by Snezana Novakovic

Created on: October 10, 2009   Last Updated: October 11, 2009

Tips For Mantaining Discipline In Poker

Poker is a game that takes moments to learn but a life-time to master.........I could not possibly write all the poker strategies here, it would take a book to do that, but here are a few pointers.

Good poker players know that you need strategy and not luck to win in poker. Of course luck comes into it, but if you are just depending on luck, you will only win one in every six games, on average. So even if the blinds are relatively low, you will still be on a losing streak. First you must learn which nut cards or hole cards (cards given to you) are the best ones to keep and this can either be learnt visually with a chart or with practice.

For example, in a game of Texas Hold Em, you would not raise the blinds on a 2 and 7 unsuited (yes it may come up but the chances are only 1 in 6) in contrast, if you got a double Ace (AA) then raising the blinds is a good move.

One thing you may want to consider is just because you may want to go All In (betting all your money on the one hand) doesn't mean that others want to, so if everyone else folds, you may only be winning a lousy pot; on the other hand, (excuse the pun) you can still go all in if you use a different tactic; there are 4 rounds of betting in any hand - you can still go all in, just bet high in each bet.

Always watch where the dealer is, if you have a big blind then of course you will play the hand because you have already payed for it (unless someone else raises really high), now if it is half a blind and the blinds are still low, it may be worth having a look at a bad hand. Another thing that needs to be learnt is folding on good hands, now you may have a double Ace (AA) but on flop comes up K K 2, then someone raises really high, now of course they could be bluffing, but what do you think the chances are of just one player having a K? Pretty high, because don't forget, most players go in on good cards so the chances are high someone will have a K.

Always try and work out what the other players' cards are, this is easier than you think, naturally it is pretty easy to work out if someone is going for a flush, so if you are going for a straight, you know the flush will beat you.

There are usually 9 players at each table. If you get good nut (or hole) cards and you see 4 or more players calling, you should raise first chance you get so that some players fold, because the more players the more chances they have of getting their flush or other good hand which may be better than yours.

Watch other players, see if they bluff or not; beware of the players that never, ever show their cards, good chance they have been bluffing. It takes practice but you will learn how not to get bluffed, work out what cards they could possibly have and what the chances are of you beating those cards.

You should start out practicing with play money and you never know how good you can get and start playing at real money tables, there are even 1 cent games you can play. Once you get good at Texas hold em then you can start learning other poker games like Omaha (my favorite) Stud, Razz and others.

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