Yvette Jones

Can you have a strategy when playing video poker?  The video poker game  Jacks of Better is probably the most popular and is said to be the same whether you play it at a land-based casino or online.

With video poker games, the house edge is tied directly to the pay tables on the machines.  It’s been figured out that the best Jack or Better video poker games to play are those that pay 6 coins for a flush and 9 coins for a full house.  So, you first want to look at the pay tables when you sit down at a machine (or you are looking online) to determine if those parameters  exist.  These machines are called 9/6 machines and it has been determined that the house edge with these machines can be as low as .46%, if you use a proper strategy chart.

Yes, there are strategy charts for poker, the same as with blackjack.  Basically, a video poker strategy chart has hands ranked from best to worst.   You locate your hand on the chart and follow the instructions from there.  The following chart is the “Jacks or Better Simple” developed by online guru, The Wizard of Odds.

The idea is to figure out all the reasonable outcomes for the hand and pick the hand that has the highest payoff. While that seems easy and logical, the proper strategic play is not the usual play most casual players would make.

For instance, looking at the chart, if you are dealt a High Pair with 3 to a royal flush, you should keep the high pair. That can sometimes be a difficult decision to make because most casual players figure it’s always best to go for the royal flush if you’re dealt at least 3 of the cards.  High cards (J-A), are usually kept because if matched, at least your original bet is returned. A royal flush is said to happen 1 every 40,000 hands.

The Wizard of Odds also has intermediate and optimal strategies to follow, that involve more detail.  You can check them out on his website.

The other basic strategy when playing Jacks or Better video poker, is to make the maximum bet.  So, you want to make sure you’re playing at a machine that you can afford to do so.  If you’re not playing the 5 coin maximum bet, you’re upping the house edge for every spin.  Also, there is a  bonus paid for hitting a royal flush with a maximum bet.

FINAL THOUGHTS

For a strategy to be effective, you must be disciplined and diligent in using it properly at all times. It will take practice to perfect, as no strategy will work if you don’t practice it.  Whether you play online or in a land-based casino, Jacks or Better video poker has a minimal house edge, which means you can probably play and make a profit if played strategically correct.

WHAT IS A CASH GAME

A poker cash game is a game where the players use real chips and are betting real money.  A cash game is also called a ring game or live action game.

There is no designated start or stop time and they will happen 24 hours a day in casinos and online.

The amount of money bet is usually preset for a particular table, but the most popular are the no-limit, Texas Hold’em games.

WHY DIFFERENT STRATEGY

Playing in a regular cash game as opposed to in a tournament, requires different strategy because typically a tournament is a winner-take-all situation.  With a cash game, you can stop playing whenever you want and therefore you can determine your profit or loss.

Cash games are more about value. There has to be strategy in play all through the hand with a cash game. Play can be more difficult because there are generally more chips on the line, so you have to think about strategy from the flop to the river.

In a tournament, the fact of being “on the bubble” (1st player out of pay position) will make a player hesitant on going for maximum value.

STRATEGY AND TIPS

• Try to keep a healthy stack size.  This seems obvious but the tendency is to have your stack get so low, and then you start making bad decisions out of panic.  If you feel you’re the best player, keep a good stack of chips so you can maximize profit when the opportunity arises.
• Do not open limp preflop.  Limping in, just to see more flops is not good. Experienced players will usually raise preflop as a sign of aggression.  This lets you win pots postflop that you probably would not have won with limping in.
• Try to be the last person to bet or raise.  When players end up checking around to you, you can often win the pot with a continuation bet.
• Bet aggressively only if you’re in position.  Being out of position is always a disadvantage.
• Know when to hold, know when to fold.  Don’t try to play every hand, and don’t stay in a pot too long.
• Play tight and try to open with top pair or better only.  Don’t bluff too often, just value bet your good hands. When you open with solid hands, you will make solid hands after the flop.
• Bluff on the flop if there is a potential backdoor draw, such as runner-runner, flush or straight on the river.
• Almost always 3-bet with a premium hand.
• Play with an amount you can afford to lose!
• Don’t let “tilt” get you…try to stay calm and mentally alert!

FINAL THOUGHTS

Cash game strategy is not hard to figure out.  If you play tight but aggressive, you will probably end up with a very profitable poker session.

Be sure to sign up for more free information and check below for the best online casinos to test your new strategy.  Good luck!

While you should be able to maintain a decent profit, playing blackjack with basic strategy, you should also realize that there are probably more advanced tactics that can be used to enjoy even more profits.

More experienced players know that there are special situations where basic strategy is not the best play.  Experts will tell you that the use of basic strategy is always acceptable, yet not always the best play to make the most money.

WHAT IS INTERMEDIATE BLACKJACK STRATEGY

This strategy takes into account advanced play of the game and bankroll management. It includes learning about odds and probability, in addition to basic card counting, which is not as difficult as you would think.

Basic strategy is based on rigid rules of play that do not allow a player (more experienced) to take advantage of special circumstances that would reduce the house edge, giving the player a chance to make more money.

PLAY OF THE GAME

The first thing an experienced player will think about is which seat to take at the table. A novice will sit anywhere, often directly in front of the dealer to better see all the cards and how others are playing.  The experienced player will take the last seat because he knows play from this seat can greatly influence all the players.  If the player sitting in the last seat doesn’t play correctly, it can affect everybody’s chance of winning.  For instance, if he hits a hand that he should really stand on (based on basic strategy) and takes a high card, a card that would have busted the dealer, that allows the dealer to draw a low card and ends up beating everybody!  An experienced player knows the importance of the last player being able to play perfect basic strategy.  You don’t want to be at a table where the player in the last seat announces he is a novice!

An intermediate player will recognize a winning streak and therefore will raise their bet until a losing streak begins. A novice player will always bet the same amount (not counting doubling down), and just be happy winning. The thought of “hitting while the iron is hot” is not in their mind.  Part of bankroll management is knowing when to bet more, to realize faster profits.

ODDS AND PROBABILITY

As with all games in a casino, winning blackjack is about odds and probability.

Blackjack is a popular casino game because it has the best odds of all the games, with a house edge of around .5%  That’s why, even as a novice, it is the best table game to play in a casino if making a profit is your primary goal.  If just having fun and hoping to win big quickly is your goal, feel free to pick any other game.

When you think about probability in blackjack, you take into consideration previous hands.  Being able to remember the cards that have been played, even if not exactly, but the fact that a whole bunch of face cards have been dealt, makes it more probable that a low card should be coming out soon.  This is the simple start of card counting.

ADVANCED TIPS

Surrender – Not all casinos offer surrender, and therefore it’s not usually a subject talked about with beginners.  As a beginner, you’re basically told to never surrender.

When you surrender, you give up your hand for half your bet.  If your wager was $10 and you surrendered, you would only lose $5 instead of the whole $10.  Seems like a dumb move because albeit a dealer blackjack, you have a chance to win.

However, if the dealer has a blackjack, it would be better to surrender and only lose half your bet if you have a bad hand anyway.

For example, if the dealer has a 9 showing, there’s a great probability of him having a good, probably 19.

If you have hard 16 total against that and stand, you’re probably going to be beat, and if you hit that, you’re probably going to bust.  You’re better off throwing your hand in and getting half your bet back.

If the dealer has a 10 or an ace showing, meaning a better chance of a blackjack, surrender may be even more appealing.

Because of the potential blackjack by the dealer, there are 2 different kinds of surrender: early surrender or late surrender.

Early surrender is done before the dealer checks the hole card and late surrender is done after the dealer checks the hole card.

Because early surrender favors the player, when casinos do offer surrender, it’s usually only late surrender.

When to split – Learning when to split 2’s, 3’s, 6’s, 7’s and 9’s is the trickiest part of splitting cards.  In fact, because of it being complicated, beginners are told to just worry about always splitting Aces and 8’s, and never split 4’s, 5’s and 10’s.

When to double – Learning the correct time to double when you have a soft hand can be a bit more complicated.  Beginners should stick to just learning when to just hit (not double) a soft hand.

Card Counting –  As mentioned earlier, card counting doesn’t have to be hard, but just a bit of it can advance your game. Simple card counting is about tracking the ratio of high cards to low card left in the deck.  If you know a lot of low cards have been played, that means there are more high cards left in the deck and therefore favors the player.

When there are more Aces and Tens in the deck, you have a better chance of hitting a blackjack, so that would be a great time to increase your wager.  It works in the opposite direction as well.  If you guess there aren’t a lot of Aces and Tens in the deck, you’d want to decrease your wager.  Employing this strategy gives you an edge over the casino.

There are definitely more complex card counting systems available, but those are for the more advanced players.

Insurance – Beginners are always told insurance is a foolish bet and should not be done.  However, taking insurance can make sense if you know there are plenty of 10’s in the deck.

Be sure to sign up for more free information and check below for the best online casinos to test your new advanced strategy.  Good luck!

Only because of watching poker on TV, do I believe there is Texas Hold’em Strategy.  Even then, I only believe it because the hosts say some sort of strategy is being employed by the players.  Okay, if they say so…it seems there’s an awful lot of luck happening in my eyes!

Strategy Rules

First, when thinking about strategy in doing anything, it’s about planning for the long run. When thinking about basic blackjack strategy, it is based on interpretation of statistical data from playing millions of hands.  There is definitely a blackjack strategy, a correct way to play blackjack.

Unfortunately, poker strategy is not that straight forward.  Depending on who you talk to, or learn from, strategy may vary because there is psychology involved with poker strategy.  Also, strategy is different when you play in a “cash” game, as opposed to playing in a tournament setting.

Poker strategy is more about understanding the odds of ending up with the winning hand at the end of play. 

Hold’em Strategy for Novices

If you try to find basic Texas Hold’em strategy for beginners, what you end up getting is “tips” beginners should follow.  Said in different ways by different people, the best tips boil down to these:

• Open with a hand that can make money in any situation
• Correctly size your bet
• Avoid limping in, it hardly ever works for a novice!
• Fold appropriately to increase profits
• Be in the right position for betting

Opening Hands

When deciding to open, not only are the cards you hold important (hand strength), but your position at the table must be taken into consideration.  The closer you are to the Button, the wider the range of hands you can have to open.

The number of players in the hand should also be considered.  Hand value is  less when playing against 1 player, as opposed to 6 players. On the other hand, against 1 player, hands have a better bluffing value.

When deciding whether or not to open with a hand, you need to think if you’ll be able to make money after the flop.  If you can’t see a way that you may make money with those 2 cards, don’t open!

Correct Bet Sizing

Be aware of how the table is playing.  If the pre-flop raise has been 2.5x the BB, don’t try to be clever and raise an unusual amount.  As a novice, it’s best to stay in line with the play of the table.  Odd pre-flop raises will only make players think more about what you may have.  Odd post-flop raises are expected, and won’t draw more than the normal attention.

The size of your bet helps define the strength of your hand.  Your goal is to have your opponents think you have them beat.

NO Limping

If action has been folded to you, it’s better to either raise or fold.  With a raise, you can take control of the pot, and put callers on the defense.  The experienced players can usually smell a limp and will challenge you, so it’s better to fold.

Know When to Fold

Like the Kenny Rogers song, know when to fold’em! Trying to play every hand is a big signal of you being a novice! A vital part of winning poker strategy is to know when to fold!  If you fold when you should, you save your money so you can make bigger bets in more profitable situations. It’s better to play tight, but aggressive.

Bet in the Right Position

Having position over your opponent is a huge advantage in poker. What that means is that they have to make the first move.  Obviously, seeing your opponent’s action first, allows you to react appropriately.  It will allow you to bluff better, value bet more accurately, and basically make better decisions overall.

If you can learn these tips and incorporate them into your playing style, you should definitely see your poker sessions become more profitable.

The insurance bet in blackjack is easily the biggest sucker bet in blackjack.  In fact, most blackjack books and instructors will tell you that this bet should almost never be taken.

The insurance bet is a side bet that the dealer has blackjack, after seeing that his upcard is an ace.  It usually pays 2-1 odds.

Based on mathematical theory and projections, the dealer will have a blackjack only about 4 times in every 13 times he shows an Ace.  So, if you were to make a $5 insurance bet on 13 different hands, you would win 4 bets, for a total of $40, but lose 9 bets for a total of $45!  In the long run, you’d be losing money with the insurance bet. Think about it, why would a casino offer a bet that they would not have the odds in their favor?

Novice players make the bet because they want to “protect” their blackjack that they have hit.  What they don’t think about is that they will win or lose their hand, with no difference, whether they take insurance or not.  There is nothing to protect!  If you try to protect your 21, and the dealer does have twenty-one, you’ve broken even because you’ve made that second bet of insurance.

A blackjack usually pays 3:2 odds and insurance pays 2:1 odds.  So, let’s say you’re betting $5 and get a 21, but want to make the insurance bet (usually half the original bet) of $2.50. If the dealer does have 21, you win $5 on the insurance bet and push on your original bet. So, you’ve bet a total of $7.50 and got back a total of $10 (original $5 bet and $5 insurance bet win), winning $2.50. Now, let’s say you make the insurance bet and the dealer doesn’t have 21.  You lose $2.50 on the insurance bet, but win $7.50 on the original bet.  You bet a total of $7.50 and got back $12.50, (original $5 and $7.50 win) winning a total of $5.

Why waste the half-bet when it will only win 4 out of 13 times?  If you have 21 and the dealer doesn’t (which is most of the time), you’ve given back half a bet.  Why throw away half a bet? Don’t take insurance!