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Improve at Poker with Cardrunners

In the previous article, I taught you about GrinderSchool, a training site that puts out poker videos for beginner players trying out money poker sites. Now I will introduce Cardrunners, likely the most popular and admired training site on the internet today. The site was founded by Taylor Caby and Andrew Wiggins, and in 2008 they formed a partnership with the Full Tilt download. The site contains a great selection of online poker videos for almost any buy-in you want to learn about.

When you sign up for Cardrunners, you’ll be able to have a bit of free poker training, but you’ll need to put up some cash in order to check out the really worthwhile content. You might not like the fees if you still have a small bankroll because first you get charged $100 to sign up, and then you must pay $30 per month to keep accessing the site. People serious about winning on their Everest Poker download will discover that these fees are actually a bargain given what’s received in return. Right now there are over 1800 videos on their site for your viewing pleasure, and every week at least seven more are released.

Like we saw with GrinderSchool a couple weeks ago, Cardrunners specializes in cash games. They have an excellent variety of short-handed videos on top Texas Hold'em sites since it’s become the most popular form of poker, and their No Limit Holdem Full Ring selection has widened over the past couple of years. If you prefer Heads-Up or Limit games, you will also be pleased with the variety of videos you get to choose from.

For those that play mostly poker flash tournaments or Sit-N-Go’s, Cardrunners might not be the absolute best choice because their obvious focus is, without a doubt, ring games. That’s not to say they don’t have a lot of tournament videos because they have plenty, and they range from low to nosebleed stakes. If you play a mix of cash and tournaments, Cardrunners is a good site because they still have several videos for tournaments and SNGs to go with their excellent ring game choices.

If you’re into Omaha thanks to the PokerStars bonus code, Cardrunners puts out some of the most useful videos out of all the training sites out there. This is also the case for other types of poker like HORSE or Stud. You might be slightly disappointed with your choices if Omaha is your game of choice, but you’re not going to find better than Cardrunners for these games right now.

When you get some experience with free poker no downloads, Cardrunners is a top option if you don’t mind putting up money for some beneficial poker videos. It is definitely the number one option for cash game specialists, and if you become interested in tournaments, they will also help you out there. When it comes down to it, you can’t go wrong with putting your money into a Cardrunners membership.

Improve at Poker with GrinderSchool

You’ll recall that a number of weeks ago, I talked about some useful poker tools that should help you get better at the game on money poker sites. I suggested that you should make use of a hand converter, always adhere to bankroll management, and try to have a poker odds table at your desk. I also explained that you should watch a variety of free poker videos since they’re a great way to learn the game, and they are free poker training –  nothing comes out of your pocket. If you’ve already taken this advice and found a bunch of free videos, you might be wondering what to do next once you’ve exhausted the free video market on the internet. Most players will have earned a couple bucks at the tables by now, so you should be able to purchase some more advanced videos with your growing bankroll. To help you out, I’m going to start a series that will feature a number of the internet training sites that you have the option to sign up for if you’ve learned to love videos.

The first training site I’ll look at is GrinderSchool since its main audience is beginner players. The prices start at $10 per month, and you will have access to 600+ online poker videos made by people that have the profits to demonstrate they beat the games in US poker sites. They feature 7 videos per week, and while most of them show No Limit Hold Em, you’ll find that four every month feature different games.

If you play ring games on Tiger Gaming and your focus is No Limit Hold Em, you’ll benefit a lot from a GrinderSchool subscription. The site has a multitude of 6 max and full ring poker videos for a variety of stakes that new players can really benefit from. If you play mainly heads-up or Limit, though, you might not be as happy. There are, of course, a few videos for Limit and heads-up play, but perhaps not enough to make it worth it for those that play only these types of games. This is also true for those that want strategy tips for Omaha or other less popular poker games like Draw.

If you prefer tournaments on your Fulltiltpoker download instead of cash games, GrinderSchool can still benefit you. Tournament players will also find a large variety of videos and the instructors that made them have some impressive resumes. The videos show buy-ins from a paltry $2 to a healthy $55, and most of them are part of a series. Those that have the goal to play outside of their bankrolls also have the option to view satellite videos.

If you dislike multi-table tournaments but enjoy single-table tournaments on a PokerStars download, you’ll find some quality advice on GrinderSchool. The SNG videos feature mostly the site’s founder, but recently joining the team were a couple new respectable instructors. New players will be pleased to see that the buy-ins featured in these videos are as low as $1, and the concepts discussed range from beginner to advanced levels.

Overall, GrinderSchool is an excellent site for beginner players trying the best US poker sites. Because there is no sign up fee, the site is even more attractive to those without a lot of money to spare. If you play mostly Omaha or Stud, you probably should be looking elsewhere, but No Limit Hold Em players will be very happy with their investment when they see the video selection at this training site.

Important Poker Terms

In the previous entry I told you about poker tools that can help you become a better player on money poker sites. The first tool I suggested was the online poker dictionary, and I explained that you’ll find it hard to read in depth poker articles if you don’t know the most common and important poker terms. If you take a look at a poker dictionary, though, so many words will be listed that you won’t know where to start! Today I will mention a few of the poker terms that I think are most important for someone starting up on a Full Tilt Poker download or any other poker site download. Learn these terms first as they’re common and most likely to pop up when you start reading poker literature.

The terms that I deem most important have earlier entries all to themselves, so go back to my previous articles if you haven’t read them yet. Make sure you understand “bankroll management” and “variance” very well because they will be vital for your success in poker. On all sites, including a Bwin Poker download, there’s always a possibility that you’ll go through some bad variance. You could need this bankroll to kick in at any time because it’s impossible to predict when this might happen.

Since poker is all about money, you should quickly learn about the “rake”. The rake is the portion removed from every pot or prize pool by whomever is hosting your poker game. So for example, if you use a Titanpoker bonus code and play at the no-limit tables, each pot will end up around 5% less because Titan Poker will collect it as their payment. Each site or casino has their own rake percentage, and each hand can be raked up to a maximum amount.

Another term to know about is “position”. Previously we talked about the importance of your starting hands in the poker hands order article, but we didn’t mention the importance of position. You are in position if you’re last to act after the flop, and you will win pots more frequently when you’re in position. When you’re in position, you can play hands that you normally wouldn’t play while out of position. When you download free casino games, it doesn’t matter where you sit at the tables. It’s a different situation when you are playing poker versus other people, however.

I suggest looking for the term “outs” in a suitable online poker dictionary. If you’re playing in a pot and you feel you don’t have the best hand, you should determine the cards that could come on later streets that would be likely to improve your hand to the winner. These cards are known as your “outs”.

Take note of the term “fold equity”. As you play pots in this game, you should remember that it’s possible to win hands if you bet and your opponents fold. This is what is known as fold equity, and it is vital in poker because it’s a way to win pots without having to go to showdown. If you ever take a look at Daniels Room poker, you will learn that the most successful players make use of this idea on a regular basis.

When reading online poker articles, the word “nit” will probably pop up from time to time. A person is a nit if he plays a narrow range of hands preflop and he’s unwilling to gamble. He will usually not put himself in a spot where he is not guaranteed to win.

A final term that is going to help when you download free poker is “all-in”. Especially prevalent in tournament poker, if you go all-in, you are betting your entire stack and your opponents must call the equivalent of your stack if they want to continue with the hand. If you are called and lose the showdown, you are often bust and you have to re-buy (if you can) or stop playing.

In the future, I will go through the dictionary and choose more terms to look at. In the meantime, study these terms carefully and see if you can find some strategy articles that use them. Be sure to come back in a couple weeks for my next article.

Online Resources

It’s time to quit learning about intangibles like discipline and emotional control. Let's instead mention some of the internet poker tools that are there for you as you work to become a better player on money poker sites. For the first thing, it would be a good idea to check out an online poker dictionary. It’s essential to learn all the key poker terms before you try reading any books or online articles regarding your Full Tilt Poker download. If you don’t understand the language, you can’t learn everything there is to know about a certain subject. It’s like trying to operate on a patient without knowing human anatomy!

After you learn the poker terms, you should select a poker forum where you’re able to start threads and obtain quick, free help. When you’re trying to choose a site, be sure it contains advice about Amex compatible casinos because that is an indication that they have articles on everything you’ll ever need. I posted on a forum when I was a beginner player and I quickly became better at the game when I started writing posts and asking for advice. To ask questions about hand histories on message boards, I would suggest that you use a hand converter. Doing so makes it easier to read and then people are more likely to reply to your post.

If you’d like another way to learn very quickly, you should watch a couple poker videos with strategy regarding top Texas Hold'em sites. There are many expensive and advanced videos on the internet, but I would hold off on those until you get your bankroll a bit higher. When you start out playing the game, there are a lot of free poker videos out there for you.

Last but not least, don’t forget about using a poker odds chart right after you download free poker. As you already know, the chart will be essential when you’re in a tough spot and you need to figure out whether your hand is any good.

Just because these tools are free, it doesn’t mean that they’re not absolutely essential for your learning. Many of the players online know nothing of these tools themselves, and this means that you immediately gain an edge. Use the tools to help study the game and there’s a chance you will be playing Daniels Room poker in mere months, winning more than you ever thought possible!

Variance

Thanks for coming back for my fifth article. A couple weeks back we changed subjects and in place of ranges and the poker odds table, we discussed underestimated poker skills. These skills can’t tell you how to solve tricky preflop spots, but they might help to conserve your bankroll and cause you to be a fully developed player.  I would like to explain variance, another vital issue for poker players. Like last time, I am not teaching you about the cards when I teach you about variance. Again I would like to show you the necessity for discipline and emotional control in this game.

Variance is the sole motivation for having a large bankroll when playing poker. Logically, if you're the best player online, what is the point in having a bankroll? If you always won money when you played on Tiger Gaming, you'd never have a losing session for the rest of your poker career, correct? I wish it were that easy too!

The problem is, you'll discover that despite how faultlessly you play, you will occasionally still have losing days when playing this game. Sometimes the poker hands you're given will be dreadful and you won't want to play any of them. Other days the hands you're dealt will be fantastic, but they'll never end up the winner because sometimes the opposition is too lucky for you. It's unavoidable that there will be times when you will lose a pot despite getting it in as a 92% favorite. Times like these can drive you to consider playing online slots instead of poker!

If you want to become a great player, you must remember that variance is the reason why bad players keep playing cards on real money poker sites. You need bad players to stick around to make money. Because you won't be able to wish for variance to bypass you, you should learn how to fight through it. This can be done by using proper bankroll management and also eliminating tilt problems. Learn how to shrug off bad luck and if you've kept a proper bankroll, you'll be winning again before you know it. If that’s too much work for you, I suggest you just download free casino slot games where you won’t need to practice discipline to win.

Overlooked Poker Skills

In my first few entries, we’ve learned about pot odds, poker hands order, and implied odds, as well as how a poker odds table is an important tool for all 3 subjects. Today it's time to change subjects and talk about what I would call overlooked poker skills. There are some key skills that players must learn before they can be good at the game. I'm going to mention a few that some people might believe have nothing to do with what we're talking about in this blog. They are correct in that they don't directly help improve your choices with Texas Hold Em hands. But they could very well be the most vital skills of all because a "good" poker player can still go busto if he doesn't learn them.

Has it ever occurred to you why select great poker players see a great profit playing poker but still never have a bankroll? Usually the answer is that these folks don't use bankroll management. Bankroll management is a huge topic that can be discussed in detail later on, but the point to hammer home is simple: play within your bankroll. What this is saying is that you should always play stakes that make sense for the money that you have allocated for your poker playing. If you make a mistake and lose your bankroll, seek out a no deposit poker bonus to help you rebuild.

My next point maybe isn't a skill but just a little discipline. NEVER play poker hands while under the influence, no exceptions. It will make you reckless, unobservant, or just bad at decision-making, and you rarely will play winning poker if you aren't sober. Along the same theme, you should probably also avoid playing if you are tired. When you're not rested properly, there's a higher chance to lose a lot of money in bad spots and make some bad decisions that you'll end up regretting. I know you’re eager to take advantage of your PokerStars bonus code, but wait until the morning!

The last skill that I'd like to discuss is tilt control or emotional management. You might consider yourself great at the game but if you lose control when things don't go your way, you will never hang on to your money. There are countless players in this world that get overly emotional when they are a victim of bad variance and go on to lose their bankrolls while trying to get revenge by winning rush poker tournaments. Others just play poorly once they get bad beaten, making bad plays and throwing away even more money along the way. Learning control over your emotions is vital.

Implied Odds

I introduced the subject of pot odds in my first post, and now it would be a good idea to build on that concept and teach you implied odds. As we talked about in the first entry, bankroll management is so critical when it comes to the game of poker because sometimes you’ll find yourself in spots in which you will need to call a bet when you’re on a draw. The poker odds table proved that it’s a given you’ll lose a few of these pots, and sometimes it’s impossible to get away from these spots even if you’re selecting solely strong Texas Hold Em hands before the flop. Regarding implied odds, you will see the same “put your money in while behind” theme. With pot odds we do it because it’s mathematically correct. With implied odds we do it because of future expectation.

Let’s go back to the example from the last entry where we were playing a tournament on a Full Tilt Poker download and were in a heads-up pot with a flush draw. This time, though, let’s assume that our opponent just raises 600 more rather than all his chips. If the pot has 1,000 chips and the raise is 600 more, we saw last time that we do not have the odds to call and hit our flush. A little extra information, though, might turn this into a winning situation. Imagine that he has 1,000 chips behind and we know that he will call the rest on the river no matter what. For simplicity, we will also assume that he will check the turn. So now, instead of pot odds, we can calculate implied odds to see if it’s going to make sense to call. Because we know that he isn’t ever folding, you can put his remaining 1,000 chips into your calculations, making the pot 2,000 chips instead of 1,000. You are approximately 33% to hit your flush, and 600 divided by 2,000 is only 30%, so calling is correct in this situation.

So far you’ve seen that with a poker odds chart you can figure out pot odds and implied odds, and together they can give you a huge edge at the table. An inexperienced individual can lose money in multiple situations when he has a draw. One option is that he could call a bet lacking correct pot odds and any implied odds, and we already know that this is not profitable. Or maybe he knows about pot odds but doesn’t understand implied odds, so in another situation he’ll fold when he actually has the implied odds to call. In both cash games and MTT poker, you must understand both pot odds and implied odds to determine whether or not to continue with a hand when you have a draw.

One last thing that I’d like to do is caution you against going too far with this new concept. Sometimes those new to the game will start calling with 100% of their draws when they learn about implied odds because they think they’ll always get paid off when they get the cards they need. If you’re considering future bets in your calculations, you must be positive they will happen. For example, say you’re playing poker hands in one of the US poker rooms and you make a set on the turn, but it seems that it wasn’t the best card because it also gave your opponent a flush. You start calculating your implied odds when he raises because the only way you can win this hand is by hitting a full house on the river. Because the boat possibility is there on a paired river, you might not be able to count on him calling too many chips with just a flush. Your implied odds are going to be inaccurate if he actually won’t pay you off when you hit, and then your call will become unprofitable.

Poker Hands Order

Welcome back! In my first entry, I told you about odds in poker and the poker odds chart. The truth is that it’s possible to get into a situation in which your hand is behind, and you will be required to turn or river certain cards in order to win the pot. For my next entry, I’d like to suggest how to prevent these situations from happening too often by showing you poker hands order. You’ll save yourself from tough situations more often if you choose high quality hands preflop because these hands hit better after the flop. This entry will introduce the concept of ranges because you’ll always adjust your starting hands based on what the ranges of your opponents are, and then I will show you how to tie in the poker odds chart with ranges.

One of the biggest problems for a player that hasn't played much poker is deciding which poker hands to play. Selecting too many hands will certainly cause an overall loss of money, but choosing too few won't make you much money plus it isn't very fun. In order to find the perfect balance, you should probably learn about poker hands order. It's true that the most beginner player will realize that AA and KK are premium starting cards, but how about, say, TT? Which hand will make you more money in the long run, AJ or KQs? Figuring out when to play specific cards preflop will directly affect how much money you end up with when you play the game.

The strategy for playing certain cards will often change based on the players you are sitting with. While it's true that you are able to usually go with a combination like JJ or AK before the flop, on occasion the decision is more difficult and you will have to choose whether or not to fold or keep playing with a combination like JTs. A way to decide whether or not you should play a hand is by putting your opponents on a poker range. This statement means that you decide what your opponents are playing and then analyze your cards and decide whether, on average, your cards will win against the hands that they will play.

If you are new to the idea of ranges, I will give you an example. How about you're given JTs and the table has folded to you in the small blind. Both the blinds have very deep stacks, but he is an extremely tight player. You elect to min raise since he'll often fold and you can win the pot right away. However, you are shocked when he shoves all-in over your raise! You must now put him on a range to decide whether or not you can call with your cards.

If your opponent has, for example, the exact hand of AQs (different suit than yours), can you guess the odds that your hand will end up the winner if you elect to call? Checking a poker odds table shows that your hand is about 40% to win, so if you elect to call, you are bound to lose the showdown 60% of the time. But realistically, your opponent is probably doing this with a lot of different hands. You are required to figure out which cards he would go ahead with, and then you will have formed his range.

In this instance, if your opponent is super tight, his range is likely to contain just a few hands. Let's say you figure out that he is going with only pocket pairs at least QQ and AK. Your hand will only win 30% of the time versus this range! Knowing this can help you make the correct choice and fold in this situation. You can see how deciding on a range for your opponent is vital for success.

Having an idea of what your opponent chooses for his own poker hands order should also aid in creating your opponent's range. Some people will continue with any suited ace but will not play the smallest pocket pairs. Certain people consider AJ to be a much better combination than KQ or even KQs. If you are able to decide on what your opponent is using as his poker order and then go through the process of assigning a range, you can correctly pick which hands to go with against him and win your hands a majority of the time.

How to Use Pot Odds

Hello! I’m glad that you’ve decided to read my blog. My articles are all going to be related to poker, but they will be meant for those new to the game. For my very first post, I will write about odds and using a poker odds chart. Learning about pot odds is very important to being successful playing this game.

Many people believe that poker is just a gambling game and don’t understand that math is also a big factor. Don’t be afraid of it, however, for it’s not like the calculus you struggled with in university. If you look online, you’ll find many tools that handle the math stuff for you, and the poker odds chart is one of the most useful and important of these tools. You’ll need this chart when you are unsure whether or not you have the best hand when you’re in a pot versus an opponent.

I’ll give you an example. Say you’re getting dealt poker hands in a $0.50/$1.00 NL ring game and you receive AQ. You elect to raise it up preflop to $4, and a very loose player reraises you to $14. This isn’t the first time he’s done this, and you decide that if you go all-in, it’ll look like a bluff. You go for it, and to your surprise, he snap calls with 44!

Do you think your hand is ahead or behind? The poker odds table shows us that you’re only 46% to win the showdown. Don’t let this result make you think that you should be playing low pocket pairs over good aces, though. Often, when new players learn about poker hands order, they are shocked by the type of hands that are able to win a bunch of money in an average cash game.

Now that you know how to use the chart, I can teach you about pot odds. You’ll use this knowledge when you’re playing a hand and you need to decide whether or not you can call someone’s bet. As an example, let’s say you’ve made a Full Tilt Poker download and you are competing in a small tournament. In a heads-up pot you flop a flush draw so you decide to bet, but your opponent goes all-in. You decide that he has an overpair and so you just have 9 outs for the flush. Is it better to call or fold?

If you call this push, with the turn and the river to come you will hit the flush on either the turn or river 1 out of every 3 times. This means that in order for it to be correct to call here, the pot must be 2 times more than the amount you are required to call. For example, if there are 1,000 chips in the pot, the call is only profitable if you have to call less than 500 chips. If you a required to put in 250, then you make money from the call. If you are required to put in 525, you will lose money in the long run by making this call.

It should be clear that having knowledge about odds is extremely helpful for MTT poker and ring games alike. You have a clear advantage if you can work with odds because a large number of players online and live don’t realize they’re so significant. Be sure to come back to this blog in a couple weeks before I will update it with another entry to help you improve at poker. Until then, take care!