Online Poker Nut!

Doylespoker - Blinds are forced bets placed by the two seats to the left of the dealer. The dealer button moves around one place each hand, along with the blinds. The purpose of these forced bets is to place some money in the pot and provoke some action from the players participating in the game. Without these blinds, everyone could just sit around all day waiting for huge hands, so they are necessary to keep the game going.

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The way in which you play your hands, is not usually dictated by blinds and position in the earlier part of a tournament, but often in the latter stages, this can be much more important. If for instance, the action has been folded around to you in the small blind, you know there is only one hand that your hand has to beat to win the pot, so slightly weaker hands can still be reasonable to raise with. But if you are first to act, you know there are many hands waiting behind you which could be better, and so it is much riskier to raise with playable hands, which aren’t premium.

For shorter stacks, blinds will become increasingly more of a problem as the tournament wears on, partly because they are rising all the time, and partly because as players are eliminated, they come round quicker. As you become more experienced at the game, you should learn to better use position and blinds to your advantage, but whenever you find yourself low on chips, they will always be more of a hindrance than a help.

www.poker.ladbrokes.com - As you can imagine, with most tournaments, it is not permitted for players to show their cards whilst a hand is still in progress. The reason for this is that other players still involved in the hand can benefit from this extra information. Of course if you and an opposing player are the only players remaining in the pot, then you can reveal your hand once the action has concluded.

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It is not only in order to be kind that players expose their cards afterwards, there is a far more tactical reason behind it than that. Psychologically, if you think someone is getting annoyed, and their play may be suffering as a result, showing a bluff to them might be enough to push them further on tilt. This seems cruel in a way, but it’s all part of the game, because if your opponent can’t play their best poker the moment things start going wrong for them, then that is a weakness in their game to be exploited.
Another point to be made is that when players see you have bluffed them off a pot, they usually expect you to do the same thing again, so next time, you will theoretically be sitting with a hand, when they decide to call.

I would say that sometimes you can show a hand through sympathy, if you play with friends regularly and someone has made a big decision, you can usually tell that they’re itching to know if they made the right choice. In a serious game there is perhaps benefit to be had from not showing, but amongst friends I do not mind putting an opponents mind at ease.

www.poker.ladbrokes.com – When I speak of defensive play, I essentially mean, making great folds.
Personally, playing my big hands well used to be my key strength I feel, confusing my opponents in their reading of my hand was something I excelled in.

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Recently, I feel my defensive play has strengthened somewhat, and perhaps my attacking play has weakened a little. Some of the folds I have made at my local live game, I know I would never have made when I used to play live games 2 years ago. After much consideration I have let (A,Q) of spades go last Sunday at the final table, to be shown my opponents (A,K) of hearts afterwards. Also (9,9) I have folded from the big blind after the small blind put me all in late in a tournament. He showed his (K,K) afterwards. Other folds on the flop have been memorable too, and I am sure I have saved myself countless chips by doing so.

Experience plays a huge part in knowing when you are beaten in my opinion, and you would have difficulty teaching somebody exactly when to fold. Different situations call for different plays and all present their own problems, and it is the combined factors in any moment which give you the urge to put a strong hand down. Your opponents previous history in what they raise and when is important, as are the size of the blinds, size of their stack, table position, and the opponents perception of you as a player. This sounds a lot to take in, but as you improve your game, you shoud find you begin to absorb this information as second nature.

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