Have you ever been at a house party as someone has criticised you for starting a game of poker? They often cite phrases like, “how unsociable can you lot be?”

If this common problem has reared its head for you then the concerns were likely raised by someone who does not understand poker. People who understand poker realise that one of the alluring features about the game is the ability to connect to other like-minded people. In fact, poker is one of the most sociable pastimes available when it comes to sports and games. Those looking at betfairpoker.com should remember this.

Due to the highly sociable nature of the game of poker you will notice that each game has a certain clique. This will happen in most of your local casinos and certainly in any home game that you will be invited to. Cliques even develop rapidly in cash games in events as open as the World Series of Poker (WSOP) as players form relationships very quickly. People searching for a Betfair Free Poker Bonus need to bear this in mind.

It is important for you to get into the flow of the game as soon as you can. Put another way, you need to force your way into the clique. Playing poker as an outsider is much tougher to pull of a profit than playing as part of the clique. If you’re outside of the group then you are more likely to form more enemies than if you are part of the clique. The more enemies you have, the more difficult your task is going to be to win.

So when you join a poker game make it your number one priority to get into the clique, after all – familiarity breeds success!

One of the most vulnerable times during a session of poker is at the end. You have just put the whistle in your mouth and have sucked the air in through your nostrils when something expected happens. You consider how you are performing and instead of rating yourself on the number of correct or incorrect decisions you have made, you look at the money. If you are winning then the final whistle cannot come soon enough, losing sometimes has the same effect but a lot of the time you will wander quite happily into injury time, but what about if you are breaking even?

Some players have a real problem with breaking even in all poker variants. So much so that at the end of a session players will prolong it just so they can finish in the black. This is a psychological mistake and this form of thinking could lead to a series of incorrect decisions, which ultimately leads to losses. The more you lose the harder you try to get it back and…the more you lose. Fans of Betfair poker tournaments should bear this in mind.

In poker, breaking even happens. In fact if you ply your trade online and have a good rakeback deal then breaking even is profitable. Try understanding that finishing a session of poker with the same amount of money you started with is a positive thing. For one you have gained a lot of experience and secondly you have not lost any money! Once you learn to understand that breaking even exists and that you embrace it, you won’t try forcing spots that are unprofitable for you just for the sake of recording a winning session.

Sometimes neither winning nor losing is a positive outcome in a game of poker.

Even the most timid of personalities is going to have to get aggressive at some time during a poker game. The archetypical word used to describe aggression in the game of poker is raise!

If you are going to raise during the pre flop stage of play, then what size should you make your bet? The first piece of advice would be to remember that poker is a game played by people. Mind versus mind. With this knowledge playing robotically will not pay off. So having a one size fits all raise size seems counter productive and instead your raise size should depend on the types of players you are facing, and the position you are in at the table. In other words think before you raise. People playing betfair poker online should remember this.

Here are a few things to think about when determining your raise size. Do you have a player who has shown a tendency to call all of your raises but then fold to your c-bet on the flop? Against this type of player we would advocate raising a large amount pre flop. This allows you to get more dead money in the pot that you can win relatively unchallenged post flop. Fans of Betfair Poker Live should keep an eye on this.

If you are playing against a short stacker and you know he is playing push or fold poker then you can make your raise sizes very small. A short stacker won’t take any notice of your raise size because the player is only interested in doubling up.

Just a few examples to help you realise that making your pre flop raise sizes is anything but a standard process.

In poker there are different slang terms given to the texture of the flop. Flops that are heavily connected are known as wet, flops that are not heavily connected are known as dry, flops that are all different suits are known as rainbow and flops that are the same suit are known as monotone. Anyone who has made a poker download should remember this.

In this article we are going to explore monotone boards and how to view a raise. In general a raise on a monotone board indicates great strength. This should always be your first line of thought (unless you have a separate read to the contrary). One of the reasons you need to start believing the raiser on a monotone board comes from the understanding of the type of hand your opponents will be calling a raise with pre flop. Most regular poker players know the importance of post flop equity meaning that most peoples calling ranges are heavily weighted towards suited cards and pocket pairs.

Let’s look at an example of a monotone flop – Kh6h4h – poker players like to call raises, it is their first automatic response. We will often convince ourselves, that in this spot, our opponent is raising with the bare ace of hearts; but ask yourself, what bare ace of hearts would be calling a pre flop raise? You also have to understand that the pre flop raiser is very likely to hold a hand that has good equity on a flop like this, making it a much harder spot for your opponent to bluff.

So in short when you receive a raise on a monotone board believe the story you are being told.

Tournament poker play is much different to cash games in that you always need to keep an eye on your stack in relation to the leader, otherwise you risk dropping out of the game or leave yourself a mountain to climb to win the competition.

Once you fall down to a short stack you must realise that you have to act soon by pushing all your chips into the middle hoping to at least double up your amount. If you don’t make such a bold move you will slowly drift out of the tournament without putting up a fight or giving yourself a chance of getting back into it. Those using Online Poker promotions should remember this.

Although being chip leader does bring about many advantages in the early stages of the game, it counts for nothing unless you are the last player standing when it comes to crunch stages of the event. Therefore don’t be too concerned if you are not top of the pack in the early and middle parts of the game.

The reason why short stack is such a concern as you progress through a tournament is that the blinds will gradually increase, and as a result it will become very expensive for you to afford the big blind. This is also true in Betfair Poker freerolls.

Furthermore, the more time you spend on a small stack, the greater the chance you will be the target of bullies who occupy a comfortable position at the top end of the leader board. They will be eager to eliminate you from the game and will look to put you under pressure by betting big at moments where it would be difficult to make the call.

One of the biggest strengths in a poker player’s game is the ability to turn a weakness from an opponent into your advantage to push the odds in your favour.

Poker can be a ruthless game in that there is no sympathy for anyone around the table, if you don’t appear confident in your game, you will be highlighted as a target and it will work against you. Those who play poker cash games will know this.

The best way to take advantage of players who aren’t confident in their game is to be aggressive.  It is likely that they will doubt their ability and worry about the value of their hand. Making a large bet in one of the betting rounds could force them to fold, even when they have the best hand at the table. It is fine example of how poker is not always about having the best cards, but being able to assert confidence through the art of betting. When learning how to play poker this is something you have to bear in mind.

If you do get the chance to get off to a good start in your game, you may now have the licence to look to bully players a lot more. The solid start will have given you an early chip advantage and a platform to take risks.

Do be weary of your position around the table when you look to place pressure on an opponent through aggression. If you are on the button you are in the commanding seat to assess what has happened before you and it will allow you to make your move if no big bets have been placed to your left. On the other hand, if you are one of the first players to act, you could be walking into trouble if someone has the nets behind you.

Sometimes poker and the playground have some striking similarities (literally). In the school playground it is often the more aggressive youngster that gets his or her own way and on the poker table the same is true. All of the truly great players have a lot in common but one common trait will be aggression. Those playing internet poker should remember this.

How do you play aggressive poker?

Playing aggressive poker is a lot more complicated than one might imagine. Betting and raising are acts of aggression but they do not cut the mustard in their own right. Any idiot can bet and raise (and many do) but that style alone is not a winning strategy. In order to have a good balanced aggressive game plan you need to select cards that give you post flop equity whilst keeping your eyes peeled for spots. Those using Betfair poker promotions should bear this in mind.

Let’s imagine for a second that you have opened up with Ad 5d on the button and the small blind has made the call. You know from your reads that this player is a very passive player who folds to a lot of pressure. The flop falls down 2c 6d 4h and your opponent checks to you. With a gutshot straight draw, backdoor flush draw and the overcard ace you can bet here. You do indeed bet and the small blind calls. The turn is the Qs and this is a great card for you to maintain your aggression and bet the turn. The introduction of the queen of spades gives you more outs (added equity) and it is more likely that the Queen will scare your opponent and he will give up a hand like 77 (fold equity).

You may find that poker is exhilarating and mind blowing. You are always involved in the thrills and spills of the game and you love every bit of it. If you feel this way about poker then there is a good chance that you are not applying the fundamental principles of the game properly and you may just be the games fish.

Poker is boring. Poker is slow. Poker can put you to sleep. If you are playing the game correctly then your responses are laid out like a movie script. Fold, call, bet, three-bet, fold, call, raise, etc. Each response will be met with another scripted counter response. The script has been prepared to make sure you know what you are doing and just like a movie star, if you stray away from the script you are going to end up getting lost. And that means you won’t be winning many hands of Texas Holdem poker.

If the game has become too risky exciting and adventurous then something has gone very wrong. You have strayed from the path and unless you want to get eaten like the American guy wearing the green jacket in American Werewolf in London then you had better find the right road and quick. When you play poker, you need to stick to the straight and narrow.

Just remember to remind yourself that when you are starting to get bored out of your mind, and the game has lurched into its predictably dreary state then you are on the right path.