Online Poker Revival

With the passage of legislation in Nevada on Friday February 22, 2013, online gambling, and online poker will soon be available to people from the United States. I believe that it will take some time for sites to be up, running, and offering poker, but that gives you some time to prepare.

If you intend to play online poker, you need to manage your finances now so that you can be ready to play when the time comes.

This means examining your entire budget to determine where you stand now, and need to stand at a date in the future.

This is not a complex process, but it will require discipline on your part.

Get in touch with me and we can discuss your strategy for the future.

Bankroll Management

 

BankrollBankroll management is one of the most important early lessons for a poker player who desires profitability.

If you are not managing your bankroll, you will not achieve success.

If you don’t know what a bankroll is, well, then you are really behind, but you are not out of luck.

What is a bankroll in poker? This is where you money to play comes from, and it must be separate from your living expenses.

Think about that statement.

IT MUST BE SEPARATE FROM YOUR LIVING EXPENSES.

This needs to be your first step as a poker player. By creating a separate account (technology in banking allows you to do this online, and in minutes) titled Poker Bankroll, you now have begun the process of bankroll management.

Step two is building your bankroll. Depending on who you are and the current size of your paycheck, this could mean a lot of different things. Someone who makes $2000 a month at work, can usually start with more than someone who makes $500 in the same month.

Regardless of where you begin your career, if you follow my bankroll management rules (and play good poker of course), you will make a healthy return on your investment.

For additional information and bankroll management advice, please contact me

The Bubble

You are on the bubble. How do you feel?

I am sure that your answer is dependent on the size of your stack at the moment, but how would you answer if all stacks were equal?

Does this spot in the tournament generally cause you anxiety? Are you simply trying to hang on?

Over time you will come to realize that success in poker relies on a subset of skills, each skill having a direct impact on your profitability.

Bubble play is one of these skills and it DOES influence your long-term returns.

There are a mix of factors that must be considered when on the bubble in a tournament including…

  1. stack size relative to opponents
  2. likelihood of bubbling based on stack sizes
  3. opponent’s positions
  4. blind vulnerability
  5. payouts
  6. and many other factors

By understanding how to play on the bubble you can make profitable decisions, and can undoubtedly become a better player, that cashes more frequently.

Don’t think bubble play is hurting your bankroll?

What if…

you play 10 tournaments a week at $5 (45 person tournament with 7 places paid).

The seventh place payout is paid 12.50, and by learning more about the bubble you bubble one less time per week, and finish on average in 6th position. You make $22.50 per week.

$22.50 x 52 = $1170/year

If you are like most poker players, you likely plan on playing poker throughout your life….. so consider this

Over a lifetime of poker play (we’ll say 20 years), that measly bubble you never even thought about has cost you $23,400.

Now imagine it at your stakes, calculate out one less bubble/10 tournaments and see how much it adds up to.

Isn’t it time you improved your game? Contact me for details.

You will lose

When you play poker regularly, whether it be live or online, you will have to learn to deal with losing.

You will lose for a variety of reasons, but you should limit those reasons and work to improve over time.

Dealing with how to lose is also important. What happens to you when you lose? Do you play another tournament? Do you join another cash game? How do you play after you have lost?

If you find that your play suffers after you lose, you may need to take a step back from the table after a hard loss.

Avoiding TILT should be high on your priority list. If you can eliminate tilt from your game, your long term profits will thank you.

Until the next time…. if you need to get in touch with me, you know how!

Thephilosoph

Math and Feel

Though poker has thousands of elements, two that are of critical importance are math and feel.

As a novice poker player feel is more or less what you are feeling at the moment. Thus, you are analyzing the moment. Ego is usually heavily involved at this point, as is your lack of ability to truly read another player.

Also as a novice, you don’t know the math. You know a few hands. You have watched some poker on TV. But you certainly don’t understand your odds holding a random set of cards against three opponents in a variety of situations.

To put this in perspective, your math and feel during the early stages of your career is very weak, and this makes you very vulnerable.

This is no way to approach a poker table, whether it is online, at a casino, or in your buddies basement, being vulnerable at the poker table is detrimental to both your wallet, and your mental status.

Improvement comes with time spent practicing and learning.

When you have put in the hours both at the table, and in the books, everything changes. You become a poker player that understands the situational math, and has a feel for the entire hand, the entire table.

What type of poker player do you want to be? The guy who has a chance every once in a while, or the guy who is usually at the final table.

I always wanted to be the latter, but it took years of practice to get here. I had to learn from my own play and my own mistakes, and from every book I have read.

These are the areas that make me useful to you. I know an awful lot more than the average player, and I am learning more everyday.

Have a question? Ask away, I am certain I can begin to improve your skill set.

 

The Poker Philosopher Launches

January 2, 2013 marks the launch of PokerPhilosopher.com. This is the launch date of the site, not of career.

This site has been designed to increase my ability to reach my clients, and to give them additional resources for their success.

If you don’t yet know who I am I have played most of my games under the following two names.

  1. PokerStars – Coach102084
  2. Lock Poker – thephilosoph

If you have played against me, you probably already know that I can help you become better, but if you have not, please inquire.