Dealing with Casino distractions

Playing poker in a casino is a bit daunting if you have never done so. The lights, the atmosphere, the bells and whistles of the casino floor all come together to give it a carnival like setting and can be distracting. My first few trips to the casino in Atlantic City were like this when I began playing live poker. Well, I wan to let you know, that this can work to your benefit and make you a lot of money if you are smart.

Winning cash game poker is about creating an advantage over your opponents. Over a course of time I realized that the players that I was up against were making all of the mistakes that allowed their opponents to get the upper hand on them.

What are some of these mistakes?

1. Drinking Alcohol One of the beauties of going to a casino is that you do not have to pay to drink. This being said, I see way too many players who start out winning. After several hours and several alcoholic beverages later, they get stacked. Why is this? Simply put, alcohol affects your sensory perception and you ability to think clearly. As a result, you begin to make decision that you might have ordinarily performed differently had you not been drinking
2. Distractions I cannot recall the number of players that I observe that are more into the cocktail waitresses, social conversations or the television more so than the game at the table. Casinos are some of the most distracting places with all of the glitter and glamor that is around you. Playing winning cash game poker requires that you concentrate on the matter at hand.
3. Other Poker players There are a number of poker players who sole means of winning is to get into the minds of the other players. Do not be that player that has it happen to them. Your job is to remain calm and resolute at the table. Block out the trash talking, the slamming of hands on the table and the taunting that occurs from some players. I tend to tune them out. It becomes more satisfying when you stack them later.
4. Mp3 players This has probably cost more poker players money than anything else at the table. Listening to music makes if very hard for you to pick up on small tells that some players give off as they player. You will get some players that will either miss important information while wearing headphones or remove their headphones during an important hand; giving away information that they are in fact in an important hand themselves.
   

As a winning cash game poker player at the casino, you must view playing poker as an occupation. It requires you to develop a strategies and tactics that stand out from your opponent. While some of this may seem basic, I have used these rules as a foundation of my success at the tables. Poker is about winning as opposed to having the largest ego. I will take money over ego any day.

Winning cash game poker is about having an edge. I would say the key idea to keep in mind when playing No Limit Holdem is patience. I just gave away the topic of my next article.

Learning to win at No Limit Cash Games

Playing Professional Poker in a Cash Game is the height of excitement. This blog will teach you how to play No Limit Poker at a limit that will allow you to extract a nice profit for cash games at a casino.

I began playing poker,and particularly No Limit Holdem two and a half years ago. Initially, I began playing online at Pacific Poker. I did not have my own computer and had to play at the library. Pacific was one of the few poker clients that allowed you to play without downloading the software. Something that the library would not allow me to do. As I became more serious about the game, I ventured into the casinos at Atlantic City. This is where I began to cut my teeth at playing a style of No Limit poker that has allowed me to make $53,200 since January 2007! I play the 1/2 No Limit cash game exclusively. The money from these games have allowed me to purchase a new 2007 Infiniti G35 (in black of course).

In the following posts, I will outline my strategy for dominating the low limit cash games live. I will give some of my observations and strategies. While you may not ultimately sit in the "big cash" games in Vegas and Atlantic City with Doyle Brunson or Phil Ivey, but, you sure will enjoy the benefits of cashing chips in at the cage every session.