Conservational Alliance

Every pokerstars.com player at one time or another is guilty of committing common mistakes which shouldn’t really be made at the table unless you’ve just made a bad judgement. To be a successful and profitable poker player you generally need to limit the amount of mistakes that you make when you play. By limiting or outright make common mistakes disappear from your game then you’re going to have an excellent shot at making money on the seven card stud tables.

* The biggest and most common mistake which seven card stud players will make is that they chase way too many draws. Even the most experienced seven card stud poker players will fall victim to this mistake when they are trying to chase losses or just aren’t playing there game. Since every player can potentially receive seven cards in this game it allows for a lot of options such as straight draws and flush draws. If you chase down every single draw that you have in seven card stud then your bankroll is going to shrink much quicker then it’s going to increase.

* In seven card stud every player needs to put in an ante every hand they play which even on a $1/$2 table can add up quickly. You need to make sure you keep in mind how many antes you have lost without winning a hand so that you can ensure you’re making money. You also can’t play to tight of poker or else you’re just going to forfeit your stack over time through antes. Make sure that every couple times around the table you take a stab at the antes and try to steal them so that you aren’t losing yours every time.

* One of the other mistakes which isn’t as common, but definitely more costly is calling on Full Tilt with only the second of third best hand. In seven card stud the typical winning hand is going to something along the lines of a straight, flush or better. If you have a low flush and an opponent is betting into you with a lot of chips then chances are they have a higher flush. One way you can find out if they might have a higher flush is by looking at the cards they have face up. It’s always important to make sure that your opponent’s face up cards don’t allow your opponent to have a hand that can easily beat yours. If this happens then you need to fold your hand and wait for the next one.

* If you have an advantage after the third, fourth or fifth street from the face up cards which everyone can see then you need to take a stab at the pot. For instance, if you have a decent pocket pair face up and none of your opponent’s have a pair face up then you should be putting a bet into the pot to try and steal it. If your opponent’s see that you have a high pair face up then most will put you on trips or at least two pair so if they can’t beat that they will generally fold unless they have a good draw. By betting though, you should be able to get most of the draws out of the pot which is the idea when you have good face up cards.

Razz Poker is a very new game to the poker world and not many people even know how to play this poker game yet as it hasn’t become as popular as poker games like Texas Holdem. Some of the online poker rooms have been starting to implement Razz Poker rooms into there lobby and the tables have been filling up with potential opponents waiting for action.

Razz Poker is an easy game to learn and if you already know how to play seven card stud then you won’t even need to learn anything. Razz Poker is the exact same game as seven card stud except for one simple rule change which is that in Razz Poker the lowest possible poker hand wins. The switch from needing a high hand to needing a low hand is what has made this poker game strive in popularity the past few years. Many professional poker players have been playing this game as well because it adds a bit of a change compared to what they are so used too.

Aces are always considered to be low cards in Razz Poker and flushes don’t help you out at all in this poker game. The best possible hand you can have in Razz Poker is A-2-3-4-5. Razz can be played in all forms of stakes and limits including fixed limit, pot limit and no limit, but generally the game will be played in a fixed limit format. In Razz there are five betting rounds with the first two betting rounds equalling the low bet on the table and the final three betting rounds equalling the high bet amount for the table. This means that on a $5/$10 table the first two betting rounds would use $5 opening bet with $5 raises and the last three betting rounds would use $10 with $10 raises.

Just like in seven card stud you’re going to need to put in an ante every single hand which you need to account for when you play this game. There are no blinds, but the ante is generally 25% of the stakes on the table so it’s more costly then just having blinds like in Texas Holdem. Just like in seven card stud when you play Razz there is a full deck of cards used and up to 2-8 players can play the game.

Once every player in the hand has placed the ante into the pot the dealer will deal out three cards to each player. The first two cards are face down and the third card is dealt face up. There is a round of betting at this point in the hand and then the dealer deals out one more face up card to each player. Another round of betting follows and then another face up card is dealt out. Player’s left in the pot bet again and then the dealer deals out the final face up card to each player. Another round of betting is started now and then the final card is dealt face down to each player left in the pot. After a final round of betting anyone left in the pot will now flip over there hand and the lowest five card poker hand will win.

The casino gambling establishments employ many people and they don’t get paid very much money and often they rely on our tips to help make ends meet in there lives. I have seen some people before at the casino who never tipped anyone and I don’t feel this right. I feel that some of the employees at the casino deserve to be tipped and you should do your best to make sure you tip them. It’s only common casino etiquette that you tip certain employees and we’re going to go through a small list of who you should tip and how much is reasonable. I never said you need to get carried away with tips because then you’d be losing too much of your money, but it’s only proper to tip a small amount.

What is a Session?

A session at the casino.com can have different definitions, but for the sake of this article a session is based on how long the dealer is dealing at the table. As you know if you’ve been to a casino before dealers switch every hour usually and the one-hour slot that a given dealer deals for is considered a session. I’ll be using this term throughout the rest of this article which is why I’ve given you the brief definition.

Blackjack

* You should try to tip $5 per session at the blackjack tables. Whether you tip $5 every time a dealer sits at the table or every time a dealer leaves the table you should make sure to tip $5 every session. This is just common practice and you’ll most likely see the other players doing the same type of thing.

Poker

* Poker is a bit different then blackjack, instead of tipping a fixed amount you tip based on your winnings. I tip the dealer $1 every pot I win, and if I win a huge pot then I’ll tip anywhere from $2-$5 depending on the size of the pot. Although the dealer has nothing to do with you winning the pot it’s common to tip the dealer after you win a pot.

Slot Machines

* Most casino offer machines where you can exchange bills for change, but there are also still employees who do change runs for players. If you decide to get a chance run done then I recommend tipping $1 each time you do so. If your slots.com machine is broken and needs fix for any reason it’s also nice to tip the worker who fixed the machine $1 as well.

Waitress/Waiter

* Almost every casino offers players free beverages and when you receive a drink from one of the waitresses or waiters you should tip $1 per drink. The drink is free so you can consider your $1 going towards paying for the drink if you don’t like tipping.

I’ve been surprised by how many players don’t tip at all and it’s a bit disturbing. I feel almost obligated to tip at the casino without feeling cheap and although it isn’t mandatory you’ll be frowned upon for not tipping. The only time I’ve never tipped is when a dealer or employee expects a tip and shows to me that they’re expecting a tip. I don’t like that attitude and that’s the only time I won’t tip at a casino.

When you play poker there is no way you’re going to win all the time, even the best poker players in the world have to lose. When you start losing and you become the short stack at the table you’re going to need to change your strategy so that you can have a chance at coming back. Playing the short stack isn’t fun, but you need to have patience if you want a shot at coming back in the game. There are some simple tips you need to follow when you’re the short stack and I’m going to show you them below.

• Your hand selection is going to need to become tighter and you’re going to need to fold some hands that you might normally play. The reason you need to do this is because when you’re a short stack you don’t have the luxury of having any chips to play with.

• If you’re thinking about raising a hand pre-flop at PokerStars make sure you’re prepared to stick with the hand and push your chips in after the flop. You can’t raise a pot and then fold after the flop when you’re the short stack, if you’re worried about doing this you’re better off pushing all-in pre-flop rather then just raising some of your remaining stack.

• While you’re sitting patiently folding your cards you should be waiting for a good hand to make a move and push all-in. When you’re a short stack you should rarely call a pot and you should never raise unless you’re raising all-in. A lot of times when you push you won’t even get a call and you’ll be able to steal the pot and increase your next all-in bet.

• If there is a big raise in front of you and you’re debating going all-in make sure that you actually have a hand. A Full Tilt Poker player usually isn’t going to make a big bet when the short stack is in the hand and still needs to act unless they have a pretty good hand so be careful going all-in when there is a big bet in front of you.

• Many players will look for the chance to triple up or more in pots and you shouldn’t adapt this attitude. With 3 or more players in the pot the chances of you winning become slimmer. If you’re the short stack your best bet is to take your time and double up a couple times against single opponents. Keep this in mind when playing and don’t just throw your remaining chips in the pot because you’re getting great pot odds, because you probably are a big dog in the hand.

As you can see when you’re short stacked at the poker table almost all of your options disappear and you’ll basically be folding or going all-in until you’re eliminated or back in contentions. You don’t need to rush your all-in, but you will need to make a move before the blinds eat up your remaining stack.