Via faux pas on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, et cetera, people lose jobs. They lose significant others. And now, they are losing poker games as well.

People are given to bragging when they do something well. That is understandable … but not always wise.

With so many social networking sites and everyone’s access to them, it is even less wise.

Ever won a game and taken to your Facebook to start bragging about the strategies you use?

Well next time you play at a casino, don’t be surprised if your opponents know exact what you are doing — because they have read it.

For one, you always want to make sure that you crack the mind of someone who has been playing the game for a while.  You would be amazed at how much knowledge you can gain just from a conversation with someone.

Next, you always want to make sure that you read up on the game of poker.  Reading is certainly something that will help you in the long run.

You begin by getting a group together, of course. This game utilizes seven cards, so you need seven players.

Each player will gen seven cards, face down. They can take a look at their hand after it is dealt. Then everyone gets to bet, starting with the person at the dealer’s left.

Now, every place has to pass three cards to his or her left.

This is followed by a second round of betting; now, betting is initiated by the player two seats to the dealer’s left.

This time, two cards get passed to the left.

Next comes the third betting round. You guessed it — third player to the dealer’s left starts.

And you guessed it again — this time, one card gets passed to the left.

After this comes the last round of betting, started by the fourth person to the dealer’s left.

At this point, everyone reveals their hands and gets to declare their hands. Whoever has the best poker hand gets to split the pot with the player sitting to the right of them.

What is the first thing that you think about whenever you think about poker news?  For me, it is all about the poker hall of fame and wouldn’t you know it, Mike Sexton actually just got inducted into the poker hall of fame and honestly, I think that is pretty awesome.  For those of you that have no idea who Mike Sexton is – he is actually a spokesman for the Party Poker.

There were actually nine different finalists that were up for election for the hall of fame, a panel of 15 living members and 15 media members which were all allowed to vote for up to three different people. 

Sexton was actually the only member in this particular year that received the most votes out of all of them.  He deserves it!

Being at the top of your game is something that Tom McEvoy knows all about.  This is a guy that is actually one of the world’s most known poker players and I have to say that – he has certainly succeeded in his life as apoker player.  He was actually the first to win a WSOP from just having entered a satellite tourney.

With this, he has actually created quite the poker history for himself.  He was born and raised in Grand Rapids and I have to say that this guy is on fire.  Michigan is certainly my home state and I am so proud that Tom McEvoy came out of it!

So if you are looking for a challenge, Tom McEvoy is definitely the challenge of the day!

Next, you do not want to pressure yourself by comparing all of those beautiful skills you have against another player’s that is more skilled because of practice.  You are still a newbie and you just need to accept that.  It will come with time and as soon as you get good enough, another new player will be comparing their skills to yours.

Finally – relax, it is supposed to be a fun game and while you might have some money in it, relax and it will get easier!

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!

When I think about poker – there are quite a few things on my mind.  The game of poker itself is one of those things that while many people understand it, many people don’t understand it either. 

That is what it is all about.  Poker is certainly a game of mystery and absolutely a game that you can get sucked into.  Whether you are winning or losing, poker is a game that will forgive you and kick you all over again.

That is the thing that you need to remember whenever you are losing in the game of poker, it will pick up again.  Poker always picks up again and it is the most fickle game out there – remember that.

One of the major reasons to raise is to get more money into your hand – that is the obvious reason right?  You want to make the pot bigger so that when you win the pot, you will be able to take home more money.  However, that is not always the case because you do not always win – remember that.

In the next blog, we are going to talk about the next of the five major reasons why you should raise and after that?  You’ll be able to know all about raising and you will improve as a poker player!

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?