Choosing a right table is perhaps the most important thing you need to take care about. Your winnings at a poker table comes from mistakes of other players rather than your good play. If you are the 10th best player but you play all the time with 9 best players you can not win. If you are the 10th worst player but playing with 9 other players that are worse than you - you are a winning player.
Before analyzing other players you must learn to play poker well enough and avoid the most common mistakes. For examble limit hold'em is better to play straight: bet and raise when your cards are fair enough. This style is best for poor players. Against better players you need bluffing skills and ability to change your playing style so that other players do not find you predictable.
Your seat at a table
There are usually 8 to 10 players at a table. The first important factor is to choose right table and the second is the position at a table. This may sound confusing because button rounds around the table and each player pays small and big blinds on their turn. This is still true but your position changes all the time against who pays. A player rigth to you acts always before you. Only when he is at the button and you are at the small blind it is your time to act before him after the flop. Poker is like selling a apartment - the most important factor is location (position), location, location.
In poker if you play before other player(s) you are at the bottom and playing last one you are at the top. The later your position is the more time you have to think about your own cards' strength against other players and possibilities to strenghten your hand. You will get also valuable information about other players' hands according to what they do - fold, check, pay or raise.
There are three kinds of positions (starting from the button): seats 1 and 2 are small and big blind
Seats 3-5 is early position
Seats 6-8 is middle posistion
Seats 9-10 is later position (seat 10 is button)
You have to remind youself what is your position at a table. It is no wonder that a player after blinds is called Under The Gun. Common rule is that the later position you have the more cards you can play before flop. In the early position you need excellent cards before going further because you do not know anything about the strenght of hands of other players and you will get a risk to be raised by other players.
To be continued...
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BR,
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