Skill Versus Luck In Poker
By Michael Bradley, Tue Jan 10th

The money to be gained or lost in a home game tends to mean nextto nothing and everyone almost always plays every hand to theend. Add in to that, dealer's choice & the ever popular "wildcards" and you have a recipe for gambling on your hand, notplaying it. In these situations, it's often the middle hand thatwins by catching a lucky card on the river. Another reason whyluck has such a big role in home-style games is that manyof the skills we use in pro-style games just don't come intoplay in a home game. Skills such as patience in determiningwhich hands to play, when to bluff, and how to read youropponent just aren't used when playing such low-limit againstyour family. If you are playing too many hands in a tough pokergame, you will find yourself short stacked in no time.

Patience

The plain fact is that if you play too many hands in a pro-levelpoker game, you won't win. It's mathematically impossible foryou to last for any length of time. But, if you play this manyhands in a home game, you may fair better because the sheer sizeof the pot from the hands you draw out on may offer sufficientpot-odds to draw on that inside straight or whatever the casemay be. Especially, if there are "wild cards".

Bluffing

Another big difference between home games and pro-stylegames is bluffing. Bluffing will actually succeed in a pro game,where everyone will just call you in a low-limit family-stylegame. It is extremely hard to pull off a bluff in the familyoriented game. The main reason for this is the limits are setagainst you. That 25 cents you've raised the pot isn't going tobe enough to scare anyone away, even if it was a check-raise.Anyone would call that, even if they thought they were beaten.In a pro game, however, bluffing is a sound strategy. If you'veplayed very few hands, it's very possible to steal a pot at theend of a hand by becoming overly agressive at the right time.Your opponents will almost certainly put you on a strong hand,if not the nuts.

Reading your opponent Another very important element inpro games is the ability to read your opponent. Are they full ofcrap or are they the real thing? In most home games, there is somuch money in the pot (relative to the size of the amount tocall) that there is no need to even consider this factor. In propoker, however, there is enough money involved that a good readcan be very valuable. The simple fact is, if serious was amere game of chance, there would be no such thing as aprofessionaly

poker player and the people you see on thetelevision constantly winning tournaments (i.e. Phil Ivey, DoyleBrunson, Daniel Negraneu, etc) would just have to be theluckiest people in the world. This, obviously, is not the caseand many a professional can have very successful careersby honing their skills.

About the author:This article brought to you, free to use, by Michael J Bradley.Be sure to check out Mike's site - Play internet online - acomplete strategy guide for online poker. He has an extensive Online BonusCodes section.