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!