Basically, a poker bet is a declaration that either:

A) You have a strong hand and will put money on it. Or, B) You have a weak hand and will fold if you are forced to wager on it.

Poker theory says that players should bet if they have a strong hand. Players who don’t have good hands are supposed to fold. Of course, if it was this simple, there would be no need for this article and most players play contrary to this idea, attempting to be a cunning player.

But don’t try to be too clever when you still learning poker. Your betting strategy should be built upon this simple idea, but you must know when to stray and bet in situations when you otherwise wouldn’t.

Here are some poker bet tactics you should start learning in order to improve your game:

Stealing Blinds
When you are in the dealer’s position, and only you and the blinds remain in the game, a raise is often called “blind-stealing”. This is because the blinds may fold, whereas if you didn’t raise but simply called, the blinds would simply check. It is an easy way to make a quick win but is not a big cash winning play. It’s more of a way to end the game fast and have a new hand dealt with more players.

The steal-raise
A Steal Raise is where you’re last to act and the other players have all checked to you, you bet to limit the number of players or scoop the pot. Do not use it all the time else good players will notice and check raise against your (probably) weak hand. The Steal Raise is good when you have an good draw hand like a nut flush draw. Players tend to check to the raiser. Should you draw to your hand, you get a bigger pot to win. If you do not you can choose to check and hope the river card completes your hand.

The check-raise
This is where you check to an opponent with the aim of getting them to bet so that you can raise them back. Your hope to give them a false sense of security so you increase the pot size by your raise.

The opener
Reckless and often done by people who bluff. It is when the first player raises and so forces all other players to call 2 bets at once. Its intention is to limit the number of players. Essentially it is a reverse steal-raise. It will force a lot of folds but those left in are going to be aggressive or have a strong hand. The Opener is also known as betting for information. This type of bet is best used when there are not many players in the hand.

Squeezing
Squeezing is a tactic only used in a short-handed game. It’s betting when you have a good hand currently, and you suspect another player or players may be on a draw. You may, for example, have a top pair with best kicker. Most likely they will not make their draw. So your aim is to reduce their pot odds.

The above examples are really just examples of bets. If you are playing no limit or pot limit hold em, the whole thinking behind betting changes.

When you’re dealt Aces, Kings, or AK suited, you can raise and even re-raise before the flop, no matter your position.

A pair of queens or jacks you have to be a bit more careful with, but the chances are still huge that you are top hand before the flop. Raise and drive out the draw hands, if there are no raises in front of you.

If you have good cards such as paint suited, aim to raise from mid or late position if nobody else has raised before you. If you raise in middle position and someone in late position re-raises, be careful.

If they’re a strong player they probably have you beat in card strength unless they’re bluffing to try and take the blinds and antes.

I hope this free online poker games guide to poker bets lesson was useful, for many more lessons and to play free poker online games against real people go see NoPayPOKER.com

Before we get into that we must understand the term “hand range” which means “the range of hands it’s possible for my opponent to have”.

Understanding ranges is the most important SKILL a poker player has.

Lets say an opposing player is super tight and make a big reraise preflop. An example range for them to have is (QQ,KK,AA). You know they must have one of these hands, though not which one exactly.

When writing a range, though, don’t write out every possible hand in the range. QQ, KK, AA we shorten to QQ+, i.e., pocket pairs QQ and higher.

KT, KJ, KQ offsuit would be written KTo+ to mean offsuit king KT or better. Offsuit is designated “o” and suited with an “s”, so, K8o+ is any offsuit king K8 or above.

Playable hole cards

First there are 3 variables to consider

1) What has happened before your turn
2) Our table position
3) Our opponents’ tendencies

Number 1 is self explanatory. For example, you fold your pocket 9s if there has been a raise, 3 bet or 4 bet before your go. Basically just understand that when your opponents open you need to be tighter.

Table Position –
The closer to the butotn you are the wider your options for opening..

1) There is a lower chance of other players getting a playable hand and better chance of folds as there are fewer players left to act after you.

2) You get position on your opponents postflop. You have much more information that you can act on when you’re on the button as they have to act before you and so supply you with info. You get to see their reaction to the flop if they play it while they do not know anything about you.

Opponents’ habits examples –
> If the big blind is going allin every hand, don’t open wide from the button as you’ll have to fold to his shove with weaker holdings.
> Loosen up if the players still to act are tight, it gives you a better chance of stealing the blinds.

If the players behind us are loose and aggressive, make 2 adjustments.
> Tighten up.
> Play more high card hands and less suited connector hands.

Against loose aggressive opponents you can play hands like KJo, flop top pair, and move All in OK. But with lesser hands such as 87s if you miss and continue bet the flop asggression may result and few folds. So high-card hands go up in value while middle connectors go down.

Of course, some hands we’ll almost always play (JJ+, AQ+ for example). Some hands we’ll never play like 52o, but for tons of others the answer is “it depends on the situation”.

Generally:
- Play tight early position, looser late position
- Preflop, play looser against tight players and tighter against loose.
- Preflop play looser against passive players and tighter against aggressive.
- Play tighter if there has been action before you
- Almost always play premiums, almost never play trash

Here are some examples to illustrate.

- UTG (1st position) 10 hand example range: (TT+, AQo+, AJs+)
- Button range vs tight blinds: (22+, A2o+, A2s+, K6o+, K5s+, Q9o+, Q8s+, JTo, JTs, T9s, 98s, 87s, 76s)
- Button range vs loose blinds: (22+, A7o+, A2s+, K8o+, K8s+, QTo+, Q9s+, JTs)
- Button range readless: (22+, A7o+, A2s+, K8o+, K7s+, Q9o+, Q9s+, JTs, T9s, 98s)

Limping

When should we limp preflop? The answer is almost never, apart from:

> When against a loose passive opponent with a marginal hand.

> A “Limpede” which is more commonplace, in free online poker games especially. Where several players limp preflop (limp+stampede = limpede!)

Join “limpedes” when you have suited connectors or low pocket pairs, as you have the chance to flop a strong hand, flush, straight, combo draw or set very cheap. Your only goal is to flop a very strong hand – if you don’t you should give up and check/fold the flop.

As so much of this is “it depends you should practice on free online poker sites where you can change around your ranges and see what works and what doesn’t, how you should adjust in certain spots, etc. as you won’t lose any money doing so.

So experiment away! For a much more in depth version of this article, see the full lesson on the NoPayPOKER free poker training blog

Card pairs 2/2 through to 9/9 are what we define as low pocket pairs and they will, believe it or not (and you will believe by the end of this article) win you more money long term than any other pocket cards.

More than pocket A/A, pocket K/K, pocket Q/Q? Surely not possible I hear you cry! It is, they will.

In addition to being superb against good players they are also great for destroying those annoying “all in all the time” donk players.

Why Are Low Pockets So Good?

You have about a 6% chance of being dealt a pocket pair of any type. So on average you’ll get a pocket pair once every 16 or 17 hands.

1) When you get a pocket pair you then have about a 1 in 8 chance of hitting a set (three of a kind) on the flop.

2) So 6% followed by 1 in 8 comes to you having a post set flop once per 133 hands. On a 10 player table that equates to one time about every 13 small blind/big blind bets you deposit into.

3) In terms of playability you can play low pockets from all table positions with some provisos, namely, from Early only at a cost not more than the Big Blind, not more than 2x the BB from Middle and 3x the BB in Late Position.

4) In addition when you have them you should not raise the big blind pre flop.

5) Also if you limp in from Early Position, or if you have called a 2x BB from Middle Position, and there has been a raise to 3x the BB, and there are five plus players left in the hand,then you should call 3x the BB bet from Early and Middle position.

Why?
When there are five plus players left there is a higher probability the flop will show 2 or 3 low cards.

This is because it’s likely that the players left in the hand have 1 or more paint cards.

Then the set we get becomes powerful. Especially if it is a set of 2′s, 3′s, 4′s, 5′s, 6′s, 7′s, 8′s, or 9′s. Indeed, Aces to 10s are heavy weapons but with the lower pairs you have a better chance to do evil to your opponents.

The reason is that many players, especially poor ones, do not fear low cards that hit the board as part of the flop.

Let’s use a sample hand illustrate low pocket power.
You are in Late Position and have pocket 5c/5h. There is a ‘bad’ player with Jh/7c and a ‘good’ player with Ad/Qd.

The ‘good’ player raises 3x the big blind, the ‘bad’ player calls, you call, and everyone else at the table folds. The flop hits the board, and it contains Ah/Jd/5s; giving you a set of Fives. The ‘good’ player, again bets 3x the big blind.

The ‘bad’ player, raises by a factor of three; crazy as he’s holding the middle pair, and the ‘good’ player has betted into the flopped Ace. You call as does the good player.

Now it is the Turn and the card is a 7d. It gives the ‘good’ player a nut flush draw (Ad/Qd/Jd/7d), and he holds the high board pair (Ad/Ah). It gives the ‘bad’ player two pairs (Jacks over Sevens). You have your set of 5c,5h,5s.

Now are you worried that the river will bring a card that fills the flush or a Jack or a Seven?

But do not be. Left in the deck are 9 flush maker cards and 4 full house maker, 13 in all minus the last 5. the last 5 is a flush maker but will also make you quad 5′s. Thus, there are 12 cards that would cause you to lose, and 34 cards that will bring you the pot. You’re about a 3 to 1 favorite to win.

The river helps no one. The bad player moves all in, you call and take the pot.

So what made this low pocket pair so powerful?
Simple, the set of 5′s was hidden and this is always the case when low pocket pairs are turned into sets by the flop.

In addition nobody could get a read on these cards. And as you slow play it so that both good and bad opponents cannot identify the powerful set the flop created.

The ‘low pocket pair strategy’ is used all pro poker players yet is little known. After all low pocket pairs win more money at a poker table than any other two cards so why shout about it!

So as a next step, go and practice low pocket pairs strategy on free poker online sites and then move on to low stakes and make money!

If not then get over to the free poker online lessons links page and check them out, there is loads for all there.

The NoPay lesson series is a super library of poker skills yet we know that you may want even more or stuff specific to different situations.

As a result this series of articles is going to focus on reviewing the best poker strategy books we can find.

The poker books reviewed has been filtered from the huge heaving mass that has resulted from the poker boom of the last 2 decades so that only the best poker strategy books make it to the list.

This first article looks at what for most of you NoPay members is the top most obvious topic, that of online poker guides. A trickier task than you’d imagine given that poker online has changed a lot over a short space of time so that some earlier books are now out of date. Due to this it is a short list and only 5 or 6 will be posted up, today to minimize overload we begin with 2.

The framework is to provide the essential information on the book, a outline of the content and then summarised evaluations we’ve located on both the pros and cons of the book.

To get any of these books check out the NoPay best books on poker page.

After that you may also go play some online for free poker for fun against real people with no danger of losing money, the ideal spot to test everything you read before taking a chance on actual money.

Title – Harrington on Online Cash Games; 6-Max No-Limit Hold ‘em
* Author(s) – Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie
* This edition published – June 2010
* Pages – 530

Synopsis –
Dan Harrington tells you the important ideas and techniques which will let you excel at on-line poker. Poker online is a environment, as any of you who also play live games know, which is different in a few crucial ways from the world of casino games.

Theme areas dealt with include:
* How to deal with sizes of stack.
* Playing at six max tables.
* Combating high aggression.
* And, in contrast to most on-line poker books, the way you use poker databases and heads up displays (HUDs) to get detailed and useable information on how the other players play.

Plus, there are detailed strategies for micro and small stakes preflop and post-flop play.

We really rate this book for all poker online players who play money games online but do not win as much as they’re like (most of us in other words!) Plus it’s the perfect bible for free online poker players looking to make the move and live card room game players looking to go online who have not played online much before.

If you are brand new to poker or just starting out then we do urge you to start off on a free online poker site first to learn game basics before risking real cash. Yes, you can get the book and read it as you learn to play just don’t risk your real money yet please!

Positive review comments –
* Don’t Purchase this guide – I don’t want you getting any better! I strongly recommend this book to any online player who is not my opposition.
* Specially talks about a number of important statistics that can be utilized to take advantage of patterns in your oppositions pre and postflop behaviors.
* Several truly good ideas on note-taking.
* He gives you the know how to analyze your oppositions play and manipulate them if they’re poor, or if they’re strong.
* I was amazed by this book. Each of his books are good, but this particular one really gets into details concerning the types of games and scenarios you will run into.
* It’s a fantastic book and a must for any online player. You can utilize the know how in the book for full ring game too. Excellent book.

Cons –
Almost nothing significant seen apart from one nuts naysayer type that would likely say night was day just to be different.

Title – The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition
* Author(s) – Andy Bloch, Richard Brodie, Chris Ferguson and Ted Forrest
* This edition published – June 2007
* Pages – 448

Synopsis –
Full Tilt will be dead and buried now nevertheless the information from their team professionals who collaborated to write this book remains great for a lot of on-line poker players.

Pros –
* I was worried that this would be a fast buck job aiming to cash in on the popularity of internet poker and that the writers would push out basic low value material. Not so I’m happy to report. There is material in this that is superb.
* Ferguson’s section is sort of a small instruction lesson with him.
* This will likely become a “must have” book for poker tournament players.
* I hate to have to recommend this. It simply gives away way too many trade secrets.
* Novices and players who have played for less than 5 years could play 10 more years and never absorb this much understanding.

Cons –
* Separated into several chapters with each different from the previous and written by another player. As such it is a bit all over the place.
* Some have said it is little use for online as on-line poker is all rigged…

That’s number one of our free online poker education best poker strategy books review, look out for the next one that will have some more recommendations of resources that, while not utterly free poker have been proven to pay for themselves in short order.

And if these are not for you then get over to our free poker skills sections and at least read or re-read one of our free online poker lessons.

However, get these basics right and I promise you that in future you will only ever be beaten by a better hand and not by bad play.

1. Only play good cards pre-flop to protect your bankroll. For example, pairs, connectors, suited connectors and face cards.

2. Keep in mind that pairs, even Aces are one of the lowest hands in poker. Never bet on a pair,at any stage in the hand. If the hand is cheap enough you can ride it out but don’t bet on it.

3. If the flop does not fit then fold. If the flop does not help your hole cards Fold. Do this and you will conserve your bankroll for the next play.

4. Never attempt to buy a straight or a flush.

5. Never fight a straight or flush. If the community cards are straight or suited someone at the table will have the Straight or Flush. In the rare event that nobody does you will still save your money, but most of the time someone will so don’t fight it.

6. Beware the flopped cards suit, I’ve seen player after player get creamed when there was a flush looking right at them and they didn’t see it.

7. Never ever go all in preflop. Only free poker game donks, fools with more money than sense or players messing about with friends do this. I don’t care what you have in the hole. This is when the donkeys will kill you with plain old dumb grass munching luck and it happens all the time. You may have A’s in the hole and some donkey will go all-in with 8 4 and win! Just keep to the plan and fold, wait for your next chance. The only time to break this rule is if you are up 1000% to your opponents. And I have seen that backfire many times too.

8. The biggest one of all – Patience. If you don’t have it you’ll lose even if all your other skills are great. Entire books have been dedicated to it so I won’t go on too much now but make sure you develop this most important of all anti-losing skills.

So there you have eight fundamental rules for winning in poker, or in other words eight rules for not losing which amounts to much the same thing. These are simply outlines of approach so be sure to read up in more detail on them in poker books or in free online poker instruction lessons and naturally make sure you practice and play free poker games online at NoPayPOKER.com before risking any of your dollars.

During this free poker article we’ll look at an example of this sort of play in which the players “suspicion itch” avoided a costly experience at the hands of another cunning player.

BLINDS 3k/6k

PREFLOP:

A has As-Jd and raises to 16k

It is a standard raise from early position. But notice B’s audacious, but well-timed reraise:

B has Ac-7s and reraises to 45k

B might be planning to pull any joiners to the Flop in order to try a big continuation bet (AKA C-bet) should other players check at the Flop. The reraise is also a deterrent for other players to come in, so that the C-bet will be more effective. In this example though the reraise was not enough for C:

C has 10d-10c from BB and calls 39k (Pot 117k)

At thus stage A might believe that B had something such as A-K. Also, B has position over A, so A folds.

FLOP: 10s-4c-Qh

C bets 30k

C, who has a Set, now bets very small! This is kind of odd as Sets should be played strong here since there is a high probability of a Straight draw on the Table (a KJ or AK will be good enough to justify calling a 30k bet on a 117k pot). Probably what he was hoping for is that B will interpret this as a C-bet, a bluff, and, considering how aggressive B was preflop, B will continue on his aggression by raising. That would be a better spot for C to move all in.

So if B believed that C did a continuation bet, he then should respond by raising. However, at a 117,000 pot, how large should a continuation bet be? Half the pot? Equal to the size of the pot? Is a small bet a C-bet? (Looks suspicious).

B can now think, rightly, that C had a strong hand when he called B’s preflop reraise (another suspicion), after which C strengthened his hand through the flop, and so is value- betting (third suspicion!).

B cannot raise this (if he did C will push all-in); also, B cannot call this for he’s got Ace-rag that is nothing, and so B folds. Good usage of a suspicious activity detector ability!

And so there ends the lesson, maybe not so much a how to play poker for beginners one as it is a bit in depth but if you’re more experienced I’m hoping this resonates with you. To get more practice and learn better how to spot suspicious actions but without risking money it is a great idea to play free poker tournaments at quality free online poker sites sites before you risk money on your hunches.

Or, on a less positive note, after two hours you’re down 300, and had only budgeted that much as your maximum allowed loss. Do you go get more money from the ATM or bail out and go home on a bit of a downer?

These scenarios seem quite simple, but the bottom line is, having the self discipline and awareness of your bankroll is extremely important. In games I’ve played I’ve done things like played 2 hours and won 600 and then lost it all over the next 6 hours.

Often times I am set on playing for a certain period of time, and will not call it quits until that time is reached. Discipline is a component of my game that I must continue to work on if I plan on seeing positive results at the poker table.

Let’s explore another scenario. I have been playing at a 1-2 NL table for 2 hours, I am stuck 600. Over the next 6 hours, I claw my way back to almost even, and am down 30 dollars.

What should I do? Seeing that I made my way back to almost even, should I continue playing due to my hot streak? Or seeing that I was able to make it back to even, should I just call it a day and walk away with a minimal loss?

Often times I make the mistake of continuing my play, only to end up losing the money that I worked on getting back. My advice based on personal experience, it is best to walk away after hours of clawing your way back from a large deficit.

Here is one more scenario for all of you to contemplate. You are at a table that is throwing chips around like they have no value attached to them. Players are going all in with Ace rags and they are losing hundreds of dollars and do not seem to care.

They clearly have big bankrolls or more money than sense if they look like they’re going to play so recklessly for hours. Your bankroll is small, but you feel that this may be an opportunity for you to double up or even triple up.

Is this type of table ideal? Or are you better off to play at a tighter table with more skilled players?

I have often made the mistake of staying at a table of reckless players with a minimal bank roll. When I lose a 200 dollar pot, I am half way to losing my entire bank roll. When those reckless donkeys lose 200, they pull out more cash like its monopoly money.

The bottom line is that a good skilled player should not fall to the temptation of playing with reckless donkeys.

My advice is to stick to a table with more tighter players in order to win more smaller pots rather than losing large pots and your entire bank roll. In addition to this start small and play poker online free first to learn the in’s and out’s of the game. As they say, learn to walk before you run then, when you are fully ready you can play for real money. If you are a beginner do some basic groundwork first and look for how to play poker for beginners sections on the free poker sites before playing.

This can happen a lot if you don’t play the situation correctly and is very frustrating, but there are ways to cash-in on such opportunities with smart play and in this article I am going to tell you what you need to know in order to be able to develop those smarts. Sadly there is no secret pill or magic bullet, the “not so secret” is experience, knowing about playable pockets, implied and pot odds and, in the all in pockets type example, playing your game in such a way that the others may think you’re bluffing and not fold.

At the start of a hand, in most cases having a pair is great and if you play according to the cards which open on the table, then you will definitely have chances to win. I will explain this with the following example: Your starting cards are a very nice pair, Ks, Kd, this is a great pair and gives you a strong winning opportunity.

Your options at this point are to either go all-in or wait for the flop cards to open. If you wait you must keep in mind that if a Ace opens on the flop then your winning chances are greatly reduced.

In such a case going on and betting more could be a waste and you would be advised to fold, because if someone else is betting then it’s likely they have an Ace in their hand. Or of course they might be bluffing or are maybe just a donk player hence the importance of learning to observe other players.

You might think that it would have been better to have gone all-in but you need to remember that in that case too the person having an Ace might have gone ahead and bet and you would have lost more money. As of now you are down but not out.

Now lets again take the above example of you having Ks,Kd, but this time the flop cards are 6s,6h, Qh. Well now you know that if anyone has a 6, you will face defeat.

The way to go is not to lose hope because it’s a small value card and chances are that the person having a 6 might have already folded. So just raise the stakes and see how the others go about it. If someone goes all-in then he could be having a 6 and the best option is to fold and minimize the damage.

Don’t be disheartened by the examples above, they are meant to give the impression that it’s not possible to play to win! What they are meant to convey is that unpredictable probability (also known as luck) is part of poker so you need to remember, if you are not winning, be smart enough and do not lose too much.

If you keep playing good cards in a solid way then probability is on your side and you will come out on top in the long run and as you have minimised your losses in the bad patches you will have money to bet when things are better.

To develop the poker smarts and experience needed to exploit good as well as weaker hands, start by learning poker online in quality yet lower risk games,learn by your mistakes but keep your mistakes cheap! Low stakes and play poker online free games are great ways to learn and also a lot of fun, and make sure you take advantage of the how to play poker for beginners and intermediates free poker lessons you will find on the better free poker sites in order to learn about things like pot odds and playable pockets.

BLINDS 3k/6k

PREFLOP:

A has Kd-Kc, raises to 16k
B has Ad-9d, is on BB, calls10k (Pot 44k)

A’s standard raise (about 2.5x the big blind)  raise is intended to hide the actual strength of his hand. B’s call is discounted, so he makes it.

FLOP: 9c-5h-Qh

A bets 22k
B calls 22k (Pot 88k)

The 22k bet looks like a continuation bet in a Flop which is not so likely to hit anyone, and at this point B may think A is on a draw (a Flush draw or a Straight draw) and so calls in order to make an effort to improve his hand.

TURN: 9c-5h-Qh-7c

A bets 109k

What did A wish to accomplish with his 109k bet in a pot of 88k?

Let us see, before we see what B does:

Question: Was he signifying that he hit a Nine-high Straight?
Answer: Possibly, since there are 2 Flush draws on the table that could threaten his Straight if he keeps going to the River. He wants to finish the hand, or he is aiming to give odds too low for an opponent with a Flush draw to call. Or, maybe he is representing all of these.

Question: Might he have A-Q or something?
Answer: No idea! Maybe I put him on that hand on the Flop, but I was not putting him on that hand after the Flop. Might he stack up 109k on just A-Q? What if I have K-K? He doesn’t know what I have; I called at a reduced price from the BB. Also, favorably, he may have a 10-9 or J-9, and I have a huge advantage.

Question: What else do you think he had?
Answer: A Flush draw or a Straight draw. In either case my pair of Nines is leading, so I call.

Question: Even though it’s for all your chips?
Answer: This is the best hand I’ve had for hours!

B calls all-in 109k (Pot 306k)

But he forgot to ask himself if A might have KK or AA. If you followed the hypothetical question and answer above, what B’s answers meant is that B was looking at the Board and that he now believed that A ‘s cards are related to the Board in such a way as to Pair up one of A’s cards, complete a five-card hand (Straight or Flush) or a potential five-card hand. So, what he was thinking about is the board, and not A’s hand, and by thinking about the board too much he forgot to put A on other hands that may not be readily linked to the Board cards. And also, he was tired, fatigued, and so called with a marginal hand to have it over with and was knocked out of the tournament.

So be careful when you play not to overplay and play tired and if you are keep back to basics or play poker online for free else your head may play tricks on you. And if you’re new to poker online then you do get mind fried more quickly so try some how to play poker for beginners games and free poker lessons first before stepping into lengthy tournament poker games.

Even the blind mouse finds the cheese sometimes, and no matter how unlucky you think you are, how many chips you have, or how many people are left in your tournament, the most important thing is that you are patient with yourself.

Sometimes you get so tired of seeing terrible cards and your chip stack starts to drain enough to the point where you get desperate, and start calling with J5 off-suit, or other hands with the same idea. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, so have many of us and it’s a killer 95% of the time.

A key to patience is not only pre-flop, but throughout the rest of the hand too. Let me show an example, You draw a K (c) Q (d), and you call with 2 other people in the hand. The flop comes out K (h) A (h) 8 (h). Clearly this is a very risky hand, and most of the time you will fold no question.

But to the desperate, sometimes I would get a false source off confidence in my hand, and 85% of this time I will get burned, despite only having two others in the hand.

Patience then is clearly a core traits for poker success. But even more so is that you are consistent with your patience! Some people get carried away sometimes, so it’s important to be consistent in your poker playing or risk losing all in a moment of overconfidence. To build this consistency try to make rules on what you are willing to call pre-flop and what you won’t.

Obviously free online poker is a much different game than live, as online is much more fast-paced and live is more in-depth and slower. Despite many complaints from my peers, I like to milk out every second of my time limit for each decision. I recommend this to any competitive and casual online poker players, because it may be the difference between a bad beat and a great fold.

Many times in online free poker play you will run into, what we call “Donks”. Most of the time they will have a much larger chip stack, and will win hands using brawn and bluffing. It?s important not give into his bullying, and play it slow. If you get a good flop, let him make the mistake. The classical check-raise works well, but if you move too early, your chance will be lost to cash in. “Donks” can be a great source of chips, if you be patient and play it out right.

You will get bad beats, sadly they’re unavoidable. Bad beats happen to all poker players, no exceptions and there is not a thing you can do about them. What you can do however, is play clever, play slowly and think about your moves, yes, be patient.

These are all extremely important no matter who you are playing with or how long you have been playing the game, which brings me to my final point. Experience. You can read all the articles, books and magazines and watch all the TV and take online courses and classes but nothing can replace or shortcut true experience, so get out there and play poker online for free if you’re new to it all, build your skills and understanding and work hard to develop that crucial patience habit.

And what better place to learn patience than to play poker free at http://www.NoPayPOKER.com where you don’t have the fear of losing money like you do at on money sites or live tables yet you can still win real cash.

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