Poker table games can be fun, but they are losing propositions long term.

Playing Against the House

Any poker table game that is not in a poker room is setup to where you are playing against the dealer.  There is no, “well I can get my money back from the weak players” in these games.  Also, the games are taking advantage on the true randomness of the cards.  Texas Hold’em style games, while popular, give the house a great advantage.  We all know how hard it is to hit the flop in a regular poker game.  Couple that with the house playing against you, and you are in for a long day at the tables.

Bonus Bets

Long term, the bonus bets tend to be your real sucker style bets.  Yes, they can pay off big when you hit but as a whole, you are just donating that bet each hand.  Some games will allow you to bet as little as $1 on a bonus, and while that isn’t as bad, you will still lose a lot more than you win.

Pair Plus Bets

Another style of bonus betting is the “pair plus” bets in games like three card poker.  With these, you get a bonus based on hitting certain hands.  Usually these start with trips and go up to a royal.  Again, these are great when they hit, but they will be losers long term.

Ultimate Texas Hold’em is one of the few pair plus bonus style bets that can be worth the gamble.  First, the community cards do count if the bonus hand is on the board and you play your hand.  Also, if the board presents one bonus hand, and you can make another (Such as trips on board and you have a full house) you will get paid for both.  Long term, this will still be a losing bet, but not as large a loss as other bonus style bets.

Now matter what way you angle it, playing poker style table games are going to be long term loser.  Treat this game like blackjack.  If you happen to finish up, great.  If you lose, don’t be shocked.  For a game with better odds, go back to the poker room.

Paying attention to the chat box could give you some valuable information on some players.

Today players from all over the world are spending countless hours in improving their strategy with different playing styles and tricks, hoping that this makes them better and that this makes it harder for their opponents to spot a betting pattern.

You need to understand exactly: what are the main types of players that you can find at an internet poker room and after that you have to use the player notes in order to remember later on what the rating of the other player is.

Reading your opponents can sometimes be a more difficult task, especially when you are dealing with professional poker players that are not leaving any information go out. Reading opponents used to be a lot easier in the past, when you had to sit in front of your player, but now things have gotten a little bit more difficult since you have to deal with little information.

Here are a couple of factors you can take into consideration in order to read your opponents:

Active on the chat: The online poker players tend to stay silent while playing poker over the internet. However some of them are going to use the chat and talk. Make sure that you take into consideration all the information about themselves that they post via the chat box feature. Usually the beginner players are going to use the chat box, so in case you see a player that is extremely active chatting, you are most likely dealing with a donkey and it’s going to be up to you to rate it. If a player is talking about an online poker tournament, then you are probably dealing with a more advanced player.

Betting patterns: One of the best ways you can read your opponents is by the way he plays poker. You will have to pay close attention to how a player reacts in different circumstances. And once you have managed to create a betting pattern, you will start to understand what his playing style is and after that you will be able to know exactly how he will react in different situations.

Multi-tabling: If you manage to see that a player is actively seated at more than one table, then you are most likely dealing with a more experienced poker player, which can easily do more than one thing at once.

Rating your opponents is very simple. Once you have managed to read them, the next logical thing to do is to rate them. And based on their play so far you can easily use the players note feature in order to remember in the future what type of player you are dealing with.

Low Number of Participants

There are many live casinos that run daily poker tournaments who are unable to fill any more than two tables in their tournaments.  These small tournaments will only usually pay three spots and turn into virtual luckfests later in play.  Fact in that many of these types of tournaments will have as much as 30% of the prize pool withheld for the “staff and dealers” and this makes the investment event worse.

A great example I give is a tournament I played last year in Mississippi.  The entry was $45 and $10 for an add-on.  Only three players showed up and we agreed to play “winner takes all.”  The add-on went straight to the dealer as well $30 of the prize pool.  I was able to beat my other two opponents, but I only took home $105, not even twice my buy-in.

Horrible Structures

You will find very few daily tournaments with great structures.  If the structure is good, chances are you are going to pay for it in a much higher buy-in.  Many of these events are setup to last between 2 and 4 hours depending on the casino.  They want you in and out so they can either start the cash game or run another tournament.  After the first couple of levels, luck plays a much higher factor than skill.

Locals and Potential Collusion

If you happen to run across some of these smaller events, you will find them primarily filled with locals who play in the events often, if not daily.  Some of them are there for the social experience or may even be decent players that just don’t have the bankroll to play bigger.

The downside to locals is that sometimes they like to bend the rules a bit.  There are many times you will see either implied or blatant collusion between locals, and sometimes this is ignored and in worst cases even accepted as normal by those running the event.

In an event I was in a couple of years ago in Nevada, there was a guy who put his chips in his pocket and went to the bathroom before the final table.  The floor man did nothing other than issue a general warning, and only cause I said something.  The player miraculously had twice to three times the amount of chips he should have had to start the final table, but the floor man “vouched” for him, and there was nothing I could do.

That is not to say that all daily tournaments are bad or that small events can’t pay off.  However, by and large you will find that these smaller events are not worth your investment unless you are just looking to pass some time and have a little fun.  Good luck to you at the tables.

The Bellagio poker room is considered by many to be the best in Las Vegas.

There are three different sections in the Bellagio hotel to play poker. While you can also play table games, sports bet, and play slots; this article will focus on the poker venues exclusively. The Bellagio has three different poker rooms: The main Bellagio Poker Room, Bobby’s Room, and Club Prive.

The regular poker room is where most recreational and pro poker players will play. This is where you will find the normal Limit and No Limit games spread. Players who like to play Limit Hold ‘Em will find several tables going at any time. Limit games start at $4/8. No Limit is also offered starting $1/2 blinds.

Another great feature of the Bellagio room is that they offer poker tournaments. These small buy in games, around $125.00, are a great opportunity for the casual player to get a sense of the game. There are also larger tournaments offered during the week.

Bobby’s Room is what made the Bellagio Poker Room world famous. Named after Bobby Baldwin, it is home to the largest games in the world. The room has a minimum buy in of $20,000, which often adjusts depending on the game and the players currently playing. In the past the games ran $4,000/8,000 blinds.

Bobby’s Room was famously described in the book The Professor, The Banker, and the Suicide King. This book chronicled Texas billionaire Andy Beals historic games against the “Corporation”. Beal played against a collection of some of the worlds best players including Jennifer Harman, Doyle Brunson and Chip Reese.

Bobby’s Room is sectioned off from the main part of the poker room. It is visible through a glass partition, and many people wander over to glimpse some of their favorites poker celebrities.

The third section of the Bellagio poker room is Club Prive. This is a private style room that offers a more refined atmosphere. The limits are slightly higher than in the main poker room, but are not as high as in Bobby’s room. People often play black jack in this room as well.

One of the main advantages to playing in the Bellagio is that they offer people the chance to see or play in large tournaments. The Bellagio is one of the World Poker Tour’s stops. This means that you will have the opportunity to play in or watch of the most lucrative and famous tournaments around.
The Bellagio also provides top quality drink service. They offer top shelf drinks to all players. You can also use one of the hotels safes to hold your valuables while you play.

The one disadvantage to playing at the Bellagio is that there are a lot of professional players there. This can be a drawback if you are looking for very weak competition. Of course, at the lower limit games there is always going to be weak opponents.

If you believe yourself to have a significant edge over your competition than the Bellagio poker room is one of the best choices. It’s accommodations, service, and atmosphere are unsurpassed. It makes for a great experience for the casual visitor to Vegas. If, on the other hand, you are solely looking for soft games, then you might want to look elsewhere.

This is how all of us have felt at one time or another after a big mistake.

One of the biggest mistakes made by poker players is letting their emotions effect their play. The most common problem is going “on tilt”. This is when you suffer a bad beat at the table and begin playing recklessly and without patience.

If you allow yourself to get tilted then you are inevitably going to be a losing player. While no one can completely control his or her emotions, it is possible to limit the degree to which your state of mind determines your play.

If you are someone prone to go on tilt after a bad beat then it is wise to step away from the table. If you cannot leave the table, then simply fold for a few hands. The worst thing to do is start playing more hands. All you are going to end up doing is getting into tricky situations and possible get worse beats. This will continue the cycle and you will end up losing more money.

It is good to remember that when you suffer a bad beat you were getting your money in good. In the long run this means that you will profit. Now, every poker professional knows this, yet they are still susceptible to going on tilt. It will not prevent tilt, but it may help you shorten the duration of the feeling.

It is also important to remember that poker is physical as well as mental. This means that if you are feeling ill you should avoid playing. Any sort of physical stress can lead to a weak game. If you are feeling subpar then it follows that you will play a subpar game. It is best to sit down to play when you are feeling good.

Mental stress can be just as dangerous at the poker table. If your mind is elsewhere then you are likely to miss some of the obvious tells and other small details that can make or break a session. You should never sit down at a game when your mind is preoccupied with some other business.

Another mistake many novice poker players make is not appreciating variance. This can lead to complete ruin. If you have a bankroll of $5000 dollars you do not want to sit in a $10/20 No Limit game. That bankroll is only 300 big blinds. Most professionals would recommend having at least ten buy-ins for a live game. This would mean that you should sit in a $500 cap buy in game.

It is also wise to know when to let a hand go. A common mistake is to get “married to a hand”. This is how set-miners profit. People know that novice players are almost always going to go broke with a strong hand no matter what the action is. Here is a perfect example. You are playing in a $1/2 game and you are dealt pocket 8’s. A novice player opens it in early position to $8 dollars. You see that he is sitting with $300 dollars. It folds to you and you call because of implied odds.

When the board comes 2x-8x-7x you can get paid off. The novice player will bet any over pair in this situation and will often times put too much money into the pot. In many cases you will be able to win their entire stack.

You should be aware of this and never get married to a hand. If you have Aces, raise, and get three callers and the board comes 8c-Jc-Qd then you should be careful. If you bet and get called in two spots then be extremely careful. The turn can bring almost any card to kill your hand. Any card 8x-Kx as well as any Club is a dangerous card. If you opponent suddenly starts trying to shovel money into the pot you should be careful.

The final mistake is a failure to determine the correct odds. If you do not know the likelihood of hitting a Gutshot, a flush, or one of your other outs, then you will not know when it is correct to call a bet. Suppose the board comes a flush, and you are pretty sure your opponent has a made flush. If you have a set, you need to know the odds of filling up to win. Only when you have worked out the odds and know them are you going to be able to make profitable decisions.

Not all poker blogs are created equal.

Experience of the Writers

When I talk about a blogger’s experience, I am primarily talking about how much experience they have in the poker world. There are many “poker writers” that can put together fantastic looking copy, but the actual substance is lacking.

What is the writer’s background? Are they a write who plays recreationally? Are they a “pro player” who happens to write? Did they used to play and now write full-time? Or are they the worst kind and one that doesn’t play but can manipulate SEO to give their site a higher ranking?

How In Depth is the Content

There are many sites that can help out beginner players, but after that point, many sites fall short. Does the site provide strategy and content that is useful to players beyond the elementary levels? Also, does the site cover more than jut Texas Hold’em? In today’s poker landscape, players want information on Stud, Omaha, Badugui, and all the other variants played online. Being a strictly Hold’em site is not enough for some players anymore.

More Ads and Banners than Text?

One clear cut sign of a site whose content is going to be suspect at best is one that has 1/2 or more of the viewable page covered in ads and banners. Sadly, they think the more ads and banners they have, the more conversions they have. The reality is that many players see all those banners and ads and run away thinking that there isn’t much in the way of content. Many times they are right.

Content Frequency

Depending on the blog structure, sometimes spotting a near worthless blog is as simple as looking at the last blog posting date. If the last post is more than two weeks old, chances are the blog is junk. The exception might be a blog for a player that travels the circuit. Even then, the value will be low. A blog doesn’t need to be updated every single day to be of value, but it should be updated regularly.

Not all blogs are the same in regards to content and quality. Keeping the above tips in mind will help you sift through the bad blogs more quickly and leave you with quality content to read.

One of these is what you will need to earn comps and mail offers.

Sign Up for the Awards Card

Regardless of the casino that you are attending, look into applying and receiving their rewards program card.  The only exception I put on this is if you know for a fact you have little chance of coming back to the casino.  For example, if you go to Europe and play at the Monte Carlo in Monaco, there is no sense in getting their rewards card if you live in Nebraska.  However, for the rest of you, get the card.  This is how the casinos track your play.

Use Your Card Every Time You Play

As simple as this sounds, many people forget to bring their cards with them to the casino or they don’t bother to use them because they are “just playing with $20.”  Every time that you play, you are accruing points and the more you play, the more you earn.

It’s Not About How Much You Win or Lose

Get this fact engrained in your head  It does not matter how much you win or lose, only how much money is cycled through the casino and their games.  For example, if you sit down and play 200 hands of video poker at $1.25 and leave up $10, the casino doesn’t view you as taking $10 from them.  What they see is that $250 cycled through that machine for you to win that $10.

If you want an idea of how much money you have cycled through the casino, find out how much money it takes to earn a point on your care.  A common example is every $5 in slots gets 1 point on your card.  In video poker, it is commonly $7.50.  A couple of years ago, I earned about 3,100 over the course of a stay I had in Vegas.  I actually left Vegas up about $3,000 off of essentially two really big winning days.  However, the casino saw that I cycled $23,250 through their machines.  I still get offers from them to this day.

Another example is the Trump Taj in Atlantic City.  When I go, I play some video poker each time.  I cycle anywhere from a few hundred to a couple thousand each trip through the machines.  I regularly get comped room offers.

Slots and Video Poker Comp You Faster Than Table Games

Unless you are playing higher limits on table games, you will have better odds of getting offers faster for slots and video poker than table games.  Slots and video poker track you each and every hand while many card rooms tend to track you by hours of play in  table games.  The poker room is the worst way to get comps.  While you are not playing against the house in the poker room, there is little incentive for the casino to comp you based on play there.  That is why poker comps are tracked differently and separately from other comps.

So if there are card rooms and casinos that you frequent or you are thinking about frequenting, remember some of the above tips.  Also, if you can take advantage of these tips the very first time you visit a property, you will likely continue to get offers for as long as you choose to go play at the property.  Good luck at the tables.

Picking up tells on your online opponents is much more difficult than in a live setting.

The first thing to realize is there are different ways for online poker players to bluff. However, you can learn about these tactics rather quickly. One thing you will want to pay attention to is how long your opponent takes to check. If a player thinks for a bit and then checks, it may mean they are acting like they are thinking so you will wonder if they have a good hand. However, if they did have a good hand they more than likely would have checked quickly followed by a raise. Now, if your opponent takes a quite awhile to bet, then this may mean they really do have a good hand. The reason they will think so long before betting is because they are trying to make you think they have a weak hand and almost didn’t bet.

You will also want to have an understanding of how some of the buttons work with regards to online poker. For example, there is the check/fold button a player can choose and it will check or fold their hand automatically. If you find that a player checks instantaneously then it indicates they had this button selected which means they would have folded automatically if you had bet. If you notice a player doing this then you can assume they have a weak hand.

You will also be able to learn the way an online poker player plays much like you would be able to in a land based poker room. You still want to pay attention to the player’s patterns. Also, many of the online poker rooms will allow you to keep notes on the other players and this can be a very useful tool in which you can use to mark down certain things you notice about how another player plays. This will help you to remember and keep track of the different players. These notes will be kept and you can pull them up again if you find yourself playing against that same player later on down the road. Online poker can be just as exciting as land based poker and it can be just as profitable. It is important for you to pay attention and learn about the online poker environment as quickly as possible and this includes learning all the online poker tells.

Make sure you sign up for your casino's comp cards.

Hotel and Travel Discount Sites

If you are planning on staying at a casino or casino town, you will want to consider booking through a discount site as opposed to booking with the casino directly.  Many times, you will be able to get rooms cheaper than the casinos and in some cases, you can pick up special discounts such as coupon book and even free nights.

Casino Mail Promotions

Casinos and card rooms regularly mail out various offers for their casinos to players that have played at the casino.  The catch is that you will have to have played either slots, video poker, or table games other than poker to get these offers.  However, if you do play any of these games, use your players cards and sometimes you will get great offers including comped rooms, slot dollars, and even free gifts.

Talk with Casino Hosts

If you are a regular at a casino or play a decent amount, get to know some of the casino hosts.  If they know you well or if you are playing a decent amount, they can hook you up with comps such as free meals and discounted rooms.

Comp Dollars

When you sign up for a players card, you can earn comp dollars based on your play.  This even applies to poker players.  Poker players get paid based on the amount of time they spend at the tables while slot, video poker, and table games players get paid based on amount of money spent.  With these dollars, you can exchange them for comps and even cash.

That above are just a few examples of how you can pick up comps.  Also, remember that you are more likely to get comps from casinos during the off season than you will during the higher traffic times.  Keep some of the tips above in mind and you can have more fun for less expense at the casinos.

Dealer abuse is never appropriate in live card rooms.

Openly Talk About Bad Beat Jackpot While in a Hand

One of the dumbest things that I see players do while at the poker table is openly discuss the bad beat jackpot while they are in a hand.  First, these players are forgetting that any discussion of the jackpot during the play of a hand allows the casino the right to disqualify the player from being able to win the jackpot.  Next, if you happen to get into a potential jackpot spot and your player does not have a jackpot hand, you will not get paid off for your big hand.  The best thing to do is keep your mouth shut if you have a potential jackpot hand.

Abusing Dealers

This is the 60′s, 70′s, or 80′s.  There is no place in a poker room for dealer abuse.  If the dealer clearly screws up at the table and will not correct the problem, go to the floor man.  Also, the dealer has no bearing on your crappy luck and taking it out on the dealer will not help you.  Here’s a tip.  When you abuse dealers at the table, some players are going to play back at you and try and make you lose a big hand just to upset you more.  Also, why risk getting yourself kicked out for the day or banned from the poker room.  It’s not worth it.

Taking Frequent Extended Breaks

One of the worst things about some card rooms are players that sit down with chips and leave almost immediately.  In addition, there are some players that will take frequent long breaks from the table and hold up a spot for someone that may want to play.

In games where there isn’t a list, this is still annoying but at there usually isn’t anything you can do.  Otherwise, if a person is taking frequent breaks and there is a list, I will usually have their stack picked up by a floor manager.

Live card room poker is not like online poker.  You cannot get away with doing nearly anything you want.  In many cases, the worst that can happen online is you are chat banned.  In live poker, you need to show some restraint because not only can you get in trouble with the poker room, but depending on what you are doing, you may even get in trouble with the police.  Of course, mess with the wrong person and you might be gambling with your life.  Control your actions in the poker room and focus on the poker.