poker | Page 7

favorable for a straight draw. However, if you and your opponent have deep stacks, and your straight is not obvious when you hit, you may be getting favorable implied odds to make the call. That is, if you hit your straight on the turn, you might estimate that your $1,000 bet will end up in your winning a pot of $5,000 or more. That would mean you believe you are getting implied odds of 5 to 1. Tip: Exercises to Improve Your Hand Reading Ability Hand reading is about trying to narrow down the range of hands an opponent is playing against you. Here are some exercises to help improve your hand reading ability. You will lose your money in some of these exercises, so select lower limits, but not at blind levels where no one ever folds. Play a low blind, limit poker cash game and raise every hand pre-flop. This will put you in a situation where the action and play revolves around you. You will feel the power of being in charge. It will also put you in the position of having to make difficult decisions. Play in a small no-limit poker tournament, and raise pre-flop once out of every three hands. Again, you will see how players respond to you. You will learn to be creative and build your hand reading skills. Watch a table of limit or no-limit poker for an hour and try to identify betting patterns and put players on hands. Think about how you would have played against players, or what you would have done. This is easier to do online. Do some player mapping. The next time you play in a tournament, actually write down notes about your opponents, especially their betting patterns. See if they hold true, and if it helps you to play better. Again, this is easier to do online.

_________________________________________________ To buy Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves go to: www.apokerexpert.com/signedcopy.html