how to change gears during a poker game.

Changing Gears as a Poker Strategy

People often confuse changing gears with bluffing, and whilst bluffing is part of a well balanced strategy for changing gears, it plays only a small role. An example of changing gears is choosing to play AK conservatively against solid tight players but playing the same hand aggressively against looser and weaker opposition. Changing gears is'nt just about bluffing, it's about changing strategy to achieve a goal.

The size of your stack has a big influence on when to change gears, if your stack is much smaller than the average you will have to move up a gear, if you have plenty of chips you can pick and choose your gears more freely and less out of necessity. The sum of the blinds in relation to the size of your stack also has an impact, if the blinds are large in relation to your stack, you must change up a gear or be left shortstacked.

Changing gears is also about understanding the elements around you and reacting to them when they change. The best poker players understand when to change gears instictively and pick the right players to do it against. If the table is playing loose, you may choose to drop down a gear and wait for a premium hand, if the table is playing tight, you might prefer slowly chipping away at your opponents by continuously putting small amounts of pressure on them.

Timing is important; if you have just been caught bluffing twice in a row, now might be the time to change gears, your opponents will likely be suspicious of your play. For example, if you hold a strong hand in relation to the board such as three of a kind, instead of trying to trap your opponent, consider betting into them making the same sized bet you got caught bluffing with. Another example of timing, if you notice a shortstack who is about to be swallowed up by the blinds goes all in pre flop, you suspect him of having a marginal hand, you may choose to change gears and bet what would normally be considered a slightly less marginal hand much more strongly than normal in an attempt to isolate the shortstack and get heads up with him, you change gears with a hand like A7 because you suspect the shortstack has an inferior hand and expect all active opponents to fold to your reraise.

Another reason to change gears is if your play has become too predictable and your opponents are getting a good read on you. If your opponents are folding to your bets because they suspect you have a solid hand most of the time, make sure to change gears and win as many small uncontested pots as you can before your opponents realise they should start looking you up more. Effectively, if your opponent has found a way to counteract your playing style, you should mix up the way you are playing to negate their defense strategy, your aim is to get them to misread your hand in the hope of putting them in an awkward situation. For example, if you notice an opponent always betting into you, they may have noted you as a passive player they can push around, if this is the case you can cash in on that image by suddenly changing gears when the opponent least expects it.

There is less value in changing gears in fixed limit games because the payoff is restricted, grinding out profit through solid play is usually the way forward in limit games, but in no limit games the payoff is far higher; limit is about winning pots, no limit can be about winning your opponents entire stack.

While it is possible to change gears just for one specific hand or situation such as in a ring game, another commonly accepted principle is the need to change gears within a tournament. Arguably sit and gos provide the best example because it involves all facets of a multi table tournament boiled down into a mini single table tournament, it is common to play tightly in the early stages, then loosening up as the blinds increase, until the point where the blinds become so big that the majority of constested hands involve players pushing all in against each other trying to either pick up the blinds or double up; this all happens in the space of an hour normally.

With multi table tournaments, changing gears is a much slower process which involves playing tight solid poker for the majority of the tournament and moving up the gears towards the end of the tournament, typically at the final table.

Playing textbook poker is invariably the best strategy against low quality opposition, but in order to remain competitive in the higher stakes games, you must develop the ability to be unpredictable and this involves being able to change gears aswell as recognise when others are changing gears and reacting to it.

Poker Strategy : heads up.

Heads Up Poker Strategy

Heads up poker is like no other form of the game, you are constantly involved in a hand as either the big blind or the small blind and button holder. The action is non stop and your starting hand selection must be lowered in order to allow you to play the vast majority of hands dealt to you.

There are two ways to win a hand, either by having the best hand in a showdown or by forcing your opponent fold. This statement never carries more meaning than in heads up play and you will need to adapt your shorthanded strategy to remain competitive.

Arguably any hand is worthy of raising in heads up play because you are playing the player more than the cards, but any ace or king deserves raising, also any pair, high ranked suited connector or hand with two face cards is worth raising for value; whether you hit the flop or not it's worth following through with a bet on the flop to start building a clearer picture of where you are in the hand.

Pot Odds, mean less because you rarely get the correct odds to draw to certain types of hands, a better way of dealing with the mathematical aspect of the game is to make the pot big when you feel you're infront and keep the pot small if you feel you're behind.

Betting on a draw becomes more attractive with so many flops missing both opponents, betting out on the best of your draws is a prerequisite to playing dominating heads up poker, waiting until you have made at least a pair is not an option as you will be providing your opponent the opportunity to win far too high a ratio of pots, you want to win more pots and more of the big pots than them, betting on draws puts you in a strong position to force an opponent off a hand and maintains constant pressure on them aswell as allowing you to win with the worst hand occasionaly. Pair draws such as AK or KJ are a good draw to bet with before the flop and also after the flop for value even if you have'nt made a pair, straight and flush draws are worth betting too, although if the draw does'nt hit by the river you are left in a sticky situation with just a low ranked high card, have a clear preference for higher ranked suited connectors over lower ranked ones because you have a more solid unmade hand to work with in the later rounds of betting.

Studying your opponents actions and reactions is one of the keys to success in poker, never moreso than in heads up play. Be prepared to bide your time initially until you have a clear picture of how your opponent intends to play against you; once you understand how they are playing, find ways to exploit their weaknesses aswell as eccentuate your skills.

The Rules Of Texas Holdem.

Texas Hold'em Game Rules:

Each player is dealt with two down cards that are theirs alone. Then the dealer places five “community? cards face-up that the players share to combine with their two cards and make the best possible five-card hand.

• Play begins by dealing two cards face down to each player. These are called “hole cards? or “pocket cards?.
• Then the first round of betting follows.
• Play proceeds clockwise from the blinds where players are free to either fold, call the blind bet or raise.
• The blinds are usually “live?, meaning the players may raise themselves when the action gets back around them.
• Next, three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table; this is known as the “flop?.
• A new round of betting begins starting on the first blind, immediately to the dealer's left.
• Another card is dealt face up, the “turn?, then another round of betting follows, again beginning to the dealer's left.
• Then the final card is dealt, the “river?, and the final round of betting.

Players remaining in the hand create the best five-card hand using any combination of the hole cards and community cards. The highest hand wins the pot!

2nd Article: Poker Rooms!

Hi there poker mates!

As I have received a few requests, I would like to write my next article about Online Poker Rooms, the content of this article will be a short review and recommendation of a few poker rooms.

so, here are the Top three poker rooms:

1.PartyPoker.com: First poker room , and I think the most populare room online , is
PartyPoker.com. It offers a great & friendly interface , a very fast tech support and helpful statistics during the game! the problem is they have a ban from US , means they DONT ACCEPT US PLAYERS , but dont worry us players, I will recommend a great poker room which accepts us players right away.
PartyPoker , has all the poker game types, and it offers us a big amount of tables with different stakes to chose! ( blinds).Due the huge amount of players they have , you can find a table and play poker 24/7 , there will always be other players that you can beat ! haha :)
And in addition to all the above , partypoker offers great deposit bonuses !

2.Bodog.com :
My second recommendation , is Bodog Poker room , A poker room that ACCEPTS US PLAYERS.
Bodog Poker is one of the best rooms today. The interface is great , and are combined with a very functional lobby that has a quick and easy overview. Bodog Poker also offers loose games for the small-stakes player. Join this hot & honest poker room , that also offers a great tournament:'$3.5 Million Per Month in Guaranteed Online Poker Tournaments To Be Won!'.
Us-players , this is your best place to play poker . ;) (of course players from all over the world are welcome as well).

3.Fonbet.com :
My third recommendation is a bit of a suprise to some people.
Fonbet poker , is maybe not as famous as bodog nor as PartyPoker , but 1 thing is sure: it's a very honest room that pays for sure ( I know it personaly , paid me several times) , and this is the current room I play in.
Fonbet has my favorite graphics , its simple , and has about 3,000 players online in average.
One thing you have in this poker room , that you CANT FIND AT OTHER ROOMS , is that this great rooms ACCEPTS E-GOLD in addition to all of the other payment methods! E-gold users - this is your poker room , you got my word on that!

This are the top three poker rooms , in my opinion!
For these rooms one thing is definitely sure - THEY ARE HONEST AND PAYING!

Hope you find this article useful, good luck at the tables!
Feel free to send your friends my blog as well , so they can earn some cash too.

Regards,
Influ :]

1st Article: The basics of texas holde'm!

Hello dear readers!

So as this is the first article in my blog , Iv started to start with the basics and 'how to play' information, enjoy reading!
So,lets start, as this article is just a basic explaination of the game , I wont say too much, it will be a pretty short and understandable one for the newbies around :) .
Many home game players are not familiar with the game of holdem, especially its use of “blinds” to start the betting action. The following article is a brief description of holdem basics.
Texas holdem is a "community card" game, meaning that some cards are dealt face-up in the middle of the table and shared by all the players,those cards are for the use of all the players which are playing at the same table. Each player has two down cards that are theirs alone, this are also called "hole cards" ,and they are hidden from the other players , only you can see them.The target is to combine the 'hole cards', with the five community cards to make the best possible five-card hand.(which I will name later on)
Play begins by dealing two cards face down to each player; these are known as "hole cards" or "pocket cards". This is followed by a round of betting. Most hold'em games get the betting started with one or two "blind bets" to the left of the dealer. These are forced bets which must be made before seeing one's cards. Play proceeds clockwise from the blinds, with each player free to fold, call the blind bet, or raise. Usually the blinds are "live", meaning that they may raise themselves when the action gets back around to them.
Now three cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table; this is called the "flop". A round of betting ensues, with action starting on the first blind, immediately to the dealers left. Another card is dealt face up (the "turn"), followed by another round of betting, again beginning to the dealer's left. Then the final card (the "river") is dealt followed by the final round of betting. In a structured-limit game, the bets on the turn and river are usually double the size of those before and on the flop.
The game is usually played for high only, and each player makes the best five-card combination to compete for the pot. Players usually use both their hole cards to make their best hand, but this is not required. A player may even choose to "play the board" and use no hole cards at all. Identical five-card hands split the pot; the sixth and seventh cards are not used to break ties.

Here are the hand rankes on poker , from the strongest hand to the lowest:

1.Royal Flush (strongest poker hand):
This is the highest poker hand. It consists of ace, king, queen, jack, ten, all in the same suit. As all suits are equal, all royal flushes are equal.
(A-K-Q-J-10 , ALL OF THE SAME SHAPE,SUCH AS HEARTS OR DIAMONDS.)

2.Straight Flush:
Five cards of the same suit in sequence - for instance:J-10-9-8-7. Between two straight flushes, the one containing the higher top card is higher.

3.Four of a kind
Four cards of the same rank - such as four queens. The fifth card can be anything. This combination is sometimes known as "quads", and in some parts of Europe it is called a "poker", though this term for it is unknown in English. Between two fours of a kind, the one with the higher set of four cards is higher - so 3-3-3-3-A is beaten by 4-4-4-4-2. It can't happen in standard poker, but if in some other game you need to compare two fours of a kind where the sets of four cards are of the same rank, then the one with the higher fifth card is better.

4. Full House
This consists of three cards of one rank and two cards of another rank - for example three sevens and two tens (colloquially known as "sevens full" or more specifically "sevens on tens"). When comparing full houses, the rank of the three cards determines which is higher. For example 9-9-9-4-4 beats 8-8-8-A-A. If the threes of a kind were equal, the rank of the pairs would decide.

5. Flush
Five cards of the same suit. When comparing two flushes, the highest card determines which is higher. If the highest cards are equal then the second highest card is compared; if those are equal too, then the third highest card, and so on. For example K-J-9-3-2 beats K-J-7-6-5 because the nine beats the seven.

6. Straight
Five cards of mixed suits in sequence - for example Q-J-10-9-8. When comparing two sequences, the one with the higher ranking top card is better. Ace can count high or low in a straight, but not both at once, so A-K-Q-J-10 and 5-4-3-2-A are valid straights, but 2-A-K-Q-J is not. 5-4-3-2-A is the lowest kind of straight, the top card being the five.

7. Three of a Kind
Three cards of the same rank plus two other cards. This combination is also known as Triplets or Trips. When comparing two threes of a kind the hand in which the three equal cards are of higher rank is better. So for example 5-5-5-3-2 beats 4-4-4-K-Q. If you have to compare two threes of a kind where the sets of three are of equal rank, then the higher of the two remaining cards in each hand are compared, and if those are equal, the lower odd card is compared.

8. Two Pairs
A pair is two cards of equal rank. In a hand with two pairs, the two pairs are of different ranks (otherwise you would have four of a kind), and there is an odd card to make the hand up to five cards. When comparing hands with two pairs, the hand with the highest pair wins, irrespective of the rank of the other cards - so J-J-2-2-4 beats 10-10-9-9-8 because the jacks beat the tens. If the higher pairs are equal, the lower pairs are compared, so that for example 8-8-6-6-3 beats 8-8-5-5-K. Finally, if both pairs are the same, the odd cards are compared, so Q-Q-5-5-8 beats Q-Q-5-5-4.

9. Pair
A hand with two cards of equal rank and three other cards which do not match these or each other. When comparing two such hands, the hand with the higher pair is better - so for example 6-6-4-3-2 beats 5-5-A-K-Q. If the pairs are equal, compare the highest ranking odd cards from each hand; if these are equal compare the second highest odd card, and if these are equal too compare the lowest odd cards. So J-J-A-9-3 beats J-J-A-8-7 because the 9 beats the 8.

10. High Card(lowest poker hand)
Five cards which do not form any of the combinations listed above. When comparing two such hands, the one with the better highest card wins. If the highest cards are equal the second cards are compared; if they are equal too the third cards are compared, and so on. So A-J-9-5-3 beats A-10-9-6-4 because the jack beats the ten.
While you use one of the cards to make a pair , for instance : you get A-5 and the flop comes : A-4-K , you have a pair of Ace and the 5 is called 'the kicker'.
You should ALWAYS NOTICE YOUR KICKER! , if someone holdes for the flop above , A-Q , his hand is BETTER then yours (A-5) because the Queen is higher than your 5 !

Hope you will find this article useful, and if you cant remmeber the hand rankes yet, I will recommend to print it and read it everytime you play as this is a very basic thing every poker player MUST know.
Will publish my next article as soon as possible ,
feel free to support me by clicking the adsense .
Have a nice day,
Influ!

Welcome to The Best Poker Blog!

Hi!

Due the growing interest of poker generally , and the 'texas hold'em' specificly ,
I have decided to open a blog that will give the readers all the knowledge they need to know in order to be a great texas holdem player and to win big amount of cash.
I will update my blog as often as possible and will need articles about strategys , tips and even the basics of this great game, will recommend specific poker rooms , etc etc... :)

If anyone would like to ask about something on the texas holdem game , you are welcome to mail me and I will answer so you will study and will get better at poker!



Hope this will be a successful blog ,
Influ!