Free Poker

In this free online poker guide you’ll learn about applying the KISS concept in poker. Normally this means “keep It Simple Stupid” but in poker there are 2 more very relevant meanings.

First, how about Keeping It Simple (Against) Stupid Players? Secondly, Keep It Simple and Straightforward if you’re up against not so stupid players!

On free poker games sites such as NoPayPOKER you’ll come up against both types though maybe a few more of the less clever ones than you’ll find at say a $500 buy in table in Vegas!

For example, with A-10 in hand would you have the courage to play against a clearly good player with the flop showing A-8-3? No problem if it’s a free poker game but what if it’s a really big game with a lot of money on the table?

Your options are to simply call again and again or you might bet and pray he does not play strong. Why? Since he is a good player, you might put him on A-K, or an Ace with a better kicker. Then should he go all-in, you will know what to do. Scamper, and wait until you have the A-K, or maybe a Set.

Here you will have to consider the following. Has he really got A-K? Or just J-J with which he is willing to take to showdown but is not so willing to call a large raise with? Or maybe it is 8-7, since he reckons my bet on the Flop is simply a continuation bet so he will call?

The biggets problem is that 5 or 6 weak or dumb players, you might have to ask these questions for each one of them! Does he really have ?-? (for Player 1). Does he really have ?-? (for Player two) ? Or just ?-? (for Player three)? and on and on until your brain is fried and you get nailed by someone holding A-8.

Let us look at another situation now, with a Board of 5-6-J-Q-8.
You have K-Q. A strong player probably has A-Q or K-K, or J-10, or something special, like 7-4 (usually suited). You might as well fold your K-Q at the end, or just call a small bet at the river. But at least you can put your strong opponent into a hand or into a few hands.

But with 5 or 6 poorer players you must be careful. They may have the hands above, but because they’re weak, there will be more add-ons, like 8-5, J-5, Q-8, or even Q-5, all of which will add to the possibility of your K-Q being beaten.

In such a case why not call a small bet at the river (because with many callers you are getting good pot odds to make the call). Then if one of them goes all-in, it’s a strong signal. Fold that K-Q. What hand might they be moving all-in with? With a strong player you may have an idea. But with a weak player, you don’t.

Why go to war if you don’t know what you are trying to beat?

A strong player is willing to play more stronger hands than weaker ones. He is willing to play A-K more often than A-8 in his life, although frequency of play is no clue to how he plays specific hands. He remains unpredictable. But you will expect him to fold A-8 more often than A-K.

But weak players don’t know what hands they are playing. They will play J-5 as readily as A-K. So, when playing with them, because you can’t put them into a hand because they don’t even know theirs, just show them a good enough hand. A Two-Pair or higher, more desirably. In the A-10 example above, you’ll be happy with 3-3. In the second, I wish you have the 7-4 or the 10-9 before you act rashly.

And, unless you are just messing about in a free poker games don’t attempt any fancy manoeuvres like all-in bluffs.

In the 5-6-J-Q-8 Board, don’t move all-in with A-K. Even with just two weak opponents, they will just readily call you with K-Q as much as with 6-4, J-9, or even 3-3. They don’t know the difference between them.

If they have something, they will be willing to take it along to death. So make your something stronger than their something, and take it to their death instead. No bluffs. No calling of suspected bluffs.

So remember to KISS! Keep it Simple or Straightforward against good players and Keep it Simple against Stupid Players!

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Plus the NoPayPOKER blog contains a huge pro written free poker games training series, with lessons from basic how to play poker for beginners courses to masters level. Complete the intermediate level course at least and you will find yourself in the top 10% of online poker players worldwide.

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.

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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Many poker beginners on free online poker sites or the lower stake cash online poker sites simply play their cards without proper regard for situational nuances. This can lead to errors that can cost them a lot of money despite the fact that they’re playing with strong holdings.

One common mistake that I see players make is failing to account for how the size of their chip stack may dictate how to best play their hand. When I started playing free poker more than five years ago, I made the same mistake.

The optimum play with a particular hand depends on many factors including your chip stack. A good move for someone with a large chip stack could be a dangerous move for someone with a tiny chip stack.

To put it bluntly: in poker size matters. However, that is not to say that larger is always better. Being deep stacked has advantages, but shorter stacks can be equally effective at the money and free poker table.

A Deep Stack Expands Options

For the sake of this article, I will define deep stacks as stacks that are roughly 125 big blinds or more. Others may define a deep stack as a bit less or more than that number of big blinds, but almost no one would consider a stack of 35 big blinds or less to be a deep stack.

I generally subscribe to the notion that deep-stack play is better than small-stack play. Most professional pokers would agree.

This is because deep stacks give you more room to take advantage of implied odds. In other words, you’re allowed more freedom with regard to starting hand requirements. You can play small pocket pairs hoping to flop your set or small suited connectors hoping to flop a flush or straight. If you miss the flop, you can fold and wait for a better situation. You can be more patient because the blinds aren’t much of a concern; they won’t eat up your chip stack that much.

Another benefit of being deep-stacked is maximizing your profits. If you have the biggest stack at the table, you can extract the most possible chips from your opponents. This is not true for short stacks.

Let’s look at an example of this: If you’re the biggest stack with $900 chips and one player calls your all-in bet with his $600 in chips, and you win, then you take all his money.

Now another example: If you are the smaller stack with $600 and the larger stack with $900 calls your all-in bet and you win, you can’t take all the money. He’ll be left with $300 because you don’t have enough money to play for all the chips.

That’s one of the pitfalls of the short stack, but there are some benefits.

A Shorts Stack Encourages Tight, Hyper-Aggressive Play

If you don’t have many chips behind you, you’re forced to basically play for all your chips in every hand you play. This forces you to play premium hands like big pocket pairs and big face cards. You often won’t be getting the right price to play small pocket pairs and suited connectors. Those hands need to see the flop cheaply, and every hand played is expensive for a short stack. free poker sites are good places to practice and play about with short stack techniques.

The best move is to get all your chips in the middle with big pairs before the flop or to shove when you hit top pair on the flop. You don’t have the opportunity to wait because the blinds will eat you alive.

One obvious advantage of this essentially all-in or fold strategy is that it forces you to play tighter. Another advantage of this style of play is that it’s harder to get outplayed by more skilled post-flop players. Your decisions are simple: push or fold. You don’t need to worry about the subtleties of the game like betting the right amount or knowing when to fold the second best hand.

There is also a psychological advantage. For some reason a lot of deep stack players give short stack players very little respect. They assume you are buying in small because you have a small bankroll, are not very skilled or are scared. As a result it’s not uncommon for a big stack player to pay off a short stack player by calling with weaker than usual hands.

I still believe that deep stack play is better, but I’ve faced some tough short stack players and wouldn’t underestimate their abilities so be careful! If you are new, check out how stack sizes can affect play by starting your career on the micro stakes and free texas holdem game side of thing and progressing from there as your confidence, skill and bankroll grows.

One must have the ability sit down at any money or free texas holdem table, online or live and study your opponents. In my opinion patience is the key ingredient when it comes to interpreting players and the most critical stage is when the game starts.

Why is this?
This provides you with you an opportunity to sit back and take mental notes about the player’s actions. This is extremely effective during the first half hour of a free poker game in particular as quite a lot of players like to go all in and hope they win the pot. I myself will only call these players with a high pair, or suited low connectors because I’ve played them before, and they will go all in with any two hand cards given.

What Mental Notes Should You Take?

The notes you’ll want to take in the first 30 minutes or if moved to a new table in any money or free texas hold em game are quite simple.

Determine which players are playing carefully and those that are playing loose.

The ones who are playing loose are going to bet on nearly every hand and call almost anything.You will find this a lot in free texas holdem games

People that are playing careful will continue to fold until they get the cards in hand they want or any pairs of AA’s, KK’s, QQ’s, JJ’s.

How can you tell if they are Bluffing?
This can be tough if you have not been paying attention to the game as can happen a lot with free poker or if you are playing multiple online games at the same time.

If you have been paying attention to the game you should have more of a feeling as to who might be bluffing..

For instance:

When you’ve got an ace and king of spades you will be feeling good about your whole situation. You are waiting for the other player to check or bet, to your surprise the player bets 400 chips when the pot is at 120 chips.

So you call the player and on the flop lands Queen of spades, Jack of Spades, and ten of hearts. The other player goes all-in in order to make you think he/she has the winning hand. You already know you’ve won it so you call the player’s bluff and go on to win.

That is very obvious but if you are facing a more conservative player then they could try to buy you in by betting low not over the pot before the flop and after. These Players really know what they are doing and most likely will have a full house against your ace high straight. Here is where your experience comes into play…have you marked who is loose and who is conservative?

Here are some practical game and player reading tips|Practical Player Analysis Tips|Practical Reading and Analysis Suggestions|Handy Game and Player Reading Tips}

1) Players who take a very long time and procrastinate are attempting to mislead you into believing they’ve got nothing and wait for you to make a bet worth calling. (Note: in free texas hold em the player might be taking a long time because he/she is playing multiple games.) Filter these players out as this might be a habit for them.

2) Look out for players who anticipate until the last second and raise you all-in. They are attempting to buy the pot with a decent pair hoping you do not have any aces in your hand!

3) Everyone knows a chip bully. Every table has one. The only way to knock a chip bully off his costly chair is not to be affected by his/her large chip stacks. Should you have it, go for it. Quite possibly, he/she is bluffing because, they want to pilfer the pot or blinds.

All Players Have Habits.

And from habits develop betting patterns – But What patterns might they form?

A bad habit (for them) you will witness sometimes is that some players lose a large chunk of their chip stack. They get ticked-off because they’ve taken a serious loss but rather than cut their losses decide to keep going, often all-in until they lose all of it or earn back some chips (rare!). These players have given up and gone on “tilt”. The best course of action is to call them when the time is right. So bide your time and you’ll take their shirt!

Some players are nearly impossible to read because they Know they’re being read and so are always switching their technique. They will repeat themselves at some point but these patterns are very hard to spot. These players will take up the majority of your time! When you can read players like these..well you are probably playing WSOP!

I hope this article will help you fine tune your skills and has given you some ideas you can use at the tables. Every player can be read but if you cannot read players you will make poker impossible for yourself!

My suggestion if you have difficulty with interpreting other players or if this is all new to you is to get in lots of practice in low risk games. Try low or micro stakes games or some free online poker games to get a feel for it all before risking any significant money.

The following play involves an additional 3 community cards being dealt out by the dealer in the middle of the table face up- also known as the “flop”. These cards are an essential part of the players “hand” and will be used alongside the original 2 cards in hand. After the flop the next round of betting takes place, although there is now an opportunity to “pass” due to the pot previously commencing.

Then two more cards are dealt face up in the center, one at a time, with a betting interval after each card.

When I play I make it good practice to ‘throw away’ the top cards at every turn: throw one away then turn another. The min theory behind this method is to stop swindling. I will explain; in nearly all cases of marked card deception the top cards are used as marking points, but by throwing away the top card(s) breaks this cycle.

We’re not accusing anybody of being a cheater: Burning the top card is just a traditional thing in professional and in many amateur games.

Depending on the game your involved in will determine if there is a cap to the money which be won. However Holdem is an appealing game due to the amount of opportunities you will be presented with to have something to draw at.

If you are new to Hold’em then have a go at playing free poker online where its totally free and you wont lose any of your own cash.

Improving your playing skills will definitely help to increase your poker profits, but so will choosing the right free poker games to play. There is an old poker story about a professional who was the 6th best player in the world, but he never made a penny. The reason for this was because he would only ever play against the top 5 players in the world. The moral of the story is that you make money when you possess a clear edge over your opponents.

Don’t be overconfident:

Everyone wants to be the best and play the best. It’s a matter of pride. However, unless your name is Phil Ivey, you probably won’t have an advantage over every opponent in every game. It’s also important to recognize that even the top poker pros will sometimes step down a level and play lesser competition because it’s more profitable.

Whatever type of game you are playing, whether it is at a live table or playing other players online, don’t try to head for tables with players who are far better than you are. You are just going to throw away your money.

I remember one time when I played for a couple hours in a $1/2 no-limit hold’em game at a small casino in Palm Springs, California. I nearly doubled my money without winning a single big pot. The players were passive and loose, and I ran them over by putting pressure on them with big bets and getting paid off for reasonably strong hands. I knew that I picked the right table.

I also remember one time when I played for five hours in a $1/2 no-limit hold’em game at a five-star hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. I barely broke even. The players were tight and aggressive and played back at me when I tried to put a move on them. I knew afterward that I picked the wrong table.

What kind of game to look for:

When thinking what table to head for you need to think about your bankroll. Never head for a table where you cant afford to play. Head for a more affordable poker table or even some free poker.

The second thing that you must be honest about is your skill level. You should ask: Can I beat the level that I’m playing? If the answer is “no,” then you should move down.

After being brutally honest with yourself about bankroll and your skill level, you then need to think about which table you want to sit at. Ideally, you want to play at a table where you see players making a lot of fundamental errors like playing too many hands or playing too passively. A loose and passive table is probably the most profitable table. A loose game will allow you to win big pots because players will call you down with weak hands, and a passive game affords you the opportunity to hit your draws cheaply and bully your opposition.

You won’t always be able to find a ridiculously loose and passive table. However, with a bit of observation, you can probably figure out how beatable a game is before you sit down. It’s good to be a good player, but being a money-making good player requires skill in the fine art of game selection.

So, whether its pay games or free poker, live games or online games, observation and brutal honesty is what is going to make you profit in the long term.

Have you ever been sitting at a table either free poker online or in a real tournament or perhaps watching a tournament on television and hearing the announcers or players using terms you have never heard of?

This guide is to help decipher some of the more complex terms and hopefully introduce you to some new ones in hopes that they will help not only improve your game but can make poker more enjoyable.

We are all used to the common terms, such as flop, turn, river, raise, etc. but some of those terms also have their own lingo attached. Such as…

4th street – also commonly called the Turn

5th street – the river

But that is not the limit of the terms you can keep in mind while you’re contemplating your next moves. Keep these in mind when you are watching the bets come around to you.

Plays tight – generally means that a player does not play lots of hands

Plays loose – the opposite to playing tight, and the player tends to play lots of hands

Plays “ATC”- they play anything “ATC”= any two cards”.

On tilt- means that a player is being erratic with their bets usually from losing a tough hand earlier.

Now that you have an idea on pre-flop situations now let take a look at board activity terms.

Over pair – A pair in your hand that beats what is on the board.

Top pair – means that you have paired the highest card on the board with one in your hand. Next down is middle pair and bottom pair respectively.

If you manage to survive the flop but have 4th and 5th St. left to endure. Then you have three more terms to keep in mind as you go.

Outs – number of possible cards that can give you the win on a hand.

Drawing dead- this basically means that you have no chance of winning a hand. Some players if they are drawing dead may bluff or go on tilt at the last second to try and steal the pot.

Having the “nuts”- Having the nuts means you have the best possible hand available from the cards on the board and in your hand.

Some good tips when playing

Poker and playing free poker is all about betting, checking and raising, but even the three basic options can be pretty interesting.

Even terms like check and raise can lead to some pretty interesting scenarios and put players in a frenzy.

One example is to check-raise. That term means to check when the bet comes to you but then raise if a bet comes up. This tactic can hide the strength of your hand and can lure a player into losing a lot chips if he is not careful on how he plays it.

Value bet – Is a bet that is not a large bet but is considered small enough to call. Some players may call a value bet in hopes of gauging a player’s game play or to see their hand.

Semi-bluff bet – Is similar to a bluff bet but is enough of a bet to make a player think very carefully about what their next move is.

[b]Pot odds -[b] This term I would say is the most useful term to keep in mind. Pot odds is the ratio of your chips in the pot versus the whole pot. For example if you have $1500 in a $6000 pot your pot odds would be 4:1. Keep this in mind if you are in a tight hand and not sure if you should risk more or not.

Pot committed – Term meaning that a player has a majority of their chips in the pot. This is a very useful term as it can decide to back off on a hand or force them all in if you have the nuts.

These terms can all be used in free poker games as well as other poker situations, but if it’s at your table that you see and hear them, then you will know what is going on and that vital knowledge can give you the edge on your next game and hopefully put more chips on your side of the table.