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Free Online Poker Coaching Guide to Winning With Mid Level Connectors

March 31, 2011 at 9:39 am | In how to play poker for beginners | No Comments
Tags: free online poker, free online poker coaching, learn to play poker free, play free poker

In Texas Holdem real money and free online poker, intermediate connectors such as 8,7 and 7,5 are played as they are the best hands with which you can hit a Straight with. With an 8,7 for example, you can make 4 Straights (3 of them nuts), and with 7,5 you can look for 3 Straights (2 of them nuts). In this free online poker coaching tips article we’ll look at ways to play these hands.

Intermediate connectors aren’t played as strongly whenever they Pair. For instance, when you have 8-7 and the Flop comes K-7-2, you can be justifiably concerned with the King and you can fold.

Also, it is likely you can flop Two-Pair. With 8-7 and a Flop of 8-7-A, you can get a person with A-K in trouble.

If both of you continue until the end, and your opponent’s hand doesn’t improve, he will slow it down trying to show it down. If he improves, you will know if he bets, and you can just pay him off. He can pair his kicker or not, but either way you’ve still got a decent showdown hand.

The best play (in your interest) is for your opponent to call all-in or move all-in on the Flop (during tournaments). However, this is only the case if the difference in chips between you and the all-in’er is large. If you have almost the same amount of chips, your 8-7 may not be good enough because your opponent may be willing only to call you with something like A-8 or, worse, 7-7.

Or he may call you with A-K and suckout when he pairs his Ace, his kicker, or when, say, a 10 hits the Turn, and another 10 hits the river then his Two-Pair is better. If one stack is small and the other large, and you have the small stack then you have a good hand someone holding an A-K might be willing to call. If you’ve got the large stack, your all-in opponent could be desperate for a call with his A-x (without Two-Pair) until they know you’ve got him steamrollered.

Usually you continue playing Two-Pair until you hit a Full House. With that hand, play it as you would play a made five-card hand – value betting, pretending to bluff, slow-playing (pick your option). However, if the Board comes 8-7-5, you may be willing to play it more slowly because if the Board comes 4, Six or 9, your Two-Pair might be almost unplayable.

In the Flop, bet substantially to push a Straight draw out. Should your opponent calls, it might signify a Straight draw. Should your opponent moves all-in or pushes you all-in, then call – or not call.

You are still the favorite over a Straight draw. You might also be able to hit a Full House later on. But in addition you can decide not to call since your opponent might have a made Straight. In an 8-7-5 board, the possibility of a Flopped Straight is quite low because players do not play 9-6 or 6-4 that much.

However, you ought to be careful in a Board of 8-7-J or 8-7-4, as their connectors are consecutive numbers, i.e. 10-9 and 6-5, and players, especially experienced ones, play these more regularly.

However, even if the Board comes something like 8-7-4-5-Q, so long as you are sure, or even half-sure, that your opponent does not have the Six, bet a small bet on the river. If your opponent has 9-8 or Q-x, you might be paid off.

If your opponent had the 6, you may be pushed, but you can fold without losing much. The thing is, you should maintain your aggression most of the time as part of your image, and you can do this by value-betting. If your opponent didn’t possess the 6, he may think that you had the 6, and he may fold, too.

And finally, here’s an addendum to our earlier example. Should you have 8-7 and the Flop comes K-7-2, you can fold. However, you can also call a bet – you hope that your opponent had A-K – and if an 8 comes and you bet big, how will your opponent know you had another Eight in the hole? So long as you feel your opponent does not have K-8 or K-7 (not likely) the two of you can get it all-in on the Turn – and you’ll emerge almost a victor.

This can be a fairly complicated subject so if you’re not quite getting it then go play free poker to learn it the only real way you can which is to do it for real but learn to play poker free so that any mistakes you make don’t hit you up for anything apart from time.