Poker Tournaments

How to win a Free Online Poker Tournament by Giving Up Hand Chasing

Many free online poker players and way too many higher stake players have a bad habit called “chasing”. A bad habit that you will recognise as having analogies in many human pursuits not just poker, especially money and relationship ones!

To ‘chase’ is to call the hand when they think that they are behind in the hope that they can stay in game and get a better hand later on.

I always say that I would chase down a parked car, just in the hopes I hit. This could be considered a negative thing, because people just think “Oh, they are just a bad player”.

Some poker players to try to get the chaser out of the game by betting higher in the hope that they fold, however, there are always some chasers who are determined to stay in and will call.

Many players chase a hand because they are pot committed. This is when they have invested many chips into the hand and chase hoping to hit their prayer, regardless of the consequences.

They say people who do this have a lack of discipline, which means no patience, and in a rush to play the hand. Admittedly, chasing is a bad habit to have when playing poker. It is something that can work out beneficial from time to time, but certainly not something that needs to be played day in day out. With that said I must say that playing a 4/6 versus an AK is thrilling especially when it hits.

If you are a self confessed chaser and find it difficult to stop, try to do it less often by knowing when its time to fold. By chasing too often you can put yourself in a vulnerable position and end up losing. Pick your chase carefully if you want to win.

Chasing is also based on pot odds but that is another article in itself. I advise that you learn all about hand and pot odds whether you chase or not, it’s a very important skill for anyone who wants to move out of free online poker into higher stakes games and make a profit.

Free Online Poker Tournaments Guide to Finding Out How Good a Player You Really Are!

Now and again I sit back and wonder how good I actually am when playing in free online poker tournaments.

Most of the time I think I play quite well, I know mostly every detail there is to know about poker tournaments and have won plenty of them, but at the end of the day, the only way to know for sure how good I really am, is to take part in as many tournaments I can, and also play as many players as I can.

I think its important to play against new players all of the time. Its all very well playing with people you know, but you will never advance your skill as you know how they play and wont learn anything new.

Its easy to fall into a trap in thinking that everybody plays pretty much the same, but experience has taught me that this is far from the truth.

Fact is that it’s going to cost you some money to learn how to play poker because it’s not the same as watching on television than in real life at a poker table. You might lose a lot until you really know how to play your cards right.

Reading the rule book and tips on how to play poker won’t get you anywhere until the cards are in your hands and only you can tell yourself to fold, call or all-in.

I suggest you go to different online poker tournament sites as well as real casinos around your state or country and test out all the poker tables and see how good you really are.

Start off at lower amount tables so it doesn’t cost you too much if you lose. You will get some bad beats but if you stay focused, you’ll win in the long run if you stick to your game plan.

Bear in mind that when you are playing in a live casino rather than with friends or family, the game play will be very different. There is little conversation in a casino game and it is all taken much more seriously than having fun with people you know.

At casinos people there are out to get all your money no matter how they get it. So you should watch a few minutes but you sit down at a casino table. Once you get a good feel of the game and you feel your skill level is better, then move to a higher limit table.

If you continue with this strategy, you should find yourself making quite a bit of money at the end of the day. If you have never played against people you don’t know, playing free online poker tournaments is a great way to start as you they are free and you wont lose any of your own cash.