Archive | June, 2010

Pot Odds Calculator

With so many resources about poker available online, making good use of them can surely improve your profitability. One of the best online tools when it comes to playing poker is pot odds calculator. Pot odds calculator is a calculator designed to help you see if a risk is worth taking when you play poker. Interesting, right? That is why we are going to discuss about pot odds calculator in this article.

Before we get started and learn the principles of pot odds calculator, we need to know how to count outs first. Outs are the cards that can help you construct a strong, winning, hand. If you are holding a possible Flush draw – with 4 cards already in hand – you can generally know that you have 9 outs (the remaining 9 cards of the same suit). If you are holding a pair as well, then you can take the possibility of constructing Three of a Kind into consideration and add two more outs for a total of 11.

Once you’ve count your outs, look into the amount of money you need to bet in order to stay in the game as well as the total amount of pot money at stake. Say you are holding a Flush draw, your opponent raise the bet to $20 and the pot is now $100. Two other opponents call, one fold, and you are the only one left to make a move. Using the pot odds calculator, you can quickly input all these parameters and find out that calling the $20 bet is a good move to make scientifically.

Poker Playing Style: Loose Players

Poker Playing Style: Loose Players

Developing a certain poker playing style is very important if you are playing poker regularly. Depending on your characteristics and your poker bankroll, you may approach poker differently. I personally play poker on a regular basis and I’m considered a loose poker player. Why? Let’s take a look, shall we?

A poker player is called loose if he or she plays poker without showing any sign of strict strategy being used. Most of loose poker player, including myself, simply play every starting hand until the stake is too high to continue. I once played a starting hand of 7-2 and managed to squeeze around $1,000 of pot money thanks to 7-K-2 flop and an additional 7 on the river.

Being a loose poker player does have benefits. Certain strategies, such as trapping, works best when you are playing loosely all the time. Your opponents will think that you have nothing compared to the hand they are holding and will walk into your trap with a big smile on their faces. Once you reveal your hand, they will surely be shocked and you will walk away with a lot of pot money.

If you don’t have proper experience in playing poker, or if you have limited poker bankroll, adopting this type of playing style may not be a wise move to make. Being a loose poker player might costs you a lot of money – although it is still very rewarding and can be the key to winning a lot of money as well – and you need to understand the risks before you adopt this playing style.