Poker

[Nicke]

There seems to be a big interest in online poker, I have also seen it is becoming huge in e.g. Sweden.

I have also met lot of people in MTB lately who play poker and some do that for a living.

Can someone outline the basic rules of poker? Someone in the bar recommended partypoker.com for learning, since you can play without money. I will try that but I havent yet, would like to hear your comments first.

[Captain]

Well, if some make money playing poker, that means others are losing it. So safest is not to play.

[sishow]

Originally Posted by Captain

Well, if some make money playing poker, that means others are losing it. So safest is not to play.

If you talk to any addicted gambler, they always say "Im slightly up!" (i.e. Ive been chasing my original stake for the last 2 hours!) or "Ive just won alot" (I have about 2 or 3 times my original stake!).

Well in my experience anyway!

[marc26]

Originally Posted by Nicke

There seems to be a big interest in online poker, I have also seen it is becoming huge in e.g. Sweden.

I have also met lot of people in MTB lately who play poker and some do that for a living.

Can someone outline the basic rules of poker? Someone in the bar recommended partypoker.com for learning, since you can play without money. I will try that but I havent yet, would like to hear your comments first.

poker is the new rage in the world. ESPN televises the World Series of Poker. it has been going on for years but in the last 3-4 years they have made a spectator sport out of it. there is actually a young swede who is very good. the game they play is texas hold em. not traditional poker. it is quite fun.
on these guys who say they earn a living playing poker, i read those posts and doubt it very highly

[Nicke]

I am just interested in the game, not to lose money by gambling.

As every sensible gambler who do it for fun, you just spend a very small amount of money for fun. I used to play Black Jack or Roulette in clubs in Sweden, i had a limit and if I lost my sum of money I set away for the games I stopped. Just some fun time, at a cost of a couple of beers.

[Tommy33]

Try pokerstars.com their you also can play whith funmoney

[J_jazz]

on these guys who say they earn a living playing poker, i read those posts and doubt it very highly

the thing is if you win on average 10 bucks an hour per table and you play 4 or five table at the same time ( not that rare ) like 5 hours a day then you can live with your winnings.

' not saying it's easy or even fun

Jazz

[marc26]

Originally Posted by dizbuster

It becomes the same as a job when you do that. I know people who just sit there, playing for hours and they finish off with a $20/$30 profit. If you do it every day then it does add up, but as I say, it becomes a job and if you think about it, it's a bad job - 5 hours to make $30, that's just 6 bucks an hour and you are not even guaranteed your pay !! I load up £50 into an account with one of the big UK bookmakers who has a link into a popular site and just play until I get bored. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose but I see it as just a bit of fun.

As for learning, best thing I can advise Nicke, is learn the sequence of the hands first, as I have sat down at tables before (with mates) where I've had to write down the order of winning hands, i.e. what hand beats what. Then after that, just play to your hand. Once you've got the hang of the hands and start to realise how often (or not) some hands come up, then you can start playing agasinst the table (i,e. other players). Start off with 5 or 7 card stud, avoid the games like omaha hold'em and texas hold'em as they require a bit more knowledge of the game, as there are cards laid on the table which are used by all players to make up hands. Here you really need to know what the possibilities are that are available to other players on the table.

For example, if there's 2 sixes a king a jack and a ten on the table, then don't think that you automatically have the winning hand just because you are holding a six (give you three of a kind with 6's), as another player could have a pair of kings jacks or tens, which means they have a better three-of-a-kind hand. Another player could have the fourth six and a king, giving him a full house and a winning ahnd !!! Too much for a beginner to cope with, so I suggest poker when you get cards dealt to you and they are yours alone, i.e. they only count for your hand. A table of say four players, you all get 5 cards face down, you look at the cards and only you know what you've got then you bet according to what you have in the hope that you have the winning hand.

What can be fun, is to play for pennies with a few mates, or even buy a kid's game with different coloured counters and use them as "chips". This means you can have some fun playing, without money becoming an issue or at worst, losing friends because you keep winning all their money

Have fun
Diz

diz,
you are right about the probabilities in texas hold em, but i think its the most user friendly game. if you are playing for fun

ive felt this way for a long time:i hate how a craze starts and the media and world(especially in america) dont know when enough is enough. on a given night theres at least 4 channels on tv showin poker

[tmdawg]

Do any of you guys ever get together for a holdem game?

[swiftdave]

I play internet poker 2 or 3 nights a week and a live game twice a week. Playing without money isn't the same. You think twice when it's your money. Poker is like any other game where practise makes you better, what makes it different is that on any given day a novice can beat a pro.

If you want to learn Nicke, Yahoo games is as good a place as any. PM me when you want and I'll walk you through it online.

[dizbuster]

Originally Posted by swiftdave

I play internet poker 2 or 3 nights a week and a live game twice a week. Playing without money isn't the same. You think twice when it's your money. Poker is like any other game where practise makes you better, what makes it different is that on any given day a novice can beat a pro.

Yep, you're right. Just one more thing, there is a difference between learning the game and being a novice player. I feel it's better to learn the game first and then start playing with your own money, regardless of how small the stakes might be. At present, I don't have any inclination to play Poker and haven't done so for a few months now. Funny how it comes and goes, as I'm sure I'll be back online again before the end of the year !!

[marc26]

i just had a poker tourney at my apartment friday after work. we were suppose to play hold em, then go to rib joint for dinner. never made it to rib joint, ordered it to be picked uop and kept playing

[tmdawg]

opps, maybe I should clarify.

I'm going to phuket for 4 - 6 months and was wondering if anyone has a weekly game going in Phuket.

[stevem]

Originally Posted by tmdawg

opps, maybe I should clarify.

I'm going to phuket for 4 - 6 months and was wondering if anyone has a weekly game going in Phuket.

If they did, they wouldnt advertise it on an open forum, it is illegal.

[tmdawg]

Fair enough...no need getting the men in brown excited. Please PM me if anyone has a regular game going in Phuket.

Thanks.

[Gecko]

Originally Posted by Nicke

There seems to be a big interest in online poker, I have also seen it is becoming huge in e.g. Sweden.

I have also met lot of people in MTB lately who play poker and some do that for a living.

Can someone outline the basic rules of poker? Someone in the bar recommended partypoker.com for learning, since you can play without money. I will try that but I havent yet, would like to hear your comments first.

I joined partypoker.com 9 months ago and started with $100. My account now has $75 in it. I am not in it to make a million $$$, it is great entertainment and I got many hours of fun for just $25 and I am no poker shark I can assure you. I just dont bet too heavy.

I highly recommend partypoker.com just join a table that has the smallest average pot and where the maximum stakes are 50c and only bet when you have a pretty good hand, fold immediately if you have 'a hand like a foot'!!!! You cant go wrong this way and you at the very least will only loose avery small amount of cash. Have fun

HS

[stevem]

I've been watching poker on TV alot since I've been back in Oz, and I'm almost at the stage where I'm starting to feel comfortable enough to go online and have a go myself.

[dizbuster]

Originally Posted by honeyseeker

I joined partypoker.com 9 months ago and started with $100. My account now has $75 in it. I am not in it to make a million $$$, it is great entertainment and I got many hours of fun for just $25 and I am no poker shark I can assure you. I just dont bet too heavy.

I highly recommend partypoker.com just join a table that has the smallest average pot and where the maximum stakes are 50c and only bet when you have a pretty good hand, fold immediately if you have 'a hand like a foot'!!!! You cant go wrong this way and you at the very least will only loose avery small amount of cash. Have fun

HS

I have got a feeling that partypoker.com was the first site I signed up to and won some money. The problem was, when I tried to credit the money back to my credit card I wasn't able to do so, as the rules say that they will take money from your credit card, but won't pay back on it. Instead they send you a US$ cheque.

Now, as I said I am not 100% if it was partypoker.com or not, but if anyone is thinking of signing up and playing poker online, be aware of things like this and don't assume it's a case of just debiting then re-crediting your card.

They are plenty of other sites out there that do debit/credit your card, in fact you control your own account and decide how much gets re-credited, i.e. part or all of your account balance.

Good luck

[swiftdave]

Originally Posted by dizbuster

I have got a feeling that partypoker.com was the first site I signed up to and won some money. The problem was, when I tried to credit the money back to my credit card I wasn't able to do so, as the rules say that they will take money from your credit card, but won't pay back on it. Instead they send you a US$ cheque.

Now, as I said I am not 100% if it was partypoker.com or not, but if anyone is thinking of signing up and playing poker online, be aware of things like this and don't assume it's a case of just debiting then re-crediting your card.

They are plenty of other sites out there that do debit/credit your card, in fact you control your own account and decide how much gets re-credited, i.e. part or all of your account balance.

Good luck

Diz,

Which sites are these, I currently play on and off on four sites, all of which send cheques. I think this is a way to circumvent bank restrictions. I kind of like getting the cheques, however, sometime CC would be more instant gratification.

[dizbuster]

Actually thinking about it, it may be a "geographical thing" as the sites I know of are connections through UK Bookmakers (bookies). The best one I used was Ladbrokes http://www.ladbrokespoker.com/ I just assumed it was international because you can set it up to be in different languages. Best read the small print I guess.

[marc26]

i think most of the sites do checks. and i think the main reason is people will tend to leave the money in their account