Friday Night Poker

What better way to get to know your friends than a casual game of poker... usually the risk is rather slim and you do get your shot at a little spending cash..

Against friends:

Competition, in all social structures, is healthy and natural; it aids in bringing a bond, often a sense of loyalty, and if you destroy a poker table you certainly gain the respect of all the players and what more could you ask for?

Against Co-workers:

Well.. a serious win brings about some niceties, such as the notice of a boss, or an invite to a harder game.. and a loss....

Some Strategies:

So you've got a wonderful advantage if your playing against people you already know, even if you've never played poker against them: their personality will say alot about how their going to play poker. Here are some common personalities/traits and their link with playing style: The Nice Guy, The Mathematician, The Jerk, The Anxious Player, The Artist, and The Quite Girl..

The Nice Guy:

Essentially he's a call station, and when he bets a big hand, he won't usually bet it that hard, at a table full of good players, his chips will slowly dwendle away, some keys: don't bluff him, a good starting hand is probably better than what he started with (however, this also means if the board is dropping rags, he's quite likely to be making a hand), and lastly if he pulls something out of the ordinary, like an all-in, he's probably got you beat.

The Mathematician:

Watch out! This player is usually superb on all levels except one... if you know pot odds you can quite successfully bluff him, a rather good player, he often wins because he is actually playing correctly most of the time.

The Jerk:

A very aggressive player, his main downfall... he bluffs too much, the best way to take him down is to wait for a good hand and equal his aggression.

The Anxious Player:

Rarely is a player more likely to profit than from an anxious player, if a player is in a hurry, their judgement is greatly affected, they will often play crap hands for too much, especially if the player has to leave after the current hand, even a borderline hand can often take them down.

The Artist:

Artist's must have passion to survive, they also learn patience out of neccessity.. an artist can't make a painting sell faster by will alone, and unless they're selling art, they're not making money.. Poker, well at least winning at poker, similiarly, is an art. As such, an artist is well fitting to play poker, if they've been playing very long at all they are very dangerous, and you're going to have to use your best moves when you think you've got them beat and you're going to have to give up a pot if you think otherwise, let's face it a third of your chips is always less than all of your chips.

The Quite Girl

This girl is one of the better players, you know how it goes, "you can't listen when you're always talking," and since she isn't talking... She's probably watching every move you make, beware against her, and don't try to push her around, her weakness... she will rarely bluff.... or is that a weakness?

Online Poker

Online Poker can be quite accurately described in one word: chaotic. When the world is moving to media to perform all tasks, personality is quite lacking. Once thought the ultimate learning grounds for poker, I'm afraid it is quite generally the opposite. While it is a wonderful opportunity to learn the basics of playing without risking any money, it is also a wonderful place to be taught horrible play by people who seem to have no idea of what they are doing. That said, let us look a little more in depth at the bad, and the good of Online Poker.

The Bad:

Let's face it, anytime you combine popularity with ease of access and a lack of risk, you have everybody and their grandmother jumping on the train. This creates some serious problems for anyone serious about becoming a better poker player. First of all, when your the only one at the table who is there for any reason more than to waste time, you find yourself playing against some of the most unpredictable players. You often find people going all in with nothing, no pair, no high cards, no draws, nothing, just hoping that they'll get lucky and double up because they are such crap players, and since they have nothing invested but their time, they'll pull this over and over, and until you move into the higher levels play.

The Good:

Now for the benefits of Online Poker.... It is an awesome method to learn the basics: rules, straegies, general poker lingo. Another added benefit is of course, the wonderful sign-up bonuses. But unfortunately this is the extent to which Online Poker is valuable.

So, if your a beginner, try out some online poker games, if your intermediate, move on to some good home games, and if your a pro.. ; ]