Free Poker

In part 2 of this learn how to play poker online free online poker course we are continuing with the basic rules lesson from part 1.

Now it is time to get into specific detail and learn each part of a hand of poker so that you can (cautiously!) start to play.

Now you are seated at the table and the Small Blind (SB) and Big Bling (BB) have placed their starting blind bets. Now it’s time for cards! If this means nothing to you go back to How To Play Poker For Beginners part 1.

From the Dealer Button (DB) going clockwise rounf the table each player gets 2 cards, face down, handed out one at a time (so the DB goes round the table twice). These are your Pocket Cards, also known simply as pockets and alternatively hole cards.

Now it is time for the betting to begin, that is after all, I imagine why you want to play poker! That is why I’m sure you now find yourself seated at a free online poker tournament table isn’t it? The whole betting and winning with it’s associated moves of dare and deception is the main reason you’ve joined that online poker site be it free online poker or massive stakes isn’t it?

Of course that’s why you’re there, poker is all about winning money at the end of the day! With the possible exception of the social side anyway, the table and lobby conversations though if you are at all serious about money then this is a very minor reason.

At this stage in the hand (holding 2 pocket cards), each player is betting on what hand they feel their pocket cards could lead to.

The betting starts with the player to the immediate left of the Big Blind (BB).

This player sits in what’s known as the Under The Gun position, UTG for short. This is because the Small and Big Blind position players were forced to lay down bets before they got any cards.

Thus, both the SB and BB are already taking part in the hand; albeit not voluntarily, at least not yet; they’ll have to wait until the betting comes around to them.

And, with this round of betting, each player has three choices:

1) To fold. Usually when they think that their pocket cards are garbage (or rags). By folding in this first round you won’t lose anything but nor can you play the rest of the hand.

2) To raise. You raise if you think you’ve got good cards.

3) Or you can call to match the Big Blind bet. You may do this if you think your cards have at least a bit of potential.

A 4th option you might have heard of, checking, often available in subsequent betting rounds, isn’t an option at this stage.

When the betting reaches the person who posted the Small Blind (SB), if they want to fold then they’ll lose the chips they were forced to put into the pot prior to the cards being dealt. Or, as SB you can Call the BB by putting in the difference between the SB and BB amounts. Or, this player can call whatever raise has been made, or this player can initiate a raise; or even a re-raise, aa a beginner keep it simple and either just Call the BB or fold, watch and learn othrs to see the raise, new raise and reraise in action.

Then, the Big Blind (BB) player gets to act. If there has been no raise then the BB can Check (do nothing and let the play pass by), or Call, Raise or Re-raise.

About Raises
As this is a No Limit Texas Hold Em tournament, the amount of any one raise is only limited by the number of chips the player who is doing the raising is in possession of. If say the chip stack is 1500 then the player can raise by any amount upto 1500.

Should he opt to make a 1,500 chip bet, it would be called an All-In bet. It’s always an all-in bet any time a player raises by the total amount of chips he currently holds.

And, of paramount importance, especially since you are at the how to play poker online level of the game, make certain that YOUR use of an All-In bet is the minimum.

Please do not become yet another free online poker ‘chip-flinger’ (someone who tosses chips around without regard to the quality of their cards).

Once the opening round of betting is completed it’s time to see ‘The Flop’. Things will now start to get really interesting!

The Flop is the set of three cards that are dealt face up in the middle of the table by the Dealer.

1) Each player can use these community cards’ to build their hand. Make sure to read and print a guide to what card hands beat what so that you have a feel for what you are trying to build!

2) Again, as here-to-fore mentioned, the middle of the table where these cards are dealt is typically referred to as ‘The Board’.

3) With ‘The Flop’ exposed, it’s time for the next round of betting. And, the betting that will occur is based on the 5 cards currently available to each player, i.e., 2 Pocket cards and 3 Board’ cards.

The betting starts with the player to the immediate left of the Dealer Button, regardless of whether the Dealer is still active in the hand or not.

The player to the left of the Dealer Button will keep the initial betting action for the rest of the hand. Later, you’ll come to learn that this is the worst position to be in at the table.

Apart from that, the betting process is the same as it was in ‘pre-flop’ betting. However, bear in mind, all of the players who were dealt ‘Pocket’ cards may not be currently playing the hand as they could have folded during the opening round of betting.

So, whichever remaining player is ‘to the immediate left’ of the Dealer Button (DB), it is that person who will be the first player to act; through the hand providing he doesn’t fold.

He can check or bet.

A) If he checks, he’s simply passing the options of checking or betting to the player who sits to his left.

B) If he doesn’t check, and decides to bet, then those that follow will have 3 choices:

1) They can fold

2) They can call

3) Or they can raise. But, since a bet was made, those that follow don’t have the option of ‘checking’.

Once the round of betting has finished, it’s time for another card to be dealt face up on The Board.

This fourth card is called The Turn card, or 4th Street, and, again, the card can be used by all of the remaining players (those players that have not folded). It’s another ‘community card’.

Thus, each remaining player now has access to 6 cards, 4 Board cards, and 2 Pocket cards. There are 4 cards on The Board, one additional card to come.

It is now time for the fifth and final community card to be dealt: The River, or 5th Street.

And, seeing as all the cards have finally been dealt, each player remaining in the hand can see what their finest five card hand is. Therefore, it’s now time for the final round of betting. And, once the betting ends, the hand is over.

It’s time to see who wins.

Each player that has remained in the hand shows their cards, beginning with the last person to initiate a bet. At a cash or free online poker site the software will handle the process of showing the cards.

The winner is determined via use of the universal poker hand rankings. You’ll find that in subsequent chapter; entitled ‘What Beats What’.

If a player wins a pot because every other player has folded, he can decide whether to show his cards or not.

The majority of people don’t, and it’s typically advised by me never to show your cards. If you’re not required to do so; keep ‘em guessing!

Yet, when you reach an ‘advanced level’ of play, you will get a whole different perspective from me. You see, there are occasions when ‘deceitful strategies’ will be added to your acquired set of playing skills. And, a part of the ‘deceitful strategies’ will have you showing your cards. Not now though.

Summing up How To Play Poker For Beginners Free Online Poker Rules Part 2

In part 1 you learned the bare bones of poker, the structure and ideas of the game. Now that you’ve read part 2 you should now understand the specific mechanics of a hand of poker. In part 3 we are going to move on to more poker words and terminology, all those crazy card and hand nicknames are going to be unveiled! But as long as you’ve understood the first 2 parts now you can go and start to play poker. It’s a very good idea though to firstly read and print off a sheet on what card hands beat what! Then you’ll get a feel for how to build your hand in the game stages and be able to think about whether to fold, call, raise or check.

At this point I strongly urge you not to try and play on sites where real cash is involved, you will lose all or nearly all of it 99% certain!

Be patient (by the way that is a key poker skill it’s essential to master) and begin out on one of the excellent free poker sites you’ll find online. Later when you are more skilled there’s lots of time to win a bunch of money and the time you spend playing free online poker will set you up for this.

Nick runs marketing for leading free poker online site NoPayPOKER.com. NoPayPOKER.com uses a faux currency called FreeD which means the poker is 100% risk free, this makes it the perfect place to how to play poker online, plus if you’re more experienced it’s a great place to practice, oh and the the fact that the FreeD can be cashed in for real Dollars is a nice touch too!

In part two of the learn how to play poker for beginners free poker online lesson series we will step on from part 1 where we outlined the bare bones of the game.

Now it is time to get into specific detail and learn each part of a hand of poker so that you can (cautiously!) start to play.

Now you are seated at the table and the Small Blind (SB) and Big Blind (BB) have placed their starting blind bets. Now it’s time for cards! If “Blinds” means nothing to you hop on back to part 1 for an explanation.

From the Dealer Button (DB) going clockwise round the table each player gets 2 cards, face down, handed out one at a time (so the DB goes round the table twice). These are also called Pocket Cards or hole cards.

Now it is time for the betting to begin, that is after all, I imagine why you want to play poker! Isn’t that why you’ve entered the multi-table freeroll tournament in the first place? Isn’t that betting and winning buzz thing the reason why you’ve joined a free poker online site?

Of course that’s why you’re there, poker is all about winning money at the end of the day! With the possible exception of the social side anyway, the table and lobby conversations though if you are at all serious about money then this is a very minor reason.

At this point in the hand (holding 2 pocket cards), each player is betting on what hand they feel their pocket cards may lead to.

The betting begins with the player to the immediate left of the Big Blind (BB).

This player sits in what’s known as the Under The Gun position, UTG for short. This is because the Small and Big Blind position players were forced to lay down bets before they got any cards.

Thus, both the SB and BB are already taking part in the hand; albeit not voluntarily, at least not yet; they’ll have to wait until the betting comes around to them.

And, for this round of betting, each player has three choices:

1) To fold. Usually when they think that their pocket cards are garbage (or rags). You won’t lose anything as you have no chips in play but you will now sit out the rest of the hand.

2) To raise. Usually when they think that they hold really good pocket cards.

3) Or to call, (match) the Big Blind. Usually when they think that their pocket cards hold some potential.

A 4th option you may have heard about, checking, often available in subsequent betting rounds, isn’t an option at this stage.

When the betting reaches the person who posted the Small Blind (SB), if they want to fold then they’ll lose the chips they were forced to put into the pot prior to the cards being dealt. Or, as SB you can Call the BB by putting in the difference between the SB and BB amounts. Or as SB you can choose to Call whatever Raise has been made, make a new Raise or Re-raise the bet amounts to a new level, I advise you watch and learn this process at the start and as SB keep it simple and just Call the BB unless you have awful cards in which case fold them.

Then, the Big Blind (BB) player gets to act. If there has been no raise then the BB can Check (do nothing and let the play pass by), or Call, Raise or Re-raise.

About Raises
In a No Limit Texas holdem tournament the amount a player can use to raise is limited only by the chips they hold (limit games as the name suggests have a limit) If say the chip stack is 1500 then the player can raise by any amount upto 1500.

If the player uses all the chips then this is the infamous All In bet. It’s always an all-in bet any time a player raises by the total amount of chips he currently holds.

And, of paramount importance, especially since you are at the how to play poker for beginners level of the game, make certain that YOUR usage of an All-In bet is tiny.

Please try not to become just one more free online poker ‘chip-flinger’ (someone who tosses chips around without regard to the quality of their cards).

When the opening round of betting is completed it’s time to see ‘The Flop’. Things will now start to get really interesting!

The Flop is the set of three cards that are dealt face up in the center of the table by the Dealer.

1) Each player may use these community cards’ to build their hand. Be sure you read up on what card hands beat what so you have an idea of what you can build!

2) Again, as here-to-fore mentioned, the center of the table where these cards are dealt is typically referred to as ‘The Board’.

3) With ‘The Flop’ exposed, it’s time for another round of betting. And, the betting that will occur is based on the 5 cards currently available to each player, i.e., 2 Pocket cards and 3 Board’ cards.

The betting begins with the player to the immediate left of the Dealer Button, regardless of whether the Dealer is still active in the hand or not.

The player to the left of the Dealer Button will keep the initial betting action for the rest of the hand. Later, you’ll come to learn that this is the worst position to be in at the table.

Apart from that, the betting process is the same as it was in ‘pre-flop’ betting. However, keep in mind, all of the players who were dealt ‘Pocket’ cards may not be currently playing the hand as they could have folded during the opening round of betting.

So, whichever remaining player is ‘to the immediate left’ of the Dealer Button (DB), it is that person who is the first player to act; throughout the hand providing he doesn’t fold.

He can check or bet.

A) If he checks, he’s simply passing the options of checking or betting to the player who sits to his left.

B) If he doesn’t check, and decides to bet, then those that follow will have 3 choices:

1) They can fold

2) They can call

3) Or they can raise. But, since a bet was made, those that follow don’t have the option of ‘checking’.

When the round of betting has finished, it’s time for another card to be dealt face up on The Board.

This fourth card is called The Turn card, or 4th Street, and, again, the card can be employed by all of the remaining players (those players that have not folded). It’s another ‘community card’.

Thus, each remaining player now has use of 6 cards, 4 Board cards, and 2 Pocket cards. Now there are 4 cards on The Board, one additional card to come.

It is now time for the fifth and final community card to be dealt: The River, or 5th Street.

And, seeing as all the cards have finally been dealt, each player remaining in the hand can see what their finest five card hand is. Therefore, it’s now time for the final round of betting. And, when the betting ends, the hand is over.

It’s time to see who wins.

Each player that has remained in the hand shows their cards, starting with the last person to initiate a bet. At a cash or free online poker site the software will handle the process of showing the cards.

The winner is decided via use of the universal poker hand rankings. You’ll find that in subsequent chapter; entitled ‘What Beats What’.

If a player wins a pot because every other player has folded, he can decide whether to show his cards or not.

Most people don’t, and it’s generally advised by me to never show your cards. If you’re not required to do so; keep ‘em guessing!

Yet, when you reach an ‘advanced level’ of play, you will get an entirely different perspective from me. You see, there are occasions when ‘deceitful strategies’ are going to be added to your acquired set of playing skills. And, a part of the ‘deceitful strategies’ will have you showing your cards. Not now though.

Summing up How To Play Poker For Beginners Free Online Poker Rules Part 2

In part 1 you learned the bare bones of poker, the structure and ideas of the game. Now that you’ve read part 2 you should now understand the specific mechanics of a hand of poker. In part 3 we are going to move on to more poker words and terminology, those crazy card and hand nicknames are going to be unveiled! But so long as you’ve understood the first 2 parts you can now go and start to play poker. It’s a very good idea though to firstly read and print off a sheet on what card hands beat what! Then you will have some sort of idea whether you should fold, call, raise or check!

At this stage I strongly urge you not to try and play on sites where real money is involved, you can expect to lose all or most of it 99% certain!

Have patience (by the way that is a key poker skill you will need to master) and start out on one of the excellent free poker sites you’ll find online. Later when you’re more skilled there is plenty of time for you to win plenty of cash and the time you spend playing free online poker will set you up for this.

Nick is from top free online poker site NoPayPOKER.com. www.NoPayPOKER.com is USA legal and uses faux currency which makes it totally risk free and so is the perfect place to how to play poker for beginners as well as practice your game if you are more experienced or want a break from the stress of money sites!

In this learn how to play poker for beginners guide we will look at how the game of poker works. While poker looks complex when you’re new to it it’s actually not so bad at all once you know it and will become second nature after a short time. There are many type of poker game but the best one to start with as a beginner is the free online poker texas holdem freeroll tournament (Texas holdem is just the name of the most popular online poker variant)

free online poker freeroll tournaments vary from 20 to hundreds of players. A good point with these game is that most of the other players you’ll find on them are no more than average and many are beginners too.

The first step is to fire up your free online poker software and find a game. As mentioned each of these tournaments will have multiple tables. You can divide the number of players by 10, and you’ll know how many tables are a part of the tournament. You round up to eliminate the decimal point, if any; e.g., 68 players divided by 10, equals 6.8, rounded up, means there are 7 tables in the tournament.

Now the online poker software of the site you play at will seat you at a randomly selected table and seat. On any decent free online poker site games start very regularly, maybe every half-hour; 24-7 so initially, don’t be overly concerned about how successful you are in any one game; there’s always another game that you can enter.

Who Wins and How?
Basically the winner of each hand is the one with the best combination of cards.

The outline of the game process is this:
You take your seat and the game starts. The software selects the “Dealer Button” (DB) and the “Blind” players make their blind bets (don’t worry this is covered below!)

The games first action is to give 2 cards to each player that only the player can see, these are called pocket cards. Next there is a round of blind betting, it’s called blind as there is no way to guess or infer what cards other players have, no more than 3 raises to the first blind bet are allowed which is a rule that remains so in future rounds.

Next, the Dealer will expose 3 cards on the table. These are known as community or board cards and can be used in conjunction with pocket cards by all players.

At this point, another round of betting occurs.

Then the Dealer will add another card to the community cards; there are now 4 cards that can be used by all of the players who remain in the hand.

This is followed by another round of betting.
Last, the Dealer will add a 5th card to the community cards. Again followed by another round of betting.

Now lets look at this in more detail:
Your 2 face down cards are known as “Pocket Cards”. They are dealt out, one at a time, left to right, to everyone at the table. You only see your own pocket cards.

The Dealer then exposes 3 “community cards” to all players on the table. This stage is known as “The Flop”.

When he exposes the 4th “community card”, it’s known as “The Turn” (or, 4th Street).

And, when he exposes the 5th “community card”, it’s known as “The River” (or, 5th Street).

All 3 to 5 “community cards” that are exposed on the poker table at any one time are known as “The Board”.

Every player who is participating in the hand through the process of betting (if you “folded”, you’re no longer in the hand), attempts to make the best possible five-card hand.

They can use any 5 of the 7 cards that are available to them; one, both, or none of their pocket cards, together with 3, 4, or 5 of the “community cards”.
The player with the best 5 card hand wins all of the money that has been bet (The Pot).

The “Dealer Button” is involved in every hand to be played. One of the game’s participants gets the Dealer Button (DB); the selection of the player who first receives the DB is done by the free online poker software.

If you are playing at a live game such as in a casino then the DB is a round disc, normally with a D printed on it. If you’re playing paid or free online poker a symbol on the screen shows which player is the DB.

the DB position is very important as the a players to the left of the DB have to make the blind bets.

Plus, as you’ll come to learn later, after you read the “Building a Bankroll” series of articles, the DB position is the best seat at the table. Additionally, at the end of every hand, the Dealer Button (DB) moves one position to the left; thus, everyone acts as the “virtual dealer” in an Internet game, and, everyone is forced to place “blind” bets.

Blind Bets? What are they?
This is how the game starts.
The player to the immediate left of the Dealer Button (DB) is compelled to put up the Small Blind (SB).
The player to the immediate left of the Small Blind (SB) is compelled to put up the Big Blind (BB).
These “blind bets” are placed in the pot, in front of the dealer. This essentially kickstarts the betting, and, it”s all done before anyone has gotten any cards!

This, for the lack of any other rational reason, means that the winner of the hand that’s about to be played, will, at a minimum, collect the small amount of money that has been “forced” into the pot by the blind bets.

In a multi-table freeroll, or any No Limit free online poker tournament game, the size of the Small Blind (SB) and the size of the Big Blind (BB) are very low at the start of the game. And, every player in the game begins the game with the same amount of free online poker faux-money; or, for practical purposes, poker chips.

Usually, in 15 minute intervals, the size of the “blinds” increase.
As an example, if the beginning “blinds” were $10 (SB) and $20 (BB), within 15 minutes the “blinds” would change to $20 (SB) and $40 (BB).

And, thereafter, as the game progresses, the “blinds” continue to go up every 15 minutes.

In the end, at the final table in a tournament (the last remaining 10 players), the “blinds” could easily reach the point of being $2,000 (SB) and $4,000 (BB).

Now don’t be alarmed, the dollar amounts tied to the Small Blinds (SB) and Big Blinds (BB) in the preceding paragraph, during all freeroll games played on free online poker sites are “fictional” amounts of money. It’s not real money. It’s merely a “tournament representation” of money; it’s free online poker faux-money, they’re poker chips, not real dollars.

This is one reason why it is a very good idea to learn to play poker as a beginner on free poker sites, it can get very expensive very quickly if you start on a real money site!

Winning and Money

The good news with a poker tournament is that the 1st place player doesn’t take all the money. Yes, the absolute winner does get a lions share but other players do get a cut too. How many players and how much is determined by the number of players who enter and the size of the pot. You an find out this information before the game starts.

As the game progresses players are knocked out and tables amalgamate. At some point only those who will share the money are left. If you are still in at this stage then you are now “in the money” or “in the bubble” as it is also commonly called.

When just 10 players are left you will be on the “Final Table”, typically to win any decent amount you need to be here even in very large poker tournament though places lower than this can often at least pay back your cost of joining the game if it is a buy in game.

Right at the end with just 2 players left you will be “head to head”…but that is a story for another day!

Summing up How To Play Poker For Beginners Part 1
In this stage we looked at basic game processes. In part 2 we’ll get into more detail on the stages described and look at what you actually physically do and consider some essential basic free online poker strategy.

Nick is Marketing Manager for leading free online poker site NoPayPOKER. NoPayPOKER.com uses a virtual currency, FreeD which makes the poker games totally risk free, this makes NoPay the ideal place to learn how to play poker for beginners. More experienced players also like it as it’s a great place to try new ideas and stategies out, plus the fact that the FreeD can be swapped for real Dollars is a nice touch too!

Regardless of if you just play free poker sites or play for the highest stakes imaginaable a Set is one of the most unreadable hands in Texas Hold’em.

A Set is made ip of a pocket pair plus one of the Community cards that has the same rank as your pocket pair. For example, if you have 5-5 and the Board reads 5-4-10-J-K, you have a Set of Fives. Sets are unreadable because most players are accustomed to reading (a) two different hole cards, (b) high cards or overpairs, (c) draws that complete the Board, or (d) cards anyway related to the Board cards.

Our hand reading habits generally a mix of limiting possible hands to the given characteristics of the board/community, how would you put someone on 5-5 or 4-4 when it is much easier to put him on A-K (for top pair, best kicker), A-Q (for a made Straight), or K-10 or 5-4 (for Two-Pair), or even A-A (a high pair)? Or maybe you’ll put him on one Five, say, 6-5. But on two Fours or Fives? This is why Sets are very potent in Boards which have no Straight or Flush potential.

However, suppose in a Flop of Q-7-2 with no Straight or Flush possibilities, you have 2-2. You check in the hope of trapping and the other player bets. You raise all in then he immediately calls and reveals Q-Q. You thought your opponent had A-Q or K-Q. How is this possible? It’s possible. Even in this spot you are more at risk.

Since there are no Straight or Flush potentials your opponent will fold cards that didn’t fit into the Board cards. If you read hands in line with the criteria above, you might put your opponent on A-Q, K-Q, or even Q-7 (can you go as far as 7-2?!). Here because you are the one who moved all-in, the outcome of the hand is not fully on your control; it’s up to whether your opponent calls or not. But suppose the situation is reversed. The player with the Q-Q checks, you bet, then the response is a raise all-in. What would you do?

When you find yourself slammed in a situation like this (which usually occurs on the Flop) on a cash game, take it as it is. Pay him off. Some other time you will have the Q-Q, some other player will have the 2-2, and you will be paid off. But in a tournament, you have many givens to consider (and you might want to consider these even in an ordinary cash game). Compare your stack sizes relative to each other. If the difference is great, expect one of you to put his chips in the middle.

A Set could be the best hand both of you can have to get a double-up. If you have the smaller Set get eliminated, attribute it to bad luck. However, assuming both of you have stacks above chip average, and you are put to a choice costing you all or just about all your chips. You have 2-2. You’re not likely to be blinded out in a few hands.

You may want to reason out: I have a Set. He raised me enough to put me all-in, or almost. He might do it with Q-7, (and whether your opponent had Q-7 or not will depend on what happened preflop. If no raise occurred it may be with Q-7, and you can safely call. Whether the other guy had 7-7 or not can also come under similar scrutiny) or if there is a raise, it may be with A-Q.

Now, top pair, top kicker is a weak hand to risk an above-average stack. And there is no Straight and Flush incoming, so the all-in could be made only with an exceptionally strong hand. It might also be with A-A or with K-K (most probably it is) but it might also be just with Q-Q. If I put him on those three hands, there is a 2/3 chance I’m right, but a 1/3 chance of wrong, and when I’m wrong I will be busted. So I’ll fold.

If you have the middle Set (Set of Sevens), the same analysis may also apply. But you’ll be much safer since there is only one Set to kill you instead of the two possible Sets a while ago. If you have the Set of Queens, enjoy! The above analysis is agonizing and painstaking, especially when it all amounts to giving up one of the most most popular hands in Hold’Em.

Concluding Reading Sets

It takes some time to learn how to read hands, it’s not something the unthinking donk “chip flingers” seen on many free poker tables even consider. Most players it seems can’t or won’t put the time in, they claim to play just for fun which misses out on the key fact that winning lots of money is a lot more fun!

Ironically the fact that so many players play at this low skill level is excellent news for you. The reason why is that when you really learn how to play poker well you can go mercenary and hunt the “fun donks” down in low stakes real money games as well as free poker sites that pay out real money while you happily build your skills and bankroll!

To make this work first, play free poker online to learn to play poker free where you can learn while you lose but without losing real money, then once ready to can move up to low stakes and start to make some serious poker cash!

In this free online poker tips guide you will learn how to recognize and play the poker hand known as the “Big Hand”.

The reason why you need to know this is you will simply learn to play poker so much better when you understand the way different hands can play out.

Then you can relate this to the context of play. From here you can begin to determine the motives of the other players for their actions, based on the cards that fell, your betting patterns, their player types, their chip stacks, the pot size, and many other factors.

Your objective, simply is to be able to play this type of hand with skill rather than the luck alone most players reply upon and so win loads more cash!

For our first reconstruction, this is the Big Hand.

BLINDS 1,000/2,000 – (Pot 5,400)

PREFLOP:

A has Js-9s, calls 2,000

B has Ks-Kc, raises to 14,000

A calls 12,000 (Pot 33,400)

A just initially calls, hoping that there will also be many callers because he has suited connectors and wants to get sufficient pot odds.

B, though might interpret the call from early position as A-A or Q-Q, and because he has a large stack (the two are the largest on the table) he can afford to raise a bit more, because if the other player reraises and he thinks the other one has A-A, he can fold.

Also, K-K is a little bit unsafe if an Ace falls on the flop, so this may serve as a tester raise. A calls, he has a larger stack so he can afford the risk.

FLOP: Kh-9d-Kd

A checks

B checks (Pot 33,400)

Suddenly B has Quad Kings! A checks, because he has only a Nine, and can proceed carefully if B bets. B, hoping to conceal his unbeatable hand, checks too.

Paired boards are often good bluffing situations. For instance, a 8-8-3 board will work for bluffing because on a, say, J-7-3 board, you’ll find three cards which can pair one of them, and a bluff will be less effective.

But on the 8-8-3 board, bluffing has big benefits as there are only two cards which will conceivably help anyone, and also anyone there with a Three will be less likely to call. (Only an Eight will do.)

But with a board with bigger cards like our Flop, B may have bet, but after that, A will be less likely to put him on a bluff (and more likely on a made hand) because he may have, say, K-10, and we play big cards more than small ones.

B doesn’t want A to back out of the pot. So B just checks.

Also, with two Diamonds B should check in the hope that A will put him on a flush draw so that if the flush doesn’t come, A will bet or raise to push B away, and B can gain extra chips.

TURN: Kh-9d-Kd-5h

A checks

B bets 20,000

A raises to 70,000

B calls 50,000 (Pot 173,400)

B still has invincible Quads, A still has Two-Pair. B could have now put A on the Nine or a draw, so B bets 20,000 so that A will call.

But since during the flop B may have represented a Diamond flush draw in A’s perspective, A raised to 70,000 so that B will move away.

B just calls, as there are two draws already, and B might want to represent one of them again so that A will attempt another bluff on the river.

RIVER: Kh-9d-Kd-5h-9h

A checks

B moves all-in 106,000 (Pot 279,300)

A folds

B still has Quads, but A is now in trouble because he has a bottom Full House. A King can kill him.

What A is hoping, though, is that B back-doored a Heart Flush and just check it along with him.

But B moves all-in. This is a very intriguing move by B. A strong player would value-bet this (sat, 40,000 on a pot of 173,400) and A can just call it.

It is OK to represent a Flush here, since the board is double-paired, which can destroy Flushes since the board is just one card off a Full House.

So what I am thinking is: B moved all-in because (1) he wanted A to think that they have the same hand or that his hand is weaker, like a Flush. B’s play on the Flop and the Turn was weak, so A may not have put B on a King but likely on the Flush draw we are talking about.

B wants a call. B now hopes that A backdoored a Flush too and also that he thinks his all-in is just a bluff, but A is in trouble due to the sudden strong play.

It was psychologically jarring.

Did B hide that King or not? A might think that better hands could come later, so he folds.

Also (2) B might not want a showdown; he did not want to show the two Kings; he wanted to trouble the minds of A and other opponents.

If they saw how he played K-K it will be added information. He wants to have them guessing.

You need to play more unpredictably so you can gain chips later than to gain chips now, but be unable to get some later. I believe this is a brilliant reason.

Summing up the Big Hand

It takes time to learn how to play poker online or offline at a level above the unthinking, uneducated “chip flinging” seen at many tables.

Yes it is mad that so many players play with so little skill, but it is also very good news for you as a player who is learning to play correctly. That’s because once you learn to play poker at an above average level and combat the “all-in-all the time” maniacs then you can take them apart in coldly calculated genocide anytime you like in low stakes money games and when you play free poker on line that pays real cash such as that found at www.NoPayPOKER.com.

As ever practice makes perfect so read, understand and learn to play hold em on the free online poker tables to get it nailed.

Whether you play free poker online or play for the biggest stakes imaginable a common theme is that aggressive players do all the betting and the raising, and get all the chips.

Players who mainly call are classified as passive. This is because as a caller you do not influence the game dynamic and are, to some extent, are being played by the bettor(s). With that said, you may well on occasion have very valid reasons to call and, as long as you have considered them in detail you should make that call.

Here is one such hand (Shame on him if he folds):

BLINDS 60k/120k, ante 15k

PREFLOP:

A has 5h-5d, raised to 310k (under the gun)
B has Kc-10c, calls 310k (from middle position)

The raise A makes from under the gun (UTG) implies his hand is strong, but keep in mind that A is aggressive and a tad loose and can represent any hand. In addition, A can make everyone fold. B’s K-10 suited is good for just calling, and he does.

With K-10, one should be more careful if a King comes up. With a King, A may have K-J or A-K (A-K, especially from a raise under the gun). I don’t think B is aware of this, maybe because he hasn’t seen the Flop yet. Here it is:

FLOP: 10d-4c-2d

Now only a 10 comes and this is better for B. Those who don’t have flush draws with 2 Diamonds might play J 10 or 10 9 strongly, plus the King kicker is real powerful.

A bets 535k

Because A raised under the gun, he tries a continuation bet. If he gets called, he can put B on a flush draw or a small pair (like 7-7), so he can frisk away later with not much loss.

But B may want to end the hand with his Pair of Tens, probably because overcards can fall. Moreover, A has been too aggressive all throughout, as we said, and it may be with two face cards or A-x, so B returns A’s favor:

B raises to 1.61m
A needs 1.075m to call

Because A has been representing a strong hand so far (raising under the gun and continuation-betting), he might as well stay consistent. Moreover, A may think that B raised because he thought A had nothing, and he is trying o push A out of the pot with something like K-J or a Flush draw.

As for the possibility of a Ten in B’s hand, why would A think B had a Ten? Even if B did, he would just call (commonly) and then check-check it all the way, because a Pair of Tens is not so strong, especially if faced with a three-bet like this:

A moves all-in 3.075m
B needs 2.5m to call (Pot now about 7.5m)

Maybe A moved all-in because his Pair of Fives have value on a board with only one overcard and whose caller may have a Flush draw. In this case, the caller may still be reluctant because even with a Flush draw with two overcards, it’s still a draw. But he might also be thinking that B is playing him, so he plays back.

Now B is put on the decision which calls for a call.

Here are B’s reasons why he may not call (which B may be thinking, but which will be my reasons for so doing):

(1) A three-bet plus all-in may signify J-J or higher, which is very likely if only small cards are on the table. Or: even a Set which A may have used to trap with.

(2) He is getting approximately 3-to-1 on a call (2.5 million to win approximately 7.5 million), but he should call only if he is getting 4-to-1 (21% chance of hitting Two-Pair or Trips), which is the right price.

(3) If he calls, he will have about 6 million chips remaining. But if he doesn’t, he will have about 8.5 million remaining, and his loss is relatively small for his stack (which is nearly 10 million).

Now here are B’s reasons why he should call:

(1) He can knock out an opponent who has proven to be very dangerous so far.

(2) Maybe A is the one on a Flush draw. Or maybe a Flush draw with two overcards where both of them have nearly equal chance of winning. So it’s OK.

(3) Maybe A put B on a Flush draw and decided to push B out of the pot instead of letting a Diamond emerge. So A’s all-in is just a bluff now.

(4) Maybe A put B on a bluff and decided to counter-bluff.

(5) With only one overcard which is not so likely to be in someone’s hand just as a face card is, B may put A on a pocket pair 5-5 to 9-9. In that case, he has a better Pair (Tens).

(6) He can lift himself up to 14 million chips after this.

(7) It is because B’s guts says so.

With these things in B’s mind, but still brewing over the cons, B tried hard to decide. For a long time he stared at his opponent and the Board. He commented first, You may hate me for this,” but then added, as if nothing but instinct prompted him, “but I call.”

B calls 2.5m (Pot just above 9 million)

A is in trouble now. B won the hand and knocked out A (who is Antonio Esfandiari! B is Steven Begleiter). B may be neutral in choosing between folding and calling, but if I’ll call, I’ll call not solely because of value of the Tens, but because of the above reasons.

Conclusion
It takes time to learn how to play poker online or offline at a level above the unthinking, uneducated “chip flinging” seen at many tables.

Yes it is mad that so many players play with so little skill, but it is also very good news for you as a player who is learning to play correctly. That’s because once you learn to play poker at an above average level and combat the “all-in-all the time” maniacs then you can take them apart in coldly calculated genocide anytime you like in low stakes money games and when you play NoPayPOKER.com that pays real cash such as that found at www.NoPayPOKER.com.

To make this work first, play free poker sites to learn to play holdem where you can learn while you lose but without losing real money, then once ready to can move up to low stakes and start to make some serious poker cash!

It is a sad fact, it is not possible to be great at everything. In poker be it the win a lot of pennies free poker type or big cash it is why people become experts or specialists in their particular games.

It is the same as in the “normal” world where in our professions and hobbies and business we aim to find our niche and focus our efforts on becoming as good as we can so that we get promoted and earn more money.

So how does this relate specifically to the world of poker games?

Simply this, some people are great cash game players, while others are great tournament players. There are some players who are very good at both cash games and poker tournaments but this is very rare.

Most players specialize because they are more successful at one than the other.

How do you determine whether cash games or tournaments are your speciality? It might not be that clear at first. Of course you need to play plenty of both types, and while you do here are some factors to look for to help you decide once and for all.

Should You Focus On Cash Games?
If you’re a patient player who looks to play only in clear +EV situations, then you may prefer cash games. Full-ring games are all about waiting for premium starting hands and extracting the most value from them in the most favourable situation possible. Thus, cash games are good for players who don’t deal with variance very well.

The biggest mistake a beginning cash game player can make is playing too many hands. You don’t want to commit too many chips in marginal situations.

The opposite can seem to be true in the late to middle stages of a tournament.

Should You Focus On Poker Tournaments
It is correct to play tight in the early stages of a tournament, but once the blinds start to escalate you’ll need to loosen up your starting requirements. Once you’re low on chips, you’ll need to look to move all-in to survive. You may also need to put yourself in situations that may –EV in certain occasions. If you’re one of the big stacks, it’s also correct to start playing looser to bully the other players. It’s all about accumulating chips to either survive or thrive in tournaments. It’s not for the faint of heart or those who can’t deal with variance.

The biggest mistake a beginning tournament player can make is not pushing all-in enough when they get low on chips. Because the price of blinds increase as the tournament goes on, your chip stack can easily get whittled away.

Tight players can’t win tournaments.

Poker Game Specialization Conclusion
If tight is right for you, you would be best served to focus on playing cash games. However, if you’re an action junkie, you should consider concentrating on tournaments. With that said, it is possible for tight styles to work in tournaments with a few adjustments, and a loose style can work in cash games can work under certain circumstances.

Ideally do your testing in free online poker that way you can learn to play poker for free and find your style while not losing lots of money in the process!

To read more articles like this and learn to play poker online free check out NoPayPOKER.com’s blog which is full of play free poker on line tutorials and offers a fantastic zero risk free poker site where you can put theory into practice.

I can imagine a free poker player on http://www.NoPayPOKER.com who, after watching some episodes of the World Series of Poker or the World Poker Tour, suddenly gets ‘inspired’ and tries out one of the big advertised poker sites. Suddenly – suddenly – as he imitates the plays he saw in some episode, like moving all-in with 4-4 in early position – he thinks he is making a good play. Of course it is sometimes a good play, but not always.

In most cases our newly enthused free online poker player will proceed to lose a lot of money in a short period of time to the money site sharks.

Instead may I suggest that the best thing to do is to practice these “pro” plays on free online poker, so that mistakes can be learned from? He can play free poker games get knocked out, learn from it and still have hundreds of dollars left.

Play Free Poker Games can be a brilliant way to build a bankroll too, most sites tend to pay pennies but if you play long enough it can really add up nicely. And if you play long enough you will learn from your mistakes and from the mistakes of others – and it wouldn’t be so costly. You can try those crazy things you see on TV, play that Q-7 offsuit and then flop a Q-5-3 and then get called by A-Q later or K-K…then you learn that actually Q-7 is rubbish and should never be played unless you are a pro with a very specific reason for doing so.

Of course, you can watch someone else play the Q-7. He may flop Q-5-3, as above, or even A-J-7. Now you know you have him, because you have K-K (in the first flop) or A-K, or J-J (in the second). Now you remember the times when you win, and when you recall these times every time a similar situation arises, you will win the pot. If you play free poker long enough you will see what these situations are and then be able to characterize them like this: On the first flop, it may be ‘Playing Overpairs’; on the second, it may be ‘Playing Top Pair’ or ‘Playing a Set’.

There is, however, a downfall if you are not careful: Suppose you play 3-2 off and you win. You might think 3-2 off is a good hand, and then suddenly you rush to play real money poker. You lose. You think, “How would 3-2 be harpooned in this board! This just won last week!”

If you are observant enough for a long time in playing free online poker you might notice plenty of players doing the same (playing bad hands) and they win. You can watch if they are winning consistently or not, and oftentimes they don’t. Someone plays 7-2, the wins; someone plays it again later, then loses.When you play free poker games it may not yet teach you that A-10 is sometimes dangerous to play after a raise because it might be a better Ace, but it teaches you what hands to avoid and what to play.

In free online poker you just don’t play any hand. You must play as if it is really big money at stake. Play only good hands as if your big money bankroll depended on it. If you keep playing bad starting hands without the ability to represent them (and representing hands is not so practical in free poker because many free poker players play just any hand, bet when they hit the Flop and throw when they don’t) you will be a bad player sooner.

Regarding this, here is another point, indeed this is the key point that will win you a lot of money:

Most free online poker players are beginners or reckless fun seekers so when you take the time to master free poker then you will know how to blast them into orbit

Next, you will find when you move on to lower stakes real money you will mostly be facing these very same type of novice and maniac who have watched too much TV, and what do you think will happen then?

That’s right, your hard earned free poker skills will trash them and they will “donate” their stacks to you time and time again!. And as for the really good players, it’s so easy – avoid them unless you have the nuts.

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In standard cash tournaments or free poker typically the top 8-10% make the money and even then only a handful make more than twice their buy in.

The vast majority of the cash goes to those near to the final table. In double or nothing games though, half the players win 2x their buy in.

For example, if there are 100 players with a buy in of $10 the top 50 win $20, the bottom 50 get nothing.

In this free online poker lesson discussion let us assume 100 participants in a double or nothing tournament.

At the beginning, when blinds are small, play standard, solid poker.

Make the normal mainstream moves. Go all in with A-A or K-K and hope you get called by a weaker hand. If you have a Pair, hope to flop a Set. Build your stack size by 50% or more.

You can also try “small-ball” poker. While the blinds are low, call with hands that have great pot odds when involved in multi-player pots, like with 8-7, A-5 suited.

If you hit hard on the Flop, say Straight or Flush, knock out someone or double up someone who has a Pair. If you don’t hit, fold, and wait for the time you will hit.

This is how you should play until you’re about 5 away from the money places Now, you are one of 55 players left. If you are 55th place, what would you do?

As 50th gets the same as 1st place (double the buy in) there’s no point going all in unless the blinds are killing you.

Play patient and steady. What typically happens is that the players from 40th down get impatient and go all in because the blinds are eating them, too.

When they get impatient they’ll kill themselves off fast, patience, in poker, always wins in the end!

Now lets say your are 48th of 55 and get A-A, what to do, move all in or call and all in?

In a normal poker tournament, if top 30 win money and you are 27th with 33 players left, you can move all-in with A-A because your callers will be A-K, A-Q or K-K and you are a significant favorite. You can move up from 27th to say, 15th to 20th, and you can win more money later.

But in double or nothing, ask yourself: What if you have 9000 chips and win $10 when you could win $10 with just 4500 chips? It will be unnecessary. 50th place is the same as any place above it.

What about calling an all-in with someone who has 3000 chips? Will you do it? It depends on what player we are, but I would not do it.

The bigger stacks can collaborate on knocking the smaller ones out. Stay out of the way.

If you are on top, say you have five times your starting stack or better, consider it your responsibility to knock the smaller stacks out if you have the opportunity.

Don’t overdo it, however. In this instance, I would rather snooze away from the table and let the more adventurous big stacks eat the smaller ones.

If you have, say, just thrice your starting stack, don’t call all-ins unless you have nuts or a strong hand close to nuts. I did this once in a Flop with A-5-8 and I have A-10. I have 3200 chips (about 1.5 times my starting stack) and someone moved all-in his 920 chips.

One player between us folded (If he called he may have A-x, and I don’t know what x is, so if we get involved in a pot he might push me and I wouldn’t be able to continue with my A-10) so I called. The player who moved all-in bluffed with 9-2.

If you are on top, you can just wait. If you are near the bottom, just have more patience and don’t knock yourself out like the others who have less patience do. Because once you reach 50th place in our 100-person tournament, you will feel just like a champion.

This article is by NoPayPOKER, the perfect online poker site for beginners to learn to play poker free without risking money. For experienced poker players the attraction is practice, the ability to fine tune their game and test out new techniques in a totally no risk zone while grinding away to accumulate free poker site cash.

Whether you’re playing free online poker or $1000 Buy-in the starting hands AA and KK are the 2 hands preflop that get your heart pounding on the rare occasions they appear. When you have AA or KK the chances of a lesser pair winning pre-river are only about 20% with unpaired hands being even lower. With your KK an A-x (Ace plus any card) the chances are only 25-30% and then usually only if they hit the Ace on the flop.

With A-A or K-K the voice we always hear is ‘raise, raise, raise’. Yes, raise heavily it tells you, after all the only hands who are willing to call us will be ones like AK and AQ, plus a heavy raise will scare off the suited connectors that might be able to crack us later if they hit straights or flushes. Raise, especially from a late position, and reraise any raises. Then your hope, if you reraise, is that your opponents are intending to reraise again with a weaker hand which they think is the favorite, like for example A-K or A-Q, and so you can set them all-in, or move all-in yourself.

But there are times when it pays to be more subtle than just doing the raise and reraise thing. For example, lets say you are in early position with AA and you raise. Everyone else folds. It’s frustrating isn’t it? You go all in or raise big and nobody bites.

So in early position, if that’s what you intend to do – if you want to catch them spilling many of their chips into your stack preflop, then just call, then wish – wish! – that ones of them raises so you can reraise. If they fold, at least you have obtained more chips than if you raised immediately and you scared them off. If they call, then already we’re past preflop play…

But this “beyond preflop play” is very significant, in that there is a big difference between A-A or K-K. Usually you should be willing to move all-in preflop more often with K-K than A-A. Why?

Because if you have A-A and the flop comes, say, Q-7-3 or K-9-5, those willing to square off with you are those with, like, A-Q, K-Q or K-J. They are willing to feed their chips to you with these hands, and you can call their big bets or all-ins. Your A-A is still the best hand, while they think their large (big but not big enough) Pair is strong, and that hand’s already a significant underdog. A-A is good for trapping as well as for speeding. You can move all-in with it preflop, of course, but as above you can trap with it if you feel like it.

But if you have K-K, the flop might fall A-7-2, and…your K-K, no matter how golden, is now drawing almost dead. There are two Kings left, and anyone who might be there with you may bet large because he has an Ace. (Is he likely to bet with a single Seven?) So you have to fold your K-K, no matter how hard it is for you to get so good a hand and then banish it a few moments later. Or just call, call, call.

So, preflop, you may have to play K-K more strongly than you would play your A-A. It’s not as good as trapping as A-A. Ideally, if you move all-in with K-K, an A-X will call you, or a small pocket Pair and you’ll be an approximately 75-25 favorite. (You’re not likely to be called with K-X or Q-X because they’re not so strong enough for calling all-ins.) If you get called with A-X, they still have to catch the Ace. They’re the ones taking the risk, and not you. If you play K-K slowly, and they ride their A-X with you on the Flop, and they caught the Ace, it’s a thousandfold different from having to catch it. They have no risks to take.

There might be times where there is A-A versus K-K, but these times are rare. And if you’re the one with the K-K, you might even fold it. Say two of you in a preflop hand are the chip leaders in a tournament, and you reraise his early-position raise, then all of a sudden he pushes you all-in! You might put him on A-A, and you fold, very, very smartly and sickly. Or he’s a player whom you know who will not raise that LARGE an amount unless he has A-A. But these times are rare, remember.

So, excepting some special considerations that must be remembered with the K-K, playing A-A and K-K preflop is just almost identical.

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