an introduction to poker

+ anyone fancy some holdem?

No Limit Texas Holdem has become as American as apple pie, and with its surge in popularity, men from all realms have thrown their hats onto the virtual and real felt. Everyone this and the other side of the Mississippi fancies themselves the poker player, but to win on a consistent basics in any form of poker at any stakes it takes two things above all else, patience and proper bank roll management. I routinely watch people butcher this beautiful game and I can't help but cringe. I'm not trying to come across as arrogant, but people violate the game in so many different ways and then wonder how they could possibly be losing.

The main problem with the casual poker player is that they see a few clips from the world series of poker on TV and they think to themselves, ?hell, I can do that, I can make that call or fold or raise or whatever.? Yet what is being shown on a few hands from a multi-million dollar tournament could not even be considered a distant cousin to the poker that the everyday Joe American is playing online, at the casino, or at his buddies place. And so the inevitable happens and the poker player busts time and again until he has had enough and resides to simply watch the game or make a few comments when poker is being discussed such as ?I ran so bad? or ?I am really a great poker player, but people kept sucking out on me.? The problem is that their idea of poker is so perverted that they really have no chance from the start.

People go for the quick buck way too often, and even if they happen to stumble across some early success, they are doomed to lose it in the end because they have no bank roll management and very little patience. If you couple that with the American ?can't fail? attitude, you end up with a recipe for disaster. In future posts I will go over how to properly manage your bankroll, how to stay patient in adverse situations, how to avoid tilting, how to identify and avoid ?regulars? and many other ways to give yourself the best chance of being successful in various stakes of No Limit Texas Holdem.