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April 11, 2010

Poker Beats: What Is A Bad Beat And How Can You Deal With A Poker Beat?

Poker Beats

Bad poker beats occur when one player beats another one in unlikely circumstances. Although there is no strict definition of the term, the winning player often takes the pot by hitting an unlikely card on the turn or river. Sometimes the winning player is rewarded despite making mathematically unsound decisions in calling another player’s hand or, alternatively, a really strong hand is beaten by an even stronger one.

Risks associated with poker beats

Suffering a bad beat can be extremely hard to accept. Some players, including poker professionals, will be sufficiently unsettled to enter a state of extreme frustration during which they risk allowing their emotions to rule their head. Typically, this could mean that their usual prime game strategy is neglected and they adopt a more aggressive style of play, remaining in hands which they would normally fold and trying to bluff their opponents. When learning to play poker, its important to understand the best time to bluff.

How can I cheer myself up?

How to deal with bad poker beats

The best thing a player can do when they suffer from bad poker beats is to forget about them. Poker players should understand that chance is one element of the game and accept that they offer themselves to the luck of the gods with every hand they play. However, over a sustained period of time, the element of skill will prevail over the element of chance.

Of course, this is much easier said than done and, as mentioned above, even professional players are not immune from the unsettling psychological processes which can be triggered by a bad beat. The old saying about not throwing good money after bad has great relevance here – when you have been a victim of a bad beat, it is more important than ever that you make your remaining chips harder for your opponents to win.

Finally, one way to make bad poker beats work in your favor is to remember the potential effects that they can have on players so that, the next time an opponent suffers one, you will be aware of his potential vulnerabilities and able to capitalize should he be unable to harness his emotions.

Bad beats can actually work in your favour and provide you with a killer advantage. This simple trick will let you beat the opponent every time, especially if combined with a killer tool, an automatic poker calculator. Find out more and download your free automatic poker calculator here. Combined with your skills and a Free WSOP entry, this tool could win you a million or more.

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March 30, 2010

Poker Language: Some Common Poker Terms And Language And What They Mean

Poker uses a number of distinct terms and phrases. When playing at a table it is often helpful to understand these. There are almost enough to write a poker language dictionary! Some of the more common terms are listed below:

Pair of aces - Pocket rockets

Flop – most commonly associated with Texas Hold’em and Omaha poker, this poker language term refers to the first 3 open cards which are dealt.
Turn – this is the fourth open card which is dealt in Texas Hold’em or Omaha poker.
River – the final card which is dealt in a game of poker.
Nuts – at a given point in a poker game, this refers to the strongest possible hand.
Big blind – usually payable by the player sitting 2 spaces clockwise from the dealer, regardless of his cards. Blind refers to the fact that the player has to make it regardless of his cards, or as though he hadn’t even seen them.
Small blind – the amount payable by the player sitting next to the dealer, in a clockwise direction. It is often half the amount of the big blind.
Bluff – in poker language, the art of representing (usually through betting patterns) that a player has a stronger hand than he actually does.
Call – remaining in a hand by matching the previous bet.
Raise – increasing the bet which has been made by the previous player. Other players then need to call or re-raise in order to remain in the game.
Re-raise – the act of raising a previous raise.
Fold – in poker language, this is the procedure followed by a player who does not wish to continue with his hand (he does not want to pay to stay in the hand – usually because he has weak cards or believes another player has stronger ones).
Pot – this is the amount of chips / money which has been put into the center of the table and which the winning player will receive (subject to the rake).
Rake – this is a commission taken out of the pot by the casino. Lower the rake, the more you make. The lowest rake is currently at PKR (Click to join)
Straight – in poker language, a poker hand containing 5 consecutive cards.
Flush – a poker hand containing 5 cards of the same suit.
Pair – two cards of the same value.
Trips – three cards of the same value.
Quads – four cards of the same value.
Kicker – the highest card in a player’s hand which is not in a pair. It is quite often used to determine close hands – for example, a pair of Kings with an Ace kicker beats a pair of Kings with a 2 kicker.