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.

Incoming search terms:

• bit ly/nppwinner

When you play both free poker online and any level cash poker Three-bets mean good hands (or bluffs). Four-bets mean better hands (or bluffs). Where you’re basically saying “I dare you!” to your opponent(s)

But luck gives you the best hands of all.  Here is one example:

BLINDS 50k/100k, ante 10k

PREFLOP:

A has K-K, raises to 290k

From the cutoff, A’s raise might want anybody else to fold. But he certainly plays K-K shrewdly. Many other players would play A-A or K-K weakly preflop for trapping later. A plays K-K as if it were any other hand.

• B has A-Q, raises to 650k
• A to call 360k

B’s reraise is to try if A has a decent hand or is just trying to steal. With suited connectors, A can call, but with K-K, A does better:

• A reraises to 1.49m
• B to call 840k

Now A plays K-K conventionally. He is enlarging the pot. It’s like saying “I Dare You!” Had his reraise be small (line only a reraise to 720k) it would not be “I Dare You”; it will be “I Want a Call” and B may call, but A has nothing to fear if B calls unless an Ace falls.

But he does not want a call. It is OK if B folds (which is just expected if B had no hand, but he wants B to put him on a bluff and push him.

B, meanwhile, is thinking something. Because A’s raises are from the cutoff, B may think that the second is a bluff (and good for A if he knows this is what B is thinking). So what does B do?

• B moves all in
• A to call 3.76m

Now B is the one daring A! A could have thought some of these:

(1) Was B trying to bluff me out? (He can’t, if he is. In fact, I want him to do that.)

(2) Did B trap me with a four-bet with the A-A? or K-K? (There is a small possibility.)

(3) How much will I invest? (I had 10.7 million at the start and I am going to invest 5.3 million. About half my stack. But I am going to try to knock him out, anyway.)

(4) Did B have A-x? (Most probably. They do it all the time. However, I’m quite uneasy if it’s worth half my stack.)

But A didn’t, because he instantly called. Moreover, A could have thought instead, “My ploys were successful. I trapped him. Now he’s finished.”

A calls 3.76m (Pot about 12 million)

Three-bets and four-bets almost always signify A-A, K-K or with some brave players, A-K or Q-Q. B had A-Q, which is not so

good for a call (A may have figured out that B held A-Q, so he reraised instead of trapped; if he just called, then an Ace may fall and he may not continue with his K-K) but even worse for staying in a hand with plenty of raises and reraises.

However, luck has the last word in this hand.

The board ended up Js-7h-3s-Ad-Qd, which clinched B’s win.

Concluding I Dare You

It takes time to learn how to play poker online or offline and most players can’t be bothered. But, fact is, that learning hand scenarios like this is something that you just have to do in order to be good.

And this is great news for you as a player who wants to learn as so few players you will find playing lower stakes or free online poker do learn. So 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 play free online poker that pays real cash such as that found at www.NoPayPOKER.com.

As ever practice makes perfect so read, understand and learn to play poker online free on the NoPayPOKER.com tables to get it nailed

Whether you play free poker on NoPayPOKER or play for the biggest stakes imaginable a common theme is that aggressive players do all the betting and the raising, and get all the chips.

Those who just call are deemed to be passive. This is because calling puts you into a decision which the bettor hopes you to make. But if you have tons of reasons to call, and you have contemplated about it very carefully, you can call with no shame.

Here is one such hand (Shame on him if he folds):

BLINDS 60k/120k, ante 15k

PREFLOP:

• A has 5h-5d, raised to 310k (under the gun)
• B has Kc-10c, calls 310k (from middle position)

A’s raise from under the gun signifies a strong hand, but let us add that A is a strong aggressive player (somewhat on the loose side) that can represent any hand. Also, A can make everyone fold. B’s K-10 suited is good for just calling, and he does.

With K-10, one should be more careful if a King comes up. With a King, A may have K-J or A-K (A-K, especially from a raise under the gun). I don’t think B is aware of this, maybe because he hasn’t seen the Flop yet. Here it is:

FLOP: 10d-4c-2d

Now only a Ten comes, which is more favorable for B. Those who do not have flush draws with two Diamonds may play a J-10 or a 10-9 strongly, and the King kicker is very strong.

A bets 535k

Because A raised under the gun, he tries a continuation bet. If he gets called, he can put B on a flush draw or a small pair (like 7-7), so he can frisk away later with not much loss.

But B may want to end the hand with his Pair of Tens, probably because overcards can fall. Moreover, A has been too aggressive all throughout, as we said, and it may be with two face cards or A-x, so B returns A’s favor:

• B raises to 1.61m
• A needs 1.075m to call

Because A has been representing a strong hand so far (raising under the gun and continuation-betting), he might as well stay consistent. Moreover, A may think that B raised because he thought A had nothing, and he is trying o push A out of the pot with something like K-J or a Flush draw.

As for the possibility of a Ten in B’s hand, why would A think B had a Ten? Even if B did, he would just call (commonly) and then check-check it all the way, because a Pair of Tens is not so strong, especially if faced with a three-bet like this:

• A moves all-in 3.075m
• B needs 2.5m to call (Pot now about 7.5m)

Maybe A moved all-in because his Pair of Fives have value on a board with only one overcard and whose caller may have a Flush draw (in this case, the caller may still be reluctant because even with a Flush draw with two overcards, it’s still a draw) but he may also be thinking that B is putting a play on him, so he played-back.

Now B is put on the decision which calls for a call. Here are B’s reasons why he may not call (which B may be thinking, but which will be my reasons for so doing):

(1) A three-bet plus all-in may signify J-J or higher, which is very likely if only small cards are on the table. Or: even a Set which A may have used to trap with.

(2) He is getting approximately 3-to-1 on a call (2.5 million to win approximately 7.5 million), but he should call only if he is getting 4-to-1 (21% chance of hitting Two-Pair or Trips), which is the right price.

(3) If he calls, he will have about 6 million chips remaining, but if he doesn’t, he will have about 8.5 million remaining, and his loss is relatively small for his stack (which is nearly 10 million).

Now here are B’s reasons why he should call:

(1) He can knock out an opponent who has proven to be very dangerous so far.

(2) Maybe A is the one on a Flush draw. Or maybe a Flush draw with two overcards where both of them have nearly equal chance of winning. So it’s OK.

(3) Maybe A put B on a Flush draw and decided to push B out of the pot instead of letting a Diamond emerge. So A’s all-in is just a bluff now.

(4) Maybe A put B on a bluff and decided to counter-bluff.

(5) With only one overcard which is not so likely to be in someone’s hand just as a face card is, B may put A on a pocket pair 5-5 to 9-9. In that case, he has a better Pair (Tens).

(6) He can lift himself up to 14 million chips after this.

(7) It is because B’s guts says so.

With these things in B’s mind, but still brewing over the cons, B tried hard to decide. For a long time he stared at his opponent and the Board. He commented first, You may hate me for this,” but then added, as if nothing but instinct prompted him, “but I call.”

B calls 2.5m (Pot just above 9 million)

A is in trouble now. B won the hand and knocked out A (who is Antonio Esfandiari! B is Steven Begleiter). B may be neutral in choosing between folding and calling, but if I’ll call, I’ll call not solely because of value of the Tens, but because of the above reasons.

Summary of A Good Call

It takes time to learn how to play poker online or offline at a level above the unthinking “chip flinging” seen at many tables and learning hand scenarios like this is something that you just have to do in order to be good.

But this is also very good news for you as a player who is learning to play correctly because very few players you will find playing lower stakes or free online poker bother. So 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 play free poker that pays real cash such as that found at www.NoPayPOKER.com.

As ever practice makes perfect so read, understand and learn to play poker free on the NoPayPOKER.com tables to get it nailed

Join The Party Poker Ten Fold Freeroll

…Every day at 6:45pm GMTDue to popular demand date is now extended to the end of September 2010!

Win over $800,000 FreeD from March 1st to July 31st at NoPayPOKER. Go “Ten-Fold” and win up to $2,500,000 FreeD ($25,000 USD)!

What does “Ten Fold” mean?
Each tournament pays $2,500 FreeD in 10 tickets worth $250 FreeD each. Keep the $250 FreeD or transfer it to PartyPoker for $25 USD…that’s 10 times the value! AND NO DEPOSIT NECESSARY!

Even if you dont win a ticket there’s $30 bonus waiting for you… See More Details Here

You’ll need a PartyPoker username to play. No Username? Just register at PartyPoker, it’s FREE, NO DEPOSIT is required and it takes only a couple minutes. Register Here

PLUS – Exclusive PartyPoker $150 USD Freeroll
Every real money depositor from NoPayPOKER gets into the monthly PartyPoker Freeroll where you can win up to $150 $USD! See the PartyPoker schedule or ask us when the next event plays.

Keep In Mind…
The 10 Fold promotion is only available to NoPayPOKER referrals who HAVE NOT deposited at PartyPoker. If you were referred to PartyPoker by another site but have not deposited and havent played at PartyPoker for 3 months or more then you can also take this offer.

PartyPoker has announced $900 in free money for NoPayPOKER players during July, August & September!

On 31st July at 15:00 EST all NoPayPOKER referrals who have deposited at PartyPoker can play the NoPayPOKER $150 USD 10 Fold Freeroll at PartyPoker.

On 1st August at 15:00 EST all NoPayPOKER players are invited to the $150 Added Buy-In Tournament which will cost $5+$1 to enter.

August and September dates will follow shortly.

Dont forget… as an added bonus, we will have our PartyPoker/NPP Pro at all events with a $1000 bounty on their heads!

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.

In poker be it free poker like you play at NoPayPOKER or big stakes you do not just play the cards. You also play the player, or to put it another way, you aim to manipulate other players so that they do what you want them to do. The desired end result of course is that they give you money!

Playing the player has 2 sides. On your side you are trying to read your opponent, classify their style, of play, motivations and actions and play your cards in accordance with your conclusions.

On the opposing player side you are trying to play them to increase the degree of error with which they classify your style of play, motivations and actions.

To learn how to do this lets look at an example of playing the player in action from a WSOP event.

BLINDS 50k/100k

• A has Ac-Qh raises 350k
• B is on big blind, has Kc-Js, calls 230k (Pot 880k)

K-J is usually a bit weak to call a raise. Moreover, B doesn’t have position over A, but he calls because he wants A to guess.

From the big blind, generally we just call because we are on a discount, so we might have 6-5, 10-8, and a bunch of other indeterminate hands which require guessing.

FLOP 4d-5h-3d

B bets 535k

Because small cards fell, B now wants A to think that his call from the big blind hit the Flop, and that his hand may well include those indeterminate hands like 5-4, 8-5, or even 6-7, or two Diamonds. But what did A think?

• A raises to 1.8m (Pot 3.215m)
• B needs 1.265m to call

Here, A thought that B’s bet was just a continuation bet, and with small cards falling A’s belief is reinforced that B is just trying to finish the hand. How would small cards likely hit B?

Additionally, B has been playing aggressively all night (stealing pots, etc.) so B could be betting with something (which is not likely with small cards falling) or with nothing. B could be playing just about anything, especially from the big blind.

At that point, A gambled that B has nothing. He may have also figured out that if B had something and then moves all-in later then he can move out quickly. So he raised to try B’s strength.

B folds

B folds, because, indeed, he has nothing, and if he calls, he will be committed to continue. (Had B moved all-in then it will be a good all-in, for A could still be guessing at this point what B’s hand was. But B’s cards were not strong enough.)

Also, he folds, because A raised from late position, which allows for a wider range of hands, like even 5-4 or two Diamonds.

Poker, indeed, is not simply a game of good hands versus good hands. Experienced poker players will win with bad hands under the right conditions.

We give credit to B for first trying to win with a bad hand, a good effort to play he player. Unfortunately for B, A did the playing the player task superbly too, having noted previous actions and motivations and related that to current con text and probability and so played out to win well.

The good news is that the majority of players can’t be bothered to learn how to play poker, they are happy to play in the donk zone and call it fun (it’s more fun to win money guys) so, for you, the player who wants to learn to play well the great news is that when you learn to play poker well you can go mercenary and deliberately hunt them down in cold blood in low stakes games on money poker sites and on free online poker NoPayPOKER that pay real $s and happily build your skills and bankroll!