Have you ever taken a polygraph test? The examiner examines your breathing and heart beats rate to understand if you are telling the truth or if you are lying. When you lie you begin to breathe harder. Your heart beat rate increases. You almost begin to panic inside while you try to look composed outside. A person who can defeat a polygraph machine simply remains as calm and composed as nothing is happening. A good way to do that is to believe yourself that your bluff is actually true. Once you yourself believe that you are not lying, there is a very feeble chance that anyone will suspect

One thing to always keep in mind is that the best time to bluff is when your opponents looked bored and you feel you have a good chance to the pot. But be careful not to make it a trend though.

Study you opponents well and take a look at their body language and match it with their cards during the show down. Soon you will notice tiny “tells” that gives you a clue what cards they are holding.

And remember. A bluff can not only enable you to win a pot you figures will loose but also to get you more money than you would if the opponent thought you never bluffs. A perfect example of a bluffing lady is Vanessa Rousso — known for her Game Theory knowledge, dictating her to make a lot of moves at the table.

Lol I don’t like Mike Matusow that much, but he’s waaay right in this WSOP video — where we see the ever so hateable Sean Sheikhan completely out of line, trying to get Mike a penalty, ending up getting one himself too. Ha! Foiled!

Live poker is much easier to tell bluffs, especially in unexperienced players. With online poker, detection of a bluff is nearly impossible due to the inability to read body language. Live poker also affords someone the ability to gloat over their victory on the hand. Online poker has no ability of congratulation, except for online chat.

Live poker is often enjoyed much more enjoyed by a larger base of people due to the amount of human to human interaction. Also, when playing live poker you can enjoy the wonderful atmosphere of the casino, and all the perks that come with it. With online poker, very few perks are offered, even to players who play poker frequently.

Also, with live poker people are much more likely to place a large bet when they believe they can win. With many online poker games, people only feel that they should place bets that are constant and consistent. Online poker often has better odds, especially with poker rooms that are directed to new poker players. Many live games of poker can have players with higher skill levels playing at lower skill level tables, thus creating increased competition and worse odds.

The good thing about online poker is Full Tilt Rakeback and the amount of hands you can play. Play ten times as many hands, and get some of the rake you pay right back to you. That’s a good deal!

Whether you are playing poker online or at a casino, there are plenty of differences between the two. Make sure you know the differences before the next time you play a game of poker.

Players on the final table will be going for the higher pay out rather than build on their stack. Expect players being more careful and each hand tighter than ever before.

During the first few rounds, learn if your opponents are aggressors, tight and willing to wait. Here are some strategies that you can use if you are the chip leader, when you have a short stack, or an average stack.

Chip Leader

It will be less nerve wrecking to find yourself with the tallest stack of chips when you get to the final table. You have to remember though that you still need to play precise excellent poker to win. As the chip leader, you can press on against the medium stacks who will most likely play safe and wait for other opponents to bet it all out and be eliminated. Raise when you think you have a good chance and grab some more chips.

The smaller stacks can be considered vulnerable but dangerous. See if you can play them hard and challenge them with your good hands. They can either push or stay away from trouble and it is up to you how you will handle when they try to steal the blinds. Don’t repop it unnecessarily with Five Deuce hoping to flop a wheel, but do play your King Queen Suited more aggressively, hoping your opponent will lay down his/her Ace Nine.

Average Stack

You need to spend a round observing how players will behave on the table. As a player with a medium stack, you can aim for smaller stacks or aggressive bigger stacks.

Be wary of the smaller stacks which will be trying to steal the blinds. You need to gamble a bit to knock them out of the tournament.

Bigger stacks who will be trying to steal blinds that often are also for the taking. Try to re-raise and most likely they will think twice of gambling with half their stack.

Short Stack

You don’t have much time to think or observe. You might have a choice between folding and going all in for good hands that you will get. Push against the medium stacks since they are more vulnerable to battle it thru. Larger stacks might be more than willing to risk some chips to get you out of the competition.

Hehehehe.

Seriously though, she hot, she pushes draws when she should and she doesn’t limp in with Jacks on the cutoff. That’s my kind of woman. No shit. Vanessa Rousso, you’re awesome!

Photo source: Mollis’ Poker Site

A big advantage of playing poker online is that there is the possibility to play with play money. In this way you can practice the game with money that is not yours. Of course you can not withdraw your winnings but at least you can get familiar with the game and try to test different strategies.
The games with play money are very helpful for beginners but also for advanced players.

Several online poker rooms organize at least once a month big tournaments where you can win huge prizes. It is possible to play freerolls or you can take part with a buy-in tournament. Freerolls are tournaments where you don’t have to pay a buy-in, you can subscribe yourself for free, but of course the winnings are really lower when playing a buy-in tournament.

If you surf on the Internet you can see that you can book also different workshops about poker. This is a really good option for a business trip or a bachelor party. Poker is now really hot and probably the popularity of the fantastic game will stay for a pretty long time.

Online poker rooms and online casinos are really convenient for people with a busy life that like to have a little excitement so now and then.

I went on a painful rollercoaster losing about $12,000 in a matter of seven hours…

Painful, especially as that was most of my winning of last year.

I’m such an idiot… I might have a gambling addiction too — time to reflect…

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s sad, but I’m sure he’s doing it to get a new bet going…

Keep track of his results on Teh Jinx Poker. Here’s his sharkscope graph after the steam…

Being able to vent your anguish at the time counts for a lot too. Many a player has nearly busted a vein while trying to keep the rage in.

click for full size

Long live Full Tilt Poker!