This poker article was the winner of the June 2010 NoPayPOKER article writing contest. Member Buried_Child gets $1,000 FreeD and a big pile of Bonus Chips.

There is a poker tournament variant called All-in or Fold. The rules are this: There is only one blind (called big blind). Each player starts with just one chip; it doesn’t matter how many, anyway, for these reasons: Your only options are: All-in, and Fold. If you are on the big blind you are 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 are on the big blind you just 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. Small Pair, or the first example will apply too if it were, say, A-10 over 5-5) and approximate 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.

This was the winner of the NoPayPOKER.com May 2010 free online poker article writing contest. Member Buried_Child got $1000 FreeD.

I can imagine a player who, after watching some episodes of the World Series of Poker or the World Poker Tour, suddenly gets ‘inspired’ and tries out one of the big advertised poker sites. Suddenly – suddenly – as he imitates the plays he saw in some episode, like moving all-in with 4-4 in early position – he thinks he is making a good play. Of course it is sometimes a good play, but not always.

As it is, he lost a large stack again, and it costs hundreds of dollars in real money.

Why not tell him to try the same play in free poker, so that he will recognize his mistakes? He can get knocked out and still have hundreds of dollars left.

Free poker is also a great way to build a bankroll, if you don’t have one, and if you play long enough. And if you play long enough you will learn from your mistakes and from the mistakes of others – and it wouldn’t be so costly. Sure, you can try playing your Q-7 offsuit and then flop a Q-5-3 and then get called by A-Q later or K-K – that is when you realize your Q-7 is trash, and you ought not play it again.

Of course, you can watch someone else play the Q-7. He may flop Q-5-3, as above, or even A-J-7. Now you know you have him, because you have K-K (in the first flop) or A-K, or J-J (in the second). Now you remember the times when you win, and when you recall these times every time a similar situation arises, you will win the pot. If you play free poker long enough you will see what these situations are and then be able to characterize them like this: On the first flop, it may be ‘Playing Overpairs’; on the second, it may be ‘Playing Top Pair’ or ‘Playing a Set’.

There is, however, a downfall if you are not careful: Suppose you play 3-2 off and you win. You might think 3-2 off is a good hand, and then suddenly you rush to play real money poker. You lose. You think, “How would 3-2 be harpooned in this board! This just won last week!”

If you are observant enough for a long time in playing free poker you might notice plenty of players doing the same (playing bad hands) and they win. You can watch if they are winning consistently or not, and oftentimes they don’t. Someone plays 7-2, the wins; someone plays it again later, then loses. Free poker may not yet teach you that A-10 is sometimes dangerous to play after a raise because it might be a better Ace, but it teaches you what hands to avoid and what to play.

In free poker you just don’t play any hand. Play as if you are playing real-money poker. Play only good starting hands. If you keep playing bad starting hands without the ability to represent them (and representing hands is not so practical in free poker because many free poker players play just any hand, bet when they hit the Flop and throw when they don’t) you will be a bad player sooner.

Regarding this, here is another point: Because many free poker players are novices, if you take a little longer time to wade on free poker, you will know how to play against novices. In real money you will mostly be facing them – well, because, most players are novices. You can bring free poker skills at your disposal. And as for the really good players, it’s so easy – avoid them unless you have the nuts.

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This was the winner of the NoPayPOKER.com April 2010 free online poker article writing contest. Member Buried_Child got $1000 FreeD. The thrust of this article is twofold: Recognising weak player traits so that 1) If you’re strong learn to spot them and take advantage or 2) You see yourself here and can do something about it.

Even in the most basic free poker games both strong and weak players know that A-A or K-K are very powerful hands, and so are Q-Q and J-J. So is A-K, with some qualifications. But having a strong hand does not usually strengthen the player. Why?

Consider the case of K-K. (The following discussion also applies to Q-Q and J-J, with slight modifications.) If a strong player is dealt K-K and the flop comes A-9-7, for example, he will slow down. His K-K is still a strong hand, but has considerably weakened. Therefore he will be careful with his next plays, e.g. he will just call up to the end if the bets are small; he might try one stab at the pot at the flop and then see the next move; but unless he reads his opponent perfectly or intends to represent the Ace, he won’t attempt any crazy moves with K-K. He might even fold.

But once a weak player holds K-K at this flop, it’s different. That weak player might have held A-A before in a K-10-8 flop, and then beats an unsuspecting A-K until showdown. Whooooooooa! He is ecstatic after that win, and remembers it until he gets K-K in an A-9-7 flop. He might try to remember what he did with the A-A before: slow-play, for example, until the board comes A-9-7-J-2 and the opponent reveals 10-8! Or he might move all-in with K-K with the same flop, then the opponent reveals A-Q or A-J.

The weak player will wonder why in the universe will K-K (or Q-Q or J-J) be destroyed. The strong player knows why, and will do his best to avoid it.

But K-K, or even A-A, can be destroyed in another way which is much more obvious, but much more psychologically taxing.

Here’s why:

1. You decide to call with A-A and the flop comes 6-7-9.
2. You bet pot-sized, other player calls.
3. Turn card comes an 8 and other player suddenly bets large, maybe an all-in, which puts a large fraction of your chips at risk.
4. If you are a strong player, you can immediately determine what hands the other player is holding.
5. You might think, “Why did he move all in with a 6-7-9-8 Board?
6. A call on the Flop might indicate that his cards fit into the community cards.
7. It may be A-10, J-10, or even Two-Pair with 7-6. Or even a top pair which evolved into Two-Pair with 9-8.
8. Whatever it is, A-A’s not gonna beat it.”

But if you’re not a strong poker player who’s willing to wait for a safer board, then you will call immediately, even with your poker tournament life. “Heck, it’s A-A, why am I going to waste this chance?” (Unless you’re a strong player with an absolutely GOOD read on your opponent.)

Another fad of weak free poker players is treating wired pairs 10-10 or less as if they were A-A. Of course, it is OK to move all-in with 8-8 or 7-7, especially in a poker tournament when running low on chips. Against Ace-paint, the usual caller, the small pair is a slight favorite (usually 55-45).

But suppose a weak player, X, decides to raise 8-8 in early position, then another one, Y, from middle position reraises, then another one after Y, Z, reraises again, enough to put X all-in. What is X to do? There are two raises in front of him, and one of them might be A-A or A-K (especially C’s, because he reraised a reraise). Then A thinks he’s trapped both of them, and he gratefully calls, until he realizes he’s buried in rubble against what may be A-K, A-A, Q-Q, etc. etc.

A strong player would have moved all-in at that point if he has a small stack. With his all-in, he is signaling that he has a good enough hand to risk all his chips for, so those with A-K or A-Q will think twice (and even conservative players with J-J or 10-10). If that strong player had a big stack, he will just raise, but will not call any reraises.

But since a weak player thought 8-8 as strong as A-A, he thinks it’s good for trapping. It’s not.

Suppose this player X has one caller instead, and the flop comes A-J-9.

1. Three overcards, with straight possibilities.
2. X bets, then the other player bets enough to put X all-in.

A strong poker player will do this analysis: “The other player, having called, should have a good enough hand to call a raise. It might be A-K or A-any. Or if not J-9, then 10-9 or Q-10. Of course, I’m not going to take 8-8 into this flop and wait for a Q and a 10 to fall, because in that case I have a tail-ender straight which is not so good. In case he’s bluffing and he has K-Q, he’s still has an approximately 40% chance to win, because he has a gutshot and two overcards. Maybe I’ll just wait for another hand.”

The weak free poker player will think a little, but he still thinks. It’s like this: “My 8-8 is a pair. It’s strong. It’s just like A-A or K-K. Now my bet works and he pushes me. I’ve trapped him. He’s dead.” Really?

Some other players do more egregiously. They call all-ins with 7-7-4-4-A boards with 2-2. They can’t even beat the Board! They think their hand is “Two-Pair, Sevens over Twos.” Wrong. Is it “Three Pair?” Wrong again! It’s “Two Pair, Sevens over Fours” and their 2-2 is just as if it didn’t exist. Someone with a spare Ace, or one Seven or Four can skewer them to the bones.

Let us consider a last one.

• It is OK to move all-in with small pairs, but what about 8-7?
• If a player has a small stack, then he might as well do it.
• But I’ve watched players with comfortable-sized stacks move all-in with hands like 8-7 or 7-6 after one raise behind them.
• Are they trying to steal?

Well, maybe, but a weak player has other reasons. “I can form a Straight with this! It’s 8-7! 6-7-8-9-10! Straight! Yipee! Or even Flush! They’re Spades!!”

Don’t count your chips till the cards are down!

This article is a little more technical but I hope you’ve taken some ideas from it. Keep an eye open, there are plenty more cracking free poker articles like this in the pipeline from NoPayPOKER.

This was the winner of the NoPayPOKER.com March 2010 free online poker article writing contest. Member Thedarkman got $1000 FreeD

Be it a free online poker game or $100 buy in there are many qualities demanded of a good poker player such as the ability to read an opponent, to make a “big lay down”, to know one’s limitations – as Dirty Harry said – but in my humble opinion, the greatest virtue, and one best suited to money and free poker, is patience.

Like most players I remember the bad beats, but there are two occasions I recall in particular where I had the run of the cards; both were cash games.

The first was in a live session where with a £50 minimum buy-in we were playing £1-£2 Pot Limit Omaha/Hold Em (a round of each).

The other was a not free Texas holdem online poker session on Ladbrokes, a site I don’t often play, although the site is not important, what happened, is.
In the live session, I had such a terrific run of the cards that in about twenty minutes I had turned my fifty pounds into over five hundred. In the online poker session, though I was multi-tabling, I “sat down” at one table, and in about the same time period, turned twenty dollars into over a hundred and fifty. This time I was playing Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo, my game of preference.

Being a dedicated free poker and small stakes player I seldom win big, but it is not the stakes that are important, rather the lesson to be learned.

How often does a player sit down and increase his starting stack by a factor of ten or even seven in half an hour or less? The answer is very seldom, but once in a blue moon the cards do run for you like magic.

The reason for this is not far to seek; cards, including electronic cards, are random, and it is possible though extremely unlikely to win several big pots in quick succession.

The downside of this is that it is extremely likely you will be dealt garbage hands for prolonged periods, or that the cards will run against you for hours at a time.

If you are playing live, especially in a cash poker game, when the cards run bad there may be a temptation to push things, to play marginal hands, or hands that you really shouldn’t play, to draw too much, to see just one more card. The result can be disastrous.

In online poker where you can multi-table, there is no excuse for this sort of lax play. When I play cash games, four is my preference, but some people can handle six or even more tables comfortably.

Even so, the cards can run bad on all tables; I have to say that for me at any rate, some sites are far worse than others. But when they run bad, you must fold, fold, fold.

It really is not nice to raise a pot with a pair of kings at Texas Holdem, to see an ace flop, and someone bet forcefully into it, but you should face the fact that you are probably beat, and that the wisest course of action is to fold and wait for the next hand.

Yes, it is incredibly frustrating (and you get it more on low stakes and free poker sites) to see loose players, neophytes or even total morons call raise after raise with borderline hands or even raise with total garbage and hit or suck out time and time again, but when you miss the flop, you must throw your premium starting hand in the muck. It will hurt, but it will hurt a lot more to chase, especially at pot limit.

What about poker tournaments?
Now the fact is that even if you are both the best player and the luckiest player in the world, you can’t cash in every tournament.

And at No Limit Texas Holdem you can be busted out in one hand at any time, but patience does count here too, especially and perhaps even after the bubble or on the final table when you are short stacked.

This is where inevitably everybody tightens up, but it is surprising how long you can wait, and how few hands you can get away with playing when both time and chips appear to be running out.

Patience is not to be confused with timidity and especially not with cowardice; a big draw may be a favourite over a pair, or even a set; whilst most players find it difficult and some find it impossible ever to fold a set – any set – a draw is still only a draw, and you should play or fold your hand not according to abstract principles like pot odds but according to the state of your bankroll, position in the tournament, and so on.

You may be 75% to win the hand, but remember that does mean you have a 25% chance of losing it, and if losing that one hand means busting out before the money when you can comfortably fold and allow a couple of the short stacks to be subsumed, folding may be the best option.

Again, it will hurt, but not half as much as calling and losing. And as ever with poker, manage your bankroll, if you have none or little start out on the free poker sites such as NoPayPOKER.com and grind your way up. Remember what the man said: chip and a chair!

This was the winner of the NoPayPOKER free poker article writing contest for February 2010. Member Vincer won $1000 FreeD.

Perhaps one of the most disturbing trends in poker in recent years even on free poker sites is the increasing number of so-called “good players” that regularly criticize those who play poorly. Chasing away “fish” makes little sense for anyone who wishes to win money playing poker. The surest way to win money is to play against inferior opponents who don’t realize that they’re poor players. That’s why people say that you shouldn’t “tap the fish tank” or “tap the aquarium.”

You want to people to gamble. You even want fish to get lucky a few times so that they’ll keep gambling.

That is why you should try to treat fish with respect. You want them to enjoy themselves and have a good time.

You may even congratulate them on their bad play to make them think that they’re playing correctly. This, of course, would be a form of hustling that some people wouldn’t be comfortable with engaging in.

If you don’t feel like hustling the fish, then you should at least try keeping it jovial at the table. By creating a fun atmosphere at the table, people will care less about the money that they’re throwing around and start playing loose and wild. This is what you want if you’re a good player. You’ll be playing solid poker, while they’ll be throwing their money away.

If you’re rude and disrespectful to fish, they’ll be less inclined to play anymore. They’ll take their money to other places where they can play without being harassed. By chasing fish away, you’re giving up opportunities to profit from their mistakes.

Can you imagine if everybody played well? The game of poker would be very tough to beat.

The main goal of playing good poker is to make as many correct decisions as you can, while forcing your opponents to make as many incorrect decisions as you can. It’s much easier to encourage bad players to make bad decisions, so you shouldn’t scare them away. In the long run, you’ll profit from their bad plays.

Another reason why you shouldn’t berate fishy player at the table or in your online chat box is because you don’t want them to improve. If they feel embarrassed with how bad they play, they may actually take the time and effort to improve their play. In other words, you’re encouraging bad players to become good players. Once they’re good, they’ll be tougher to beat. You won’t be getting their money quite as easily anymore. Why would you want to make it any harder to earn a buck in poker?

It’s hard enough to win at poker nowadays with all the information that’s available to improve your game. There are a lot of decent players out there. The games simply aren’t as soft as they were when I started playing online seven years ago.

That’s why I try not to “tap the fish tank and why I still play free poker freerolls at NoPayPOKER.com were there’s real money up for grabs!

This is the winner of the NoPayPOKER.com Free Poker Article Competition for January 2010, member zXDIAMONDXz got $1000 FreeD

All in or fold? How to bluff in poker? The concept of bluffing can be very easy or very difficult one to master. There are many ways to grasp this concept of bluffing, but that does not mean you will always be successful, even the best pros in big stakes games can fail as readily as rookies on free poker sites like NoPayPOKER.com.

Bluffing can reward you or demolish you. When playing real money, I would be extra careful when it comes to bluffing. I will discuss my ideas and concepts of bluffing in no limit money and free texas holdem poker.

The first concept of bluffing will most likely work 80 to 90 percent of the time if done correctly. If you have that “gut feeling” after someone checks after the flop, turn or river that they do not have anything, then you should bet any amount.

The best way to demonstrate this is when you are playing someone heads up. If there are only two of you and you have top pair or top kicker, you are most likely to win. The reason is because the other person only has two cards out of the deck just like you so the chances are slim. When you bluff against a heads up player, make sure you know something about that player, so you know when to bluff at just the right time.

Next, you have to understand what is at stake when you produce a bluff. If you push all in and you know you do not have the best hand, you must consider the worst. You may get lucky, or you may not. Bluffing is similar to betting on red or black in roulette, it’s a fifty-fifty chance. If you are bluffing in play money free poker, you may think it does not matter because it is not real, true maybe but you’ll never become a very good poker player with that approach.

Bluffing is only part of the game but can never be mastered. Even the poker professionals would agree that even they still do not know when to make a bluff or not. Sometimes it is hard to tell if someone is slow playing you or they just simply do not have anything.

Third, another concept of bluffing is the persistent value bet method. During this method, you are betting on nothing from the flop all the way to the river hoping they will fold if they have chased their hand. If you bet the same amount on the flop and turn but bet a little higher on the river with your bluffing hand, the other person is most likely to fold their hand to you. But again, this does not always have the same outcome every time.

Finally, my favorite part of bluffing is when you try to produce a bet that seems like a bluff, but is not. The best bluff bet is the famous all in or the bet pot. Also, if you are playing with the same group of players on a regular basis, you can change up your style by betting an amount they would not expect. The best way to get as much as you can get from someone out of a hand is to simply call all the way and go all in on the river, hopefully they will think you missed what you were chasing and they will call.

In closing, I hope you now understand a bit more about bluffing as a whole. It is one thing to be a poker professional but being a bluffing poker professional is an entire different world. Bluffing is either something you are good at or not. If bluffing works for you most of the time, you may be just lucky or you may truly have the gift of bluffing mastered. But just remember, the most important concept to understand about bluffing is that it will NOT always be successful.

If you are new to online poker go and play for fun and experience bluffing, test ideas, bluff, fail, get bluffed by others. Practice on free Texas Hold em poker www.nopaypoker.com and have fun AND learn before starting to risk real money.

This is the winner of the NoPayPOKER.com Free Poker Article Competition for December 2009, member cnofsued got $1000 FreeD

This approach is just as applicable to free poker games as it is to the money tables, practice it with the NoPayPOKER FreeD and chips and you’ll be doing it naturally when the time comes to play with real green on the felt.

To start then:

Before you even hit the tables, set yourself a couple of ground rules on spending money and time. You DO NOT want to spend an hour losing money over and over again.

I tend to set myself three conditions. Upon meeting one of them I quit the table and take a break from poker.

While it may seem like they will restrict your winnings, and cause you to make slow progress in the poker world, you limit your losses, and so stop yourself progressing backwards. A penny saved is a penny earned, and those pennies will build up over time if you restrict your losses and have PATIENCE!

In short these rules are to stop you from blowing a big win over a series of stupid calls. I almost always use the same three rules:

1. If I have lost half the money I bought in with, quit and come back later.

2. If I have doubled the money I have bought in with, and start losing it, quit and come back later. On a side note never risk losing a big hard earned stack by going all in. I made this rule and adhere strictly to it so that I never make a loss on what I have earned.

3. If you’re going nowhere (played for 20-30 mins in my case) and haven’t made significant gain or loss then quit and come back later, chances are your luck will be better.

After joining a table to win big it’s all about playing the people, not the cards. It’s no use going all in with a royal flush knowing you’re bound to win, and watching everyone at the table fold.

A rather general guideline (no more rules!) is that players tend to bet big when bluffing, and small when they have a great hand to try and squeeze as much cash out of everyone as possible.

However, this is not always true. First look at the players at the table, try to guess their playing styles, notice patterns in their behaviour and then apply this guideline to them. It works for me I would say around 80-90% if the time.

A good poker player will try and do this to you so always vary how you play after you hit the table! If you make yourself seem predictable and easy to read. E.g. start off by folding weak hands and only playing the good ones. When people see that you raise whenever you get a good hand, and fold on weak cards they will write you off as unable to bluff, and you can bluff your way through the next couple of weak hands, with most being too scared to call your bluff.

If the cards aren’t going your way, try making it obvious that you are a bluffer (without losing too much). Then as soon as a good hand does come along (it will eventually, it’s all just about PATIENCE) then you can bet big, people will probably call your bluff, and you can just rake in their cash.

If you’re a poker beginner start out playing on free poker sites and learn before you start risking real money. You’ll find that many free players don’t do rules very well and play silly but you will get a lot of experience in general game aspects on free poker sites so that you won’t waste too much money when you play for the real thing.

This is the joint-winner of the NoPayPOKER.com Article Competition for November 2009 and is from member wolfsbite who got $1000 FreeD

Most people don’t understand position and pot odds and as a result are never going to be able to progress beyond free poker games and make any proper money.

This is a basic guide to what you need to know, once you’ve read this you will, even if you are a beginner, be streets ahead of many players who simply don’t get it or ignore this area of the game (all those people who think poker is only about luck fall into this category, it is NOT it’s about math, variance and probability!)

First: Position is based on where the dealer button is.

Second: Pot odds is the percentage of money you need to put in to call a bet.

Now if you combine these both you can make a educated decision on whether to call or not.

Now the best position to be in is the dealer or “button” as some call it. This is because after the flop you are the last to act. You can get a feel if someone is strong or weak by the amount they bet or if they just check to you. A lot of professional poker players will not fold their button don’t matter what (unless it’s a real weak hand).

Now calculating pot odds is tricky and mostly I just go by normal thinking if it to big of a raise for me to even continues on in the hand. If you want to try here is a rough guide. If there is $50 in the pot and there is a raise of $10 then you are getting 5 to 1 to call and so on.

Now knowing the pot odds and your position will greatly improve your game.

Example if you are drawing to a straight or flush or have 2 pair after the flop and your are in early position and someone raises half the amount in the pot and you have 4 people to act after you your best bet is to fold.

Now seeing the rest of the hand and knowing what you were holding had you made your straight, flush or full house isn’t the whole problem. You have to consider how many people called and what other bets were made down the line.Here an example of mine

I was holding A/10 of hearts and the flop comes AD 9C 10D I was first to act so I put out a pot sized bet with 2 pair (hoping to drive everyone out). I had 3 callers after me so in my mind I’m thinking flush draw, pair of aces and maybe someone has a straight draw.

Turn comes 5H again I’m first to act so I bet same amount as before and I get only 1 caller. River is 8D. I check because there is now a flush out there and a possible straight but I still like my 2 pair.

The other player pushes all in now this would take all my chips to call. So I called “falling in love with my 2 pair” cards shown and the other player had the flush. Now looking back at it I should have never called the all in bet when the other player called 2 big bets I should have just folded and “lived to play another hand”.

Also knowing what I know I just figured that with my bets only someone with high pair and a great kicker was calling. I never counted on it being free poker and people chase all the time and saying its free poker and my cards were suited.

I hope this is help to anyone who wants to advance their poker knowledge and make decisions based on logic and not “its free poker“

October 2009 article contest Winner

Most poker players from the beginning free online poker player upward wants to improve his or her poker skills, be able to read the cards and odds better, bluff like a pro and so on. But many players don’t pay anywhere near enough attention to the types of games they are applying those skills to. This often overlooked factor can have a huge impact on success of failure.

For example, there’s an old story about a poker pro who was the sixth best player in the world but never made any money. That was because he chose to only play against the top five best players in the world. The moral of the story is that you make money when you possess a clear edge over your opponents.

Don’t be overconfident

Everyone wants to be the best and play the best. It’s a matter of pride. However, unless your name is Phil Ivey, you probably won’t have an advantage over every opponent in every game. It’s also important to recognize that even the top poker pros will sometimes step down a level and play lesser competition because it’s more profitable.

If you can’t beat players at lower level cash games, you shouldn’t try to play at higher level cash games. You’re going to go broke trying. Start out on free texas hold em games if you need to and work up from there.

This is true with online games as well as live card rooms. A great example I have of picking the right room is a time a few years ago when I found myself in a small resort hotel casino. The players there were pretty loose and passive and as a result with more aggressive play I was able to hammer them with larger bets that they were comfortable with and as a result doubled my money in 2 hours without even winning a pot simply by getting paid off for OK strength hands.

I also remember one time when I played for five hours in a $1/2 no-limit hold’em game at a five-star hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. I barely broke even. The players were tight and aggressive and played back at me when I tried to put a move on them. I knew afterward that I picked the wrong table.

What kind of game to look for

The first thing to keep in mind is your bankroll. If you can’t afford to play $5/10 live or $.50/1 online, then you shouldn’t do it. You should move down to a more affordable level even free poker if necessary.

The second thing that you must be honest about is your skill level. You should ask: Can I beat the level that I’m playing? If the answer is “no,” then you should move down. Start with free texas holdem poker games if you need to, for beginners or anyone learning or practicing new techniques micro or free poker is a great way to get going.

Once you’ve decided the level you can beat, you then need to be choosy about the particular table you want to sit at. Ideally, you want to play at a table where you see players making a lot of fundamental errors like playing too many hands or playing too passively. A loose and passive table is probably the most profitable table. A loose game will allow you to win big pots because players will call you down with weak hands, and a passive game affords you the opportunity to hit your draws cheaply and bully your opposition.

It’s not always possible to find a passive loose table when you need it. But with a bit of surveillance you should be able to work out if a game is at a level you can compete strongly and win at. Yes, it’s good to be a good player but poker is about winning so it’s no good to be a good player beat by better players, instead aim to be a good winning player! So practise the game selection process first, look at micro and free poker online sites and work up from there.

The September 2009 $1000 FreeD NoPayPOKER Free Online Poker Article contest Winner. By StatmanTG.

If you are like me and have played solid no-bluff poker most of your life and it is starting to become to boring waiting for cards and then waiting for them to hit and if you already have a solid game and want fun between already made hands or are playing some fun free online poker games such as we play at NoPaypoker then this article is for you.

First off adding these skills to your solid game is not in anyway dumb or make you a “donkey”. Well timed thought out moves are never stupid even if you’re wrong. Maintaining that solid image is the key to your success.

Have you ever played a game where it seems like no one ever calls you? This is most likely because they know you haven’t played many hands and haven’t made many moves. If you’re only playing 20% of your hands for prolonged periods of time people start to take notice. Even worse is, if in the 1 in 5 hands you play you only bet say 10% of them. Now people notice you’ve only moved money in once in the last 50 hands!

A great way to make poker fun again is betting more often. Once you have that solid image at a table no one who has noticed will call you without a top notch hand unless you price them in to do so. Last to act is usually the best place to try when starting out. Later try when ever you feel no one has anything.

Some clues would be hands where there is a draw on board with a high card and no one bets. This can be one of two things.

1) They don’t have the high card or flush draw or they would have bet it to stop the flush draw or to build the pot.

2) They have something much better where they don’t care what hits like top two pair with the flush draw as well or top pair with A high flush draw.

Keep the bets low enough that you don’t go bust fast if you’re wrong and high enough that people will fold unless they have a top notch hand or draw.

Depending on your chip stack you may want to hold off on this altogether or only when you have that solid image at the table. Once you’ve been caught and are required to show your bluff it’s time to go back to playing solid poker till the next table or at least a cool off period to re-establish your solid image.

Another one I use to help pass the time is to just flat out bet big with whatever off suit non connector you have. Throwing out a 5x bet pre-flop with a 5 8 suited can help you get called later if you get the chance to show it, it can actually hit something believe it or not, and oh, it’s a ton of fun!

There is nothing I love more then watching people fold and showing them junk only to have someone, if not that same person, call when I hit. Better yet don’t show it, have them tell you they folded something only an insane person would, then telling them they made a great fold!

Being dishonest, honest, or both can help make the game fun as well. It may not change anyone’s mind about what they will do but then again it may. Either way you can mess with people.

If you’re being honest they may be the kind of person who thinks your being dishonest and the other way around. If you don’t like to lie just say “I had a hand” or “what a flop that last hand was!”.

Talking at the table is the best way to give out info that may or may not be true and also receiving information that may or may not be true. Figuring out which is which isn’t easy but at least you have one more thing to go on.

Keeping poker enjoyable for yourself is really what poker is all about. If you still have fun waiting an hour between wins that’s great so do I from time to time.

These tips are mainly just for players looking to add to an already solid game just to keep them interested between made hands or for fun free online poker games such as we play at NoPaypoker. Never bet more then you are willing to lose and never bet less then they are willing to call. If you can’t do both don’t do either!