It is quite a tricky situation when you are the first player to make a move after seeing the flop. It is hard because you really do not have an idea if the flop improved the hands of your opponents. How you will act depends on a number of factors:
Did they see the flop?
If you did not improve your hands upon the flop, it is best that you do not bet with more players to act after you. Most likely the greater the number of opponents who saw the flop, the higher the possibility that someone is holding a good set of cards.
Behavior on Preflop
If you raised prior to the flop, it will be a more reasonable move to bet and represent that flop. Whatever cards are revelaed during the flop, good players will bet as long as they already raised before the flop. Since you made the raise preflop, your opponents will respect your next move of betting rather than committing then limp out as if saying oops sorry weak cards.
Stack sizes
If you are dominating the table in terms chips, you can control the betting and represent the flop even when you are on the first position. In short, you can bully your opponents. But if you have a smaller stack and the flop did not give you anything, it will be your best move to just be on the side and keep out of the action and wait for a better hand.
Blind stealing applies to the act of a player who is in a late position to raise prior to the flop in order to steal or win the blinds which are uncontested. This poker strategy is often times effective since those in the blinds will have random cards which means there is a small chance that they have a hand which is worthy of a raise so you will be able to take the blinds.
When you are talking about stealing blinds, there are two realities you must face: you will steal their blinds, and other people will steal your blinds.
Tournaments
Stealing blinds is most effective during poker tournaments be it multi table or single table. If you need additional chips, you cannot wait for the premium cards. Blind stealing is a good opportunity to get some chips.
It is not worth it though to go for it at the early parts of the tournament when the blinds are small and has a high potential of encountering raises from opponents.
Cash Games
The blinds on cash games are fairly small which means that this move will not be very profitable for you. Stealing blinds though during cash games should be based on the opportunity to out maneuver your opponent and making them put more money into the pot and then taking their money later on. Generally though, stealing blinds is not recommended in cash games.
How to defend against players who steal your blinds
Rule of thumb is that you do not protect your blinds every time someone tries to grab it. Remember that you will be the first to move when one tries to snatch your blind, but you are in a poor position and most likely you will not have an idea what your opponent has and it will be a big risk .
Remember that once you have posted your blind, the money is no longer yours.
It is part of the pot and you do not defend it all the time. If you feel like defending it though to deter your opponent, make sure you put in a decent re-raise and make them feel that they cannot do it to you later on in the game. This is not effective though when the blinds are quite big and the risk is just too much.
When you enter a big poker tourney, after a while players and their plays will start to settle down and this marks the long process of crawling to get the big pile of chips on the tables.
The bigger the field ofpoker players, the longer before you reach this middle stage. At this period, the lesser skilled poker players are most likely eliminated. Some donkeys though will be a bit lucky and end up doubling their chips at this stage.
One thing is for sure though, majority of poker players at mid stage of the tournament will be having that winning mindset and winning strategy.
Make sure you spend some time studying your opponents and just play the premium hands. It can be boring but some slow play will be favorable in the long run.
Take note though that a lot of players will also be playing tight so you also need to change gears at times and play really aggressive when you have some strong hands.
When you have the position be sure that you can push those chips forward and if you have a big stack, bully some players and eliminate them from the table. This is the time when you will use what you learned during your down time while studying everyone around the poker table.
You also have to consider that your kind of play will be read by other players
Poker fans with money concerns often pay their weekly or monthly poker budget into a separate account that you use exclusively for online gaming; it could be an eWallet or a pre-paid debit card, or you could stick to the newly popular online casino POLi. Use it for making deposits into your online Party Poker casino account and for withdrawing your winnings. Keeping track of your casino budget is as simple as that.
Imagina this: you’re playing the €10k buy-in Main Event of an EPT event in Monte Carlo, you’re down to 40 players, and you’re by far one of the biggest stacks. You look down on Pocket Aces, and you have an All-In in front of you by the one guy that has you covered at the table.
Mouth-watering, no?
Well, yes – especially when on showdown, you see KK as your opponent’s hand, and the SB claims an AK fold. That is why it’s sometimes better playing slot machine games so big decisions don’t need to be made but big amounts of money can be accumulated.
Well, just that happened yesterday to Kenny Hallaert, right before he busted from the tournament. The one-outer hit the turn, and his pair of aces lost to a set of kings.
There are more than 65,000,000 in USA who are addicted to the game of poker. Poker is a very popular game across the globe. This article will enlighten you with dazzling facts about the dynamic game of poker.
Did you know?
The cards meant for playing were invented in China and then transported to Europe in the 13th century. One of the most popular games for the riverboat gamblers in 1800’s was poker. They used to play the game of poker on their way to American waterways.
You will be surprised to know that the French were successful in manipulating the suits in the compact deck of cards. The spades represented royalty, diamonds were the merchants, hearts symbolized all the members of the clergy and the peasants were represented by clubs.
A man names Richard Nixon had won $6000 in poker during his stay in USA Navy. He later went on to become a great political leader. His poker earnings funded him for most of his election campaigns.
The famous comedian Groucho Marx would amass his poker amount or the bankroll in a grouch bag. Hence he was given the name Groucho.
One of the pioneers in the game of poker was Doyle Brunson who had successively won two World Series of poker tournaments with a hand of 2 and 10. You will be surprised to know that as of today both the hands are named after him.
Another eminent personality who was addicted to poker was John Montagu. He was the Earl of Sandwich. He was obsessed about the game of poker so much so that he would refuse to even eat his meals. He could play for hours together. A big vote of thanks to the Earl John Montagu. It was because of him and his love for poker which resulted in the creation of our favorite snack-sandwich.
Just last week Belgian poker player Laurens De Smet traveled to Warsaw to play in the Unibet Open tournament. Unibet Opens are known for their relatively soft field and excellent tournament setups (and entourage), and as usual, quite a few of the Belgian players did excellent.
Here are some excellent photos taken by Hung Tran at the event. Thanks, Hung!
It is quite a tricky situation when you are the first player to make a move after seeing the flop. It is hard because you really do not have an idea if the flop improved the hands of your opponents. How you will act depends on a number of factors:
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May 02 2012
