POKER

Learn about important concepts in poker with our clear and concise explainers

Avoid Tilt – Definitive Guide (2023)

  • Post category:Poker

We explore some practical ways to avoid tilt, that you can start doing immediately. Plus, we look at variance and downswings.

  • Tilt, in a poker hand, can be defined as any negative deviation from the way a player would have played that hand had he been thinking rationally to the best of their current ability, without letting any emotions cloud their thought process.
  • Tilt will likely affect almost every player who plays poker, and can occur for an endless amount of reasons.
  • We also explain why variance is great (even though it may not seem that way at first). Plus, how to cope with downswings (which are almost certainly inevitable if you play long enough).
  • Dive into our comprehensive guide to avoiding tilt.
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Profiling Poker Opponents – Definitive Guide (2023)

  • Post category:Poker

Find out how you can begin to start profiling poker opponents (i.e. understanding what your opponents are up to, even without seeing their cards)! This will allow you to come up with tactics (as part of your overall strategy) to exploit them.

  • Categorising your opponents is vital to being able to put them on accurate ranges.
  • You won’t know the exact cards the villain is playing unless there is a showdown.
  • However, you can see their frequencies.
  • Villains cannot escape frequencies in the long run.
  • Start reading our comprehensive guide to find out more.
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Before Playing Poker: 5 Key Decisions (2023)

  • Post category:Poker

Before playing even one hand of poker, we recommend you really think carefully about your total bankroll, cash game/tournament mix, buy-in amounts, table selection, and recording results.

  • How big does your total bankroll ideally have to be?
  • Will you be more suited to cash games or tournaments?
  • How much should you buy in for (cash games)?
  • Which table(s) should you pick (cash games)?
  • How will you record results?
  • We cover all these things in our easy to understand comprehensive guide
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Preflop Hand Selection – Definitive Guide (2023)

  • Post category:Poker

The decision you make most often during a poker game is if to fold or play the hand dealt. Infact, you make this decision every single hand! Therefore, it is vital you have a solid strategy regarding this!

  • If you get your preflop hand selection wrong, then you are setting yourself up for a fall postflop. It will be difficult to recover.
  • Find out in what circumstances you should memorise hand charts in advance, and when you absolutely shouldn’t.
  • Find out how position and stack depth affects the hands you should be playing.
  • We also cover important live poker preflop hand selection considerations.
  • Start reading our comprehensive guide, to learn everything about preflop hand selection.
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Poker Betting – Definitive Guide (2023)

  • Post category:Poker

This in-depth guide covers everything we think you need to consider (including reasons, and sizing) regarding poker betting.

  • Understanding poker betting incentives, should be a vital part of your overall strategy.
  • Thus, we cover a wide variety of poker betting topics – all explained in an easy to understand way.
    • good and bad reasons to bet
    • postflop bet sizing
    • donk betting
    • slow/fast playing
    • equity realisation/denial
    • limping
    • floating
    • indifference
    • random decisions
    • elasticity/inelasticity.
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Spotting Poker Tells – Definitive Guide (2023)

  • Post category:Poker

Could you get information about an opponent’s cards, due to their behaviour (i.e. their poker tells)? How do you avoid giving away any information on your own cards?

  • When playing poker in person, there are a whole host of opportunities for spotting poker tells.
  • Poker tells are voluntarily or involuntarily behaviour, exhibited by players, that give away information about their holding.
  • Did you know that spotting poker tells is possible online too, even though you cannot see your opponent?
  • Of course, you will not want to give away any poker tells yourself! Avoid a savvy opponent to get information from you. We cover some great ways to avoid giving away information.
  • Finally, we cover 2 vital caveats you must consider before using poker tells. These are false tells, and the reliability of a potential tell.
  • Dive straight in to learn just about everything about poker tells you could possibly want to know.
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Play Better Poker – Definitive Guide (2023)

  • Post category:Poker

All the information you need to play better poker, can be found on the internet. However, there is an awful lot of information out there that can also be unhelpful. Understand the difference between macro and micro, and where poker edges really come from.

  • If you want to play better poker in 2023 you have an abundance of content that purports to teach poker strategy. Some are free, some are paid. Unfortunately, despite the good intentions of the authors the advice given is often incorrect or useless to your progression. At best, a waste of time. But, at worst you will pick up bad habits.
  • Instead, understand the difference between:
    • the macro way of looking at the whole game from above (which is the strategic view), and
    • the micro way of look at specific spots (which is the tactical view).
  • We show you practical ways you can actually play better poker.
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Poker Variants – Definitive Guide (2023)

  • Post category:Poker

Learn the key rule changes, and more importantly the strategy differences, of two popular poker variants (short deck poker, and pot limit Omaha).

  • No Limit Texas Hold’em is currently the most popular poker game, played either online or live.
  • However, other poker variants are available.
  • Reasons to learn poker variants include:
    • less boredom, from adding variety to your games
    • potentially softer games as your opponents may be less experienced in these variants
    • there may be less strategy information readily available
  • Find an enjoyable new poker variant, with our comprehensive guide.
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