PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER

Some people think all there is to poker is playing the cards, betting when your opponent checks and making bluffs at the pot whenever they feel it’s “right” to do so.

More recently though, some people have started learning more and it appears there’s a whole new game of poker that many people knew nothing (or very little) about.

When many first start playing poker (if you’re gen-x at least), there was really only five-card draw and seven card stud but as the years progressed a new game was born. When people first learned about Texas Hold’em it was like meeting someone who knew you’d be best friends with for a very long time. After playing this for long enough though, the magic starts to fade unless you’re poker-mad 24/7. Some people are starting to shy away from the two hole card situation.

This new game is called Omaha – Whenever people think they’ve started to get a handle on how their opponents play, someone always seems to come right out of nowhere and surprise them with a checking-raise, or bluffing in spots where people would never pick it in this game.

It might be that because Omaha deals each person four cards, it’s much more appealing. It could also be that because people can win more, their inner gambler spurs them on to learn it. The downside to this marvelous game however is that people are flipping a coin more often than they might realise (So as long as you’re not one of those, keep playing).

Regardless of the game, poker can be your best friend or your worst enemy – It all depends on who’s sitting at the table. It’s not the people who you’ve got to be worried about unless they’re something special – If you’re better than them you’re still not guaranteed a victory until that river card comes down a blank to your already-made hand, or else it puts you so far in front your only decision is how much to bet or re-raise.

Many people love poker, but some hate it. There’s no other game quite like it; One that can allow you to have so much skill and such a big edge over your opponent, yet still leave you walking home with nothing if they luck out with one of their four outs.

If you ask many skilled players, they might tell you that Texas hold’em has become one of the toughest games to beat over the past couple of years?

When you first start playing there’s always at least one person who seems to know what they’re doing better than you, but now it’s as if every average Joe and plain Jane knows about pot odds, outs and a number of other previously hidden knowledge.

It’s awful and grand altogether – On one hand you might love the challenge; Nothing beats the feeling of out-playing someone who is either better (on average) or at an even level to you. On the other hand though, you can’t do anything except hate it when those fish suck out and try to tell you what you did wrong – It makes you just want to stay at the table and win back all your chips from them.

It’ll only be a matter of time before they make the same mistakes, only this time the thought is that they won’t be so lucky.

An example of this is when someone limps from under the gun – It appears weak and begs to be raised (unless of course the aim of the limp was to trap those who aren’t aware of a little thing called ‘position’). You can see this happen countless times at an online poker table if you spend long enough there.

It’s even more entertaining to see players limp, then fold to a raise. The best though is when they complain about being raised like it wasn’t on the cards (excuse the pun!).

Of course you should always consider that their limp might be a trap that you don’t expect; In situations where a good player can see it coming from a mile away, a bad player will be too caught up in their high cards to consider that they’re absolutely dominated.

This brings up an important point too – Some people despise the idea of making money from other gamblers. Nobody’s saying they shouldn’t, but in the case of compulsive gamblers who love to reload these players can be the absolute undoing of them.