Confession 003 — Betting Like a Boss

I confess. It’s hard to get into boss mode with a short stack.

With online poker, it’s important to play within your resources. You should always be choosing tournaments and tables with stakes that are appropriate for your stack size. It’s best to play with chips you can afford to lose, and it’s best to play as if losing your buy-in is not a big deal.

Poker beginners are typically overprotective of their chip stacks. If the other players think you are treating your chips like a momma hen treats her eggs, they will run roughshod over you, stealing pots from you every chance they get. In the end, you wind up with a significant drop in your potential winnings.

An easy way to avoid this condition is to try not to think of your chips as currency. Think of them as an investment in your entertainment. One spends bitcoin to acquire them. Those funds should now be gone from mind. You don’t really play poker for money at all. You play poker for the enjoyment of playing poker. If you become good at it, you are rewarded with currency for your superior gameplay.

Once you get in the mix, it is critical to play as if you have a thousand chips sitting just out of view, even if you don’t. You have to be able to risk your entire stack, as the No Limit game itself demands this. Other players, especially those with larger stacks, will make large bets to test your commitment to your cards. If they get a sense that you are timid with your chips, you will be manipulated, and you’ll certainly get chased out of pots you might otherwise win.

Fortune favors the bold! You have to play like you’re in boss mode, even if you have a short stack.

Table position is a key element in any game you will be playing at SwC Poker. You will play your cards differently depending on your position at the table, relative to the dealer. If you are in late table position, you have more opportunity to consider the actions of your opponents before you have to act. In early table position, you are forced to act before you know what your opponents will do. Information is power, and a better table position will allow you to play any hand more effectively and powerfully because you are making your decisions with far more analytical data. Many consider table position to be the single most important factor in any poker game.

The worst table position is the earliest to act. Immediately to the left of the big blind, this position is called “under the gun” and has to play before everyone else. If you are in this or any other early position, you are having to act on an information deficit, so you need to compensate in the quality of your cards and avoid playing all but the strongest of hands. Ace King, Ace Queen, Pocket Tens or higher.

In the middle position, you have a little more information so you can expand the hands you might play a little. In late position, you have a lot more information on how nearly everyone else is playing the hand, so you have a lot more flexibility in the cards you might play.

The best table position is generally the button as the button is last to act. The button has more information than anyone else at the table as everyone else has had to act already. This gives the player at the button position the greatest advantage in the hand. Use this advantage to play any hand more effectively. Also use this advantage to get out of weaker hands more quickly when other player’s strength is showing.

So get out there and get in the mix. You do learn the most while you are playing.

THE KING OF HEARTS

This weekly column serves as a guide for those who are interested in online bitcoin poker but haven’t yet taken the plunge and for those who are just dipping their toes in the water.

I talk about online bitcoin poker from a beginner’s perspective with the goal of demystifying the various poker game forms as well as all aspects of online play, table and lobby etiquette, and anything else related to this space. I’m enjoying spending time with you.

Poker Vocabulary and Abbreviations
Tight vs Loose Play — Conservative vs risky play
The Nuts — the best possible hand, given the dealt cards
No Limit — allows each player to raise the bet up to their entire remaining stake
All In — when a player bets all their remaining chips
The Button — a marker indicating the dealer position

Please send all questions, comments and suggestions to confessionsofapokerhusband@gmail.com.

My opinions and observations are my own do not reflect the opinions of SwC management. I will respond to all messages and I welcome your feedback.

Originally published at swcpoker.eu.