The Blackjack Streak

Let’s keep the side-bet fever going with a look at another option in this line of gambling, called Streak. This side bet doesn’t have you betting on a certain combination of cards coming up like the others we’ve looked at so far. This one focuses on allowing you to bet on how many hands in a row you’re going to win. Sort of like the exact opposite of taking insurance out on your investment. Instead, you’re putting more eggs in the same basket, but hey, if you like a winning streak, the payoff is healthy. You have to decide the streak number before you place the wager, though. You obviously just can’t go until you lose and then claim the highest number on the win side as your streak bet after the fact.

More known in the Atlantic City casinos than in Vegas or abroad, streak is an easy side bet to make and forget about, since you don’t have to do any separate identification of your hand, nor does the dealer. You just have to keep track of how many hands in a row you win, and depending on how high that number gets, the payoff continues to increase. I like this bet because each time you can stand to increase your total winnings while not having to put up any more money.

Here are some general odds that you face if you take this side bet. The overall probability of winning a hand is around 43%, while the odds of losing are higher at 47%. And the accepted general odds of a tie come in at just under 9%. So taking that into account and factoring in basic math, the odds of hitting the first level of a streak (2) is 22.5%. This pays 3:1 on your wager. The odds of your streak reaching three is about 10.7% with the payoff on this one at 8:1. The odds of four in a row drops more than half to about 5% and offers an 18:1 payoff. And the odds of winning five hands in a row (which is generally the top streak bet you’ll want to make, although many casinos allow you to go higher) is 2.4%, with a 38:1 payoff.

As opposed to royal match which can be found on most US online casinos, where the odds don’t justify the payoff, I find streak well worth the gamble if you can find a casino that offers it. Winning five hands in a row is certainly not unheard of, and if you hit that number on a $10 bet, that $380 return could easily wipe out any real-game losses you’ve experienced thus far.

Your opponents’ range

Let’s be honest, poker online is sometimes a game of guessing and gut feeling. When you’re in the heart of that no-limit tournament, faced with a huge decision, we can preach all we want about the mathematics and statistics and probabilities until we’ve lost our voices, but after studying your opponent, it’s the gut feeling that’s going to make the call some of the time. There’s no avoiding it.

Poker experts understand this, and accept it, and that’s why they’re also using another tactic to their advantage during play – trying to put your opponents on a specific hand, or more reasonably, a “range” of hands – and then working through in their head how they would play if they had the same hand. Since you obviously don’t know your opponents’ down cards, some of this is inevitably guesswork.

At the beginning of a hand, the range is going to be wider. This is because there are more unknown cards, and more possibilities. As the hand progresses, the range narrows to a manageable number of hands. However, as this range narrows, so does your time to act accordingly. A truly great poker player not only knows the odds, and not only can read their PokerStars opponents for tells and weaknesses, but also has a talent for assigning an accurate range.

Of course, when I say guesswork, you’re not throwing darts in the dark here. There’s a process of educated guessing that goes into an assigned range. It’s not as easy as you might think, but it’s not that difficult to get the basics down, either. It’s not only the cards that help determine a range, specifically the flop. It’s also the players reaction to the cards and earlier bets. If a player limps in, and only calls after the flop, you can probably eliminate over pairs from the players’ range. The range narrows to low pairs and a possible flush or straight draw, depending on the flop. This is just one example of how a player can use his knowledge to assign a range. Once you make that assignment, you compare the range against your own hand, assess how you’d play both, and you have a much better idea of what position you’re in to win the hand and/or make as much money off pipe-dream calls as you can before they fold.

Tips to Profiting from Fixed Limit Holdem Play

In every poker game on FullTiltPoker, the aim is to maximize profit and opportunity. Fixed Limit Holdem is no different. Like any other form of poker, there are various ways to increase your profits and gain the maximum from playing. Here is a quick list of tips that can help improve your game and increase you profits from playing Fixed Limit Holdem.

Find the Best Site.

Finding the best poker room is key to maximizing your profits. Some networks do not offer a wide range of Fixed Limit games. As a result, it is important to find a poker network or poker room that offers a wide range of tables at the stakes you want to play. It is also good to do a little research on each room that does offer Fixed Limit Holdem to find out where the fish swim, as well as where the sharks hunt.

Remember the Fundamentals

Like any other game or sport, poker is all about getting the fundamentals right. Without having a firm grasp of the basic Fixed Limit Holdem fundamentals, you will not progress past micro limits. So read up on bankroll management, position, bet sizing and the rest of the fundamentals so you have solid foundations to build your poker skills on.

Knowing your Opposition

Once you have gotten the latest Full Tilt Poker Download and have a strong grasp of the basics and are regularly making profits from Fixed Limit Holdem, the next thing you want to know is how your opponents play. This can simply be done by studying your opponents and taking notes on every aspect of their game that you notice. This can really help if you happen to play against them in another session. Proper note taking can often make the difference in winning a big hand or losing a big hand.

Get Rakeback

Fixed Limit Holdem player probably generate more rake than any other type of poker player. This is because they see more flops and are involved in more hands than any other form of poker. If you can find a good rakeback deal before signing up with the specific poker room you want to play at, you can generate thousands of dollars a year just by having a rakeback account at your poker site of choice.
Once you become familiar with Fixed Limit Holdem, you will be able to work on furthering your game by finding what else works best for you.

Playing a soft hand

Sometimes as fuzzy as the different between a soft-boiled egg and a hard-boiled egg is the strategy involved when playing a “soft” hand of blackjack vs. a “hard” hand of blackjack. Many folks who are typical, non card-counting casino folk will know the general strategy card and understand the goal of getting as close to a 0% advantage for you or the house that you can, but still struggle greatly when it comes to advanced decisions regarding soft hands. This isn’t unusual, and I’m here to help.

Usually, it comes from a lack of confidence. Does the order your Ace appears in your hand affect your decision making? Oftentimes, the dilemma of whether to hit or stand on a soft hand doesn’t come on your first two cards. Instead, it’s three, four or even five cards in. Of course, you know how to add, and if your hand is at 19 or 20 on the deal or first hit, etc., you’re going to stand. But what about that gray area?

By gray area, I’m talking about 12-17. The question isn’t whether to hit, it’s when to stop, right? The enticement and allure of having a card that can change it’s value can greatly skew your judgment, and can also be somewhat deceiving if you’re not focused on the mathematics involved.

A major stumbling block for people when using basic blackjack strategy is that they continue to cling to this allure of the soft hand, and play their hand as such, even after it has become hard. Once your hand is high enough, you can’t flip that Ace back to 11, and thus must play only one way. By that time, though, you’ve seen enough low cards to get yourself into somewhat of a trap, and you’ll think you can bring yourself from a 16 up to a 19 with just one more hit. You must resist this temptation, though, and treat your hand as though it were a K, 6 right off the deal at this point.

It’s really just a matter of basic multi-tasking in your head. You have to keep a running account of the low version of your hand, the high version of your hand, and then play both alongside each other until you either stand or the low option is taken away from you.

Just promise me you’ll still remember to split those Aces if you get them off the deal.