Bankroll 101 | Instant Bankroll for Poker
Making
the Big Move Part 2
AKA -
Live Play vs. Internet Play
Posting
Blinds and Calling Bets
Know what
the blinds are for your game. If it's a 2/5 No Limit game make sure you have
enough 1 dollar chips to post the Small Blind. If you're shot on small chips
don't hesitate to toss out a 5, 10, or higher denomination chip for your Big
Blind or the Small Blind. The dealer will give you change and it won't impede
the flow of the game (it's ok to ask the dealer or another player for change
but do it after a hand concludes). Some casinos don't like players giving change
so it's a good idea to ask about this as well in advance. Likewise, when
calling a players bet or All In don't worry if you don't have exactly the
amount he/she is betting. For example, if the player bets 18 on the flop and
you only have four red chips (20) or a green chip (25), feel free to announce
"Call" and toss the chip(s) in play. The dealer will give you change
from the pot and play will proceed, please don't start babbling about exact
chips to call the bet, etc. That's another tell for the other players at the
table and it makes you look inexperienced.
A very
important thing to note is announcing your intention when you're calling a bet
or making a raise. This is very, very important and here's why - Anything you
do at the table is binding meaning if you throw a 25 dollar chip on the table
thinking you're going to get change but a player just raised in front of you,
then you made a "poker move" and will have to call his bet. You also
need to be aware that if a player bets 5 dollars and you toss in that same 25
dollar chip it's considered a CALL and not a raise. It's called the single chip
rule and it's designed to protect a player that may be out of dollar chips at the moment. So to summarize,
if you want to raise a guy that just bet 5 dollars into a pot, you need to
announce RAISE then make your move. You have two options after announcing
RAISE, you can put the original bet amount in front of you and ponder what
amount you want to raise OR you can just place your raise amount out. The
proper action would look like this:
Original
bettor place 10 dollars into the pot
You
announce "I RAISE" and put 10 dollars in front of you. If you're
heads up with a player the dealer will often put these bets in the pot now.
You then
place your raise in front of you in play on the felt, let's say its another 25
dollars.
The
original bettor now has the opportunity to call, reraise, or fold.
Keep in
mind that you don't always have to announce what you're doing if you want to
just toss 6 red chips on the table. By doing it this way vs. just tossing a
green chip out, you are indicating that you are clearly raising. Make sense?
Ok, let's move on.
The
String Bet
A common
mistake I see newbies doing at live tables is making a string bet. They want to
raise or make a big bet but they put out a few chips and then reach for more
because they want to bet a bigger amount. I'm sure their brain is telling their
hands to bet 50 dollars but the hand only picks up three chips to start with.
If that happens, you need to catch yourself and just announce the bet size or
say "raise". Simple and easy, don't forget this important point!
Acting
Out of Turn
This is a big one and it goes back to my point about always watching the button and when the action is on you. Many players have a habit of pretty much hiding their cards when they play, so it's understandable if you look at them and see no cards so you make your move. A better habit to form is to look in front of them to see if they've tossed their cards into the muck. If in doubt, ASK before you just make your move. That will upset players quicker than you'd think and again, put out the tell that you're a n00b.