2 posts from November 2008

The game of Texas Hold'em is easily the most popular out of the top 3 of Hold'em, Omaha and Stud, but is it the most profitable?

I have played all 3 of these variants throughout my time playing online poker, and I can comfortably say that I have found Hold'em to be the most profitable. Omaha comes a close second, with Stud coming last in terms of profitability.

So what makes Texas Hold'em the most profitable poker game?

First of all, the popularity of Hold'em means that it receives a high volume of traffic. With so many players at the tables, there is an abundance of casual players that use the game for entertainment as opposed to a way of making money. Therefore there is plenty of easy money lying around.

In addition to this, Texas Hold'em is the most televised version of the game, which helps to spark interest in many new players. These new players will then sign up to online poker rooms and hit the tables without any knowledge of good strategy, and so they end up losing their money to the more experienced players.

It is these two important factors that pushes Hold'em above it's nearest competitors of Omaha and Stud in terms of the amount of money you can win from poker per hour.

However, to be able to win money from Hold'em you need to have knowledge of winning strategy yourself.

The best way to learn how to win money is to read strategy articles that provide you with information on how to play your hands in the most profitable way. You can always head straight for the tables and practice, but you may well find that you end up losing a fair amount of money in the process. If you want to speed up the time it takes to learn how to win money, solid strategy articles are the way forward.

So, if you choose an online poker room with soft competition and use good strategy, there is no reason why you can't win money from Texas Hold'em. Good luck.

Gin Rummy is one of those classic kitchen table card games that nearly everyone learns as a child. While Poker seems to be the rage these days, you can still find Gin games taking place in country clubs, tree houses, and rec rooms everywhere.

Like many popular games, Gin Rummy is easy to learn, but mastering it takes serious effort. Unlike many card games, strategy plays a major role in the outcome of a Gin Match.

Some basic Gin Rummy strategies include:

Knock Early – Whether you are playing standard Gin, or Oklahoma Gin, if you get the chance to knock early in the hand, do so. You won’t earn a 25 point bonus for knocking the way you would for going Gin, but you’ll earn points for the extra deadwood in your opponents hand plus the line score.

That line score can sure help once the match is over.

You can work towards an early knock by breaking your hand into three melds. Two of the melds will need to be runs or sets, and one meld is simply a collection of low cards that total less than the knock number.

As the hand wears on, knocking becomes a less attractive option. The more time your opponent has to make melds, the less of a chance that you can catch him with more deadwood in his hand than you have in yours.

Don’t Speculate – Every time you take an exposed card from the discard pile, you give your opponent information about your hand. For instance, if you take the seven of hearts from the pile, your opponent knows that you’ve either got running hearts or are collecting sevens. They will use that information during the rest of the hand.

By speculating, you are giving away information about cards that you have in your hand that are not even melded. This makes his defense plays even more effective because not only is your opponent not going to play into your melds, he can keep you from even making one. And, those unmelded cards will remain as deadwood in your hand and count against you at the showdown.

Advertising – One common play in Gin Rummy is to throw a card of a rank in hopes that your opponent will throw one of the same rank. For instance, you need the six of diamonds to make a diamond run. By throwing the six of clubs, you advertise to your opponent that you are not collecting sixes, making him more likely to feel safe about throwing the six of diamonds.

Pay attention to whether of not your opponent advertises for cards. Also pay attention to whether they fall for your advertisements.

Gin Rummy is a simple game that has many layers of strategy. These basic strategies are just the beginning tools you can use at the Gin table.