Sometimes you need a break from being a dad, there’s no reason to feel bad about it. A poker night is a great way to have fun with friends and let off some steam, particularly if it’s in your own man cave. The food, drink and banter (and why not occupy the ladies in your lives with performers from malestrippermelbourne.com.au while you hang with the guys? ), are all great aspects of a poker night, but the prestige of beating friends makes it even better. Beating friends is always more pleasurable than against strangers. Beating friends with invisible ink marked cards is always more pleasurable than against strangers (they will get the joke)!

Make sure that you use good quality poker equipment to enhance your poker night experience - check out this best poker chips review before you invest. We’ll take a look at five tips to help you defeat your friends next time you have a poker night.  

1) Be Patient
Poker nights can end very quickly if you gamble too much, too early. Most poker nights are played in tournament format so if you lose your chips, you’re out. There’s nothing worse than being the first one out and having to wait for the game to wind down. To avoid this, play patient, don’t commit lots of chips early on and wait for good solid hands.

Being patient also means avoiding big bluffs in the early stages. Most of the time, friends expect bluffs between each other. To counter this, they will make stubborn calls and try to avoid getting bluffed out. After all, is there anything worse than getting bluffed out by a friend? This means you should wait for favourable situations and try to get value from strong hands instead of trying to make big bluffs.
 
2) Use a Poker Cheat Sheet
There’s a cheat sheet for everything these days isn’t there? Most of your friends are probably going to be of ranging abilities. If you are new to poker, take advantage of websites that offer a free, downloadable poker cheat sheet. There’s no actual cheating involved, they provide the rules, tips on hands to play, and general advice to help you play well. They’re a great tool and cost nothing. You can usually download them as a PDF so just print one off, read a few times at your leisure, and refer to it the night before your poker night so you are prepared.

3) Attack When the Blinds Get High
Patience is the key early on but you must get aggressive later in the tournament. Most poker players make the mistake of gambling early on then tightening up as the night develops. This is the opposite of winning poker strategy. As the blinds are higher, there is more to win. The blinds and antes represent a higher percentage everyone’s stacks so it’s the perfect time to steal the blinds. This is what all tournament experts do and something you should be doing at your next poker night.

4) Pay Attention to Your Opponents, it Will Pay Off
Poker’s one of those games where a person’s personality often translates to the poker table. A nervous, shy person often plays risk averse and cautiously. This is very useful to know, as it means you can bluff this person out.  Conversely, someone who is wild and reckless in real life is likely to be playing too many hands and chasing unlikely hands at the poker table. Armed with this information, you know to play patient and trap this type of opponent.

This is not a hard and fast rule though. You still need to watch your opponents, get a feel for how many hands they play, what their style is and what their tendencies are. By knowing the player, you are a step closer to knowing what they have in their hand. Once you know that, you’ve got the game cracked and likely to win.

5) Get Lots of Sleep the Night Before
This is one of the most important tips for a poker night. It may not be a strategy tip, but trust me, poker nights can drag on. Often, it’s the one with more stamina that wins. If you’re tired, you will get restless and make silly mistakes. By getting lots of sleep the night before, you should be able to last longer and make better decisions as the night wears on. Break off from the table if you feel like your concentration is waning, and have a game of the best darts, to help you refocus! If you can’t get lots of sleep the night before, at least drink coffee or an energy drink to keep you alert. If you follow this advice, together with the other four tips, I’m sure you have a great chance at winning your next poker night!