By Will Boyett

A professional poker player knows the importance of managing and maintaining their poker playing bankroll. Without a bankroll, the game is over. No more action, you are finished. Don’t let this happen to you. Let me show you three things you can watch for in your play right now. Avoid them and your bankroll will grow faster.

#1: Becoming Too Emotional At The Table

Bad beats will happen. Losing sessions will happen. You must learn to live with these things or you will drive yourself crazy. Not to mention what it does to your bankroll. Letting your emotions get the best of you and your play is a quick way to burn up your bankroll.

#2: Not Considering Opponents’ Hands

Poker is a game of relative strength. It does not matter how strong your hand is. It only matters how strong your hand is in relation to other peoples holdings. Many players just focus on the strength of their own hand and are oblivious to what others might be holding. Breaking this thought process is of extreme importance to becoming a winning poker player.

#3: Not Following Etiquette

This is a mistake that most beginners make but I still see pros do it too. When you want to make a raise, never say, “I call your bet and raise..” Your first statement is considered your action. By saying, “I call …”, it means you just want to call. If you intend to raise, say “raise”. In No-Limit it would be wise to also state the amount of the raise. Stating the amount of the raise also protects you from the “one motion rule” which many casinos have adopted. Don’t let a little slip of the tongue cost you missed bets.

By recognizing if you are guilty of any of the above, and if you take the steps I outlined, your bankroll will grow faster, and you’ll be able to sleep better at night.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Will Boyett runs an online poker site at http://www.pokertools.com that specializes in the latest online poker tools. In addition, Will offers free training and an occasional free poker tool to subscribers of his newsletter. You can join and get your free stuff at: http://www.pokertools.com/bonus/

Article Source: EzineArticles.com/
3-Things-You-Must-Avoid-in-Poker-to-Save-Your-Bankroll

For hundreds of years, poker has been played in taverns, casinos, pubs and homes across the world within a group of people all looking to outwit their opponents by trying to pick up tells on each other to give themselves an advantage. The tension that can form from high stakes games means that the game of Poker has been incorporated into numerous movies, with some films being completely dedicated to the game. However, over the last few years there has been a new breed of poker joining the poker world, which is the ever so popular online poker game.

Many poker players enjoy playing poker online because of how easy it is to find a good game without needing to leave the comfort of your own home. You can play at almost any stakes you want to suit your bankroll, and you can always find action at your desired game and limit no matter what time of the day. Furthermore, the game speed is much faster online than it is at a live table, as the cards are dealt electronically and there is no need for a dealer to manually shuffle and deal the cards in between hands.

There are a number of online poker sites out there offering their services, so there is no shortage of players, games or tables at your disposal. It is a good idea to compare online poker rooms before making your decision on which one you intend to sign up with, so that you can get the most from online poker depending on your needs.

So far it sounds like online poker has a lot to offer when compared to live poker, but what does live poker have over the online game? Well the one undeniable advantage that live poker has is that you have the chance to sit down face to face with other players for a real poker playing experience. It is great fun playing online, but there is nothing can replace the thrill of battling against opponents in a live arena and experiencing the excitement of the game first hand.

So which version is better, live or online? In my opinion they both have their pros and cons, so I don’t think its fair to say that one is completely better than another. Some players will comfortably say that live is the best because there is no substitute for playing against real people, but this is more just a matter of opinion. On the flip side, there is no substitute for the simplicity and ease of use of online poker, and you will never find as many tables or limits on offer in a casino as you would in online poker. I believe that every player should try and get a healthy mix of online poker as well as live poker, and use this mix to improve their overall game.

If you are solely an online player, it is well worth your while giving live poker a shot, because you will certainly find it to be a very exciting experience. Similarly, if you are purely a live player, you should sign up for an online account and give online poker a try, you may find it more fun than you think. All in all, it is good to keep a bit of diversity in your game and play in both the live and online formats of the game. But whatever you choose to do, just make sure you’re having a good time playing poker, as that’s what poker is all about at the end of the day.

Just as there are many hands in Texas Holdem that will win you a lot of money, there are a number of deceptive hands that may lead you into believing that they are profitable when in real fact they will often lose you decent sums of money from your bankroll. The sooner that you learn about the hands that are costing you dearly, the sooner you can start saving yourself from losing money. This article will address the most common hands that novices play with and highlight the reasons as to why they can be dangerous hands to play.

The ‘any two suited cards’ is a very popular hand that all varieties of beginners like to play. A flush is a pretty strong hand in the game of Holdem, and so if you manage to make one there is good chance that you will win a nice bit of money with it. Therefore many new players to the game will be prepared to enter pots with any two cards as long as they are suited just in an attempt to catch a flush at some point during the hand. There are two reasons as to why playing any two suited cards is dangerous.

Firstly, it is not that much more likely that you will make a flush just because your cards are suited. The probability of making a flush in Holdem is pretty low, and so it does not justify calling bet and raises in an attempt to catch one on the flop. On top of this, amateur players will often continue to call bets and raises with bad pot odds to make a flush on future streets, which just adds to the problem of playing such hands. The second reason is that you can catch half a hand like second pair on the flop, and end up losing money to another player that has formed a better pair than you. So by playing random suited cards you are setting yourself up for two great opportunities to leak money, so don’t do it.

Another type of hand that always manages to cause the beginner poker players a problem is the low connecting cards. These are almost identical to the problems caused by any two suited cards and can help players to lose money over the long run. It is not too likely that you will form a straight every time you enter a pot with connecting cards like 5c 6h, so don’t enter the pot under the false pretences that you will. You will simply be losing more money in the long run, as well as losing money in pots where you catch half a hand and your opponent catches a stronger one. So save yourself some money and fold before the flop.

One final hand that amateur players get overly attached to is a rag ace. Rag aces are simply aces that are accompanied by a low ranking holecard below a Ten. The problem that these hands cause is that players find it difficult to let the hand go after they pair their ace, and so they will often end up losing a lot of (if not all) of their stack to a player that also makes a pair of aces but with a better kicker. The best way to play these types of hands is to exercise a little self-discipline and fold them before the flop. It is unlikely that you will win a big pot with them, but it is likely that you will lose a big one. Save yourself a bit of money by folding and catch out the other amateur players the next time when you hold a stronger ace than them.

It is always great to see a big pocket pair like AA, KK or QQ when you look down at your holecards in Texas Holdem. These top 3 pocket pairs are the best possible hands you can be dealt before the flop, and so you should expect to make a hefty amount of money from them throughout your poker-playing career. However, if you are not careful with these big pairs and if you do not exercise good strategy with them, these types of cards can easily lose you money when not play them correctly.

One of the biggest mistakes novice players make when playing big pairs is that they tend to slowplay them at every opportunity. Whilst it may be a good idea to play very strong hands on the odd occasion in poker, it is far too early to start slowplaying a hand before the flop, and by doing so you will just be allowing your opponents to improve on the flop and on future streets. Therefore whenever you are dealt a big pocket pair you should almost always raise before the flop to thin out the number of opponents and build the pot to increase the amount of money that you can win.

Now although AA, KK and QQ have been lumped into the same category here, I am going to split these hands up into two, and give a few basic strategy tips whilst playing them. I will firstly go through a good strategy for AA, and then I will go through tips on how to play KK and QQ well. The KK and QQ have been grouped together due to the fact that there is the possibility that overcards can appear on the flop, whereas this is not possible whilst holding AA. So lets move onto the strategy for each of these hands…

With a hand like AA, you always want to be looking to raise or re-raise before the flop. It is never good Texas Holdem strategy with AA to limp or simply call a raise because you are missing the opportunity to get more money into the pot with the best hand, and you are giving weaker hands the opportunity to overtake you on the flop. You shouldn’t be worried about the fact that players might fold and you win the pot uncontested at this point, as it is always better to win a small pot than lose a big one.

After the flop you should again look to keep the action flowing by betting and raising. You do not want to give anyone the correct odds to call for any straights, flushes or drawing hands at this point, so make sure you put them to a tough decision for their chips. However, there could be the possibility that one of your opponents has made a better hand than you on the flop, and so you should always be aware of the fact that you may no longer hold the best hand. But in spite of this, you will normally still be ahead and so you should continue to build the pot unless you have reason to believe otherwise.

When playing hands like KK and QQ, you should again be looking to bet and raise before the flop. It is very rare to come up against a better hand before the flop when holding either of these hands, so be happy to be betting and raising to reduce the number of players that will be joining you to see a flop. Many players say that you should never fold KK before the flop because by doing so you are losing money in the long run, and I have to say that I agree. You especially want to be limiting the number of players that you are up against with either of these hands because of the fact that opponents can easily make a better hand than you be hitting an overcard like an Aces to make a bigger pair.

Now on the flop you will be in one of two situations; you will either be facing overcards or you won’t. If there are no overcards on the flop, you should continue to play the hand like you would do if you were holding aces, as both situations are quite similar. However, playing a big pocket pair when there are overcards on the board can be a little tricky. A good way to play is to bet like you feel you still have the best hand, and then evaluate where you stand after your opponent responds. It is unlikely that you will be winning a big pot any more in this situation, and if the pot does get big it is likely that you will be on the losing end. So be prepared to let the hand go if you come up against a lot of action.

On the final few streets with big pairs you should continue to build the pot unless you are quite sure that you are no longer ahead. If you haven’t improved by the turn or the river, you should remember that you still only hold 1 pair, which is by no means a monster hand. It is important to never get ‘married to the hand’ when you have a big pair, as they are by no means invincible. Always consider the possibility that your opponent could have a better hand than you if they are also playing aggressively by betting and raising too. It is not easy to lay down a big pair, but you have to learn to do so when you genuinely believe that you no longer hold the winning hand.

To be a successful poker player you have to be able to exercise good bankroll management skills. If you are unable to manage your poker money correctly, you will never be able to become a long term winning poker player. Even if you were the best player in the world, it would be impossible to be able to make money from poker if you did not use good money management skills.

Bankroll management basically involves playing at a certain levels and buy-ins to help prevent yourself from going broke at the poker table. You have to set yourself limits to where you can play poker due to the variance found in every poker game. There are always going to be times where you have runs of bad luck that you cannot control, and you will lose money due to the bad runs of cards, and not necessarily due to any bad play. Therefore there is no use in putting all of your poker money on one table, because there is a good chance that you will lose it all and not be able to continue playing poker.

As a result, it is important that we have a large enough bankroll to absorb the effects of this variance so that we can continue to play poker even when we have very bad runs of cards. In addition, we don’t want to go over the top and play at micro levels with a huge bankroll because it is unlikely that we will go broke, and we want to give ourselves the opportunity to win a decent amount of money from our poker sessions. Therefore there are useful rules that you can follow to make sure that you give yourself the best opportunity to make money from poker without going broke.

In cash games, you should never put more than 5% of your bankroll onto the table at any time. So if you want to play in $1/$2 cash games and intend to buy in for the full amount, you should have a bankroll of at least $4000. This will then give you enough room to take a few bad beats and losing sessions, but still be able to continue playing poker without the fear of going broke. Another way of looking at the 5% rule is to remember that you should have 20 times the maximum buy in of the level you wish to play at in your bankroll. Most online poker rooms offer a wide range of limits, so it is perfectly possible to keep your bankroll under control, no matter how large or small it might be. Alternatively, if you are a tournament player, you should have around 40 buy-ins minimum for the level of tournaments you wish to play in.

It is important to remember however that bankroll management is only useful if you intend to play poker regularly, and that you are a winning player. If you only play poker casually then it is not as important to have a set bankroll, but to just be careful with your money instead. In addition, bankroll management will have no effect on your moneymaking endeavours if you are a losing poker player. However, bankroll management will slow down the time it takes for you to lose the money if you are used to playing at higher stakes.