Strip 3 - Poker Tactics

Understanding Betting Points (pts)

If you read the Racing Post, for example, you may have often wondered what ‘pts’ means written after each tip. It stands for points and is a reflection on how the tipster rates his or her bets.

‘Points’ systems can vary but I use a scale that ranges from 0.25 to 5, I have a set amount that I bet for each point, it helps keep my betting disciplined and makes it easier to keep a history of my results. It is entirely up to each individual to assign a value to each point. Remember, never wager more than you can afford to lose!

If you rate a particular wager to be worthy of only a small stake,  you may decide it is a 0.5 point bet. On the other hand if you feel like you have unearthed the punt of the decade, a 5 point bet is the way to go.

The key thing to remember is that the strength of your bet should not be dictated by the odds of the selection. For instance, do not lower your stakes if you feel like you have a cracking bet on a selection that is 25/1- keep it to maybe 4 points. Likewise, you might only rate a 2/1 shot as a 2 point bet. That is fine. Do not be influenced by the odds.

This small tip will help you in the long run. You will reap the rewards of your major fancies (you will have placed more money on them) and ones you weren’t quite sure about wont hit you so hard if they lose.

Of course, it doesn’t always work out like that (plenty a max point bet have come unstuck) but adopting this strategy makes you a better bettor and certainly less of a SportsChump.

Latest Comic Strip - Productivity at Work

Poker Tips - Common Sayings - Part 1

Poker is a great game; it is also a difficult game. There is a huge difference between a bad player and a good player, but only a fine line between a good player and a great player.

SportsChump is a bad player, that's no surprise to anyone, and there are many reasons why he is so terrible. This set of articles will try to explain why he will never be successful and how you can avoid making the same mistakes as him.

There is an enormous difference between knowing the rules and knowing how to play. For those of you who are complete beginners here is a link to the rules of Texas Hold’em.

For part one I will explain some of the most common poker sayings. These sayings all have concrete foundations and the ones I have selected relate to general play. They do not discuss how to play in certain situations with specific cards; that will be discussed in later articles.

1. Know the Nuts

When playing Texas Hold’em or Omaha it is vital that you know what the best possible hand is based on what the communal cards are. At every stage of the hand weather it’s after the flop, turn or river, you should temporarily forget about your own cards and work out what the best possible hand (the nuts) is at that moment in time. Then make sure you know how your hand rates against the nuts. If you have a straight, and there is no possibility of a flush, full house or 4 of a kind then you have the top type of hand. If you have a straight, but a flush or full house is possible your hand is not as strong as it could be.

If you have the nuts after the river has been dealt you are in a great situation, because you know you will win, or at least split the pot. If you have the nuts before the final cards have been dealt, beware. You are in a good position, but the final 1 or 2 cards could completely change the situation.

SportsChump does not understand that an unbeatable straight is better than a beatable flush, even though a straight ranks lower than a flush in hand order. He only concentrates on his own hand, he does not think about how many other hands could beat his.

2. Scared money never wins
3. Play with your chips, not your bank balance

These two sayings go hand in hand to ensure you play at a level where you feel comfortable. If you do not have much disposable income you should not be playing in a high limit game, and vice versa, wealthy players can rarely play well in a low limit game. This may seem obvious, but players often make incorrect decisions because the game stakes do not match their comfort zone. Wealthy players will often make bets or calls in lower limit games that they shouldn’t. This is because they think, ‘what’s another $10, I can easily afford that. They play with their total wealth instead of the chips in front of them. The opposite can be said for less wealthy players, they often fold or do not raise when they should do because they can’t afford to and are scared of losing money.

When faced with a decision, the amount of money needs to be enough to make you think but not too much to scare you. If you ever find yourself thinking, I cant’ afford these crazy amounts, or I’m so rich I could employ all my opponents as servants; you are in the wrong game. Move up or down a level until you find your comfort zone.

SportsChump always plays at the wrong levels. He tries to bully opponents in lower limit games by bluffing too often with large raises. He occasionally plays in high limit games, but he can never make a good decision because he is too scared of losing what little he has left.

4. Second best is first worst

Having the second best cards in a hand is the worst situation to be in because you will lose the most money. Terrible cards are a blessing in disguise, they are easy to throwaway and you don’t waste any money. If you find yourself regularly losing in a showdown, you probably need to throw your cards away more often and early on.

Another common reason for regularly having the second best hand is because you are a calling station. SportsChump is a calling station, he never folds when he should because he always wants to see what other players have. Therefore he continues to put money into the pot, never raising, just calling. Sometimes he knows he is beat, but he calls anyway just to see his opponent’s cards. If you feel you are going to lose, don’t call just to confirm your suspicions. Toss your cards away and move on the next hand. Occasionally you will throw away the winning hand, but don’t dwell on it, because in the long run you will win more money.

The New SportsChump Store - Including Our Book Recommendations

There is nothing better during the cold winter evenings than relaxing in front of the fire reading a great book. Especially if that book happens to be Doyle Brunson’s Super System, or the Definitive Guide to Sports Betting. There are thousands of sports and poker books available so we decided share with you the ones that have impressed the Chump Team in recent years.

There is a new item on the left hand menu called ‘Books and DVDs’, if you follow the link you will see our recommendations as well as an extensive list of other sports betting books, poker books, autobiographies and sports DVDs. All are available to buy through our website. The best part is that the SportsChump Store is fully integrated with Amazon.co.uk. So, if you like something you see you can order it in the same way as when you are using the Amazon website. The payment, delivery, refunds and other complicated areas are all handled by Amazon, so it should be a smooth process for everyone. Hopefully you will find something you like, happy reading.

Become a better gambler - Part 1

Most of you that have a bet probably do so for fun. It is a recreational hobby and arguably not that different to enjoying a few pints in the local boozer. You have no great expectations about making much money and realistically know you are going to lose in the long run.

Placing a bet on the live footy game or having a wager at the local dog track is perfectly understandable in the above punters mindset but if you are serious about trying to be a successful gambler then there are several points that you need to consider. What should I be betting on? How much should I be betting?  Where can I find the value? These are all issues that need to be addressed if you are thinking of taking your sports betting to the next level and with a hint of discipline, you can start to make a profit.

In the first of three quick and simple guides about improving your betting habits, this feature shall concentrate on what you should be wagering on. You need to find a niche and I would question the honesty of anybody who proclaims that they make a profit betting on a wide variety of sports. In fact, they are downright liars.

When I first started betting, my discipline was poor, very poor. If I'm honest, it was awful. Any sport from anywhere would do just as long as I thought I was making a reasoned selection. Some of the time I was, most of the time I wasn't, and although I was knowledgeable about a variety of markets, it wasn't enough to be successful in the long term. I was a mug. The pretender to SportsChump's throne.

Due to the internet explosion of the last decade the average sports gambler is bombarded by so much choice it can be overwhelming. To be successful you must be blinkered; focus on what you are good at and do not get distracted by what you are not. It really is as simple as that.

My betting these days focuses on football and football alone; the sport I grew up with. Betting on Horse Racing, Golf, and a variety of other sports, was unsuccessful. I returned to football, I have come full circle and it is working. You need to do the same. Find an area of sports where you know more than most. Are you an expert on county cricket? Do you know more than most about European rugby? Or is motor racing your passion? Don't try to be a jack of all trades because as the saying goes, you will be a master of none. You will be a sports chump. Improve on what you already know and become an expert.

There is no need to concentrate on the game as a whole. Break it down. I have found in recent seasons that my skills lie in dissecting European Football. The UEFA Cup and Champions League in particular yield a healthy profit. I have no systems that could be explained mathematically, but I do study the statistics to find value.

If you take time to focus on your niche and do enough research before placing a bet, the short term results should be positive and the longer term ones certainly will be. With all the resources available these days, there are no excuses for leaving any stone unturned, making a profit on your chosen sport should be a piece of cake. Just don't bite off more than you can chew.

Ashes Build Up - England v Australia 2006/2007

In 2005, the ashes were quite simply breathtaking. Every day, of every test, played like a one day match. Large numbers of runs, multiple momentum swings and high drama. Now, the biggest sporting event in Australia since the 2000 Sydney Olympics is upon us once again.

The most obvious issue is, of course, ‘Who will win the series?’ Australia are clear favourites, but only time will tell if they justify that status, while the other question that everyone seems to be discussing is, ‘Will the 2006/2007 series be as good at its predecessor?’

The signs tell us that it may not live up to the hype, mainly because England’s recent performances have been below the level required to make the series competitive. Since their 2005 victory, the English displays have been inconsistent. Flashes of brilliance mixed with poor individual efforts. There is no doubt that they need to perform more consistently to worry the Australians; however, this is exactly what we were saying eighteen months ago.

Comparing this set of test matches to the previous ones is unfair. The 2005 series was arguably the best ever to be contested, so let’s not write off this one before a ball has been bowled. Just because the so-called ‘experts’ don’t think the previous level of excitement will be replicated that is no reason to lose interest. There will still be plenty of cricket to enjoy and there are a number of issues to be resolved. 

Will Monty put in a ‘Mont-sterous’ performance to match or even surpass the mighty Shane Warne? How will the England openers fair without Marcus Trescothick? Will having 6 players over the age of 35 be too much for the Australians during such a gruelling series? Who knows, but stay tuned for the next 7 weeks to find out.

As usual the best place for standard bets is on Betfair because of the improved odds over standard bookmakers. However, there are some interesting markets available with the traditional bookmakers. Bet365 have some unusual bets available, including, first team century, highest innings totals and fastest series fifty. So, even if it becomes one sided early on, there will still be plenty of opportunities to ensure the cricket remains of interest to us. In one way or another.

Chump Team's Racehorse Update

You may remember a few days ago the Chump Team bought a racehorse on the virtual horse racing website operated by Race Clubs. When you sign up you are immediately allocated a free horse that you can train and enter into races; we named our horse CashCow. It seems that the free horses should be used for learning how to use the system. The horses that can be bought and sold are usually the ones that can make real money.

I would never normally recommend actually reading an instruction manual, diving straight in with a lack of understanding and maximum guessing is my usual tactic, however, reading the user’s guide is essential. Do not randomly start clicking buttons before reading the instructions because it is a recipe for disaster.

Once our account had been created we were able to choose the colour of our jockey’s silks and the name and colour of our horse. As mentioned before the name of our horse is CashCow and we immediately decided to put him through a couple of training runs. He performed fairly well, beating the training horse by 2 to 6 lengths in each of the outings.

Once your horse has completed a few training runs he is ready for entry into a race. New horses can be entered into newbie races. These races are free to enter and do not offer any prize money, but they are a great way of getting used to the processes involved.

After the training runs it was time for CashCow to make his racing debut. There are over one hundred races each day and a wide range of surfaces and distances are available. CashCow was entered into the 14:52, a 1400m race on turf.

The five entrants were under starters orders, and then they were off! CashCow took an early lead and was leading from the front. Followed closely by another runner the 2 broke from the pack, with 400m to go CashCow was still leading and the distance between the leading two and the rest was about 6 lengths. With 300m to go CashCow was still going strong, but suddenly a horse emerged from the chasing pack and was gaining fast, very fast. It was in fact too fast, the photo finish was unnecessary as CashCow was beaten by ¾ of a length, but still managed a respectable second place on his debut race.

CashCow has been resting in his virtual stables enjoying some virtual hay while we plan the next phase of our strategy. This week we will be investing in some vitamin supplements, blinkers and a horseshoe upgrade. More updates will follow soon

Get Extra from your bet

The advent of betting exchanges in recent years has revolutionised sports gambling and now fixed odds bookmakers Extrabet are getting in on the act. With Extrabet you can collect your winnings before the end of an event. The concept is similar to betting exchanges but much simpler.

Offering a wide variety of markets to its customers, Extrabet allows punters to sell their bet back to the bookies (collect winnings), if it drops to lower odds. This ensures a profit regardless of the events outcome. It is the same principle as laying a selection having backed it at a bigger price on an exchange and is deemed as trading.

The odds, of course, may rise or fall at any time but a particularly useful facility offered by Extrabet is the ability to bet in-running. This is a valuable tool to punters and with Extrabet you can cut your losses if you deem things not to be going or way, or lock in a profit if your original bet looks likely to be landed. In fact, you do not even have to pick a winner in order to make some cash, which is great news for SportsChump

For those intimidated by exchanges such as Betfair, Extrabet offers an excellent alternative for sports gamblers and the example on their home page about how to bet with them is very good indeed.

Buy a Virtual Racehorse

Members of the Chump Team have decided to pool together all our hard earned cash and buy a racehorse. Not a real one mind you, it’s a virtual racehorse, which means it will live, train and race in cyberspace. The best part is that successful horses win real money. This sounds nerdy, entertaining and hopefully profitable, which is exactly the sort of thing that the Chump team enjoy.

This thoroughbred excitement is provided by a website called Race Clubs. Race Clubs let you buy virtual horses, spend time training them and then ultimately watch them race. There are over 100 races every day and you cheer them on as they run live at a virtual racetrack. Those of you who have played football management games will instantly feel at home because it’s a similar concept of finding the right balance of training, skill, judgement and luck.

To date over £3.7 million has been paid out to winners and the big races pay over £1000 for 1st place. The top trainer has won £184 000 this season alone.

We have decided to call our horse Cash Cow; over the next week we will be training him and entering him for his first race. We will post an update of his progress which we hope will be impressive, although will more likely be laughable. Anyone can buy their own horse, so perhaps Cash Cow will be racing against some of your horses in the near future. You can find a full explanation of how it works on the Race Clubs website.