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.

In this short free online poker tips article I’m looking at some basics areas that all players, new and maybe old, need to be very aware of – the oft overlooked importance of your table name and then some fundamental tips on how to play smart in order to cut into probability and minimize “bad luck”

First : Your name

• The user name is the first “indication” or tell that you give to your opponents when you arrive at the table. In the online game unlike the real game there is a lot less to go on and your user name can be one of them if you choose unwisely.
• Remember – the point is to win. So do not be a pseudo aggressive or too “nice.” These are nicknames that you remember easily and regulars will note you.
• Be like a spy – they grey man as they say. Go for a meaningless name that will not stand out. Aim to stay as anonymous as possible on a poker table. Only silly boys call themselves things like psychopokerman or all-in-maniac etc!

Second : play smart on table position, playable cards and who you play against.

• Learn about table position and how it affects the cards you should play. See our free online poker training lesson Building a bankroll lesson 2 for details on table position and playable pocket cards.
• Observe and record clues about the players you come into regular contact with – the good AND the bad.
• This can help you in games and also to choose tables to play at when you see how is seated already. See a table full of weak players….get in there! A table full of good players – avoid!
• On this note, if the poker site you’re at allows you to see other player statistics then this can save you a lot of time in figuring who you should and should not go up against.

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.

In Texas Hold’em real money and free online poker games intermediate connectors such as 8,7 and 7,5 are played as they are the best hands with which you can hit a Straight with. With 8-7, you can form four Straights (three of them nuts), and with 7-5 you can form three Straights (two of them nuts). In this free online poker coaching article we’ll look at ways to play these hands.

Intermediate connectors are not played as strongly when they Pair. For example, if you have 8-7 and the Flop comes K-7-2, you can be justifiably concerned with the King and you can fold.

It is also likely that you can flop Two-Pair. With 8-7 and a Flop of 8-7-A, you can get a person with A-K in trouble.

If both of you continue until the end, and your opponent’s hand doesn’t improve, he will slow it down trying to show it down. If he improves, you will know if he bets, and you can just pay him off. He can pair his kicker or not, and whether he does, you still have a good showdown hand.

The best play (in your interest) is for your opponent to call all-in or move all-in on the Flop (during tournaments). However, this is only so if the difference in chips between you and your all-in opponent is great. If you have almost the same amount of chips, your 8-7 may not be good enough because your opponent may be willing only to call you with something like A-8 or, worse, 7-7.

Or he may call you with A-K and suckout when he pairs his Ace, his kicker, or when, say, a Ten hits the Turn, and another Ten hits the river then his Two-Pair is better. If one stack is small and the other large, and you have the small stack then you have a good hand someone holding an A-K may be willing to call. If you have the large stack, your all-in opponent may be desperate for a call with his A-x (without Two-Pair) until he knows you have him steamrollered.

Usually you continue playing Two-Pair until you hit a Full House. With that hand, play it as if you would play a made five-card hand – value betting, pretending to bluff, slow-playing (pick your choice). However, if the Board comes 8-7-5, you might be willing to play it more slowly because if the Board comes Four, Six or Nine, your Two-Pair may be almost unplayable.

During the Flop, bet substantially to push a Straight draw out. If your opponent calls, it may signify a Straight draw. If your opponent moves all-in or pushes you all-in, then call – or not call.

You are still the favorite over a Straight draw. You can also hit a Full House later. But also you can choose not to call because your opponent may have a made Straight. In an 8-7-5 board, the possibility of a Flopped Straight is quite low because players do not play 9-6 or 6-4 that much.

But you should be careful in a Board of 8-7-J or 8-7-4, because their connectors are consecutive numbers, i.e. 10-9 and 6-5, and players, especially experienced ones, play these more often.

However, even if the Board comes something like 8-7-4-5-Q, as long as you are sure, or even half-sure, that your opponent doesn’t have the Six, bet a small bet on the river. If your opponent has 9-8 or Q-x, you may be paid off.

If your opponent had the Six, you may be pushed, but you can fold without losing much. The thing is, you should maintain your aggression most of the time as part of your image, and you can do this by value-betting. If your opponent didn’t have the Six, he may think that you had the Six, and he may fold, too.

And finally, here is an addendum to our earlier example. If you have 8-7 and the Flop comes K-7-2, you can fold. But you can also call a bet – you hope that your opponent had A-K – and if an Eight comes and you bet big, how will your opponent know you had another Eight in the hole? So long as you feel your opponent doesn’t have K-8 or K-7 (not likely) both of you can get it all-in on the Turn – and you’ll emerge almost a winner.

This is a fairly complex subject so if you’re not quite getting it then go play free poker at NoPay to learn it the only real way possible which is to do it for real but learn to play poker free so that any mistakes you make don’t cost you anything apart from time.

We are very exited to announce that free online pokerNoPay resident pro D M Vadnais who is the master of the pen as well as the cards is putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) again to produce a new and exclusive poker lesson series for NoPayPOKER members.

Given the addition of the many relationships established between us here at free online poker NoPayPOKER and ’real money’ online poker sites such as PartyPoker, Feltstars and Titan we have asked our Resident Professional, D. Michael Vadnais, to develop a series of Articles on ‘How To’ successfully play in the ‘Real Money’ games.

Many players start out on NoPay in order to learn how to play poker in safety, at no risk of loss. After gaining confidence and skill the next step is to play real cash poker on one of the many online poker money sites. There are however some differences between online free poker and the cash game and this series is intended to guide free players though the change so that they can make the transition to cash poker as smoothly and profitably as possible. 

The new series of Articles will be posted exclusively at NoPayPoker. There will be a total of seven (7) Articles, and a new Article will be available to NoPay members each month. All of the Articles will be ‘tutorials’; designed to make you a ‘Real Money’ winner at online poker money sites.

The first Article will be posted in April of 2011, and the last Article will be posted in October of 2011. So, look for the individual Articles at the beginning of April, May, June, July, August, September, and October. And, if you’ve put NoPayPoker winnings into one or more of the Internet Gaming Sites, read — learn — and win big !!!!

The following list, and a brief content summary, identifies each of the 7 Articles:

Article 1: HOPE FOR THE VERY BEST; EXPECT THE WORST

• The ‘rule of 80′; it’s a world of age-grouped players
• Constant change; new players come and go
• Quality of play; stakes and levels often equate
• Farm animals; the pasture dwellers are everywhere

• Patience; 50% of your poker talent resides here
• Collusion; your eyes won’t lie, and players do cheat
• RNG’s; not all random number generators are equal
• Bots; they exist, they win, and they can be identified 

• Your bankroll; the ‘rule of 5′, never more than 5 percent
• Your emotions; no highs, no lows, nothing but a constant
• Your cash; know your risk tolerance, it’s not fake money
• Your mind set; positive for playing, negative for gardening

• Ace/paint; formidable, playable, and usually profitable
• Paint/paint; not early, sometimes middle, and often late
• Pocket pairs; set-mining, JJ problems, and the big three
• Suited ace; seeking the nut flush or the competitive straight

• Know the competition; stay focused, and compile notes
• Between 2 & 17 outs; identify your outs, identify the board’s outs
• Pot odds/implied odds; fast-tracking arithmetic calculations
• Defense wins money; the current ‘nuts’ is worth defending

• Suited connectors; a family pot generates your interest
• Soft 3x and hard 3x; don’t permit a read on your style
• Late position aggression; limpers can fill your wallet
• Slow-playing big hands; getting fed by the farm animals

• Finish the puzzle; the pieces are present, assemble them
• Always an ‘A’ game; earn the money, gifts are fairly rare
• Make the $ yours; maintain a bankroll, pocket the profits
• The B & M journey; if you’re ready, brick & mortar is nearby

Free poker players looking to learn how to play poker like a pro should also read D M Vadnais’s other superb lesson series, they in depth series are intended to take a player from abject beginner to advanced skill level and can be read now on the NoPayPOKER blog.  See all the NoPayPOKER lessons at this table of lesson contents Learn How to Play Poker page