All You need to know about Bitcoin Gambling Part #2 - POKER

 I know it has been a while I haven´t posted at Steemit. And I also know I have promised you guys I would be posting a crash course on several gambling techniques, namely Poker and Sports Trading. Unfortunately, 6 months have passed before I managed to find some time to post again. I’m really sorry for the delay. It is better to be late than never. So, here it is.  

Tutorial: How to make Poker Gambling profitable 

As I already mentioned in the previous article, the biggest obstacle a gambler will have to face is his own reactions to the game.  If a gambler is driven by emotion, the outcome will be pretty obvious. He will certainly loose his entire stack in no time. To avoid this from happening, a gambler needs to use a solid strategy and, of course, to control his emotions. So, if you are not a patient guy, let me be straight with you, you will not succeed. Controlling our emotions is certainly the most difficult part. You will need to have lots of patience while sticking to a strategy and following it by the book so that you can greatly increase your chances to win and stay on profit. I will discuss a few strategies further on. 

Starting from scratch\ no deposit 

I will start with a No Deposit guide, meaning that in this version you start with no coins, so you will have to stick to Freeroll Tournaments to gather a playing Bankroll, or you can find a Poker Room offering an initial free deposit after a sign up (which is not very easy to find). You will also need to bear in mind that I will exclusively be considering Hold’em Poker Tournaments and Sit N Go’s. Some of you might ask – what about ring games? – My answer is: I simply consider ring games too risky and do not advise anyone to use them as a safe source to gather a Bankroll. And one last thing: If you are starting with no deposit and looking to profit real big, very fast, let me tell you right now that this is an effective process, but it is also a tedious one. Rome wasn´t built in a day and neither your stack will be built in one week or two!  

Picking up a Poker Room 

Let’s get started. First things first: you will need to choose a Poker Room to start playing and to do that you will need to do your own homework by searching for information to find out if the sites you are willing to use are trusted or not. Since, this guide is essentially about Bitcoin Poker gambling, you can research through different reviews and the best place to start is in Gambling Bitcoin. At gamblingwithbitcoin.com you will find a big list of complete reviews for several of the best Bitcoin gambling sites.  Nevertheless, you should also consider Poker Rooms that don´t use Bitcoin (Pokerstars, or William Hill, for instance), as you can also use Bitcoin to deposit at these sites using a simple workaround with the help of Neteller (you can play at Rooms with a lot more player volume). Yes, that’s right! You can fill up your Neteller account using Bitcoin and then use it to deposit to pretty much any online casino. 

For those planning on making a first deposit, my suggestion is to go for those Poker Rooms offering Bonus rewards up on the first deposit. But before you do this, always check the conditions attached to that specific bonus as sometimes, gambling sites make it nearly impossible to withdraw the bonus amounts. Nevertheless, Bonuses amounts can be used to generate profits. After, making a first deposit, doubling that deposit and collecting the bonus, you can move on to another Poker Room that offers a deposit Bonus and start all over again, that way you will be accumulating a bigger Bankroll. 

Playing Freeroll Tournaments and Low Stake Sit n Go’s  

The best way to start gathering small amounts for free is by playing Freerolls, so playing them will pretty much be the first phase of your mission. You will need to play a lot of Freerolls before you can gather an acceptable amount and step up to your second phase which is playing paid Low Stake Sit N Go’s. Once you reach this phase, the risk will be bigger, but the rewards will be bigger as well, and from now on, in all the following phases the Risk will only increase.

 Picking the right place to start, will be all about finding out what are the trusted Poker Rooms that offer the best Freerolls and have a small to medium amount of players. This in the beginning is a good choice because you will have a lot less players to face meaning that you have increased chances of staying on target.  

 The best 3 Bitcoin Poker Rooms to start doing this are: Betcoin.ag, Seals with Clubs Poker, and FortuneJack. You can also take a look at Nitrogensports, however the Freerolls only offer a prize to the player who wins.  

Most Freerolls offer prizes up to an X number of players depending on the amount of players who’ve participated in the tournament. So, for example if more than 1000 players got registered, the first 200 will reach the prize. It means that your mission will always be to reach the first 200. Of course that the closer to the first place the better, but what you need to do is to focus in reaching the prize. That way, no matter how low the prize is, you will still be gathering funds to your stack. Basically you will be running a piecemeal tactics technique. 

Gathering an acceptable Bankroll will not be easy. It will be all about perseverance, patience and strategy, however, you can consider this first phase has training and learning. Since you will be spending a lot of time playing Freerolls you will be able to use several strategies and develop new ones. Just think of it has a chance of improving your skills and techniques for free. 

Managing your Bankroll 

Learning how to rationally manage your Bankroll will be a very important task. This will dictate your success or your demise. IMO, $20 is a proper Bankroll to start playing Poker (if you are planning on making a Deposit), but since we are starting from scratch we will need to lower this amount to $5. So, once you manage to gather $5 you will be able to start playing low Stakes Sit N Go’s. As soon as you get to this stage the winning prizes will start to increase, (the risk as well) which will allow you to add bigger amounts to your Bankroll (and bigger losses as well). 

One of the first rules of Bankroll management is that you need to specify what should be your Buy-in Range. Even for those with big Bankrolls it is wise to never use more than 1\10 of your Bankroll, but since you are starting from zero, you should have a special attention to your Bankroll, so I would consider using about 1\15 or even 1\20 of the total Bankroll as the base Buy-in for your Sit N’ Go’s. You can increase the base amount as soon as you double your Bankroll. Just remember: If you were able to gather $5 by playing Freerolls, you will be able to make good profits playing paid Tournaments. 

In Game Strategy and Techniques 

During the game your will need to consider a lot of factors. First of all you need to think that besides being a luck game, Poker is also a little bit like Chess. It is purely a mathematical game, and you need to plan your every move a few shots ahead, while always keeping track of what you opponent’s move might be. So, you will need to understand the metrics behind Poker and learn to do your math.  

Poker Odds 

By using statistics you can have a lot more control over the game. It doesn´t mean that it will make you win all the time but it will sure help a lot. Knowing how to calculate the Odds will be especially helpful, when you need to take difficult decisions. If you are not too sure about how to calculate Poker Odds, you can learn more about it here.  Additionally, you can use specially designed software to calculate the Odds. You can find a list of Odd Calculators here. 

Game statistics 

Keeping track of the game statistics is also a good way of abiding by the specific set of rules in your Strategy and a good way to understand if your strategy is working or not. This counts for both Tournaments and Sit N Go’s. Most Poker Rooms provide you with in game statistics, so you should use this information to help you succeed. You can keep track of your performance and control your every move. 

For example, you should maintain a rate of active presence in the game going from 17% up to 24%. More than this means you are taking too many risks, while less means you are losing a lot of winning chances. Overall, the in-game statistics serves as a powerful tool that provides you on-time additional information about your performance and helps you make the necessary adjustments and corrections to it. 

Knowing \ studying your opponent 

You will never be able to know for sure what the opponent's cards are but you will be able to predict what next move will be. This will be a powerful advantage. To be able to predict with accuracy what could be the opponent’s move you will need to stay alert and keep track of the moves of all the players in your table and compare it with the Showdown outcome. You will need to analyze every reaction and every aspect of their moves, so I suggest you take some notes for every opponent, those will come pretty handy, and I can assure you. Most of the Poker Rooms already provide you with tools to take notes so make good use of it! 

Playing Attitude\ Strategy and Tactics 

During the game you will need to have a steady Attitude. Even if you have the lowest stack in the game you need to make sure that your opponent’s fear you. Take your time when making difficult decisions and use all the tools at hand to help you make the best decision. Always remember that sometimes a good Fold is the best prize, and you will need to learn to bail out even if your cards give you a good match, if you see that there might be something bigger in the opponent’s hand, just Bail out. Don’t waste chips by going to the Showdown, just bail out and don’t show your cards. You should always avoid revealing cards at any cost. Revealing the Cards at the showdown gives others some tips on what strategy or technique you are using, so, if you have the chance of not showing your cards, just don´t show them.

Many players use Bluff and aggressiveness to control the opponent’s. IMO, this is not a good approach. Normally this technique leads the gambler to TILT, so, if you are planning to use an aggressive Bluff style, you will need to know, how and when to apply it. Bluffing can be a good technique when correctly used, but used too many times it invariably will lead the gambler to Stress and go TILT. 

My advice is for you to adopt a calm and steady approach, and to use different tactics and different strategies in the appropriate moment. You should adopt a Tight-Aggressive tactic when running low on chips. That means you will need to go All-In several times, so you will have to make use of different information, such as your position, your cards, how many opponents on play, the Odds, what you know about the opponent’s, and so on, in order to decide what is the best time to attack.  

The Pair Technique 

If you’re planning to go All-In, make sure you have a good set of cards. you can always use the Pair Tactics, to go All-In. All All-In plays are very Risky, even when you have a Pair of Aces (AA) in your hand, but if you are going for an All-In, having a Pair in your hands is the best call. That means you should always play a Pair of Deuces (22) as if it was a Pair of Aces. Of course, that every All-In should be closely considered before you go fourth with it, even if it is part of the chosen tactic.  For more Poker Strategies and Tactics you can visit this site.  

Managing Chips during the game 

You should always pay close attention to your stack during the game. You have to consider avoiding tackle opponents with bigger stacks and instead you should make your immediate victims \ enemies the opponents with the lowest stacks. Just think; if you lose a round with an opponent carrying fewer chips than you, it is less likely for you to be removed from the tournament, while on the other hand, if you play a round with an opponent with a bigger stack, he can easily force you to go All-In, and if you lose that round you will be removed from the Tournament. 

Being the Cheap Leader gives you a clear Mental Advantage over the other opponents. So, if you are going to face an opponent with a lot more chips you need to bear in mind that he will try to use this has against you. That’s when all the information you are gathering during the game will come to be crucial. Remember, playing Poker is not the Lottery. Don´t play by Intuition or Luck, do your math, use the information you have to find a pattern that will help you make the wisest decision.  

Stack Maintenance  

At this point you already know how important is to wisely manage your stack during the game. During the tournaments it is also required that you update your stack. Since tournaments evolve progressively, the Blinds increase through several stages, so it becomes mandatory to increase your stack. This means that you will need to go through some rounds and you’ll have to have some winnings. If you cannot increase your stack progressively as well, you will become handicapped with a limited number of plays, which will eventually force you into an undesired All-In, so you should upkeep your stack every time you can. 

Position  

You should never underestimate your table position is Poker because it is also a very important factor to consider. Position in poker refers to the order in which players are seated around the table related to the Dealer (Button) and the related poker strategy implications. Players who act first are in "early position"; players who act in between are in "middle position"; players who act later are in "late position". Using your table position in your advantage will be an important skill and to use it correctly you will have to combine all the information we have previously talked about.

Early position (Sometimes called has Under the Gun) are not very good because the player has limited information regarding the round it is in. Aggressive players often use early positions to raise or to do All-In plays. If you do a raise in an early position, that means you are paying to get back to a late position. This will also make a lot of players fold but it can also have negative effects.   

The middle Position is a little better than the early position but not as good as late position. You will have a wider view of the hand than in early position; however, if early positions Fold you will have a serious disadvantage in the next hand.  

The late position is often highly advantageous related to other positions. The players in late position will have a wider view of the round during every hand. Many player use the late position to make Bluff and to raise over weaker players which sometimes can be quite effective.  

The Button \ Dealer is definitely the most advantageous position in the game. The Button is the best seat in the hand because you have 360 angle view of the round and on every betting hand, except for before the flop, you will be last to act.    

Ok, for now that’s all. I hope you enjoyed my basic guide and I can´t wait to read your comments. Next guide will be about How to play on Poker Tournaments.  

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Hope you guys can give me some Steam!!!