by FTR Poker Admin | May 23, 2023 | Live Poker, Poker Psychology, Poker Strategy
We, as a civilization, have been raised to lie with our faces. Think about it. When, as a child, you were forced to take family pictures or eat an unpleasant food, your parents would often say something like, “At least pretend you’re happy. Smile!” Faking a...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 23, 2023 | Featured Limit Hold'em, Limit Hold’em, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Ok, to start this off, I figured it would be a good idea to give a little background about myself. I was a 2nd year law student at the University of Wisconsin when the poker boom began in 2003. Like many young(ish) males at the time, I got caught up in the wave of...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 23, 2023 | Limit Hold’em, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
4) The Small Broadways (KT; QJ-QT; JT) The first thing to note with all of these hands is that suitedness really increases their playability. All of these hands are good hands to play in multi-way pots because they can win occasionally just by hitting top pair; they...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 22, 2023 | Live Poker, Poker Strategy
In poker, you need to know when it is safe to bet and when it is dangerous. Caro even says that you cannot study this enough because he feels this is where half the profit is going to come from by concentrating on tells. Before you make a bet it would be a smart idea...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 20, 2023 | Limit Hold’em, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
My previous 11 posts have gone through some strategic and theoretical guidelines. However, for me at least, it is much easier to grasp concepts with examples. So in however many post it will take me to finish this guide, I am going to use examples to try and bring...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 18, 2023 | Live Poker, MTT, Poker Strategy
I don’t know about you, but I am a poker junkie. I religiously watch (even DVR) the WSOP coverage every year on ESPN and had a mini-orgasm this year when ESPN televised much of the Main Event live. People like my wife hate the live coverage because each hand...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 16, 2023 | Live Poker, Poker Psychology, Poker Strategy
During my time at the tables, I’ve had a chance to observe an extensive amount of human behavior. Thanks to the growing popularity of the game, I’m seeing more and more diverse personalities sported by players operating on a variety of skill levels. But...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 16, 2023 | Featured Poker Tools, Live Poker, Poker Tools
FTR recently gave the app Poker Notes Live a closer look to see if it would be worth recommending for live poker players. To sum it up in one short sentence, yes we do recommend the app and find it to be useful for live grinders. For the longer version, read our...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 13, 2023 | Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Pick the Opener One thing you should always be looking out for is when players are waiting for you to act. Their body language and posture are very important. You always need to be looking out for players who might be strong before you bet into them. When are you...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 13, 2023 | Beginner Poker, Live Poker, No Limit Hold'em, Poker Strategy
For many U.S. players, Black Friday has meant the end of playing poker online. For those players, the only way to currently play poker without the worry of legality or cashouts is to go to a brick and mortar cardroom and play honest to god live poker. I happen to be...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 11, 2023 | Limit Hold’em, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF A SMALL STAKES GAME The most common characteristics of a small stakes game are that the players will be loose and passive. Most of the players will believe that luck is a more important factor in the game then skill; and most of the players...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 11, 2023 | Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Brodie discusses games, seats and opposition in the brick and mortar poker setting. DaNutsInYoEye suggested that someone write up a brief guide to playing poker in B&M venues. I do a fair amount of B&M playing, so I thought I’d start it out as sort of a...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 10, 2023 | Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Basically, a poker ploy is a maneuver or strategy that a player utilizes to gain the advantage, and/or to win the pot. These poker ploys are techniques that you yourself can use to obtain information, and others may use against you to try and trick you. For example,...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 10, 2023 | Limit Hold’em, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
In my last post I gave an introduction of who I am and how I got to playing live small stakes limit poker. In this post I want to just jump into my actual guide of how to play. The best place to start is just in the basics. THE RAKE My local casino does not offer a...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 8, 2023 | Featured Live Poker, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
When did the check raise become a personal attack? I’ve noticed that many players have forgotten that this is a strategic move in poker. Instead they have become so wrapped up in the fact that a "friend" at the table has check raised them that it...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 6, 2023 | Limit Hold’em, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Continuing with examples… Example 2 – Betting Draws for Value We are on the button in a standard loose-passive game. 4 players limp to us and we have KhQh. What should we do? Answer – raise. Again, even though we are behind Ax and small pairs, a...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 5, 2023 | Live Poker, Poker Strategy
There are many tells you can gain on your opponents even before you see them play a pot. How they stack their chips can give you some clues on how they are going to play. If you notice their chips are neatly stacked, and organized, you can probably assume they will be...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 4, 2023 | Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Betting patterns are one of the most important factors when reading people at the poker table. Many professionals have even stated that reads can only get you so far, but what really helps putting someone on a hand is how much a player bets, how they bet, and the...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 3, 2023 | Limit Hold’em, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
In my last posts I went over some specific hands and talked about how they generally should be played. In this post I am going to go over some general preflop concepts. Playing from the Blinds Many players make mistakes from playing the blinds. Most players continue...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 2, 2023 | Cash Games, Live Poker, No Limit Hold'em, Poker Strategy
Whether you are playing live poker or online poker it really makes no difference, your opponents will still be watching how you play. If you think that low-stakes online players be it at limit, no-limit or whatever do not fit into this category then think again. They...
by FTR Poker Admin | May 1, 2023 | Limit Hold’em, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
In this post I am going to continue with my basic guide on how to play specific hands preflop. 2) The Big Broadways and a note about suitedness (AQ-AT; KQ-KJ) Our big broadway cards are profitable because most limit players are playing way too many hands, so when we...
by FTR Poker Admin | Apr 29, 2023 | Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Poker tells are one of the most important aspects of poker, however they are often deemed less important than the math involved. While playing, it is crucial to observe your opponents in order to get clues as to the cards they are holding or the actions they may take....
by FTR Poker Admin | Apr 28, 2023 | Live Poker, Poker Strategy
INTRODUCTION If you are an online player who’s about to try B&M poker for the first time, this sticky is meant for you. Unlike Brodie’s excellent article on B&M etiquette (a must-read), this one is intended to prepare you mentally for the...
by FTR Poker Admin | Apr 28, 2023 | Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Players will give off certain and more precise tells when they are bluffing. Although it may matter on the player themselves, there are some general tells that Caro talks about that apply at the poker table. Smoking Even though smoking is banned in almost every poker...
by FTR Poker Admin | Apr 28, 2023 | Limit Hold’em, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Implied Odds vs. Pot Odds In a previous post (part 9 to this guide), I defined pot odds as the ratio of the amount of money already in the pot to the amount of money you have to call to stay in a hand. Thus if the pot has $40 and you have to call an $8 bet then you...
by FTR Poker Admin | Apr 27, 2023 | Limit Hold’em, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Counting Outs Continued In my last post I gave a very cut and dry example of counting outs when you have an open-end straight draw and it is very unlikely that anything else will win you the hand. In that case you have 8 outs. In many cases your outs won’t be...
by FTR Poker Admin | Apr 27, 2023 | Limit Hold’em, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Before I move on to flop play I just want to do a quick recap of preflop play and guidelines. 1) Tight is Right The biggest mistake most small stakes players make is that they just play way too many hands preflop. Your only objective preflop should be to play hands...
by FTR Poker Admin | Apr 26, 2023 | Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Massimo makes a couple of insightful posts about good adjustments to make when playing poker in a live casino cash game. Because the competition is so much different than a “tight”, online game, these strategies can help the online player succeed in the...
by FTR Poker Admin | Apr 23, 2023 | Limit Hold’em, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
It is finally time to start getting to the nitty gritty. My previous posts have dealt more with getting you psychologically prepared for the game, and that is a very important part of the game, but most people reading this are likely to be more interested in finding...
by FTR Poker Admin | Apr 21, 2023 | Beginner Poker, Cash Games, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
There is a growing debate in today’s poker world over who is the best player around. Many names get offered as the best of the best but there is truly no way to know who the best Texas Hold’em player in the world is. As the game of poker has grown...
by FTR Poker Admin | Apr 21, 2023 | Featured Live Poker, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Often in live games you will see the looser, gambling players posting a live straddle. What is it? How does it affect the game and what should we do about it? This article will take a more technical online-like view of the phenomenon usually only seen in live...
by FTR Poker Admin | Apr 20, 2023 | Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Whenever you speak to a novice poker player or someone who knows very little about poker then you will often get similar opinions as to what it actually takes to make a good poker player. One person may say how it is all about “mathematics” while another...
by FTR Poker Admin | Apr 19, 2023 | Live Poker, Poker Strategy
One big lesson to learn, in any poker game, is to never look at your hand first. If for example you are playing 7 card stud, look at the reactions when your opponents look at their final face down card before you see yours. The same goes for Texas Hold’em. It helps a...
by FTR Poker Admin | Apr 16, 2023 | Limit Hold’em, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
After 8 posts which could easily be summed up by saying raise with your value hands preflop and tighten up otherwise, we are finally on to postflop play. I believe that a good preflop game will make you a breakevenish player, but when you add good postflop play to...
by FTR Poker Admin | Apr 12, 2023 | Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Picking up on how players breathe can be a very big tell. For example, if you notice a sudden change in how they are breathing, maybe by their chest or if you can hear it, they probably made their hand. If they suddenly start heaving and their chest is expanding more...
by FTR Poker Admin | Apr 11, 2023 | Featured Live Poker, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Fnord plays a lot of both online and offline poker. His brick and mortar tips are good for online players looking to transition to the live poker environments. Stuff to consider Overall, B&M games are far softer than online games. Players are looser, raise less...
by FTR Poker Admin | Apr 3, 2023 | Featured Live Poker, Live Poker, Poker Strategy
Buy In You should be looking for tells on your opponents even before they play a hand. Some people may call it prejudice or say it is unfair, but with the way poker is today you have to make these assumptions. After the poker boom, professional players had to learn to...
by givememyleg | Apr 3, 2023 | Beginner Poker, Cash Games, Live Poker, No Limit Hold'em, Poker Strategy
In the past when live games became tough to beat players turned to online poker to hone their skills, get multi-table bonuses, and make money. With the games online getting harder by the day it is quite ironic the same players find themselves heading back to the live...
