Wake up! You’ve read through all of the ‘Building a Bankroll‘ Articles, you’ve developed a sensible command of the game, you’ve left the band of bozo’s wondering ‘wtf’ happened to them.

Yet, you sometimes feel the need to carry a once powerful hand all the way to post-river play….even though you’re totally convinced that what you’re holding isn’t worth the equivalent of a beach photo where you’re displayed in a speedo. H E L L O !!!!!!

Sure you were dealt pocket QQ….but the flop showed A/9/4, and two players who you hold in very high regard have bet the flop. You know full well that neither of them would be doing so without a pocket ace.

And, your hopes of catching a Queen on the turn or the river are no greater than 8%; a 1 in 12 possibility. Don’t you think it might be wise to fold? Or, is there a latent desire for a rendezvous with the alpha bull?

In another instance, you were dealt QJ suited….then the flop showed K/J/2; without a card that matched your suit.

• And, two players made pot-sized bets. Both of whom are solid competitors, and both of whom possess game play habits that are known well by you.
• It’s sort of a ‘yes-brainer’; the question you’re asking is “do one or both of them hold a pocket King?
• And, you’re damn certain that the answer is “yes”.
• Maybe it’s wise to fold?

Interestingly, there’s a current television commercial being aired by one of the Internet poker sites. It features a young man, who is both a professional poker player and a personal friend.

• He’s looking at his pocket Kings, assessing the post-flop board (which contains an Ace), and analyzing the bets being made.
• Then, absent any ‘ego, emotions, or pocket-attachment’ featured in his facial expression, he casually tosses his Kings into the muck. An action akin to the two I cited above.

He’s ‘Laying Down a Once Powerful Hand’….and, it comes across as a routine, everyday, ‘who cares’ type of play.

Candidly, he has often been seen to do the very same thing in any number of televised poker tournaments.

1. Have you seen the TV spot?
2. Have you seen him do it in tournaments?
3. Can you do likewise?

If you answered “no” to the questions, or, of real consequence, if you answered “no” to the third question, be advised that there will be an ‘infomercial’ airing on your television later today….at exactly the time you choose to turn the TV on.

It’ll feature a whole lot of ‘BS’, and it’ll be hosted by the marketing firm that represents the ‘alpha bull’; somehow, they think he has an irresistible appeal. And, who knows, you may possibly agree with them.

Or, might it not be time to get truly serious about when to fold, about when to lay down good cards, about when to recognize that winning the hand ain’t gonna’ happen, and about when prudence takes center-stage….allowing ‘poor decision making’ to be yanked from the performance.

Of course it is! We’re not playing a one-hand game, we’re playing a game that permits us to see a near limitless number of hands; especially over the long-term.

And, we learned long ago that patience is the biggest asset, or skill, that we bring to a poker table.

It has served us well in putting together a bankroll, it’ll serve us well in the task of expanding our poker bankroll, and, if we so choose, it’ll serve us ‘beyond well’ at ‘yet to be played’ Brick and Mortar games (you’ll need to read the 10 Articles in the Brick and Mortar poker [B & M] series before you venture off to a card room or casino).

If we think of patience as a part of the discipline that we bring to the game, then it’s a minor leap to think of ‘laying down once powerful hands’ as an additional part of the discipline that we bring to the game.

And, it’s just about as easily done, as it is said. You’re definitely not inclined to fatten the wallets of the inordinate number of poor players who ‘flirt with the alpha bull’ at free poker NoPayPoker on a daily basis.

So, fold when necessary. And, learn to identify when it’s necessary….by making good use of a number of skills at your disposal; like Consistency of Focus (COF), Player Habits, Flop Texture, and a really big dose of ‘plain ole’ common sense; an attribute sorely missing amongst the vast majority of your opponents at NoPayPoker!

And, before we arrive at some specifics regarding ‘when it’s necessary’, keep in mind that we’re playing with one goal….to win money.

To accomplish that, we have sub-goals.

• We need to survive the ‘chip-flinging’ in the first 5 or 6 hands of the tournament
• We need to be certain that patience gets us beyond the ‘bubble’
• We need to utilize just about all of our strategic tactics to earn a seat at the final table
• And we need to win the game….or, come as close to winning as is possible (no one ever said we could win ‘em all).

Now, specifics! Let’s start with something simple….like, how strong is an early position pocket of Ace/Queen offsuit?

I suspect you’re about to be surprised.

And, any poker hands article about folding ought to take into account ‘strong pocket cards’ that most often should be folded.

Candidly, a pre-flop fold can save a lot of money. So, do you fold this pocket?

If your answer was “no”, let me explain why it should have been “yes”.

• Here’s the way A/Q offsuit holds up against premium and secondary pockets:
• Versus AA, it’s about a 92 to 8 loser
• Versus KK, it’s about an 82 to 18 loser
• Versus QQ and AK, it’s about a 72 to 28 loser
• Versus JJ and TT, it’s about a 57 to 43 loser
• .Aand versus 22 through 99, it’s about a 53 to 47 loser.

Well, against the combined total of 14 premium and secondary pockets, A/Q offsuit has an average losing ratio of 61 to 39….not quite ‘advantaged’, is it?

And, since you’re in early position, there are quite a few players remaining who could be holding any one of the 14 pockets.

Toss the cards, and reflect back on your Playable Pockets Matrix (PPM). Where, you’ll rediscover, that the ONLY playable cards from early position are AA, KK, QQ, AK, and AQ suited (not offsuit).

Next, remember that your free poker playing opponents at NoPay don’t replicate your game, they will participate in hands with very different cards, very different ‘pot entry’ standards.

• They don’t use the PPM, they don’t understand Positive Expected Value (+EV), nor do they understand Negative Expected Value (-EV).
• For the most part, they are of the mind set that says “you can’t win if you’re not in the hand”.
• In reality, they’re also of the mind-set “you can’t meet the ‘alpha bull’ if you’re not in the hand”.

Just because you are doing everything right doesn’t mean that they will too. People will play all sorts of hands, especially in free online poker freerolls!

That being true, particular attention should be paid to the possibility of straights….where ‘wet’ flop textures turn on the ‘flashing red light’.

When there are three ‘wet’ cards on the table, 5/6/8 for example, there’s a good chance that one or more ‘Farm Animals’ might be playing with pocket 7/4 or pocket 7/9.

Thus, your A/K offsuit has turned sour….and you’ll likely lay down the once powerful hand

Similarly, when 2 or 3 of the flopped cards are suited, and there’s an overcard within the flop….another ‘wet’ Flop Texture….there’s a distinct possibility that one or more of the ‘Farm Animals’ might be playing with rag/rag suited; or, paint/rag suited….a pocket severely overplayed by the ‘pasture dwellers’.

And, as cited above, the ‘wet’ flop automatically flips on your ‘flashing red light’ switch.

Thus, your pocket Tens have turned to turds.…and you’ll likely lay down the once semi-powerful hand.

Last, consider all of the following about being dealt pocket Jacks.

• With 3 other players taking part in the hand, you’ve got the potential for serious problems on the horizon.
• First off, all 3 opponents each have more than a 40% chance of holding a pocket Ace, or a pocket King, or a pocket Queen.
• And, the flop possesses more than a 60% chance of showing either an Ace, a King, or a Queen….which makes you about a 5 to 2 underdog.

Correctly, pre-flop, with no more than a 3 times the Big Blind raise, we belong in the hand; we are getting a bit over 3 to 1 on our money; or, approximately a 20% ‘advantage’.

Yet, post-flop, should an Ace, or a King, or a Queen (absent a Jack), appear on the board, and, one or more players bet the flop, the ‘light’ goes on.

Sure, any of us can look stupid, I more than anyone, but, none of us are stupid….we’re ‘enlightened’ players, and we win money.

We hold a profoundly obvious ‘advantage’ over the game; and we know it.

Maybe the ‘Farm Animal’ friends of the ‘alpha bull’ don’t know it, but, that too is another one of the major problems they have no ability to correct.

We, however, don’t have a problem. Our pocket Jacks have met their match, and we want out of the hand. The ‘flashing light’ has told us that it’s time to be ‘Laying Down a Once Powerful Hand’….just like Daniel does in the TV commercial.

“You will show your poker greatness by the hands you fold, not the hands you play”….I can’t remember who the quote belongs to, but I sure as heck understand it’s message.

Well done to all of the players who took part in the tournaments at the weekend.  The final winners were:

$500 Freeroll:

1. chisbuc11 won $250
2. seby21 won $150
3. francis1237 won $100

 $250 Added Buy-In:

1. huvi5204 won $132
2. xxx_seal_xxx won $79.20
3. di_cb_admin won $52.80

Well done to all of the winners!

Congratulations to huvi5204 and sorryn82 who knocked out the NPP Pro’s and won $1000 FreeD each!

If you want to get involved, simply play the $25,000 FreeD PartyPoker 10 Fold Freerolls every day at NoPayPOKER and get into both the end of month $500 USD Freeroll and the $250 Added Buy-In at PartyPoker.

If you aren’t registered at PartyPoker yet then you will need to be a NoPayPOKER referral to play, so use this http://bit.ly/npppartypoker and make sure you enter “NPP20C” as your bonus code.

We would like to ensure that as many NoPayPOKER players as possible are able to enter the Feltstars $500 Freeroll on 17th July and the Buy In on 18th July, and we are therefore setting up a password entry system.

Please check the blog on Thursday 15th July for the passwords – you will need to be logged in to your account to access the passwords.

If you aren’t registered at Feltstars yet then you will need to be a NoPayPOKER referral to play, so use this http://bit.ly/nppfeltstars and make sure you enter “nopaypoker” as your bonus code.

WOW two winners in Two Weeks!

Congratulations to Bidaipoker for taking first on June 11th and 14th. They managed to claim the $8500 FreeD Hott Pott which had accumulated over 17 Weeks!

Then Aace11 decides he doesn’t want us to rest and takes first place on the 23rd and 24th of June to top it all off. Aace11 tool a more modest $500 FreeD as the Hott Pott only had one week to accumulate the prize.

Just as a reminder to you Hott Pott newbies, the Hott Pott plays every day Monday to Friday. Take first place on any two of five consecutive games and you will win whatever Hott Pott has accumulated!!! See More details HERE

Well done to all of the players who took part in the freeroll at Winner Poker on 19th June 2010.

The final winners were:

1. WWR123233512 won $200
2. Picotto27 won $125
3. Lilggg1987 won $80
4. mevsevery1 won $55
5. liteyagami won $40

There are two more Winner freerolls to run on 17th July and 21st August, so don’t miss out!

Every referral from NoPayPOKER gets into the monthly Winner Freeroll where you can win up to $500 $USD at Winner!

The freeroll dates are 17th July and 15th August 2010 at 6pm GMT. Then to cap it off Winner has freerolls running 24×7.

As usual, as an added incentive, we will have our Winner Poker/NPP Pro’s playing at the event and there will be a $1000 FreeD bounty on their heads.

If you aren’t registered at Winner Poker yet then you will need to be a NoPayPOKER referral to play, so use this http://bit.ly/nppwinner and make sure you enter “nopaypoker” as your bonus code.

Massive congratulations to Sorin05 who won both the Feltstars Freeroll on 19th June and the Buy In on 20th June!

If you didn’t strike it rich this time. We are running another $500 USD freeroll at FeltStars on the 17th July and another $250 Added on the 18th July at Feltstars. Check out the details here http://www.nopaypoker.com/articles/index.php/feltstars/

Apart from patience, the most common habit amongst professional holdem poker players is the vastly profitable use of ‘slow-play’.

You’d be hard pressed to find a really good competitor who doesn’t hold the ‘slow-play’ strategy in the highest regard.

They regularly allow a constant stream of donations to come their way. And, you’d be well advised to do likewise.

Or, if you so choose, ignore the tool best used by professionals in the process of ‘Expanding Your Bankroll’, and remain ‘stuck on stupid’. You’ll not be alone!

Just spend a few minutes on the NoPay freerolls poker site, and observe the ‘Farm Animals’ who put ignorance in the forefront; they’ll flop ‘trip’ aces with a paint kicker, and proceed to post an all-in bet. Never realizing that they would ultimately end up with so much more profit had they only learned the ‘slow-play’ lesson.

Now, is it you being described in the last paragraph? No….not a chance; not from my perspective.

You’ve read through ‘Building a Bankroll‘, you’ve won money at the poker tables, you’ve developed into an ‘advantaged’ player, and there are any number of NoPayPoker.com free poker player  ‘pasture dwellers’ who can’t correlate ‘your success’ to ‘your command’ of the game.

How could they? They’ve done no reading, and they’re not interested in the potential for game play improvement.

They’re perfectly content to ‘swat flies’ with their tails, lay dung mounds where they eat, and self-profess to be poker players.

Plus, many of them actually believe that they ARE poker players….competitive poker players! That alone makes me fondly reflect on the old adage “even a broken clock is correct twice a day”.

In the interest of never replicating the plays of these ‘dung-lovers’, and prior to getting to the details associated with when to poker slow-play, let’s lay out an example of when NOT to slow-play.

I’ll present one hand….that should suffice; since each of you would be capable of compiling a list of ‘NOT to slow-play’ examples just as well, or better, than I can.

• Should you be holding pocket Kings, and the flop exposes no overcards, but two of the board cards are suited….
• The ‘NOT to slow play’ flashing light turns on.
• Why? Surely, you know the answer!
• One or more of your opponents could be holding suited pocket cards that match the board; and, that gives them a flush draw.
• It therefore becomes a situation where a bet equal to the size of the pot must be pushed.
• Once you do that, they’ll not be getting correct Pot Odds (no matter how many players are holding a 4 card flush).

You want the poker math? Maybe not! But, you’re getting it anyway.

• One competitor with suited pockets that match the board, 9 outs
• He needs 2 to 1 to break even on a long term basis (and no one should ever be playing to break even).
• Two competitors, 7 outs, and they each need 3 to 1 to break even.
• Three competitors, 5 outs, and they each need 4 to 1 to break even.
• Four competitors, 3 outs, and they each need 7 to 1 to break even.
• Five competitors, 1 out, and they each need a session with the pasture’s ‘alpha bull’….he alone can get them to break even, or break something!

We don’t know the ‘alpha bull’, we have no interest in meeting him, and our use of ‘slow-play’ is going to insure that he remains very distant from any of us.

And, while many of us are not professional poker players, we have no aversion to playing the game with many of the tactical strategies that each professional brings to the game.

For sure, ‘slow-play’ is, without question, one of those strategies. And, for sure, a ‘session with the alpha bull’ is not, without question, one of those poker strategies.

Thus, on to the tactical aspects of ‘slow-play poker’.

By definition, it simply means that we currently hold the ‘nuts’ hand, but are not initiating any bets….we’re looking for another player, with a weaker hand, with the belief that he/she controls the felt, to do some ‘Farm Animal’ wagering for us.

We’re looking to ‘Make a Habit of Accepting Donations’.

• Plus, pre-turn, providing that a ‘turn’ card (4th Street) can’t hurt us, we’re only calling….
• Pe-river, providing that a ‘river’ card (5th Street) can’t hurt us, we’re only calling.

In fact, our calls are always going to be made in as timid a fashion as is possible; likely accomplished online at the free play poker NoPay tables by using a substantial portion of our time clock allotment.

• This type of action, using most of our time clock, may well validate our competitors opinion that he controls the hand
• Which, would be cause for him to continue betting into us post-turn and post-river.
• And, as long as we’re holding the current ‘nuts’ hand, having him do the betting, having him believe that he holds the controlling hand, our extended time clock usage potentially delivers the ‘weakness’ message we want conveyed.

Once the board is filled, when all 5 cards are exposed, and we have maintained the ‘nuts’ hand, our ‘slow-play’ strategy may change.

If the player who had been betting into us was aggressively betting, putting forth large bets, well….we’re not changing anything; let’s give him another opportunity to donate.

After he bets, then we’ll raise. But, if he was only pushing out small or moderate size bets, change may well be in order.

Those small or moderate bets aren’t big enough donations….we want more.

So, given that we’ve indicated a degree of timidity to our opponent, and, given that he will likely ‘read’ any aggressive bet on our part as a ‘shot to steal the pot’, let’s opt to go after him.

And, let’s do it quickly, let’s not permit more than a few seconds to elapse on our time clock.

We need to get a bet out there within 2 or 3 seconds; another ‘read’ he’s gonna’ pick up on, since it’s the exact opposite of the way we’ve been betting throughout the hand.

Will it work? Will it have suckered him into making a call? Will it put him in the position of foolishly raising? Who knows!

But, we’ve got nothing to lose; except maybe the equivalent of the small to moderate amount he had been previously raising with….and, again, we’re not interested in ‘piddling’ sums, we’re interested in busting him out of the game, taking his money, and having him meet up with the ‘alpha bull’.

Let’s now attempt to isolate the pockets that will provide us with the best opportunities to deploy the ‘slow-play’ strategies.

• Low pocket pairs top the list….they would include 22, 33, 44, 55, 66, and 77.
• And, FYI, playing these small pocket pairs with the hopes of flopping a set is most often referred to as ‘set-mining‘….which, for me and other professionals, is the most profitable play on the felt.

Then, 88, 99, TT, and JJ would be second on the list; and, of note, I will always include those four  pockets in my ‘set-mining’ strategy.

Next, QQ, KK, and AA would follow.

And, last, AK suited, AK unsuited, AQ suited, AJ suited, AT suited, AQ unsuited, AJ unsuited, AT unsuited, KQ suited, QJ suited, and JT suited.

Clearly, not a whole lot of pockets! But, the list does represent close to 10% of the pocket cards will be dealt over the long-term.

And, dependent on our seated position at the table (as it relates to the Dealer Button), none of the pockets, pre-bubble, except AA, KK, and QQ, will ever cost us more than 3 times the Big Blind to see the flop.

Importantly, however, the list of pockets, in relationship to the multiples of the Big Blind bets that will be made, will be cause for us to have about an 8% ‘flops seen percentage’.

And, be mindful of the fact that we’ll be witness to a Flop Texture that is to our liking somewhere in the neighborhood of 20% of the time….or, 5 flops, with 1 flop that we like.

In the end, for every 200 pockets we’re dealt, we’ll be ‘hosting the nuts’ post-flop a bit over 3 times.

And, since it’s an infrequent occurence, we’ll want to maximize any and all money-winning potential whenever it does happen.

So, when serendipity magically appears in our 5 card vision, albeit attributable to our patience and not magic, let’s grab that invisible ‘slow-play’ hat, pull out our cell phones, and send a text message to the ‘alpha bull’….he may soon have a new friend.

As for the five card magic, or the five card reward for exercising incredible patience, now would be the ideal time to detail a hypothetical hand….just one, I don’t need to bore you; because, as stated earlier, you’ll be as capable of describing others as well, or better, than I can.

We all know the ‘turnip’ truck left y’all standing upright quite a few years ago!

You’re holding pocket Sixes, and the flop showed A/T/6 rainbow.

• Three players called a pre-flop 3 times the Big Blind raise
• You’re sitting with the Dealer Button.
• The original better checked, the second player made a pot-size bet, one player called, one folded, and it’s your turn to act.
• You possess the current ‘nuts’ hand.
• Your time clock is self-permitted to wind down to near zero, and then you call.
• The player who checked follows with a fold.

The turn card gets flipped onto the board….

• It’s a Ten. Wow! A double dose of serendipity! Or is it?
• Well, your two opponents could be holding either pocket AA or pocket TT; that’s certainly possible.
• But, you’re well aware of their playing styles.
• You know that if either of them had held any paint pocket, one or both would have re-raised pre-flop….and, they didn’t; all they did was call the 3 times the Big Blind bet.
• Your conclusion….they either both hold pocket Ace/paint, Ace/rag, or Ace/Ten.
• And, only an Ace or a Ten on the river could make either of them a winner.

Additionally, you’re fully aware of the fact that only 2 outs exist for them.

• You’re about a 19 to 1 favorite to win the hand, and all you’re gonna’ do post-turn is call whatever bet is made.
• Plus, when you’re in the process of making the call, you’re using every second on your time clock.
• Plop! The river is a brick….as expected. We all know that a 19 to 1 favorite rarely gets beaten.
• And, the pot-size bet made by the first player to act gets called by the second player to act.

Wham! Within 3 seconds you toss out a ‘hopefully perceived desperation’ all-in bet.

One of them calls. Or, both of them call. Bam! You take down a monster pot….Mike Sexton’s wish for you comes to fruition, and your text message gets read by the ‘alpha bull’….he smiles!

Best of Luck at the Tables,
D. Michael.
by D. M. Vadnais

(c) copyright; March, 2010; no reproduction, all rights reserved by D. M. Vadnais

Part 4 of Advanced Poker Strategies will be released June 30th. Keep an eye on the NoPayPOKER Free Poker Blog or NoPayPOKER Facebook page for it. If this was a bit heavy going for you and you want to learn to play online poker go back to the Building a Poker Bankroll series. This combined with free play poker practice on NoPayPOKER is the perfect way to learn to play poker for free, no risk of losing money but you can still win it.

To: Support Nopaypoker on Linux
Sent by RatAssasin on Friday, December 25th 2009, 4:38 PM

Hello,

I have been tweaking the linux install & settings in the last few days (actually I have been trying to get NPP to run again on linux for a few months). Here is the way to make it work on Tipsy Puppy Linux. You can download this version from the puppy linux forum, I can send the link if you need it.

Burn the .iso file and install puppy using a full install on an ext3 filesystem for the most stable results. I am using the current version of “unetbootin” to install the .iso to a thumbdrive and create a persistent linux o.s.

You must have “wine” installed on any linux you use for this, tipsypuppy actually installs wine by default with the install.

Verify that you have “winedoors” or “winetricks” installed (this is default using tipsypuppy)

1) from “winetricks” menu, install “gecko”, this will enable full support for html screens & advertisments
2) From the “wineconfig” settings in tipsypuppy or any other linux running wine with winedoors or winetricks you need to make the following adjustments:

a – in the applications tab set the windows version to emulate as Windows 2008

b – from the “graphics” tab uncheck 2 boxes: “allow wm to decorate windos” & “allow wm to control windows”

c – vertex render support should be set to : NONE

d – uncheck Pixel Shader

Save settings and exit

3) Download & install the latest actual “WINDOWS” version of JAVA (this should install and layer into wine fooling the windows program)

4) install NPP – this does not always work so here is the fix:

copy the entire folder from a working installed copy of NPP on a windows machine into the linux “wine” folder ./wine/drive_c/program files/

* you may need to browse to your home folder in puppy linux and select “show hidden files” from the drop down menu to find the ./wine folder

5) now open the NPP folder inside wine and right click on “nopaypoker.exe” then choose the option “open with wine”

The NPP poker lobby should load just like normal with ads & all. My copy using these settings is running flawlessly, but as you are aware various hardware types could create other issues. So far I have booted this puppy linux thumbdrive on 3 different machines and had no issues.

Sincerely,

Ike Gilbert aka “The Rat Assassin”

Okay, I hope by now that this free online poker training How to play poker for beginners course has given you a fundamental introduction to the game, and an introduction to free online poker games world of NoPayPoker.

And, while it’s one thing to comprehend the structure of the game, it’s an altogether different thing to comprehend how to truly learn how to play poker…the  real deal game….more so, how to play the game with an advantage.

Yes! An advantage. Because poker is not a game of chance, it’s a game of skills. The more skills you bring to the poker tables, the more money you’re gonna’ win.

Well, why not attempt to gather up some, many, most, or all of these skills? They are available to you right here at NoPay Poker. Many are discussed in detail in the series of articles I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion throughout this posting….’BUILDING A BANKROLL‘. (blog editors note – Go and read this series, it is awesome!!)

Best of Luck at the Tables,

Michael.

(c) copyright; January, 2009; no reproduction, all rights reserved by D. M. Vadnais

If you are not already a member of NoPayPOKER join and learn to play poker free online today!

Practice poker versus your computer with integrated lessons in “Poker for Dummies” Perfect for the times when you just really don’t feel like playing real people

And play a poker championship in Governor of Poker 2

Previous – Part 5 in the How to play poker for beginners was the Hierarchy of hands, what beats what.

Next – We suggest you go play some free online poker games on NoPayPOKER where you will free poker against other people for fun as well as win a bit of money if you do well. Plus you should overview the Building a Bankroll course which will take your basic skills and mould you into a poker monster/diva that the average poker player will learn to dread!

Incoming search terms:

• in spades if there are 2straights what hands wins