Being able to play poker is a gents skill that needs to be mastered. There are many occasions that you can be asked for a game of poker and the words hmmm I don’t know how to play are not an option. The game has seen such significance in recent years that the popular casino game of James Bond was baccarat but is now poker.

Have a look through the rest of this episode of Poker After Dark on YouTube, but the last one really cracks me up, Phil Laak looking for love… I’m not sure how they concentrate on their poker with all that talking going on.

I could watch this programme over and over, just for the entertainment, all the comments and side bets on the side, they just seem to have such fun on this series.  Don’t get me wrong there’s some damn good poker going on.  Its also good to watch the very best of poker and learn from how the pros play poker, what they do in each situation.  You will not get better than Poker After Dark.

Dear Poker Guide, please can you tell me what makes a truly great poker player?  What are the attributes that separate the good players from the great ones?

There are many things that make a good poker player, but I think the one aspect that stands out for me is the ability of knowing “when to do what”.  Or, in other words… of reading a situation, reading the play and reading players at a table and then knowing what to do in each situation.

It is also, not about keeping to one style of play, but adjusting all the time to the situation – Flexibility.  Aggressive play works sometimes, but it also pays off  to sit tight sometimes.  No-one can teach you that, it is an ability either someone has or develops.

That’s the poker guide’s words of wisdom for today…

Reading about Matt Hawrilenko in CardPlayer magazine, the Capture the Flag interview.  I was quite impressed by the young fella and his rise in the world of poker.

What I really liked about what he had to say was.. the stuff about learning to read your own hand first before you try and read your opponents.  Look at the hands you play and how you played them, go back and analyse them over and over until you find flaws in your decision making.  Then fix the flaws, be conscious of what your tendencies are and don’t keep doing them.

He seems like a sensible hard working guy, that although he is bright he has put in the hours to develop his game.

Also, what he had to say about balancing your life outside of poker and not getting caught in the grind.  Having goals that are separate from his poker life, running the Chicag marathon and working out to keep himself fit.

Its a good read, with some wise words from the young man.

I got distracted the other evening playing in an online poker tournament and ended up losing some money.  Damn I got angry with myself.

It was all because I got a call from some friends who were asking what our plans were for the weekend – a pretty straight forward question, right?  This then led to a discussion with my partner about what our plans were and in the mean time play was continuing at the poker table…

I was trying to keep it all going, and then messed it all up.  Then got angry with myself, so my game got even worse!  Lesson learnt… when playing in a poker tourney, switch off the phone and close the door.  Follow a good guide to playing in a poker tournament, shut off outside influence and distractions so that you can concentrate on your game and focus!

Trying to explain to someone how to play poker can be really difficult sometimes.  Even when you show them the hand rankings, explain how to bet and how the poker rules work.. you still get confusion.  Even with an expert poker guide like me!!

The best way to learn poker is to play the game.  I was trying to explain poker to a lady friend of mine and after giving an introduction, the ‘poker guide’ decided it was now time to play.  We played a few hands and there was great laughter as we diagnosed each hand and I explained more about what was right and what was wrong.

She was starting to get the hang of it,  and then she got a pair of aces and started betting.. only problem was I figured she had a top pair, I had a pair of nines and I got my trip on the river card.. so I played her along a bit.  She was convinced that she had a winning hand and kept reraising.  In the end I showed her my trip nines and said that I had won… she just didn’t get it.  “But I thought that a pair of aces was good”, is all I heard for five minutes…

I showed her the hand rankings again and explained that it didn’t matter whether the cards were high or low, it was how many that you had that counted… oh!!! I see!!!

So the moral of the story is that you have to sometimes have harsh lessons in life from the poker guru, before you learn!  You will only improve by playing the game.

It doesn’t matter what you want to call it.  But giving away your chips at the poker table, by not following some basic poker tips is just a waste of money.

Here are some examples of how to waste chips and leak value:

- When you are determined to call, just to make sure they have what they say they have.  Don’t do it unless you are absolutely sure it is a bluff.  If they get lucky, don’t pay them off, just check and fold… get out of there, because everyone gets lucky sometimes and there is no point in you paying for their luck… just get out.

- Trying to play a hand when you are out of position.  They will wait for you to make your play and then better it.

- Not working out the odds. What is your payout compared to the risk that you take?

- Calling as you go along, only to find your opponent has the goods.

I was playing poker the other day and one of my opponents suddenly said to himself, “where am I again?”, meaning what was his position relative to the dealer.

This reminded me of an important lesson for my poker guide post today… it pays to remember where you are and what information you can get from the other players – who still has to play? and what cards do they have?  Even when you are playing internet poker there is information coming your way, so stay tuned and watch what people are doing.  Many beginners temporarily forget their position, but the pros will always make a mental calculation of where they are, for every hand.

Its tricky at first but after a while if you do it regularly, then it becomes second nature – like driving a car…

Nice to see a familiar face at WSOP final table.  Well done Phil Ivey!!

I know its good for poker to have new players always doing well at the major tournaments, but its also good to have pros that continually win.  For a while now, the winners of the WSOP have been relatively lessor known poker players. So its great to see Phil Ivey amongst the final nine contenders who will resume play in November.

It must be agonizing having to wait till November to see how you are going to do… will I take home $8.5 million or will it only be $1 million this time???

On another subject… a more down to earth subject… seeing as we have another 3-4 months to wait until the outcome of the WSOP Main Event.  The more I find out about Flash the more amazed I am about its capabilities.  I was shown some new games the other day from ArcadeSlot – Free flash casino games through to adventure, action and sport games… its amazing how many of these little games have been developed and how much people like them.