Poker
Understanding strategic differences in Texas Hold’em
There are huge differences in how limit hold’em and no-limit Texas Hold’em are played on a strategic level and very few players get to understand those differences. One such key strategic difference is in how bets and pots change in importance from game to game. In limit hold’em, the winning of pots is far more important than making bets. I will quote an example here, let us say that there is $100 in the pot and you hold Q-J and it has been checked by both players all the way until the river.
The final board is 7-7-4-5-2 (no flush draw) and your opponent bets $20 on the river. You think that your queen high hand cannot win a showdown as it loses to all higher queens, kings and aces and obviously anything stronger. So you think a fold is in order and a fold isn’t a bad play. But raising to $40 in a $120 pot could be the optimal play here and if your opponent is bluffing then a river raise will look very powerful.
Your raise is getting 3/1 odds so even if it only succeeds in getting your opponent to fold one hand out of every four, it will still have broke even and any more than that is long term profit. So in this instance the winning of the pot was more important than the bet itself. This concept is very powerful in Texas Hold’em but many players get it wrong. But now let us look at a no-limit hold’em situation.
You have raised before the flop with Jc-10c from the cut-off in $5-$10 with $1000 effective stacks. You raise to $30 and the button and big blind call you making a $95 pot before the flop. The board comes Jd-9d-6s and the big blind leads out for a pot sized bet of $95. Here the situation is vastly different because winning pots in No Limit Texas Hold’em play isn’t as important……what is important is not getting trapped for a huge amount of money.
If you call the $95 then not only are there two more betting rounds to go but there is still the button to act after you and so the betting isn’t even closed for this betting round. You could face the horrible possibility of calling a further bet with a mediocre hand so you are better off folding now than continuing. The key difference in no-limit texas holdem play is that there is nearly always more left to be bet than there is in the actual pot itself. This means that it is the winning or saving of bets that is of paramount importance and not pots.
This is why many novice and inexperienced players struggle with no-limit play because they often play good aggressive poker before the flop and win lots of small pots but then make huge errors in big pots that lead them into being –EV players. No-limit hold’em is one of the most unforgiving games in poker because a player can win a large percentage of pots but still be a net loser. In limit hold’em the weak players make different mistakes.
These are usually to do with not fighting hard enough to win the pots that they contest and the better players at limit expend bets willingly trying to win entire pots but weaker players think that it is saving bets that is key when in actual fact it is the other way around.
Calling raises in no-limit Texas Hold’em
There is an entire sub-culture towards the concept of “floating” in no-limit Texas Hold’em. Don’t get me wrong here, there is nothing wrong with wanting to see flops and turns and river cards if you are better than your opponents. But as you move up through the levels then you are going to be facing tougher players in no-limit hold’em. Let us look at an example to show what I mean.
It has been folded to the cut-off in a $10 No Limit Texas Hold’em game who opens to $0.35 and you call on the button with 8s-7s and for the sake of argument both you and your opponent have $10 stacks so you both have one hundred big blinds. They have Ad-Jd and the flop comes 9d-3h-2h and they make a continuation bet in this situation after both of the blinds had folded. Here again you call to put pressure on your opponent and the turn card is a 4c and they check and you bet and win the pot.
Your opponent saw his “good hand” and raised and you tried to take advantage of their predictable play. This hand paid off for you but let us now look at the same situation only this time played out at NL400. Here a very tough player would bet the turn because your pre-flop call and flop call implies weakness. You would be even less likely to call the turn if a high card came like a king or queen as this could tie in with the raisers hand.
In fact even if you hit the flop in some way with your 8-7s then the chances are that it will only be a pair and you cannot take that to the bank either. If you want to play that type of hand post flop then you are either going to have to make a marginal call on several streets with a very mediocre hand or raise with it which is very dangerous.
The better players at the higher levels will simply shove you from the hand and you will have lost far more money. I like to be more subtle when I play hands like these, this means that if I elect to three bet a raiser then I will only do so in situations where the raiser has been opening too frequently with a higher percentage of their range than what is normal.
I don’t like floating plays at the higher levels because the better players usually punish you for it. Once again I am not saying that you should never do it but it needs careful consideration when your only plan is to win the pot by your opponent retreating into passivity or not having made a hand.
In many cases at the higher limits, the better players will fire multiple barrels when they miss and when they hit then you are calling superior hands with weak hands. If more players could eliminate this trait from their poker games then there would be more winning players at the middle levels.
Rakeback and Bonuses
Rakeback and bonuses have been associated with poker rooms for some time now. Even before the big internet poker boom poker rooms have always taken a rake on the pots as well as offered bonuses to players that are regulars for their loyalty. Many times you will hear poker players ask what the rake is in a brick and mortar cash game or online cash game. The reason for this is because the rake eats into your profits. Every poker room is not the same in terms of how much rake they take for each pot. Some have heavier rakes than others. In most cases the rake takes around 10% of every pot won up to a certain amount based on what stakes are being played.
What is the Rake?
So, if you happen to have won a $50 pot you can rest assured that you are only going to scoop $45 in most cases due to the rake. Now imagine having a winning session where your profit is $400 and then having to fork over $40 dollars of that. Now you can see how over the long term the rake can really eat into your bankroll and overall profits. This particularly applies to poker players that play on a daily basis and are good players. Why? Because good players are generally going to win most of the time and that means they need to be very aware of what the rake is when they decide to sit down in a cash game. I know players that refuse to sit down in some casinos because the rake is entirely too high and they feel it takes away too much of their profit. That is totally understandable and something that only you can determine based on your game.
But there is hope for us cash game players.
Rakeback
Rakeback is pretty common in the online poker world and you can also establish Rakeback in some brick and mortar poker rooms as well if you happen to be a regular player. Basically rakeback allows you to get a percentage of the rake back from the casino. In most cases rakeback varies from poker room to poker room. Typical rakeback programs pay anywhere from 17% to 30% depending on what rakeback provider you sign up with and the poker room you are playing. Usually these programs will provide you with a list of poker room they have rakeback deals with and you choose the room that you play in most along with the stakes you play at. Most rakeback programs will pay once per month and allow you to keep track of your statistics on their sites so that you can calculate how much you will receive.
Smart online poker players use rakeback to help eliminate some of the variance that we all have to deal with. No matter how well you play you must protect you bankroll any way possible and the rakeback programs allow you to get a little bit of what you lost over a thirty day period of time back into your pocket which always helps. Without getting rakeback you are basically giving away money you don’t have to. There are a number of online rakeback affiliates for pretty much every poker room under the sun. If one rakeback program does not have the poker room you play on then try the next. Be sure to shop around for the absolute best rakeback deal you can find. Remember, it’s your bankroll and your job to protect it.
Bonuses
Poker room bonuses are great. Basically, all poker rooms offer some kind of sign up bonus for you to become a customer. It is an incentive and a thank you for choosing their room. However, all bonuses are not the same and you must take this into consideration. For instance:
Some poker rooms will insist that you play a certain amount of hands. Other poker rooms will ask you to earn a certain number of player points before paying out that bonus. The online poker world has several bonuses available for poker players both new and experienced. Even once you have chosen a poker room they will always offer promotions on bonuses for additional deposits. The bottom line is that you need to choose the poker room where you believe you will be most profitable. Again, the bonuses are only a one time payout in a lot of cases and should not be the primary reason you choose a particular poker room. Most bonuses range from $50 to $150 and even more to sign up and play but they will not pay out the bonus unless you meet all the criteria. So make sure you read everything before signing up.
Good luck!
Rakeback Bonuses
Keeping track of all the largest and most indulgent online bonuses is what Dantepoker.com all about. Having linked to all the best poker stations, poker gaming areas, and bonus offers make this site one of the most up-to-date venues for poker information which are quite uncommonly found in the web.
Reviews about the best and latest bonuses offered such as the recent one, which they refer to as Rakeback are also present and updated from time to time. Rakeback has been one of the most exciting things to look forward to lately in the poker world. From starvation hell to gluttony, the Rakeback has been made for hungry players. It is though, on a more pleasing lieu since it hugely deals with how we can avoid spending too much in poker. After the poker industry has realised such heretic thing flaming the poker players, such brilliant service was made. The service allows players to spend lesser than the usual average of thousands of dollars per month. For the benefit of beginners, “Rake’ is the small fee which poker rooms take from players (for example, Online Poker rooms require up to 10% Rake for hosting the game-play). “Rakeback” on the other hand, refers to part of the “Rake” returned to the bankroll. The only requirement to get a portion of the Rakeback is via signing up a link followed by getting a code for claiming such bonus. It is said that the service was implemented because of their desire to put off the idea of zero sum gaming – meaning to say, without it, losers are likely to lose everything they possess. You wouldn’t want to get negative with your bankroll, would you?
It would be quite a damage to your side if you don’t sign up for bonuses since they propel greatly in preventing exaggerated betting. As a matter of fact, bonuses are the best things players can have to rest assure that the management of their bankrolls are working well. For best bankroll management, a player should be using his bankroll only for poker and quit playing with more than what he can afford to lose so as to avoid ending up bankrupted. And another thing, it is also said that playing poker scared with all the idea of losing all his money is called Scared Poker (which is definitely not the victorious type since poker is a game for real risk-takers and the aggressive ones).
Thorough searching for the best offers is therefore highly encouraged for players - because in poker, nobody knows when a player wins or loses- hance, it is best to rest assure yourself that you have something to resort to after the game, win or lose.
Bonuses can not ALWAYS guarantee however the best of help in times of losing for no thing is sure in luck. What it can do instead is to help the player avoid Scared Poker – to boost up that confidence and provide something to lean on to while playing - avoid the bankruptcy at the very least, or avoid the chance of defeat at most.
Endorsement Deals and Sponsorship
Over the past eight years we all have seen tremendous growth in the game of poker. We have seen the game go from the back room to the living room in what seems to be the blink of an eye. We have also witnessed players like Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson go from relative obscurity outside of the poker world to household names around the globe. The growth and popularity of the game continues to bring new players and viewers to poker tournaments around the world.
So what about endorsement deals?
Recently I sat down with a few of my poker friends and solicited their opinions about what players have endorsement deals and whether they truly deserved them or not. The opinions of these players are from regular every day guys that both play and watch the game on a regular basis. Each of these guys also plays online poker and each of us has had varying levels of success in both arenas. So I value their opinions although none of us would consider ourselves to be professional poker players.
As we thumbed through the various magazines and pointed out players we liked, disliked or were completely indifferent about that had endorsement deals. I asked each person what they thought about that particular professional and whether they deserved an endorsement deal or not. Here are some excerpts from those conversations.
Phil Ivey
I started with Phil Ivey for a number of reasons least of which is that I believed we were all in agreement that he deserves pretty much all the accolades he gets.
Opinion#1: “This guy is way over exposed in my opinion! I get tired of seeing him. He seems to be the only player anyone thinks can play the game.” I then asked him if he should be a sponsored player. “Yes, regardless to whether I believe he is on TV too much I can’t argue that he is one of the best in the game”
Opinion#2: “Best poker player in the game! Write it down!”
Opinion#3: “Best player in the game to me. Not very entertaining but he deserves everything he’s got”
Phil Hellmuth
Opinion#1: “Great tournament player and it’s hard to argue with eleven WSOP bracelets. Get’s on my nerves though. I would still sign him if I had the final word.”
Opinion#2: “Complete ass but good for the game. The guy is a marketing genius! I would sign him in a heartbeat. No problem.”
Opinion#3: “I agree. Hellmuth is an ass but he knows how to sell himself and is a lot of fun to watch on TV. How can anyone take his tantrums seriously? (smiling and shrugging his shoulders)
Scotty Nguyen
Opinion#1: “I know he made an ass out of himself a couple of years ago at the H.O.R.S.E. final table but aside from that Scotty is a feel good story. I like him. No problem with his deal.”
Opinion#2: “Ditto! Scotty probably needs to be more conscious of what he is doing and saying at times but it’s hard to argue with his results and he is one of the reasons I love watching the game. He brings a lot of personality to the table. It’s easy to sign a guy like that.”
Opinion#3: “You gotta respect a guy like Scotty Nguyen and where he has come from man. He basically came from nothing and built himself into one of the best in the world. His personality is a lot of fun at the table. I think he needs to lay off the beers at times but I’d sign him.”
As you can see most of the more popular players on the poker tour are loved just as much for their personalities as their poker games. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have moments when we can’t stand our favorite players either. I suppose that is part of the joy of being a fan of the game and it’s players. Poker allows people to be themselves and we see all of the emotions that people go through in their attempts to grab the golden ring. Sometimes it’s not pretty but they never promised us they are perfect people. Sponsorship and endorsements today are based as much on personality as they are on their game and these guys have a lot of both. I am not suggesting that you need to be the next Phil Hellmuth but if you are as entertaining as you are talented an endorsement could be coming your way – if you’ve got eleven bracelets that is.
Curtis Mayfield III
The Poker Rakeback’s Importance
When the poker website takes up automatically those rakes some of the players doesn’t know they were charged. There are lots of people not realizing the rakes effect on the play that they have. Poker is not only on beating the players in every table, it’s your goal too to beat up every rake.
When the rake isn’t part of your game chances are when your luck is bad then you will really lose in those fees inside that house. There is at least 50% on players of poker who fail in the category when they are introduced of the rakeback of poker they are lessening their loses at every game. The rakeback of poker can turn out players to big poker winners.
To Play the Rakeback
Lots of poker players doesn’t have the complete knowledge on the theory behind rakebacks with their positive advantages.
The processes of rakeback are like:
- There is a way for you to start winning back that money you’ve paid in those rakes, its thru sign up on the affiliate poker online. Fundamentally the site is advertising rooms for poker and is keeping tracks to those amounts that poker player is paying on a particular month. When the player sign up at any affiliate room, the room of poker is paying those affiliates some percent rates so the players join the game of poker. In every hand in poker played there is a poker site who is receiving the shares then giving part of it in the affiliate site. The rake percentages do vary from one site to another, it’s at least 5%. This game of poker isn’t to win all the time or losing the rakeback of poker will be about getting more profits.
- As an example, Carlo do like playing in the poker online at ABC. Then find the affiliate site offering at least a rakeback of 25%. It simply imply that those affiliates can pay Carlo of 25%, this is a money on ABC, the poker room will be charging on a monthly basis.
- Even if 5% isn’t such a big sum but when you watch closely those rising popularity on poker as well as those poker players that are involve, those numbers in total on hands will reach such great proportions. You can imagine on how’s the 5% in those hand on the deal every week will mean. You’ll notice those 5% isn’t a very small amount that you’re assuming then those winning in the room for gambling aren’t only peanuts.