Many guys and tons of girls enjoy having a home game of poker with a bunch of friends. Sometimes these events are simple low-stakes games that are simply about fun. Then there are those home games that are like the Dons of New York playing for the pride of their family, and a cool chunk of change to boot. If you are playing a ‘serious’ home game, then you might need to up your game to stay in it to win it.
Pay Attention
Poker is a game of subtleties; whether it is in your betting style, bluff attempts or table mannerisms. It is not just a simple game of mathematics, as player psychology can play just as big of a role in a win. Learning how to focus your energy on paying attention to small tells or signs at the table will ultimately lead to better play.
Many new poker players think that paying attention means focusing on their own hands and deciding when and how much to bet. Yet just as much of the game is about what your opponent is doing. If you can gain information from watching a player, you can ultimately make better decisions. If you notice a player is getting loud and boisterous, wins a big pot with a premium hand and it happens a few times, you have just spotted a big tell! The next time you are in a pot and that player is loud or obnoxious it may be time to lay down a sub-premium hand.
So how can playing online poker help you pay attention? It’s amazing how many players feel they can play online poker while cooking dinner, watching TV or any other distracting activity. In reality, it takes a lot more concentration and effort to figure out a tell while playing online poker. There is no body language, visual cues or speech tells to enable an easy process. Instead you have to rely on specifics of betting patterns, card selection histories and other subtle cues.
If you can pick up on these more subtle patterns in online poker during a home game, your senses will feel like ‘Spidey-senses’ as long as you can tune out the distractions of the live game. Take the time to get some experience in learning online tells and it could significantly increase your home game tell abilities.
It’s all About the Numbers
Are you a mathlete? A genius with numbers? A person that can do multiple equations in your head simultaneously? Most people are not, yet you need to have a basic understanding of math in order to understand different value positions, bet sizing and stack sizes relative to the blinds, as well as your expected hand value, any implied fold equity you may have, opening hand ranges and implied pot odds – just to name a few of the possibilities in poker.
Playing online is the single fastest way to start increasing your mathematical and numeracy skills to seriously increase your ability to size up a situation on the real felt. Whether you call it a gut feeling, or you know that the pot odds are telling you to call, these skills are used by professional poker players to help inform them of their decisions. This type of skill can come with lots of training, which can be done by playing free online. Increase your home game winning percentage by playing a few thousand hands of online poker.
