Winter Weather and Live Poker

With spring just around the corner, live poker rooms and casinos are waiting for the players that have been holed up at home to come out and play.  The players have had a belly full of the bad weather and being stuck playing in front of a computer are getting restless and ready to play in a live game.  The difference in a live game and one on a poker screen are like honey is to vinegar.  There is no comparison for players that like the feel of a real table and reading players that is part of poker in a live game.  The winter months have kept them stuck playing in the virtual world where there is no sound or smell or anything remotely like the game over a felt table.

Each year as the snow melts these computer poker players come out to see if the real game of poker still exists in a real poker room or a real casino.  As they soon learn, the real game is alive and well.  The poker room managers have been waiting for winter to unleash their missing players that were captives of the computer world.  [Read][more...]

Holdem tournaments vs Ring Holdem

What is the major difference between a ring or cash game and a tournament in the game of Holdem?  The games are technically played the same and the card values are the same, so what is different in the games.  The one difference is the player can rebuy as long as they want and never be forced out of the game even if all the chips in the present stack are lost.  When the stack is lost in a tournament, the player is knocked out of the game permanently.  The fear of being knocked out of the game can be a determining factor on whether a player will call or raise or not.

Online you see a great many all in bets as the game is played with a great deal of pressure.  In live tournaments the online players play the same and the old timers took a while to get use to the pressure these young online players brought to the game.  They still do not fold if they think they have the winner, no matter what is bet.  However the fear of getting knocked from the tournament is an ally in the betting sequence.  [Read][more...]