Specialize at your own risk

By Howard Lederer

lederer.jpgThe recent explosion of poker on TV and on the Internet has brought a whole bunch of new players wishing to improve their game. Unfortunately for them, the television sent a false message. The No-Limit Hold'em (NLHE) is the part of choice that l seen on TV and it's easy to think that c is the only existing variant. No one will argue the fact that the NLHE brings the most exciting sides for television, but there are several dangers in the fact to what a single Variant.

First, you run the risk to bother you or ignore you poker and your development. The enthusiasm is an important element in the success d a career as a poker player. When I spend time with the best players in the world, I see them one thing in common is the love and the passion for the game.

Then, you could miss your true vocation of poker. C is what happened to m. This is not in the No-Limit Hold em that I play best, c Limit Hold em (LHE). If I n had never tried this variant, I n would have never known that j is excelled.

There is a reason if all the major casinos of the world we tune multitudes of variants of games. If you stop at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, you'll see the No Limit Hold em, but also Seven-Card Stud, the Deuce-to-seven draw. The world's best players love to play poker in general. Do not play all variants would be for them something unthinkable d. If you want climb you among the best players in the world, you need to become a great generalist. If you limit yourself to a single variant, you can never climb to the top.

Even if your ultimate goal is to become an accomplished NLHE player, I encourage you to at least try to play the LHE. Too many specialists in NLHE n have no post-flop skills. To become a good player of LHE, you become more comfortable to play after the flop. Get a free card on the fourth street and make the good bet for value on the Fifth street are just some of the qualities a good player post-flop. And these skills are transferable. If you develop these skills at the LHE, your game at the NLHE will s improve!

Play d other sorts of variations will develop your poker skills by making you a better player. The skills you have for the NLHE will serve you for other variants. The tools that you will develop in these other variants will help you in your game the NLHE even if n now you are not aware of their importance.

Playing Seven-Card Stud will definitely teach you the value of the free cards. C is a critical skill for the success of your game. In Pot-Limit Omaha, you will learn the power of the position and the power of the semi-bluff. Seven - Card Stud 8/Better is a game where you will learn to strengthen your hands in the right situation. The number of players in a pot can vary the fold to raise and vice versa. Razz? It will teach you the importance of patience when things do not go as you want.

The poker world has much more to offer than No-Limit Hold ' em. And if you start to explore this world, I'm sure you l enjoy and that you'll like even more poker. Good fate to each variant takes time, so go slowly by playing low-cost and reading what you read. Have fun; a new world awaits you.

 

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