Regardless of if you’re a beginning free online poker player or a WSOP top table pro, the all-in is the biggest move in poker.

As a rule of thumb, usually one moves all-in only with hands that can stand a chance against, say, A-K or A-Q (the most common all-in hands).

It is because these are the hands also most prepared to call. Which hands, then, are we ready to put our tournament life on? Pocket pairs spring to mind. So does A-K (or A-Q or even K-Q suited or K-J suited if you are running out of chips)

But someone does it differently. I’d like to add that here; player B is usually an impatient, rowdy player who is familiar to us TV poker fans.

BLINDS 12k/24k

A has Ad-Kd raises 75k

A’s raise is simply standard for A-K suited, though it is slightly stronger (the average preflop raise is about 2.5x the big blind, but this raise is a little greater than thrice). But look at B’s move, which may be less standard:

B has 10c-5c moves all-in 544k

What about that: a 10-5? With about 22 big blinds left, which is relatively a short-stack (but not so short), B moves all-in. But with a 10-5? B can wait for slightly better hands than this.

Now let us try to justify the 10-5 in this situation. If B did it with a small pair, he is a slight favourite (about 55-45). If with A-x (with x smaller than a King), he is a significant underdog (about 75-25).

With any 2 cards apart from A or K he much less the underdog (approx. 66-34).

So the win-rate of 10-5 against A-K (here B deciding that A’s hand was A-K or similar was quite a gamble; if he’s up against A-A he is a big underdog, about 85-15) is just the average of the win rate of a pocket pair against A-K and the win rate of A-x against A-K, and therefore not so bad.

Moreover, with 10c-5c B has two live cards, in contrast to A-x, where x is the only live card. Moreover, B may dislike having 22 big blinds dwindle to, say, 15 or 14 later, so he decides to put his heart and soul into this hand. Who is this player, anyway? “I’ve got a 10-5, girls and boys.” Yes it’s true, the garrulous Mike Matusow! “The Mouth!”

A calls 469k (Pot 1.124m)

Now let us observe how “The Mouth” will fare against all odds.

FLOP: Js-7c-5s

“That’s a Flop!” A Five fell, pairing Matusow!

TURN: Js-7c-5s-8d

RIVER: Js-7c-5s-8d-6d

Moving all-in can prove to be the most dangerous moments in poker. Even in free online poker it can also be the most thrilling, anyway. The all-in recharged Matusow’s stack to 45 big blinds.

This sort of unusual play can be exploited forever in any case. When Matusow believed that A has A-K or similar, he is gambling.

While most players will work a strategy where they will call with pocket pairs I doubt in this case that A will call with anything less than 10-10.

Against A-A or K-K or a higher pair, 10-5 will win only about 15% of the time, and with 10-10 to 5-5, about 25%, and with 4-4 to 2-2, nearly a coin flip.

Summing up the All-In

Take time to read and comprehend the principles behind this article. Attempt comprehend the ideas behind what’s going on with this example and look into strategies to put these lessons into your individual play.

It takes time to learn how to play poker at a level where you make money consistently.

But if (and when) you learn how to play poker well then you’ll make some good money. Why?

Simply that the vast majority of players you come up against never get to what can be termed a good level.

So you, if you can get to a good standard will do very well very easily. You don’t have to be a TV pro to make good money in poker!

The fact that most players are at such a low skill means that whenever you hunt/play them on free online poker games or low stakes sites you’ll be able to clean up.

To learn to play poker for free explore the NoPayPOKER blog, the free poker lessons here cover all levels from beginner to advanced, plus, the site itself as a free online poker site is the perfect place to practice what you learn.

How to Get Winning in Free Online Poker

This free online poker help page will teach you the fastest, easiest ways to learn how to play poker free and start winning money at poker.

First you’ll learn how to win big on NoPayPOKER, then we will graduate you onto some of the lower stakes cash tables or poker tournaments at places like Titan PartyPoker and Feltstars where you can win some pretty nice amounts of cash with no real pain (cos you will know hat you’re doing!)

If you’ve not already registered (free) for NoPayPOKER do so on this link – free online poker (opens in a new window so you won’t lose this page) simply register and then download the software, then come back here to learn what to do next.

The Problem With Free Online Poker

The biggest problem you will find with free online poker games, as a player, beginner or otherwise, who wants to learn how to play poker better and win a bit is that it is, well free.

OK so why is free poker a problem?

Well it’s the fact that in being a free online poker site NoPayPOKER.com inherently has no risk to the wealth of a player, you can’t actually deposit any money here so the chances of losing it are 0 Kelvin (absolute zero!)

The result is that a lot of players, rather than use this as a way to learn how to play poker free and witjh no risk use it as a way to go crazy and do things no player risking real money would do. They’ll go all-in preflop with a 2-7, or even all-in post flop with terrible hands post flop when it is clear that someone else ost likely will have a better hand…

In other words there are a lot of reckless “luck” players (AKA chip flingers, donks, maniacs and farm animals)

The fact then that it is free online poker with no risk of loss means that thy can play luck and now and again luck comes good which gives them the means to go on and supports their daft assumption that poker as a game is only about luck not skill.

Free Online Poker – The Good News

• There are ways and means to play around the lunacy.
• You as a player who wants to learn and play seriously can do so.
• You will learn some money as you do it too.

Best Of All

When you learn how to beat the living daylights out of the chip flingers on a regular basis you will find that not only tdo they inhabit free onoline poker sites such as NoPayPOKER, they are also presentin force on low stakes real cash tables and tournaments on cash poker sites.

• They’re there mostly due to over-optimism as a result of good marketing by said sites on all those TV ads and TV shows like WSOP and Poker After Dark.
• They think that all they have to do is copy those moves they saw on TV and they’ll win a packet.
• Your job, as a good player is to come along, find the daft player tables and fill your account with their money
  

So How To Use Free Online Poker To Get To This Point?

• Take our free poker lesson series, these can take you from being an utter beginner who does not even know a single poker hand to a level advanced enough to play pros
• …well in theory, you need to take it all in and live it to get to that point!
• However, one thing you can be sure of if you do the lessons and apply what you learn is that you can at least get to intermediate skill and that is more than enough to massacre free online poker and low stakes tables

As ever practice makes perfect and there is no substitute for game time no matter how easily the concepts may come to you so read, learn, take your time. Practice, come back again and keep going. If at first you don’t succeed and all that!

Free Online Poker Lesson Time!

Lets go then!

• Ideally load your printer and have a ring binder ready. It’s good to be able to print and read anytime.
• As it is blog format the lessons are in reverse order. So when you go to the main pages we link to here scroll down and get to earlier lessons.
• We’ve also linked to lesson 1 in each series.
• At the end of each lesson go back to the home page to locate the next one (all lesson series home pages are also linked to from the right hand page menu)

Introducing Your Teacher and Mentor: Dean Michael Vadnais

Dean Michael Vadnais is an exceptionally experienced poker pro player and mentor. He plays free online poker at NoPayPOKER as well as in numerous “real world” live games and runs real world classroom training courses and groups. His lessons are both highly detailed and amusing, I can promise you that you will have some very definite views of chip flingers” once you’re done…one thing, always be polite and don’t abuse the chip flingers, we don’t want to scare them off, they give us money!

Free Online Poker for Total Poker Beginners

If you’ve never played free online poker before, or have just a base understanding start with the Poker 101 series.

• Poker 101 Home page
• Poker 101 Lesson 1

Free Online Poker Beginner to Intermediate Progression

• Building A Bankroll Home page
• Building A Bankroll Lesson 1

Free Online Poker to Real World Poker

• World of Bricks and Mortar home page
• World of Bricks and Mortar Lesson 1

Free Online Poker – Advanced Poker

• Advanced Poker Home page
• Advanced Poker Lesson 1

Free Online Poker Success – A Summary and Final Words…For Now

As I say above, practice. It really does make perfect and there is no substitute for game time no matter how easily the concepts may come to you so read, learn, take your time. Practice, come back again and keep going. If at first you don’t succeed and all that!

Play lots and lot of free online poker here to learn what you need to learn and also have some fun. You can win some real money too whuch does spice thingsn up a bit! Even nce you progess to low or hiher than low stalkes poker it s good idea to keep some free online poker going, it’s a great way to have some fun away from the real cash stress as well as practice new ideas and techniques that you’d prefer not to risk money on.

So that’s all for this page, bookmark it so you can come back and access quickly and, most of all, as you embark on your free online poker career…good luck and see you at the tables!

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!

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