Thursday, March 24, 2011

Deciding Your Poker Game of Choice

By Thomas Kearns


Omaha is an interesting game and, as many attest, is quite profitable, but there is comparatively little material you could find to learn safely from, and Hold'em is in fact a good place to start for anyone. At the present time Hold'em ranks as the most popular game in casinos and online and has received much attention in media and literature (online and in book form).

Now that that's over, the next step is some personal soul searching to determine your proclivity for risk..

To some, the thrill and adrenaline rush of risk-taking is a motivating force. To others, it is a source of pure nausea. Poker is not a game for the latter. If you are the risk-taking type but cannot control your impulses, the game is not for you either. But for those who have a high degree of self-understanding, tests can be taken that disclose your risk inclinations. If the test reveals that you are the risky type of personality, you should opt for no-limit cash and tournament games.

Decide for yourself if you are a mathematician or a psychologist. Human calculators will be comfortable with limit games. The body language deciphering psychologist will be most at home with no-limit and multi table tournament (MTT) play.

No-limit and MTT games are both very good poker forms for you to develop your game if you are willing to put in the time to learn them well. Due to the rarity of the high-level limit games, you won't find as much chance to develop your skills as you would in no-limit and MTT. The best place for future world poker champions to grow their game is in tournament play.

For those whose aims are to grow as players, limit offers the least potential. High-level limit games are much rarer than no-limit or tournament games. Tournaments make the most sense for aspiring champions.

Limit poker is becoming rarer in casinos and clubs and is more accessible online. Tournament poker is the only form of the game officially considered a sport, so that it may be important to pay attention to tournaments in public establishments.

Those considering poker as a profitable career should focus on those games with a high percentage of weak players. Hold'em poker involves the fewest of the weaker players due to the widely available literature devoted to the game. No-limit and tournament poker should be your target, as long as you have made the decision to educate yourself on it and continue to do so. The beginning player should play limit poker in games with limits below 1$/2$. If in a SnG game, the novice should stay below $20+$2 and in a no-limit game, below $100. If you want to play in games below these levels, just a basic knowledge of the rules of poker is probably sufficient. More intense study is required of higher limits and even the most apt student of the game is incurring risk.

The above suggestions are all well and good for first steps. With experience and continuing education, you will be able to answer many of your questions clearly on your own.




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