The money to be gained or lost in a home game tends to mean next
to nothing and everyone almost always plays every hand to the
end. Add in to that, dealer's choice & the ever popular "wild
cards" and you have a recipe for gambling on your hand, not
playing it. In these situations, it's often the middle hand that
wins by catching a lucky card on the river. Another reason why
luck has such a big role in home-style poker games is that many
of the skills we use in pro-style games just don't come into
play in a home game. Skills such as patience in determining
which hands to play, when to bluff, and how to read your
opponent just aren't used when playing such low-limit against
your family. If you are playing too many hands in a tough poker
game, you will find yourself short stacked in no time.
Patience
The plain fact is that if you play too many hands in a pro-level
poker game, you won't win. It's mathematically impossible for
you to last for any length of time. But, if you play this many
hands in a home game, you may fair better because the sheer size
of the pot from the hands you draw out on may offer sufficient
pot-odds to draw on that inside straight or whatever the case
may be. Especially, if there are "wild cards".
Bluffing
Another big difference between home poker games and pro-style
games is bluffing. Bluffing will actually succeed in a pro game,
where everyone will just call you in a low-limit family-style
game. It is extremely hard to pull off a bluff in the family
oriented game. The main reason for this is the limits are set
against you. That 25 cents you've raised the pot isn't going to
be enough to scare anyone away, even if it was a check-raise.
Anyone would call that, even if they thought they were beaten.
In a pro game, however, bluffing is a sound strategy. If you've
played very few hands, it's very possible to steal a pot at the
end of a hand by becoming overly agressive at the right time.
Your opponents will almost certainly put you on a strong hand,
if not the nuts.
Reading your opponent Another very important element in
pro games is the ability to read your opponent. Are they full of
crap or are they the real thing? In most home games, there is so
much money in the pot (relative to the size of the amount to
call) that there is no need to even consider this factor. In pro
poker, however, there is enough money involved that a good read
can be very valuable. The simple fact is, if serious poker was a
mere game of chance, there would be no such thing as a
professionaly poker player and the people you see on the
television constantly winning tournaments (i.e. Phil Ivey, Doyle
Brunson, Daniel Negraneu, etc) would just have to be the
luckiest people in the world. This, obviously, is not the case
and many a professional poker can have very successful careers
by honing their poker skills.
About the author:
This article brought to you, free to use, by Michael J Bradley.
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