Blog: Cardplayer Lifestyle Poker Blog

Happy New Year everybody! Every new year brings with it the perfect opportunity to reengage with poker and to pursue success in this game you love. How can you get on the path to successful poker? It's gonna take lots of studying and playing with purpose and working on specific areas of your game to learn the strategies it takes to beat the...

Our mindset and performance are built on our own thoughts and behavior. The less control we have over our environment, the more reason to focus inward and learn to control ourselves. Naturally, this is something that's super important for poker players. With these 10 simple tricks, you can feel more productive and fulfilled in these crazy times....

Online poker has seen a mini-boom in the last year because of poker rooms shutting down due to Covid-19. For me, this has led to an influx of students who often have no idea why they are getting crushed online when they were doing fine at brick and mortar tables. There are three reasons why you may be having a tough time online...

Playing low/middle-limit Texas hold’em, your goal is to go home a winner. Being the best player – the most skilled – at the table will help. But, more likely, you will rank near the middle in the skill department; let us assume that is the case. With eight opponents vying for the same pots, the cost-to- play (house rake, Bad Beat Jackpot drop, and...

It’s a new year, and with it comes the potential for new excitement and opportunities. When it comes to poker, that’s no different. Along with studying and dedicating yourself more to your game of choice (for most, No Limit Hold ‘em), It’s also a great time to take up a new game… or 8, or 10. Anyone who knows me knows I love...

Not all of us will have the good fortune to ever compete at a World Series of Poker event. Most of us will play in our home games, online, or at our local casinos. With that said, there is no reason why we should be prevented from enjoying all that the game of poker has to offer. Think about some of the reasons...

Poker is game of partial information. The more pertinent information we have, the better chance we will win more pots and be able to build them up in size. I have often written about the importance of focusing on the game and paying attention to gain as much information as possible. That gives us a decided “edge” over our less attentive opponents. Mistakes...

It has been a long time since I last dreamed of a poker hand. This time it was something special – very rare and highly contested. I recall it vividly. See if you agree with my strategies and tactics. Would you have played it differently? We had a full table of nine players; the game was $4-$8 limit hold’em. We had been...

If you are learning how to play solitaire or another simple card game, you might get away without preparation, but this won’t cut in in poker. You might be thinking, what does mindset have to do with it? With the complex nature of the game, you cannot afford to make costly mistakes just because you are not in the right mood or steaming...

I have a huge poker library, including my own three books. One of the best is “Poker for Dummies” by the memorable Lou Krieger, co-authored with Richard Harroch. Enjoying the warm fall weather, I was scanning the book while relaxing in my backyard. A section on “Bluffing on the Turn” caught my attention. Superb! My first thought was to share it...

Poker is an easy game to learn but a hard one to master. While you can get WSOP free chips and start practicing online without investing any money, you will need much more than that to have serious results, and it goes beyond the strategy as well. This game requires constant concentration, rational thinking, and patience, so you shouldn’t neglect the mental part...

It is hard to win if you play poker where the house takes a rake (i.e., anyplace aside from the friendly home game). The cost-to-play (the rake, Bad Beat Jackpot drop, and tips to dealers) is not easily overcome. In a low-limit hold’em game, it averages about $25 per hour for each player, so eight hours of play will cost you $200. It...

I’m a huge fan of online poker and, from the start of my journey, I've known that it can be possible to make good money playing online. However, also from the start, I’ve heard loads of dissenting voices to this idea that online poker can be profitable. Many people believe that online poker just isn’t winnable for your average player, often giving one...

If you want to become really good at poker, you’re going to have to put in some serious studying time in at some point; there is simply no way around it. That said, you can still do okay at the tables without too much studying as long as you stick to some simple but effective principles. While the whole goal of this article...

Playing cards is a lot of fun. Whether you do so live, with friends or family, or online, against total strangers, it's a great way to pass some time. However, not all card games are created equal, and some of them are more challenging than others. One of the biggest arguments people have had about card games, in general, is whether they're all...

Playing hold’em, starting-hand selection is your most important decision; on average, only 25% are playable. Next is whether to invest further in the hand after the flop is opened on the board. At that point, you will have seen over 70% of your final hand. If your starting hand does improve, most often it will be to a drawing hand that still needs...

Some hold’em players believe that A-Q offsuit (A-Qo) is the hardest hand to play. They may be correct. World-famed poker pro Daniel Negreanu considers it a “trouble hand.” He says that he loses much more than he wins with it. But it is a hand with good possibilities. Based on the math probabilities, starting with A-Qo can be expected to win the pot...

With everything that’s happened in 2020, many live poker players have found themselves in a rather uncomfortable situation. Live casinos and poker rooms all over the world have shut down and even the ones still operating aren’t anywhere near their full capacity. The only real answer for those relying on poker to make money and cover some or all of their living expenses...

To be a winner at Texas hold’em, you must learn how to count and use your outs. Outs are the unseen cards (presumably still available in the deck) that will complete your drawing hand after the flop. This applies when you need to catch a card to give you a strong hand – a made hand. The best examples of this are when...

With many casinos around the world still remaining closed, many live poker players have been feeling the urge to play some games and experience a little action somewhere else. While some of them turn to online poker, quite a few players go way outside the box and even start spending some of their time playing the Go Fish game and other similar card...