Guru's POKER LESSON #1-A

Posts: 2913 · Posted: 12.05.2006, 06:16

Guru's POKER LESSON #1-A

Well, guys and gals, let's get this show on the road. Where on earth shall I begin? We have poker scholars signed up from expert level all the way down to just starting. I will try to include something for everybody with every lesson.

You need two notebooks.....one for keeping notes on new things you might learn or just something you want to remember; the other for keeping track of every cent won or lost so you will know when to move up to the next level.

To begin, there are two things I want to make sure you are aware of: 1) I make a very comfortable living at playing poker professionally. And 2) my goal is to help you be able to do the same if you so choose.

Most poker pros who write "How To" books or articles and most internet sites that advertise poker schools will always hold back the very best of the tips for themselves. I have tried in the past, but I just cannot do that. I take great pride in my title of Guru and no true guru will ever feel that he has been successful until his students or followers are able to compete on his own level and sometimes beat him. Therefore, it makes no sense to hold back anything, in my opinion. Besides, it is against my nature. I have always been a soft-spoken loudmouth who loves to tell all, especially if it is something behind the scenes.

So.....when you can defeat me at the poker table, I will have won! I will have been a true and good guru. So don't take my efforts lightly, please, in making you a winner!

General advice seems like a good factual starting place. So here is a bit of mine:

The first decision you have to make is where to play. We are, for the time being, speaking of only online poker sites. They have no interest in who wins or loses becauses they get the same amount of money in any case. They take a small percentage of the winning pot for every hand played, usually about 10 percent. Therefore, those of you who worry about some gambling sites being "fixed" don't have to worry as much about the poker sites.

A WORD ABOUT FREEROLLS

Play in all the freerolls you can, just for the experience of playing poker to become familiar to you. And you could win some cash for no investment at all, which means 100% profit. The only exception I can think of is that you might have to make a minimum deposit at whichever site is having the freeroll, just to be a member and eligible to play in their freerolls.

Almost all the freerolls at this time in history are the game of Texas Hold'em No Limit Poker. That is the only poker game I recommend for you to play until I tell you otherwise.

MORE WORDS ABOUT SINGLE TABLE GAMES

Ring tables or ring games are the poker tables that are not involved in a tournament of any kind, either freeroll or buy-in. There are usually four different types of tables as far as the number of players: 10, 9, 6, or 2 players.

First, although I suggested that you play in freerolls for free experience with a chance of winning some cash, I recommend that you play at single table games. Why have to beat a hundred, a thousand, or more players when you could play against only 9 at the most at a single table?

I play at single tables (ring tables) almost exclusively. And all along, as we travel this adventure together, I will tell you to do the same thing I do, for a very good reason: it works.

In my opinion, you should play only at the tables who have 9 or 10 players. And don't jump back and forth between 10-player and 6-player tables BECAUSE the same hand you are holding is worth more or less, depending on how many players are at the table. Different odds for each. You should become accustomed to just one set of odds until knowing them, at least approximately, is second nature to you. THEN you can experiment with different ones. I am leading you, with this advice, in the fastest and easiest way for you to learn the game well enough to be a consistent winner.

Furthermore, I recommend only the No Limit or Pot Limit games. If you play at Texas Hold'em games with a set limit on betting, it can become boring pretty fast. You will find yourself going up and down in the number of chips you have until hours later, it is easy to have about the same you startedand the small blind.. with or less. It takes far longer to win any money to speak of at a Limited table. And that makes it a waste of time, in my opinion.

You do not have to be scared away by the words "no limit" because you can choose the money range in which you wish to play. Choose them by the cost of the two blinds, the big blind and the small blind. Blind is just another word for ante.

At most poker sites, you can choose to play for pennies or nickels or dimes or quarters or dollars all the way up into the thousands of dollars. This is true of all the "no limit" games. They are not limited by anything other than the range of money you choose to play in. And that, my friends, is nobody's business but your own!

Only you know how much you can afford to lose. And that is the way you must think.....not in terms of how much you want to win, but in terms of how much you can afford to lose. If you choose to follow my advice all the way all along, you will find yourself comfortable with being able to move your money ranges higher and higher.....and THAT is what is important, NOT how much money is in those ranges. As long as you keep moving up, you will keep moving on until.....well, the sky is the limit, even for the person with an average IQ. It depends on how much you are willing to learn and how patient you can teach yourself to become, with my help.

One thing that is VERY important to remember is worth repeating over and over: poker depends on the knowledge you have acquired of the game and the known-by-the-professionals skills you havedeveloped. It does NOT and it never has been dependent on LUCK! Luck is a 4-letter word you can forget if you want to make money playing poker. This is the reason that luck has nothing to do with poker: Over any length of time, every player will be dealt the same number of good hands and bad hands. Will also have gotten the same number of good breaks and bad breaks, including the last card (the river). This is based on the simple law of averages and also on every statistical study ever done on the game of poker. It is how you have learned to play both the good and the bad hands that makes you a winner or a loser. That is where I come in. If it were strictly luck, you would have no need for me. Also, there would be no champions, because there would be no consistently good or consistently bad players.

If you learn nothing more than the true facts as I have presented them here about luck in poker, we will both be happy in the long run, even in the short run.

I will stop at this point and let a few days pass to give you time to spread the word to whomever you consider a friend so they can get in on these lessons before we get much farther along.

IMPORTANT: This is not a Lecture class! For the good of you all, and myself, we need discussion. We do that by way of posting. If you have a question, post it! If you want to help someone with a question, post it! If you want to make any kind of comment, about poker or not, post it! We must get to know one another in order to get the best results. The same as at a poker table; the better you know the players, the better off you will be. If you want to argue a point with me, post it! (You foolish person. LOL Just kidding.) Everybody is entitled to an opinion, not only myself. And every one of you is capable of thinking logically, so your opinion counts with me! You cannot base everything on the amount of money earned. So, I am going to be very disappointed if you don't post, post, post, and post again! Special requests.....if you have one for a certain topic, POST IT! I WILL listen to you, no matter who you are!

Thank you for being here.

Your PokerGuru

Posts: 654 · Posted: 12.05.2006, 06:42

Dear PokerGuru ~

I don't know how to let you know how much I thank you for your freely given poker wisdom and your valuable time. So I will just say thank you and hope you know how much.

royalblush

Posts: 2913 · Posted: 12.05.2006, 07:03

royalblush wrote: › Dear PokerGuru ~

I don't know how to let you know how much I thank you for your freely given poker wisdom and your valuable time. So I will just say thank you and hope you know how much.

royalblush

Dear royalblush,

And I thank YOU, royal, for being the first one to speak up. As you probably know, everybody likes and needs feedback. Otherwise, how are we to know if we are on the right track?

And yes, I do think I know what you mean when you say thank you.

Appreciatively,

Your PokerGuru

Posts: 80 · Posted: 12.05.2006, 12:42

Thanks for all the good tips Mr.GURU!

I just wonder about one thing.

I'm in a tourney, have a good stack, maybe chipleader. What kind of play should I play? I always have problem to keep the chipleaderpoint. I use the posision to try buy pots, but I'm always to agresive..
Is there a good way to keep the stack, should I go from agresive to more tigth playing? There is maybe a good answer for this, but I whould love to hear from a Pro about this.
Thanks for the good work you do!

Posts: 2913 · Posted: 13.05.2006, 05:50

Dear leifen,

Thank you for posting, buddy. Seems like I need all the friends I can get.

Or maybe I am just too impatient when waiting for posts.

Or maybe it just doesn't pay in this modern world to tell it like it is instead of telling what people want to hear, like politics.

Anyway.....CONGRATULATIONS on your finish in last nights freeroll tourney! You did a fantastic job! I would play myself but I don't think that would be fair, considering everything. At least not at this stage of my stay here.

NOW. To answer your question. If it's not broke, why try to fix it? Seems to me you know exactly what you should and should not do in that situation. Now you only have to work at disciplining yourself to do what you know you should do.....every time.

I WILL say that in the situation you described, you had to be doing the right thing consistently all along TO GET TO that situation, so it is a winning way and I see no reason to change it now. Keep doing what is winning. The last hand of a tourney is still the same game as the first hand was.

HOWEVER, as it gets VERY close to the end, and you have maybe the winning stack.....I think I would tighten up just a little to try to hold on to that stack. Take no chances in losing it.

But that is no time to play bad poker. Lay back a little, but stay in the game until the finish. The Reason: You cannot just sit back and take no risks AT ALL because, remember, there are other players left who could bet and win so extravagantly among themselves that one of them could earn in one hand just enough to have a bigger stack than yours and win the tourney!

So you have to stay in the game all the way to the finish line, keeping on playing the way that earned your big stack. Just be a good observer of whoever has the second most and third most and fourh most chips. KEEP your eye on their stacks and each time it is your turn for action, consider how the stack sizes could change before you act. Just don't think long enough to run out of time and be automatically folded. If you fold, let it be YOUR choice.

So the short answer is.....keep playing the same way, but be extra careful, keeping your eye on 2 things: stack sizes and the clock.

Thanks for asking.

If anyone has a different opinion, please POST IT. I promise not to put you down or show anything except the utmost respect for you being able to think well enough to form an opinion, no matter what it is. And I will reply with that in mind, still telling ALWAYS the truth.

Again, leifen, congratulations! Great pride you bring to us!

Your PokerGuru

2000 2000 0 1500.00

Guru, what an excellent post and one I truly enjoyed reading. We feel so fortunate that you chose to grace us here at PC with your presence and expertise and I personally thank you for it.. Smile

As always I look forward to all you have to teach and guide us all in becoming better players.. Smile

DrC

Posts: 2913 · Posted: 13.05.2006, 22:42

Thanks, DrCrush.

I take it, then, that you agree with the advice I gave in both of my posts above?

You, yourself, are a very valuable member of our new poker school here at Poker-Crush. I love giving the lessons!

I hope every member feels free to and very welcome to post any comment or question in the Guru's POKER LESSONS threads.

PokerGuru

Posts: 80 · Posted: 14.05.2006, 19:46

Thanks for the answer PokerGuru! And thanks for the lovly words... Smile

Great too have you around her!

2000 2000 0 1500.00

Leifen..

Indeed it is but not so sure if Guru is a girl or not...lol but either way it does not matter as the advice given is top notch and most valuable.. Smile

DrC

Posts: 1825 · Posted: 17.05.2006, 23:45

Ok I have a discipline problem. I can fight with myself over and over about this but I almost always HAVE to see the flop before I fold. Now I know this costs me money but almost every time I fold before I see the flop I could have beaten the pants off everyone that hand. It is so frustrating. I have thrown away full houses when people who win have nothing but high card. I have thrown away straights and flushes... it weakens my resolve to fold before a flop. What do you say to waiting for a flop first?

Posts: 1825 · Posted: 17.05.2006, 23:54

Oh and I can't wait for more lessons!! I know I can't play all that bad considering I have won a few freerolls. However I think I am inconsistant and confusing which can be a good thing with people trying to pin me down LOL I love playing with a table of 12 or 6. I find I can bluff fairly well because I get aggressive and after I get the feel of a table I can pretty much figure out how much I can bluff if they don't have the guts to play aggressive. In tournaments I have won and been kicked out early both. This is where the inconsistantcy comes into play.

Posts: 2913 · Posted: 18.05.2006, 08:27

DRCRUSH,

I saw absolutely nothing in leifen's post about the subject with which you answered him!

Is it because this lovely person trying valiantly to learn our language called words "lovely"???? I believe the most masculine of men have referred to words as lovely. Including Geno.

Do you have some sort of obsession on this topic OR are you just still mad because I expressed affection for you? If so, relax. I feel sure nobody will doubt your sexuality over something that insignificant in this day and age. OR MINE.

I guess I lived in Hollywood too long, where everybody expresses affection and hugs, whether men or women. Get with it, BUDDY!

MR. PokerGuru

Posts: 2913 · Posted: 18.05.2006, 08:34

Oh, my dear Valeria!

I see a private tutoring session coming up here by email or PM.

For the time being, just relax about it and believe me when I say

YOUR PROBLEM CAN BE EASILY SOLVED! I absolutely WILL address it with you.

Thanks for posting, dear girl. All posts from my scholars lift my spirits!

And you, in particular, are another one of my pride and joy persons!

Your PokerGuru

Posts: 1825 · Posted: 18.05.2006, 09:21

LOL well now was that "Oh, my dear Valeria!" said in shock or dismay? hahahaah

I can't wait to hear your answer because this is a real problem I am having with myself Razz

Now if I can only get a chance to get in one of these Poker Crush Freerolls so I can pin myself down with the best of the best to see how I fare!

Sometimes I feel like a big shot only to turn around and feel like an idiot the next time I play! One thing about Poker.. it puts me in my place when I think I am a hot shot rofl because next time I get kicked in the butt pretty quickly.

Posts: 505 · Posted: 18.05.2006, 23:27

Great Advice Guru!!! I am starting to stick with the 10 pple trnys myself :-)