Joining a Poker Table

• Poker Betting Limits
  Pick a poker table that you can afford. Remember that you'll be posting blinds in at least 20% of the poker hands if the poker table is a 10-seater and more often if the poker table seats less. If your bankroll is $50, you wouldn't really want to play at a $5-$10 poker table.
  
  
• Poker Limit vs No-Limit Tables
  Getting sucked into a drawing poker hand can be devastating to your bankroll at a no-limit poker table. If you're drawing to the nut flush holding the Ace and another suited card against someone on a set, you can end up calling some expensive poker bets only to miss the flush on the river. You may even end up having to go all-in - and bankrupt. At a fixed limit poker table you're protected against this.
  
  
• Poker Table Texture
  Before you sit down, take some time to watch the action and learn about the poker players. Try and spot the really loose poker players, the poker maniacs, the tight aggressive poker players. Knowing whom you're up against can prove invaluable in a showdown.
  
  
• Poker Seat
  Once you've got an idea of the poker players at the poker table, try and get a favorable seat relative to the different types of poker players. You'll want the unpredictable, wildly aggressive poker players on your right, so that you can get out of a marginal poker hand before it becomes too expensive. Timid and passive poker players are great to have on your left, as the former will fold when you bet aggressively as a bluff and the latter will call anything, but will seldom raise.
  
  
• Poker Time - Have Time on Your Side
  Don't rush in for a quick half-hour poker session. You won't have the time to study the poker players before joining the poker table and, if you play a tight poker game, you'll probably end up posting a few blinds, maybe having a look at a few flops and possibly winning a poker hand. More often than not all you'll be doing is adding to the poker pot for others to win. Budget on at least an hour.
  
  
• Poker Attitude
  Be positive - but be prepared to lose. There's an old poker truism: "You can't play with scared money." Before you go join a poker table accept that you may lose the money you take with you. If you can't accept that, you'll end up playing a more timid poker game than you should and if your opponents pick up on this, they'll regularly drive you out of poker pots you could win by intimidating you with their stacks. You need to play poker sensibly, but in order to win you must not be afraid to lose.
  
  
• Poker Mind
  Your greatest ally at the poker table is discipline. Conversely, ill discipline will separate you from your money faster than anything else. If you've taken the trouble to learn about starting poker hand standards, you'll know that you'll be folding the majority of poker hands you are dealt. Nothing is more frustrating than throwing away a poor starting poker hand only for the flop to bring a pot-winning set had you held on. What you have to remember is that this will happen less often than not - statistically you will lose money by holding on to poor starting poker hands in the hope of catching the flop. You need discipline to stick to your poker game plan, so prepare yourself for this before you join the poker table.