Molly's Online Poker and Sportsbook Guide

Every week, I present you readers with insights and strategies and alternative ways of thinking when you play poker. My advice basically consists of feel and not a whole lot on mathematics. Lately, however, I have spent more and more time focusing on the math and analytical parts of the game. So every now and again, I will focus on this side of poker. The well-rounded and successful player knows all of these principles almost without thinking twice about them. The more poker you play and the better players you go up against, you�ll see this is the truth. There is a lot to be said about statistics and probabilities which should at least enter your mind before you decide to check, raise or call. Today, I'm going to try to give some specific examples of how pot odds affect your decisions when you are playing a drawing hand (differences of opinion are welcomed and encouraged) more about pot odds...

People often wonder how some players deal with the stress of playing poker professionally. Most people would be horrified at the stakes of the games they play tournaments with buy-ins of up to $25,000 and cash games that frequently have six-figure swings. Most professional poker players have become somewhat desensitized towards money. Despite this, they still do experience stress while playing poker, and these are some tips for anyone else who does, too.

Feeling a certain level of stress while playing poker is a key to winning, and that "certain level" varies by individual. To put it another way, to excel at poker, you must always play within your stress comfort zone. You should never gamble with money you can�t afford to lose, as this would be incredibly stressful, not to mention very irresponsible. You should not base what limit you play simply on your bankroll. You must be as emotionally ready to lose a certain amount of money as you are financially in order to justify playing in a particular game. If you are a millionaire but are not emotionally ready to lose more than $1,000 in a given session, stick to $10-$20 limits or smaller. If you�re not emotionally prepared some of the big losses in these games can be emotionally devastating and very stressful. These lessons are very painful to learn, so stick to games in which you are emotionally prepared to lose at least 50 big bets, because it can and will happen frequently, even if you are a great player who rarely tilts.more about poker stress...

Today, I thought I would talk a little bit about personality types at the poker table. Sometimes it seems that there are endless styles your opponents may have. In actuality, poker players can generally be classified into one of four main playing styles. They are:

1. Tight-Aggressive
2. Loose-Aggressive
3. Loose-Passive
4. Tight-Passive

In my opinion, the most effective poker style is tight-aggressive. I'll discuss the reasons why I believe this in a moment, but it�s a good idea for me to describe to you exactly what these four types mean.

For each of the styles, there are two words to describe them. The first part of the name describes the types of hands the players prefers to play. A "loose" players is someone who plays many types of hands, whether they be pocket pairs, suited connectors, connectors of any type or any suited cards. A "tight" player is someone who generally only plays stronger, more solid hands such as pocket pairs, big cards and suited connectors. more aggressive poker strategy...

A ‘semi bluff’ is a bet that you make when you don’t figure to have the best hand right now, but your chances of improving the hand, coupled with your chances of taking the pot outright, make the bet profitable. For example, anytime you bet with a flush draw, you are making a ‘semi bluff’. Semi bluffs are powerful bets, since you can often persuade your opponents to fold hands that they would call or raise with if they knew what you had. Like most poker plays, however, they have their place. Typically, you want to limit your semi bluffs to those times where the pot is small (most opponents will be more inclined to fold a marginal hand in a small pot than a big pot) and being contested by only a few players (usually four or less). There are a huge range of hands that one can semi bluff with: Two overcards to the board, an inside straight draw, a flush draw, an open ended straight draw, middle pair with an overcard to the board or a three flush�all these hands are candidates for the semi bluff. A problem arises, however, when you are called on the flop. Remember: what made the semi bluff profitable in the first place was the combined probability of having your opponents fold and the chance that you might improve. more poker help...

Well, Pot Odds is the ratio of what is already in the pot to the amount you would have to bet to stay in the hand. So, if there are $36 in the pot, and you would need to bet $6 to stay in the hand, the pot odds are 36 to 6, or 6 to 1.

Why would you need to know this?

One example of using pot odds is when your hand is not yet the best hand at the table, but it could be if the right card comes up next. For instance, with four cards on the board you hold four clubs. The odds of completing the flush on the river are roughly 5 to 1 against you. That means for you to bet there should be at least five times the bet amount in the pot. If the bet to you is $2, then there should be at least $10 in the pot to make it worth calling. more about pot odds...

It’s a lot like that in the sportsbook world, except bookmakers never truly have a buyer and seller in place at the same time, so they hold positions in order to provide liquidity for their players. Lines are moved to attract bettors to the side where the house needs more money, and away from the side where the house already has lots of action. more about line moves...

So you have decided to start betting online - or maybe you just want to find a new trustworthy sportsbook - what do you need to look out for?

Well I am in a position to speak from some experience - I did at one time hold accounts with about sixty bookmakers in Europe, UK, Australia and offshore - the latter catering mainly to the US market. I have had at least three online sportsbooks go broke on me - luckily my losses were kept to a few thousand dollars - that may sound a lot but it could have been a lot worse. more about choosing a sportsbook...

Who really likes math? When it comes to betting on football, most North American bettors favor pointspreads over moneylines simply because they get pointspreads. There’s no math involved. Once you face your fear of math, however, you’ll find that betting on moneylines is easier than you think.

With pointspreads, it’s easy to spot the difference between –3 and –4, right? But how much value is there between moneylines of –170 and –210? Most people don’t get that; it’s just not something that’s intuitive to football bettors. more about sportsbook moneylines...