This probably seems obvious, but not everyone out there is an expert. It does not take much to understand that, yes, the different suits include hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs, but card ranking and what constitutes a good hand can get confusing.

Sure, one pair is pretty self explanatory; so are two pair. Three of a kind is obvious. But many people who are not yet frequent poker players do not know, for instance, that a royal flush beats all else. It takes everything. Royal flushes consist of a ten, jack, queen, king, and ace, all in the same suit. A straight flush is just down from the royal; it consists of any five cards of the same suit in numerical order. A straight by itself can contain cards in any suit. A standard flush must contain five cards of the same suit but not necessarily in order.

You have to raise under these circumstances. The key is to drive as many of your opponents out of the game as you possibly can.

But you have to be smart here, you have to be down right psychological. As stated before, a pair of aces does not mean you are guaranteed to win.

After raising initially, you have to start calculating odds, based on how many of the other players, if any, were intimidated by that rise.

If you look closely at your opponent, you will notice twitches in his/her facial expression that will tell the strength of the person’s hand.  That is what you need to make sure that you get rid of – because they are probably watching you; however most people are not even aware of it.

The smallest twitch of a smile or the smallest sigh can really mean that they have a good hand or a bad hand – so make sure that you truly do pay attention!

Another thing that you should be doing whenever possible is reading up on poker.  Poker is not a game that you can just learn and then walk away from – if you want to be good, you need to make sure that you know the game inside and out … that is the biggest mistake that many poker players make whenever they are dealing with their game.

So listen to these tips and tricks and I can promise that your entire poker game will improve and hell, you could even win some money off of it!  You’ll share that with me right?

When you are aware of your position on the table and the other players position on the table, you will honestly get to choose the cards you want to play and when you play them.  In early position – only play the very, very best hands possible. If you are constantly having someone rise after every hand, you might want to play a little tighter with them at the table.

Being aware of your position at the table is something every poker player needs to worry about … if you are serious about the game that is.

That is number three on our list of the 5 P’s Of Poker.  You definitely want to make sure that you are truly thinking about all of the other players and really get inside their heads and make sure that you understand their position and figure out what their next move might be before they even make it.  To be honest, that is what makes a winner.

More on this in the next blog where we will learn The 5 P’s Of Poker number four and five!

Perseverance is something that usually most serious poker players have, however, if you are just beginning, you should definitely learn all about it.  You need to know that if you have quite a very bad hands in a row … do not give up, just play them out a bit or even fold a few times but get right back into the game.

Perseverance is very important in poker and it is definitely something that every poker player needs to have just a little bit of!

The first P is going to be Patience.  This is something that every single poker player needs to learn.  Honestly, if you want to be one of the best poker players in the world, you are honestly going to have to make sure that you are a patient poker player.  You have to make sure that you can wait for some good hands to roll around and as you will see, if you play every single hand, you will lose more money than gain it.

So remember, Patience is the very first P in our 5 series.  Just keep this one in mind whenever you are playing this hard game.

By freakin’ far, Erik Sagstrom is one of those players that I never, ever would think would be almost a millionaire.  This Swedish man is definitely one of the best poker players in the world and he started his career when he was just the tender age of 18!  That alone boggles my mind!  Imagine, playing when you are that young and beating out all of the people that have been playing for such a long time.  Incredible!

Erik started out with just cash games and some tournaments and then he came to the realization that he was really, really good with cards and he actually quit high school and pursued a career in poker.  He now knows how to manager a powerful poker room all by himself and while he is definitely not as aggressive as a lot of people’s he is certainly making a name for himself.

He has only been playing online poker for about 10 years now, since 1999, but he is definitely still rakin’ in the dough and that is incredible!

Cash game poker is what many poker stars began on. These games, which can occur in online poker rooms or at casinos, allow people to place bets on single hands, or multiple hands of poker. The players can come or leave as they desire, and this provides a much more, informal and relaxed atmosphere.

Tournament poker is quite different. Most tournaments require a fee to enter which, for some tournaments, can be quite hefty. Tournaments usually try to pit same skill level players against each other, to see if they can keep up with their competition. Also, tournaments do not allow players to switch tables or leave without being disqualified. However, most tournament poker games end with the winners making a large amount of money, and the other players making less, or no money at all.

Cash and tournament poker are two totally separate ideas. Whether you want to play a quick game of poker at your local casino, or go to a poker tournament and win a large amount of money, you need to know how to play a good game. Make sure you know what you are getting into before starting to play poker in a tournament or in a plain cash game. Sven’s Tight Poker Tips is a great source for poker knowledge!

Photo credit: Free Poker Photos.