Ruff Poker Blog
Learn Train Dominate Poker

In poker there is a phrase to describe a situation where you are unlikely to part your opponent from any of their precious chips; these scenarios are known in poker parlance as “Action Killers”. I can think of three separate scenarios where players need to be aware that hitting a certain card or taking a [...]

Unlike a stop-loss limit, which has a number of reasons that could justify its use, a stop-win limit in poker is just asking for trouble. Before I give the three main reasons why setting a stop-win limit is such a bad idea, I will give one specific example where setting a stop-win limit could be [...]

Players are discouraged from setting a stop-loss limit in poker, because if you have an edge in the game and are losing this is due to variance. Basically if you feel the game you’re playing in is profitable for you, you should keep playing; regardless of how much you’re currently down. Since poker is a [...]

When people hear the term “Poker Face” one of two things immediately come to mind: They either conjure up an image of a stone-faced poker player who hasn’t cracked a smile in 20 years, or they think of the pop hit by Lady Gaga -which keeps arriving in my e-mail courtesy of my subscription to [...]

When an opponent limps into a pot he is saying, “I like my hand”. When an opponent comes in for a raise he is saying, “I really like my hand.” The more players in the pot, along with how aggressively they entered the pot -limping vs. raising and re-raising-is a clear indicator of how much [...]

As poker players we have to be aware of the bad lifestyle trends we quickly become accustomed to, and chalk up to being part of a poker player’s daily routine: Poor eating habits, poor sleeping habits, prolonged stretches of sitting, as well as the mental stresses we are constantly working under.
All of these things not [...]

When to attack the blinds is one of the hottest topics in poker, and any discussion on the subject will lead to numerous different answers. Back in the day players use to attack the blinds from the button and sometimes the cutoff positions, that was it! All of that changed when poker blew up, and [...]

The best athletes are able to find it when it matters most, whilst the rest -the mere mortals-are constantly seeking it out, occasionally crossing over into the mythic “ZONE”. What you may not know is that you can be in the zone in just about any endeavor, from model-making, to reading, even and even while [...]

In his bestselling book Blink, author Malcolm Gladwell cites a study where shoppers in grocery store are asked to sample some jams: The booth either contains six different jams, or 24 different jams. The results are quite surprising. It turns out that 30% of the people who were faced with six different jams ended up [...]

What it Means: A competitive poker player does not take losses lightly. This is not to say that they get out of control emotionally, but they simply want to play their best and take pride in their results. Competitive poker players have a deep-seeded need to improve; to always look for an advantage, which will [...]