First step of the dance is to have a good hand pre-flop. You will get two cards and you will be hoping that they can become the best hand among the others on the table. To add to the 3 made hands before the flop, you can rely on premium hands like A-K or A-Q or perhaps suited K-Q and A-J. You can add to the list medium pairs like 8-8 or J-J.

The odds of connecting when the flop is revealed are actually lower so it will be a wise move to play inexpensively at first. Remember the first step of the dance to rake in the chip is to kick things off with hole cards which have a good chance of ending up as the best hand.

Next step is for your starting hands to connect with the cards on the flop. You don’t make it on the flop. Think hard and consider all factors before making any move.

It is also wise to consider folding or not playing your hand if it just doesn’t make anything out of the flop. This is assuming that you do not plan to bluff, of course.

These two steps will make sure that you dance away off the table with the chips in your pocket. Remember, if step two does not give you the best cards, you must see if it is still worth it to invest or step back and wait for the next opportunity.

Phil Ivey has had amazing success no matter who he has played in poker. Not only has Phil beaten large groups of gamblers, who bet that he would lose, he has won over twenty million dollars by winning against them! Recently Phil has not been playing as much on the major poker tours, but continues to play poker with celebrities and for special events. Phil took part in European Poker Masters tournament in London and was able to cash in his chips for a cool twelve thousand dollars. However, Phil was just getting started. He won one million dollars at the Monte Carlo Millions tournament and the next day scored $600,000 from TheFullTiltPoker.Net Live From Monte Carlo tournament.

While Phil does continue to play in tournaments across the world, he is constantly finding new poker business dealings to be involved with. He played in Poker After Dark on NBC in 2007, and more recently has become heavily involved in Full Tilt Poker. He was able to make just under two million from Full Tilt Poker in 2007 and nearly eight million from Full Tilt Poker in 2008!

Basicly he’s saying: play good.

Yes, Mister David Williams Poker Professional, that’s what we all try to do. Too bad we don’t all have Ivey staking us every tournament, aye!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Since the pot size is decided prior to the beginning of the game, usually in accordance with the particular game in play, the wagers have to be made in accordance with the decreed pot size. The players cannot make wages that are of a greater amount than the size of the pot itself. In the event that a player places a wager that is of a larger amount than the total pot size the game continues to the end of the round with the wager in place. At the soonest possible juncture, for example when the round closes, the excess money is returned to the bettor. The wager size is decreased to fit the permitted limit. If the excess wager is brought to the attention of the involved partied by the players themselves or by the dealer before the hand has been started, it can be corrected to fit the decreed limit. However if any of the players have already acted upon it, the game has to continue until the nearest end-point, be it the end of the round or the folding hand of the entire game, and only then can the correction in the wager be made.

In case the excess amount of the wager goes unnoticed a player might make a call on the existing wager under the impression that it is an allowable limit. In this event, if the incorrect size of the wager comes to notice at a later stage, and a player has already begun to move a call on the wager or raise it, then the floor-person reserves judgment on the matter. The floor-person at such a point can choose to allow the wager to stand as valid and allow the game to continue. Such a situation often arises when the person who made the inaccurate and excessively high wager realizes the mistake and tries to call off the play even though another player has started to play on it.

Often, during play involving a pot limit, it is said that if the amount in the pot is an odd number, making the play slightly difficult owing to the complicated math involved, it is better to round off the amount of money in the pot by increasing it to the next even number. This helps the flow of the game to ease up and the game to move along at a smoother, faster pace. For example, if the pot limit in the current phase is at $70, it would make more sense to move it up to $100 to allow for more facilitated play.

During the play of the game if one of the players submits a bill or a playing chip or counter into the pot that is larger than the size of the current ongoing amount, the contribution can be considered to be a part of the bets of the pot.

Different casino, different rule – so make sure to know the details of the Las Vegas Poker Room you’re playing at!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Worst commentary ever by Phil Hellmuth. I mean that was a huge mistake, but the commentary should have just been muted…

Click here to view the embedded video.