How Can Fake Money Help You be a Better Player?
There are play money games, in which people “fake play” but use real money. However, there are also fake money games, wherein the players use — you guessed it — fake money, but play real game. Why? Well, people believe that the primary reason both of these types of game exist is simply to be entertaining. That is certainly true, but playing with play money has some ulterior motives as well, ones which can be extremely beneficial.
You see, these games can make you a better poker player. You have nothing to lose, isn’t that right? And since there is no money at stake, you are perfectly tree to find yourself as a player. You can bluff, you can try crazy risks and reckless strategies, all to see what you can — and cannot — pull off believably. You can try out new tactics and really forge your identity as a poker player without fear of going broke.
What to Do with Pocket Aces
Ah, pocket rockets. It is one of the greatest starting hands you can get in a game of poker. However, you cannot get cocky and assume that lucking out with two aces during the pre flop will guarantee you a win. There is some strategy to playing this enviable hand.
See, it can be torture to fold a hand like this; your first instinct will be to play and play hard. Follow the first one, but go easy on the second one.
A raise here is a must. Raise big, in fact, because you may be able to intimidate your opponents enough so that some of them will fold.
Once the flop goes down, however, you need to start calculating your odds. You also have to analyze how your opponents play.
Only raise or call if your chances of winning are good. Otherwise, although it may hurt, you need to fold.
Learn to take a Bad Beat
When playing poker, getting smacked in the face with the deck happens in both ways. Some sessions, you'll hit your gutshots on the turn - and other sessions, people will run over your Aces with the 56s like they're destined. Dealing with this type of situations is one of the biggest differences between online poker and real 'gambling' like online bingo or roulette. The misconception of control in poker hurts when looked at on a hand-to-hand basis. Obviously, control is relatively attainable in the long run, but it's hard to focus on the long run when you get beat hand after hand in any given session.
Here's a prime example from Youtube of a guy who obviously feels like the deck hates him more than it hates others...
My only tip, be prepared, whenever you play poker, to get these beats - try not to tilt too badly, and you'll do just fine!
