First you need to understand what a tight poker table is. Tight players are those who only play a few hands before the flop. When they play what they have they will usually raise since you can count that they have strong cards. They also rarely easily give up when they play what they have since they have waited for a while for a good hand.

Tight players still have different styles of play but it is safe to assume that when they play their cards, it is often based on solid values. Remember that you need some good cards on your hand if you want to call the raise of a tight player. Another safe assumption will be that they will bet out on different flops or hold back when they get a scare card.

Strategy

When playing against tight players you need to remember that you should know the risk when calling a raise from someone you read as a tight player but be willing to push for a raise yourself. Tight players will most likely re-raise you and push you off when they got monster cards but they also have a tendency to fold when they feel your strength.

It will be easier to read tight over loose players but it does not follow that you will rake in more chips when you play against them.

You also have to consider your position when playing at kind of tight tables. You need to look at how you are positioned from the dealer button and from the pre-flop raiser. Late position somehow gives you an advantage of stealing blinds against your opponents.

Also remember that sitting on the immediate left of a preflop raiser can give you some problems. Early position raises can make you vulnerable to the strong plays of the other opponents who have yet to make a move and since you are playing a tight table, your opponents will most like play it strong for their starting hands when they got good cards.

Duh, right?

Well, come on. I didn’t really know that there was any difference at first myself.

But there are all kinds of different chips: clay poker chips, metal poker chips, and plastic poker chips.

Clay chips are considered the best of the best. They are pretty hefty.

Metal chips also contain plastic. They weigh about the same as clay poker chips. They are considered to be incredibly durable.

It comes as no surprise that plastic poker chips are both insubstantial and significantly less expensive. They are ideal for more casual games, especially if you tend to lose a lot of chips.

In general, for three to four players, you need about two hundred chips for a solid poker game. For five to six players, four hundred will do. For seven to eight players, make it six hundred chips. Finally, for eight to ten or more players, you will need about eight hundred chips.

If you have found yourself in that boat of dealing with costly poker games, why not put yourself on a budget?  Finding the right budget for poker is a great way to ensure that you do not overspend and do not get into gambling habits that might be bad.

Poker is a game – while costly, that is fun and if you put yourself on a budget, you will have even more fun!

This is both good and bad – for poker can become an addiction and certainly video poker like this will definitely keep you addicted to the game.  The good news is that it will give you more chances to win.

These poker applications are actually really easy to use too, so that is something that you might want to check out!

There are donks and donkeys, which do not mean what they mean in day to day language. There are various disparaging terms, as well as praising ones.

If all you know of poker lingo comes from TV and movies, you need to reevaluate what you think you know, otherwise you might find yourself in a very tight spot.

Antes have become almost obsolete, for instance, in all but the most traditional poker games. They have been replaced by big blinds and small blinds.

There are board cards, or community cards, which you are never going to see in a stud game, and therein are yet more specialized terms — the draw, the pre flop, the flop, the turn, and the river.

You need to know about limit poker, shorthand poker, longhand poker, the outs, and the importance of position.

When you are just starting out – I can promise that you are going to make a heck of a lot of mistakes in poker.  Honestly, I do not think that anyone who just starts out does not make some of these common mistakes.  We are going to outline just a few of them, for all you beginners out there – make sure that you read this so you don’t repeat these particular mistakes.

First and foremost, most beginners play way too many hands.  It happens because most people as soon as they sit down, they want to play.  To be quite frank, that is not always what is going to happen, so make sure you understand that.  Next, you always play above your bankroll.  What that means is that most beginners actually play more money than they have.

These two mistakes can not only be costly but they are not going to make you a better poker player.  Keep that in mind.

When you think about it — T.J Cloutier what is the first thing that usually comes to mind?  With me – it is grandpa, however this guy is a shark on the poker table!  T.J Cloutier has been playing for quite a while and although he is married with six kids – he is certainly one of the best … best poker players in the world.

T.J Cloutier has actually ranked in several polls as not only one of the famous poker players, but as one of the most aggressive.  This guy is absolutely a legend in the poker world and I have to say that he is certainly scary when you go up against him!

So go on … do a little research if T.J Cloutier is going to be anywhere near your table and you will see that he is awesome!

For example, a lot of people select hands poorly.  Like playing too many hands – even if they are bad ones instead of folding; if you are on a losing streak, take it and run with it … quit for a while.

You always want to make sure that while you are staying with your head in the game that you are not going to get stuck in a rut, unable to get out.  That happens to, too many players and they end up losing quite a bit of money, which is not what poker should be all about.

There are some extremely intelligent people who take the math-aspect of poker to an extreme degree, applying advanced principles of game theory and Bayesian concepts to their game, but still other players of the older school of poker, players like Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Huck Seed, armed with superior honed instincts, psychological insight, and elementary understanding of odds and probabilities, consistently place at the top of the game.

Here is one of many examples where math will guide a poker decision. Say you are playing in an online poker tournament and have 2000 in chips, from the 1500 you started with 10 players are at the table. The blinds have risen to $100-$200, and there is a $25 ante. You are in the big blind and are dealt 2-6 off suit. This is a terrible hand! But in this example, you’ll be calling with it. Here’s why. Everyone except the small blind folds. This is rare, but it’ll happen. The small blind, having suffered a bad beat, only has 500 chips left. He raises all in.

Some players who aren’t aware of the math would fold, here, but that would be a huge mistake! Consider the money that’s in the pot — with $300 from the blinds, another $225 in antes, plus the $400 added by the all-in bet of the small blind, there is $925 in the pot!! And although you have a lowly 2-6, you need only call $300 more to try to earn more than TRIPLE on your money. Against the range of hands that the small blind could have, chances are you are no worse than a 2-and-a-half to one underdog but getting 3-to-1 on a call!! Even if the small blind has AK suited, or AQ or AJ suited, you’re no worse than 32% to win!!!! That makes a call mathematically necessary! All this in addition to the increase in tournament equity simply by eliminating another player and getting closer to the money.

Without the math, you’d never have known.

One of the first terms that you need to learn is ‘board cards’, now these are not cards that are bored, they are the cards in the middle of the table that are shared by everyone.  Another term that you should be familiar with is ‘blinds’, this is the forced bets that take the place of an ante.  The person to the left of the dealer is the one that must pay the small blind and the person after him must pay the big blind.

A longhand in the game of poker is a game with seven or more people and in the next blog,