Poker a game of chance or skill?

Is poker a game of luck or skill? People who aren't students of the game will debate this question vigorously. For those of us who do study the game the obvious answer is...Yes! Both luck and skill are factors. You have very little control over your luck (what control you do have will be the subject of a future post) but you do control your how seriously you pursue honing your skills. Still it is nice to get lucky every now and then. Given enough time all players will have the same luck with the cards. In other words over time you will get just as many good hands and poor hands as other players. The difference there fore between a long term winner and a long term loser is what you do with those hands. You can play poker and not have it be much of a gamble by only entering pots with premium starting hands. Most of the time this strategy will pay off. It's tough to beat the rake this way and of course you will suffer some bad beats. Most likely you will over time break even or make a little money but at least you won't lose much. Or you can gamble by pushing you chips in on long shots and hunches. Playing this way is characterized by huge swings in you bank roll because sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you get burned. This is an exciting way to play but ultimately the players with this style of play have to lie to themselves about the results they are getting. Depending on how the cards fall you can make a lot of money. But the majority of the time you will walk away with many fewer chips than you started with. The gambler is were the majority of your profits as a serious poker player will come from. Controlled aggression describes most professional poker players. He doesn't rely on luck nor is he a rock playing only premium hands. He will fold as many times as necessary until the time is right taking calculated risks when necessary to maximize the value of his hands. Learn to play professional online Texas Hold'em at Hold'em Careers!

Free Poker Training! Pay attention because this is very exciting and may only happen once! The Modern Grinder will be offering personal coaching in playing Texas Hold'em for profit. The goal of this training will be to teach what it takes to be a profesional online poker player and to see if you have what it takes. This is going to be a very limited offer so watch for details.

How to choose a poker site to play at.

Perhaps one of the most important decisions a poker player will make once you have learned the basics the game is where to play. For me it boils down to the following questions: What is the reputation of the site and how secure is it? If you live in the United States all online gaming sites are offshore and you have little or no legal recourse if they take your money. So look for mature well established sites that have been around for awhile and have a good reputation with online poker players. Also look for site reviews online in poker forums and sites such as this. Another good sign is if they are nationally advertised in major poker publications and/or are associated with big name poker professionals both of which make a living with their reputations. How many real money players are there when I want to play and in the games I prefer. I specialize in Texas Hold'em so I look for sites with a lot of people playing on the Hold'em tables and tournaments. Also make sure there are enough tables or tournaments at level you play at. The functionality of the site. How easy is it to navigate and are there any unique features that make playing there a better experience. Deposit and withdrawal options. Simply put do they options that you are comfortable with are safe and reliable and work for you. Promotions, such as free roll tournaments, player points, reload and deposit bonuses. Some sites offer deposit bonuses of %100 percent or more of your deposit or allow you to accrue points that you can exchange for cash, prizes or tournament entries. It simply makes sense to take advantage of this type of free money and play the sites that offer them all else being equal. Once you are satisfied with the above issues then you can choose to play based on more subjective issues such as avatars, the look and feel sound effects etc. I am planning articles on each of these above issues but until then I've listed my current favorite places to play poker online: Doyles Room Full Tilt Poker Ultimate Bet Until next time

What is the The Modern Grinder?

In the old days a grinder traveled from game to game grinding out a living one hand at a time. The scary part was you could go broke miles from home. If you were lucky it would be in a safe clean legitimate poker room but more than likely it would be in a underground game in some dirty back room where no one would testify as to how you disappeared. Come to think of it winning could be just as bad as losing in an underground games. Enter The Modern Grinder, he still eeks out a living one hand at a time, the difference is that he doesn’t have to leave the safety of his home and can ply his trade from anywhere in the world. He doesn't even have to get dressed if finds he his too busy taking down pots from his opponents who are unlikely to be hardened pros themselves but a mixture of bored housewives, college students and others seeking escape from their otherwise dull lives. They are playing for fun more than for profit and can't be bothered with things like position, pot odds or even decent hand selection. They live for the suck-out, the thrill of making their double belly buster straight. When they lose they love to complain about how their aces got cracked on the river by some idiot who pulled a lucky draw. The Modern Grinder's job is to profit from these mistakes and attitudes without ruining their fun. Hello, I am The Modern Grinder and unless we find ourselves seated at the same poker table I hope to be your friend and companion as we explore the world of modern online professional poker. I am shooting myself in the foot by sharing my hard earned (and expensive) knowledge? Not really, there are plenty of fish in the sea. My goal is to make the online poker community a better place for casual and professional poker players alike. So please join me and feel free to email or post your questions or comments. Learn to play professional online Texas Hold'em at Hold'em Careers!