Molly's Online Poker and Sportsbook Guide

It's hard to miss the fact that recent winners of the World Series of Poker were not professional poker players and the fact that Chris Moneymaker (2003) and Greg Raymer (2004) are online players. It's no wonder that online poker is exploding. With so many new players out there giving online poker a shot it's feeding frenzy for the skilled player, or even the player with a modest amount of skills. Most of these newbies start out at the lowest limit tables until they either bust out or improve their skills and bankroll enough to move onto the higher limit tables. Even if you're a veteran of the Friday night home dealer's choice poker games, you most likely will have to change your playing style to win consistently online. But fear not, there are more unskilled players at the micro limit tables than there are skilled players. more online poker strategy...

While most players these days specialize in No-Limit Hold'em, I know there are many people out there who grew up learning Seven-Card Stud. With the resurgence of HORSE and other mixed games, now is a great time to branch out and revisit some of the basics to help make you a better all-around player.

For me, Fifth Street is the big decision point in this game because that's when you have to put in your first big bet. And one of the toughest situations you can face on Fifth Street is what to do with small to medium pocket pairs. If your opponent is betting into you with one or two over-cards to your pair and representing an over-pair, when should you continue? more...

About two years ago, I wrote On Cavemen and Poker Players, which talked about the importance of learning to control your emotions at the poker table. Since then, I've had time to further refine my views on this topic, especially when it comes to the concept of tilt.

To begin, let me state the obvious: tilt happens to everyone. In fact, it's safe to say that tilt is one of the most feared words - and concepts - in poker. So, what causes tilt? Well, that's different for everyone. For some, it's a bad run of cards or continuously getting unlucky when you're opponents hit their miracle two and three-outers on the river. For others, it's just playing poorly for an extended period of time. more...

When it comes to advice about poker, my attitude is very simple: seek it out, absorb it, but while you're at the table, forget it.

I'm a firm believer in learning the game by playing the game. I'm not saying there aren't a lot of great resources around to help players improve their games or that poker books and tutorials don't have their place. They do. However, the problem I see with people who rely on these kinds of aids is that they end up playing poker like someone else or - even worse - like everyone else.

One of the things that makes poker great is that it's a game where there's really no right or wrong way to play. Every player has their own approach to the game and the key, in my opinion, is to take the things you learn from other players and incorporate them into a style of play that works for you. more...

If you want to win a HORSE tournament, you have to be good at all five games. You don't have to be the best player at any one game, but you can't be the worst. If you're really bad at one of the games, it's going to hurt you. People often ask me which of the HORSE games I'm best at and I always give them the same answer it depends upon who I'm playing against. Whatever my opponent's worst game is, that's my best game.

In a HORSE tournament, it's really important that you remember to switch gears from one game to the next. It can be easy to forget if you're not careful, especially in the Stud portion of the games. When switching from Hold 'em to Omaha, you get dealt a different number of cards. You automatically know that's it's a different game because you're holding two more cards in your hand. That's not so obvious in the Stud games because all three versions start off the same. The only giveaway that you're playing Razz as opposed to Stud Hi or Stud Hi/Lo is that in Razz, the high card is the bring-in instead of the low card. Otherwise, all of the Stud games have the same basic structure, so it's really easy for players to forget to switch gears. more...

In tournaments, I play lots of hands. I'll put my money in with all kinds of connected cards, especially when in position. I might limp, I might min-raise or raise a little more than the minimum, depending on the circumstances. I'm looking to keep my table off balance so they don't know where I'm coming from.

My overall goal is to pick up a lot of small pots without a lot of resistance. I might raise in position and hope for a call from one of the blinds. If I raise pre-flop with something like 6-7, I might miss the flop entirely, but the raise puts me in control of the hand. On the flop, I'll likely bet if checked to, even if I miss. That small bet on the flop will usually win me a small, but helpful pot. more...