This is complete rubbish, and there are several reasons why it seems that the fish bite back on the “fishy” tables.

The first is all about knowing (and accepting) your odds. Even though your opponent might only have a 6/1 chance of making his straight, and has (foolishly in your opinion) called your bet with negative expected value, one time in seven he is going to catch the card that claims the pot and murders your chip stack.

You just have to accept that the possibility that this may happen is present every time you do not hold the nuts. For sure, it is frustrating, but players tend to forget the six times out of seven that the fish do not catch, and just moan about the times that they do.

The looser the table, the more players will go into a hand, and the more chance that one (or more) will catch cards on the flop which either give them the top hand or offer the encouragement for them to stay in the betting until at least the next card.

You have to remember that the reason you chose to play on a fish-laden table was because of the additional value that you gained when you won a hand. However, this process is a two way street – the fish have to be involved to create the value, and that in turn reduces the odds of your hand being the number one.

The third reason that experienced players should consider is that new players improve. Everybody has to start at the bottom of the poker food chain however, as they develop their skills and learn more advanced aspects of the game, they tend to take down bigger pots more frequently.

Not every player will migrate onto the bigger poker sites once they have served their apprentiship or cleared their bonus. If a key element in their game has suddenly transformed a newbie into a profitable poker player, there is no immediate need for that player to change allegiances. After all, horses for courses!

So, how do you take on the guy who refuses to fold?

First, you cannot afford to wait just for your premium hands to take him on. If he is playing with a very liquid opening hand selection, you need to loosen yours. Furthermore, as he is more likely to be a calling station, make an enormous raise after he has tried to limp into a pot and see what response that draws.

By raising with volume, you will isolate your adversary and make it more likely that you will take the hand. There is obviously a degree of risk attached to this strategy, but if the fish want to bite back, you need to know how to batter them!

These top tips may help you approach your game in a better mood tomorrow:-

Sex and stress are linked in many ways. It is a well acknowledged fact that, when under periods of prolonged stress, both men and women suffer from a low libido. However, a study at Arizona State University showed that physical affection and sexual activity during the evening led to much lower stress levels and a better mood the following day. It has been proven that the body releases “feel good” endorphins during sex, which stay in the body for up to twenty four hours (which leads to more sex the following night, and so on).

Being responsible members of the community, we cannot possibly advocate the use of harmful or illegal drug taking – especially if you are playing poker and you should have your focus intact. However, Kava Kava is a well-known relaxant in herbal remedy circles that gives you a sense of well being without affecting your mental alertness.

It normally comes in pill form or as a tea, it is completely legal and available from your local health shop where it is known by its medicinal name of “piper methysticum”.

According to KISS, “God gave Rock ´n´ Roll to ya” and there probably is nothing better than putting on some metal and having a good sing-a-long to lower your heart rate (this is true!), decrease your blood pressure and forget about your stress. Of course, your neighbours might have something to say about your choice of seventies glam band, but at least you will feel better about yourself when they come round to complain about the noise.

In all seriousness, stress has to be a consideration both on and off the tables. For many people, there is the excitement of the opportunity to win vast sums of money, but sadly, some people cannot cope with the loss.

Although it is always recommended that you never play with funds you cannot afford to lose, some people see the lure of the big win as a solution to their problems – whereas it never will be, and the usual scenario is that the problem is multiplied.

Bodies such as Gambleaware offer tips and guidance for players who feel that they may have a problem, or for friends and family members who need a little help coping with a potential gambling issue. The site has a very good self-assessment quiz that determines what level of concern you should have, and a “Fact or Fiction” quiz that everybody who plays poker, follows the horses or visits the casino should take.

As with anything, all things in moderation – sex, drugs, rock ´n´ roll … … … and poker!

Many intuitive decisions are made by the brain registering events on the table that you may have not consciously noticed, and although you may be meticulous with your note taking, there may be one or two events that you misinterpret or glimpse and see of no particular importance. These events can make the difference between playing by the book and being moderately successful or playing as yourself and becoming a champion, and it is these that your intuition picks up on.

More often your gut feelings will be correct and can greatly influence decisions that you make regarding any marginal hands. However it is important that, to arrive at these intuitive judgments, your brain is allowed to absorb the action that is taking place on at the tables and you are not distracted by other diversions going on in your life whilst playing. Multi-tabling is a prime example of where you are probably better off playing by the book, as you will not have a comprehensive opportunity to observe everything that is going on.

Listening to your gut feeling is one thing. Acting on it is another. Most intuitive thoughts are instant, so you should take time to evaluate how your subconscious is suggesting you react and rationalise it within the circumstances. You should only listen to your intuition when you are emotionally balanced, and not if you have a clouded mind or are reacting aggressively to a good/bad situation on the tables. As it leads you to bet or fold, and produces results for you, you will be able to rely on your gut feeling more frequently and grow to trust its opinion.

It is worth remembering that other players have intuition too! Sometimes you may be bewildered about how they could have possibly made that bet with the cards that they held. However, you only ever see the times when that works against you, so maybe not everybody is tuned in to their subconscious as much as they should be. And possibly that is a good thing.

You would not want to see poker deteriorate into a game governed by ethereal intervention – would you?

The major difference playing online is the anonymity that you enjoy at the computer screen. You can be playing under a pseudonym, as somebody of a different sex, or as a cartoon character – nobody will be watching you for signs of body language, and you can even play in your pyjamas if you so desire.

You can decide to chat, or to ignore everybody else around you, and there is a great amount of choice in the games, stakes and levels of competition that you have the opportunity to play in. When playing online, you have to compensate for not being able to discern other players´ body language by focusing on betting patterns, speed of play, reaction time and other factors which are not physical in nature.

Another noticeable difference online is the speed at which the hands are played. The shuffling of the pack and dealing of the cards is instant, whereas at a bricks and mortar poker club this is all done manually. Because of this and other delays, like counting out chips for example, playing poker in a club is much slower. You may only see twenty to thirty hands played an hour live, but online it is closer to ninety!

There are also influencing factors in the way you may have to play because of considerations such as higher stake limits. If you are used to playing for $0.10/$0.20 online and go into a casino, you may discover that the minimum table limits are ten times as much ($1/$2) and this could affect the way you approach the game.

If you feel that you are playing at a level way above your comfort zone, this is going to inhibit your betting action. Also at a casino (or club), you cannot multi-table!

The reverse is true for people who are used to playing in clubs and then start playing from home. There is a certain amount of bonhomie in the clubs that you will rarely experience online. Furthermore, online players at $1/$2 levels are fairly well advanced- you will find very few people walking in “off the street” who play at this level, and so the standard is much higher than you may have expected.

The game is much faster – particularly between hands – and you will be playing people who will be looking out for your betting patterns and preferred actions, so you need to be conscious of varying your game more than you normally would. With three times as many hands per hour, your tendencies are going to be three times more obvious!

Even though it is the same game, playing online or at a casino can be worlds apart – although equally enjoyable and potentially rewarding.

Now although that might be useful for picking up a couple of blinds, it is not conducive to winning a great deal of money on a regular basis, so you need to loosen up a little.

Many players over-compensate when they identify weaknesses in their play, and the best way to avoid playing too tightly is to refer regularly to the “stats” box that most poker rooms have attached to the chat box. Here you will find details relating to the number of hands you have seen and pots that you have won with/without showdown.

Unless you are playing short-handed, you should be involved in around 25% of all the hands that have been dealt. It is a ball-park figure, so no need to aim for it exactly, but if you are showing 15% or less, you really have not got involved in the game at all!

Some players trying to control their innate aggression will limit themselves to playing only on the button, or immediately before it. Although it is good in install discipline in your game, it makes you too predictable, and similarly to everybody folding when you bet, they will bet into you when you are in the blinds position because they know you are following a pattern and will fold. Try betting once or twice out of position when you feel it is appropriate, and see how they bet into you thereafter.

This is also worth knowing that other players also over-compensate for what they perceive are their weaknesses, and if you see patterns emerging in the hands they play and specific positions that they will not play from, you  are able to exploit this to your benefit. Inasmuch as the saying “If you fold and run away, you live to fold another day!” is true, there is an equally valid one which suggests that “Variety is the Spice of Life”.

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The first thing that you will notice is that the play is much more restrained. There are no cheery welcoming messages in the chat box to greet you, players seem to take a relative eternity to perform their betting actions and, after all of that waiting, most of them do not even bother to get involved.

This is the real world of online poker! Although the games are the same, the style and standard of the play is a lot different. Irrespective of how well you performed when you were playing against people for whom winning or losing was of no consequence, here there is money on the table and, even though it may be relatively small amounts to begin with, money is serious business.

An accurate gauge of just how mean-spirited the real games are, can be found in the lobbies of the online poker rooms. There is a column alongside the list of games that indicates how many players are seeing flop each hand.

Whereas on the play tables, you may have seen five or six out of nine bet pre-flop (about 60%), here, you will usually find figures of half that value – and sometimes less. The lower number of people entering a hand also reflects on the size of pot, so you may also be winning far smaller amounts than you originally imagined.

Real ring games are populated by players grinding out their bonuses, collecting rakeback and waiting patiently for that monster hand to come along which will make the discipline worthwhile. If you are still keen to get involved with some cash poker hands, here are a few start-up tips.

If you are new to real online poker then taking the time to read some poker strategy it will be a big help, it will give you a better understanding of the game and hopefully an edge which is what we all need!

Apply bankroll management to determine the correct level for you to start at. If you have deposited $100, you should not be playing any higher than $0.25/$0.50 games. You may even want to start a bit lower to get accustomed to differences between real play and what you have been used to.

Allow more time for your games. You are unlikely to see as many hands per hour as you would have done in practice games. Single table tournaments and MTT Poker Tournaments take considerably longer to play as well, so make sure before you enter a tournament that you have the time to complete it.

Start analyzing other players and make notes from Day 1. You will find that it soon becomes a habit, and if you stay in the same stake bracket for any period of time, you will find that you met them time and time again.

It is also a good idea to wait for the big blind before going into your first hand as it gives you the opportunity to see some of the playing styles on the table before you commit any cash to the pot.

Finally, learn and enjoy. There is very little to compare with executing a perfect poker strategy and scooping a monster pot in the real world of online poker.

Winning poker players are generally well balanced players with an aggressive streak available when required. That aggressive streak is necessary to be successful with big betting poker strategies, and quite often it can be a mistake to enter a pot with anything other than a big bet.

The best reason for this is to disguise your hand. If you enter the pot with a raise, irrespective of the quality of cards that you hold, other players will be unable to work out your starting hand. Players who only bet with premium hands and limp in with everything else are easily identifiable and give their hand away.

By entering a hand with a large raise, you also increase your chances of winning the pot. Not only will fewer people call a raise if they were intending to get to the flop cheaply, but you may find that every other player decides to fold and you pick up the blinds straight away. Furthermore, when playing against fewer players it is easier to analyse their play and reduces the chances of being outdrawn in later rounds.

A large pre-flop raise also indicates that you have a hand which you consider to be capable of winning. Frequently, after seeing a sizeable pre-flop bet go down, players with strong hands will check round after the flop to see what action you are next going to take next.

Your initial raise has not only issued a warning, but prevented the possibility of being bet into and has influenced your opponents´ actions for this particular hand.

Try to be consistent with your bets and do not fall into the trap of raising more with stronger hands and less with weaker ones, as observant players will spot this “tell” and take advantage of it.

The ideal strategy (relative to chip stacks) is to raise 3x the big blind in early position, 4x – 5x in mid-position, and 6x when at the end of the betting.  By doing this, you ensure that fewer chips are committed to the pot when out of position and you will be able to build a larger pot when you are in a position, from which you can control future rounds of betting. Smaller raises from early or mid-position also increase the chances of somebody taking you on when you have an unbeatable hand.

By choosing your moment carefully to apply this strategy, and being consistent with the size of your bets, you should be able to “raise your game” and rapidly increase your bankroll.

Sit and Go games are a very good example of this – especially those that offer “Double or Nothing”. Here players wait and wait as long as they can to bet, for fear that they might lose a hand and fail to get into the top two, three or five that will get paid out (the “Bubble”).

While we would not suggest that you join a game and bet with reckless abandon and no consideration to cost, the best place to be is at the top of the chip stack – not hanging on by the skin of your teeth, hoping that enough players will drop out before you do. Playing “not to lose” is rarely worthwhile when you consider that the reward for coming third in a regular SnG only shows a 64% profit when you calculate the return over your stake including rake.

Every time you do not make the bubble, you have to finish third or better at least twice more to break even.

Multi-table tournaments are another common example of where you will find players using tactics to slow the game on their table, hoping that players on other tables drop out quicker and allow them to creep into the prize money by default.

This happens in any tournament, whether it’s poker or blackjack tournaments. Once these players have reached the lower limits of the payouts, they will never have enough chips remaining to be competitive, and either have to play all-in on their first half-decent hand or be blinded out.

These are areas of the game where experienced players can take advantage, either by raising into the “hanger-on” and forcing poor calls from them, or by stealing their blinds from good position. This is especially appropriate in tournament play where you can elevate yourself into a better finishing position by identifying players who are just seeing out the blinds, and increasing your own chip stack by taking advantage of the knowledge that they will rarely bet against you.

Playing to win may require a change in attitude, but overall it will prove more lucrative to your bankroll. Don’t allow the fear of losing to block your chances of winning – if you are playing with money you cannot afford to lose, you should not be playing at all! Adjust the methods of play that you use on the table.

Keep changing your strategies from passive to aggressive and back again, use position well, never let other players identify a pattern in your play, and generate their respect. A winner’s respect!