinations are used in a 32bit architecture. This greatly reduces the number of possible hands you can make, and also is a basic explanation as to why there are so many bad beats and made hands in online poker.
For this reason, you will notice more straights, more flushes and more often full houses appear at showdown. The program, by reducing all the possible combinations down to less than 1/20^58, now forces a lot of action and produces a lot of big hands, because it strips away all the outer-dimensional deck combinations. (How often do you see high card, one pair or two pair win?)
In conclusion, the RNG used in online poker is never able to truly produce a random deck or outcome, simply because the program does not use all possible combinations of decks. There are other reasons the deck may be stacked against you and we will explore those in upcoming articles.
I hope this article is helpful to you in understanding how the RNG produces a 'random' deck of cards and invite you to subscribe or bookmark this blog to learn more about online poker.
This post is intended to give a brief oversight of some of the inner workings of the online poker RNG, in the next post, I will explore how the RNG can actually be manipulated to your advantage.
Monday, January 12, 2009
The Phenomena of 'My Favorite Hand'
Yesterday, I played the Wheeling Island Casino $40 Sunday tournament. A nice tournament with a relatively small field of 51, however well worth the investment for the $550 first place.
In the home stretch we were down to 2 tables of 6 each, with the pay out to the top 10. I was sitting just under the average with about $6500 in chips. The blinds are 400/800 with a 100 ante. The player to my right has played quite aggressive most of the tournament raising at every opportunity. In this particular hand he went all in with $3200, I looked down at AJ off suit. I was the button, so I sized up the BB and SB, the SB had about $4000 while the BB had less than $2000 behind him.
I was quite sure the SB would fold, while the BB would most likely call since he had about 1/3 of his chips in already. I thought for a moment and assessed the damage if I called and lost, after all, since I was sure the BB would call I did not want to be up against 2 hands with my AJ. I decided to fold thinking it is possible he picked up a monster hand this time. The SB folds and the BB, (to my surprise) folds.
As the raiser mucked, he stated, "Had my favorite hand" I noticed as his cards went into the muck what appeared to be a black '6'. I thought to myself, "What? His favorite hand includes a 6?"
(Needless to say, my patience in waiting was well-rewarded when he later pushed all in with his K J off suit against my AA, he lost and busted out before the money.)
I can not imagine any hand that includes a '6' as a good starting hand unless it is pocket 6's. Nevertheless, I am always amazed at how people latch onto their (or other's) favorite hand. Willing to take great risks based on the belief that a favorite hand holds some magical power.
This phenomena is usually associated with the fact that the player has won a huge pot or achieved a fantastic suck out based on that hand at some time in the past. However, is playing your favorite hand a wise choice?
Everyone is familiar with the 'Doyle Brunson' favorite hand of 10 2. After all, he won two major tournaments holding these cards. Since then, the poker world has latched onto Doyle's 10 2 as though it were the 'nuts'! Keep in mind Doyle played his 10 2 while heads up. He had no reason to fold his 10 2 since his opponents took no steps to push him out of the hand.
I witnessed another instance of a favorite hand, when I was in a large tournament, 1st place was $2500.00, and buy in was $65. The field was down to 5 people, I was in the big blind with 9 4 off suit. Under the gun limped while the rest of the table folded. The flop came down 7 9 3, I had barely enough to make one more round and figured I will make a stand here since I have top pair, and my opponent likely has only over cards. My all in was about half his chips; so I felt confident he would likely fold.
I pushed all in, he called, and that impending doom feeling you always get when you are 'on the ropes' hit me. However, I was totally shocked when he showed 8 3 off suit! Although I was ahead, the turn was not kind as an 8 came down and a jack on the river. I was busted out by 8 3. I remarked to the guy what a terrible call it was, shook his hand, and graciously left the table. From that day on, every time I saw him or the 8 3 I referred to the hand as the ‘Bracken’ (his first name).
Anytime we would play tournaments or cash games and the 8 3 was on the flop, or I held it, I would make a remark about ‘The Bracken’ hand. Several months later, Bracken approached me and confessed that the ‘Bracken’ (8 3) had cost him literally hundreds of dollars. He was actually playing this hand as his favorite hand, and it was costing him tons of money!
Consider one very important concept before attaching yourself (and your money) to a ‘favorite hand’. Is this hand really making me money? After all, we play poker to win, not because of some lucky hand that is going to get us there every time. Before playing your favorite hand again, add up all the money that you made playing it. Now subtract all the money you lost with it. You may soon find out, that favorite hand is not your bankroll’s favorite.
For more great tips and strategies on No Limit Texas Hold ‘em, read 101 Winning Moves.
Incidentally, my favorite hand is ‘The Winning Hand’ Good Luck at the Tables!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Tired of River Beats in No Limit Texas Hold’em Poker?
The most frustrating part of a poker players life is getting called down by some idiot that is on a draw, only to make his hand on the river.
Is there truly a way to prevent this? The short answer is NO!
However, there is a way to minimize your losses and potentially stop bleeding chips to calling stations and donkeys that can not lay down a draw.
Project your image and know your opponent’s image:
First, recognize who is at your table: identify your calling stations, aggressive players, and donkeys.
Next project your identity at the table, if you are playing aggressive, you are more likely to be called down.
If you are playing tight, there is a less chance of being called down, and if you are a calling station, you will quickly get taken advantage of by superior players.
Your image at the table is as important as the images of your opponents, so make sure you project a good table image. Projecting a tight image will allow you to make a timely bluff or steal without the risk of someone calling.
Keep the pot size manageable:
This is very crucial! Keep the pot size relatively low enough until you are sure you have the absolutely best hand. Here is why: generally speaking, people are GREEDY, they will chase a rainbow for the pot of gold more often if they believe there is a HUGE reward. Let us say you are in a $1 - $2 cash game, and it is a limped pot with 4 other players. You hold AJ of hearts in middle position, you limp as well. Flop is A of clubs, J of spades, and 3 of hearts. There is $10 in the pot, SB (small blind) checks, BB (big blind) checks, UTG (under-the-gun) checks, and your turn with one person after you to act, LP (late position). What do you do?
A.) Bet the pot, $10, the pot is now $20
B.) Check to see what late position does.
C.) Bet ½ the pot, the pot is now $15.
D.) Overbet the pot ($20) to keep anyone from drawing, the pot is now $30
If you have identified all your opponents, you will make the correct decision. Currently only 3 hands can beat you (pocket J’s pocket Aces and pocket 3’s)
Let us say SB and BB are fairly tight players, UTG is a calling station, and LP is aggressive.
Do you know what your opponents are holding? You can be certain that UTG and LP are not holding any of the hands that can beat you, because of their style, they would have raised pre-flop. What about SB and BB? Would they have limped in with pocket pairs? (most likely given their tight style they could have)
Know the FUTURE hands that can beat you:
Now consider the implied hands that can beat you by the turn: 10 Q (any K for a straight), 10 K (any Q for a straight), J 3 (any 3 for a full house), A 3 (any 3 for a full house), X 3 (10 hands, any 3 for trips) , any remaining pocket pairs (10 pocket pairs can make a full house), for a total of 27 hands that can beat you on the turn.
Knowing that 27 hands can beat you on the turn how much are you willing to risk with a calling station and an aggressive player in the hand?
If you picked A or D, you have made the pot quite attractive to anyone holding the 27 hands that could beat you. If you picked C, those 27 hands will still call you, but you have minimized your risk. If you pick B, you are currently only risking $2 to this pot. The ideal way to make money in poker is to minimize your risk with maximum returns, just like any business investment.
Take a look at the investment and return on your investment (ROI)
Choosing A, you have invested $12 to win $6 (minus the rake of $2)- potential ROI 50%
Choosing B, you have invested $2 to win $7 (minus the rake of $1) – potential ROI 350%
Choosing C, You have invested $7 to win $7 (minus the rake of $1) – potential ROI 100%
Choosing D, you have invested $22 to win $6 (minus the rake of $2) –potential ROI 28%
Clearly, you can see that B and C are the wisest investments. However, you may say, well I do not make much money that way. You are correct, but Poker is not always about making money, it is also about NOT LOSING! If you believe you should win every time you are ahead, you need to STOP playing poker and take up a more suitable hobby like fishing or bowling, those sports also have competitive tournaments where you could try and win big cash.
Winning in No Limit Texas Hold’em is based largely on making the correct decision at the right time. Too often people with strong starting hands feel they should win all the time. In reality, there is no hand that is a 100% preflop winner. Use these three tips: table image, pot manageability, and hand possibility to avoid bleeding chips. Again, you are never going to avoid all river beats, however, you can control the amount of your losses. For more great tips read this post on poker strategies.
Keep up to date on my poker posts and follow me on
Is there truly a way to prevent this? The short answer is NO!
However, there is a way to minimize your losses and potentially stop bleeding chips to calling stations and donkeys that can not lay down a draw.
Project your image and know your opponent’s image:
First, recognize who is at your table: identify your calling stations, aggressive players, and donkeys.
Next project your identity at the table, if you are playing aggressive, you are more likely to be called down.
If you are playing tight, there is a less chance of being called down, and if you are a calling station, you will quickly get taken advantage of by superior players.
Your image at the table is as important as the images of your opponents, so make sure you project a good table image. Projecting a tight image will allow you to make a timely bluff or steal without the risk of someone calling.
Keep the pot size manageable:
This is very crucial! Keep the pot size relatively low enough until you are sure you have the absolutely best hand. Here is why: generally speaking, people are GREEDY, they will chase a rainbow for the pot of gold more often if they believe there is a HUGE reward. Let us say you are in a $1 - $2 cash game, and it is a limped pot with 4 other players. You hold AJ of hearts in middle position, you limp as well. Flop is A of clubs, J of spades, and 3 of hearts. There is $10 in the pot, SB (small blind) checks, BB (big blind) checks, UTG (under-the-gun) checks, and your turn with one person after you to act, LP (late position). What do you do?
A.) Bet the pot, $10, the pot is now $20
B.) Check to see what late position does.
C.) Bet ½ the pot, the pot is now $15.
D.) Overbet the pot ($20) to keep anyone from drawing, the pot is now $30
If you have identified all your opponents, you will make the correct decision. Currently only 3 hands can beat you (pocket J’s pocket Aces and pocket 3’s)
Let us say SB and BB are fairly tight players, UTG is a calling station, and LP is aggressive.
Do you know what your opponents are holding? You can be certain that UTG and LP are not holding any of the hands that can beat you, because of their style, they would have raised pre-flop. What about SB and BB? Would they have limped in with pocket pairs? (most likely given their tight style they could have)
Know the FUTURE hands that can beat you:
Now consider the implied hands that can beat you by the turn: 10 Q (any K for a straight), 10 K (any Q for a straight), J 3 (any 3 for a full house), A 3 (any 3 for a full house), X 3 (10 hands, any 3 for trips) , any remaining pocket pairs (10 pocket pairs can make a full house), for a total of 27 hands that can beat you on the turn.
Knowing that 27 hands can beat you on the turn how much are you willing to risk with a calling station and an aggressive player in the hand?
If you picked A or D, you have made the pot quite attractive to anyone holding the 27 hands that could beat you. If you picked C, those 27 hands will still call you, but you have minimized your risk. If you pick B, you are currently only risking $2 to this pot. The ideal way to make money in poker is to minimize your risk with maximum returns, just like any business investment.
Take a look at the investment and return on your investment (ROI)
Choosing A, you have invested $12 to win $6 (minus the rake of $2)- potential ROI 50%
Choosing B, you have invested $2 to win $7 (minus the rake of $1) – potential ROI 350%
Choosing C, You have invested $7 to win $7 (minus the rake of $1) – potential ROI 100%
Choosing D, you have invested $22 to win $6 (minus the rake of $2) –potential ROI 28%
Clearly, you can see that B and C are the wisest investments. However, you may say, well I do not make much money that way. You are correct, but Poker is not always about making money, it is also about NOT LOSING! If you believe you should win every time you are ahead, you need to STOP playing poker and take up a more suitable hobby like fishing or bowling, those sports also have competitive tournaments where you could try and win big cash.
Winning in No Limit Texas Hold’em is based largely on making the correct decision at the right time. Too often people with strong starting hands feel they should win all the time. In reality, there is no hand that is a 100% preflop winner. Use these three tips: table image, pot manageability, and hand possibility to avoid bleeding chips. Again, you are never going to avoid all river beats, however, you can control the amount of your losses. For more great tips read this post on poker strategies.
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Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Is Online Poker Rigged?
No Limit Texas Hold’em, It is one of the most popular online poker games.
It seems everyone from amateurs; professionals and celebrities are playing online poker. This phenomena has inspired many people to move onto some of the biggest live tournaments like the WSOP (World Series of Poker) and the WPT (World Poker Tour)
Many champions in the last 5 years got their start at online poker sites. Chris Moneymaker and Joe Hachem (from Pokerstars) started playing online poker years before they won the World Series of Poker Championship. Professionals like Daniel Negreanu, Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth all endorse different online poker sites.
Inspired by the shows you see on TV, you decide to give it a shot and download your favorite online poker site. After making your first deposit, you find a suitable tournament, register and sit down at your virtual table, anxiously waiting to scoop big pots and take it down just like the pro’s!
The first hand, you look down at a half-decent starting hand and call the blind, after all, the blinds are cheap, and you want to build a stack. The flop comes out in your favor; you win with top pair and move on to the next hand. The next two hands, you fold. The fourth hand you get pocket Aces, you raise, get a few callers, and when the flop comes down all low cards you bet substantial, everyone folds and you take down another pot. The fifth hand you get AK suited, you just call. Flop comes A K 9 rainbow, your opponent bets, you raise, he pushes all in and you call. His pocket cards are revealed 5 7, a sigh of relief as you see he has a very slim chance of winning. The turn is a 6, and you know the river even before you read it. That’s right the only card that can beat you –(the dreaded snowman) - 8! You are stunned and mortified.
How does this happen? Moreover, why does it happen so often in online poker? You question your ability to play, and wonder if you should have gone all in pre-flop or raised pre-flop. Then you curse the idiot who called with 5 7 off suit and make a note on him stating “DONKEY!”
This scenario is not that far off from real life happenings at online poker sites all over the Internet everyday. Any online poker player is familiar with this type of ridiculous bad beat scenario. It makes us want to play the same bad hands in the hopes of sucking out on someone.
So, why does it happen? Is it because the Internet is full of bad players or, is it because the online poker sites are rigged? Surprisingly, It is not because of bad players, It is because the online poker sites ARE rigged! However, not the way you think.
Read that again very carefully: Online poker sites are rigged, and a careful study of what is happening behind the scenes will reveal not only, how they are rigged, but how you can beat the online poker program. If you stay tuned to my posts over the next few weeks, I will continue to reveal what is going on behind the scenes at the online poker sites!
It seems everyone from amateurs; professionals and celebrities are playing online poker. This phenomena has inspired many people to move onto some of the biggest live tournaments like the WSOP (World Series of Poker) and the WPT (World Poker Tour)
Many champions in the last 5 years got their start at online poker sites. Chris Moneymaker and Joe Hachem (from Pokerstars) started playing online poker years before they won the World Series of Poker Championship. Professionals like Daniel Negreanu, Chris Ferguson, Phil Ivey and Phil Hellmuth all endorse different online poker sites.
Inspired by the shows you see on TV, you decide to give it a shot and download your favorite online poker site. After making your first deposit, you find a suitable tournament, register and sit down at your virtual table, anxiously waiting to scoop big pots and take it down just like the pro’s!
The first hand, you look down at a half-decent starting hand and call the blind, after all, the blinds are cheap, and you want to build a stack. The flop comes out in your favor; you win with top pair and move on to the next hand. The next two hands, you fold. The fourth hand you get pocket Aces, you raise, get a few callers, and when the flop comes down all low cards you bet substantial, everyone folds and you take down another pot. The fifth hand you get AK suited, you just call. Flop comes A K 9 rainbow, your opponent bets, you raise, he pushes all in and you call. His pocket cards are revealed 5 7, a sigh of relief as you see he has a very slim chance of winning. The turn is a 6, and you know the river even before you read it. That’s right the only card that can beat you –(the dreaded snowman) - 8! You are stunned and mortified.
How does this happen? Moreover, why does it happen so often in online poker? You question your ability to play, and wonder if you should have gone all in pre-flop or raised pre-flop. Then you curse the idiot who called with 5 7 off suit and make a note on him stating “DONKEY!”
This scenario is not that far off from real life happenings at online poker sites all over the Internet everyday. Any online poker player is familiar with this type of ridiculous bad beat scenario. It makes us want to play the same bad hands in the hopes of sucking out on someone.
So, why does it happen? Is it because the Internet is full of bad players or, is it because the online poker sites are rigged? Surprisingly, It is not because of bad players, It is because the online poker sites ARE rigged! However, not the way you think.
Read that again very carefully: Online poker sites are rigged, and a careful study of what is happening behind the scenes will reveal not only, how they are rigged, but how you can beat the online poker program. If you stay tuned to my posts over the next few weeks, I will continue to reveal what is going on behind the scenes at the online poker sites!
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