How To Play Poker For Beginners

This post is simply about how to play poker for beginners, if you are a poker beginner then read on and we’ll tell you how to learn to play Texas Holdem poker for free with NoPayPOKER.com, it’s really very easy as all you need is on this blog and the NoPayPOKER free online poker

If you have not already done so flip over to the NoPayPOKER home page and join up.

So How To Play Poker For Beginners?

We’ll assume no prior knowledge of poker.

Start with the Poker 101 Primer by poker pro and mentor D M Vadnais.

Part 1- An Introduction to NoPayPOKER teaches you about the free online poker site that is NoPay. Be sure to understand the bits on how to play on the site. This sin’t so much about how to play poker at this stage but you do need to know some base rules so that you’ll fit in.

Part 2 - Now we’ll get into the basic rules of poker:  how the poker table is arranged, the order cards are given out, what the basic card hands and game stages are called – stuff like pocket cards, flop, turn, river, small and big blinds. How chips work and how poker tournaments work. Words and concepts that mean nothing if you just go into a poker game with no prior knowledge.

Also check out the - How to play poker for beginners practice game

Part 3 – In our poker beginners guide part 3 we continue the basic rules of poker guide with how the game processes work after the cards are dealt. What betting is, calling, folding and raising for example. Then “seeing the flop” and “post flop betting” then “the Turn” or ”4th Street and finally “the River”.

Part 4 of How to Play Poker for Beginners is a favourite, in this chapter you’ll learn all about the names of the different cards and hands.  Get ready to learn about bullets, knaves, fat ladys, dimes, route 66, pocket rockets and swans, Maverick or Oedipus, Marriage (if suited) or Mixed Marriage (if not suited) and many more!

In Part 5 of beginners poker you will learn what hands beats what in poker, rather important this one! There is a hierarchy of 10 in texas holdem, so if you don’t know your Straight Flush from your Straight and which one is best then be sure to read this chapter.

In the 6th and final part of the poker beginners course we sum up. You can now go and try some free online poker games on NoPayPOKER. We also advise that you make time to read through the next stage which is the awesome “Building a Bankroll! course. This one takes you from beginner to a level where you will beat anyone who has not read it “hands down” dare we say!

So there you have it, the NoPayPOKER How To Play Poker For Beginners course, free, easy and, once you know it fun…because now you can go play free online pokerat NoPayPOKER and win some FreeD.

Whether you just play free poker with us at NoPayPOKER or play with house sized buy-ins in Monaco the Set is one of the hardest poker hands of all to read.

It consists of a pocket pair and one of the Board cards with the same rank as the pocket pair.

For example, if you have 5-5 and the Board reads 5-4-10-J-K, you have a Set of Fives.

Sets are unreadable because most players are accustomed to reading (a) two different hole cards, (b) high cards or overpairs, (c) draws that complete the Board, or (d) cards anyway related to the Board cards.

Given that your hand reading habits usually are a combination of limiting possible hands to the given characteristics, how would you put someone on 5-5 or 4-4 when it is much easier for you to put him on A-K (for top pair, best kicker), A-Q (for a made Straight), or K-10 or 5-4 (for Two-Pair), or even A-A (a high pair)?

Sometimes you may even put him on one Five, say, 6-5. But on two Fives or two Fours? These are why Sets are very potent in Boards which have no Straight or Flush potential.

However, suppose in a Flop of Q-7-2 with no Straight or Flush possibilities, you have 2-2.

• You check (hoping to trap him), the other player bets.
• You raise all in then he immediately calls and reveals Q-Q.
• You thought your opponent had A-Q or K-Q.
• How is this possible? It’s possible. Even in this spot you are more susceptible.

Because there are no Straight or Flush potentials your opponent will fold cards that didn’t fit into the Board cards. If you read hands according to the criteria above, you might put your opponent on A-Q, K-Q, or even Q-7 (can you go as far as 7-2?!).

Here because you are the one who moved all-in, the outcome of the hand is not fully on your control; it’s up to whether your opponent calls or not.

But suppose the situation is reversed. The player with the Q-Q checks, you bet, then the response is a raise all-in. What would you do?

When you are slammed in a situation like this (which usually occurs on the Flop) on a cash game, take it as it is. Pay him off. Some other time you will have the Q-Q, some other player will have the 2-2, and you will be paid off.

But in a tournament, you have plenty of givens to consider (and you might want to consider these even in an ordinary cash game).

• Compare your stack sizes relative to each other.
• If the difference is great, expect one of you to put his chips in the middle.
• A Set may be the best hand both of you can have to get a double-up.
• If you have the smaller Set get eliminated, attribute it to bad luck.

However, assuming both of you have stacks above chip average, and you are put to a decision costing you all or almost all your chips. You have 2-2. You are not likely to be blinded out in a few hands.

You might want to reason out:

• I have a Set.
• He raised me enough to put me all-in, or almost.
• He might do it with Q-7, (and whether your opponent had Q-7 or not will depend on what happened preflop.
• If no raise occurred it might be with Q-7, and you can safely call.
• Whether your opponent had 7-7 or not can also come under similar scrutiny) or if there is a raise, it might be with A-Q.

Now, top pair, top kicker is a weak hand to risk an above-average stack. And there is no Straight and Flush incoming, so the all-in could be made only with an exceptionally strong hand.

It might also be with A-A or with K-K (most probably it is) but it might also be just with Q-Q.

If I put him on those three hands, there is a 2/3 chance I’m right, but a 1/3 chance of wrong, and when I’m wrong I will be busted. So I’ll fold.

If you have the middle Set (Set of Sevens), the same analysis may also apply. But you will be much safer because there is only one Set to kill you instead of the two a possible Sets a while ago.

If you have the Set of Queens, enjoy! The above analysis is agonizing and painstaking, especially when it all amounts to giving up one of the most cherished hands in Hold’Em.

Summing up Reading Sets

It takes some time to learn how to read hands, it’s not something the unthinking donk “chip flingers” seen on many free poker tables even consider. 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 is a lot more fun!

I think it’s crazy that so many people play with so little skill and almost revel in the fact! But this is also very good news for you as one of the few who is learning to play well. The reason why is that when you really learn how to play poker well you can go mercenary and hunt the “fun donks” down in low stakes real money games as well as %LINK2% sites that pay out real money while you happily build your skills and bankroll!

As ever practice makes perfect so read, understand and play free poker at NoPayPOKER to learn to play poker online free and get your skills finely honed before going onward and kicking some ass.

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