As a new player to the Sky Poker site, one of the most appealing aspects of the entire operation may be the chance to play your game live on the sites sister television channel. The website’s partnership with Sky means that it has its own dedicated poker channel, which features a number of live events and games, as well as a number of other shows throughout the day.
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Certainly for a novice player, there is a great attraction to see your name on television and your hand being played out in front of thousands of other viewers and potentially many more when programmes from Sky Poker are also shown on the main Sky Sports channels.
So while the temptation to play these games may well be there, the question remains as to whether they are a profitable way for novice players to improve their bankroll, or are they the domain of the more experienced player, one who is likely to be able to take advantage of some players’ lack of experience to decimate their bankroll?
The first thing to note about the games in the “Televised” section of the website is that they do tend to be more expensive to play initially than many other games. As a novice player, this should be an immediate warning as it means that to even take a seat at the table; you are going to have to be wagering a higher percentage of your bankroll than you would ordinarily be comfortable with.
Even in games, such as Master Cash games for blinds as little as £0.05/£0.10, you are likely to find experienced players with larger bankrolls who are more willing to put their cash into the pot more often. This means that if you are going to employ a rigidly tight philosophy when playing, then you could end up bleeding your chips away waiting for a stronger hand.
Then of course, the problem arises when you do hit a strong hand and put some chips in the pot, this alerts the other players to the fact you have a hand and they can either fold, if they are in a weaker position, or try to bluff you, or if they have a strong hand, take you on.
This is another important point to bear in mind when playing in the televised games on Sky Poker. The standard in these rooms is generally one of the highest levels I have come across on the site. Whereas in non-televised rooms and games, the standard can be quite variable across any game, the televised games tend to attract the better players.
The reasons for this are not just vanity, but often purely financial. Better players want to play for more money more often and the TV rooms are the place where this is most likely to happen on Sky, plus there is always the added bonus of your game appearing live on TV, or in a highlights package at the end of the day.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I would advise against novice players playing in the vast majority of Sky Poker TV games initially, unless they are taking part in a small stakes MTT, or promotional event for an affordable entry fee. The reason for this is two-fold, firstly the opposition is generally of a very high standard, which makes winning tougher and secondly, the amounts you tend to play for in each pot, even in small blinds games, are often much higher because players are more willing to commit chips to the pot.
If you are a novice player with a rigid, tight playing strategy this means that experienced players will bleed you of your chips via the blinds and small raises, while recognising when you do have a strong hand to play. As such, to play these rooms profitably, I feel you do need to have a firm bedrock of poker experience and the ability to mix your game up effectively, to make your play less obvious to read for your opponents.
That said, there are still occasional freeroll events and small stakes multi table tournaments and bounty hunter games that are televised on the Sky Poker channel which are an ideal way for new players to play some of the Sky Poker televised games at a smaller cost and without putting so much of their stack at risk.
Who knows, play things well and you could be the poker player whose superb play and winning streak the presenters and poker stars are discussing in the next show.
Are you new to online poker? Check out our ten best reasons for new players to try Sky Poker.
