You have already been warned about the cash. Be careful. The pasta that you put on the table is what you play, and in one hand you can lose everything you have put. So you do not feel like sitting on those tables until you have mastered both the game and the application.

The tournaments are what most people play. Pure competition. It is what you most want to play, but you have a problem, you can not spend a lot of time playing. You know that if things go well, it will be two hours of play but they can go up to seven. So you discard it until the weekend, in which you can spend the necessary time.

For what if there is time in a little while in the afternoon is to take a sit and go. The tournaments of six people that, in their superturbo version, last about twenty minutes maximum.

Sit and go. Your first step in poker.

You do not have much time. So you start by signing up for a super-turbo sit and go. You know that it lasts twenty minutes, this means that they are not going to hand out many hands, so each of them is very important. An error in one hand and out, you are eliminated.

They sit you at the table and you see in front of you the 500 points you receive in exchange for your registration. Opposite, you watch your five rivals. You know you have to be between the first two to enter prizes. The first clear objective, enter the prize area, be between the last two of the table. Once there, it’s when you have to think about winning the sit and go and take the first prize. But you can not forget that the important thing is to be among the players who charge.

Blinds start at 15-30, and they increase every two minutes. As you can imagine, you can not leave many hands without playing because the blinds will soon be big. But this does not mean you should play all kinds of hands, because losing a hand is almost equal to being eliminated.

What hands play in the first levels?

In the first levels, you have to limit yourself to playing the best poker hands . The goal is not to get into trouble. The blinds are very small and not worth attacking, the prize is very small compared to the risk.

In this type of sit and go you will not have many blinds, so you have to keep in mind that it is much more important to save chips than to win them.

These first levels pass quickly, but they are very important. You can shoot two, three or more laps without seeing anything playable. Keep calm.

You always have to take advantage of the mistakes of the rivals, and the one that repeats the most is “limpear”, equaling the blind. Each round you will be once in the big blind and many of them, the rivals will not raise and give you the opportunity to see the flop for free. When you are lucky and the flop is with you, you will take a considerable amount of chips.

That is your plan for the first levels. Wait for the good and take advantage of the times you are in the big blind and the rivals equal. Your goal is to lose the minimum amount so that in the middle phase you can:

• Get an acceptable amount of chips when you double.
• Have strength when you need to steal the blinds.

Keep in mind that the middle phase arrives fast, and any raise commits all your chips. You can not make a raise and then throw yourself. We give an example for you to see:

Imagine that the blinds are at 30-60 and you have been able to go up to 600 points. You make your raise to 180 and the opponent, who has more points than you, decides to go all-in.

Let’s calculate:

• Small blind: 30
• Big blind: 60
• Your bet: 180
• The amount that puts the opponent to equal: 180
• Boat: 450 points

You have to put the rest of your chips, which are (600 – 180) 420 points to win the 450 points of the pot plus the 420 that you would take from the opponent, a total of 870 points. This gives you odds of 1 to 2.1. You would have to win a third of the time to make it profitable to pay. And going all-in preflop, unless you have come up with a totally disastrous hand of type 7❤2 ♣ or similar, you will make an unforgivable mistake by throwing yourself.

So you know, from the middle of the tournament , if you do not want to play all the chips, do not upload. Or what is the same, if you go up you have to be willing to pay the all-in of any rival.

This has two exceptions, when you have few chips and your only move is all-in, or when you’re the outstanding leader in chips and you can afford to lose some chips without you practically noticing.

In the first case, when you do not have almost chips you have to:

Steal the blinds or fold

If you can not play any hand, and you see that you are losing the blinds, it is time to put the chips in the center and take the blinds or fold.

To take the blinds, you only need to put the chips in the center. If you throw the rivals at the poker table, you take the blinds, if they do not throw you do not take them. So it does not matter much what hand you have, you only need that the rivals do not dare to pay you.

But on some occasion the rivals will decide to pay you. In this case, the better your hand is, the more chances you will have to fold.

When it comes to stealing the blinds, you have to keep in mind what will happen when they pay you, so the risk of being eliminated has to be compensated with the benefit of taking the blinds. The higher the blinds are relative to your stack, the more risk you can take. If the blinds are high, you can steal with a worse hand than if the blinds are low.

Bearing this in mind, as you run out of chips, you increase the range of hands with which you will go all-in to steal the blinds. In sit and go superturbo, when you stay with five big blinds you have an ace, or a king if you are on the button, to put all your chips. It does not matter the other letter. If you are in the small blind and what you have seen of the big blind player, do not think it is very pay, you can put all your chips with any pair of cards to take the big blind and recover your small blind.

Keep in mind that you can not get to stay with two blinds, because you would lose the strength of your bets. Before getting to this bad situation, you have to go all-in to steal the blinds, with the risk of being eliminated. It will always be better than staying with so few blinds that they pay you any bet.

To avoid running out of strength, you have to increase your hands with which you will play all the chips as you run out of points.

With more chips than the rivals

In the case that you have many more chips than your rivals, you have to make life impossible for them. As usual there are three players left, you have to take advantage of the fact that the rivals are waiting for the other one to be eliminated. They will not risk waiting for the opponent to be eliminated and enter prizes.

You, who are not afraid of being eliminated, have to take as many chips as possible to have an almost insurmountable advantage in the final hand. You get this by raising all hands. Putting the rivals all-in. Each hand you take the blinds, unless one of the rivals has a very strong hand, but this almost never happens.

In the event that one of the rivals pays and wins the hand, if you still have the same advantage, you keep pressing. If, however, you stay more or less tied to chips to one of the rivals, change your strategy and play as in the middle phase of the tournament, reducing your range of hands and avoiding the opponent who has the same points as you.

There is a game in which you are sure that you are better all the rivals. You can not lose. You have been watching the table and everyone is playing very badly. It seems that they are willing to give their chips to the first player with some knowledge that is felt at the table. There is only one small problem: the table is totally off your bench. If things went badly you could lose all your bankroll, but the possibility is so tiny that you decide to go forcing yourself. You will have a raise in your bank that will make you take an important leap in your career.

You just got up after a long night of poker. Even in bed you open your eyes and remember what happened last night. What a departure! It was amazing how bad the rivals were. You had them in your hands, they did what you wanted, but why do you have that bitter feeling? You look at the cashier of 888poker.es and you see that it is zero. In the end, after playing the best poker of your life, you lost. You got up without a single file. All the rivers went upside down. In all the coolers you had to lose. If you could play another day, surely you recovered what was lost, but you had put all your banking in play. And you lost it. And there is no more poker for you. You did not take into account the concept.

 

Protect your bankroll at all times.

I know many players who are not among the best in the world technically, who make you doubt that they can live from poker, but in reality they have been playing and winning for a long time, and they also live very well.

Their main quality and what they base their game on is a correct control of the bank. They will never lose the money they have available to play. They will change their level, depending on their bank and the difficulty of the rivals, but they will never take risks that endanger their banking.

They will never put their banking in play. No matter how attractive the game is. It does not matter what money they can earn. If the cost is risking the bankroll, they will not take it. They are very clear that banking is life. They are professionals who take poker as a company. If the company runs out of money disappears. If the poker player loses his bench, he disappears as a professional.

On the other hand, I have seen many talented players not being able to develop a race because they have no control over their bankroll. They entered games too high for their bench and a stroke of bad luck made them lose and have to start again from very low, wasting time and money. In the end, it did not motivate them to have to rebuild their bench and ended up quitting playing. A promising race finished for not having controlled the bank.

And there are many more of the second than of the first.

And the amateurs

If you do not dedicate yourself professionally to poker, you would also have to maintain a separate bank to play and stick to it. You can have a little more flexibility, since every month you have the salary of your work with which you live, and in case you lose part of the bank you can fill it with your private money, although it is not advisable to get used to that.

If you decide to recharge your bank with private money, do not make it a habit. Actually, from now on you should never do it. The bank must be independent of the money used to live, and never mix it with the latter.

If your illusion, like that of all players is to participate in the most important tournaments, it is necessary that you keep a bank that grows.

The magic of banking is that it grows with your knowledge of the game. As you master a level, you will gain more and your bankroll will increase. When you raise to a higher level, your bank, in proportion is smaller, your game is not so superior to the rivals. As you continue to improve, your bank will increase.

Do not play outside the banking or knowledge level. Just as you do not sit in a game in which you do not have the level of knowledge and you look inferior to the rivals, do not do it in a table for which you do not have sufficient banking.

The concept

Definitely. Your bank is your life. Without a bank, you will not be able to play poker. Protect it first. And remember that whatever the level of your bank, at 888poker.es you will find tables or tournaments suitable so you do not miss your rules.

Having a strong mental game is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to “preconditions” to become a professional poker player. There are many more tangible things that we need to master (such as managing our money, skill in the game, etc.). Therefore, the purpose of the chapter is to give more details about these points or prerequisites.

1. The starting point

The starting point to which all poker players who aspire to improve their game – amateur or professional – is to get a sufficient amount of money to achieve this goal. We refer to the money they will use to play poker, also called bankroll. Usually, they start with a small bankroll (one reserved specifically for poker), or even no bankroll and they must start from scratch, trying to get the first euros through online freerolls.

Having a small bankroll to start with (100 euros for example) is a great way to play at low levels, learn the game, hone our skills, and accumulate bankroll so that when our game improves we can raise levels, ie go to tables More expensive. Or play more expensive tournaments and with better prizes.

I said, if you prefer to play online without making a deposit, there are the “freeroll” tournaments (tournaments where players enter for free, but there are real gains for the best). A real example of this happened in 2007 when Chris Ferguson created (and ended successfully) a challenge that was to go from $ 0 to $ 10,000 in about 18 months. He did it mostly to prove that any poker player has the ability to create a bank from scratch.

Regardless of how you initially build your funds, however, it is very important to keep that money separate from the money we use for other things. In this way, you can have a steady growth of the money we use for poker. That said, let’s take a look at what the typical requirements on bankroll and other financial advice you’ll need to know if you get to jump to the professional level.

2. About the bankroll.

First of all we show you below a basic list on bankroll management (BRM):

• 30 buy-ins for cash games
• 30 buy-ins for Sit-N-Go (SNG)
• 100 buy-ins for multi-table tournaments (MTT)

To understand this, we must know that the buyin is the highest money in which you can play at a certain level. For example, let’s say that our bankroll for poker is 6,000 euros. This would mean that we should play a maximum of 200NL (with blinds of € 1 / € 2 and a table buy-in of € 200). This equals 30 buy. If we play tournaments, the most expensive should be € 60 registration

It is important to keep in mind that the figures described above are the minimum requirements for proper bankroll management. But there are certain poker players and more conservative and they are based on the rules described below:

• 100 buy-ins for cash games
• 100 buy-ins for SNG
• 500 buy-ins for MTT

These two examples of rules are very basic guidelines for bankroll management. Keep in mind that these can and should change depending on the level of the rivals or the type of game. For example if we play Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) the limits should be higher since the variance is much higher.

To make sure that these rules are not broken (especially when you try for the first time), it is recommended that we have a friend or poker partner who manages these issues and is in charge of making sure that we are fulfilling this golden rule .

3. The numbers send.

For an amateur to even consider the possibility of becoming a professional, the first thing should be if he is a winning player. And we’ll know that by analyzing our statistics on a large enough sample. It is not worth having earned money the first two months of play. We need hundreds of thousands of manops and a lot of experience to be sure that we are really winners and we are not going through a good run.

In general, we have positive statistics of 100,000 to 250,000 hands of sample, we will have valid data that will eliminate much of the influence that the variance has had on the general results. These types of numbers will later prove that you are the player who wins in a sustained manner in the long term.

4. Earnings calculation.

To calculate the possible monthly and annual income, we have to familiarize ourselves with a common calculation that many players use to determine their monthly accounting, especially for cash games. We talk about the ratio between BB / 100 (or the average number of big blinds won every 100 hands).

The use of this statistical variable is interesting since we will only win consistently if this ratio is positive. Let’s assume we’re playing 100,000 hands a month. That by the way, there are not many on the internet!

• 30BB / 100 hands at 2NL would be $ 600 / month ($ 7,200 / year)
• 17bb / 100 hands at 5NL would be $ 850 / month ($ 10,200 / year)
• 12bb / 100 hands at 10NL would be $ 1,200 / month ($ 14,400 / year)
• 8BB / 100 hands at 25NL would be $ 2,000 / month ($ 24,000 / year)
• 6BB / 100 hands in NL50 would be $ 3,000 / month ($ 36,000 / year)
• 4BB / 100 hands at 100NL would be $ 4,000 / month ($ 48,000 / year)
• 3BB / 100 hands at 200NL would be $ 6,000 / month ($ 72,000 / year)

When we know these numbers it is the moment to decide what we want to dedicate ourselves to: playing low levels but doing many hands and playing many tables at the same time and the number of hands that we must play each month to fulfill the objective.

The calculation is done like this: suppose we are playing 100NL tables on the internet, and we have a profit rate of 4bb / 100 at this level. This means we are earning $ 4 on average for every 100 hands we play. Based on this, how many hands should we play to win $ 2,400?

• Well we have the following formula  $ 4 x $ 2,400
• Where ‘x’ is the number of hands (100 hands) = ($ 2,400 x 100 hands) / $ 4
• Then we get that we must play 60,000 hands / month

 

5. The importance of HUD

A heads-up display (HUD o) is a very common tool used by all online poker players. They are programs that help us create a statistical database that makes for the monitoring of our game as well as that of our opponents.

One of the greatest benefits provided by this software is that it shows the statistics of its opponents (VPIP, PFR, 3B%, etc.) directly on the tables on the screen. With these numbers in view, you can quickly identify the opponents’ game tendencies, allowing you to classify them. This information allows us to play optimal poker against each individual opponent.

The most common HUD software currently available on the market are PokerTracker4 and Hold’em Manager 2. Both are currently available for around € 50.

6. Hand History Analysis

The evaluation is fundamental to the progress of any online player. We will be able to see the game areas in which we stand out and what we can improve. Hand history is the basic tool to review our sessions, which should be a thing to study on a regular basis as it is very beneficial for our game does not stagnate. Because as we have seen before, there is software that indicates our betting guidelines and rivals can easily see how we play. So we must review our game and recycle.

Like any business and industry, poker is a game in constant change. New players come with new styles and new methods so keeping up with game trends is a must.

7. Types of professional players

There are three types of important players in terms of professional dedication:

• Cash games players
• Tournament players
• Cash games and tournament players.

While there are many professionals who mainly play their role in cash games, most players enter the third category because they prefer to play both modalities. In fact many use the cash games to finance tournaments.

We must be careful with professional poker players only play tournaments. Those who do are aware that the variance is huge. A great tournament player can spend a year without winning a tournament and many months without entering money positions, so if you are looking for a monthly salary through poker, no doubt cash games are the way to go.

Whichever roadmap you are thinking of taking, remember this:

• If you are a good cash player, play cash tables.
• If you are a good tournament player, play tournaments.

Since the mid-nineteenth century, 7 Card Stud was the most played form of poker and continued to be until the 80s when Texas Hold’em became the preferred game. It is thought to have originated in the American Midwest, but it is very different from Texas Hold’em . Before going on to learn how to play Stud of 7 cards, review our section on how to play poker so that you have a general notion.

What is 7 Card Stud?

For the uninitiated, instead of five community cards, each player receives seven individual cards. This is the reason why there is a maximum of eight players at the 7 Card Stud tables. However, as in Hold’em, the best five-card hand takes the pot. So, although in 7 Card Stud each player receives seven cards in total, only five of those cards can be used to form the play. In addition, the 7 Card Stud is usually played in limited format, where the first two rounds of betting are with the low and high level in the last three rounds. In the case that in the fourth street, the two discovered cards of any player were a pair, anyone can raise the bets at the high level. Now that you know the basics, this is our simple 7 Card Stud guide.

How to play Seven Card Stud

Bring-ins and Before

Seven Card Stud does not have blinds; instead, the players have to put an ante at the start of each hand. Each player receives two cards face down and one face up. There is a mandatory bet called “bring-in” that the player with the worst card uncovered has to put. This bet is mandatory.

First round of bets. Third Street.

First, the players are collected and the first two cards are dealt face down, we can consider them the first and second street. Then a card is dealt face up to each player, the third street. The player with the worst card discovered has to put the “bring-in” or complete up to the low level bet. The rest of the players have the option to fold, pay, complete or raise. Realize that completing is not considered a raise. For example, in a 10/20 game, the bring-in is 5. If the next player completes up to 10, the three allowed increases can still be made.

Second round of betting. Fourth Street.

During the fourth street, another card is dealt face up to each player that continues in the hand. The bets are still those of the low level. Now, the first player to act is the one with the best cards. The action continues with the players having the option to spend, bet, pay, raise or fold, depending on the previous action.

Third round of betting Fifth street

In the fifth street, the minimum bet has risen to the high level. It’s time to make the boat interesting. Another card is dealt face up. Again, the first player to act is the one who at that moment has the best play seen. The action continues with the players having the option to spend, bet, pay, raise or fold, depending on the previous action.

Fourth round of betting Sixth street

When the sixth street has been dealt, each player has four cards face up and two cards capped. The first to act is the one that shows the best hand. The action continues with the players having the option to spend, bet, pay, raise or fold, depending on the previous action. But, if you do not have a hand already, better throw yourself.

Fifth round of betting. Seventh street

During the fifth round of betting, also called the River, players can pass, bet, pay, raise or fold. It’s time for the Showdown, as long as there are two or more players left. At this time, the player with the best five-card hand takes the pot. Note that a hand with more or less than seven cards is dead. There is an exception in which a player may not receive the seventh card and keep the hand alive. Also, if there are more players on the river than cards in the deck, the dealer does not burn a card and hands out one to each player. In the event that he does not have enough to give one to each player, he would put one uncovered in the center of the common table for all the players. In this case, the one with the best move counting the community card is the first to speak.

Showdown

Although in 7 Card Stud each player has seven cards on the river, in the showdown only five cards of each player are used to form the best play. The ranking of hands is identical to that of Texas Hold’em, with the Royal Flush being the best play and High Card the worst. The clubs are not taken into account in Stud except to decide the bring-in, where the order is Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs.

Many amateur poker players fantasize about becoming a professional player. But few of them manage to make that dream come true … Becoming a professional poker player requires a lot of time and overall dedication and hard work. In this series of articles we will delve into all aspects and roller coasters that we will find in this process of becoming professional players, as well as analyze the pros and cons of being a professional poker player.

Therefore, if it is your dream or if what you want is to learn about all the sacrifices and also the advantages that come together with this profession, read on.

And we have created a series of articles to help many people who want to pass the difficult process of being an amateur player to become a professional. Not only will we show the poker strategies that professionals use, but we will also reveal several crucial fundamental aspects that you must take into account before making the final decision to be a professional.

We will also outline the pros and cons of playing professionally on the internet or live, either to play cash games (games in a circle with money and / or tournaments).

Keep in mind that this process of “becoming professional” is not a walk in the park. We can not stress enough that the decision to become a professional player is very important. However, if your desire is simply to become a better player, you can also learn a lot from these articles that contain information on winning strategies and the lifestyle of the winning players.

Finally, we will review what you can expect from a true “poker professional” along with some very important tips on how to be successful as a poker professional.

However, as you progress in reading these articles, you will notice – through this electronic book in the form of articles published on the 888poker.es blog and also through the experience – that the professional lifestyle of Poker is not all fun. For example, the psychological blows that players may encounter through endless losing streaks can often be extremely difficult to manage at an emotional level, and the problem of having to always play with money coming in at the same time from your bankroll of poker and of daily life.

Playing poker can also be very exhausting for your physical and mental health. Poker demands concentration and constant attention through all the moments of days and the long sessions of the players.

That said, when you can find a balance between poker and your personal life, when you can make good money with the game, and have fun at the same time, then everything is ready to face the obstacles that you will encounter on the way.

And it’s important to keep in mind that many “normal” poker players have made this successful journey to become professional, – either by consistently winning tournaments, sweeping cash tables, or both! Ultimately, that is the point where we want you to be able to reach and after reading this guide, you will have all the tools and knowledge necessary to achieve and maintain your life as a professional poker player.