The Number 1 Rule of Poker

I'm gonna tell you what shouldn't be a big secret but a lot of people seem to forget it. It was personally reinforced to me after reading it in Roy West's 7 Card Stud book.

"If you arent playing happy, don't play"

What's the point of playing while pissed off or sad or angry or revengefull? Any emotion at the poker table can negatively affect your game. Even winning a big hand or being up for a session can make you different poker but usually not as bad as a negative emotion tilt.

You need to be able to control your emotions and watch yourself to decide if they are affecting your game play. If you lose a big pot (especially from a suckout or badbeat), learn to let it go. Maybe even step away from the table a bit to cool off and collect yourself.

I've been slacking some on these blogs because in most of my free time I am focussed on playing and studying poker... oh and my brother just had a baby girl :)

7 Card Stud? Not for me... yet!

I moved from Austin to Dallas, TX last week and then spent a few days in Houston, so I haven't been playing poker much. That will change soon. In Houston I got a chance to see the www.bodyworlds.com. For any of you interested in the human body, this exhibit rocks!

So back to poker... I picked up a beginning 7 Card Stud book since I plan on learning and becoming good at just about every poker type. I have high hopes of one day competing in the HORSE event at the World Series of Poker which consists of limit format for Holdem, Omaha HiLo, Razz, Stud, and Stud HiLo. That's quite a list of poker types so I have my work cut out for me! 7 Card Stud stresses beginning hand selection, decisions on when to exit hands, and reading other players hand possibilities just like most poker types. But it has a few more skills you need to pick up which includes memorizing what cards have been folded that you once could see to determine if your draws are "live" enough.

Well, I'm only half way through the book I got and have played about an hour of .5/1 limit Stud so far. I'll be playing mostly Omaha and Holdem for now but hope to get plenty of Stud experience in the coming months.

Some advantages of learning multiple poker types:

1) You won't get "bored" as easily since you have variety in games
2) Skills and insights you get playing one type of poker can carry over and help your other poker games
3) You will to be able to step into just about any game if you see plenty of weak competition and sticking to Holdem limits that option