Online poker Strategies

Most people still play poker to basically have fun and when that happens thoughts of detailed strategy tend to go out the window. To start learning about poker strategy however, you need to understand the four basic types of poker. Those four types are listed below with a brief introduction to each one given.

Weak and Loose

Poker players that are weak and loose are perhaps the worst poker players in the world. A weak player is one that does not take the initiative very often on betting, preferring instead to call with marginal hands all the way down to the river in the hopes of getting lucky. Players that are loose are players that do not discriminate very well when it comes to starting hand selection and will often enter a pot with absolute crap like J-3, 2-4 and 4-9. These are the two worst aspects of strategic poker play and for that reason a player that is both weak and loose is a player that can do nothing but lose in the long run.

Weak and Tight

Players that are weak and tight are marginally better than players that are weak and loose. Tight players will play good hands and for that reason will often end up entering the pot with very strong starting hands. However, when they are in the pot, the player will then play those hands weakly, only calling when they should be raising unless they have the absolute nuts in a particular hand at a particular point. Players that are weak and tight are known as rocks generally and while this strategy can make you marginally profitable at the lower limits, it will result in your eventual demise if you play any higher than that. For many poker players, being weak and tight is a station along the path to becoming a complete poker player.

Strong and Loose

Players that are strong and loose do not discriminate very well in their starting hand selection and in addition to that will also be extremely aggressive in betting, often bluffing and raising with absolute crap to back up their raises. They are often known as maniacs and as far as poker strategy goes, strong and loose is a better strategy than weak and tight because a strong and loose player will win many bluffed pots from a weak and tight one.

Strong and Tight

Strong and tight is the pinnacle of Poker Strategy and it is the poker strategy that the vast majority of professional poker players use. They tend to only enter pots with good hands or hands that have a lot of potential and when they are in pots they tend to play those pots aggressively. If you want to be a good poker player, your ultimate goal should be to emulate this type of Poker Strategy as best as you can.

POKER STRATEGIES

Cracking the poker code

Ideal computer rig for poker online..

If you are looking to play Online Poker for money or for fun over the Internet, then it is imperative that you have an appropriate internet configuration and computer to support this hobby. Poker is no easy to play and learn, and no beginner or advanced player needs the added burden of having to worry about their computer system configuration not being fast enough to play. A poker player needs to spend his time concentrating on Poker, and not on whether his computer and internet connection is powerful enough or not. Given the above, here is a highly recommended configuration that online poker players can rely on:

• Your computer should have a minimum of 1GB (gigabyte) of memory (also know as RAM, or Random Access Memory), but ideally could have 2 GB (gigabytes) or more. Extra memory is unquestionably the biggest factor when it comes to applications (local or internet-based) running expediently on your computer. The general rule is the more memory you have, the better.
• Given the inexpensive cost of today's computer technology, your computer should runs at a clock speed of at least 1.7 Ghz (that's Gigahertz, not Megahertz).
• We recommend dual (2) monitors for your computer. Almost all of today's computer video cards, support more than 1 monitor. Dual monitors will give you the capability of displaying all of your poker windows at once on your screen real estate, and will eliminate the need to manually switch between all of your windows in a 1-screen environment. Moreover, more screen real estate allows ancillary windows to be displayed, that support Poker help-tools, such as spreadsheets, odds charts, or Poker Calculators.
• Your computer should have a minimum of 100 GB (gigabytes) of hard drive (or disk) space. Hard drives allow you to save data and programs on your computer, from one user session to the next. 100 GB should be more than adequate to store your Operating System files (whatever flavor of Windows that you are running), a sizable number of Poker programs, and all other data that you require to store on your computer.
• Internet connection-wise, we recommend significantly more than most experts will recommend. We recommend that you have dual-internet connections, which means that you have 2 internet services, each from a different Internet Service Provider (ISP). However, at any given time, they do not need to both be active. The rationale for dual internet connections is obvious - if you are in the middle of a Poker game where you have money at risk, and your internet connection goes down, you will be liable for any money that is at risk in your current game, even if the internet disconnection was not your fault. In this failure scenario, if you have a 2nd ISP, you could quickly connect to the Internet via this 2nd ISP, re-establish your session with your Poker vendor in the Poker site allotted timeframe, and continue onward with your current game. Typically, most reputable Poker vendors provide you with a 60-second grace period to reconnect to your active session, upon a disconnect. In regard to the 2 aforementioned Internet connections, we recommend that your primary ISP be broadband-based (i.e., cable modem, DSL, dedicated T1 line, etc.). These high-speed connections are relatively inexpensive in today's marketplace, and provide optimal speed for sending and receiving data to/from your Poker vendor (in other words, they are much, much faster than traditional modem-based dial-up lines). For your 2nd (or redundant, so to speak) ISP connection, we recommend a cheap dial-up service (preferably 56K service - lower if you area doesn't support this 56K dial-up speed over your telephone line). Often, your local library will provide free dialup service, which may satisfy this requirement. A broadband Internet connection requires a dedicated modem which typically is provided by your ISP vendor, and connects to a broadband point coming into your house and to your computer. A dial-up Internet connection require either an external or internal modem, which connects to your telephone line.
• Although some Poker vendors still support Windows 95 and Windows 98, we recommend that you minimally have the Windows 2000 Professional Operating System installed on your computer, and preferably have a version of Windows XP or Windows Vista installed on your computer.
• Ensure that your computer has speakers, so that you can hear easily audible signals that your Poker vendor game provides during gameplay.
• Make sure your computer has a mouse, so that you can easily navigate your Poker application. We highly recommend a wireless mouse, if at all possible. This usually requires an accompanying USB-based accompanying recognition card.
• Make sure your computer is connected to a printer, so that you can easily print out Poker records of hand history or game statistics. A solid ink-jet printer will cost you less than $ 75 U.S.
• A final critical component that we highly recommend is a UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) that connects between your homes' electrical source outlet and your home computer. A UPS is a fancy acronym for a Battery Backup System, which typically provides 30-60 minutes of backup power, should the electricity in your home go out. Similar to the internet disconnection scenario described above, an active UPS can save you from disconnecting from an active Poker session that you are in, where money is at risk. This is certainly worth the price of admission. A UPS allows you to continue to play in your current game, as long as your ISP is not effected (cable modem broadband providers, for example, don't tie directly into a homes' electrical current). For obvious reasons, a UPS can be viewed as an essential part of your computer Poker arsenal, and should not be dismissed.

Online poker tips 1 (chat box errors)

I am not one to chat much when playing online poker tournaments. I do however go out of my way to say hi if somebody makes an effort and recognizes my player ID. Overall though, you will never hurt your game or your chances by never uttering a word in the chat box.

Chatters tend to get distracted, emotionally involved, and open themselves up to ridicule and arguments with others who are willing to participate. What you should be using the chat box for is monitoring your opponents, not engaging them. By not participating in chat you accomplish many positive things. Not the least of which will be that you will always have your opponents guessing no matter how hard they try. Silence will also keep you focused on your game, while others waste time trying to divulge information from you.

Even the best of players with subdued temperaments can be tempted to get involved in conversations that will likely become aggravated exchanges. You have to admit yourself that most conversations just turned ugly when it comes to online poker. Most players that participate in these types of exchanges are angry, jealous, and heading for tilted landscapes. You're just not going to feel any better arguing with them, even if you are right. And what would that help anyway? By arguing something that is so right in poker, are you not just giving free training to your weaker opponents?

Negative words can affect your play, no matter what type of idiot in its shooting them do you in the chat box. But they will only affect your play if you get involved. By choosing to not respond to chat, you are more likely to send your opponent to the rail by encouraging his poor play, and holding your head above the fray. If you engage in vicious online chat with these players, you may actually be giving them some advantage over you, while distracting you from your own game.

Chat box silence, you may find will be a very calm in fact upon you are decisions during the game. Next time you play tournament, try restricting your total comments to "gg" after your last hand of the game, whether you win or lose.