Playing a Poker Pro
What is the key to being a great poker player? To be honest I really don’t think that there is one. Poker is luck, but a good poker player knows how the cards play out and can play accordingly to it.
There are a lot of people who brag that they are a great poker player, most of the bragging usually happens right before you sit at the same table with them. I have found that players who talk up how great they are usually are not that great of poker players. After all if you’re a good poker player wouldn’t you want your opponent to think that you’re a horrible player.
When sitting at the table with one of these on-the-fringe poker stars, they will usually talk a lot of smack and they will make big calls. These players are usually easy victims of the check-raise move and they will keep playing hard because they think they can take your chips, or think they can scare you away from the pot.
The easy way to beat these players is to let them steal blinds, let them build up their confidence and get your revenge when the stakes get higher.
I have found that most of the big-talking players out there simply just watch too much poker on television and think that they can play like pros, enjoy these players, because they can win you some money.
The World Of Poker Television
As a poker fan there is a lot of variety to choose from when it comes to watching poker on your television and trust me there is a lot more on the way. Here are some of the more interesting poker shows that may be coming to a television near you.
The Small Town Poker TourThe Small Town Poker Tour will take viewers on a road trip across the country as they watch everyday people compete in smaller tournaments in their small towns. Producers are planning on covering a lot of areas in the United States and Canada, they are also thinking about going to Asia in the near future.
Play for
Mike Tyson’s house
Self-made business man Dominic Marrocco recently purchased Mike Tyson’s old $4-million Las Vegas mansion. He plans on offering the bankrupt boxer a change to win his old house back in a poker match. Anyone interested in playing in the tournament are more than welcomed to play, if they can afford the expensive buy-in. Marrocco is currently working on a television deal for the show.
Annie Duke Takes On The WorldThe Game Show Network recently announced that they are working with female poker star Annie Duke on her own show, Annie Duke Takes On The World. The show will feature Duke offering poker tips to the viewers and will also include a game were viewers come on the show to play against Duke at poker.
Who I Would Like To Play Poker Against
There are a lot of celebrities I’d love to play poker against. Imagine the bragging rights that I would have if I sent someone like Ben Affleck away from the table empty handed. Anyways here is a list of different celebrities I would like to play poker against.
David CrossI have seen David Cross play on a couple of celebrity events and he seems to be a fairly good player. Plus I am a huge fan of both Arrested Development and Mr. Show. Playing against someone like Cross would be fun, it would not really matter if I won or lost.
Shannon ElizabethI know this may sound completly shallow, but the main reason I would like to play Shannon Elizabeth would be the fact that, well she is Shannon Elizabeth. Besides being a very attractive opponent she seems to be a really good poker player. Over the last couple years she has done well in celebrity poker events and tournaments against poker pros.
James WoodsWho wouldn’t want to play poker against James Woods? He really looks like he is a good poker player. I think it would be funny to see his reaction when you raised him on a bad bluff. While playing him I would not be able to get that James Woods song from the Family Guy out of my head.
Homer SimpsonI know that he is not real, but imagine what it would be like to play poker against Homer Simpson. I think that he may surprise you and take a lot of your chips away, depending on how much Duff beer he is drinking. He would not be the smartest player I have ever squared up against, but probably the most entertaining.
KramerImagine what it would be like to play against Kramer from Seinfeld. He definitely would enjoy smoking a cigar and some of the conversations you would have with him during the game would be interesting to say the least. I bet the game would probably end with Kramer somehow falling on the poker board and knocking chips everywhere.
The Game I Should Have Lost
I had probably the most interesting poker game of my life the other night. Basically it started out like any other poker game, I got schooled early and kept losing tricks. Still I kept calling big rises, even as my chip stack was pretty much reduced to a non-existent pile.
There were only two of us left in the game, I managed to stay alive by folding on everything. I had so few chips left, there was even consideration to just call the game, but then again I did have $20 on the line. I decided to keep playing and put in my big blind, this left me with one or two chips, so I went all in.
After that I played some of the most exciting and lucky poker that I have ever played in my entire life. I ended up doubling up a five times in a row, I just kept going all in and caught a lot of lucky river cards. A half hour had gone by and I had a stack that was becoming very similar to that of my opponent. It seemed the all-in raises were working and I kept following the winning pattern.
It got to the point where I actually claimed the chip lead in the game and I started to play smarter poker. During this time I managed to steal a lot of blinds by making big bets and that was also helping me rack up the chips.
Finally the end came, I got pocket aces and I made my usual all in call. At this point the person I was sitting across was starting to get rather upset and called me with his pocket jacks, he was probably thinking he had finally caught me.
Before that hand I had called him all in on nothing, in fact in reality I should have lost that game 10 times over, it was not my opponents fault, I simply kept having the best luck I had ever had in a game.
On the first flop a pair of kings and an ace came on the table, this gave me a full house and won me the game.
I am not writing this blog to brag, like I said this really did not have a lot to do with any form of poker skill, it was all just luck, with a couple good wagers. A lot of times when I play poker I lose a lot of chips I go into Kamikaze mode. I wait for that marginal hand to go all in on and officially lose the game of frustration. After that game I will play smart poker until I lose my very last chip.
To Drink Or Not To Drink?
Many would tell you that one of the most important ingredients of a poker game is beer. I really can’t see how alcohol would help your game.
With myself I have found if I have a couple drinks then it may actually help me more than not. I guess it just relaxes me and allows me to make better moves. On the other hand I have seen some great pokers loose a lot of chips at the expense of a too many drinks. I think you just get too confident in your play and make too many bad moves.
The worst person that you can play is the new poker player and even worse than that is a new player who has had a couple drinks. With that combination anything can really happen and trust me that’s not a good thing, you can loose a lot of chips fast. There is not really any structure to the game, because your opponent will not play a logical poker game, so imagine what happens when you add alcohol into the mix.
I’m not saying take away all the beer away from poker night, but I would probably recommend watching how much you drink if you are playing a real game, if you’re just playing for fun then it’s a really up to you.
The inspiration for this blog is a bad experience I had on New Year’s Eve at the poker table. I had a few too many drinks while playing poker and lost all my chips to a woman who drank more than me and never played poker before.
