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Poker Software Benefits and Drawbacks

March 19, 2009

More and more people are investing in poker software these days, meaning the need to have such a tool is becoming ever increasing if you wish to success when you play online poker and one day, maybe get a poker sponsorship.
With this software comes the ability to hundreds of stats on each player you face, meaning when decisions need to be made, they are much easier to figure out.
So what are the drawback and advantages to using poker analysing software.

 

We will start with the advantages.

 

Stats readily available

This is a huge plus.
The software tracks numerous stats on all players which would not be available to a player without the aid of the program.
This informs players on all kinds of statistics such as pre flop raise percentages to the amount of times a player will fold to a steal in the big blind.
This is incredibly useful when making big decisions on players.

Stores players stats

If a player has just sat down at the table it is very hard to get any sort of read on him or her. However if you have faced them before, the software will load up the stats based on the hands you have previously encountered with your opponent.
This means you will no longer have to make big decisions on anonymous opponents when you play online poker games, as long as you have faced them before.

Analysing your game

After each session of poker, you can go through each hand and analyze each fine detail of your game. You can view hands which lost you a ton of money and hands which won you a ton of money to see where you went wrong or right.
This helps fix leaks in your game and show were your strategy is working.

Winnings Graphs

Most poker programs will generate graphs showing your winnings, along with your non showdown and showdown winnings.
This helps you to track how you are doing but also to check and see stats such as if you are winning enough pots without the showdown.

  

Now the drawbacks

 

Becoming Reliant on the software

Becoming reliant on a piece of software will deteriorate your game very quickly.
If you cannot form a decision without the aid of the software, it may be time to close it down and play a game of poker solely based on your decisions.  

You may only play online poker and think there is never going to be a time you will need to play poker without the software, but why take the risk?
The software company may become bust, online rooms may deem it illegal to use software on their sites or online poker may dry up and online live action is available.
These scenarios seem unlikely but no one can be sure what will happen, so be careful how important online poker tools becomes to your game.

Cost

If you only play micro stakes or youre new to poker, dishing out $50-100 on a piece of poker software may not be possible.
That money may well be more then your current bankroll and you cannot afford to pay out that money from another source.
There are ways to get around this, many of these sites will allow players access to the software for free by signing up to a poker room like true poker, depositing and earning a certain amount of points. Other than this, there is no other legal way around this.

Learning Curve

Some software has a large learning curve to new players.
Due to the overwhelming amount of stats processed, players can become confused and suffer from information overload.
Many players will not know exactly what each stat means, which they will need to, learn in order to get the most out of the software.

Tables become overcrowded

The software will often open up a aid called a HUD (heads up display) which opens up a small box by each players username, displaying the stats.
This can put people off using the software as they become too distracted and feel uncomfortable with a crowded table.

 

The lower limits

March 11, 2009

Keep it Simple at the Lower Limits

At the lower limits the key to success is just keeping it simple.
By keeping it simple I mean playing poker by the book and taking money off of the many poor poker players that play at these limits.
When you play online poker at high limits you would have to play complex to be successful because if you play completely straight forward poker good players would be able to put you on a hand very easily.
However at the low limits winning is can be achieved through a very straight forward approach when you follow some basic poker tips when you play online poker.
There are many free great article around that can get you started on your journey to become a professional poker player.

The other players are too busy playing their own cards that they wont even notice what you are doing.
They will be playing their hands the way they always play them no matter who is in the pot or how their opponents are playing.
If you play a straight forward game you will take gradually take these players chips over the long run.
By playing straight forward, I mean playing tight and betting aggressively when you have the best hand.
You dont need to perform any complex bluffs and you can just use your pot odds and implied odds knowledge when making your drawing decisions.

In online poker games at these limits slow playing can often work because most of the players are so loose and aggressive that they will bet at you the entire time thinking that they have the best hand.
If they hit a pair on the flop they will often be convinced they have the best hand.

Bluffing on the river in these games is pointless.
Often times the players will call you just to see what you are holding and because they want to know whether they actually have the best hand.
This can of course be used to your advantage by making strong value bets on the river.
Often times you can even over bet and still get a call.

At the low limits you should be focussing on choosing solid starting hands, betting aggressively with winning hands and drawing when you have the right odds to.
This combination is a sure fire recipe for success at these levels.
Complex strategies are often lost on these opponents and for this reason attempting the amazing bluff or slow playing on the turn or river is not the right move and will just keep you from maximizing your profits.
A great place to play lower limit poker is at the us friendly pokersite pokerstars.
When signing up at pokerstars, remember to use a PokerStars.com Marketing Code when you create an account..

About the pokerstars sunday million tournament

October 20, 2008

Pokerstars sunday million

Guaranteeing a hefty one and a half million dollars, the PokerStars Sunday Million is the largest online poker tournament!
By playing a guarantee of $1,500,000 on this event PokerStars is forced to offer a prizepool of this size regardless of the amount of entrants participating!

The Sunday Millionss the tournament is called in the lobby starts every Sunday at 9:30PM GMT. With a buyin of $215, this tournament may not be suitable for everybody’s pocket, although there are numerous ways to snag yourself an entry ticket on the cheap and we’ll suggest the best Sunday Million satellites to you further on in this article.

One of the reason for the continued success of the PokerStars Sunday Million is that it is set up in a way that benefits players of a high skill level.
Ten thousand starting chips and fifteen minute blinds allow players to ease their way in to the poker tournament without feeling pressured by short blind levels.
The payout structure rewards players finishing in the top fifteen percent of the total number of participants, although to get in to the serious money you’ll have to make the top five percent, which is by no means an easy feat to accomplish.
If you happen to make it this far, your sight should be set on the final table, which will normally mean a minimum of a five figure payout!
As with most online poker tournaments the payout structure is top heavy, meaning that the prize pool is awarded heavily in favour of the top performers, and this is shown with the amount the winner takes home.
A typical 1st prize given to the winner is often around twelve percent of the total prize pool, which works out at a mouth watering $180,000!

PokerStars Sunday Million Satellites

PokerStars is by far the best site to play at if your on a small budget but still looking to win in a online poker tournament.
PokerStars offers satellites to the Sunday Million that range in buy in from $2.20 right up to $70, with the satellites with larger buyins awarding more entry’s and lower buyin tournaments awarding fewer. We suggest you ensure you read the rules prior to registering, to make sure you know the exact details in regards to the awarding of prizes.

The PokerStars Sunday million Sit and Go triple shootout satellite is the cheapest Sunday Million satellite, with a buy in of only $2.20.
As soon as 216 players have registered for the tournament, it begins.
Although this may seem like a lottery more then a tournament to many players as you will encounter many weak unskilled players here!
The top 2 players receive a Sunday Million entry token, whilst third place picks up $2 for their efforts.

Our Favourite Sunday Million Multi Table tournament satellite, is the $39 tournament which runs daily at 5:35PM GMT.
The tournament provides entrants with a slow structure, 15 minute blinds.
Although this tournament attracts players of a higher skill level then the $2.20 triple shootout, you’ll still find some weak opposition enter.
For every six entrants one PokerStars Million tournament entry is awarded, so you’ll need to finish in the top fifteen (ish) percent to guarantee yourself a place in the coveted PokerStars Sunday Million!

Sit and go strategy

October 15, 2008

A Sit and Go Strategy

Sit and gos can be a very profitable form of poker for a player with the right skills how also uses these sitandgotips.
Since sit and gos are always exactly the same, once you have a winning system in place the only thing holding back your profits are how many sit and gos you can play.
Sit and goes always have the early stages, middle stages, and late stages, and if you can master each stage of the poker tournament you will see increased profits and a steady stream of income.
This article will teach you about each stage, and how to dominate sit and goes from start to finish.

Early Stages

During the early stages your main goal in the tournament is to maintain your chip stack.
Since most players will be playing really aggressive at this stage, it is to your benefit to sit back and watch a few players knock each other out.
This will give you a better shot at making the money, and will help you avoid any bad beats early on because you wont be gambling with the maniacs.

An example of a hand where you should take it easy is if you have KQs in the big blind, and there is a raise and reraise in front of you.
Since it is almost a guarantee that this is going to be a huge pot, you may as well save your chips because if you miss the flop you will have to toss the hand away anyways.

However, even though you should be protecting your stack, there are some situations in sit n go strategy where you will need to get your money in.
If you have JJ and a maniac makes a raise in front of you, dontt be afraid to reraise him/her or even get all in if it comes down to it.
Since you have determined he/she is a crazy player, and you have a quality hand, it makes sense to get all your chips in preflop if you can do it heads up.

Middle Stages

This is where you want to start accumulating chips so you can take over during the late stages. To do this, start utilizing blind steals and continuation bets to pad your stack and eventually build it up to at least double your starting stack.

The best times to steal blinds are when you are in late position, preferably in dealer position or the cut-off, and action has folded around to you.
I like to wait until antes are in effect as well because it adds quite a bit of chips to the pot.
Once action folds to you, make a raise of 2-3x the big blind.
The reason you are making the small raise is because if the blinds have garbage, they will fold, but if they do re-raise you, you only lose 2-3 big blinds instead of 4-5 big blinds.

Continuation bets are bets that you make on the flop after you raised preflop. Whenever you raise with a big hand during the middle stages, and get called, you will want to make a continuation bet to continue showing strength.
This bet should be  a ½-a pot sized bet, and should force other players out unless they hit the flop hard.
If another player does stay in, make sure to slow down on the turn, but you still may be ahead.

Late Stages

The late stages of a sit and go are where things start to get tricky, because this is usually right around the bubble, and stack sizes are getting smaller and smaller compared to the blinds and antes. Because you have fewer chips relative to the big blind, you need to play more aggressive to accumulate enough chips to stay alive. To do this, continue blind stealing, and also add the re-steal to your repertoire.

The blind steal will be the same as what I talked about above. However, the re-steal is basically a defense against a blind steal, and should be used against aggressive players who are consistently stealing your blinds.
The best time to do this is when a very aggressive player has raised your blind at least twice in a row, and he/she does it again.
Make a re-raise of 3-4x their original raise, even if you dont have a hand. They will respect your re-raise and fold, which will add a nice boost to your stack and help to push you into the money.

Once you reach the money, continue playing aggressively to put the pressure on your opponents, and dont be afraid to get your money in if it comes down to it.

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