Poker Tournaments

Free Online Poker Coaching Guide to Winning With Mid Level Connectors

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.

Learn How To Play Poker And Read Set Hands

Regardless of if you just play free poker online 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 4-4 and the Community cards are 5-4-10-J-K, you have a Set of Fours. 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.

Given that your hand reading habits usually are a combination of limiting possible hands to the given characteristics, how would you put someone on 5-5 or 4-4 when it is much easier for you 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.

But lets suppose in a Flop of Q-7-2 with no Straight or Flush possibilities, you have 3-3. 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.

Because there are no Straight or Flush potentials your opponent will fold cards that didn’t fit into the Board cards. If you read hands according to 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?

If 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. Another time you will have the Q-Q, another player will have the 2-2, and you will be paid off. But in a tournament, you have plenty of 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 decision costing you all or almost all your chips. You have 2-2. You are not likely to be blinded out in a few hands.

You might like to reason out: I have a Set. He raised me enough to put me all-in, or almost. He may 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 might be with Q-7, and you can safely call. Whether your opponent had 7-7 or not can also come under similar scrutiny) or if there is a raise, it might 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 extremely 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 will 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 cherished hands in Hold’Em.

Reading Sets Summary

It takes some time to learn how to read hands, it’s not something the unthinking donk “chip flingers” seen on many free online 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 online poker tournaments sites that pay out real money while you happily build your skills and bankroll!

As ever practice makes perfect so read, understand and play free poker sites to learn how to play poker good and get your skills finely honed.

Free Poker Sites Guide To Winning A Big Hand Preflop

What do you do with a big hand preflop when you have a big stack, like K-K? And how might the other players react? Regardless of if you simply play free poker for pennies or are at the final table in WSOP this is a core situation that you must know how to explot to the full.

Here is a great example from the WSOP:

BLINDS 40,000/80,000

A has As-10c moves all-in (Pot 1.296m)
B has K-K reraises to 5m (Pot 6.296m)

B has two options here. He can call and wait for an opponent to go all-in, though that would make him think…

Could it be A-A? Or Q-Q? If it was Q-Q there is a slight chance he might fold K-K, and regret it. But a big reraise can drive Q-Q or lower out, like what happened to another player:

C has Jd-Jc

(C’s comments on B’s hand were: “Why did you make it so much? … You like your hand that much?”) If C calls, it’s for all of his chips.

C may think that B has A-K, but there are two all-ins in front of him, and one of them might be A-X (and with A-X he is still not safe) or a pair, but a suspiciously heavy raise to about 60 times the big blind is almost always a signal for A-A or K-K. So C could wait for a better opportunity than now.

C folds (Pot 2.39m)

C’s fold was brilliant, after the reraise, but it will still be brilliant even if B did not reraise. B might bet again on the Flop and C may not continue and just let go of the chips.

B’s reraise will work if he has A-A or K-K, but I doubt it if he will do the same with A-K or Q-Q, but it may have the same effect of making C fold. As for A, let us wish for his good health. B won the hand later.

Summary of Big Hand Preflop
I know this may seem like a lot to take in all at once, the fact is though that while poker is an easy game to learn it is hard to be very good at, hence the crazy stupid “chip flinging” you will come across on many poker sites.

Ironically the fact that so many players inhabit this dumb donk zone is great news for you. 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 free poker that pays real cash such as that found at www.NoPayPOKER.com.

To make this work first, learn to play poker online free on free poker tables 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 get rich!

Play Free Poker Games Guide to Winning All in or Fold Poker Tournaments

I found out that there is a tournament variant called All-in or Fold. The rules are this: There is only one blind (called big blind). Every player begins with one chip only, not that it matters much as you only have 2 options, All in or Fold! All in or Fold poker tournaments are increasingly popular in both cash and free poker why not have a play if you come across one, they can be good fun. But be sure to read this first!

If you’re on the big blind you’re automatically all in. You receive change, however, if, say, you have 5 chips and someone moves all-in with 2 chips and you call him (which is an all-in, too). He will not win five chips from you; you will get a change of three chips.

If you’re on big blind you can simply ignore everything else that follows. (It happens only about 1/10 of the time, however, in a 10-player table. If you somehow want to become hooked.) So it’s really a math game, and a position game too.

Why math game?
Because you will be relying entirely on preflop all-ins, and you have to commit to memory the probability of your winning, or at least have a gist of them. I can give some examples (You can generalize; the probability’s pretty much the same in a similar situation; for instance the first example will be: Two Overcards vs. a Small Pair, or say, A-10 over 5-5 and approximate the probabilities:

A-K vs 8-8
55%-45% in favor of 8-8

A-K vs A-Q
75%-25% in favor of A-K

A-10 vs K-K
75%-25% in favor of K-K

A-K vs 7-6
65%-35% in favor of 7-6

A-10 vs K-Q; A-Q vs K-J
63%-37% in favor of A-10 and A-Q

A-A vs 8-8
80%-20% in favor of A-A

A-A vs A-K
93%-7% in favor of A-A

A-A vs K-Q
85%-15% in favor of A-A

But these do not imply that you should wait for A-A or K-K or A-K before you move all-in, of course. Do it with two face cards, a pair, or A-x. Just make sure the big blind doesn’t reach you, for if that happens your decision’s beyond your will.

All-In or Fold is also a game of position. Oftentimes players in these tournaments play hands similar to the above, and throw away the rest.

Consider these two examples:

(1) You are in late position with 4-4 and there are two all-ins in front of you. You might be facing three or four overcards, or an overpair. Fold.

After all, if you are in late position, there will be many hands before you reach the big blind.

(2) You have A-8 in early position. You are two hands away from being the big blind, so you move all-in, and players after you will interpret an early-position all-in as a sign of strength.

What you consider, then, is the strength of your hand and the surrounding action.

With one-on-one, which happens mostly, the above probabilities still apply. But with three or more, hand strength matters more. Big pairs are still big; medium pairs shrink in power (because you can’t see the Flop yet; usually we see the Flop with a medium pair to hit a Set). A-x becomes weaker; A-K and A-Q weaken down a little bit. However, make sure you play a hand while you’re still in control of your decision. When you get yourself blinded out, it’s for your tournament life, mostly.

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