Poker Betting

Poker is to a large extent a game of chance but when betting is introduced it becomes a matter of psychology and skill. In most of the games, there is some amount that is bet initially into the pot and betting is usually done in a clockwise manner.

Over the course of single session select single players and watch them play. Just look for patterns and habits in the way they play--for instance do they frequently bet out on their draws? How do they play their very weak hands and their very strong hands? Do they try to bluff a lot or do they roughly always show down the best hand? It is quite essential that you focus on one person for a while and not try to assess everyone's play at the same time.

Remember to count up the pot. You can never utilize pot odds if you do nots know how much money is in the pot each time you act. Here’s a method to help you get a good estimate: Calculate the pot by the number of small bets. Disregard the small blind--it would hardly affect the pot odds much, and if those couple of chips would have made the difference on a particular draw, then, too it's possibly not worth making the draw in the first place.

At the end of betting round count the number of people left in the pot and multiply it by the number of small bets per person.

Pot odds are very useful for making out if you should continue with a draw in low limit Texas Hold 'em. You may wish to count the river bets too for a rough estimate of what the final pot was, but for our purposes what you actually want is to have a very close idea of how many small bets are still in the pot when it is your turn to act on the flop and on the turn.

Try to be friendly to all the players at the table. Offer them mouth fresheners or gums if you are having one, and in general be nicer to them. There is a whole lot of meaning here. Generally people who are fond of you and are having fun are going to be more liable to play worse against you.

Try to read one of the poker magazines kept in stock at all the major card rooms. They carry good articles with useful advice, something which you might like to apply on the next hand you get to play.