Maria Ho was born in Taiwan but moved to the United States with her family when she was four. She grew up in Southern California which is where she would also attend college. It was while she was at college that she started to play poker. Like most college students her introduction to the game was in low stakes games with other students. It didn’t take her long however to outgrow her college classmates so she started playing at local casinos. She quickly moved up to playing for higher and higher stakes so that by the time she graduated she was playing in the highest stakes games at the casino.

After finishing college Ho decided to pursue a career as a professional poker player and to this end she started to enter tournaments. She quickly found success in tournament play where she won a few minor tournaments. While she has not won any of the major events she has done quite well in them with two finals tables at the World Series of Poker including one in the main event. She has also managed to make it to a couple of finals tables on the World Poker Tour.

While her tournament results have been decent but not spectacular she has still managed to become one of the best known players in the world. In large part this is because she is one of the top female players in the world. The fact that she is a very attractive woman also helps. That being said none of that would matter if she couldn’t play poker which she clearly can. While she has done well in a few female only events the main focus of her career has been the regular tournaments.

There is a lot more going on in Maria Ho’s life than just poker and she has proven to have other talents. She appeared on American Idol in season three and did well enough to be invited to Hollywood. In addition she has also appeared on a season of The Amazing Race. She seems to be slowly moving into a television career so just how many more poker tournaments she plays in remains to be seen. Regardless as long as she keeps playing she will be one of the biggest stars in the world of poker.

Speed of game play

Poker rooms set a certain tie for online poker players to make their move. It is one good way to gauge the kind of opponents you have with how fast or slow they take to act. A fast bet usually shows some weakness while slow action displays a bit of strength since the player calculates the risks before making a move. You might also want to take note of their cards when shown and see what hands they bet on slowly and which ones they fast bet.

Use of auto plays and check boxes

If you are used to online poker play, you are familiar with check boxes that will let you “call any”, ”fold”, or “raise any”. You will be able to tell if the other players use these boxes since they act a second or faster when it is his turn to act. This too can tell you a lot. If the opponent automatically raised, then he must have checked raise any and you might be dealing with a strong hand. A check might tell you that he has a weak hand and wants to wait and see. Taking action even before seeing the moves of the other players is a good tell of how a player behaves on the online poker table.

Chat box

How an online poker player makes use of the chat box gives you a good idea of how he handles his cards. If a chatty poker player suddenly goes quiet, it might be a hint that he is holding some monster cards. Too much show of confidence on the chat box may indicate that the player is bluffing. You will also notice a change of behavior on the chat box if someone is bluffing or tilting.

Pre-flop small pocket pairs give you a good advantage but after the flop, things may get a bit trick when your hand does not improve.

Here is how you handle a small pocket pair:

The strength of these cards will be to get a good set upon the flop. You get a set when you get another card of the same number to make a three of a kind. Now this set gives you a strong hand and a good chance to make you some money.

The best move you can do with this hand is try to get a set. If not, then fold. If you do not get a third card on the flop then this cards are hardly profitable.

The odds of getting a set when the dealer gives you the flop are not really that good. There is 1 chance to make a set in every 8 flops. This translates to the reality that we should not keep our hopes too high with a small pocket pair. The implied odds though or the chance of playing the cards worth while is good enough.

Know when to bluff

Newbies of poker are often very aggressive playing their games and they also do have a tendency to bluff a lot. Bluffing is really a powerful move in poker, but over use it and it will really lose its value. You might see big bluffs on TV with the professional poker players but remember that they rarely do this.

When you bluff regularly, you risk your stack without holding the best of cards. It is fun. It is exciting. But remember that you may end up losing a lot of money when you don’t properly time your bluffing plays.

Use Position

When you are dealt your cards you have to know your position on the table relative to the dealer. You have to know if you are acting early or acting late. If you are on the left of the button, then this means you will be one of the first to make a move. When you’re on the button or onto its right, then you will be making a late move.

Using your position will give you an advantage. Let us say you are playing late, you can see how your opponents will act upon seeing the flop, on the turn, or river. Let us say your opponent checks they you may somehow say that they might have a weak hand, so you can do a bluff or any move to make a good round.

Big hands

One safe way when beginning with your poker journey is to play safe and stay with your big hands with really strong potential. Playing lower cards will expose you to some trouble especially if you are not familiar on how to play those cards.

There is a very low probability that your pocket queens will be facing aces or kings. You need to feel the game though when the pre-flop betting goes very heavy. Check the behavior of your opponents if they are likely having aces or kings.

You need to consider your position when playing these cards. Let say you have a loose raiser to your right, then you have a green light for a re-raise. See if after the flop there will be an Ace and there will be a raise or more people getting into the pot, you might consider folding.

You need to probe as the players make their move so you can decide if you will play or fold.

You should also consider the size of stacks. If the blinds are 10% of your chips then a raise or a re-raise can be wise moves if you have pair of queens. With other players also in short stacked situation, there is a high probability that underpairs will be going all in, and this will be your opportunity to go all in and boost your stack.

Preflop situations can be very tricky and ice cold poker. It will be judgment call on your part to know the meanings of the bets of your opponent prior to the flop. Dry flops which make other players bets should also be assessed carefully.

Now obviously if this guy is making millions like Kenny Louagie: nothing but respect. But most likely he’s one of those “grind 5-10k a month” and that makes him an uberdouche!

GAME SELECTION IS KEY, AND THIS HELPS!

Obviously you can also just join whatever table Eli Elezra is on…

You need to keep a close account of the expenses you use in poker, as well as your income, and you need to do it for extended periods of time.

It is not too much to say you should make up a balance sheet to help you keep close track of all your expenses. Include everything, from live casino games to small games to tournaments to online games.

First of all, you do it to get the most money you can from your hand. That is the most basic reason. You have a good hand, and you want to make sure the other players pony up more money.

You also do it to eliminate the other players. If you raise high, whether you are bluffing or not, players may well be intimidated and fold.

You also do it to get a free card, even though you actually have to pay for it. Still, raising can show another card in the flop.

You can also get information from raising — from the other players, of course. Especially if they have tells.

And, of course, if you are bluffing or just semi bluffing, you almost have to raise.

The most common mistake online players make is going to low limit games and trying to be sly and tricky. Don’t do that! Most of the time, it is not really worth the effort. $3/6 games, $5/10 games — do not waste your tricks and strategies on such low limits.

You can typically, rightfully assume that the players in these games are new or at least amateur. You do not need to get too smart with them, you do not need to bluff with them. Save your real skills for the big boys.