The term isolate refers to a raise you make in order to attempt to get into a one-on-one situation with the player you are trying to isolate and is more common in a cash game than in a poker tournament. This strategy is extremely effective against habitual limpers or very loose players who are raising preflop with a wide range of hands.

Isolating is effective in that you will often win the pot preflop when the limper or initial raiser folds, you will win more than your fair share of pots when they call you and you make a continuation bet and when you are called you will have the best hand the majority of the time anyway.

The biggest downfall to isolating is the fact you will have extra money invested in the pot, particularly if you have three-bet preflop, which could put you in a very difficult position if someone left to act after you makes a further raise, though these situations are usually quite rare. If you play Texas Holdem at mid-stakes or higher and are frequently isolating players then expect the better players to make this move, also known as re-isolating, on you from time to time. In situations like this one any notes you have on the player in question become extremely valuable.

Solid, aggressive plays are key to becoming a successful poker player and praying on weakness is one such play. As you progress through the limits, weak players become more and more scarce so being able to locate them and then get them heads-up is very important indeed.

Obviously to make a real comparison between the two we would have to compare players of similar stakes otherwise it simply would not be fair. The lowest stakes many Las Vegas casinos offer at their no-limit Hold’em tables is $1/$2 so we can compare live NL200 to online NL200 and prove there is a massive difference in potential win-rates in the favour of the online player.

A full ring $1/$2 player in a casino will probably see around 30 hands per hour if the dealer is on the top of their game but an online player will see closer to 65 every hour, almost double the amount. Just on this fact alone it should be obvious that the same player would be better off playing poker online, especially when you take into consideration a good online player will often play 4-12 tables with some online grinders regularly playing 20 or more tables simultaneously.

When you take into consideration the rake the house takes out the difference grows even larger. The rake of most online poker sites is capped at 5 per cent of the pot with a maximum of $3 but some casinos rake seven to ten per cent which is often uncapped or capped at a maximum of $10, a huge difference. It is common knowledge that many live $1/$2 games are actually unbeatable in the long term due to the rake and this does not take into consideration the fact it is custom to tip the dealers when you win a pot too.

If you join a bricks and mortar casino you will be lucky to get even a small discount from the restaurant or a free spin of the roulette wheel but all new online players will qualify for a poker welcome bonus which can be as much as $1,000. Then you have the VIP schemes online sites run which can add up to thousands of dollars per month if you play enough hands.
By now it should be quite apparent that the potential to make more money at poker lies with the online generation. That is not to say that live poker is not profitable, far from it, some of the worst players you will ever encounter are live players, it’s just for a winning grinder playing online should be far more profitable than playing in a casino.

Every morning Tom Dwan doesn’t wake up and read Doyle Brunson’s Super system or go and read some advice at some of the best poker forums. When Tom wakes up, the first thing he does is pray. Not to Allah, Buddha, Krishna or even Jesus Christ. The gods he prays to are the Poker Gods: Abed Bat, Iris Verck, Bevel Cull Auk Bin, Neuteroo and Irwenn. Their is also the God, Farisens, who despises his brothers and sisters for all their meddling in the poker world. Farisens, who believes poker should be a game of skill, tries his best to counter anything that Abed Bat, Iris Verck, Bevel Cull Auk Bin, Neuteroo and Irwenn tries to do to affect the game.

For a while, Farisens, the God of fairness in poker, prevented his siblings from affecting the game. This was with help of his son, Doyle Brunson, who he sent to the poker world. For years Doyle Brunson, also known as Dolly to his worshippers, showed that the best way to succeed at poker was to play solid poker constantly and showed that Poker Tournaments could be won by skill and not by praying to the other Poker Gods. While Dolly was a success for many, many years. Even writing what was considered by many player to be the only Poker Bible, Doyle Brunson’s Super System’s.

However, Abed Bat, Iris Verck, Bevel Cull Auk Bin, Neuteroo and Irwenn weren’t going to give up that easily. For years the planned to change the beliefs of the Poker World. They felt powerless and wanted to regain power by taking away all the power Farisens had gained , thanks to his son Doyle. So they plotted and plotted against Farisens. Finally finding their opening when Doyle won the WSOP with 10-2. The rest of the Poker World found nothing strange about the hand at the time. It was well played by Doyle. However, the Gods of Luck and Fluke seen a chance to regain some power.

The very next year at the WSOP, Doyle again went heads up. However, this time Bevel Cull Auk Bin, the Goddess of Unbelievable Luck, had meddled in the game. And when Doyle again won the WSOP the very next year with 10-2 again, poker players all over the Poker World started to believe in the Gods of Luck and Fluke.

Over the years, as Doyle grew older, the Gods of Luck and Fluke grew stronger, slowly gaining more follower. This is when they decided it would be time to send a son also. So Abed Bat, the God of Bad Beats, sent his son to the Poker World. As he grew up, he was known by several names. Firstly, Gustav. Then as he grew older and gain more followers Gus. And then when he hit his almighty power, winning the Aussie Millions, he would be known as The Great Dane.

Over the years Gus had gain a great following. As Gus seemed to grow stronger, Doyle seemed to lose power as did Farisens. Poker players in the Poker World slowly forgot about Doyle’s teachings and started seeing him as more of a Legend of the past. Players slowly started to follow Gus’s teaching of loose aggressive play. This pleased the other Poker Gods. And as they again had control of the Poker World, Neuteroo, the God of the One Outer, and the most powerful of all the Gods of Luck and Fluke, decided to send his only son. Durrr was to be his name. Unlike any previous sons, Durrr gained popularity like no other.

However, rumours recently surfaced among the follows of Farisens, that he himself has arrived in the Poker World. His followers believe when he heard rumours that Neuteroo had sent his only son to the Poker World. He had to make the almighty sacrifice and leave his chair of power where he monitors the Poker World. His name and confirmation of his arrival have yet to be confirmed.

To be continued….

Article Written by Poker Rakeback

In the game of poker, the power of observance can be one of your most destructive weapons. The ability to read your opponents is one of the strongest poker strategies you’ll ever learn. When you can accurately read your opponents, your actual hand strength becomes a lot less important.

Reading your opponents does not require a master’s degree in psychology. The simple ability to observe repetitive behavior and associate it with a particular person is all you need to start successfully reading your opponents on the felt. As you become more accustomed to reading players, you’ll find that many players have the same patterns, making an accurate read much faster as you gain experience.

To effectively read an opponent, start by looking for poker tells and betting patterns. Poker tells are those commonplace reactions our body naturally makes to different situations. A nervous player may inadvertently scratch their forehead, brush their hair back, rub their nose or chin. These are the most obvious poker tells.

Poker Tells

These behaviorisms relate to a player’s nervousness. When you notice them, see how the hand plays out, noting the player’s bet sizes and, hopefully, ending hand. Nervous reactions can mean the player is bluffing with a bad hand, or slow playing a strong hand. They are attempting to be deceptive. More often than not, a high bet equals a bluff, a low bet equals a monster hand.

Other poker tells to watch for are those virtually uncontrollable, instant reactions to looking at a hand for the first time. Often, a player’s eyebrows, if not the eyes themselves, will react. If there’s a rising twitch in the eyebrows, or the eyes widen for just a split second, they’ve looked down at something they are very pleased with. You’ll notice many of today’s pros wearing hooded shirts and sunglasses at the tables to prevent being read in this manner.

Betting Patterns

A lot of players find a strategy that works for them and stick to it. Whether it be a strict, tight poker strategy that calls for premium hands only, or a loose poker strategy in which they always see the flop (if it’s cheap enough to do so), but only continue with great improvement. If they hit a monster hand, especially the nuts, they will slow play it every time. Or they will raise every time a scare card falls on the turn. These are all predictable betting patterns that can give you a keen perception of your opponent’s true hand strength.

Any experienced player will also use their position to their advantage. If you’ve read our previous poker strategy, “Playing Your Position”, you should already know that when the right opportunity arises, stealing blinds from late position becomes highly profitable. But some players will attempt this maneuver entirely too often. Call them on this bluff and the profits will roll your own way.

Bluffing

Not a lot of experienced poker players will try to bluff too frequently, but when you’re up against less advanced players, you may find someone trying to bluff every time no other player raises the pot. Watch closely for players who bet as if they’re getting good hands entirely too often. Chances are, they aren’t getting good hands – they are bluffing. Make the call to put a stop to it, and pad your stack at the same time.

Don’t Get Read

Last but not least, be aware of your own emissions. Are you becoming predictable? Are you following a betting pattern? Are you making nervous gestures that you weren’t even aware of? If you’re attempting to read your opponents, you can bet your last poker chip they are attempting to read you as well. Mix up your game play, switching up poker strategies intermittently, and you’ll drive them crazy trying to read you!

Everyone has stress in their poker life, whether it is good (winning a big tournament) or bad (going on a downswing). People usually recognize and feel the bad stress, but rarely do anything about it. Chronic stress is horribly damaging to the body. The body is not designed for constant threats and damages. Too much bad stress can make us sick, physically and mentally. Some people do not even realize the amount of damage that stress causes. Here, I am going to breakdown the stress in the life of a poker player and how to manage that stress. We will also look at the effects of stress on the body over time.

There are two different types of bad stress. There is imaginary stress and real stress. Imaginary stress is anything that may happen, or has not happened to a poker player yet. This is mostly associated with negative thoughts. For poker players, imaginary stress starts before or during the tournament. Examples of some negative thoughts would be, “I know I am going to lose with aces” or “I will go bust like I do every time I play”. The problem is that none of these events have happened yet and players need to realize that this hurts their game and mental state. Some causes of having imaginary stress are negative emotions, low self-esteem, and comparing yourself to better players.

To prevent imaginary stress players need to change their way of thinking. Mike Matusow mentioned on the WSOP 2009 Main Event broadcast that positive thoughts are the only thing that can keep him sane. Here is a quote from “The Mouth” on positive thinking,

“Speaking as someone who people probably considered the most negative person in poker, I believe that it is everything. I’ve read a lot and listened to tapes on the power of positive thinking and I’ve learned how to take the negativity and turn it back into a positive.”

Matusow is known for blowing up deep in tournaments and has now found a new mental approach to the game. Players need to have positive thoughts. Before tournaments, always think of winning; do not worry about losing until it actually happens. Poker players might think that this is obvious, but some players go into tournaments or cash games thinking that they can not win. The biggest factor in purging imaginary stress is having confidence.

Now that we have covered imaginary stress, we will focus on real stress. Real stress is something that has happened to players in reality. Real stress causes challenges and therefore need to make the appropriate adjustments. Causes of real stress include losing more than winning, bad beats, and going on tilt. If players are on a losing streak or a huge downswing, they need to take a look at your game. There are plenty of strategy books and many coaching sites that offer help in every game. If absolutely nothing is helping the player, then they need to ask if poker is the right game for them. If a poker player never chooses to improve, then they will be dealing with a ton of stress over time.

In conclusion, players need to have some control over their poker game. The biggest reason for going on tilt is having bad bankroll management. Players need to get over bad beats by realizing that not one hand is 100% to win pre-flop. It is self defeating to keep thinking about the bad beats.

Some examples of stress relievers are spending time with friends and family, listening to music, exercising, having sex, and getting the proper amount of sleep. Some bad stress relievers are over eating, getting into arguments, and becoming violent towards others.

Here is a look at what constant stress can do to the human body physically and mentally:

• Immune system. Constant stress can make you more likely to get sick more often.

• Heart. Stress is linked to high blood pressure, abnormal heartbeat, blood clots, and hardening of the arteries.

• Muscles. Constant tension from stress can lead to neck, shoulder, and low back pain. Stress may make rheumatoid arthritis worse.

• Stomach. If you have stomach problems, stress can make your symptoms worse.

• Reproductive organs. Stress is linked to low fertility, erection problems, problems during pregnancy, and painful menstrual periods.

• Skin. Skin problems are made worse by stress.

You might notice signs of stress in the way you think, act, and feel. You may:

• Feel cranky and unable to deal with even small problems.

• Feel frustrated, lose your temper more often, and yell at others for no reason.

• Feel jumpy or tired all the time.

• Find it hard to focus on tasks.

• Worry too much about small things.

• Feel that you are missing out on things because you can’t act quickly.

• Imagine that bad things are happening or about to happen.

I hope this helps poker players that are having issues with stress at the table. Many will find that having a positive approach significantly improve the way of life and game of a poker player.

Sure, a few high stakes players are clinging on to the game for the sake of hanging on to something useless. But all in all, playing Omaha is like listening to the big game on the radio as opposed to watching it on a ridiculously large HD TV.

Below are my top 5 reasons why Texas Hold’em dominates Omaha in terms of, well… everything.

1) None of that Hi/Lo nonsense.

What kind of a game rewards players for coming last? It’s like getting the first question wrong on “Who wants to be a millionaire?” and taking down the top prize. I don’t want to live in a world that backwards, and neither should you.

A real-man’s game involves being the best / making the best hand and taking down the winnings along with a bunch of women, maybe even a few beers too. I’m just not going to have it any other way thank you very much.

2) Less cards = less confusion.

I don’t know of anyone that hasn’t felt slightly cheated after playing one of their first few hands of Omaha and found out the hard way that you have to use 2 cards and 2 cards only from your hand. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like being told what to do, especially not in my card games.

In addition to this, I’m fairly sure that the only reason that you get dealt 4 cards in Omaha is so that the game can show you how many awesome hands you could make with 1, 3 or 4 card combinations from your hand. Then the rules force you to make a god awful bottom two-pair hand as opposed to a royal flush because you have to use precisely two-cards.

Omaha is the only card game I know of that forces you to lose big pots along with the will to live in the space of one hand.

3) More cards in Omaha = less friends.

Omaha by nature forces you to have less friends than Texas Hold’em.

If you really push the boat out, you can deal just over 20 of your friends in to one hand of Texas Hold’em. Sure, it would be a ridiculous game, but the fact of the matter is that it’s still possible. However, our good old obnoxious friend Omaha will only allow you to deal up to 11 friends in to the game.

Thanks to good old Texas Hold’em poker, I can maintain a healthy abundance of friends and acquaintances whilst simultaneously playing poker and winning their money.

4) Omaha is often played as a pot-limit game.

Pot limit poker is a culmination of the worst aspects of limit and no limit poker, which is intended to help suck out all enjoyment from any poker game that decides to play host to this betting structure.

Well, maybe that’s a bit harsh, but pot limit games just aint that much fun. Pot limit poker is basically no limit poker with training wheels, so I fail to have any respect for a game that uses it as it’s primary betting structure.

5) Sam Farha plays Omaha.

Texas Hold’em has Phil Ivey, Omaha has Sam Farha.

Exactly.

The buy-ins usually vary depending on the night. The range from £30 to £100. On Tuesaday night the last time I won it was a £40 buy-in. So was happy enough to take home near £400. I started off fairly well increasing every level until my pocket Kings got beat by Pocket Queens After that I was fairly short stack, so had to grind all the way to the final table.

At the final table I was playing fairly tight poker, but thanks to hitting pocket Tens four times at the final table and them holding every time, and even beating  pocket Queens when I hit a Ten on the flop against the short stack when he pushed on the button. I quickly got back up to average stack.

Once I got some chips we quickly lost two players when the short stack moved allin UTG with A-10, with second chip leader following suit and re-raising allin on the button, only for the Chip leader to do the same. Second chip leader turn over Kings and the the chip leader turned over Aces. So that left us with three, with me and another player roughly the same stack and the chip leader having a massive lead. After about an hour of play I had took a big percentage of the chip leaders chips and then when I knocked out the short stack it left me with a massive chip lead.

So we went heads up. After a few hands I had over a five to one chip lead. Then the other player pushed allin I called with Q-J suited. he turned over K-4. His K held. Straight after that he asked if we could split. So me being me and the fact that I was heads up with a man three times my age I decided to split. So I ended up getting near £400 and so did he. Then we had a chip count to see who would get the points for the league. I had over 180k in chips. He had slightly over 100k in chips. So I get the the points and the win, which is always nice.

So hopefully my live game sticks with me to I get to the Boyle Poker IPO which Gloss Poker have sponsored me to play. Cause my online game sucks at the minute.

If you fancy playing poker in N.Ireland I highly advice playing at Fortune Rooms, Cookstown. It also the best place to play bingo with two giant bingo halls. So if you want to play for a massive bingo bonus or love playing poker. Cookstown is the place to go. They usually have a poker tournament on every night or a bonus bingo game to play as well.

True story… read it for yourself!!!

WARNING:

Don’t poke fun at Mike Matusow’s avatar / cartoon character on FTP.

If you play on FTP, you’ll know what I’m taking about… his goatee (poop
lipstick) and all.

True story… read it for yourself!!!

================

—–Original Message—–
From: Full Tilt Poker Support [mailto:support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2005 3:50 PM
Subject: Chat revoked

Hello,

It has come to our attention that you have been abusing your chat
privileges at the tables. We value all players and wish to foster an
environment that they can play at without being harassed or called names
at the tables.

We have revoked your chat privileges for two weeks at this time. Please
email us after 14 days to request your chat reinstated.

Thank you for your cooperation, and good luck on the tables.

Regards,
Irina
Team Full Tilt

———————————————————————-

Original Message to support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx follows:

————————

Irina,

Can you please quote my chat in past transcripts where you believe I’m
guilty of this?

Please let me know…

Thanks,
J.C.

———————————————————————-

—–Original Message—–
From: Full Tilt Poker Support [mailto:support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 12:12 PM
Subject: RE: Chat revoked

Hello,

Your chat was revoked for two weeks for directing insults against one of
our pros, Mike Matusow. Please realize that we take insults against our
pros very seriously.

“mike, can u have FTP wipe off the poop lipstick around your avatar’s
face?”

Your chat will be reinstated on 12/13/05. Thank you for your cooperation.

Best of luck on the tables, and if there’s anything else we can help you
with, please let us know.

Regards,
Joe W.
Team Full Tilt

———————————————————————-

Original Message to support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx follows:

————————

Dear FTP,

LOL!!! You’ve got to be kidding. Who reported this?

I received no warning about this, which seems to be customary with
“non-pros” who use vulgarity & profanity much more extreme than the
joking around I was doing at his avatar — NOT DIRECTLY AT MATUSOW.
Huge difference.

You may want to consider reactivating my chat within the next 24 hrs
else I’ll be forced to:

1. Clear out the cash funds in my account

2. Post this entire e-mail to REC.GAMBLING.POKER newsgroup site for the
public to see

3. Switch to a different poker site

I’ve been a loyal player at your site for going on 9 months now and for
you to pull my chat after I poked a little fun at Matusow’s avatar is
ridiculous. However, it’s now up to you to decide whether or not you
lose a loyal player.

Sincerely,
J.C.

———————————————————————-

—–Original Message—–
From: Full Tilt Poker Support [mailto:support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 9:46 PM
Subject: RE: Chat revoked

Hello J.C.,

Thank you for your email. I can understand that you may have been
poking fun at a pro’s avatar. However, that is still considered
inappropriate chat ettiquette regardless if you were just making fun of
a pros’ avatar or directed your comments towards him. We take any
inappropriate comment towards our pros and any of our players very
seriously. That said, your chat will remain revoked until
December 14, 2005 after which you may reply back and we will
reinstate your chat privilieges.

If there’s anything we can help you with, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Best of luck on the tables!

Regards,
Neel
Team Full Tilt

———————————————————————-

Original Message to support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx follows:

————————

Hello,

It’s ok — there’s no need for you to bother with the 12/14/05 date. I’ve
already withdrawn all of the funds from my account and am in the process
of switching to a different site as a result of your sensitive and rash
overreaction to remove my chat.

It really is a shame. Heaven forbid someone poke fun at a pro’s avatar
on your site — especially one who begs for it in Mike Matusow. And more
importantly how silly for you to lose a loyal customer over this.

Should you decide to reinstate my chat before 5pm ET on 12/2/05, I will
redeposit funds. Otherwise, go ahead and close the account and remove
me from your mailing list. This exchange will then get posted on RGP for
the public to read what a sin it is to poke fun at a pro avatar on Full Tilt
Poker.

Regards,
J.C.

PS – Do you reprimand Mr. Matusow when he used the phrase “f you” toward
another player at the table in his chat from a few days ago?

———————————————————————-

—–Original Message—–
From: Full Tilt Poker Support [mailto:support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2005 1:04 PM
Subject: RE: Chat revoked

Hello J.C.,

As per your request I have closed your account. We will not reinstate your
chat at this time, as you are the one that cause it to be banned. No pro,
Mike Matusow included, does not “beg” to be insulted or poked fun at in the
way you did. He is a person like the rest of us and does not “deserve” to be
treated like a sub-human, which unfortunately happens much to often.

We appreciate your patronage while at Full Tilt, and do not wish you to
leave, but if that is the choice you have made over this matter, then we
wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors.

Regards,
Dave M.
Team Full Tilt

Original Message to support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx follows:

————————

Dear FTP,

Thank you for closing the account. But if you truly appreciated my
patronage at FTP and didn’t want me to leave, then you’d have sent me a
warning first about this situation instead of overreacting and pulling
my chat, which is absurd. You choose not to sway from your decision and
you’ve lost a player as a result. Very sad. And then to pin it on me is
funny…

I don’t deny making that statement about his avatar, but c’mon. Warning
first, action second.

Anyway, this will be put on Rec.Gambling.Poker shortly for the community
to read how sensitive your site is of its avatars and Mike Matusow’s poop
lipstick. Do you think it’ll get a laugh the same way it did from the
other observers in the room when I said it?…

… or did you go ahead and pull all of their chat too?

-J.C.

———————————————————————-

—–Original Message—–
From: Full Tilt Poker Support [mailto:support@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Friday, December 02, 2005 4:04 PM
Subject: RE: Chat revoked

Hello J.C.

When it is abuse directed towards our pros we take it very seriously.
The policy that we abide by has strict guidelines. I am sorry that you
felt it was a joke, but we do not see it that way.

Imagine you are Mike Matusow for a moment and that you are constantly
bombarded with insults, etc. everywhere you go just because you are Mike
Matusow. How tolerant would you stay? How happy would you be if you were
constantly insulted? Probably not long and probably not very happy. We
desire everyone to be treated with respect and that is all we have
asked.

Regards,
Dave M.
Team Full Tilt

.