Sports

Top Five Tips for New Poker Players to Get Started

Published

1 year ago

July 25, 2023

Online poker has gone through quite a few phases, from the initial launch in the late 1990s, to the Poker Boom of the early 2000s, to Black Friday in 2011, when online poker in America was completely banned, all the way to the proliferation of online poker regulation in jurisdictions such as Ontario, Canada.

When it comes to online poker, Canada is one of the biggest markets in the world, and the success of regulated igaming in Ontario is serving as a wakeup call to other provinces that seek to protect consumers against unscrupulous offshore operators while generating much-needed revenue for responsible gaming efforts.

If you are new to online poker real money games, or you haven’t played the game in a while, we have some great tips to get you started and put you on the right track.

It is worth noting that poker is an incredibly complicated game with many different formats and a whole strategy to learn for each of them, but some tips hold true in almost every situation.

These are the top five tips every poker player should know before they get involved with real money games and that you should absolutely not miss.

#1 – Tight is Right!

This may be one of the most commonly heard phrases in poker rooms around the world, and that’s because it holds true for the most part.

Quite a few poker players take this tip to an extreme and play way too tight, waiting only for the absolute premium starting hands to get involved or only betting when they have the absolute best possible hand after the flop.

However, playing a reasonably tight poker strategy is almost always right in cash games, early phases of tournaments, and most other scenarios.

While there are definitely times it makes sense to widen the range of hands you play, a new player will do better sticking to a tighter strategy and missing on some profitable spots than playing too many hands and getting destroyed by the more experienced players.

Play extremely tight in early positions, as there are so many players still to act after you, and widen your opening range as you approach the button.

Avoid playing too many hands in the small blinds when there is a raise in front, but remember to defend your big blind against small opens with plenty of hands simply because you are getting such a good price.

#2 – Play Aggressively

Playing tight definitely does not mean you should play like you are afraid to lose. Once you do decide to get involved, you should always do your best to apply pressure on your opponents.

If you have managed to create a tight image, other players will believe you when you claim you have it, which means you can get away with plenty of bluffs as well.

If you are going to get involved in a poker hand, you are almost always better off coming in as the raiser or re-raiser than calling other players’ raises or limping into hands.

The same goes for post-flop action, as aggressive bets and raises will give you a chance to win many pots without having to fight too hard for them.

When you play aggressively, you give yourself more than one shot at winning the pot and also build the pots up for when you do make monster hands.

The tight and aggressive approach to the game is the one used by many professional poker players and will work like an absolute charm against most mediocre players you will encounter at the lower levels.

#3 – Specialize in One Game Format

Poker can be played in many different formats, whether it’s cash games, tournaments, sit and goes, or any other variation that’s been invented in more recent years.

You will do best by specializing in one game format, as this will enable you to learn the proper strategies to beat the game and stick to them.

If you try mixing too many different game types into your portfolio, you will end up making mistakes in each, misusing strategies that work in one format but not in the other, and generally playing worse poker.

While you can definitely play more than one game format in the long run, as a new poker player, you should probably focus on mastering one game before you extend yourself to others.

#4 – Remember to Study Poker

Perhaps the biggest mistake most poker players make is that they stop studying shortly after they master the very basic elements of the game.

This is why you will often encounter players who have been playing poker for 30 years but have barely advanced past the first level of thinking, as they simply don’t understand how much there is to learn about the game of poker.

There are many different ways to study poker, and you can really pick the approach that suits you best in this day and age.

Just speaking for myself here, but I know my poker game is in a good place when I obsess over relatively small mistakes and they are few and far between.

Poker is a game of mistakes.

Like golf, when pros attack the pin from 100 yards out, they are trying to make it, but…

— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) March 15, 2023

At the very least, you should try to watch good players play poker, either live or on TV, and try to deduce why they are doing the things they are.

However, actual study sessions with poker software, reading books or articles, or signing up for poker training courses will actually do miracles for your game in the long run.

#5 – Control Your Emotions

Beating low-stakes poker games is generally not too difficult and can be done even with a modest level of poker knowledge.

However, most players still lose, and it is the tilt factor that really makes it impossible for them to turn into winning players in the long run.

At the poker tables, everyone will experience winning and losing sessions alike, and it is important to be the kind of player who understands they have to lose at times and who can take the loss.

In fact, most poker players lose after losing just one or two hands and end up losing massive on a session that could have easily been a slight loss or even a small profit.

Work on your emotions and tilt control even harder than you work on your actual game, and you will see your results improve dramatically with every passing week.

Sports

Red Wings sign Moritz Seider to 7-year deal worth nearly $60M

Published

3 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.

The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.

Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.

He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.

Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.

Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.

Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.

The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.

Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.

Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.

___

AP NHL:

Source link

Sports

Veterans Tyson Beukeboom, Karen Paquin lead Canada’s team at WXV rugby tournament

Published

4 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.

WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).

Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.

“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.

“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”

Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.

Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.

Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.

Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.

The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.

Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.

The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.

WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.

The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.

Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.

Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad

Forwards

Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);

Backs

Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).

—

Follow @NeilMDavidson on X platform, formerly known as Twitter

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.

Source link

Sports

Vancouver Canucks star goalie Thatcher Demko working through rare muscle injury

Published

4 hours ago

September 19, 2024

Anne Joseph

PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.

The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.

He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.

Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.

He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.

Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.

Source link