PNW Home
Featured Story
Featured Sites
All Poker News
Poker Tourneys
Invest in Poker
Poker Store
Rules of Poker
Hand Rankings
Partners of PNW
Gaming Links
Webmasters
Advertise
Contact Us
Site Map

Poker Articles

Don’t Let This Be the Year of the Fish

Well the new year has been here for a little while now, and I’m willing to bet that a lot of you have already forgotten, abandoned, or are in denial of the resolutions you may have made at the stroke of midnight. Either that or you’re like me and are still holding true to the resolution you made back in 1998 – to stop making New Years resolutions. Whatever your excuse may be, why not take some time now to refocus on some of the goals you made, or should have made, concerning your life and your poker game. Well… mostly just those concerning your poker game.

The following are some simple suggestions for various types of players.

For the Poker Newbie:
If you’re just getting into the game of poker, you’ll want to spend a fair amount of time easing into it. There are plenty of resources available for beginning players, from books to online sites and forums, where you can quickly pick up the fundamental strategies involved in becoming a winning player. More importantly though, you’ll have to learn from experience and actually get your feet wet by playing real money games. Before you bet, raise, and call away though, make sure that your poker bankroll is separate from all other financial liabilities, and that losing all of it will not mean the end of days. Also remember to start at a relatively low limit, and play within that limit until you feel comfortable enough to move up. Patience is key in the beginning, and you’ll want to expect a significant learning curve as well as a whole lot of frustration. Of course if you don’t feel like following these suggestions, then by all means come have a seat at my table and toss your chips around.

For the Poker Junkie:
This advice can be applied to beginning players as well, so don’t stop reading just yet, newbies. Regardless of how long you’ve been playing, you may find yourself absorbed in anything and everything related to poker, as much of pop culture has recently become. Nowadays you can’t flip through the channels without seeing a poker show, you can’t surf the internet without seeing poker pop-ups, and you seemingly can’t set foot in any store without being confronted with large displays of poker chip sets. For the player that can’t stop daydreaming about pocket aces, it can be too much to handle at times. So if you find yourself investing a significant amount of time and money into the game, at the same time losing sight of other important things in your life, you may want to take a step back and reexamine your priorities. Poker, like anything really, can become addicting and should be practiced in moderation.

For the Player in a Rut:
Swings, both up and down, as well as runs of good and bad luck, are constants in the game of poker. If you’ve been on the negative side of a recent streak and are frustrated beyond the point of tilting, now may be the time to take a nice breather. Of course this doesn’t mean you have to stop playing poker completely. If you mainly play online, why not arrange a home game, perhaps just playing for fun with friends or family. If you primarily stick to cash tables, why not try a few sit-n-go’s or multi-table tournaments. If you always play no-limit, try fixed-limit. If you play Hold’em all the time, try Omaha or Stud. Mix it up a little, go back to the basics, re-tune your game, do whatever you feel like your game needs to give it that boost of confidence. You may even find something new that you’re really good at, or at least enjoy more than other game varieties.

And Finally, for the Fish who Just Sucked Out on Me with J-4 Suited:
What the #@%&!?!? What the hell is your freeking problem!?!? You call a 4xBig Blind raise out of position with J-4 suited??? And then call a pot-sized flop bet with nothing but your pair of 4’s and a backdoor flush draw, to which you say you “felt lucky” enough to hit!?!? Didn’t you know I had pocket Aces!? How could you not've known that you were only a 17.10% pre-flop favorite? Obviously you must be mathematically deficient!!! And stop typing “loooooool” in the chat box, fish!!! Didn’t you read my advice for the poker newbie at the top of this article!?!?

Best of luck at the tables.

Mad Terp

Editor's note: The Mad Terp, as we so fondly refer to him because of the university he attends, also has his own website where readers may rate their favorite poker site, or join in the discussion forum of poker players.

http://www.imopoker.com/