Thanks to NoPayPOKER member hot_pan for this helpful member eye view of offers and how to do them and how to sort out any problems you get.

There are not very many people who do the sponsor offers in order to get into the weekly $1k every Tuesday. Hopefully this article will help people realize that it isn’t very hard to do .. Just time consuming..

First off: There are free ones, pay ones and survey offers (depending on where you live). The majority of the survey offers are simple to do and all they require is a simple sign up and clicking on a confirmation email.

Now in regards to those that go, “enter your email to win”

• Once you do that you will be asked to enter your information.
• Then offers will appear but all you need to do is find the skip or pass button
• Go through all the pages until you see final steps.
• Once that happens you should receive a email titled “Confirm” or “Confirmation”
• You must then open that email up and confirm, make sure you put your correct name and address and phone number when doing the offers or they will not work.
• Some of them take some time and a lot of pages to click pass or next or skip but you can also click on the offers that do appeal to you if you want.

Now what to do if the offers don’t work within 24hrs.

• Click on offers via the nopay applet.. A box will open showing the offers and in the corner is Check offer status.
• Click on that and it will list all the ones you have viewed
• If you have confirmation proof in a email you need to click on the report a problem and that will open up a box to send in a ticket into Sometrics (the company who manage the offers)
• In that ticket you want to put your info and copy of the email proving you did the offer.
• The best way to do this is get a http://www.photobucket.com account. Its free to use photobucket.
• When u get a account there.. you can then go to that email and hit prtsc (print screen) then click on u’r start menu and open up Paint.
• Once paint is open, u want to click on edit and paste.
• That should put a pic into it that is your email.
• You will want to save it as a jpg.
• Once you have the photo on your computer then go to photobucket upload the photo to it and then save it.
• Under each picture you add to photobucket you can click to get the link .
• You want to select link for email and  copy and paste that link into the ticket you started to Sometrics.
• Once you have provided links to the pictures showing you did the offer you submit that ticket .. It usually takes them 24 to 48 hrs before you will hear from them.

(Editors note – I use some software called Jing that is great for image capture too. See http://www.jingproject.com/features/ it’s free too)

I know, this probably looks like way to much to do just for a ticket to a game, but the game is for 10k.. Its definitely worth it.

All you need to do is 25 FreeD’s in offers, you can do as many as you want.

Its a good way to build up your balance as well.

If you have any questions about this article or anything I’ve explained here. Feel free to contact me. I’m Hot_Pan on NoPay. I will be more than happy to help you get your ticket for the game  and do the offers the right way.

Whether you just play free poker with us at NoPayPOKER or play with house sized buy-ins in Monaco the Set is one of the hardest poker hands of all to read.

It consists of a pocket pair and one of the Board cards with the same rank as the pocket pair.

For example, if you have 5-5 and the Board reads 5-4-10-J-K, you have a Set of Fives.

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)?

Sometimes you may even put him on one Five, say, 6-5. But on two Fives or two Fours? These are why Sets are very potent in Boards which have no Straight or Flush potential.

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

• You check (hoping to trap him), 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 susceptible.

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?

When you are slammed in a situation like this (which usually occurs on the Flop) on a cash game, take it as it is. Pay him off. Some other time you will have the Q-Q, some other 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 may 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 want to reason out:

• I have a Set.
• He raised me enough to put me all-in, or almost.
• He might 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 exceptionally 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 because there is only one Set to kill you instead of the two a 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.

Summing up Reading Sets

It takes some time to learn how to read hands, it’s not something the unthinking donk “chip flingers” seen on many free 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!

I think it’s crazy that so many people play with so little skill and almost revel in the fact! But this is also very good news for you as one of the few who is learning to play well. 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 %LINK2% 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 at NoPayPOKER to learn to play poker online free and get your skills finely honed before going onward and kicking some ass.

———————————————————————————————————————-
Pronunciation: (flok”su-nô”su-nī”hil-u-pil”u-fi-kā’shun)
Meaning: the estimation of something as valueless or worthless.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc.
———————————————————————————————————————–

I don’t know if it’s the longest word in the English language, but I’m very comfortable in describing it as the ‘weirdest’ word in the English language: ‘floccinaucinihilipilifcation’.

And, while Random House provides it’s meaning (the act of estimating as either valueless or worthless), I’d like to add that any attempt on my part to properly pronounce the word comes as close to valueless or worthless as is possible. Maybe it’ll be easier for you!

Yet, as the word potentially relates to poker (and, oddly, it does), it’s definition is ‘true’ on some occasions, and ‘false’ on other occasions.

However, while I clearly concede that Dr. Ferguson (Chris “Jesus” Ferguson), an unquestioned authority on ‘game theory’, would never agree with my last sentence, I would, none-the-less, like to use this Article to demonstrate the validity of the assertions I’m taking the liberty of introducing: ‘sometimes true’ and ‘sometimes false’.

But, prior to offering up these assertions, it’s imperative that I get all of you to steer clear of any individual, WASABA member or otherwise, who tries to involve you in their belief that luck is a dominant factor in the game of poker….it ain’t true.

And, there have been countless times when I’ve been witness to Dumbo, Pinhead, and Bozo attempting to convey their ill-founded belief about luck’s pre-eminence in poker to other players.

Avoid these ‘Farm Animals’, and ignore their words; they’re fundamentally ‘stuck on stupid’ (SOS).…they just don’t know it. Their ‘SOS’ is a by-product of their flawed approach to the game.

They neither seek knowledge from the countless ‘tutorial’ books on how to play the game, or they fail to attain knowledge from their own experiences while playing the game. Their inability to ‘learn’ has destined them for the ‘Farm Animal’ domain….too bad; it’s their problem. We’ll just let them slop around in the dung that surrounds them.

Most problematic for these ‘whine and cheese’ cry babies is that they’re involved in way too many hands….playing without regard to the PPM.

As a result, they often encounter a turn card, or a river card, that shoves them in the direction of the ‘alpha bull’. When, in fact, it never should have happened to them in the first place….they didn’t belong in the hand; they should not have played the Negative Expected Value (-EV) pocket they were dealt.

And, if these WAFABA members continue to play in conflict with the fundamental rules of winning poker play, they’re often going to see Lady Luck put forth cards that benefit the opponents they’re up against….and, when that happens, especially given the frequency with which it happens, they come to believe that the Lady plays a much larger role in the game than she actually does….they’ll even believe that her ‘poison pill’ cards are solely directed at only them. And, Lord knows it’s tough to get someone off  ‘Stuck on Stupid’.

However, the above is not meant to say that luck is not a factor in the game. All of us know full well that we’ve been the recipient of ‘good fortune’ on multiple tables and in a variety of hands.

We also know full well that the very same ‘good fortune’ has been gifted to our opponents on many more than a few occasions. But, each of us is intelligent enough to understand that the process of dolling out luck is random….it’s not pre-ordained.

Lady Luck does exists….as a figurative being, not as a literal being. And, she holds the potential to ‘blast’ many of our best laid plans, tactics, and strategies into oblivion.

Her presence at the poker table is inevitable, and she can’t be ignored. But, for Dumbo, Pinhead, and Bozo to suggest that she controls the game is bordering on insanity.

And, as an alternate, let me suggest that her presence is properly bordering on serendipity….a fortunate accident.

Her involvement in the game, over the long-term, is completely neutralized by time. Ultimately, the ‘good’ she does, and the ‘bad’ she does, is 100% balanced….for all of us; that includes both the ‘advantaged’ players, and the WAFABA members.

Granted, as previously explained, the WAFABA’s will experience a lot more of the ‘bad’ that she doles out; solely because they’re playing pockets that they shouldn’t be playing. Yet, I still refer to that as 100% balanced….it falls in line with the adage “you reap what you sow”.

Thus, what becomes most important to us, is to learn the ways in which we can minimize the effects of the ‘bad’ she tosses at us; who cares what she dumps on the WAFABA’s. And, minimizing the ‘bad on us’ is undoubtably something that all of us as ‘advantaged’ players can accomplish.

On occasion, our use of Pot Odds will be ‘blasted’ by her….that renders the act of estimating as worthless. Conversely, on occasion, our use of Implied Odds will be ‘blessed’ by her….that renders the act of estimating as meaningful; and, therein lies the premise I cited above: ‘sometimes true’, ‘sometimes false’.

But, as stated in the previous paragraph, we can minimize her involvement….especially as it relates to the potential for large loses.

If we were holding pocket Eights, and the flop showed 3/8/J rainbow, we would deploy our very profitable ‘slow-play’ strategy. And, after our ‘check’, after an ‘alpha bull’ associate pushes out a bet, after Dumbo and Pinhead call, we are rapidly progressing toward a ‘sweet and special’ moment with the Mystical Lady.

Clearly, she ‘blessed’ us on the flop, and, for now, we’re perfectly content to continue our ‘slow-play’, and only call the bet….no raise.

For good reason! The 3/8/J that hit the board was not a ‘dry’ flop….was it? No way! The Eight and the Jack have the potential to ‘undermine’ the ‘blessing’ that Lady Luck bestowed upon us.

Because, any one of the 3 other players in the hand could be holding pocket 9/T. Which gives them 8 outs on both the turn and the river….the 4 Sevens, and the 4 Queens. Or, stated with more clarity, the player who’s holding 8 outs needs Pot Odds of 2 to 1 to attain ‘break-even’ status, and, he’s actually getting Pot Odds of 4 to 1.

Additionally, it’s possible that one of our three competitors is holding pocket Jacks. And, if that’s true, what we originally thought of as a ‘blessing’, was really a ‘blasting’; simply disguising itself as a gift from Lady Luck.

In either case, the potential for 8 outs to a straight, along with the potential for hidden pocket Jacks, puts us in the position of validating the eficacy of our ‘slow-play’ strategy.

We don’t need to finalize this hand. My point about ‘sometimes true’ and ‘sometimes false’ has been made. Lady Luck can ‘bless’ us with pockets, flops, turns, and rivers….and, in opposite fashion, she can ‘blast’ us with pockets, flops, turns, and rivers.

Moreover, she can do both to us in the very same hand; as might have happened in the hand described above.

So, again, I’ll say, “we need to learn the ways in which we can minimize the effects of the ‘bad’.

1. First, unless we hold a ‘nuts’ hand, we don’t ever go all-in.
2. Second, we employ ‘slow-play’ on a near constant basis.
3. Third, we abide by the Playable Pockets Matrix.
4. Fourth, we analyze the texture of every flop.
5. Fifth, we always asses Pot Odds and Implied Odds.
6. Sixth, we play cautiously against a Big Blind limper.
7. Seventh, we never drop our Consistency of Focus.
8. Eighth, we avoid playing hands against low stacks.
9. And, ninth, we limit our aggression and bluffing until post-bubble.

Plus, while it doesn’t necessarily ‘minimize the effects of the bad’, we are required to keep our emotions in check. What many of you might call a ‘bad beat’ was delivered to you by Lady Luck; the very same Lady who often ‘blessed’ a similar hand on your behalf. She doesn’t know that she was doing it to you, she acts randomly.

Thus, our commitment to Emotions Management is an additional tool that minimizes the effects of her ‘blastings’….and, whenever I’m asked, I’ll answer that there is no such thing as a ‘bad beat’. Without any hesitation I’ll respond, “the Lady has a binary RNG, it was his turn for the positive, my turn for the negative”.

In the end, it’s poker! That being true, she’s gonna’ be around. Her presence will be made known in many hands, and we’ll never know when she intends on showing herself.

Yet, we do have the ability to play the game with a distinct ‘advantage’….whether she’s around or not around. We have developed a ‘winning’ game, and the talent to win money.

She’ll never have what might approach an even ‘minor’ impact on our game play….thus, I’ll choose to think of her as a friend, and keep her closely associated with the word ‘serendipity’.

I’ll ask you to do the same. Plus, I’ll remind you to ignore the ‘stuck on stupid’ (SOS) crowd who believe that she is a big-time factor in the game; they would lead you to the untruth  that she has as much as a 90% effect on the game.

And, they’re wrong. They’re living in a pasture, eating grass, passing gas, and breathing foul-smelling air. When was the last time they were right? I’d say “twice a day….like the broken clock”.

Of note, you’d have a very difficult task if you tried to get any professional poker player to admit that Lady Luck has more than a 5% influence on the totality of the game.

When was the last time they were right? Well….keep watching the replays of major tournaments on television. It’s all-too-frequent that the very same Professionals end up ‘in the money’, and, often, ‘at the final table’. How much more ‘right’ could they be?

Yes! The Lady has a dramatic influence on many hands in the game. But, long-term, she disperses the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ with absolute fairness; she’s unable to do it any other way.

Best of Luck at the Tables,
Michael.

Typically, the sage advice for average poker players who are more used to free poker who find themselves playing a pot against good players is for the average player not to play the pot at all. In cash games, in a table surrounded by good players, the “novice player” only has to leave and find an easier table.

But in tournament poker, it is not so simple to avoid being trapped on a table with some good or even exceptionally talented poker players.

A good player can defeat a novice player because a good player knows the general pattern of a novice player, given the Board cards, the novice’s actions and his position. Good players can also put them on a hand.

They will know if a player is holding a suited connector; a pocket pair, or even, in some extreme cases, a Set. They can play a Straight weakly (or even fold it occasionally) when the Board pairs and the novice suddenly pours down his chips.

Let us make some systematic analysis about our novice player.

A player is said to “win” a pot, for our purposes, if:

• (A) He wins the hand in a showdown or
• (B) He makes all his opponents fold.

If we want our novice player to win a pot against a good player, what kinds of hands should he play, and how?

Suppose he tries to win under the condition (a) – to win in a showdown.

• Then the novice player will have to pass through the preflop, flop, turn and river against the good player.
• At each stage the good player will get more information from the novice player than the novice player can get from the good player.

If the good player has more information, then he knows immediately whether the novice player has a good hand or not.

He can continue to showdown and probably win a big pot, if he keeps on value-betting our novice. Or he may lose a small pot, if he slows down and just checks. Or he can make the novice fold.

Suppose our novice now tries (b) to make his opponents fold.

• Let us assume the Board will help him only a little, and his hand, from the flop up to the river, will not be of showdown quality.)
• During the flop, turn, and the river, the good player will extract more inferences from the Board cards than the novice player will.
• If our novice, who usually has the tendency to get excited, overrepresents a hand unnecessarily, then he will just be called by the good player (unless he plays really strongly, but he can’t overdo this either).

From these, we gather that the pieces of information needed to make a decision is:

1. Your cards.
2. Your perception of your opponents’ cards.
3. The Board cards.
4. Tells your opponent gives away.
5. Tells you give away to your opponent.
6. Previous tendencies of each player.
7. Position.

Both the novice and the good player has (1) and (3), but the good player’s judgement is usually more accurate with all these criteria.

A good player, for instance, will believe that 8-7 (his cards) are not so nice-looking in a flop of 10-7-3 (the Board cards), but a novice player may think they’re powerful.

As for (4), (5), and (6) which stems from (1), (2) and (3), the good player is usually more aware of these. And good players care more for (7) than novice ones.

So if our novice wants to play a pot against a good player, he cannot really rely fully on the information above, for he cannot interpret it well.

So our novice should find a spot in which the good player also cannot rely on most of the information above, so that they will be on equal footing.

When is it? Answer: Preflop. How to play? All-in.

• Preflop, your perception of your opponent’s cards is less accurate than after the flop falls.
• Also, because there are no Board cards yet, tells are less reliable.
• Finally,  because a novice is less likely to have previous tendencies resulting from experience, the good player has little hold on (6).
• And preflop all-ins are dependent on hand strength more than position.

By moving all-in you can make your opponent fold (which is a win) or entice him to a showdown.

• Don’t call yourself all-in, however, unless you have a premium hand.
• Once your opponent does this move, if he is a good opponent, he knows you are vulnerable.
• When he does want a showdown, he is deprived of postflop information that will increase his chances of making an good decision.
• At this point, although the good player is still good, he has to play in terms of novice play.

The good hands the novice can have are still the traditional all-in hands: A-A, K-K, Q-Q, etc. A-K (or similar) is quite shaky, but if you can lull someone with 7-7 to play with you, you are still about 50-50 with him.

Whereas if you take him to the Flop, he will have more opportunities to play his 7-7 better than you would play your A-K, and you will be defeated most of the time.

Let us say your chance to win above is just 25% postflop; why not take the 50-50 instead?

Summing up What You Can Do When You’re Trapped By Good Players in Tournaments

Find free poker tournaments an/or cash games where you can take on better players with no or low risk, this is a great way to improve!

The fact is that It takes some time to learn how to play poker online or offline at a level above the unthinking donk “chip flinging” seen on many free poker tables. 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 and beating all these “fun” players is a lot more fun!

Yet this is great news for you as a player who aims to learn to play well. That’s because once you learn how to play online poker with above average skill and are able to combat the “all-in-all the time” donk maniacs then you can take them apart in coldly calculated massacres anytime you like. This can mean really good easy money in low stakes money online games and in free online poker games that pay out real cash such as those found at http://www.NoPayPOKER.com.

To make this work first, play free poker tournaments lots at NoPay and learn to play poker free 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 make some serious poker cash!

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

The freeroll date is 21st August 2010 at 6pm GMT. Then to cap it off Winner has freerolls running 24×7.

To follow the freeroll we have set up a buy in on 22nd August 2010 at 6pm GMT at $5+.50.

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.