Ruff Poker Blog
Learn Train Dominate Poker

When the pot has yet to be opened every decision you make pre-flop begins with your position at the table. There are numerous other variables that will go into your decision to fold, call, or raise, but the first consideration will always be your position.
The reason your position is so important to your pre-flop decision [...]

In poker there are a number of important factors that have to be considered when you make the determination if, and how, you will play your hand pre-flop. You have to consider, your hand, your position (which tells you the previous action and the number of players still to act), your current table image (especially [...]

If you don’t think experience matters when you are playing live poker you are sadly mistaken. Experienced live players may not know the math better than an online player, or be more attuned to poker theories and poker concepts, but experience does matter, and in this series of articles I’ll explain why.
What to look for [...]

If you don’t think experience matters when you are playing live poker you are sadly mistaken. Experienced live players may not know the math better than an online player, or be more attuned to poker theories and poker concepts, but experience does matter, and in this series of articles I’ll explain why.
Experienced players know how [...]

In Part 1 of this series I introduced you to and outlined the six different forms of poker, grouped into two categories: Stud Poker, Draw Poker, and Community Card Poker, as well as the different betting formats of Limit Poker, Big Bet Poker, and Split Pot Poker. Now I will take a closer look at [...]

In a vacuum judging the strength of any Texas Holdem hand vs. another hand is a very simple undertaking. There is a classic hand matchup scenario you can use to emphasize this point. I’ll allow you the first choice of hands, so given three choices, Pocket 5’s, AK off-suit, and JTs which hand would you [...]

Poker players often take the rake they pay for granted -the amount the house collects from the pot for providing the game. The truth is the rake can be the deciding factor between being a winning player and a losing player. In this article I’ll take a look at how the rake can impact you [...]

You may be wondering on how I settled on six forms of poker that I used in the title, considering there are dozens of different formats from Pot Limit PLO8 to Limit Triple Draw 2-7, and there is even a commonly played game known as 10-Game Mix. What I have done is break poker down [...]

In the few years since I switched from playing poker as a source of income to writing about poker as a source of income I have probably penned at least a dozen articles on this theme, and the remarkable thing is that each time I do, the advice changes! Whether this is because poker is [...]

In the few years since I switched from playing poker as a source of income to writing about poker as a source of income I have probably penned at least a dozen articles on this theme, and the remarkable thing is that each time I do, the advice changes! Whether this is because poker is [...]