Online Poker Nut!

With the recent increase in popularity of poker, more and more spectators have turned up to watch live tournaments across the world. Poker fans who watch from the rail have been dubbed ‘railbirds’ by many and I have to agree that it is great to see such support for both the game and players alike.

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In many instances a player may have family and friends watching them and cheering their every move on and I have no problem with that, but we must be careful about one or two things with spectating at poker tournaments.

Firstly I think it is important to remember that poker requires a vast amount of concentration and thought, and it would be detrimental to the game if there were a raucous crowd wildly cheering at every move and moment of the game.

The continued support of crowds will only be a good thing I feel, if the nature of the game, and sportsmanship are respected. I am not saying that they are currently not being respected but I would be inclined to say that some fans are a little over zealous when cheering a player who has just defeated another.

One of the finest things about poker is that when one player defeats another, they show each other the utmost respect and do not wildly celebrate their victory. Basically this is because they know that their victory is at the cost of another persons tournament. As long as this gentlemanly conduct is appreciated and reflected in the behaviour of spectators throughout a tournament, growing crowd sizes can only be a positive thing.

This is somthing which has often crossed my mind when playing poker. Being sat at a ten handed table with everyone carefully folding almost every hand can be tiresome and doesn’t seem to provide the most action packed of games in my opinion. When it comes to short handed action with big blinds I feel there is a much larger proportion strategic poker and skill based play involved.

The reasoning for this is that, when short handed play is involved, the swifter arrivals of often larger blinds, causes players to emerge from their defensive styles of play in order to survive. They know that they simply must play slightly weaker hands and make more risky plays in order to move forward.

Personally I feel most in my element with this style of play, and I would unequivocally deem it to be a better game of poker once this sort of battle for survival begins. Despite my own personal notions on which type of play provides the most enjoyable game, each player is different, and you cannot say that ten or nine handed play requires very little skill.

Some may argue that multiple handed play requires more skill in knowing where your hand is preflop, which does bring up it’s own potential catastrophes if you make the wrong choice. But I could not say that this is more the case with many hands around the table than few, as usual higher blind structures in short handed play perhaps make errors of judgement more costly.

Whichever type of game requires more skill, I feel it would always be difficult to argue that short handed play provides a less interesting and enjoyable game of poker.

In some ways you can say a person needs a competitive nature in any situation where you attempt to beat an opposing player, but poker is one game where you can possibly be too competitive I feel. Of course your aim is to defeat the players which surround you, but you cannot go chasing after individual players chipstacks merely because they have won a big pot from you. In poker it is best to calmly consider situations as they arise, and not worry about which player you are involved in a pot with.

When you decide to get involved with a particular player too often because you want to compete with, and defeat them, you may find you get into pots with weaker hands than you might normally play.

Aiming to compete and be successful, is of course part of poker, but try and temper these feelings with the perception of when is right to get involved and when you should back down. I would certainly say there are players out there that are so determined not to be defeated that they do not concede a hand and fold. The result of this will always be the concession of more chips in the long run.

Playing aggressively can also be a byproduct of a competitive nature and this is by no means a bad thing, but remember to always look at each hand objectively and know when to wait for a better hand to take a stand with. With this in mind and the ability to keep your competitive nature under control, you should have little trouble developing into a successful player.

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