Low Stakes Poker - Low Stakes Poker Player

Of all poker concepts, perhaps the most important in low-stakes games is pot odds. Quite simply, pot odds determine whether or not it makes sense to call to see the next car. If you are hoping to hit a flush or a straight, you use pot odds to determine whether or not it makes sense to call and see another card.

Pot odds are so important since many hands in low-stakes games see a showdown. Most often, hitting a high pair like kings isn’t enough to win; you need to have a very strong hand like a straight or a flush. By using pot odds, you can tell if it makes sense for you or your opponents to call and try to hit one of these hands.

To calculate pot odds, you divide the amount of the bet by the pot. So if the bet is 10 and hte pot is 40 (including your bets contribution to the pot), then the pot odds are 25%. In this case, you need a 25% chance of hitting your hand to call.

How do you know what percentage chance you have of improving your hand? First, you determine the number of cards that would help your hand (these are called ‘outs.’) You mulitply your number of outs by 2 and then add two. So if you have 7 outs, you do 7X2 then +2, so 16%.

One thing about poker is that it can be an expensive game to improve at. After all, ‘learning’ often costs money.

People frequently site play money poker games as a way to improve your poker. However, the problem with these games is that the players often don’t try at all. They will just call or raise to blow off steam.

You are better off playing micro-stakes, like $.01-$.02 than play money games if you are trying to learn to play. It’s a tough stretch to say a game like this or a $.25-$.50 is out of your bankroll. If it is, then you should focus on your own personal money issues and not play poker anyways.

A good way to learn tournaments are the freerolls and the $1-$5 buy-in tournaments. Even though the freerolls are ‘free,’ they generally award some real money prize so people still at least try. You get the benefits of learning from a real money game but without the risk of having to pay anything.

One thing people often think is worth it is to ‘take a shot’ at a higher stakes game, with the atittude that they’ll learn a lot even if they lose money. Generally, it’s just not worth it. Only start playing for higher stakes when you feel comfortable enough to play there for awhile. Otherwise, you are just playing scared and are going to lose money, without learning many new poker skills.