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!
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