Pai Gow Poker: Card Game History and Rules

Pai-Gow poker is an ancient Chinese game that first began being played in the US in the early 1800’s. The game was changed a bit, with cards being used to play rather than the traditional use of tiles. It didn’t make its way into casinos until the 1980’s.

The object of Pai-Gow poker is to make two winning poker hands to beat the banker's two hands. The player is dealt seven cards to be made into a five card hand, (which then becomes the high hand), and a two card hand (that becomes the low hand). These hands are then played and ranked as customary poker hands.

The only exceptions to this are: Ace, two, three, four, and five is the second highest straight, and the five card hand, which is the high hand, must be higher than the two card hand, which is the low hand. If the high hand and the low hand are better than the banker’s hands, you win. If you lose on both hands, you lose the game, otherwise it is a push. The banker always wins hands that are tied, such as king queen vs king queen.

This game uses all 52 cards, and one joker. The joker can be used as an Ace to make a flush or a straight. In Pai-Gow poker the only plan needed is how much to bet and how to set your hand. In the event you get stumped and don’t know what to do, you can show your hand to the dealer and they will tell you how the house would set the hand. Pairs usually win the two-card hands, and two pair usually wins the five-card hands, the only guesswork is when to split two pairs. This decision also depends on the house rules for splitting pairs. A hand that has no pairs is called a Pai-Gow.

This game is known as a relatively easy game to both learn and to play, making Pai-Gow suitable for both beginners as well as seasoned players. Pai-Gow poker is a slow moving game, which has the added advantage that a small bankroll can last a player long time. Pai –Gow is an interesting break from the usual game of poker, and is said to be an acquired taste. If you’re looking for a change in poker games or just a break from the usual, you might like to give it a try.

How to Play Two Pairs in Draw

The most confusing holding in draw poker is two pairs. Playing other holdings is almost always a cut-and-dried substance compared with the jobs faced by the adult male with two pairs. When holding two pairs, if the adult male on your right opens, by all agency bump.

You will have got to make your elevation before the draw, because, holding two pairs, it is of import to drive everyone out as quickly as possible.

The ground for this is that your opportunities of improving with the draw are very slim. There is only one possible holding you can _ improve to-a full house--and the opportunities of your filling up on a draw to two braces are about the same as your opportunities of catching to an interior straight, roughly 11 to 1.

For this reason, you should wager heavily before the draw, and, if you neglect to improve, bank check after the draw.

Much will depend on where you are sitting. If a adult male on your right opens, an contiguous rise may coerce those who have got not already wager out of the hand. Thus, the figure of those who will be drawing to a brace and, perhaps, outdrawing you, is reduced.

If you open up the betting and catch a rise from a adult male on your left, phone call when it come ups around to you, unless you are holding a strong two brace (e.g., aces up). If you open up and a adult male on your right raises when it acquires around to him, rise back with two pairs.

This volition do it pretty expensive for the others, and while they are in for something already, some volition fold up rather than throw in twice as much to protect their original call.

If you opened and everyone stays, but no 1 raises, check, after the draw, unless you fill up up or have got aces up. This is simply protection for your hand.

If you open up and pull one card, the other players cognize you hold either two braces or three of a kind, and if any of them catches three of a kind, he may knock you and will certainly win. You have got small to derive by betting, and will often lose.

The History of Let It Ride Poker

Of all the card games being played today, it is undeniable that Poker is one of the most popular, as well as being one of the most famous. People get attracted to the sheer excitement of the game, the thrill of putting one over another player and of course, the big winnings that go along with it.

Because of its popularity, Poker has been adapted into a number of versions and has been regarded as an international card game. It has since evolved from being a simple household or neighborhood game into a professional, high-stakes competition that attracts aficionados from all over the world.

One of the Poker variations that has evolved and has garnered strong following is Let Them Ride Poker. The game, which is loosely based on the popular card game, was developed by the Shuffle Master Gaming Company. The purpose was to increase the sales of their automatic shuffling machines to land-based casinos. It first debuted in Reno, Nevada in 1993.

Let It Ride Poker is based on the Five-Card Stud Poker Game, which gives casino guests the chance to control two out of three bets wagered on an actual Poker game. Players have the option to pull out their bets if they don’t like the way their hand develops or “let it ride”, as the name of the game indicates, if they want to proceed. Let It Ride Poker is comparable to games like Video Poker, Pai Gow Poker and Caribbean Stud Poker, which are new breeds of games based on the classic game of Poker. However, unlike the usual game, Let It Ride Poker is a single-player game, in the sense that the player competes against the machine and not the banker or other Poker players.

To date, Let It Ride Poker has flourished to become a very interesting and competitive game with a strong following. And why not, when it is patterned after one of the most successful card games of all time?

The game tests a player’s intellect and strategy. While luck can win the player a round or two, it is no match to wits and a sheer knack for the game. Let It Ride Poker is a thinking game – each move should be well thought-out before it is enacted. Otherwise, it could make or break the whole game. This is the goal of Let It Ride Poker – to add spice and sizzle to an already electrifying game.

Poker Tilt: How it Can Ruin Your Game

In the ever growing world of poker, being on tilt can be a poker players’ greatest fear. Poker players are said to be on tilt when they are just not at their best game. They often play many hands, the bulk of them being losses, place stakes on bad hands, place off the wall high stakes on poor hands, or out of despair attempt wild, obvious bluffs. Players on tilt are often reckless, and do bad determinations and mistakes uncommon to them. Once a player travels on tilt, it is very difficult to interrupt the cycle.

More often than not, by the time a player recognizes they are on tilt, it is too late to avoid it. Many players have got lost their full stack before they would acknowledge they were on tilt and walk away. It is of import to look for warning marks of possibly going on tilt, so that you can halt before it is too late. Playing when you are tired is one of the most likely causes of tilt. When you are tired, you aren’t astatine your best no substance what you are doing. Your ability to do good determinations is impacted, and since that is a important accomplishment in poker playing, you really should not play when you are overly tired. When you start to acquire sleepy, and experience your weariness degree rising, it is of import to halt playing and rest. You can always come up back later, and will probably play better because you will be well rested and broad awake, hence, making better decisions. This is a likely cause of tilt that you have got control over and can halt before it starts.

Many players allow their piques acquire them on tilt as well. They often allow remarks made by other players acquire under their skin, which put them on border and do them more than likely to do dearly-won mistakes. Mane poker players will make this on intent to throw their oppositions off their games, so it is easier for them to win. These objectionable players are easier to disregard when you are playing online poker, you can always fold off your confab screen, or many websites now have got characteristics where you can disregard confabulate from a peculiar player. For this reason, players who play online are less likely to travel on tilt owed to remarks from another player.

If you look to be in a rhythm of getting bad cards, making bad bets, or catching yourself making errors that are uncommon for you, it should be considered an early warning mark of going on tilt. The more than irritated you go at the situation, the worse your game will be. As your game acquires worse, your defeat degree will lift even more, which will set you on a fast way to going on tilt. This is one of those important minutes where you should be the responsible player and recognize it is better to walk away than to maintain playing and hope things will acquire better. Chances are that even if you do acquire better cards, or you make make better bets, you will still lose because you are already to the point of being off your game and on tilt.

During any poker game it is of import to maintain your attending focused on what you are doing. When you acquire distracted, you are more than likely to do dearly-won mistakes. With every error you make, you set yourself one measure closer to going on tilt. So, when you catch yourself losing your focus, walking away for a few hands and come up back, or seek to take whatever it is that is causing you to lose your concentration.

As a general rule of thumb, if you are having a bad day, or you experience as though things just aren’t going well, you should not let yourself to play. Things that travel on in our twenty-four hours to twenty-four hours lives impact everything we do, and are certain to impact our focus, concentration, and determination making abilities, therefore making players more likely to go on tilt. When things look to be going incorrect for you, it is difficult to take your head completely off of them no substance what you do. It is better to work out your jobs before you play, so that you will have got all attending on what you are doing, and can avoid the feared beingness on tilt.

It is of import for every poker player to be aware of what tilt intends and how to avoid being impacted by it. Everyone will have got a bad game now and then, but when it is more than often than not, opportunities are there is something else going on that is causing you to be off your game. Good players larn to acknowledge the difference between bad fortune and tilt, and they cognize when to walk away.

How to Play Poker

Without question, Poker is the most common card game in Las Vegas and Internet casinos. Learning how to play Poker is indispensable for anyone looking to have got merriment and do some money at casinos. Once you larn the rudiments of how to play Poker, you can drill online and play for fun. The basic rules for most fluctuations of Poker are the same, so learning how to play Poker will let you to change your game and acquire more than enjoyment from your play time. Many people larn how to play Poker by participating in place games, visiting cyberspace casinos or watching unrecorded Poker tournaments like the World Series of Poker. A few basic rules will acquire you on your way.

The first measure in learning how to play Poker is to memorise the manus ranking. The physical object of Poker in just about every fluctuation is to constitute the peak possible five-card hand. From peak to lowest, the order of Poker hands is Royal Flush, Straight Flush, Four of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, Three of a Kind, Two Pair, One Pair, and High Card. Before you calculate out any other rules of how to play Poker, you should cognize the manus ranking off the top of your caput so you can concentrate on the game.

There is more than to learning how to play Poker than manus ranking. You should also familiarise yourself with the assorted types of Poker that are commonly played in casinos. Stud Poker, which is usually some fluctuation of five-card Oregon seven-card stud, is a Poker game where you seek to do the best possible hands from the cards you are dealt. Variations of seven-card stud, such as as Omaha and Texas Hold ‘Em, are more than than common than five-card he-man because with seven cards, the game trusts more on accomplishment than luck.

Draw Poker is another type of game you should look into in learning how to play Poker. Most casinos don’t offering draw Poker because the likelihood are first-class for players, but you can happen draw Poker games in many for-credit Internet casinos. In draw Poker, depending on the game variation, you can discard a certain figure of cards after the initial trade and acquire that many new cards to do the best possible hand.

Knowing how to play Poker will allow you take part in the most exciting card game around. After you larn how to play Poker, you can work on your bluffing accomplishments (actions you can utilize against unrecorded oppositions to do them believe your cards are better than theirs so they will fold, or retreat from the game) and maybe even happen yourself with a place at the World Series of Poker. Practice your Poker accomplishments online or with friends so you can larn all the fast ones about how to play Poker.

Spotting and Playing Against the Aggressive Poker Player

Nowadays, a new sort of poker player is developing. They are the backwards players, tilted backwards and they have got got one important property that tin be appreciated because they have no thought what a nut means. These players are not inexperienced players. They will usually understand draw odds, they cognize the fact that on a high per centum all other players won’t start with cards that are considered to be the nuts and that players don’t maintain a manus that is probably locked. Backwards players aren’t just apparent unintelligent. They can develop into good players but they still have got to learn. And they hold their money dearly, so they volition believe every time that all the players they meet will make the same with their stacks, that no 1 will ever hazard to lose money for playing them or follow an of import purpose.

A backward player will make mostly the opposite of what an experienced player makes usually. They will be aggressive most of the times, excepting the states of affairs they have got a winning hand. They are players easy to tell, they make what in existent poker a frightened player does. Once they see an chance of winning, they acquire scared of losing and hold that manus dearly through safe and inactive play. So, according to this form a backward player that have something will mostly check up on or command less when he have a existent manus that tin purpose for the pot. Of course, this looks to any 1 a bad even crazy idea, to wager less when you actually can win. They are minimizing their winnings through their behaviour at the poker table. If they can acquire to the right table they can actually do a net income out of their gaming style. The right table for a backward player is a table where all players are tight and take no chances, a table where people will fold up every time the backward player raises in his usual style.

So, take advantage of the being of the backward player and travel on a Hunt for them. They are quite easy to spot. All you have got to make is expression for that peculiar table where you can see a player that have a stack much larger than all the others and that player just maintains on betting his immense bets.

To play a backward player you must cognize his two great fears: when he is being checked-raised and when he have the winning manus and no 1 calls. He is not a player that bluffs, he just desires everyone out of the table and will wager as much as he can afford to acquire them out. If you check up on raise a backward player you will allow him cognize that you cognize his style and you are willing to put on the line everything just like him because you cognize you can do a immense profit. He can travel all-in here if the is hoping for a draw, fold up if he truly have nil or bank check when he believes (and he will probably make this) you will allow him be on the bend and the river.

A backwards player, once losing his stack through many sequent re-raises from you will not give up. He will maintain on coming back and if you pull off to acquire his money every time you will acquire his full bankroll. So you will acquire rich in just one poker room in a couple of hours if you can happen your backwards player and check-raise him often until he is completely messed up.

Poker Strategy Tip: When Not to Bluff

Some players have got the machine-controlled reaction to bluff frequently, and that is not recommended. They should just pay attending to the table advertisement maybe even experience it a small spot before they make up one's mind to bluff. Keep in head that the other players are probably looking themselves for an juncture to bluff. You can state sometimes when they are bluffing, and the same manner they can state it too sometimes when you are tring to bluff. It makes work when cipher notices, but if they make it will only be you money. So, usage it wisely and only after you acquire some experience.

For mention and help, take a expression at these states of affairs when you must not, under any circumstances, bluff.

1.When it is obvious that you will.

If the players cognize you and cognize your stille, they can state when you are bluffing in some situations. Don’t make this error because you would give them free money this way.

2.When you just bluffed and they caught you.

If you are already labeled by the remainder of the players as a mediocre bluffer, you should allow them bury about that and only then seek it again, hoping this time you can do it right.

3.When you are faced with a unsafe flop.

Look carefully at the flop. if there is an Ace in it, see the afact that person might have got a brace of aces. Aces do it beyond the pre-flop and player usually lodge to them and most likely they will paly them. So, don’t bluff when faced to them. Also, don’t bluff against something that mightiness stick to a straight, like: Q, J, 8. Maybe person have the lacking parts.

4.When you are playing against many players.

The manyer you are, the greater are the likelihood that a player have something and that he will lodge with his cards. If you bluff, that palyer will win and you will lose a batch more. Statistic and likelihood forbit bluffing in this situation.

5.When you are clearly playing against bad players
Bad players don’t recognize the chance bluffing gives. They like to maintain it honest, they don’t fearfulness hands. And bluffing is only effectual when it travels manus to manus with fear, fearfulness of loosing the manus or fearfulness of loosing a tournament or just the money.

6.When you have got a run of lost hands going on, or just 1 hand, but a large one.

You might be upset, and you are espected to be, you might move irresponsibly then and others cognize that. They will name you no substance what you do, because they cognize they are large opportunities that you are bluffing.

7.When you have got got limped in or you are situated in one of the bind positions.

Can’t explicate why, but generally the people from unsighted place are expected to have a mediocre hand. And since they already made that unsighted bid, they are espected to travel on, therefore bluff, even if the manus is poor. So, don’t bluff, others believe you will and will name you in this situatiuation also.

When Playing Poker, Set Limits

You must make up one's mind just what your poker playing bounds is.

The term of playing bounds have nil to make with the term of bankroll. Your playing bounds is simply the amount of money you would experience comfortable playing. No 1 can be apathetic when playing his ain money and therefore they cannot stay unagitated when it come ups to losing them. Therefore, don’t usage all your economy or paycheck to play online poker. This is not good for two reasons:

1. If you lose, you will have got a bad memory of the game that left you with no money at all, when it is in fact your fault for not being responsible and for not thinking through your actions.

2. You will lose! Think about this 1 for a while. You will most certainly lose because your game will be affected by the changeless defeat that originates from your concerns for your money.

So, avoid these states of affairs by playing an amount you wouldn’t attention about. Just believe of it as if it was an disbursal to purchase a game, and now you are playing that game you paid for. This manner the concerns can be ignored and your playing style can really go what it necessitates to.

If you have got a normal community or one more than footing of profits, then the above strategy should accommodate your case. But when you be after to play poker for an income, then material acquires difficult. A professional poker player have no beginning but his bankroll. The bankroll have at all times to stay integral so it can bring forth income.

When you play poker your income will fluctuate. If you are a affluent individual and don’t attention about money because you already have got too many, then fluctuation don’t mean value a thing. But if poker is your lone beginning of income, then maintain the bankroll integral lone as long as you don’t demand it. When you have got to pay the bills, you will take that amount from your bankroll. It is a bad thing and it intends you didn’t cognize your limits. Your initial bankroll will go littler and littler not because of poker, but because you wanted to trust on an amount of money you did not actually had to spend.

A professional poker player have learned his bounds by now. He cognizes exactly how much he is playing, and he cognizes how much he should go forth at the online casino and how much to set in a depository financial institution or put in the stock marketplace after a win. There is no demand to increase a good playing bounds that have been tested. Every time we travel above it, we can redraw the exceeding money and go forth this manner the bankroll integral while making an income.

Shootout Poker Tournaments Develop Stronger, Better Players!

What is a multi table tournament gunfight structure? A gunfight tournament is one in which each table plays down to one to three players. The winners of each single table then advances to the adjacent level.

As an example, state a tournament had 100 entrants consisting of 10 tables of 10 players. The entry fee is $10. The sum award pool is $1000. In this peculiar tournament, the top three finishers at each table advance to the adjacent level. The winner at each table have 1% of the award pool Oregon $10, 2nd place have 1/2% or $5 while 3rd place have nil but still advances to the adjacent level. Degree one ends with 30 of the original 100 players advancing. The 10 table winners are now playing for free, having South Korean won back their entry fee. Degree 2 dwells of 3 tables of 10 players. Again, the top 3 finishers advance. Each of the 3 table winners have 2% of the award pool Oregon $20, 2nd place have 1% or $10, 3rd place have nil but makes advance. In the first 2 levels, there is the possible for 26 players to have some award money. In the usual 100 player multi table tournament only 10 players split up the award pool. Nine players now advance to the concluding table. The payouts are: 1st: 25% ($250), 2nd: 15% ($150), 3rd: 9% ($90), 4th: 7% ($70), 5th: 6% ($60), 6th: 5% ($50), 7th: 4% ($40), 8th: 3% ($30), 9th: 2% ($20). If a player was able to win at his table at each level, he would win a sum of $280. In a typical multi table tournament, first award would be 30% Oregon $300. The award payouts are nearly the same but a greater figure of players are able to have a piece of the pie. Under this illustration of a gunfight tournament, 30 players advance with a opportunity to capture portion of 35 payouts, i.e Twenty at degree one, 6 at degree 2, and 9 at the concluding table. The beauty of this type of tournament construction is that it conveys into play more of the accomplishments necessary to go a truly skilled poker player. These accomplishments are the ability to plays heads up, the ability to play short handed, the ability to read players well , the ability to play very consistently and most importantly, the ability to win.

Current multi table tournaments constantly endeavor to maintain nearly full tables as players are eliminated. It is very rare that a table will have got less than 7 players before it is refilled by transferring players from other tables. That agency that a player never have to play at a short handed table (a short handed table is defined as a table of 5 or 6 players) until reaching the concluding table. Nor makes a player ever have got to play caputs up against another player in a multi table tournament unless he is one of the two remaining players in the tournament. Without question, the truly skilled poker player cognizes how to play a short handed table and caputs up play very well. But these accomplishments only come up into play for those players who do the concluding table in the current multi table tournament structure. In fact, current multi-table tournament construction prefers the player who is able to play well adequate to last and outlast the field. Outlasting the field doesn't necessarily affect playing optimal poker.

Under the gunfight format, the ability to read the player goes more than important. Once the tournament starts you cognize your other 9 opponents. The ability to acknowledge tells and betting forms goes more than important. The ability to assail another player's failing goes easier as the table is slowly whittled down in size. The demand to play for hours on end over respective years is eliminated. Current multi-table tournaments are kindred to running a marathon. A Gunfight tournament is more than correspondent to a 10k run.

In other words, current multi-table tournaments punish great players like Doyle Brunson or T.J. Cloutier. A individual in their 60's or 70's can't be expected to have got the staying power to play 10 to 15 hours per twenty-four hours for respective days. Such tournaments prefer the young. But the 20 something twelvemonth old player may not be the best player. Under the gunfight format, it may take 6 or 8 hours to play down to a single winner if the blinds are increased every hour. The ability to focus, dressed ore and play superior poker come ups more than into play. Age and staying power goes less of a factor.

The gunfight formatting also benefits the newer player. It gives the newer player more chance to play in short handed states of affairs and caputs up situations. It also necessitates all players of any accomplishment degree to acquire better at reading players. Under current multi-table tournament structures, as the blinds get to lift to bigger levels, a strategy of lone playing the strongest 8 or 10 starting hands goes more than prevalent. The ability to bluff is greatly reduced when the table is constantly being refilled with new players whose playing style is initially unknown. Less existent poker is played as more than than hands go allin states of affairs in which the luckier two cards prevail.

With a gunfight structure, the more skilled player will be able to use accomplishments like bluffing or stake size to his/her advantage more often as the table is pared down in size. Each oppositions strengths and failings will go more than evident the longer they play against each other. The demand to just last to the money degree is eliminated. Under a gunfight construction a player have to play to win.

Under current multi-table tournament play, a player may get a significant figure of chips owed to the quality of players he faced rather than his playing skill. If a player is lucky adequate to play against new, weak or lunatic players who are willing to throw a batch of chips into a pot, he may construct a big stack of chips. However, a better player may have got played just as well but faced stronger or more than conservative players. His chip stack going into the place stretch may be substantially less even though he have won just as many hands and against better players.

With the gunfight format, each player advances with substantially the same figure of chips to the adjacent level. Play at the adjacent degree starts on a degree basis. Consistency and strong play go more than important. Moreover, each table at each advancing degree fill ups with strong players since lone winners advance. The table is not being filled with players who are managing to just survive.

In summary, I would wish to see more than gunfight tournaments added to the WPT and WSOP tournament schedules, as well as, online poker tournaments because it show windows more poker accomplishments such as as caputs up play, short handed play, reading accomplishments and consistency. Such tournaments will enable players of all accomplishment degrees to develop these accomplishments sooner and better since the gunfight formatting supplies more than chances to prove these skills.

What make you think? Go to the Loveable Rogues Poker Forum and cast of characters your vote. The opinion poll inquiry is located to the far correct under the Multi-table Tournament treatment group. Lovable Rogues Poker Forum

How to Spot the Bluff When Playing Online Poker

This article is strictly referring to online poker games. It have nil to make with reading the players. You can read here about some minutes in the game when it is likely for others to bluff.

1. When they are still betting after a bad flop

Watch other player. Let’s state they already did stake pre-flop and their place was not that good. Now the floating-point operation is on the table and it is poor, so you have got to believe they could be bluffing. So raising the bet, or re-raising it might do them believe about it, because they probably stand up zero opportunities with the drawings and they might fold.

2. The likelihood are with them

For example, when everyone folds. And especially when the pot is quite big, like a drawing missed and maybe even you are thinking of bluffing. Then, you should naturally believe that they could also be bluffing. So phone call or raise, whatever you want, just don’t throw away such as a large pot.

3. When there’s only the two of you.

It’s considered the easiest bluff. They will believe that if they got that far, they might as well acquire on with it. But don’t be fooled and if you have got a good manus travel on and play it.

4. When the floating-point operation have got no more than draws.

From time to time players will wager here to acquire quit of the capableness to obtain a draw, now and again since they really have got good cards. They can bluff or not, you must cognize the 1s you are playing with.

5. When they wager and then checked.

When a draw just occurred, and it was not satisfactory, they are almost certainly just trying to travel on without having much. Stake alongside them.

6. When they wager firstly, then for the 2nd time and finally on the river they checked.

It is the same state of affairs just with two stakes instead of one.

7. If when betting they are expressing their commiseration for your money

They are just trying to intimidate you. Cipher desires to win less at poker. If they really had a hand, they would have got allow you travel along so they could win more.

To descry more than than bluffing situations, just analyse the 1s that you are ready to bluff in. Keep in head that if you are willing to make it, others might make also. At the same time, seek and acquire to cognize each player’s style before trying to descry when they are bluffing. It is of import to cognize your oppositions and it will assist you have got more than accurate anticipation about the games you are playing.

Playing Poker: What Motivates the Top Poker Players

Why do we play poker? But especially why do you play poker? This might strike you as an odd question but it is very important for your future success in the world of poker. The reason why you play poker is at least as important as the way you play poker.

We can categorize somehow the reasons why we play poker, we can properly analyze them and after that we can use them to improve our actual gaming style.

If we could ask several hundreds of players “Why do you play poker?” the odds are quite big that their answer would be “For the money”. But if we could access their last year statistics we would see that some just didn’t win any money at all, or at least that they didn’t win more that they lost. If money is the only reason these people play poker they why do they keep on doing it? Of course, there are many more answers that they don’t really want to admit. This happens because there are many other motivations that push us to play poker just as great as the desire to win many, but many of them are even greater.

And when you come to think about it, you can surely find many many reasons: fun, the love of the game, competition, making friends, the desire to beat the best there is in the world of poker, and the list can go on and on. But if you understand the various reasons behind your game you will eventually manage to change your view about winning and losing or you will be able to choose the perfectly fit games for you, the ones that will bring you the most success.
In his book, “Psychology of Poker”, Alan N. Shoonmaker explains in detail the importance of understanding personal impulses in order to find the answer to the question “Why do we play poker?”

I will take the liberty to speak a little bit about this theory.

Take a pen and a piece of paper and write down the following:
Money
Making friends
Relaxing
Pleasure
Competition
Just passing time

If you can think of additional reasons, write those down also. Now you will have to think hard and find within yourselves the real reasons you play poker for.

Once you did that, write after each reason a percentage, even if it is 0%, just keep in mind that all of them added must equal 100%.

If someone would play poker 20% for Money, 10% for relaxation, 50% for pleasure and the remaining 20% for competition, then he would be what is called a loose player most of the time, playing many hands and staying in the game as much as he can just for the thrill of being there. This is the most important think for him and it influences his style of playing.

If you manage to carefully and correctly analyze your own situation you can eventually change some parts of your game you don’t like or improve the ones that you consider are good.

In many types of competitions, the battle is firstly within yourself and only after that with your opponents. Bad mistakes in poker are made when you are too proud, when you question your ability and doubt your self all the time, when you are too scared or shy when you must take an action or when your thoughts are just somewhere else.

If you play poker just with friends to pass the time, then you must choose games with low bids, so your bankroll will last longer. If you are playing to relax then stay out of the games with poker fanatics and choose some games with less involved players.

The answers can be various and they only depend on you. But answering the question is a must if you wish to improve your game.