Today, a friend of mine asked about the difference between playing with money and without money. Eg: In many online poker sites you can play with the “play” money first and then if you would like, progress to the money tables.

You see, poker, is very different from other games you see in casino in two very major aspects:

(1) It is the only game in which you do not play against the house (like blackjack, roulette, etc), and you play against other players.

(2) It is a strategic game, and not just of luck. For example, the odds of winning a powerball jackpot (from what the Internet says, and you know the internet is always right), is 1 in 195249054. However, in many cases of poker, it also takes alot of strategy with a much lesser percentage of luck (Approximately 2/3 chances of winning if you are good). As such, every year in the grand dame of poker tournaments, the World Series of Poker WSOP, you see players who have won before, end up once again in the top few on October 9.

As such, when playing poker. One of the key aspects in winning poker, especially tournaments (in which you are not just in there for the fast cash, or cross my fingers I’m wearing my lucky red underpants today), is knowing the psychology of the players. Furthermore, knowing what the players think about money.

As such, in an online poker room, what you would see is a range of different profiles of players. I’m going to illustrate the top three:

(1) Mr/Ms. I’m too scared to lose big money

These people are fish (stated further in Jake’s eBook). They are the fish whose psychology is to bluff and hope that all goes well. But because they are there for the short run – just like in the turbulent stock market – they are in the rooms in which the small blind are very low, ranging from $0.01 to $0.50. The most the pot ever goes is about $2.00, and they are just plain scared. Go into rooms like these to meet these players.

(2) Mr/Ms. I’m here to eat all you losers (Pretend sharks – in small playgrounds)

These players are the sharks. They head up in rooms which range mostly from $1.00 to $10.00, simply because they would not lose too much money, but since there are fish who swim in those rooms too, aim to fleece the newbies as they can. They know the little tricks, from checking the profiles of users, to using poker calculators. And they purposely do not head to the rooms with the larger blinds because they do not want to encounter the real sharks.

(3) Mr/Ms. I’m here to learn strategy 

These people are here to learn. Graduating from the smaller rooms, to gradually the bigger ones. They are the ones who also have alot of patience and know that poker is not a gambling game. They do however, participate in Tournament poker, where the odds of winning are much higher if you have the correct strategy. (These are also the people in which we are also targeting with Jake’s winning tournament poker eBook) because they are the people who are in this for the long run.

And there you go, just a short summary of the most common profiles. And as you can see, vary very much from the people which you see in the play money poker rooms – which are just kind of boring and possibly filled with pensioners (nothing wrong with that, I don’t mind doing that when I’m older). So never forget the effect of money (even if it is $0.01) has on the players in any poker room.

I’ve been experimenting quite a bit with poker iPhone apps, a little just for fun. There are alot of small fish out there because there isn’t money to be played on apps, but it’s mainly for the social aspect of the game.

Zygna is indeed one of those apps. It’s clean, smooth, easy to play. Links up with facebook or you can play as a guest.

Although admittedly I play for fun – and it’s not for the ongoing tournament styled poker where the big money is, but poker on the go is always good for addicts.

1) The strength of your hand – You need to ask yourself just how strong your hand is. If you are drawing just how strong of a draw do you have?

2) The type of flop – When the flop comes down, you need to assess just how strong your hand is relative to the flop?

3) The number of opponents you are up against – The more players in the hand increases the chance that one of them has a strong hand. If there are three or more players in the hand you should assume that one of them has a very strong hand if they bet. When you are up against multiple players you need to stick to the best hands. Bluffs and semi-bluffs are really good against one or two opponents (but don’t overdue it!). If you show that your are a pretty tight player the others at the table expect that you will only bet good hands. That is when bluffs and semi-bluffs work. Also, keep in midn who you are betting against. If the players are loose, then bluffing just doesn’t really work.

4) Possible hands of your opponents – you should look to figure out what hands your opponents are holding based on their position at the table, their betting patterns before the flop an on the flop. Once you understand what they may have you can then figure out what hand you have compared to what they may have. Don’t forget that the more players in the pot the greater the likelihood that one of them has a strong hand. You want to make sure that when you draw and hit your hand that your hand will win.

What makes this poker book better than any other poker book?

The answer is simple. My Jake Smood Method is specially designed to put you in the top 10% of poker tournaments within five hours. Five hours! How many people can attest to that, or are you just stuck reading a poker eBook for hours without any results?

The Jake Smood’s Winning Tournament Poker book has been proven and tested by many beginner and advanced poker players. For years I’ve won a good deal of money with online poker and my family and friend’s have always regarded me as the ‘poker tips guru’, and now I’m writing this book just for them (and you). This isn’t a normal poker book full of theories, I believe in playing and execution I take you step by step on how to get from learning poker to winning poker as fast as possible.

In fact, if the strategy doesn’t work for you, it comes with a 60 day money back guarantee. We are so sure about the fact that if you follow the strategy closely you will start winning from the first day you use the strategy, if you don’t I will give you your money back.

I am giving you a limited special reduced price of 14USD – this is a new lowered price!

If you have any questions at all, you can either:
(1) Leave a message at Twitter @jakesmood
(2) Email me at winningtournamentpoker@gmail.com

The Jake Smood’s Winning Tournament Poker

14 USD for a limited time period only!

Updated: June 2011

The flop has to be the uh-huh moment in every texas hold’em game.

The standard strategy when that 4th card lands on the table is a straight and simple rule:
(1) Evaluate the type of flop and the strength of your hand relative to that flop
(2) Compare your hand to the hands that your opponents might have
(3) Determine your strategy based on the pot odds you are receiving

Make your decision on whether to bid / fold / check.

There are couple of considerations one should take in determining their course of action, one of them is the size of the pot. If you have a strong hand you can slowplay, or if you have a strong hand, you should play strongly. Larger pots give you better pot odds than smaller ones.

For more tips, please support the sale of my eBook and drop back here more often for free tips!

Greetings,
Jake

One of the main issues with new players is that they like to play every hand they get, even if they have a Ace-Low or a 10-Jack. The statistical probability of winning with such a hand is a little too low, and in tournament poker your opponents will play as tight as possible to stay till the very end and to win the cash.

Hence, throwing in the last call at the end of the end just to see the cards of your opponent is a very bad move. You may gain information that you can use later on (if he is faking), but if you are unsure, you might just end up giving him your money.

Play as tight as possible in tournament games. Survival is key! For more tips, check out my Jake Smood’s Winning Tournament Poker eBook.

Howdy,

How to start your winning poker career?

When you are very new to the game of poker it is wise to see what good information is available around here. Just starting and loosing big sums of money is not the most advisable way of getting successful in internet poker. Of course you will gain experience when you start playing and you should do also. But why not ride on another person experience in getting started. But the question what info is good and rather complete and don’t get you overfed with too much information. In my book “How to Win in Tournament Poker” I gathered only the necessary information which I experienced myself in the last 5 years in such a way that you are up and running in a couple of hours.

When you sign up at one of the poker sites in the top and bottom banners and create an account with the Referral code : JAKEBOOK we give you the book for free. Sign up and drop me an email at winningtournamentpoker@gmail.com and I send you the book right away.

Look out for more tips coming soon.

Greetings from Jake

Besides that you should decide the experience level of a player at your table (see my EBook how to) it’s also wise to recognize the playing style of this player.

In general there are four playing styles: This is determined by a combination of two variables. First one is the number of starting hands he plays and the second one by the betting style used. A player that plays a lot of hands is called a “loose” player, a player that plays only premium hands is called a “tight” player. A player that mostly checks/calls during the betting rounds is called “passive” and the one who bets/raises a lot is an aggressive” type of player.

The combination can be: Loose-Passive most beginners plays like this, be careful to bluff at these players, as they will call with anything. Loose-aggressive this the maniac, watch out carefully they can have any hand from crap to AA. Wait for a good opportunity and get all their chips. Tight-passive also a beginner type of style, if they bet or raise watch out, if not you can bluff at them. Tight-aggressive are mostly the good players so watch out.

Look out for more tips coming soon.

Greetings from Jake

Time is valuable. In order to play good poker you have to be patient as I explained in an earlier tip. But there is a way to accelerate your learning. In order to master the strategy as I explained in earlier tips and in chapter two of my book  without spending hours and hours waiting for hands that are playable you can play rush poker at Full Tilt Poker. Go sit at the low stake cash tables and try out the strategy. The nice thing of this type of playing poker is that when you toss away a hand you will receive immediately a new one at a new table. Of course it’s more difficult to get a read on the players while they change all the time but for trying out hands and position play its great.

Look out for more tips coming soon.

Greetings from Jake

Howdy,

You all know the feeling you just lost a big pot which you should have won because you had the best hand but a bad beat happened to you. It’s very easy to let your emotions control your actions now and take decisions that cost you a lot of chips if not all of them.

This may not happen to you and if you  want to learn how buy the eBook from Jake.

Look out for more tips coming soon.

Greetings from Jake.