As you know skill at Hold ‘Em will only get you so far. Luck plays a big factor too.

My theory on this is that everyday you wake up with a predetermined Luck Factor. Let’s say you can rate your luck for that day on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best. For our example, on this particular day your luck factor is 5.

Now all of your opponents also have their luck factor for that day. At your table are eight opponents, here are their numbers: 2, 7, 4, 8, 10, 5, 7, 6.  Now seat 5 has been running all over the table, no wonder, his luck factor is 10. Seat 1 is stuck, easy to see why also, his luck factor is 1.

Now my point here is this, if you have a 5 luck factor, you will not do well at this table as almost everyone else is luckier than you. Hence you lose that day.

Now let’s say there is another table of eight players and their luck factors are: 4, 5, 8, 1, 3, 4, 2, and 6. Since your luck factor is 5, which is better than most of these players, why not change tables? Perhaps you have done this in the past and all of a sudden you start winning. This theory explains why that happens.

Your luck factor is still the same, but you just found a table where the players are unluckier than you.. so you win. In the future, when you are losing, don’t sit there and complain. Change tables and maybe you’ll find one where you are now the luckiest person at the table.

If you are just out for fun and to socialize, I guess it could be whenever you have free time. But this post is for those who take playing cards seriously and want to make money.

That said, you do want to play when you are at your most rested and alert. However, I have found that certain times of the day brings out different types of players. You want to match those players with your personality and playing style.

For example, I’m not a very lucky person. I hardly ever suck out on anyone. I’m also a tight, aggressive player who will rarely chase a flush or straight. Now that I’ve analyzed my playing style let’s look at my opponents.

I’ve noticed that in the evening, you’ll find younger, more reckless players who like to build big pots. These are great people to play against if you are a lucky person and love to chase yourself as the larger pots make it worthwhile.

As for me, I have found that those who play in the morning and early afternoon suit my playing style better. At this time I usually find the losers who are chasing in hopes of getting their loses back from the previous night. They are tired and not in their best frame of mind. You’ll also find the other professional poker players. They are usually tighter and more predictable in their playing style. Perfect for my style of play since I usually like to bluff and rarely have a hand that is higher than two pair.

Do you have a special time of the day to play? Post here the whys and whens.

You hear it all the time, I played it because it was suited. Suited cards are probably the most overated cards there are and here’s why.

I ran a simulation once on the odds of any two suited cards making a flush BEFORE the flop. Now I did now say, win the hand, but just make a flush before the hand was over (after all five community cards were on the board).

The odds came out to 15-1. Now it doesn’t take a math wizard to see that with eight opponents at the table it is impossible to come out ahead playing hands just because they are suited. Remember, that still doesn’t guarantee you will win (unless you play the Ace high suited only).

So the next time you get two suited cards, increase your chances of winning by playing suited cards only if they are two HIGH suited cards, or suited connectors in a late position when a lot of other players have alredy called. All other suited cards belong in the muck!

I’ve tried to figure this out but it eludes me. Why do players say.. “I’m beat but I’m going to call you anyways.”? Do they like giving their money away? If you do this then let me give you my PayPal email address and just send me your money and save yourself a trip to the casino.

First off, we all have instincts, these are gained through life experiences. You play poker for many years and your instincts get honed. Now you are in a pot and your instinct (which is basically your computer brain analyzing all the info on the hand and how a player played and acted) tell you that you are beat. Instead of listening to it, you say that stupid saying and just throw your money away.

Start believing in yourself and give yourself more credit. That’s what poker is all about. Trying to figure out what your opponent has and then deciding if you are beat or not. If you know you are beat, throw the hand away! You’ll definately come out ahead in the long run (provided of course you are usually right when you get your feeling).