Tue, 02/15/2011 – 00:36 – PokerPages Staff

PokerStars is set to axe ‘Double or Nothing Sit and Gos’ following an announcement from ‘PokerStars Steve’ late last week. The change will come into effect on Tuesday, February 15.

“This is not a decision that was made easily, as these tournaments have proven to be quite popular with players. However, PokerStars has decided that the format needed improvement.”

PokerStars recently introduced a new ‘Fifty50′ Sit n Go format which pays players in relation to their chip stacks when five players have been eliminated.

‘PokerStars Steve’ went on to suggest that this was one of the reasons behind the announcement as players competing in the ‘Double or Nothing’ format do not have to take an interest in the game until the end if they wish to maximize their gains.

“The difference means that players always have some incentive to care about the size of their chip stack, whereas in Double or Nothings, this was not always the case.”

“This added element makes the Fifty50s a more skillful and, to many, a more interesting format.”

There has been a mixed reaction to the news on the TwoPlusTwo forum. Some believe it would make the new format more difficult to beat while others suggested the ‘Fifty50′ format could be extended to satellite events.

Poker players can find ‘Fifty50 Sit n Gos’ at the world’s biggest online poker site under the ‘Sit and Go’ and ’1 Table’ sections in the PokerStars lobby.

Tue, 02/15/2011 – 00:49 – PokerPages Staff

Tilt is a poker term for mental frustration that disrupts your ability to play your best game.  When a player is on tilt, that player acts according to their frustration level rather than according to rational decision-making.  The beginner poker player must learn to control or eliminate tilt in order to have success.

The most common cause of tilt is a bad beat.  In poker, a bad beat is a term for losing with a strong, favorable hand to an opponent who wins with a weak, inferior hand.  Generally, cards on the board improve the weak player’s hand.
 
Dealing with tilt is an essential aspect of poker.  The beginner player cannot allow emotional frustration interfere with their game play and must always apply their best strategy.

The first step to controlling tilt is to recognize that you are experiencing tilt.  Once a player recognizes that they are on tilt, they can employ strategies to control it. 

The most commonly suggested way to overcome tilt is to understand that success in poker is viewed over the long term, not the short term.  With this view, you can simply disregard uncommon outcomes.  Statistically, losing these hands is a result of variance in the game of poker, not bad strategy.

To learn more, check out PokerSchoolOnline, the best source on the Internet for poker related learning.  Afterwards, why not test those skills by playing free at PokerStars.net.  Also, check out the PokerPages section Poker Information and Poker Articles for more poker betting, tips, bets, and strategies.