Tonight’s game is 10 of 31 paid, good odds here about 1 in 3 so lets play it smooth for a little and see what happens. Some hands that I’ve played early are 52 suited in the small blind and K9 off with 6 to 1 pots odds, AJ off I slip in cheap. Pot odds are simply the ratio of the cost to call to the size of the pot example $100 to see $600 pot would be 6 to 1.

I have built up around a grand playing the K9 forcefully with Q9Q flop and hitting a free ace on the river with an ace / jack. I find myself saying the same old thing time and time again: you have to gamble in the uncertain plays if no one else has or you will end up with nothing else to go on.

I bet 3x with my KK and get one caller, the flop comes up 5,8,10 and he bets so I string his J10 along for another 1k. Slow playing should most often only be done when you have an unbeatable hand but the action here is few and far between.

An example of cards I have had to limp off with are: A2, A3 suited, and 88 due to the poor odds. By poor odds I mean to work out how much cash your opponents are holding and to know if it’s possible to bankrupt someone with good cards calling five dollars with junk may not seem as bad if you can take their fifty dollars in doing so.

Some hands that I have passed on now that the blinds are higher and pot odds are getting slimmer are K10 suited, J10 suited and Q8 suited and the Q8 turned out to be a bad fold. About 1 hour 30 minutes in and I still have the 2k I made early plus another $560 with random small pots.

It’s too early to go flat out so I fold an ace / queen as I can smooth play to the final table. Being able to fold a decent hand has taken a lot of time, practice and control before the bubble- like all things- time helps master this habit. The bubble means the last person to leave the game before pay out. I finally finish in sixth place and I’m pleased with this- if you can regularly find yourself in these positions you can earn a wage. The idea is to start small, play free poker tournament sites and climb the ladder as you become more experienced.

The basic’s are pretty much the same with three simple rules that are bet, bet, and bet. Pre-flop you want to bet the pot as much as you can with your big hands and call the minimum with most everything from low suited connecters on up in the later positions. After the flop you want to bet with any made hands or draws equal to or greater then a flush draw taking the strength of the finishing hand into consideration.

The main idea is to just bring up the pot as much as you can whenever you think you may win the hand. The pro and con of limit hold’em is that it is much easier to chase a hand to the river for both you and your opponent and this is the reason that you should just bet, bet and bet. They will get their share and you will get yours when the time is right. Hopefully this guide will help, give it a go, on a free poker site if you can and see how it goes and above all have fun!

The first concept of bluffing will most likely work 80 to 90 percent of the time if done correctly. If you have that “gut feeling” after someone checks after the flop, turn or river that they do not have anything, then you should bet any amount. The best way to demonstrate this is when you are playing someone heads up. If there are only two of you and you have top pair or top kicker, you are most likely to win. The reason is because the other person only has two cards out of the deck just like you so the chances are slim. When you bluff against a heads up player, make sure you know something about that player, so you know when to bluff at just the right time.

Next, you have to understand what is at stake when you produce a bluff. If you push all in and you know you do not have the best hand, you must consider the worst. You may get lucky, or you may not. Bluffing is similar to betting on red or black in roulette, it’s a fifty-fifty chance. If you are bluffing in free poker, you may think it does not matter because it is not real, but that does not make you a very good poker player. Bluffing is only part of the game but can never be mastered. Even the poker professionals would agree that even they still do not know when to make a bluff or not. Sometimes it is hard to tell if someone is slow playing you or they just simply do not have anything.

Third, another concept of bluffing is the persistent value bet method. During this method, you are betting on nothing from the flop all the way to the river hoping they will fold if they have chased their hand. If you bet the same amount on the flop and turn but bet a little higher on the river with your bluffing hand, the other person is most likely to fold their hand to you. But again, this does not always have the same outcome every time.

Finally, my favorite part of bluffing is when you try to produce a bet that seems like a bluff, but is not. The best bluff bet is the famous all in or the bet pot. Also, if you are playing with the same group of players on a regular basis, you can change up your style by betting an amount they would not expect. The best way to get as much as you can get from someone out of a hand is to simply call all the way and go all in on the river, hopefully they will think you missed what you were chasing and they will call.

In parting I trust you have a better idea of bluffing and how a simple concept has many levels, and these levels split the world of poker. It’s one thing to be a decent poker player and another to be a decent bluffer. It takes a certain amount of time to know if you’re good at bluffing or just have a considerable amount of beginners luck. The bottom line is bluffing will only get you so far and whether your playing money games or free poker; just remember only bluff what you can afford to lose.

With the huge growth of online poker and free poker online most sites are now offering the ability for players to make their own private, passworded games they can play with friends and while not quite the same as the traditional poker night most of us are use to it can still be a great alternative, you can choose the stakes you want to play for and depending on the site also choose your starting chips and blinds.

Texas Hold-em is the accepted king of online poker play, however a recent trend suggests that Omaha is making a massive come back offering many private games.

Many sites offer you only a ten minute window to join the private game so you need to do all your inviting before making the game although some do offer time scheduled games so be sure to check multiple sites prior to making a decision.

Another good tip on the organisational front is to find how easy the game is to find and access once you have set it up. Some of the bigger sites make this extremely difficult- once you have found a site you can use and find, be sure to spread the word.

Remember, being online is not the same as playing in someone’s home, others online have the ability to see your game and all poker sites have bans on crude, abusive or offensive language so keep it clean.

After locating a site that offers the type of game and the features you want, you will find both money and free poker sites that do all you need to do is schedule a time that your friends can be online, make the game and begin playing.

Tonight’s game is 10 of 31 paid, good odds here about 1 in 3 so lets play it smooth for a little and see what happens. Some hands that I’ve played early are 52 suited in the small blind and K9 off with 6 to 1 pots odds, AJ off I slip in cheap. Pot odds are simply the ratio of the cost to call to the size of the pot example $100 to see $600 pot would be 6 to 1.

Up about 1k playing the K9 aggressive with Q9Q flop and hitting a free A on the river with AJ. I tell people this countless times that they have to bet in these unsure situations if no one else has either wise you have nothing else to go on.

I bet 3x with my KK and get one caller, the flop comes up 5,8,10 and he bets so I string his J10 along for another 1k. Slow playing should most often only be done when you have an unbeatable hand but the action here is few and far between.

Some hands I’ve limped in with are A2 suited, A3 suited, AJ off, and 88 because of implied odds. Implied odds are basically how much money the other player has and knowing you can bust someone with the right hands calling $5 with junk may not seem as bad if you can win his 50k doing so.

Some hands that I have passed on now that the blinds are higher and pot odds are getting slimmer are K10 suited, J10 suited and Q8 suited and the Q8 turned out to be a bad fold. About 1 hour 30 minutes in and I still have the 2k I made early plus another $560 with random small pots.

I am folding AQ off suit here because we are two away from payout and it looks like smooth sailing to the final table. Folding these higher hands takes a lot of discipline but becomes easier with each bubble you get. The bubble refers to the last person to go out before the pay. I end the match in 6th place which I’m very happy with…you can make living from places like that if you’re consistent. So start small, play on free poker tournament sites and work your way up in line with your growing confidence and bankroll.

From my experiences; I have decided that its how you play the decent pocket pairs but they hardly ever hit v playing the awful hands such as a 6 2 or a 4 9. That pocket aces your bad loss while those hands you fold are poor till the flop appears.

You may ask yourself and wonder why lady luck always seems to be on the shoulder of your opponents, and the experienced players benefiting from this while the novices always get hit with the pockets while you lose. This is called bad beats v donks at this stage- as those keep playing very poorly and you wonder what is going on!

What I’ve learned is when you play online verses in person you will encounter more bad beats online and lost to those donks that love to all in verses in person everyone plays tighter than those pair of jeans that you wear that are 2 sizes too small but you insist they fit… just like you insist a pair of pocket aces will fit.

The bottom line to all of this is obvious- Poker is life- exciting, has its highs and its low points and usually unpredictable.

When playing poker and free poker online, you just never know if you’re going to be dealt a bad beat or a good hand but in the end it’s all a utter surprise and your day ends the same… Playing cards or not… It all sucks because in the end the one that wins is the one that makes your day into one big ass BAD Beat!

It goes without saying this puts all but one player into a shallow grave. If you can play conservatively till you find yourself on the top table; you will then be in with a shout of playing more forcefully. Many would be disappointed with some of the cards I have folded with near the beginning of the game, but chances are those same people would not make it to the later stages as often as I do.

The best free roll final position I made was forth with one hundred and fifty competing- in all honesty I was ecstatic with this, especially being a novice. From this I started to believe the chances of getting a pay out would not be as hard as first imagined especially when so many people go all in.

A good tip I continually use is the step up method. The highest I have won in a single hand is seventy five dollars- FreeD in the same hand and I managed to get my 1st sr8 flush smashing a very sure ace high flush which had the player go all in.

Mathematics I have found to be incredibly important. Knowing the chances of a flush by the river from two suited cards or the chances of winning from a certain pocket pair. Wising up on your odds will help greatly.

I have found the community at my free online poker site incredibly friendly and I always enjoy each game, whether I win or lose.

I know that I will continue to play free poker online for a long time to come and I look forward to perfecting my game as time goes on.

Going all in on a river or pre flop is only a good move when it’s your choice; e.g. short stacked. The best way to think while playing poker is to become into the mindset of your opponents- what would you do in their scenario, when would you go all in on a pre flop or river?

I’m expecting that you would say when you believe you had better cards. If you’re going to get called on an all in on a pre flop or river then your cards should at least be an Ace / Queen pre flop and a good pair with a high kicker on the river.

Consdier your move before acting:
Why gamble your normal wager if you place a player on a flush draw and they haven’t hit on the river? Gamble on something he could potentially call on even after missing.

If you insist on needing to bet large amounts of money with your made hands I would suggest just over betting the pot instead of all in and doing it more often then with just the best of the best.

You will only begin to get calls with less they greatness if you appear to be bluffing a lot and many more players bluff with over bets then with all in’s.

Showing a few of your not so great hand can help as well. If you got everyone to lay down with a middle pair of 6′s even if it was the best hand in the group showing it will tell people you can bet with less than perfection.

Hopefully my tips will help you get the best out of your hands when you are playing free online poker…. good luck and I really hope to see you at the poker tables very soon!!

The following play involves an additional 3 community cards being dealt out by the dealer in the middle of the table face up- also known as the “flop”. These cards are an essential part of the players “hand” and will be used alongside the original 2 cards in hand. After the flop the next round of betting takes place, although there is now an opportunity to “pass” due to the pot previously commencing.

Then two more cards are dealt face up in the center, one at a time, with a betting interval after each card.

When I play I make it good practice to ‘throw away’ the top cards at every turn: throw one away then turn another. The min theory behind this method is to stop swindling. I will explain; in nearly all cases of marked card deception the top cards are used as marking points, but by throwing away the top card(s) breaks this cycle.

We’re not accusing anybody of being a cheater: Burning the top card is just a traditional thing in professional and in many amateur games.

Most of the games I play in have no limit, but hold’em is an interesting game to play with a limit, because after the turn there are plenty of times that you’ll have something good to draw at.

If you are new to Hold’em then have a go at playing free poker online where its totally free and you wont lose any of your own cash.

In my opinion a skilled player is one who can recognize betting patterns, understand flop odds, and percentages, and have a solid concept of strategy and theory. I have noticed however, not matter how well skilled one may be, you must account for variance, and sometimes aggressive, even poor play from others.

I believe in conclusion it is best to assume that poker is a combination of both skill and luck.

The assumption would be based on this conclusion that you have to be both pre flop aggressive, as well as post flop smart. Many times one might find themselves in a position where they made the proper call, yet they find themselves behind due in part to an opponents luck hitting a one or two outer.

It is very difficult to try and overcome such a situation. This also can be attributed more toward online game playing vs. traditional brick and mortar casinos because of the amount of hands dealt online. The action of online poker is much faster, and decisions must come much quicker.

Many individuals feel that they take more bad beats online as opposed to live play. This mathematically can be attributed to the number of hands both seen, and played. As well, there is a tile factor involved when one feels that they are being pushed too hard, or perhaps have suffered a bad beat.

When playing online players can play more irrational and play hands that they normally wouldn’t play to try to get back money that they have lost.

An experienced player will more than likely notice the tendencies of opposing players, and exploit these factors to their gain. To the loosing player the loss seems coincidental and becomes another defeat in their mindset based on luck. The truth of the matter is this is not the case, and the loss is due to the flaws in their technique due to lack of experience.

This is a game of two equals, luck and skill, neither in my opinion more important than the other, however the successful poker player knows how to manage both aspects of the game, learns skill playing free poker online before moving into money games and uses skill, in effect, tweak luck and so sustain consistency in winning.