Sorry to have taken so long with this, after all the Thanksgiving freeroll, part 2 in the vacation freeroll series plays tomorrow (Starts at 8pm GMT, 3pm EST, 12pm WST  The password is holidays.)

Without further ado then:

Holiday $2000 Halloween Freeroll

Total 290 participants played!

Final Positions

• seacrittur 1 
• elvisd 2 
• rudski1971 3 

Remember, the player with the top overall position in all 4 holiday games wins an extra $50, so go for it – and you 3 op players, well done, you’re in the early lead

Register on NoPayPOKER now for the Thanksgiving free online poker Freeroll game which starts at 8pm GMT, 3pm EST, 12pm WST  The password is holidays.  

It’s the second of our 4 holiday freerolls, this one has a pot of $3000 FreeD. After this there are 2 more - Christmas and New Year.

If you play in all 4 “Holiday” tournaments and get the best overall finishing positions then you will win, on top of whatever else you get a bonus $50 USD/$10,000 FreeD

You must play all four tournaments to compete for the best overall position bonus

> Holiday $2000 Halloween Freeroll – 31st Oct 2011 – Played
> Holiday $3000 Thanksgiving Freeroll – 24th Nov 2011
> Holiday $4000 Christmas Freeroll – 25th Dec 2011
> Holiday $5000 New Year Freeroll – 1st Jan 2012

Go open up the NoPayPOKER games software now and register for this great fun freeroll game right now!

And if you are not a NoPayPOKER.com member go to the free online poker home page to download the free poker software right now, you can play right away, no complications or deposits of any of that guff to worry bout as it is all (did we mention this before FREE!

NoPayPOKER.com – Play free online poker games today!

This article is a guide to the best free online poker tools and resources. You might have used some of them or maybe not but all of them are well worth checking out.

Since these sites are forums you can also ask questions and get, at times, useful advice for free though keep in mind that such advice is often an opinion so take with some salt!

To find both of them just go to Google and put the names in and they will both appear right away.

Pokenum, is a poker hand analyzer that is excellent for determining the win percent of your opponents hands against yours. And they have a really nice feature where you can add cards to the table to see how they affect hand strength in relation to other hands.

And here’s one you probably haven’t heard of; The university of Albertas computer poker research group. Here, if you are into math and c programming you can find the Open Poker Variance Analysis Tool (PVAT) toolset which can be used to design your own self-owned poker simulation, not for the faint hearted but great if this is your thing. You’ll also find more publications and resources here, it is an ideal pitstop for the academic poker player.

Chessandpokerdotcom is another excellent resource site. There are strategy guides for hundreds of games including an excellent holdem limit strategy guide. Perfect for beginners and intermediates.

Or how about the original home of online poker, IRC poker? IRC poker is poker played over the IRC chat protocol and was the way poker was played online in the early days of the Internet.

Pokernews.com has a forum section where you can ask any poker questions. There are a lot of skilled online poker players both questioning and responding to questions there and a lot of answers come from professional online poker players so you can be certain you’re benefiting from real helpful advice.

Not forgetting of course free online poker game sites such as our very own NoPayPOKER.com where you can ask poker questions in the lobby on better poker tactics. Plus the NoPay blog has a big free poker training library with training lessons for beginner upwards.

Free online poker video

The core problem most of these “experts” have is that they think poker is a game that can be mastered quickly with application of a few tricks and tips. Not so I’m afraid, poker is not a standard model game that can be “solved” there are simply too many variables involved to allow any one system of play to accurately lay out the best way to beat every opponent every time.

The fact is that no one opponent plays the same. To win a lot you must consistently keep up to date on the way standard games work and how the flow of play is working.

The perfect illustration of that is to consider the tournament arena ten years ago versus the tourneys of today. A decade ago, if you stole more blinds than the competition, you had been nearly likely to win money.

In today’s game, players continuously raise and reraise. Due to this, you need to settle back a little more and bide time until these over ambitious opponents give their cash to you.

I strongly feel the easiest way to learn about poker is to watch videos of the most effective players playing the game you need to understand more about.

To get you going here is a very good and really truly free poker coaching videos.

When you are learning tournaments, there is absolutely no point in observing cash game videos. Additionally, you must take note of the way good players play and behave.

You should not only try to emulate these players but also try to figure out an appropriate counter strategy to defeat these great players.

The most important thing in poker is to be flexible. Even though you had a good tactic to beat the games two years ago it does not promise you will be able to defeat the games of today.

If you continually look at and study the action, you will get great results in your future.

If you need to learn how to play poker and take your game to another level make a start by looking at this free poker training videos here.

Here at NoPayPOKER as you know we’re all about free online poker, you the players don’t deposit any money and there is no risk of loss (apart from your time and maybe sanity However when real money gets involved the water gets a lot more muddy and countless debates have occurred discussing whether or not the internet game is as fair as playing in a live setting. Let’s take a look at the evidence.

The Debate

Over the years, public opinion has varied greatly about the integrity of online poker. Conspiracy theories have include the ‘cash-out curse’ to pot-juicing by individual poker sites to create action and generate more rake. Some players believe that if they count to ten before going all-in they’re less likely to lose.

Most of the live grinders at the Vic card room in London believe that only spies, crooks and the mentally unhinged actually play poker online for money…is this fair?

In reality, online poker is facing tough times. Black Friday and the ongoing saga surrounding Full Tilt Poker have thrown the game of online poker into disrepute. For a company of such stature to fall from grace so dramatically was almost inconceivable, yet it happened and the skeptics’ knives are out.

The Method

For most online poker players, bad beats and downswings are part of the game. The ‘rigged’ theory is simply a by-product of variance.

There may be light at the end of the tunnel for the doubters though, as one site is attempting to answer the age old debate.

The team at Online Poker Watchdog has run a series of tests over millions of hands at leading online poker sites to determine whether there is statistical proof of ‘rigging’ or unfair practice. The website claims to be an independent statistical auditor, solely focused on maximizing the integrity of the game.

PokerStars, PartyPoker and the OnGame network are the three poker operators surveyed so far.

The investigation consisted of two tests and was fairly straightforward and similar in all three cases.

1) Firstly, over a million hands were uploaded into a database and were compared by expected number of hands won in comparison with the actual number of hands that won.

2) The second test segregated hands that were ahead pre-flop and hands that were behind pre-flop and a comparison was executed.

The Results

PokerStars analysis focused on a sample of 1 million downloaded hands and 69,663 pre-flop all-ins from Sit n Go tournaments. Actual expectation would suggest that 35,748 of these hands would win. In reality, 35,850 of these hands won, meaning an actual deviation of +102. For those of you without a degree in mathematics, this is very close to normal. When comparing pre-flop all-ins when ahead and behind, the statistics again proved to be close to normal.

PartyPoker research looked at a sample of 1.26 million hands, breaking down 11,984 hands from $50NL full ring cash game tables.

• Actual expectation predicted that 6,267 of these hands would win.
• In reality, 6,198.5 hands won, meaning an actual deviation of -68.
• A pre-flop all-in comparison again proved to be very close to normal.

PartyPoker are a NoPayPOKER partner site. See HERE for details of how to cash up your NoPayPOKER FreeD for game funds to play for money on PartyPoker

OnGame’s investigation studied a sample of 1.42 million hands, looking at 12,306 hands from $30NL short handed cash game tables. Actual expectation assumed that 6,457 would win. In reality, 6,454.5 hands won leaving an actual deviation of -2.5. The pre-flop all-in comparison unsurprisingly proved to be close to normal.

The Verdict

The stats from Online Poker Watchdog are clinical to say the least.

All three operators show no signs of foul play in their respective analysis.

While most players will have never really believed that the online game was rigged in any way, hopefully these stats go some way to proving it.

While the legal situation regarding online poker may be unclear in some countries, it’s warming news to see that game integrity at the big operators is intact and well.

Want to know how to play online poker for money? How to avoid the cheats and scams, select the right game and when you get there how to play to win? See NoPayPOKERs awesome new free online poker training course on how to move from free poker games to cash games online and clean up.

Today my poker free online games training article is about passive and aggressive play, specifically I’m looking at when and why one style is preferable to the other. To do this I’m looking at a real life hand played out in a pro game to try and illustrate the factors involved and things you need to consider in regard to your playing style profile.

The basis
Aggressive players are characterised by their frequent use of raises and bets. Passive players call bets and raises. To be passive, which is essentially to be cautious, can be a good way to play in major tournaments such as the WSOP where, for example, a J-10 in a flop of 10-8-4 is decent enough for playing with middle of the road care. You’d play such a hand possibly by check-calling or placing only small bets with an aim of value-betting at the end if the table if it looks safe enough. But being too passive, as in this example, can lead to destruction.

Blinds – 3000/6000

Preflop:

A has As-Ah raise to 16k
B has Ks-Qs call 16k (Pot 50k)

Since B has a position over A and his K-Q is suited, he can afford a call. In the meantime A plays his pocket A’s like any other raising the hand in middle position to confuse B. If A only called his Aces it could make B think he has A-A and result in B calling or folding later should A give away more strength signals.

The Flop: 7s-2d-Qh

A bets 23k
N now calls with 23k – the pot stands at 96k

A’s gets are based mainly on the pure value of the Aces rather than the possible value of B’s hand. With three undercards falling (and the likely possibility of the Queen pairing someone, especially a caller from late position) his Aces are secure, provided that no face card falls later, because it may pair the kicker of the one holding a Queen. B too thinks his Queens hold value though he knows not enough should a King or Ace fall – an option now is to put A on a bluff with Ax or Kx, so he just calls.

TURN: 7s-2d-Qh-8d

A bets 55k
B calls 55k (Pot 206k)

A does again what he did on the Flop, and thinks likewise. B also stays the same. As there are no draws on the Flop (both may think a backdoor Flush unlikely) and his Aces still all undercarded A keeps on hammering B aggressively and B stays hammered in passive mode.

RIVER: 7s-2d-Qh-8d-blank

Now A bets 121k making the pot 372k
This bet forces B all in. Because all cards are undercards to A’s Aces, and all other board cards are undercards to B’s Queens, A thinks B now has a Queen which he may be willing to be suicidal with. So A does not slow down as most players do (even with Aces most players think that it is still just one pair, so they may check only, or if they feel their Aces are good, then they may try to check-raise) and instead pushes B all-in.

B still thinks his Queens are strong enough which is why he has come as far as the river. Then he plays the textbook maneuver. Could it be that he is up against A-Q? Unlikely he thinks so…

B moves all in on 121k

A aggressively hammered at B all the way from preflop to the post river all in death and B just kept accepting the hammering. A did not give B a chance to react gracefully. B just call-called all the way to his chip death.

It could be that B sensed As unusual strength since he just called all the time. If he did, then he should have trusted his read in the river. The Flop and the Turn bets may be offering cheap spots for him to call, so that even if he knows he’s beat at that point, he can still draw, but the river bet – enough to finish his tournament life – isn’t.

So, yes aren’t there a lot of things to think about in this hand, and of course the same it true for most poker hands. One point to be clear on is that there isn’t a right and wrong way, you should not play aggressive or passive all the time, in order to be great at poker you have to be able to play both ways and all the ways in between and adapt as you go along.

Ok that is easier to say than do I accept, so the next advice is that practice perfects the art. And a very good way to practice what this free online poker coaching article is demonstrating is to play free poker practice games but not with real money on our very own NoPayPOKER.com where you can practice your poker skills with zero risk of money loss (it is also US legal) and then when ready try your hand for real cash.

The Blinds

Preflop

Because B has position over A (and because his K-Q is suited) B can afford a call. In the meantime A plays his pocket A’s like any other raising the hand in middle position to confuse B. If A only called his Aces it could make B think he has A-A and result in B calling or folding later should A give away more strength signals.

The Flop: 7s-2d-Qh

A bets 23k
B calls 23k (Pot 96k)

A’s gets are based mainly on the pure value of the Aces rather than the possible value of B’s hand. His Aces are most likely secure now due to 3 undercards falling and the probable pairing of the Queen with a caller in late position, that is just so long as no face card falls later on as that could result in a paired kicker to the one holding a Queen. B also believes that his Queens have value, but not strong enough if a King or Ace falls – he may put A on a bluff with A-x or K-x – so he just calls.

The Turn: 7s-2d-Qh-8d

Now A bets with 55k
B responds by calling with 55k making the pot 206k

A does again what he did on the Flop, and thinks likewise. B also thinks likewise. As there are no draws on the Flop (both may think a backdoor Flush unlikely) and his Aces still all undercarded A keeps on hammering B aggressively and B stays hammered in passive mode.

RIVER: 7s-2d-Qh-8d-blank

A bets 121k (Pot 372k)

This bet forces B all in. Because all cards are undercards to A’s Aces, and all other board cards are undercards to B’s Queens, A thinks B now has a Queen which he may be willing to be suicidal with. So A keep the aggression going where a lot of players might slow down given that the Aces are only just a pair and so may check to stay safer or check-raise if they feel their Aces are decent, A however pushes B all the way to all in.

B still thinks his Queens are strong enough which is why he has come as far as the river. Then he does the orthodox maneuver. Could it be that he is up against A-Q? Not likely, so

B moves all in on 121k

A aggressively hammered at B all the way from preflop to the post river all in death and B just kept accepting the hammering. A did not give B a chance to react gracefully. B played passive in response to the aggression and called all the way to his all in destruction.

It could be that B sensed As unusual strength since he just called all the time. But if so he should have trusted his senses once the river was reached and bowed out. The bets at Flop and Turn bets might offer cheap call spots and even if he thinks he is beaten then he can still draw, but by the river stage bet is not cheap and is enough to finish him off.

As you can see there are a lot of factors involved in this hand, the same goes for most poker hands. One point to be clear on is that there isn’t a right and wrong way, you should not play aggressive or passive all the time, in order to be great at poker you have to be able to play both ways and all the ways in between and adapt as you go along.

Bang, bang, bang…10 bangs, 10 more nails in the coffin of the US online gaming industry went in Monday 23rd.

But we hasten to your free online poker games at NoPayPOKER are USA poker legal and NOT at risk due to the fact that NoPay does not and in fact cannot accept any money deposits…money laundering, lol, chance’d be a fine thing! So to all you US poker players out there, come play with us, OK you may not make big bucks but at least you can play poker online free and at no risk.

2 online casino businesses, Thrill X and BMX Entertainment have been indicted with conducting an illegal gambling business and money laundering.

These 10 domain names were seized:
Bookmaker.com, 2Betsdi.com, Funtimebingo.com, Goldenarchcasino.com, Truepoker.com, Betmaker.com, Betgrandesports.com, Doylesroom.com, Betehorse.com and Beted.com.

When you go to any of them you’ll get a banner saying that the domain name has been seized by order of the court.

From the official Department of Justice press release: Core issue is in blue

Internet gambling operators rely upon the U.S. banking system, and more specifically, money-processing business generally called “payment processors,” to facilitate the movement of funds to and from their customers, the gamblers. Typically, an internet gambling operator directs the payment processor to collect funds from individual gamblers which are used to wager with the gambling organization. Those gambling proceeds are transferred to an offshore foreign bank. The internet gambling operator then sends a check or wire transfer from an offshore bank to the payment processor, directing the payment processor to distribute the money to gamblers for their winnings.

The affidavit filed in support of the seizure warrants alleges that Homeland Security Investigations in Baltimore, Maryland opened an undercover payment processor business, called Linwood Payment Solutions. Linwood allowed undercover agents to gain person-to-person contact with top managers of gambling organizations to discuss the Internet gambling business, to negotiate contracts and terms of the processing, and to handle the intricate movement and processing of collection and payment data from the gambling organizations to the banks.

The affidavit alleges that on November 12, 2009, a Maryland-based online gambler and cooperating informant confirmed that he/she frequented gambling sites, opened accounts and gambled in Maryland. The gambler agreed to set up online gambling accounts and was provided $500 to place bets on gambling websites. The gambler created an account on a BetEd website and placed several bets. On March 30, 2010, BetEd used Linwood to wire transfer $100 in winnings to the gambler’s bank account.

Linwood allegedly processed gambling transactions since 2009 for BetEd, K23 and other gambling organizations using banks located in Guam and Charlotte, North Carolina. According to the affidavit, between December 2009 and January 2011, Linwood processed over 300,000 transactions worth more than $33 million, including transactions for individuals in Maryland. Between February 2010 and March 2011 alone, BetEd directed Linwood to wire transfer over $2.5 million of collected gambling proceeds to bank accounts in Panama; and between February 2011 and April 2011, K23 directed Linwood to wire transfer over $91,000 of gambling proceeds to bank accounts in Portugal and Malta.

These indictments are seeking the forfeiture of the bank accounts used to process the gambling transactions, along with the domain names of websites used by the defendants.

The defendants in this case face a maximum sentence of five years for operating an illegal gambling business and a maximum of 20 years in prison for money laundering. As of the time of this story, a court appearance has not been scheduled.

–END–

NoPayPOKER as we say is immune to this nonsense but we do think it’s sad and motivated more by special interests that any notion of  “defending the public” from the oh so vicious and evil online gambling dons…after all if it were just about gambling (the evil of) can someone please explain Vegas?

So to you players from the USA, our assurance that you can continue to enjoy free poker games with us – and to all other members, no need to worry that the games will stop…only dodgy servers do that

It seems that for US based poker players the concept of risk free poker online is now more than just not risking losing money when playing poker.

Indeed, with the shocking closures of top US online poker sites Full Tilt, Pokerstars and Absolute Poker for “fraud and money laundering” risk free poker has now come to mean not having your money frozen by the feds as “evidence“ – To  make a gross understatement, we live in interesting times.

This poker player would have hoped that what with all that is going on in the world and the state of the economy that they’d have had better things to do than this…not to mention, while on the subject of fraud and money laundering…all those bankers who got away with losing billions on dodgy scams in 2008-9…anyway, enough of that axe sharpening and on with the story.

So yes, the shutdown of Full Tilt, Pokerstars and Absolute Poker by the FBI, on the supposed grounds of fraud and money laundering has effectively shut down the US online poker industry. Yes you can still find sites but for the time being do you really want to deposit possibly thousands of Dollars with a site that might get closed down tomorrow?

As a result thousands of US based online poker players are questioning if it is safe to play any sort of online poker.

While it is too early to be certain it seems that this move represents the next step in the US legal systems online gaming restriction effort and those sites still operating under any sort of cash model be in deposit or subscription are now urgently reviewing their legal status and options as players withdraw their funds in case they too are frozen.

So is it safe for US players tio go back into the water?

Yes – at NoPayPOKER it is and it seems the players agree as since the shutdowns daily new member sign ups have tripled.

With a 100% USA legal poker business model NoPayPOKER is immune to the vagaries of the US online gaming laws and we hope to welcome many more disenfranchised USA players.

Before the moaners start – yes we know you can’t win so much here – but you can win a bit of real money at no risk (no risk of ANY type),  hell that’s why we won’t get shut down, and oh, while you can’t win so much you can lose absoluetly NOTHINGas you cannot deposit even a cent with NoPay.

All our revenue comes from you guys doing ads and offers which in turn fuels the FreeD payouts (so get clicking on them offers please, it means more FreeD to go round)

In addition, you can, if you so wish/risk, convert your FreeD into money to use on one of our partner money poker sites (Feltstars still operate cash poker for US citizens) and non US members have yet more options open with Titan Poker and PartyPoker.

Though to be frank what we suggest above all is to use NopayPOKER as a place to learn how to play poker online really well and use it as a springboard into the world of real live poker games where you won’t get beaten up by all the cheats you find on money sites (the colluders, bots and RNG squad)

Indeed, many top online US pros have already been quoted as saying they will now be looking to play live poker instead.

And to help you with that, on this very blog you can access a vast range of free online poker coaching, training and educational lessons designed to teach beginners how to play poker and more experienced players how to stop losing! There is even a whole course on playing live poker in real world card rooms and casinos, check it out today!

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