What separates minus player from positive?

Since 2006, there have been 29 Grand Slam men (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open). Roger Federer has won 11 tournaments, Rafael Nadal - 10, Novak Djokovic - 6, and only two - the other tennis players.

Since 2006, there have been seven major events of the World Series of Poker. Not only that, every New Year the winner was new, but neither player reached the final table more than once. Even Phil Ivey himself all this time got to finalki only once.

This is one of those things that fascinates in poker. After all, here on any given day can beat the best amateur players in the world, such as in tennis just does not happen. In poker, the luck factor is much more important than in any other sport, and that is why it is very difficult to say what is really the art of poker games - especially online.

We have all seen terrible bad players who at some point have won a lot of money. Therefore, from the easy to think that poker is a game of luck, but in fact it is not.

This article compiled by well-known trainer micro and low limit Paul «Verneer» Nazarevich will be devoted to how experienced and conscientious players win money in the long term, and how to become a so . And the first item will be how different representations of good and bad players on the results.

Different ways of “keeping score.”

It is difficult to say exactly why some players play well and others badly. In football, for example, if someone scores a goal, then his team gets a point. In poker, such “ochkom" is won stack. But there are nuances.

Method 1: The player who wins the bank gets a “point.”

Paul won the pot. On the other hand, when they both went all-in hand Sergei was better. But if we're keeping score on who won, Paul only got $ 10.

Method 2: The expectation.

The king’s queens pre-flop 82 % equity. This means that if Paul and Sergei will play these hands equally 100 times , Sergei will win $ 20, 82 times , and Paul - 18 times .

Understanding of equity is very important in poker. If we do not take into account equity, then it is impossible to tell which hand is better or worse, until it was put river.

For example, the flop JspadesTdiamonds6spades Sergei KspadesQspades, and Paul 2diamonds2hearts. Whose hand is better? Pavel a pair of deuces, and Sergei only king -high. From this perspective, Paul the best hand. But considering the turn and river cards, Sergei 72% equity when Paul than 28%.

That's why much more important to consider in terms of hand equity, rather than the current force.

Let's get back to the first example with kings against women. Way to keep score by multiplying the size of the equity of the bank called expectation.

Sergey wins $ 20 x 82% = $ 16.40

Paul wins $ 20 x 18% = $ 3.60

This is a more equitable distribution of “points ", but still not the best way.

Let's look at another example:

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Rules 8-Games

Once on the WSOP's 2006 tournament was held HORSE buy-in of $ 50,000, which gained huge popularity and became the most expensive in the history of the tournament series, the creators of online rooms PokerStars decided to improve mixed poker game and make it more entertaining and professional.

By the usual format H.O.R.S.E. were added three more games, namely 2-7 Lowball, Limit Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha, which had to add the format of the dynamics and diversity.

8 -games in the usual format can be called THORSEHA as an abbreviation of its constituent types of poker.

According to the rules of the room, changed every 10 rounds of hands are involved in the following format types of poker:

1) Limit 2-7 Triple Draw (Lowball)

2) Limit Holdem

3) Limit Omaha Hi / Lo

4) Limit Razz

5) Limit 7 Stud

6) Limit 7 Stud Hi / Lo

7) No-Limit Holdem

8) Pot-Limit Omaha

At PokerStars game in this format takes place at the tables of 6- max rounds and changed every six hands.

Bezsomneniya, presently format 8 -games can be considered the most difficult, but with the advent of this interesting form of poker, and there were serious professionals doing exactly that format, and receive a lot of money due to the large number of newcomers to the 8 -games, coming to play in that - something new and get away, without knowing some deep strategy games, for example lowball.

Tables 8 -games PokerStars players can always find both the lowest and at the highest stakes.

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Rules of 2-7 Triple Draw (Lowball)

And although the 2-7 Triple Draw is not a popular form of poker today, including games in the mixed format is 8-games on PokerStars makes new players learn the rules of this very original and interesting species.

As you can tell from the name, the goal - to collect the youngest hand, but immediately the question may arise: " Why 2-7?”

As in other forms of poker, players collect Lowball combination of five cards, but in our case, the combination 2-3-4-5-6 will be weaker than the corresponding combination of Deuce to Seven.

The reason is that in a lowball (or 2-7 Triple Draw) straight and flush play a negative role, that is, if you have collected a flush or straight, you have the weakest hand. Ace, just consider the high card, and its appearance in your hands rarely bring good luck.

Unlike Seven Card Stud and Razz, Lowball brings into play the blinds, respectively player left of the dealer makes the small blind and the next player in a clockwise direction - the big blind. The blinds depends on your limit.

Once the players have made blinds, the dealer deals clockwise five cards to each player. All cards are closed. When each player will receive their cards, starting the first level of trade. Starts the bidding player to the left of the big blind. After the end of the first round of betting begins exchange.

Exchange begins with the player sitting to the left of the button, it announces how many cards he would like to change, and then the selected dealer swaps those cards. So all the players are sharing round clockwise.

If a player asks to change all five cards, the dealer gives him only 4 cards, and the fifth will be put after all players have completed the exchange. This tradition may be waived in online poker as a fraud on the Internet possible, and such a condition would be afforded discomfort players. If the last player on the exchange decides to change all five cards, the dealer gives him four cards, then removes one card and the next player passes.

The same is repeated for the second round.

Distribution will be terminated if all players except one fold their cards, in which case the last remaining player receives the entire pot distribution.

If after the third exchange in the distribution of the remaining participants, then there is a showdown (showdown).

Once all players open their card combinations are compared. Combinations are counted starting with the highest card, ie Arm 5 -4-3 -K -2 is transferred to form R -5-4-3-2.

As you have read in this article, straight and flush playing against you, but this rule has an exception: as the ace is not considered the lowest card and plays the role of only the highest card , the combination of A- 5-4 -3- 2 is not straight .

Any resemblance to play against you , and if you have in hand 2-2-6-5-4 , then you lose even KQ- 3-2 -5, but win in the older couples , for example 3-3-5-4 -2 .

If the players have collected the same hand, the pot is split between them.

2-7 Triple Draw is similar to Razz in shaping the youngest hands, but it causes a lot of confusion as to lowball ace plays a different role, and straight and flush are negative for the player.

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What kind of Poker you Choose?

Certainly, many of you have already heard about the poker winnings and fabulous people seriously engaged in this game, but in many cases poorly understood what was going on, and treated this hobby with caution.

Well, we will try to relieve you of this bias and show that poker - is a game of knowledge and skills involved on mathematics and psychology. It benefits no one who is luckier, and the one who best benefits from their knowledge, skills, as well as observations of the table.

Poker teaches patience and concentration. And unlike what audiences are accustomed to seeing in movies or broadcasts with live poker tournaments , it's not an endless succession of collisions strong combinations that come one after another and the rich movie stars dressed in tuxedos, or young boys , dressed in hoods and dark Points . In fact, every major bank preceded by dozens and hundreds of small, seemingly meaningless hands - it is in them, and made ​​millions.

Poker - is the common name for a variety of card games in which players bet and consistently strive to make the best combination. This is a game with a common bank, consisting of players betting that goes to the winner who submits the best hand at showdown or make a bet that his opponents refused to fight.

Since players do not see any records of their opponents, nor the rest of the deck, saying that poker - is a game of incomplete information. Many parlor games are games of incomplete information, in contrast to, for example, chess, in which players see the location of all shapes opponent and build their strategies based solely on their own guesses about the future development of the situation on the board. In poker, you'll have to wonder about the hand and the opponent, and his intentions.

All types of poker can be divided into three large groups:

Flop games , that is, the community cards , which are laid out in the center of the table and can be used by any party to produce a five-card hand combination ( Texas Hold'em, Omaha );

Games without a flop, where no community cards and each player to produce a combination of uses only his cards, most of which is hidden from the eyes of opponents (5 - and 7- Card Stud, Razz);

Games with the exchange, where no community cards, but players can exchange any card from your hand to produce a combination of (a lowball, Badugi, Draw Poker).

In each of these groups may vary as the game according to the rules (in the strongest combination of different games can be a royal flush and unsuited and 75432), and the number of cards handed players. Another key difference is the structure of interest rates:

Playing without limitation rates (No Limit or No Limit poker) - any player can make an unlimited number of bets of any size;

Game with limited stakes (Limit or Limit poker) - allowed a limited number of well-defined size of bets;

Playing with the restriction on the size of the pot (Pot-limit or pot-limit poker) - A player can bet not exceeding the size of the pot.

Finally, the last category division of poker is the very structure of the game. In this context, poker tournament or may be the game for money.

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Skills of Successful Poker Player

To regularly win at poker, you need to have a large range of skills and they are not limited to the technical side of poker. Here are the most important "life” of the quality of any successful poker player. We built them in order of importance, but it is worth remembering that there are exceptions. Some players are quite successfully compensate for the lack of, say, discipline, self-confidence, unsinkable, and therefore continue to win.

Money Management:

If you cannot “count the money," do not understand what game you can afford, and what better to stay away, you cannot consistently benefit from their poker skills. Main reason that ruined many strong players - this game is too high stakes, which they cannot afford.

In poker, what often happens is that you just have no luck for quite a long time. And at such moments the worst decision is an attempt to make up for the more expensive tables - your game so bursting at the seams because of the uncertainty and endless setbacks, but imagine the consequences of attacks to more experienced players !

To avoid this, you need to remember this simple rule. Highlight poker certain amount of money (called bankroll), and always make sure that it had a number of buy-ins, ie entry fees in your current game, in which you feel comfortable and are not afraid to lose. If you think that there is not much money, and each bank for you is of great value, it should come down to cheaper tables to restore the shaken bankroll, as well as confidence in their game.

Failure to do so - a direct path to ruin. In a future article we will talk about the so-called bankroll management, which will help you stay afloat.

Another problem many new players is the inability to "read” money. If you decide to specialize in cash games of Texas Hold'em , you should not open a couple of tables in parallel Omaha or Stud , as well as your favorite evening event , from which you can still fly out in the first 15 minutes. Perhaps these games and bring you pleasure, but an extra 30-50 dollars funneling to such entertainment every day, it can destroy your entire income from the main game.

Discipline:

For stable player one of the most important skills - discipline. Ability to be in the right place at the right time - it's not just luck! If you do not go all night card, it does not mean that you should get involved in border distribution with bad hands just because you're bored. Emotion is easy to make a mistake that would devalue all your previous efforts. Attack should always look for a better card or a favorable situation at the table...

Most of the money in poker win is patient people who know that they have a good wine will go , if not a minute later , in one of the thousands of hands that they have yet to play .

A disciplined player will always be able to refrain from a situation where it was originally no benefits from drawing hands that can only create problems, as well as always odernet himself if he suddenly want to play the game more expensive than they can afford. He carefully considers the money and learn from their mistakes, not allowing emotions and momentary impulses get the better of cold calculation and the desire to win money.

Psychological stability:

At the poker table, it is important not to lose concentration under the influence of a poor sense of injustice prevailing distribution (" tilt "). You must be able to calm down or take a break as soon as emotions begin to take precedence and begin to dictate the rules.

In poker happen very long losing streaks, and there's nothing you can make even the best professionals - all a matter of probability theory and elementary mathematics. But ultimately, the best results are achieved by those players who are able to easily transfer failure to maintain psychological stability and better than others to minimize their losses in the difficult time for them.

Operability:

If you take poker seriously, and not as entertainment - is, above all, constant work on yourself. And regular game. Without this it is impossible to achieve the results themselves by themselves they will not come. Need to constantly learn, analyze clock distribution played and how you can spend more time at the poker tables, paying attention to every detail.

If you do not have sufficient capacity for work, you will not be able to maintain concentration in the most crucial moments , and you'll lose where , whether you are in good shape, would acquire , attacking previously noted by weakness in the game opponents.

Poker does not tolerate laziness and unwillingness to develop. Neither player has not sought in any way significant successes, mindlessly pressing buttons or shuffling chips in the hands or sitting out all day on the forums complaining about his bad luck.

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Why are so Important in Poker Effective Workout

Hello everyone. Continue to publish translations of useful tips for beginners and not only from Paul "Verneer" Nazarevich. At this time, it's time to learn how best to organize their training.

All the time that you allocate to poker can be divided into several components. And then how to allocate this time to you.

Pure grinding itself - when you play your standard number of tables on your limit without any plan, except the time limit.

Task pure grinding - when you start a session with a specific purpose (eg, "I have to focus on the three-bet - pots ") and may cut the number of operating tables.

Education - watching videos, reading articles, game analysis, posting hands on forums, discussion of the game with friends.

Training - honing a particular aspect of your game by simulating different situations in the context of this aspect.

While I was reading a book Dag Lemova «Practice Perfect», I thought about how little time most of the players training pays. This writes Dan Heath: “Exercise does not make you perfect, and make your permanent progress. And as Michael Jordan once said: “You can train rolls for eight hours a day, but if you do it wrong, the only thing you sharpen it the wrong technique.”

John Wooden , the greatest coach of the 20th century by ESPN different from other coaches that paid a lot more time training and honing skills in specific aspects of the game than the game itself. And he did it as long as his students did not achieve automaticity. Thanks to this procedure, they constantly progressed and achieved unprecedented success in ten baseball championships in 11 years.

So how do you sharpen your poker skills?

Let's take, for example, such a situation: continuation bet reyzhennom bank against an opponent in a position for you. With this face all and quite often.

Assume that this 6 - max, you raise from middle position and the player with Article 23 /16 and three-bet 5 % for 250 + hands calls you on the button. Both blinds fold. Our opponent 50% fold to cbet. Until now, he played very tags.

Go ahead and download this template, which you will use for the following work:

1) In the line "script" write "raise with MR, was called by an opponent 22/15/5 on the button. His fold to cbet - 50% 250 + hands.

2) Record may look like your image in the eyes of the opponent. HUD says that about your pre-flop and           post-flop-range trends.

3) Then write down all of the hands, which may be in his range.

4) In the line "your hand" record that hand that you will have in these situations. Start with KdQs.

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Simple things that are forgotten

Correct understanding of bankroll management:

The first thing to understand as early as possible: in poker happen good days, when you win, and bad days when you lose. No, it's not your personal curse. Lost pursue all: professionals and beginners. That is why anyone regularly play poker player needs a bankroll that is money that are allocated specifically for the game and will not be spent for other purposes.

Even if you lose part of your bankroll - do not despair. It is likely that you are in a losing streak, but that's no reason to throw the game. For failures always come days when you are lucky. Players call these periods “streak." They are constant companions in the game, and the most common culprit probabilities. But this is not a reason to lose your head, trying to make up for the failure. After all cards are the same, and if you know, for example, that cast their bad hands are better than your opponents (often it is enough to just fold them and not get involved in the distribution of the border), then at some point the money out of their pockets perekochuyut in you.

Carefully about your bankroll and observe two simple rules:

Never try to recoup at higher rates for the current losses. This taboo that should never be broken. For example, on PokerStars, there is even a special functionality to lock yourself access to higher limits.

Do not try to get even, when it lose 5-6 buy-ins, in this state you cannot make the right decisions. Exit the game and analyze your hand off the table. Remember that to lose in poker is not scary. Scared of losing control.

Always place the self above all else, and even then the big loss will not interfere in your way. Even the most mediocre players eventually rose to the highest limits, just follow these simple rules. And many professionals lost all their money, engaging in games that were much more expensive than let their bankroll.

Mentality:

Poker - this is primarily a card game, so it’s always a place luck. The case can wrap even the most sophisticated and mathematically adjusted to draw a real disaster.

During the game, you do not just run into situations where your opponents will save lucky river card, despite their inept actions on earlier streets. At such times it will seem that you are playing it wrong.

Many novice players (and not just beginners) are too attached to the results of individual hands and tend to judge the correctness of their actions on the basis of one or two drawings that is fundamentally wrong approach to the game. In poker, you should focus not on the outcome of a particular distribution, but only on the correctness of their actions and profitability in the long term (at a distance). Luck plays too large a role in one hand, but after thousands of hands played on the result it begins to affect your strategy. No need to adjust their actions under the "mood of luck.”

For each hand must stand clear plan of action, but not hope for good luck or flop - this is the mentality of a successful player. Therefore, if you do not know how you will play its cards if the flop does not fit or a draw will be very difficult , simply reset the card in a pass as soon as possible . This is a sure way to save a lot of money.

And the last. Never be surprised that you, or a combination of strong opponents gathered - Street or quads - as someone twice stopped pocket aces. Every minute, people around the world play thousands of hands, and therefore the probability of occurrence of any event actually grown significantly.

Try indifferent to the random component of poker, because it is from you does not depend, but can significantly affect the emotional state and get to make mistakes. If you feel that something at the table begins to annoy you, or cannot let go of the insulting hand - close all the tables and take a break, do not let emotions control your game!

Wage Rates:

Important skill in poker is to determine the correct size of the rate for each situation. The vast majority of players are constantly mistaken in this seemingly simple techniques. That's why they win less than might as well lose more. Consider a very simple way to avoid such problems.

The first thing to remember: any bid must be made based on the size of the bank and not on the basis of representations of hand strength or amount already invested in the distribution of money. There are several reasons:

It is necessary to mask the arm strength in the eyes of your opponent. If put differently with different hands, opponents will "read" you like an open book. Therefore small bets with marginal hands will never be a good solution.

Need not give opponents a good price on a profitable call with unprepared hands (draw) - here small rates can work against you.

With strong hands need to inflate the bank. On the bluffs also need to put much, otherwise bid will not frighten opponents, and he did not throw off his hand.

Until you are familiar with the intricacies, the best guide will be the following rules:

If you bet on the flop, turn or river, it should be 2/ 3 or 3/4 the size of the pot. For example, if the pot on the flop are already $ 10, you need to put $ 6.5 - $ 7.

If you are going to raise (or re-raise) on the flop, turn or river, it should be 3-3.5 size bet (or raise) the opponent.

This rule applies to any situation on the flop, turn or river.

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