Driving your car is similar to how you play the game of poker. It is a good practice to change gears when playing poker and later your game. Varying your style of play will help you adapt to the dynamics of the game.

Changing gears means you trying to be unpredictable by deviating from your usual kind of game. Remember that your poker strategy of the start of the game might work but as you go along, it may give you some trouble.

Shifting gears during a poker game does not mean going from being a super tight player to an ultra loose one the next second. You should vary your game depending on how the poker game is going. The other players and how things are going for you may require you from playing it loose to switcing to being tight.

There are several reasons why you should change gears in poker. The other players around the table will somehow figure out your poker strategy and game style and this will mean a big advantage for them.

If you go tight-aggressive all the way, there will come a point when your opponents can push you back and take your chips away. Vary your game so you will be unpredictable. Tight aggressive is a good gear to stay on but you need to change gears in a number of situations to keep the other players guessing.

Let us say you are holding an off suit A-J and is being three bet by an aggressive player pre-flop. What should you do? In case you are in a deep 100 big blind then you can consider calling it and pushing it all in when you get a pair or when you think you have a good fold equity. Put your opponent in a tough spot and check raise upon seeing the flop. The other player will be against a wall when he misses the flop or when he has marginal hands.

Let us say in another scenario you are in a 300BB. You again face a very aggressive opponent but I am pretty sure you will not be comfortable going at it when you just hit a pair. Even when you think he is not playing very well, the post flop might just push you against the edge and put your stack in a really bad shape. In a deep stacked game, an opponent can easily put pressure on you when you make a mistake with the other player having a lot of money still to check raise you when he thinks you made a donkey move.

When you are out of position, you should even have a tighter grip. On the other hand, play it really aggressive when you know you are in a good position.

Maneuverability is the name of the game when you are doing deep-stacked hold’em. And always, the player in position is highly favoured.  Try floating, flat calling or three betting when you are in position. Put those players who fold too much for example. Apply pressure and you will be getting most of their money at the end of the day.

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.

Twitter.

MySpace.

Endless others.

What do they all have in common?

They make us accessible to everyone.

They broadcast what we say and what we do.

And a lot of poker players are saying and doing something they should not without fully considering their privacy.

They are sharing their poker strategies on these social networking sites.

In so doing, they are giving ammunition to current and future competitors.

They are completely giving away their secrets and tricks without a second’s thought.

Consider what you are saying on your social networking sites.

Consider who is reading what you say.

Spread the word.

Before playing, there are questions you need to ask and things to consider. For example, if someone playing aggressive poker is at your table, it is a good idea to sit on his left. That way, you will be able to see any raises before, rather than after, you make your move.

If you know anyone at the table, think of what you know of their ticks and tells.

If you are distracted — thinking about an upcoming business meeting, calling your partner, going to the store — then now is not the time to play.

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!

Most poker tournaments have limits and if you are constantly playing ahead of your limit, you are going to lose a lot of money.  You always want to make sure that you are playing with an amount of money that you are comfortable with and not a penny more.

These tips and tricks were designed to assist you with winning – poker is not easy but it is definitely something that you can do!

The reason for this is because poker is a game about strategy and that takes a lot of concentration.  That is why drinking before you play poker is not the greatest idea, as that can definitely lower your concentration and your focus.

Focusing on the game is certainly something that you need to do in order to win – more tips and tricks in the next blog!

There is something that you can do though and that is educating yourself.  Reading a book on poker jargon is by far the best way to ensure that you not only get poker terms and conditions but that they sink right in your mind.

The very last thing that you want to do when you are playing poker is make a fool out of yourself at the table.