PokerTH

a post to give some advice to beginners (or not).
I play a little crazy for fun on pokerth, but I have experience and many many hours of poker, in real life or on the internet.
You can contradict me, say that what I say is stupid, with pleasure, but with arguments

First thing that comes to mind:
Is poker a game of luck or of math?
It's both.
Why?
Because luck is controlled by math. Not 100%, but the goal is to get as close as possible to 100.

One could picture it simply by comparing it with someone who wants to have a quiet vacation on the Caribbean beach. He will avoid going there in August September October because there are often hurricanes. So if he can go at another time, why go in October. Likewise, why are you racing with a 7-8 when you can expect other more favorable hands. Ah, have you already won with 7-8 against AA? Well, you can also spend a windless vacation in the Caribbean in October, but I don't risk it because I have a choice. Nor will I go skiing in the Alps in the middle of summer.

So we can say yes it's a game of luck control, what we have to bet is on luck not bad luck. The control is done quite easily with maths, I can come back to it, but also with a good understanding of your position in the game and that of others. If you play a very average hand preflop first (Under The Gun) you are much more likely to be raised and fold than if you were in the last to call. Many say that in UTG position, either raise or fold. The other interesting position is the deal, because there you know that on the flop you will be the last to speak.
We can also talk about following the way other players play: how much does he bet for a given hand? Does he go to bed often? Does he play a lot etc ...
Lots of things that increase your luck percentage and allow you to play the feeling and, when you get it right, the bluff.

Conversely someone too cautious takes the risk of being followed by poors hands which will flee at the slightest overbet but will enjoy touching an improbable combination against a pair of KKs who are too sure of themselves.
A nice hand served wins if played well. Too often I see AAs just calling preflop, and crying because the big blind catch a full with 7-2.
If you want to play tight, you have to know to fold, even with AA.

Here were some thoughts of Bob before sleeping.

Thank you for sharing your words Bob. Wise and experienced words.

I agree, even when maths are important, because A-A starts with higher advantage than a 2-7 hand; the real beauty of poker, and the thrill to play it, is that involves many factors, maths and luck yes, but also the psychology to analyze the other players (if they only fold and play high cards, the time to bet and the amount of their bets (reveals their doubts or confidence), if they bluff a lot, etc.), and also a more subjetive factor like intuition and feelings of the decisions to take at each moment.

I'm playing since 2010, but actually i play just very rarely because not enough time, and some of the most important things i learned playing here is that Poker TH is like mind exercise (to me similar to chess but with more people from different countries then more social), is a game to enjoy, play every hand (or as you wish ), adapt your decisions to the flow of the game (with my position shall i bluff now with my hand 2-7 and a AA on flop? ), meet good people (many of them are not more with us, excelent good people, great moments of the memory) and learn to enjoy the wins but also the losts, because at the end is just a game to ENJOY

I'm glad to read posts like yours, constructive ones that can help newbies to start playing and learn from experienced players to enjoy more the game, and I wanted to thank you.
Greetings!

PD: And about maths, I always say the probability of a Royal Flush is 0.000154%, 649,739 : 1 odds ... almost impossible??? I had 34 Royal Flush in last 10 years , nothing is impossible