Free Texas Hold Em - Information and Tips

We cut through the fluff to bring you these hard-hitting Texas Hold Em tips.

2008-11-12T07:06:00.001-08:00

The information in this blog is in no way meant to promote gambling. It provides information on Texas Hold Em to be used in its legal and non-gambling applications.

This Online Poker Article Will Make You A Better Player

What I Like About Poker

GOAT - Where do I begin? What do I like about poker? Many things come to mind, first I enjoy winning money, as everyone probably does, but poker is more than that to me. I enjoy the competition, I enjoy the psychological aspect of the game.

It is almost primal in a sense.

I was watching the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel and they were interviewing Howard Lederer, an excellent player and he said that there is something primitively appealing about taking your opponents� chips. Your opponent has a stack of chips, and you would like to take ownership away from him. He wants to take your chips away from you and how you play your hand determines who ends up with the chips.

Poker is not a game of luck. Luck is certainly involved (ever lose to a runner runner flush? Ever win with it?). Poker is a game of skill, if you are counting on catching lucky cards to win, over the long run you will probably lose more money than you win.

Some friends and I just recently took a trip to Biloxi to play some poker. It was only my 2nd time playing poker in a casino, it was a great experience. I lost money overall, but I didn�t do horribly in my opinion. I believe that I improved my game. I know I made the wrong plays in certain situations, and I know that I made the right play in certain situations. I came back from Biloxi a much better Poker player than when I left.

My bankroll from my online game also reflects that fact. I was down to my last $30 the day I left, and today I�m currently up to nearly $200. Yeah, I can�t quit my day-job yet but it�s a step in the right direction. Don�t get me wrong, if I would have won I would have been happier, but I have no problem loosing as long as I teach myself, or get �taught� by others.

My worst hand was the very last one I was going to play. If I had won this hand I would have finished the trip with a slightly larger bankroll than I brought down. I had been playing from about 11pm on Saturday night until around 9am Sunday morning.

My buddy came down from the room and asked was I nearing a decent place to leave the game, and I agreed to leave when the blinds got back to me. Well, wouldn�t you know it, I�m Under the Gun and I get dealt QQ�

Like any good poker player I raise it up. A very loose and aggressive player 2 positions behind me raises it again and we have 2 callers. I probably should have re-raised right there, but I only called. Flop comes down K 10 x. I bet, the loose player raises and the other 2 callers fold. I re-raise and am called.

Turn comes Q� BAM, I figure I�m up against A/K and I just hit my set. I bet out again and am once again Raised. I�m still fairly confident that I�ve got the best hand so I re-raise and am called.

River is rags so I bet out again, and once again I am raised. Now I start to question the strength of my hand, but there was no way I�m folding. I call and say �Got the straight?� Sure enough, he flips over J/9 offsuit for a K high straight. I think most people would fold J/9 offsuit when I�m aggressively betting, I�d like to think that if I would have re-raised after the flop that I might have one it, but the way this guy was playing he wasn�t folding anything.

It really sucks to have your very last hand be one where you get totally owned. That one bothered me for a while. This guy was a �Jackal� and I didn�t think he would fold to anything, but I still probably should have raised him instead of just calling. Flopping the Set was actually worse for me in this situation, my Q�s would have held up if not for the 3rd Q on the board. Live and learn.

I like Poker because it really is a sport. It is a sport that you can play as long as you are mentally capable. As I�m sitting at the table in the casino an older gentleman sat down, my first instinct was that this guy is a farmer. I don�t know what that means in regards to his poker skills, but if I was to guess his profession, I would have picked farmer, either that or professional online poker player over at poker stars.net, but i knew that was unlikely.

Anyway, he was probably in his mid 60�s, and was by far the best player at the table. He completely confused me in hands and I lost a decent amount of chips to him. At the time I was pretty disgusted that I was outplayed by someone who on the outside looked like I should be able to beat no problem. The more I thought about it, the less disgusted I became.

First I know I�m a rookie, through and through. Second, it�s kind of cool to know that when I�m his age, I�ll be taking young punks money at the table. The more I thought about it, the more I respected him and his style of play. He was excellent at hiding his hands and I rarely see him enter pots that he did not win (or at least go down swinging). I liked his strategy, he didn�t get involved in pots where he didn�t have a decent chance to win, and he didn�t let you chase your cards cheaply. I mimicked his play (as best I could) online when I got home and have done pretty well.

So, for all you up and coming poker players out there, if you take any advice from a rookie like me is, always learn. Poker isn�t just about the cards that land in your hand, it�s about how you play. I'm mostly playing online poker now with a live tournament every now and then, but I can't wait to get back to the casino and try my hand, err hooves again.

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/what-I-like-about-poker.htm

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Looking for the best Texas Hold Em tips? You have come to the right place.

2008-11-10T14:39:00.001-08:00

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Another Great Online Poker Article

Avoiding Draw Poker

By Bill Ricardi

I�m going to be brief this week. This is a comment on sites bringing the wonder of draw poker into the realm of online play.

I frankly see no reason to play draw poker online. The entire point of draw poker is playing with a LACK of public information. All you have to determine your actions are the number of cards drawn and the bets being made. There are no community cards. There are no exposed cards.

Why would you want to play a game that is based mainly on tells online; where reads are difficult if not impossible? Without tells, after the basic odds tables are figured out, the game is somewhat boring on one hand, somewhat of a craps shoot on the other.

Some might claim that playing their own cards and analysis of betting patterns is enough to take online draw poker out of the realm of lottery play. Maybe. But why play a bad version of a good game, when there are so many good versions of good games already available to the online poker playing community?

I never play games just because they�re �good enough�. They have to give me an edge, and they have to be worth my time and effort. There will be very, very few people who will be able to get a significant edge playing draw poker online, and even fewer who will be properly rewarded for their time and effort.

In short: I won�t be jumping on the draw poker train, just to entertain the nostalgia of playing at the kitchen table with the family. I�d rather play Razz. And that�s saying a lot!

Source: http://www.wisehandpoker.com/articles/index.php?article=avoiding-draw-poker.html

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Here are some useful strategies to assist you in becomming a better poker player.

2008-11-08T19:14:00.001-08:00

This blog is for information and education only. It is meant to improve your poker game in its legal and non-gambling applications.

A Featured Texas Hold Em Article

Tournament Poker and Cash Game Poker: A Two-headed Monster - Part 2

by Gary Gates

�Should I fold and wait for a better spot to put all my chips at risk? With only 50 players left to the money, do I have enough chips to survive the blinds and antes? How long until the blinds go up? Which players at my table are susceptible to getting eaten up by the blinds? Which players can I steal blinds from?�

When we left part I, we began to consider the additional factors a tournament poker player must consider within his or her decision-making process. These �special� circumstances often call for special action. A player might make one play in a cash game that he would never even consider in a tournament, and vice versa.

The unique decision-making processes required of these two very different brands of poker are necessitated by the manner in which profit is earned in each type. Cash games reward players instantly, as every pot pushed your way comes in the form of legal tender that you can walk away with at any time. In other words, a player can sit down at a cash game, double up on the first hand, put his chips back in the rack and proceed to the cashier with his newfound wealth. Though I do not recommend this method, as it won�t earn you many friends at the table, no one is going to stop you. (Who needs friends at the poker table anyway, right?)

Tournaments, however, reward only the top few participants who are able to outlast the masses. Described by many as marathons that call for hours of intense boredom, speckled with a few moments of sheer terror, poker tournaments require a great amount of time and patience. In a tournament that pays the top ten players, 100th place pays exactly as much as eleventh: nothing. Therefore, major decisions within the game are heavily influenced by the size of players� chip stacks, the number of players remaining, and the size of your own stack relative to the blinds. Before you take tenth, you have to guarantee yourself eleventh, and that fact is what makes survival a tournament player�s number one priority.

Cash games, because of their static blinds and the option to buy more chips at any time, tend to suit more conservative poker players. The never-increasing blinds allow them to sit back and wait for big hands with which they hope to win massive pots. Tournament play forces aggression to some extent, as the blinds and antes are constantly on the rise. The track records of Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Stu Ungar and Johnny Chan are prime examples of the kind of success that can come from aggressive tournament play.

Which brand of poker should you play? First consider the style of poker that comes most naturally to you. Do you tend to play passive or aggressive? Are you the kind of player that can recognize the multitude of situations that will be presented to you throughout a poker tournament and adapt your play accordingly, or do you feel more comfortable playing the player rather than the cards and situation? Be sure to try your hand at both and know the differences between the two before you decide which is right for you.

Source: http://www.wisehandpoker.com/articles/index.php?article=tournament-poker-cash-game-poker-part-2.html

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2008-11-06T13:33:00.001-08:00

Please note this blog is meant to provide information on Texas Hold Em in its legal and non-gambling applications.

This Online Poker Article Will Make You A Better Player

To go or not to go all in ? that is the question

By Johnny Kampis

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So goes a Chinese proverb that is also an apt description of the beginning of a poker tournament.

Consider starting with 1,500 chips in a tournament with 100 people. In order to win the tournament, you must have 150,000 chips in the end. When you think about it like that it seems almost an unfathomable task, an attempt to climb Mt. Everest. But somebody?s got to do it.

I?ve found over time that I tend to do better at live tournaments than those I play online. At first, I thought it was maybe because I was good at reading people, which is impossible to do online, but then I realized it was something else. When you play online, it?s always easy to see what the average chip count is among the players remaining in the tournament and it can be easy to panic if you are far below the average. I tend to start pushing all in with hands I shouldn?t play or in situations in which I should probably fold.

But when you?re playing live, there is no screen to tell you where you stand against the rest of the field. You can do some calculations in your head to figure out about where you stand, but there?s no number constantly in front of you telling you that.

Just as patience is key in a regular ring game of poker, it?s also key when you have a below average stack in a tournament. Consider that the average stack in a tournament you are playing is 10,000. You have 5,000 and the blinds are 200 and 400. You are well below average, but you aren?t a short stack yet. You don?t have to push all in when you raise. It gives you time to wait on a quality hand before making a move, and if you can double up once you are back to average.

I played a tournament at Binion?s in Las Vegas this summer in which I was a below average stack nearly the entire event, but I stayed patient and was able to get good hands on which to double up on. Finally, when I got to the final table I caught hand after hand and ended up winning the tournament. Had I hurriedly pushed all in earlier in the affair with a less than premium hand and lost I wouldn?t have given myself a chance to catch the hands I was dealt later.

It?s better to pass up a so-so opportunity now in order to get a much better opportunity later. Otherwise, you?ll never get to climb Mt. Everest.

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2008-11-04T20:07:00.001-08:00

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Another Great Hold Em Article

Online Poker can be profitable, but be sure to choose the right table!

1. PLAYERS & POT SIZES...

As a general rule, 6-8 players with a fairly large average pot size.

With most online poker sites you can see the average pot size and how many players are seeing the flop. Large pots are better as this generally means more loose players, playing no limit I'm looking to win big hands when I've got the nuts, not to grind down opponents by blind stealing and small pot stealing. I avoid most really tight games, rocks are boring and unprofitable typically. No limit is about getting paid off when you hit your monster, not stealing blinds all day.

A good table for me is one that is loose, but that is also not overly aggressive. I'm looking for a lot of players limping or calling small raises pre-flop.

2. The average number of players seeing the flop...

If you can see the average # of players seeing the flop, this is a hugely vital stat to use. Lower limits you can easily find something around 35-40%, which is pretty darn loose. Find this stat and then get one with a higher than average pot.

Sites like Bodog and Sportsbook.com will show you how many players are seeing the flop on average. I look for games with high averages seeing the flop, anything over 40% is usually good and very easy to find online.

The majority of times this makes for a good table as a tight aggressive player will play between 20% and 35% of any given hands on average, and in my opinion 35% is loooooose.

3. Watch the Button go around the table at least once - and pay attention!

Now that you've found a table with numbers that look pretty good its time to actually take a quick overhead view of the table and see what happens. Open up the table but do not sit down, or if you want you can sit down but not take your cards yet. If you are playing at Poker Stars, here is a screen shot of the table.

Take an open seat and pay attention! Watch the button go all the way around the table and take an initial assement of the table. Here are the things to look for:

A. Players limping and then calling a late position raise with weak holdings (hands like KQo, KJo, KTo, and other dominated hands like QJ (this is a good sign)

B. Look around the table at the current stack sizes - normally avoid tables where more than 3 players have 3 to 4 times the maximum buy in amount. These players can easily push me out of pots or have me committed early. They also might be solid players. (bad sign)

C. Take notice of the cards people are showing down. Look for weak holdings outside of the blinds offsuit small one gappers, Ace rag unsuited, and the plethora of other bad cards people play with. (more junk the better)

D. Take notice of who raises and who calls raises - are premium hands raised huge or limped with and are other players calling raises with weak holdings (good)

E. Any Maniacs at the table? - is there a crazy bettor or people who seem to be out to hit miracle cards by calling big bets? (good depending on seat) If you can get position on them (acting afterwards) you can get paid off when you hit a monster against them. The only problem is that you almost have to hit your hand to beat this player so you need to also feel confident that they will also pay you off when you do.

F. Who are the two worst players at the table? (can't tell? BAD) Pick out two players that are playing weak and have made mistakes. See who is playing really loose, who is playing really tight.

G. Look for players making small raises (1-2x the BB) with premium hands or even slow playing. (good, probably inexperienced players)

4. YOU MUST HAVE A GOOD SEAT RELATIVE TO THE REST OF THE TABLE...

A. This means sitting directly to the left of the Maniacs and the other Big Stacks so you always act after them. If you have a big hand you have the option to disguise it by letting them bet it for you. If you have a weak hand you can let it go fairly easily.

B. Give up position to short stacks/tight players - no problem letting the act after you if they are only going to play strong hands or not get involved often.

If you find the right combination of table factors and good relative seat then snag it! Since you've been watching the action already you can post as soon as you sit down if you want. This helps portray a loose image. If the big blind is 4 seats or less away from me I'll wait and post as soon as I sit down, although I sometimes post right away to make people think I'm loose.

5. IF THE TABLE TURNS COLD, GET UP AND MOVE...

Nothing is worse than staying at a bad table. Many times you'll find yourself sitting at a table with a bunch of tight and aggressive players. Unless you are wanting to work on your game, get up and move and go make money. Don't think that you've got something to prove.

6. TAKE NOTES...

I logged on to Party Poker yesterday to play a tourney with some friends and there were over 70,000 players playing right then. You'll probably never see a player again but if you find anyone who is horrible, take a note and especially when you find the good players, make a note. It could save you your stack later.

I recommend reading through Full Tilt Poker Download Guide for a step by step tutorial on setting a your online poker account. This is a great resource for new players.

Thanks and we'll see you at the tables!

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/no-limit-holdem-table-selection-tips.htm

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2008-11-02T15:14:00.000-08:00

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A Great Hold Em Article

The Turn - Where The "Truth" Is Normally Told In No Limit Holdem

Nothing is 100% in poker, but there are certain �poker truths� that you need to pay attention to. When I refer to �poker truths� I�m talking about something that�s true more than it is false. That�s as close as you can get in this game.

The �poker truth� I want to discuss today is this: "When a player shows aggression on the turn, they usually have a strong hand."

What this means is, more often than not, against an average player, you�ll know where you stand on the turn.

Let�s look at couple of typical situations where your hand is disguised:

Example 1: You get a strong hand, AKs, in LP and put in a 3xBB raise. You get two callers. The flop misses you, Q93 rainbow, it�s checked around and you put in a continuation bet of � the pot. How does this bet look to your opponents?

Example 2: Now let�s say that the flop hit you, K93, it�s checked around and you put in a bet of � the pot. How does this bet look to your opponents?

The answer is; these two bets look exactly the same. It is hard for your opponents to know what they�re up against. Now take example 1 and replace the AK with another monster, 72 off. Even though you really only have 72o, to your opponents the bet looks exactly the same.

My point here is not to raise with any two cards (though you can in the right situation), but is to point out that it is on the flop that hands are most easily disguised. This is where deception can be very useful. This is where you can often �represent� a hand and get away with it.

The Turn:
The turn is where things get clearer. Fewer players are willing to continue, at the risk of losing more chips, their bluff on the turn. Therefore, more often than not, if they bet, they have a legitimate hand. So move forward cautiously when faced with a turn bet.

An even bigger risk is calling a raise on the turn. A lot of players wait until the turn to raise their monster hands, hoping to get extra chips on the flop with a slow play. If you run into a turn raise after a relatively quiet flop you should be very cautious moving forward, there�s an extremely good chance you�ll need better than top pair to win this hand.

That pattern of smooth calling a flop bet or raise and raising the turn is almost always going to be trouble. Very few players make this move without a big hand.

According to some statistics I found that were compiled from the poker-tracker stats of several on-line players (100,000+ hands). A turn raiser goes on to win the hand 63% of the time. Even more glaring than that is 71% of turn check-raisers go on to win the hand! The data also shows that turn check-raises are generally playing 2 pair or better. So think hard before calling with just top pair.

That doesn�t mean you should automatically fold your top pair to a raiser. If you�re heads up against a loose raiser or someone who regularly bets their draws, then your top pair may very well be good for a call or re-raise. But, if you�re against a tight raiser or if someone raised after multiple players have called bets, you�re top pair is not good, so dump it.

Another problem with calling raises on the turn is that you often end up calling the river. A good rule of thumb when deciding whether to call a turn bet is to include a river bet in your odds calculation. So if you need to call 2 bets into a 10 bet pot (giving you 5-1 odds) you should also add a couple bets for the river (2.5-1 odds) which suddenly makes a lot of calling situations folding situations.

Because the turn is where the �truth� is generally told, it�s a good place for you to make some advanced plays at the pot. A turn raise or check raise bluff is very powerful in the right situations, mostly heads up. Just make sure you have a good read on your opponent and don�t get carried away. These are great moves in moderation.

In my opinion, the turn is the toughest street to play in Texas Holdem. Making the right moves here is what will ultimately make you a winning player. So going forward, before quickly calling turn bets and raises, ask yourself a few questions that may help you define your opponent�s hand.

What types of hands would he have where he would smooth call the flop and raise the turn? Two pair? A set? Does the board complete a draw?

What types of hands would he need to bet the flop and continue on the turn? Top pair? A big draw? Overs?

First and foremost you should trust your reads and knowledge of your opponents, but when that�s not enough, trust the turn.

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/playing-the-turn-where-the-truth-is-normally-told.htm

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Matthew Hilger is generally recognized as one of the best authors on the subject of internet poker. He and some of the most knowledgeable players and writers in the poker industry have joined to contribute columns on every aspect of poker. Contributors range from Tournament Pros like the Hendon Mob� to Internet Poker Pros from the Internet Texas Holdem community. Beyond Texas Holdem Strategy, this section covers Omaha, Backgammon, Sit 'n Go tournaments, multitable tournaments, cash games, poker psychology, mind sets and general revelry.

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Looking for the best Texas Hold Em tips? You have come to the right place.

2008-09-09T22:40:00.001-07:00

This blog is for information and education only. It is meant to improve your Texas Hold Em game in its legal and non-gambling applications.

Another Great Online Poker Article

To go or not to go all in ? that is the question

By Johnny Kampis

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So goes a Chinese proverb that is also an apt description of the beginning of a poker tournament.

Consider starting with 1,500 chips in a tournament with 100 people. In order to win the tournament, you must have 150,000 chips in the end. When you think about it like that it seems almost an unfathomable task, an attempt to climb Mt. Everest. But somebody?s got to do it.

I?ve found over time that I tend to do better at live tournaments than those I play online. At first, I thought it was maybe because I was good at reading people, which is impossible to do online, but then I realized it was something else. When you play online, it?s always easy to see what the average chip count is among the players remaining in the tournament and it can be easy to panic if you are far below the average. I tend to start pushing all in with hands I shouldn?t play or in situations in which I should probably fold.

But when you?re playing live, there is no screen to tell you where you stand against the rest of the field. You can do some calculations in your head to figure out about where you stand, but there?s no number constantly in front of you telling you that.

Just as patience is key in a regular ring game of poker, it?s also key when you have a below average stack in a tournament. Consider that the average stack in a tournament you are playing is 10,000. You have 5,000 and the blinds are 200 and 400. You are well below average, but you aren?t a short stack yet. You don?t have to push all in when you raise. It gives you time to wait on a quality hand before making a move, and if you can double up once you are back to average.

I played a tournament at Binion?s in Las Vegas this summer in which I was a below average stack nearly the entire event, but I stayed patient and was able to get good hands on which to double up on. Finally, when I got to the final table I caught hand after hand and ended up winning the tournament. Had I hurriedly pushed all in earlier in the affair with a less than premium hand and lost I wouldn?t have given myself a chance to catch the hands I was dealt later.

It?s better to pass up a so-so opportunity now in order to get a much better opportunity later. Otherwise, you?ll never get to climb Mt. Everest.

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Texas Hold Em can be tricky. This article will help remove some of the guesswork.

2008-09-07T09:18:00.001-07:00

This blog is for information and education only. It is meant to improve your poker game in its legal and non-gambling applications.

A Featured Texas Hold Em Article

Two Important Rules To Always Keep In Mind

Rule #1: Apply pressure.

Your bets MUST apply pressure to those acting after you. This is the first thing I tell struggling / timid players and the first thing I remind myself of when I�m running bad. You have to make sure that your bets cause the other players to have to make difficult decisions. How often do you see players opening with a minimum bet, or raising the minimum from late position? These bets don�t apply pressure, they merely build the pot.

Here�s a typical example:

Blinds are 50/100, early in a live multi-table tournament; assume everyone has 1800 in chips. You have AKo (Big Slick) in late position.

2 players call before it gets to you in the cutoff seat (one before the button). You like your hand and decide to raise. You raise to 200. While it is a fantastic idea to raise with Big Slick, you need to raise a larger amount... you need to apply pressure!

This is a very common example of a no-pressure bet that is very common by new players and bad players! If you are going to raise, you need to make a hefty sized raise to make most everyone fold!

Think about this, You have two callers who already have 100 invested plus the button, SB and BB left to act. Your raise didn�t cause anyone a second of anxiety. The button now has odds to call with many drawing hands, the BB only has to put one bet in to see the flop and there�s no way the initial limpers are going to fold for one more bet each.

What have you accomplished here? The answer is nothing good. Not only have you not isolated against a single player, which should be your goal with this hand, you have built the pot to an amount that gives the chasers a great reason to stick around!

The right move here would be to raise a minimum of 3xBB. But I think in this situation, with 2 limpers and 3 players to follow that�s amount is still probably too small. I think a bet of 4-5xBB is the better move.

This bet will apply enough pressure that you may actually win the hand right there.

But in this situation, you've bet $200 pre-flop (the minimum raise).
The SB folds and everyone else calls. The pot has 850.

The Flop comes 78K with two hearts, it�s checked to you.

You've hit Top Pair, Top Kicker which is a strong hand. You are most likely in the lead right now but there are 2 hearts on the board (you don't hold the King of Hearts, either).

You bet 200.

This was a great flop for you, but it is dangerous. There�s a possible 4 flush and 4 straight. You�ve got to bet an amount that will put pressure on the drawing hands and 200 just won�t cut it. No one is going to fold their flush draw to a 200 bet when they can win a 1000+ pot.

You need to size your bet accordingly. So, what sized bet would be good enough to put pressure on the flush draw? A bet of about � of the pot should do it.

If you put 600 in the pot, the flush draw now has a big decision to make. That bet will put more than half of their stack in the pot, if they call they�re basically committing to play for the rest of their chips. (This is a very important point. Pay attention to your opponent�s chip stack. A bet that commits their stack is a pressure bet.) If they know what they�re doing, they�ll fold right there, if not you�re about a 3:2 favorite to win the hand and more than double your stack.

In this situation you bet 200 on the flop. The BB & first limper call. The pot has 1450.

The turn is a 2 of spades. You bet 400.

The turn was great for you, it didn�t help the straight or flush draws, but your bet was again too small. A flush or straight draw only has to pay 400 for a chance at 1850. The pot is giving almost 5:1 on a 4:1(approximately) draw. A � pot bet would have put the necessary pressure on the chaser, while 400 is an easy call.

The BB calls.

The river is a T of clubs. You check, the BB bets 500 and you call. The BB shows 96s for the straight.

This is where you glare at the BB and storm off to tell your friends how your AK got cracked by 96. But this wasn�t a matter of the BB getting lucky. He played it right on every street. You made his decisions easy by not applying pressure with your bets.

The next time you�re ready to throw your chips in the pot ask yourself this question; �Is this bet going to be easy to call?� If the answer is yes, then grab some more chips and put some pressure on your opponents

Rule #2:

Don�t swim with the sharks. This is the newest addition to my rule book and it has helped me increase my winnings over the last 6 months more than anything else.

The basic rule is this. Avoid playing heads up against players who are as good as or better than you.

Get your chips from those players that are less skilled / knowledgeable than you.

There are a number of quality players that I play against every week with whom I have never been involved in a big hand. If a typical table has 4 good players and 5 poor players, why would you bang heads with the good players? Get your chips from the ones you know you can outplay.

This is really very easy to do. If a player that you believe to be better than you raises, fold. Simple. Unless you have a premium hand (AA,KK,QQ,AK), why get involved? Just wait for an opportunity against a fishy player.

That means you�ll be folding hands you might normally play, like AJ or KQs, etc. If you do have a premium hand, then don�t just call, re-raise instead. You want to try to win the hand pre-flop so you won�t be out played post flop.

Of course, you won�t always be able to avoid confrontation with a good player, but you can definitely limit it.

As an example, I recently took a trip to Tunica with a friend of mine who is a very good player. Over two days, we played at the same table for about 16 hours. In all of that time we only played one hand heads up and that one was for small dollars. I�m sure over there were several hands over those 16 hours where we could have done battle, but why would we when there was a super fish at the table giving away enough for all of the good players to share?

There are plenty of fish to get chips from, so save the sharks for the final table. Recognize who the quality players are and adjust accordingly.

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/2-poker-rules-to-live-by.htm

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This is one of the very best hold em articles I have ever come across.

2008-09-05T07:12:00.001-07:00

This blog is for entertainment purposes only. It is meant to provide information relating to the game of hold em in its legal and non-gambling applications.

A Featured Poker Article

When playing poker, keep your attention at the table

By Johnny Kampis

If you?re playing poker the patient and correct way, folding most of your hands, you?ll be left with a lot of downtime where you?re not involved in the action. That doesn?t mean you should just rest on your laurels, or turn your attention to the baseball game on the television.

To become a better poker player, you should pay attention at all times when at the table, learning your opponents? tendencies. Who is aggressive? Who is timid? Who raises with only strong cards? Who bluffs a lot? All of these questions can be answered if you just pay attention.

Over the years, I?ve developed a couple of mental exercises to help me focus on the action while playing Texas hold?em. These exercises can also increase your decision making and problem solving abilities at the poker table.

The first one is to guess what each of your opponents is holding based on how he plays the hand. Say the flop comes J-10-2 with two spades. There is a bet, a call and a raise. What sorts of hands could these players have? Perhaps the better has something like J-K for top pair and the caller has a straight or flush draw and the raiser has two pair or a set. The more you study your opponents, the better you will be able to guess their holdings, and that ability will only help you in the long run.

During a recent friendly game, one player bet out on a board of A-A-10-2 and Steve called. A third player raised, the initial bettor called and Steve re-raised. Before Steve turned his cards over on the river, I called out ?Ace-Ten,? and that?s precisely what he had. How was I able to guess this? Steve had a monster hand and didn?t want to chase out the other players on the turn so he just called the initial bet, but after there was a raise behind him he could go ahead and re-raise and get more money in the pot. If Steve held three aces, without a full house, he most likely would have raised on the turn initially to try and eliminate any flush and straight draws. You can only learn these kinds of tendencies by paying attention.

A second exercise I like to employ while playing hold?em is to think up a hand and visualize how I would play it. Let?s pretend the flop is 8-J-3. Now, I may have folded a 5-2 or some other junk hand, but I?m going to now pretend I have a 9-10 in my hand and the action is to me. Do I bet, check, raise or fold? Or I could pretend I have flopped a set of threes. Now what do I do? This exercise allows you to continually think about how you would play certain hands, which will only help you when you actually hold those cards.

Source: http://www.wisehandpoker.com/articles/index.php?article=be-attentive.html

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No matter what your level of play, these hold em strategies will make you better.

2008-09-03T07:46:00.001-07:00

This blog is for entertainment purposes only. It is meant to provide information relating to the game of hold em in its legal and non-gambling applications.

Another Great Online Poker Article

The Idiot Approach

MYSTIC - Playing online poker can differ greatly from playing poker on the pro circuit. While on the pro circuit you can get to know the opponents you encounter quite well, and can study and adapt to their personal methods of play.

In online poker, however, the players you encounter will often differ greatly from day to day as new players enter the game. Many of
these players will lack skill at the game of poker, backing up bad hands with good money, while still others will be lurking at tables waiting to take advantage of these weaker players. You can take advantage of this
phenomenon by taking the idiot approach.

The idiot approach can give you great results when you're playing against the weak player or the player who wants to prey upon the weak. It involves putting good money behind bad hands when starting play, then suddenly switching gears to play a much more conservative game - more conservative, perhaps, than even your normal style of play. Basically you want the good players to think that you are a weak player, and the weak players to gain confidence after they win a few beefy pots.

This gambit will lose you money in the short run, but the potential for strong gains in the long run will be increased. If you can throw in a bit of money on a weak hand and play it until the hand is over, then unless you've accidentally bluffed your way to a win, your opponents will see your pocket cards and will notice that you are playing money on weak hands.

This could potentially persuade stronger opponents to start putting chips behind weaker hands, thinking that they've got pretty good
bets against your hands considering that you are playing weak poker. Meanwhile, the weaker opponents will start playing bigger money, thinking that they are on a lucky streak or sitting at a good table due to taking some early wins. At this point, however, you will have tightened your game and will only be playing your better hands.

This strategy is weak if you're playing against excellent opponents who notice right away that you have switched gears, or against opponents who play based on their hands and not based on the actions of the other players at their table. It's also a bad idea to gamble away too much money up front using this tactic - don't throw away so much money that getting those initial losses back becomes an insurmountable chore.

But against a table full of random players, a few badly placed bets here and there in the early hands can win you some good money on later deals.

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/the-idiot-approach.htm

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Ready to improve your Texas Hold Em game? Lets get started then.

2008-09-01T07:07:00.001-07:00

This blog is for information and education only. It is meant to improve your Texas Hold Em game in its legal and non-gambling applications.

This Hold Em Article Will Make You A Better Player

Texas Holdem Lesson - Five Tips!

1. Big Bets mean big hands, don't call them!

Do not call large bets without a very strong hand yourself. Unless you are against truly wild players (or extremely tough players), big bets will most of the time mean big hands! You have to have a bigger hand to beat a big hand.

So, unless you have a very strong hand (or a monster draw with good odds) you need to strongly lean towards folding a hand like top pair plus good kicker on scary boards like straight or flush draws, or even most semi-coordinated boards once all 5 cards are out. Especially on the river, don't call down big bets with medium strength hands!

A big bet is considered "big" by comparing it's size in relation to the current pot size. 2/3rds to 3/4th the size of the pot are generally considered large bets.

2. Bluff "less" Especially when playing poker online!

I say less but that depends on how often you bluff now. The real tip is to make yourself have a compelling reason to make a bluff. Yes, pulling off a successful bluff is an awesome feeling... winning a big pot on a bluff is fun, but overdoing it is one of the fastest way to donk off your bankroll. Slow it down unless you're playing with a bunch of rocks (tight guys who will fold unless they have a monster hand).

Good bluffs need to be set up, well timed and 'fit' into the holdem game. Just making some random bet during some point in the hand because you want to win the pot is a loosing play. Make sure you have a reason to bluff (you sense serious weakness, or have dead on reads). Don't bluff away your money, especially online! It is easy to 'call and see' online since you are not sitting there face to face and have to 'face the music' of making a donkey call.

Plus, many good players will check top pair good kicker on the river if you have called them down with a drawing hand that has obviously missed. (ie, 4 to the flush on the turn, and a blank on the river). They check to give you the chance to bluff your busted draw and pick you off with a hand like top pair or even 2nd pair, when you would have simply folded to their river value bet.

Good bluffs depend on opponents who are paying attention and have the capability of laying down a strong but vulnerable hand. Make sure you have seen something in a player that shows you that they are paying attention and can lay a hand down. Most online players call.

So - don't bluff so much, your bankroll will thank you! (mostly considering $$ games here, tourneys are more situational even than $$ games imo)

3. In general bet larger amounts.

Bet more when you are betting for value, they'll call you. Bet more when you have a strong but vulnerable hand so you end the hand there and take down the pot now. Bet more so you make they draws pay way to much to properly draw for their outs. When you bluff, bet the amount to 'get the job done', which is normally a larger amount (unless your opponent things large amounts mean bluff and smaller value bets mean monsters....

When in doubt, bet a little bit more. If there are flush draws or straight draws on the board, trying to value bet a hand like Ac Ad on a board of Js 10ds 8h with 1/4 or 1/3 pot sized bets on the flop or turn is way to small. This is a highly coordinated board, with straigt draws, flush draws, straight flush draws etc... you name it. Your hand is probably good, but you need to find out right now. You need to stick in a bet around the 3/4th's to pot sized bet to find out where you are at. You could already be behind. Strong re-raises should be respected, as well as smooth calls depending on the turn and the action.

Bet bigger and take it down or give the drawing hand very bad pot odds for calling! 3/4ths pot size to full pot size bets get it done!

4. Frequent continuation bets are fine if you are the initial aggressor pre-flop.

If you've raised pre-flop and gotten 1 or 2 callers it is fine to often make continuation bets on the flop. Continuation bets can be made when the action is checked to you on a non-threatening board.

A continuation bet is a bet that should be between 1/2 the pot up to the size of the pot, made on the flop after raising pre-flop (not calling a raise). If you make a lot of continuation bets, you also need to bet exactly the same when you make a hand.

To be a successful continuation bettor you must also bet the same when you hit your hand. Please notice I said 'frequent' and not 'constant.' Finding exactly where and when to make these takes practice, but if conditions are not bad, start firing away.

5. Don't go broke in an unraised pot - play cautiously when you and others limp on in!

In unraised pots players can literally have any two cards and if you do not have a seriously strong hand (nut or near nut), don't play a large pot. Two pair no good - fold it to serious aggression or resistance. Don't go broke by flopping two pair in an unraised pot!

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/texas-holdem-common-sense-tips.htm

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Do not be intimidated by playing poker. These strategies will make you a better player.

2008-08-30T23:37:00.001-07:00

The information in this blog is in no way meant to promote gambling. It provides information on poker to be used in its legal and non-gambling applications.

Another Great Poker Article

To go or not to go all in ? that is the question

By Johnny Kampis

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So goes a Chinese proverb that is also an apt description of the beginning of a poker tournament.

Consider starting with 1,500 chips in a tournament with 100 people. In order to win the tournament, you must have 150,000 chips in the end. When you think about it like that it seems almost an unfathomable task, an attempt to climb Mt. Everest. But somebody?s got to do it.

I?ve found over time that I tend to do better at live tournaments than those I play online. At first, I thought it was maybe because I was good at reading people, which is impossible to do online, but then I realized it was something else. When you play online, it?s always easy to see what the average chip count is among the players remaining in the tournament and it can be easy to panic if you are far below the average. I tend to start pushing all in with hands I shouldn?t play or in situations in which I should probably fold.

But when you?re playing live, there is no screen to tell you where you stand against the rest of the field. You can do some calculations in your head to figure out about where you stand, but there?s no number constantly in front of you telling you that.

Just as patience is key in a regular ring game of poker, it?s also key when you have a below average stack in a tournament. Consider that the average stack in a tournament you are playing is 10,000. You have 5,000 and the blinds are 200 and 400. You are well below average, but you aren?t a short stack yet. You don?t have to push all in when you raise. It gives you time to wait on a quality hand before making a move, and if you can double up once you are back to average.

I played a tournament at Binion?s in Las Vegas this summer in which I was a below average stack nearly the entire event, but I stayed patient and was able to get good hands on which to double up on. Finally, when I got to the final table I caught hand after hand and ended up winning the tournament. Had I hurriedly pushed all in earlier in the affair with a less than premium hand and lost I wouldn?t have given myself a chance to catch the hands I was dealt later.

It?s better to pass up a so-so opportunity now in order to get a much better opportunity later. Otherwise, you?ll never get to climb Mt. Everest.

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This hold em article has tips and strategies to bring immediate improvement to your game.

2008-08-28T06:22:00.001-07:00

This blog is for entertainment purposes only. It is meant to provide information relating to the game of hold em in its legal and non-gambling applications.

This Texas Hold Em Article Will Make You A Better Player

BOOK REVIEW: JOHNNY HUGHES' "TEXAS POKER WISDOM"

by Gary Wise

When I got into this gig a few years ago, it wasn�t for my love of the interactions of cards. For me, it was the players of the games we love who fascinated me, a result of a childhood spent in the company of game players providing shelter for other game players. My dad was the constant host to game night.

Of all the games and cultures that accompany them, none is richer than that of poker. For 150 years this game has been played, but the people and their constant maneuvering were as much a part of the color as the results. It was the stories of cowboys and mobsters, riverboat gamblers and railroad tycoons that kept my eyes wide, and every nugget of that Americana was a morsel to be nourished.

You do enough reading and the stories overlap. You start stumbling upon different renditions of the same stories, or worse yet, poorly-written versions, and you start to realize you�ve been there, done that and that the original story-tellers -- the guys who were there-- are a fading breed whose oral history is soon to be completely devoured by some form of pop culture-broken telephone that will forever tarnish the truth.

Fortunately, we�re not there yet. I can say this with conviction because I�ve just finished reading �Texas Poker Wisdom� a new novel by Johnny Hughes, a man who�s fought the poker wars and lived to tell about it. For anyone out there who yearns for the ways of old and �more importantly�the ways of the truth, it�s a book that should be read, as much for entertainment as for education.

�Wisdom� starts out slowly, much like the game it focuses on. It forces you to endure patiently as you get the background on its protagonists Matt and Dylan O�Malley. Matt, a character based on the author, is the old school grinder, a poker player who�s survived the tough times. The beneficiary of a new, unfamiliar monthly stipend, he finds himself living in a secure environment he�s unaccustomed to. It�s comfortable, but for a man of action, it leaves the distinct feeling of restlessness in everything he does. He needs a new adventure.

Dylan, meanwhile, is the young hotshot internet type you�d find behind half the monitors in the world nowadays. He�s young, cocky and confident, thanks in large part to a fast, easily-earned success that�s left him thinking the world is his oyster, evidenced by the quarter-million dollar bankroll he�s built up in next to no time at all.

The story starts when the two protagonists meet for the first time in almost two decades. Dylan acts with the indifference of his generation, while Matt behaves according to the caution of his own. Slowly, bridges are built, using poker as the brick and mortar on which they connect. To tell you much more would be to ruin the story.

There are lessons to be learned here. They are lessons in the game�s shady history, with the author drawing on his own experience as a soldier in Boss Bill Boyd�s army of poker scams and shenanigans. They are lessons of the peril of a damsel in distress; lessons in the pitfalls of �the life� and how to avoid them; how to turn every dollar into two and how to avoid turning every two into zero.

There�s good writing here too. Hughes draws upon the colorful colloquialisms of the title regions and colors them more with witty one-liners from his own repertoire. Simple sentences like �What stays in Vegas is a sucker�s money� left my jaw hanging in admiration over how much could be communicated through what�s an obvious line in hindsight.

Texas Poker Wisdom isn�t without its flaws. Hughes needs a better editor (the word �quiet� was spelled Q-U-I-T-E three times that I saw) and the narrative has a distinctive ADD feel in the early goings, but slogging through the mud is worth the wait. Poker is often described as hours of boredom interspersed with moments of sheer terror, and the deeper you get into the book, the less you get of the former and more you get of the latter.

You don�t need to be a poker player to appreciate Texas Poker Wisdom�s lessons in life, but it helps if you want to get the maximum enjoyment out of every tension filled hand. Call this a hearty recommendation to read this book, and to stick with it when you think about putting it down.

Gary Wise

Source: http://www.wisehandpoker.com/articles/index.php?article=book-texas-poker-wisdom.html

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A Hold Em Article For Your Reading Enjoyment

ADVANTAGES OF TIGHT vs. LOOSE GAMES

The makeup of a no-limit hold�em game can vary greatly from table to table depending on the lineup of players in each setting. Oftentimes, only the addition of one reckless player can cause the entire game to change from a relatively tight and conservative match to one in which all the players begin to loosen up and the chips start flying in an attempt to win the money of the reckless player. Here are some characteristics of tight and loose games:

Tight

A raise often takes the blinds, or a continuation bet after the flop takes the pot if the pre-flop bet is called.
Players aren�t willing to put much money into the pot with even relatively strong hands such as A-Q or 10-10.
Big pots rarely develop due to the lack of contestants, and bluffs are usually effective because the pots aren�t worth fighting over.
Loose

Raises are usually called, as are significant re-raises.
Players are willing to put a lot of money into the pot with mediocre hands such as K-J or 5-5.
Big pots are commonplace, as are big bluffs, which are generally less successful than bluffs in loose games but are worth much more when they do work.
So what are the advantages of each type of game? First and foremost, you�d much rather be playing in a loose game because you can play very selectively and be more likely to get paid off on your big hands. But to be successful in a loose no-limit hold�em game, you must have a lot of heart because there are going to be some tricky situations when you are facing a big bet. If you can learn to figure out who�s bluffing and who�s not and have the courage to act on your convictions, you will do very well in loose games. And on the flip side, you�ll have to figure out when to pull your own well-timed bluff to rake in some pots yourself.

On the other hand, tight games also have their advantages. In these games, an aggressive player can steal a lot of small pots. This strategy is most effective in games with decent blinds. If you�re playing $1-$2 there�s not much in the pot to steal, but if it�s a tight $2-$5 or $5-$10 game, then there�s more worth going after. Make your standard raise of 2.5 to 3 times the big blind and you�ll take a lot of pots. Those not won pre-flop can usually be obtained on the flop with a standard continuation bet of half to two-third the pot size.

Players in tight games also tend to play more straightforward. You�ll face far fewer check-raise bluffs than you would in loose games. When someone pushes back with a check raise or re-raise in a tight game, it�s best to let your mediocre hands go.

Source: http://www.wisehandpoker.com/articles/index.php?article=advantage-of-tight-vs-loose-games.html

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Poker can be tricky. This article will help remove some of the guesswork.

2008-08-24T21:26:00.001-07:00

This blog is for information and education only. It is meant to improve your Texas Hold Em game in its legal and non-gambling applications.

A Poker Article to Instantly Improve Your Game

The Idiot Approach

MYSTIC - Playing online poker can differ greatly from playing poker on the pro circuit. While on the pro circuit you can get to know the opponents you encounter quite well, and can study and adapt to their personal methods of play.

In online poker, however, the players you encounter will often differ greatly from day to day as new players enter the game. Many of
these players will lack skill at the game of poker, backing up bad hands with good money, while still others will be lurking at tables waiting to take advantage of these weaker players. You can take advantage of this
phenomenon by taking the idiot approach.

The idiot approach can give you great results when you're playing against the weak player or the player who wants to prey upon the weak. It involves putting good money behind bad hands when starting play, then suddenly switching gears to play a much more conservative game - more conservative, perhaps, than even your normal style of play. Basically you want the good players to think that you are a weak player, and the weak players to gain confidence after they win a few beefy pots.

This gambit will lose you money in the short run, but the potential for strong gains in the long run will be increased. If you can throw in a bit of money on a weak hand and play it until the hand is over, then unless you've accidentally bluffed your way to a win, your opponents will see your pocket cards and will notice that you are playing money on weak hands.

This could potentially persuade stronger opponents to start putting chips behind weaker hands, thinking that they've got pretty good
bets against your hands considering that you are playing weak poker. Meanwhile, the weaker opponents will start playing bigger money, thinking that they are on a lucky streak or sitting at a good table due to taking some early wins. At this point, however, you will have tightened your game and will only be playing your better hands.

This strategy is weak if you're playing against excellent opponents who notice right away that you have switched gears, or against opponents who play based on their hands and not based on the actions of the other players at their table. It's also a bad idea to gamble away too much money up front using this tactic - don't throw away so much money that getting those initial losses back becomes an insurmountable chore.

But against a table full of random players, a few badly placed bets here and there in the early hands can win you some good money on later deals.

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/the-idiot-approach.htm

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2008-08-22T00:21:00.001-07:00

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A Great Texas Hold Em Article

Playing with Bubbles

By Garry Gates

After three long hours of play, you find yourself down to the last two tables of a poker tournament that started with just under 200 players. There are twenty players left, but only the top eighteen are rewarded. Not wanting to get knocked out �on the bubble,� or just outside the money, you notice that almost everyone at your table has tightened up their game. The exception is a player to your left who seems to be taking down pot after pot without even seeing a flop. He makes a standard raise of three times the big blind to which everyone folds, each time earning him the blinds and dead ante money, a decent chunk of change at this stage of the tournament. Before play started, this player had an average sized chip stack and now he�s the tournament chip leader, in position to make a big run at the final table.

Switching to an aggressive playing style when nearing the bubble in a multi-table tournament is an extremely effective method of padding your chip stack, in preparation for the final table. Truth be told, most players do not want to risk getting knocked out of a tournament after playing for hours when they�re just a couple of spots away from cashing. The fear of a bad beat or the possibility of running into a superior hand causes even the loosest of players to fold practically everything except aces or kings during this unique stage of the tournament. Throughout a poker tournament, you will make decisions based on an array of situations, rather than your cards and opponents. The decisions you make when approaching the bubble can mean the difference between first place money and just getting your buy-in back.

Changing your playing style to aggressive at this stage of a tournament carries as much risk as it does reward. You should practice selective aggression with your raises, being careful not to get involved with the tournament�s big stacks, or players you feel might be willing to come over the top of your attempted blind steal. Continue to make standard sized raises in position and try to avoid stealing when one or more players has limped into the pot before you; a limper here is often trying to set a trap with a premium hand.

Focus your pressure on tight players whose stacks are big enough that they will be able to fold their way into the money, but not so big that they can afford to challenge one of your raises without putting their entire stack in harm�s way. If one of these players does come over the top of your raise, do not hesitate to throw your hand away immediately. The possibility exists that he may have picked up on your aggressive assault and is simply making a play, but it is more likely that this player walked into a big hand and is making a stand.

Often times, when the bubble has been �popped,� or the last player before the money is eliminated, play will return to normal. Players will return to their regular playing styles, which means it�s time to put the brakes on your relentless aggression and resume solid poker. Before you attempt to apply this technique in a big tournament, consider your goals. If you�re content with just making the money, then by all means, conform with the masses and fold away. But if you�ve got your eye on the big prize, raise it up!

Source: http://www.wisehandpoker.com/articles/index.php?article=on-the-bubble.html

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A Featured Online Poker Article

Online Poker can be profitable, but be sure to choose the right table!

1. PLAYERS & POT SIZES...

As a general rule, 6-8 players with a fairly large average pot size.

With most online poker sites you can see the average pot size and how many players are seeing the flop. Large pots are better as this generally means more loose players, playing no limit I'm looking to win big hands when I've got the nuts, not to grind down opponents by blind stealing and small pot stealing. I avoid most really tight games, rocks are boring and unprofitable typically. No limit is about getting paid off when you hit your monster, not stealing blinds all day.

A good table for me is one that is loose, but that is also not overly aggressive. I'm looking for a lot of players limping or calling small raises pre-flop.

2. The average number of players seeing the flop...

If you can see the average # of players seeing the flop, this is a hugely vital stat to use. Lower limits you can easily find something around 35-40%, which is pretty darn loose. Find this stat and then get one with a higher than average pot.

Sites like Bodog and Sportsbook.com will show you how many players are seeing the flop on average. I look for games with high averages seeing the flop, anything over 40% is usually good and very easy to find online.

The majority of times this makes for a good table as a tight aggressive player will play between 20% and 35% of any given hands on average, and in my opinion 35% is loooooose.

3. Watch the Button go around the table at least once - and pay attention!

Now that you've found a table with numbers that look pretty good its time to actually take a quick overhead view of the table and see what happens. Open up the table but do not sit down, or if you want you can sit down but not take your cards yet. If you are playing at Poker Stars, here is a screen shot of the table.

Take an open seat and pay attention! Watch the button go all the way around the table and take an initial assement of the table. Here are the things to look for:

A. Players limping and then calling a late position raise with weak holdings (hands like KQo, KJo, KTo, and other dominated hands like QJ (this is a good sign)

B. Look around the table at the current stack sizes - normally avoid tables where more than 3 players have 3 to 4 times the maximum buy in amount. These players can easily push me out of pots or have me committed early. They also might be solid players. (bad sign)

C. Take notice of the cards people are showing down. Look for weak holdings outside of the blinds offsuit small one gappers, Ace rag unsuited, and the plethora of other bad cards people play with. (more junk the better)

D. Take notice of who raises and who calls raises - are premium hands raised huge or limped with and are other players calling raises with weak holdings (good)

E. Any Maniacs at the table? - is there a crazy bettor or people who seem to be out to hit miracle cards by calling big bets? (good depending on seat) If you can get position on them (acting afterwards) you can get paid off when you hit a monster against them. The only problem is that you almost have to hit your hand to beat this player so you need to also feel confident that they will also pay you off when you do.

F. Who are the two worst players at the table? (can't tell? BAD) Pick out two players that are playing weak and have made mistakes. See who is playing really loose, who is playing really tight.

G. Look for players making small raises (1-2x the BB) with premium hands or even slow playing. (good, probably inexperienced players)

4. YOU MUST HAVE A GOOD SEAT RELATIVE TO THE REST OF THE TABLE...

A. This means sitting directly to the left of the Maniacs and the other Big Stacks so you always act after them. If you have a big hand you have the option to disguise it by letting them bet it for you. If you have a weak hand you can let it go fairly easily.

B. Give up position to short stacks/tight players - no problem letting the act after you if they are only going to play strong hands or not get involved often.

If you find the right combination of table factors and good relative seat then snag it! Since you've been watching the action already you can post as soon as you sit down if you want. This helps portray a loose image. If the big blind is 4 seats or less away from me I'll wait and post as soon as I sit down, although I sometimes post right away to make people think I'm loose.

5. IF THE TABLE TURNS COLD, GET UP AND MOVE...

Nothing is worse than staying at a bad table. Many times you'll find yourself sitting at a table with a bunch of tight and aggressive players. Unless you are wanting to work on your game, get up and move and go make money. Don't think that you've got something to prove.

6. TAKE NOTES...

I logged on to Party Poker yesterday to play a tourney with some friends and there were over 70,000 players playing right then. You'll probably never see a player again but if you find anyone who is horrible, take a note and especially when you find the good players, make a note. It could save you your stack later.

I recommend reading through Full Tilt Poker Download Guide for a step by step tutorial on setting a your online poker account. This is a great resource for new players.

Thanks and we'll see you at the tables!

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/no-limit-holdem-table-selection-tips.htm

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2008-08-18T18:14:00.001-07:00

A Texas Hold Em Article to Instantly Improve Your Game

BOOK REVIEW - BROKE: A POKER NOVEL

By Gary Wise

Getting a look inside the mind of a professional poker player should prove a valuable resource to any aspirant. Author Brandon Adams is such a player; a high stakes online pro who�s managed to make final tables in both the WPT and WSOP Circuit. Broke, while not technically about him, is a novella drawn from his experience.

I say novella because the length of the book is 96 large print, small-sized pages. This is a one-day read, and as such probably isn�t worth the $10 asking price for the paper version. For half that though, one can retrieve the text online. For that price, Broke is a worthwhile investment as both educational and entertaining text.

Adams left me wanting more. His first person protagonist makes the same rounds as its author, traveling to major events at major casinos, winning or losing huge amounts in seconds online, experiencing the ups and downs that are part of the pro poker territory�even losing $3,200 on a phone call-induced misclick. We�ve all made that mistake at one point, but Adams� narrative allows us to feel the adrenal implosion of making it at the highest stakes. There�s more, but I don�t want to ruin the surprises.

For a first attempt, �Broke�s author shows a lot of promise. He writes from what he knows and weaves a precautionary tale in the process that paints no pictures about his profession. Parents, if your kids are playing poker professionally, get them to read this; the $5 will probably save them a lot more money down the road. If nothing else, it will show them where they�re going.

I�d go on, but this review would then be longer than the book. Brandon, make it longer next time. I wanted more.

Source: http://www.wisehandpoker.com/articles/index.php?article=book-broke-poker-novel.html

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Matthew Hilger is generally recognized as one of the best authors on the subject of internet poker. He and some of the most knowledgeable players and writers in the poker industry have joined to contribute columns on every aspect of poker. Contributors range from Tournament Pros like the Hendon Mob� to Internet Poker Pros from the Internet Texas Holdem community. Beyond Texas Holdem Strategy, this section covers Omaha, Backgammon, Sit 'n Go tournaments, multitable tournaments, cash games, poker psychology, mind sets and general revelry.

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2008-08-16T23:50:00.001-07:00

A Featured Online Poker Article

To go or not to go all in ? that is the question

By Johnny Kampis

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So goes a Chinese proverb that is also an apt description of the beginning of a poker tournament.

Consider starting with 1,500 chips in a tournament with 100 people. In order to win the tournament, you must have 150,000 chips in the end. When you think about it like that it seems almost an unfathomable task, an attempt to climb Mt. Everest. But somebody?s got to do it.

I?ve found over time that I tend to do better at live tournaments than those I play online. At first, I thought it was maybe because I was good at reading people, which is impossible to do online, but then I realized it was something else. When you play online, it?s always easy to see what the average chip count is among the players remaining in the tournament and it can be easy to panic if you are far below the average. I tend to start pushing all in with hands I shouldn?t play or in situations in which I should probably fold.

But when you?re playing live, there is no screen to tell you where you stand against the rest of the field. You can do some calculations in your head to figure out about where you stand, but there?s no number constantly in front of you telling you that.

Just as patience is key in a regular ring game of poker, it?s also key when you have a below average stack in a tournament. Consider that the average stack in a tournament you are playing is 10,000. You have 5,000 and the blinds are 200 and 400. You are well below average, but you aren?t a short stack yet. You don?t have to push all in when you raise. It gives you time to wait on a quality hand before making a move, and if you can double up once you are back to average.

I played a tournament at Binion?s in Las Vegas this summer in which I was a below average stack nearly the entire event, but I stayed patient and was able to get good hands on which to double up on. Finally, when I got to the final table I caught hand after hand and ended up winning the tournament. Had I hurriedly pushed all in earlier in the affair with a less than premium hand and lost I wouldn?t have given myself a chance to catch the hands I was dealt later.

It?s better to pass up a so-so opportunity now in order to get a much better opportunity later. Otherwise, you?ll never get to climb Mt. Everest.

Latest Online Poker News:

Matthew Hilger is generally recognized as one of the best authors on the subject of internet poker. He and some of the most knowledgeable players and writers in the poker industry have joined to contribute columns on every aspect of poker. Contributors range from Tournament Pros like the Hendon Mob� to Internet Poker Pros from the Internet Texas Holdem community. Beyond Texas Holdem Strategy, this section covers Omaha, Backgammon, Sit 'n Go tournaments, multitable tournaments, cash games, poker psychology, mind sets and general revelry.

Visit the Texas Holdem Poker Strategy Section

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Do not be intimidated by playing Texas Hold Em. These strategies will make you a better player.

2008-08-14T11:23:00.001-07:00

Please note this blog is meant to provide information on Texas Hold Em in its legal and non-gambling applications.

A Great Texas Hold Em Article

Playing with Bubbles

By Garry Gates

After three long hours of play, you find yourself down to the last two tables of a poker tournament that started with just under 200 players. There are twenty players left, but only the top eighteen are rewarded. Not wanting to get knocked out �on the bubble,� or just outside the money, you notice that almost everyone at your table has tightened up their game. The exception is a player to your left who seems to be taking down pot after pot without even seeing a flop. He makes a standard raise of three times the big blind to which everyone folds, each time earning him the blinds and dead ante money, a decent chunk of change at this stage of the tournament. Before play started, this player had an average sized chip stack and now he�s the tournament chip leader, in position to make a big run at the final table.

Switching to an aggressive playing style when nearing the bubble in a multi-table tournament is an extremely effective method of padding your chip stack, in preparation for the final table. Truth be told, most players do not want to risk getting knocked out of a tournament after playing for hours when they�re just a couple of spots away from cashing. The fear of a bad beat or the possibility of running into a superior hand causes even the loosest of players to fold practically everything except aces or kings during this unique stage of the tournament. Throughout a poker tournament, you will make decisions based on an array of situations, rather than your cards and opponents. The decisions you make when approaching the bubble can mean the difference between first place money and just getting your buy-in back.

Changing your playing style to aggressive at this stage of a tournament carries as much risk as it does reward. You should practice selective aggression with your raises, being careful not to get involved with the tournament�s big stacks, or players you feel might be willing to come over the top of your attempted blind steal. Continue to make standard sized raises in position and try to avoid stealing when one or more players has limped into the pot before you; a limper here is often trying to set a trap with a premium hand.

Focus your pressure on tight players whose stacks are big enough that they will be able to fold their way into the money, but not so big that they can afford to challenge one of your raises without putting their entire stack in harm�s way. If one of these players does come over the top of your raise, do not hesitate to throw your hand away immediately. The possibility exists that he may have picked up on your aggressive assault and is simply making a play, but it is more likely that this player walked into a big hand and is making a stand.

Often times, when the bubble has been �popped,� or the last player before the money is eliminated, play will return to normal. Players will return to their regular playing styles, which means it�s time to put the brakes on your relentless aggression and resume solid poker. Before you attempt to apply this technique in a big tournament, consider your goals. If you�re content with just making the money, then by all means, conform with the masses and fold away. But if you�ve got your eye on the big prize, raise it up!

Source: http://www.wisehandpoker.com/articles/index.php?article=on-the-bubble.html

Latest Texas Hold Em News:

Matthew Hilger is generally recognized as one of the best authors on the subject of internet poker. He and some of the most knowledgeable players and writers in the poker industry have joined to contribute columns on every aspect of poker. Contributors range from Tournament Pros like the Hendon Mob� to Internet Poker Pros from the Internet Texas Holdem community. Beyond Texas Holdem Strategy, this section covers Omaha, Backgammon, Sit 'n Go tournaments, multitable tournaments, cash games, poker psychology, mind sets and general revelry.

Visit the Texas Holdem Poker Strategy Section

GET BONUS NOW | READ REVIEW

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No matter what your level of play, these Texas Hold Em strategies will make you better.

2008-08-11T12:46:00.001-07:00

A Texas Hold Em Article to Instantly Improve Your Game

BOOK REVIEW - BROKE: A POKER NOVEL

By Gary Wise

Getting a look inside the mind of a professional poker player should prove a valuable resource to any aspirant. Author Brandon Adams is such a player; a high stakes online pro who�s managed to make final tables in both the WPT and WSOP Circuit. Broke, while not technically about him, is a novella drawn from his experience.

I say novella because the length of the book is 96 large print, small-sized pages. This is a one-day read, and as such probably isn�t worth the $10 asking price for the paper version. For half that though, one can retrieve the text online. For that price, Broke is a worthwhile investment as both educational and entertaining text.

Adams left me wanting more. His first person protagonist makes the same rounds as its author, traveling to major events at major casinos, winning or losing huge amounts in seconds online, experiencing the ups and downs that are part of the pro poker territory�even losing $3,200 on a phone call-induced misclick. We�ve all made that mistake at one point, but Adams� narrative allows us to feel the adrenal implosion of making it at the highest stakes. There�s more, but I don�t want to ruin the surprises.

For a first attempt, �Broke�s author shows a lot of promise. He writes from what he knows and weaves a precautionary tale in the process that paints no pictures about his profession. Parents, if your kids are playing poker professionally, get them to read this; the $5 will probably save them a lot more money down the road. If nothing else, it will show them where they�re going.

I�d go on, but this review would then be longer than the book. Brandon, make it longer next time. I wanted more.

Source: http://www.wisehandpoker.com/articles/index.php?article=book-broke-poker-novel.html

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2008-08-09T08:24:00.001-07:00

This Hold Em Article Will Make You A Better Player

2008 World Series of Poker

By Scott 'The Deputy' Diamond

Poker players from all over are anxiously waiting for this year's World Series of Poker to begin. They have been honing their skills all year by playing in the various tournaments that are plentiful throughout the country and the world.

Some of us, including me, have had some very good coaching by some of the best in the business. (see photo)

I am very fortunate to have one of the first female inductee's into the Women's Hall of Fame, along with another women who has over 20 years of experience in the Poker Community and is a Instructor at the best Poker seminar available, give me advice and polish my game.

Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher are cornerstones in the Poker World.They not only teach at the WPT Boot Camp, they are constantly on the road volunteering their time at numerous Charitable Events.

With the economy here in the United States in a supposed recession,it will be interseting to see how many travel to Las Vegas and enter into one of the 55 events the WSOP is offering this year.

Several of the local casino's are counting on the huge numbers of visitor's by holding their own tournaments. the Venetian had a very successful tournament last year during the WSOP and will be offering the Deep Stack tournament again this year.

Caesar's has decided to have a Tournament Series as well as the Golden Nugget and of course, Binion's.

These tournaments have been designed for the average Poker player with smaller bank roll's and added play with more chips and longer levels.

The Rio will also be offering $330.00 NL tournaments nightly to compete with the other casino's.

If your dream is to play in a WSOP event, there will also be a variety of satellites held at the Rio for you to obtain your dream. These are an excellent way to gain entry into any WSOP event and if history repeats itself, there will be very long lines for satellites.

I would not be suprised if you are sitting at a table satellite with one or two professional player's this year. In the past, professionals felt there was not enough "equity", in playing satellites. However, the fields are very soft in the majority of the satellites during the WSOP and many are going to try and take advantage of the throng's of amateurs who are in town, trying to become the next Chris Moneymaker or Jerry Yang.

If you have never been to a WSOP you should plan on going. It is an electricfying experience and the atmosphere is just incredible. There is still plenty of time to make your reservations and to read a few books or attend a Boot Camp before this year's WSOP.

If you are one of those who will be in Las Vegas for this year's events and you see Linda or Jan,make sure you acknowledge them not only for their accomplishments in the Poker Community,but what they have given to thousands of player's and fan's,Their HEARTS

Scott Diamond AKA The Deputy

Source: http://www.wisehandpoker.com/articles/index.php?article=2008-World-Series-of-Poker.html

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We cut through the fluff to bring you these hard-hitting Texas Hold Em tips.

2008-08-07T02:02:00.001-07:00

We do not promote gambling of any type. This blog information is to be used when playing Texas Hold Em in its legal and non-gambling applications.

A Online Poker Article to Instantly Improve Your Game

What I Like About Poker

GOAT - Where do I begin? What do I like about poker? Many things come to mind, first I enjoy winning money, as everyone probably does, but poker is more than that to me. I enjoy the competition, I enjoy the psychological aspect of the game.

It is almost primal in a sense.

I was watching the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel and they were interviewing Howard Lederer, an excellent player and he said that there is something primitively appealing about taking your opponents� chips. Your opponent has a stack of chips, and you would like to take ownership away from him. He wants to take your chips away from you and how you play your hand determines who ends up with the chips.

Poker is not a game of luck. Luck is certainly involved (ever lose to a runner runner flush? Ever win with it?). Poker is a game of skill, if you are counting on catching lucky cards to win, over the long run you will probably lose more money than you win.

Some friends and I just recently took a trip to Biloxi to play some poker. It was only my 2nd time playing poker in a casino, it was a great experience. I lost money overall, but I didn�t do horribly in my opinion. I believe that I improved my game. I know I made the wrong plays in certain situations, and I know that I made the right play in certain situations. I came back from Biloxi a much better Poker player than when I left.

My bankroll from my online game also reflects that fact. I was down to my last $30 the day I left, and today I�m currently up to nearly $200. Yeah, I can�t quit my day-job yet but it�s a step in the right direction. Don�t get me wrong, if I would have won I would have been happier, but I have no problem loosing as long as I teach myself, or get �taught� by others.

My worst hand was the very last one I was going to play. If I had won this hand I would have finished the trip with a slightly larger bankroll than I brought down. I had been playing from about 11pm on Saturday night until around 9am Sunday morning.

My buddy came down from the room and asked was I nearing a decent place to leave the game, and I agreed to leave when the blinds got back to me. Well, wouldn�t you know it, I�m Under the Gun and I get dealt QQ�

Like any good poker player I raise it up. A very loose and aggressive player 2 positions behind me raises it again and we have 2 callers. I probably should have re-raised right there, but I only called. Flop comes down K 10 x. I bet, the loose player raises and the other 2 callers fold. I re-raise and am called.

Turn comes Q� BAM, I figure I�m up against A/K and I just hit my set. I bet out again and am once again Raised. I�m still fairly confident that I�ve got the best hand so I re-raise and am called.

River is rags so I bet out again, and once again I am raised. Now I start to question the strength of my hand, but there was no way I�m folding. I call and say �Got the straight?� Sure enough, he flips over J/9 offsuit for a K high straight. I think most people would fold J/9 offsuit when I�m aggressively betting, I�d like to think that if I would have re-raised after the flop that I might have one it, but the way this guy was playing he wasn�t folding anything.

It really sucks to have your very last hand be one where you get totally owned. That one bothered me for a while. This guy was a �Jackal� and I didn�t think he would fold to anything, but I still probably should have raised him instead of just calling. Flopping the Set was actually worse for me in this situation, my Q�s would have held up if not for the 3rd Q on the board. Live and learn.

I like Poker because it really is a sport. It is a sport that you can play as long as you are mentally capable. As I�m sitting at the table in the casino an older gentleman sat down, my first instinct was that this guy is a farmer. I don�t know what that means in regards to his poker skills, but if I was to guess his profession, I would have picked farmer, either that or professional online poker player over at poker stars.net, but i knew that was unlikely.

Anyway, he was probably in his mid 60�s, and was by far the best player at the table. He completely confused me in hands and I lost a decent amount of chips to him. At the time I was pretty disgusted that I was outplayed by someone who on the outside looked like I should be able to beat no problem. The more I thought about it, the less disgusted I became.

First I know I�m a rookie, through and through. Second, it�s kind of cool to know that when I�m his age, I�ll be taking young punks money at the table. The more I thought about it, the more I respected him and his style of play. He was excellent at hiding his hands and I rarely see him enter pots that he did not win (or at least go down swinging). I liked his strategy, he didn�t get involved in pots where he didn�t have a decent chance to win, and he didn�t let you chase your cards cheaply. I mimicked his play (as best I could) online when I got home and have done pretty well.

So, for all you up and coming poker players out there, if you take any advice from a rookie like me is, always learn. Poker isn�t just about the cards that land in your hand, it�s about how you play. I'm mostly playing online poker now with a live tournament every now and then, but I can't wait to get back to the casino and try my hand, err hooves again.

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/what-I-like-about-poker.htm

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If you enjoy poker, we're sure you will enjoy some great casino games at a top online casino.
JackpotCity.com also offers you to learn more about games such as online blackjack
to increase your winnings.

888 Holdings' 2nd Quarter Grows Despite Stagnant Poker Earnings

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 07:51:00 -0700
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Lakes Entertainment Files Ohio Casino Petition

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Are you ready to be a better online poker player? If you answered yes read on.

2008-08-05T08:22:00.001-07:00

This Hold Em Article Will Make You A Better Player

The Turn - Where The "Truth" Is Normally Told In No Limit Holdem

Nothing is 100% in poker, but there are certain �poker truths� that you need to pay attention to. When I refer to �poker truths� I�m talking about something that�s true more than it is false. That�s as close as you can get in this game.

The �poker truth� I want to discuss today is this: "When a player shows aggression on the turn, they usually have a strong hand."

What this means is, more often than not, against an average player, you�ll know where you stand on the turn.

Let�s look at couple of typical situations where your hand is disguised:

Example 1: You get a strong hand, AKs, in LP and put in a 3xBB raise. You get two callers. The flop misses you, Q93 rainbow, it�s checked around and you put in a continuation bet of � the pot. How does this bet look to your opponents?

Example 2: Now let�s say that the flop hit you, K93, it�s checked around and you put in a bet of � the pot. How does this bet look to your opponents?

The answer is; these two bets look exactly the same. It is hard for your opponents to know what they�re up against. Now take example 1 and replace the AK with another monster, 72 off. Even though you really only have 72o, to your opponents the bet looks exactly the same.

My point here is not to raise with any two cards (though you can in the right situation), but is to point out that it is on the flop that hands are most easily disguised. This is where deception can be very useful. This is where you can often �represent� a hand and get away with it.

The Turn:
The turn is where things get clearer. Fewer players are willing to continue, at the risk of losing more chips, their bluff on the turn. Therefore, more often than not, if they bet, they have a legitimate hand. So move forward cautiously when faced with a turn bet.

An even bigger risk is calling a raise on the turn. A lot of players wait until the turn to raise their monster hands, hoping to get extra chips on the flop with a slow play. If you run into a turn raise after a relatively quiet flop you should be very cautious moving forward, there�s an extremely good chance you�ll need better than top pair to win this hand.

That pattern of smooth calling a flop bet or raise and raising the turn is almost always going to be trouble. Very few players make this move without a big hand.

According to some statistics I found that were compiled from the poker-tracker stats of several on-line players (100,000+ hands). A turn raiser goes on to win the hand 63% of the time. Even more glaring than that is 71% of turn check-raisers go on to win the hand! The data also shows that turn check-raises are generally playing 2 pair or better. So think hard before calling with just top pair.

That doesn�t mean you should automatically fold your top pair to a raiser. If you�re heads up against a loose raiser or someone who regularly bets their draws, then your top pair may very well be good for a call or re-raise. But, if you�re against a tight raiser or if someone raised after multiple players have called bets, you�re top pair is not good, so dump it.

Another problem with calling raises on the turn is that you often end up calling the river. A good rule of thumb when deciding whether to call a turn bet is to include a river bet in your odds calculation. So if you need to call 2 bets into a 10 bet pot (giving you 5-1 odds) you should also add a couple bets for the river (2.5-1 odds) which suddenly makes a lot of calling situations folding situations.

Because the turn is where the �truth� is generally told, it�s a good place for you to make some advanced plays at the pot. A turn raise or check raise bluff is very powerful in the right situations, mostly heads up. Just make sure you have a good read on your opponent and don�t get carried away. These are great moves in moderation.

In my opinion, the turn is the toughest street to play in Texas Holdem. Making the right moves here is what will ultimately make you a winning player. So going forward, before quickly calling turn bets and raises, ask yourself a few questions that may help you define your opponent�s hand.

What types of hands would he have where he would smooth call the flop and raise the turn? Two pair? A set? Does the board complete a draw?

What types of hands would he need to bet the flop and continue on the turn? Top pair? A big draw? Overs?

First and foremost you should trust your reads and knowledge of your opponents, but when that�s not enough, trust the turn.

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/playing-the-turn-where-the-truth-is-normally-told.htm

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2008-08-03T16:00:00.001-07:00

We do not promote gambling of any type. This blog information is to be used when playing Texas Hold Em in its legal and non-gambling applications.

A Hold Em Article to Instantly Improve Your Game

What I Like About Poker

GOAT - Where do I begin? What do I like about poker? Many things come to mind, first I enjoy winning money, as everyone probably does, but poker is more than that to me. I enjoy the competition, I enjoy the psychological aspect of the game.

It is almost primal in a sense.

I was watching the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel and they were interviewing Howard Lederer, an excellent player and he said that there is something primitively appealing about taking your opponents� chips. Your opponent has a stack of chips, and you would like to take ownership away from him. He wants to take your chips away from you and how you play your hand determines who ends up with the chips.

Poker is not a game of luck. Luck is certainly involved (ever lose to a runner runner flush? Ever win with it?). Poker is a game of skill, if you are counting on catching lucky cards to win, over the long run you will probably lose more money than you win.

Some friends and I just recently took a trip to Biloxi to play some poker. It was only my 2nd time playing poker in a casino, it was a great experience. I lost money overall, but I didn�t do horribly in my opinion. I believe that I improved my game. I know I made the wrong plays in certain situations, and I know that I made the right play in certain situations. I came back from Biloxi a much better Poker player than when I left.

My bankroll from my online game also reflects that fact. I was down to my last $30 the day I left, and today I�m currently up to nearly $200. Yeah, I can�t quit my day-job yet but it�s a step in the right direction. Don�t get me wrong, if I would have won I would have been happier, but I have no problem loosing as long as I teach myself, or get �taught� by others.

My worst hand was the very last one I was going to play. If I had won this hand I would have finished the trip with a slightly larger bankroll than I brought down. I had been playing from about 11pm on Saturday night until around 9am Sunday morning.

My buddy came down from the room and asked was I nearing a decent place to leave the game, and I agreed to leave when the blinds got back to me. Well, wouldn�t you know it, I�m Under the Gun and I get dealt QQ�

Like any good poker player I raise it up. A very loose and aggressive player 2 positions behind me raises it again and we have 2 callers. I probably should have re-raised right there, but I only called. Flop comes down K 10 x. I bet, the loose player raises and the other 2 callers fold. I re-raise and am called.

Turn comes Q� BAM, I figure I�m up against A/K and I just hit my set. I bet out again and am once again Raised. I�m still fairly confident that I�ve got the best hand so I re-raise and am called.

River is rags so I bet out again, and once again I am raised. Now I start to question the strength of my hand, but there was no way I�m folding. I call and say �Got the straight?� Sure enough, he flips over J/9 offsuit for a K high straight. I think most people would fold J/9 offsuit when I�m aggressively betting, I�d like to think that if I would have re-raised after the flop that I might have one it, but the way this guy was playing he wasn�t folding anything.

It really sucks to have your very last hand be one where you get totally owned. That one bothered me for a while. This guy was a �Jackal� and I didn�t think he would fold to anything, but I still probably should have raised him instead of just calling. Flopping the Set was actually worse for me in this situation, my Q�s would have held up if not for the 3rd Q on the board. Live and learn.

I like Poker because it really is a sport. It is a sport that you can play as long as you are mentally capable. As I�m sitting at the table in the casino an older gentleman sat down, my first instinct was that this guy is a farmer. I don�t know what that means in regards to his poker skills, but if I was to guess his profession, I would have picked farmer, either that or professional online poker player over at poker stars.net, but i knew that was unlikely.

Anyway, he was probably in his mid 60�s, and was by far the best player at the table. He completely confused me in hands and I lost a decent amount of chips to him. At the time I was pretty disgusted that I was outplayed by someone who on the outside looked like I should be able to beat no problem. The more I thought about it, the less disgusted I became.

First I know I�m a rookie, through and through. Second, it�s kind of cool to know that when I�m his age, I�ll be taking young punks money at the table. The more I thought about it, the more I respected him and his style of play. He was excellent at hiding his hands and I rarely see him enter pots that he did not win (or at least go down swinging). I liked his strategy, he didn�t get involved in pots where he didn�t have a decent chance to win, and he didn�t let you chase your cards cheaply. I mimicked his play (as best I could) online when I got home and have done pretty well.

So, for all you up and coming poker players out there, if you take any advice from a rookie like me is, always learn. Poker isn�t just about the cards that land in your hand, it�s about how you play. I'm mostly playing online poker now with a live tournament every now and then, but I can't wait to get back to the casino and try my hand, err hooves again.

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/what-I-like-about-poker.htm

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Online Poker can be tricky. This article will help remove some of the guesswork.

2008-07-22T12:51:00.001-07:00

Please note this blog is meant to provide information on online poker in its legal and non-gambling applications.

Todays Online Poker Article

Tournament Poker and Cash Game Poker: A Two-headed Monster - Part 2

by Gary Gates

�Should I fold and wait for a better spot to put all my chips at risk? With only 50 players left to the money, do I have enough chips to survive the blinds and antes? How long until the blinds go up? Which players at my table are susceptible to getting eaten up by the blinds? Which players can I steal blinds from?�

When we left part I, we began to consider the additional factors a tournament poker player must consider within his or her decision-making process. These �special� circumstances often call for special action. A player might make one play in a cash game that he would never even consider in a tournament, and vice versa.

The unique decision-making processes required of these two very different brands of poker are necessitated by the manner in which profit is earned in each type. Cash games reward players instantly, as every pot pushed your way comes in the form of legal tender that you can walk away with at any time. In other words, a player can sit down at a cash game, double up on the first hand, put his chips back in the rack and proceed to the cashier with his newfound wealth. Though I do not recommend this method, as it won�t earn you many friends at the table, no one is going to stop you. (Who needs friends at the poker table anyway, right?)

Tournaments, however, reward only the top few participants who are able to outlast the masses. Described by many as marathons that call for hours of intense boredom, speckled with a few moments of sheer terror, poker tournaments require a great amount of time and patience. In a tournament that pays the top ten players, 100th place pays exactly as much as eleventh: nothing. Therefore, major decisions within the game are heavily influenced by the size of players� chip stacks, the number of players remaining, and the size of your own stack relative to the blinds. Before you take tenth, you have to guarantee yourself eleventh, and that fact is what makes survival a tournament player�s number one priority.

Cash games, because of their static blinds and the option to buy more chips at any time, tend to suit more conservative poker players. The never-increasing blinds allow them to sit back and wait for big hands with which they hope to win massive pots. Tournament play forces aggression to some extent, as the blinds and antes are constantly on the rise. The track records of Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Stu Ungar and Johnny Chan are prime examples of the kind of success that can come from aggressive tournament play.

Which brand of poker should you play? First consider the style of poker that comes most naturally to you. Do you tend to play passive or aggressive? Are you the kind of player that can recognize the multitude of situations that will be presented to you throughout a poker tournament and adapt your play accordingly, or do you feel more comfortable playing the player rather than the cards and situation? Be sure to try your hand at both and know the differences between the two before you decide which is right for you.

Source: http://www.wisehandpoker.com/articles/index.php?article=tournament-poker-cash-game-poker-part-2.html

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It's the young guns of the Internet against the established lions of the game in 'Nets vs. Vets' week on NBC's popular late-night show 'Poker After Dark.' Representing the online world are three players who made their mark as online...

Moody's Downgrades Bond Ratings of Casino Operators

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Sexton's Corner, Vol. 54: Marco Traniello, Rising Star

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The day I interviewed Jennifer Harman in Bobby's Room at the Bellagio, I glimpsed her viewpoint of what a remarkable husband she has in Marco Traniello. In a very reflective moment Jennifer said, 'If I had to write a letter to God about...

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Online Poker can be tricky. This article will help remove some of the guesswork.

2008-07-20T11:07:00.001-07:00

This blog is for information and education only. It is meant to improve your online poker game in its legal and non-gambling applications.

Todays Online Poker Article

When playing poker, keep your attention at the table

By Johnny Kampis

If you?re playing poker the patient and correct way, folding most of your hands, you?ll be left with a lot of downtime where you?re not involved in the action. That doesn?t mean you should just rest on your laurels, or turn your attention to the baseball game on the television.

To become a better poker player, you should pay attention at all times when at the table, learning your opponents? tendencies. Who is aggressive? Who is timid? Who raises with only strong cards? Who bluffs a lot? All of these questions can be answered if you just pay attention.

Over the years, I?ve developed a couple of mental exercises to help me focus on the action while playing Texas hold?em. These exercises can also increase your decision making and problem solving abilities at the poker table.

The first one is to guess what each of your opponents is holding based on how he plays the hand. Say the flop comes J-10-2 with two spades. There is a bet, a call and a raise. What sorts of hands could these players have? Perhaps the better has something like J-K for top pair and the caller has a straight or flush draw and the raiser has two pair or a set. The more you study your opponents, the better you will be able to guess their holdings, and that ability will only help you in the long run.

During a recent friendly game, one player bet out on a board of A-A-10-2 and Steve called. A third player raised, the initial bettor called and Steve re-raised. Before Steve turned his cards over on the river, I called out ?Ace-Ten,? and that?s precisely what he had. How was I able to guess this? Steve had a monster hand and didn?t want to chase out the other players on the turn so he just called the initial bet, but after there was a raise behind him he could go ahead and re-raise and get more money in the pot. If Steve held three aces, without a full house, he most likely would have raised on the turn initially to try and eliminate any flush and straight draws. You can only learn these kinds of tendencies by paying attention.

A second exercise I like to employ while playing hold?em is to think up a hand and visualize how I would play it. Let?s pretend the flop is 8-J-3. Now, I may have folded a 5-2 or some other junk hand, but I?m going to now pretend I have a 9-10 in my hand and the action is to me. Do I bet, check, raise or fold? Or I could pretend I have flopped a set of threes. Now what do I do? This exercise allows you to continually think about how you would play certain hands, which will only help you when you actually hold those cards.

Source: http://www.wisehandpoker.com/articles/index.php?article=be-attentive.html

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This poker article has tips and strategies to bring immediate improvement to your game.

2008-07-16T08:24:00.001-07:00

A Featured Poker Article

5 Tips To Use When Playing Heads Up Poker

Here are my 5 tips you can use to improve your 'Heads Up' poker play

1. You don�t have to play every hand. It�s ok to fold your small blind if you have a lousy hand. Most players heads up play every hand. IMO, this is a mistake. You can�t wait for the best of the best, but you don�t have to play 63o either.

Don�t worry about the chips you�re losing here. Folding the small bind makes the other player think you�re only playing good hands so you�ll be able to raise him off of his BB enough to make up for it.

2. Don�t limp from the small blind, at least not very often. For the most part, you should either fold it or raise it. Save your limping for the BB. You don�t have position, so you need to win most of these hands pre-flop. The BB will probably raise you anyway. You need to be the one leading the betting.

The exception is if you get a monster like KK or AA.

3. Slow play the monster hand. If you get a big pocket pair, let the other overly aggressive player do the betting for you. This is player dependant, but if you�re against a player like I was playing last night, who kept using the all-in bluff, why not let him lead the way.

4. Mix up your play, a lot. I like to play a few hands in a row where I raise every hand and follow that by several folded small blinds. Switch up your raises from the minimum raise to a big half your stack raise. Keep the other player confused.

A confused player tends to be a passive player.

5. Don�t forget what got you there! If you�re a tight aggressive player and that�s what got you to the final two, then keep being tight aggressive. Don�t suddenly become loose aggressive. You�ll be out of your element.

Obviously your play has to loosen up when you get to this point, but you don�t have to be an �any two cards� type. It�s still ok to fold middle or bottom pair to an all-in bet.

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/5-tips-to-use-when-playing-heads-up-poker.htm

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Ready to improve your hold em game? Lets get started then.

2008-07-14T21:25:00.001-07:00

We do not promote gambling of any type. This blog information is to be used when playing hold em in its legal and non-gambling applications.

A Hold Em Article to Instantly Improve Your Game

What I Like About Poker

GOAT - Where do I begin? What do I like about poker? Many things come to mind, first I enjoy winning money, as everyone probably does, but poker is more than that to me. I enjoy the competition, I enjoy the psychological aspect of the game.

It is almost primal in a sense.

I was watching the World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel and they were interviewing Howard Lederer, an excellent player and he said that there is something primitively appealing about taking your opponents� chips. Your opponent has a stack of chips, and you would like to take ownership away from him. He wants to take your chips away from you and how you play your hand determines who ends up with the chips.

Poker is not a game of luck. Luck is certainly involved (ever lose to a runner runner flush? Ever win with it?). Poker is a game of skill, if you are counting on catching lucky cards to win, over the long run you will probably lose more money than you win.

Some friends and I just recently took a trip to Biloxi to play some poker. It was only my 2nd time playing poker in a casino, it was a great experience. I lost money overall, but I didn�t do horribly in my opinion. I believe that I improved my game. I know I made the wrong plays in certain situations, and I know that I made the right play in certain situations. I came back from Biloxi a much better Poker player than when I left.

My bankroll from my online game also reflects that fact. I was down to my last $30 the day I left, and today I�m currently up to nearly $200. Yeah, I can�t quit my day-job yet but it�s a step in the right direction. Don�t get me wrong, if I would have won I would have been happier, but I have no problem loosing as long as I teach myself, or get �taught� by others.

My worst hand was the very last one I was going to play. If I had won this hand I would have finished the trip with a slightly larger bankroll than I brought down. I had been playing from about 11pm on Saturday night until around 9am Sunday morning.

My buddy came down from the room and asked was I nearing a decent place to leave the game, and I agreed to leave when the blinds got back to me. Well, wouldn�t you know it, I�m Under the Gun and I get dealt QQ�

Like any good poker player I raise it up. A very loose and aggressive player 2 positions behind me raises it again and we have 2 callers. I probably should have re-raised right there, but I only called. Flop comes down K 10 x. I bet, the loose player raises and the other 2 callers fold. I re-raise and am called.

Turn comes Q� BAM, I figure I�m up against A/K and I just hit my set. I bet out again and am once again Raised. I�m still fairly confident that I�ve got the best hand so I re-raise and am called.

River is rags so I bet out again, and once again I am raised. Now I start to question the strength of my hand, but there was no way I�m folding. I call and say �Got the straight?� Sure enough, he flips over J/9 offsuit for a K high straight. I think most people would fold J/9 offsuit when I�m aggressively betting, I�d like to think that if I would have re-raised after the flop that I might have one it, but the way this guy was playing he wasn�t folding anything.

It really sucks to have your very last hand be one where you get totally owned. That one bothered me for a while. This guy was a �Jackal� and I didn�t think he would fold to anything, but I still probably should have raised him instead of just calling. Flopping the Set was actually worse for me in this situation, my Q�s would have held up if not for the 3rd Q on the board. Live and learn.

I like Poker because it really is a sport. It is a sport that you can play as long as you are mentally capable. As I�m sitting at the table in the casino an older gentleman sat down, my first instinct was that this guy is a farmer. I don�t know what that means in regards to his poker skills, but if I was to guess his profession, I would have picked farmer, either that or professional online poker player over at poker stars.net, but i knew that was unlikely.

Anyway, he was probably in his mid 60�s, and was by far the best player at the table. He completely confused me in hands and I lost a decent amount of chips to him. At the time I was pretty disgusted that I was outplayed by someone who on the outside looked like I should be able to beat no problem. The more I thought about it, the less disgusted I became.

First I know I�m a rookie, through and through. Second, it�s kind of cool to know that when I�m his age, I�ll be taking young punks money at the table. The more I thought about it, the more I respected him and his style of play. He was excellent at hiding his hands and I rarely see him enter pots that he did not win (or at least go down swinging). I liked his strategy, he didn�t get involved in pots where he didn�t have a decent chance to win, and he didn�t let you chase your cards cheaply. I mimicked his play (as best I could) online when I got home and have done pretty well.

So, for all you up and coming poker players out there, if you take any advice from a rookie like me is, always learn. Poker isn�t just about the cards that land in your hand, it�s about how you play. I'm mostly playing online poker now with a live tournament every now and then, but I can't wait to get back to the casino and try my hand, err hooves again.

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/what-I-like-about-poker.htm

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Enough beating around the bush- time to start winning at Texas Hold Em.

2008-07-12T05:20:00.001-07:00

A Great Texas Hold Em Article

Table Image - Part 1

by Gary Gates

As a serious player, student or casual poker enthusiast, I�d be willing to bet you�ve come across some variation of the saying �play the man, not the cards.� Its meaning has been interpreted hundreds of ways by various poker authors, pros, and even movie directors; perhaps most famously immortalized by Matt Damon�s character in Rounders, who insists he can �play it blind� when pitted against less formidable opponents. �The cards themselves hardly matter,� he tells the judge.

Though it might work in the movies, I don�t advise that you play too many hands blind. On the contrary, you should play every hand, even the ones you�re not in, with wide open eyes. Though �play the man, not the cards� typically pertains to physical tells, or visible mannerisms that can tip off a player�s hand, I would argue that in order to best �play the man� you have to observe how he plays his cards, which in turn means the cards matter a whole lot.

From the minute you sit down at a poker table, your attitude, your outfit, your betting habits, the frequency with which you call, raise or fold and the quality of the hands you expose all combine to create a snapshot of your playing style in the eyes of the other nine people at the table trying to separate you from your money. Your opponents� perception of your playing style, also known as your �table image,� often determines how an observant player chooses to play against you and you against them. So what if we could control how other players perceive us at the poker table and use it to our advantage?

Fortunately, we can! Being aware of your table image and knowing how to take advantage of it is one of the most powerful tools at our disposal. Before you decide to be creative and make a play based on image alone, it is important to consider which of your opponents is capable of recognizing and applying the concept of table image. Assuming that everyone at the table has been watching and keeping track of your every move can be a costly mistake. You�ll often find more opponents than not who will be too preoccupied with a game on TV or a conversation with their neighbor to notice that you haven�t played a hand in an hour, so be sure that the target you attempt to exploit has been watching.

Most poker texts categorize playing styles into four major groups: tight, passive, loose and aggressive. The terms �tight� and �loose� are typically used to describe the range of hands a player is likely to play. A tight player folds most hands before the flop and only plays the upper echelon of starting hands, such as pocket aces, kings, queens, AK, etc. A loose player will get involved with a much wider variety of starting hands, including small pairs and small suited connectors. �Passive� and �aggressive� are terms used to characterize players� betting habits. A passive player does a lot of checking and calling, while an aggressive player makes a lot of bets and raises.

Part II will discuss ways to exploit table image, both projected and perceived.

Source: http://www.wisehandpoker.com/articles/index.php?article=table-image-part-1.html

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With these Texas Hold Em techniques you will improve your game dramatically.

2008-07-10T03:29:00.001-07:00

This blog is for information and education only. It is meant to improve your Texas Hold Em game in its legal and non-gambling applications.

A Texas Hold Em Article to Instantly Improve Your Game

AK - The Misplayed Monster

Ace King � How To Play The Misplayed Monster

Tell me if this sounds familiar; �I can�t win with AK�, �I had big slick, I can�t believe you beat me with that!�, etc., etc. etc.

AK is a very strong hand, however it can and does get beginners in trouble. If I were to hazard a guess, I�d say that AK is the most misplayed hand in No-Limit Poker.

The Strength of AK
AK is a monster hand. According to Poker Room�s Expected Value (EV) calculator AK suited is the 5th strongest hand (behind AA, KK, QQ & JJ), and AK off-suit is the 7th strongest (behind TT).

There is absolutely no doubt that AK is a positive EV hand. That�s pretty much in line with what all the Poker books teach as well.

The strength of this hand is that when it hits, more often than not, you�re going to have the best hand. Of course there will be the suck outs even when it does hit, but that�s the nature of the game. Most of the time when you pair you�re Ace or King, you�ll go on to win the hand. The other thing that makes this hand strong is that when it doesn�t hit, it�s easy to get away from, or should be. I�ll touch on this more in a minute.

The Weakness of AK
AK is very pretty to look at, but it is still a drawing hand. If you don�t hit an Ace or King, you�ve just got Ace high. Unfortunately many new (and not so new) players get sucked in by its beauty and just can�t seem to let it go, even when it doesn�t hit. How many times have you seen a player call to the river and turn over and AK that didn�t hit?

Another weakness is that you�re mostly playing for top pair top kicker (TPTK). You can only make one straight and most of the time your flush draw won�t hit. Because of this, it�s not a hand that plays well against multiple players.

Pre-Flop
We�ve established the obvious, that AK is a big hand. We�ve also established that it�s lack of draws make it weaker against multiple players (but still strong enough to play). So this tells us that we need to raise with AK.

Until the game is heads up at the final table, see very few situations where limping with AK is justified. I understand the whole �mix up your game� theory, but save it for another hand. AK NEEDS to be raised or re-raised pre-flop.

With AK you will miss the flop 66% of the time (against 3 limpers), but on those hands where you hit, you want to be isolated as much as possible and you want the pot as big as possible. Let�s do the math.

I�m assuming equal bets to keep the math simple. If you limp with AK vs. three limpers you will win 4 Bets 33% of the time (ignoring post-flop). It costs you one bet each time, for a net 1 bet per 3 hands or 0.33 bets per hand.

By raising, 33% of the time you win 8 bets, costing you 2 bets each for a net of +2 bets per 3 hands or 0.66sb per hand. So, by not raising in this situation your EV per hand goes down by 0.33 bets.

This is obviously very simplistic and it doesn�t take into account the additional EV you get by folding your opponents, but it still illustrates the point. This is not a hand to limp with.

How to Play AK When It Hits
This is the easy part. BET IT! How much you bet is dependent on the texture of the flop of course. If there are draws that can hurt you, bet more. If there aren�t any obvious draws, bet what you need to and maximize your winnings. Easy, right?

How to Play AK When it Misses
I spent some time on pre-flop play, but frankly most of the problems players have with AK are not related to pre-flop play. They have a problem because when they miss the flop, they play it like they have a real hand instead of just Ace high. This is where players get into trouble.

So how should you play your AK if it misses? Well, it depends. (That�s the answer for most poker questions, isn�t it?) It depends on your position, number and type of opponents, and the exact texture of the flop, among other things. This is a fairly complex topic and there are no exact approaches, but there are some general rules that will save you some chips.

Please commit this to memory: Just because you raised pre-flop does not mean you are obligated to bet the flop.

A continuation bet (a flop bet following a pre-flop raise) is very powerful and should be used, but the situation has to be right. One thing to keep in mind is that you do not want to bet into a large field from early position.

With several players to act after you, generally the best approach is to check and either fold to a big bet or call a small bet if you have the odds to draw to your over cards and the texture of the flop is favorable. Mostly you�ll want to fold.

There are situations where you�ll want to bet. You want to bet your unimproved AK on the flop if any 2 of these conditions exist (#1 being the most important)

.1. You are up against 2 or less opponents (that are not calling stations!).

2. You are in late position and it is checked to you

3. The board is rainbow and uncoordinated

4. You have additional draws to go with your over cards

I�m sure there are other times when it would be smart to bet, but these are the general rules I follow (try to follow).

Don't get married to over cards. If they don�t hit on the flop, chances are, even if you hit, you�re going to be second best. Trying to push through several opponents with only over cards is a good way to lose a lot of chips. Remember, AK is profitable, in part, because it is easy to fold.

-jtd

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/AK-the-misplayed-monster-how-to-play-big-slick.htm

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Matthew Hilger is generally recognized as one of the best authors on the subject of internet poker. He and some of the most knowledgeable players and writers in the poker industry have joined to contribute columns on every aspect of poker. Contributors range from Tournament Pros like the Hendon Mob� to Internet Poker Pros from the Internet Texas Holdem community. Beyond Texas Holdem Strategy, this section covers Omaha, Backgammon, Sit 'n Go tournaments, multitable tournaments, cash games, poker psychology, mind sets and general revelry.

Visit the Texas Holdem Poker Strategy Section

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Online Poker can be tricky. This article will help remove some of the guesswork.

2008-07-08T11:43:00.001-07:00

This blog is for entertainment purposes only. It is meant to provide information relating to the game of Texas Hold Em in its legal and non-gambling applications.

Another Great Online Poker Article

Value Betting and Protection Betting in No Limit Texas Holdem

There is a balance to betting that must be reached in order to receive maximum value for your hands. This balance is the struggle between Value and Protection Betting.

On the Value side, you want to extract the maximum amount of money from your opponent. And on the Protection side, you want to prevent losing the amount of money you have invested in a pot.

I have seen on many occasions inexperienced players over and under bet their hands accordingly. Following are two examples I personally played that illustrate improperly applied Value and Protection Betting.

The first hand example is from the 2005 WSOP.
I was in middle position and looked down at JJ. I raised three times the big blind and was called only by the big blind yielding a pot of 6.5 big bets. The call of the big blind could have simply been defensive, but an otherwise chatty opponent was suddenly quiet. I assumed a range of hands he could hold to be big paint, big slick or a middle pair.

The flop delivered K93 rainbow. My opponent bet the minimum bringing the pot to 7.5 big bets. At this point I was convinced he had a king and his Value bet would force me to call.

The turn card was another K. My opponent quickly checked raising the ire of suspicion. So I promptly checked behind him as I was willing to show this hand down for nothing.

The river delivered an 8. My opponent declared assertively that he was �all-in�. Now, I originally placed my opponent on a king. With two kings on the board, the likelihood of him holding a K was small. However, I was not willing to risk my entire tournament on a pair of Js when my gut instinct told me he had a K. I decided to try getting him to expose his cards by declaring that I was folding the winner and showing him my Jacks as they were mucked. He triumphantly flipped his hand over showing pocket kings for quad-kings.

How does this apply to value betting?
Proper use of value betting in light of what your opponent may be holding would have given this opponent more chips with his monster hand. Obviously I was willing to call the one bet on the flop. At minimum I would have called one bet on the turn and one on the river. He left at least two bets on the table by improper betting.

Where does the balance come into play? I believe my opponent had an opportunity to make more than the two bets he left on the table. The flop minimum bet was crazy. No cards should be folded when the pot is offering 7.5 to 1 odds. With my opponent flopping a set of Ks and an uncoordinated board, a flop bet of two or three bets would have been about the maximum an opponent could call with an underpair.

The turn check is not a bad play in trying to induce a bluff. But in order for this attempt at weakness to work, he would have had to represent strength on the flop. His flop bet did not do this. Now in the scenario where I called a flop bet of two or three big bets, at minimum I should be willing to risk two or three more bets as the pot would again be offering remarkable odds to stick around. Finally, the all-in bet on the river gave no consideration to my hand or chip stacks. What hand would possibly call the all-in? A full-house or set of kings only. This was a missed opportunity to extract more chips from an opponent. His hand was so strong that a small bet is the best he could have hoped to recover. In the alternate flop/turn scenario presented, a river bet of three to five bets would have likely been paid off.

The second hand reflects on Protection Betting.
This hand was played in Las Vegas in a cash game.

Four limpers to seat 7 who makes a minimum raise.

I was in seat 9 with 68 spades and cold called the two bets. The small blind, big blind and previous limpers all called as well yielding a pot of 16 big bets.

The flop delivered 3c5h7c.

All checked to seat 7 who minimum bet again and all players involved called bringing the pot to 24 big bets. The turn card was the Q of diamonds.

Again, all checked to seat 7 who bet two big bets. I called, along with the big blind bringing the pot to 30 big bets.

The river was the 9 of diamonds. Big blind checked and seat 7 went all-in. I called and the big blind folded. Seat 7 turned over red Aces and lost a huge pot to my rivered straight.

How does this apply to Protection Betting?
With hands that are vulnerable (such as one pair in the above example), it is absolutely important to protect the money that is invested in the pot BEFORE it is too late to do so.

Where is the balance? This guy had aces, and this is obviously a monster hand pre-flop, but the hand progressively gets worse on the flop, turn and river unless helped by the board. Aces are only one pair.

The minimum raise pre-flop was a huge mistake given all of the limpers. Aces in an 8-way pot are destined to be cracked. There was no Protection Bet pre-flop providing security for the aces. Mistake.

Instead of the minimum raise, a pre-flop raise of about 4 to 6 big bets would have thinned the field significantly putting the aces in far better position from the flop on. Now assuming the filed was thinned and it was three-way action after 4 to 6 bet pre-flop raise, a respectable continuation bet on the flop is required. You cannot lay proper odds for the flush or straight draws to continue with the hand without making a negative EV play. *a negative EV play is one that will lose money over the long haul.

In order to protect against the flush, your bet would need to lay insufficient odds for the opponent to continue. This means it has to be big enough to force them to fold or make an improper call based on the odds. Some opponents will call regardless of the bet, but you must make an attempt at betting that forces people out of the hand. A solid � to pot size bet would lay odds such that an opponent is making a mistake in calling.

The point is that seat 7 in the above scenario failed to bet in a manner that would push anyone out of the hand until it was too late. With a coordinated board such as the one in this example, aces are useless and serious consideration should be given to sending them to the muck.

You may be able to think of many examples yourself where you made too large of a bet on the river with the nuts that didn�t get a call; or you may remember not betting enough with a hand that was vulnerable.

There is a definite balance between Value Betting and Protection Betting that is often overlooked. Oftentimes players will find that they have all throttle but no gears to shift.

The art in Value Betting keeps customers paying off your premium hands by turning down the throttle to a point palatable to your opponents. Oftentimes players find themselves complaining about the suck-out artists who cracked their (fill in the big pair here).

The art in Protection Betting keeps these thieves from stealing the smaller pots from under you. For all players, the threshold required for both Value and Protection changes. While subtle in difference, strong focus on this balance can yield huge dividends to your bankroll.

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/value-betting-and-protection-betting-in-no-limit-texas-holdem.htm

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We have compiled the very best online poker strategies in this great article.

2008-07-06T20:03:00.001-07:00

A Hold Em Article to Instantly Improve Your Game

Quick Tips for Beginning Holdem Players

Tips for Playing Your Starting Poker Hands:
There are a lot of starting hand guides available, this isn't one of them. These tips are quick helpers to get the foundation of a solid poker game underneath you. These are the concepts behind starting hands and ideas you should be thinking about while playing no limit holdem.

1. Small Pocket Pairs.
Play small pocket pairs against many opponents and try and see the flop as cheaply as possible. You typically want to play small pocket pairs against many other opponents. Especially in a cash game or in the early stages of a tournament. Criteria for playing small pocket pairs is that you can get in cheaply, simply by calling the blinds (limping) and hoping to see a flop.

With small pockets you're looking to hit a 3rd of your kind on the flop. This is called "flopping a set." If you flop your set you are almost certain to have the best hand right then, unless it is just a really unlucky flop for you. If you flop a set, bet or raise and work to get as many chips in the pot as you can.

Small pockets pairs are hands like pocket two's up through pocket 8's or 9's. The reason you want to play this hand against many opponents is because when you hit your hand, you hope that someone else has hit a hand as well and will pay you off. The more opponents still active in the hand, the more likely that one of them has hit a hand and will pay off some of your bets.

So, if you are dealt a small pocket pair it is usually a good idea to simply limp in and hope to hit your 3 of a kind on the flop. If you miss, which you will most of the time, then it is fine to check and fold to any bet. It is almost always a bad idea to call any substantial bet on the flop hoping to hit your set on the turn, just fold and save your money.

Small Pocket Pair Quick Tip: You will flop a set roughly once out of every 7.5 times you get a pocket pair. click here for a poker odds chart.

2. Suited Connectors
Suited connectors are hands that play well against many opponents, but poorly against 1 or 2 others. Suited connectors are a bit more difficult to play than small pocket pairs... with small pockets you know pretty much exactly where you stand after the flop. You either hit your set or you didn't. Suited connectors typically do not make a monster hand on the flop, but they will often flop monster draws (draws means that you need 1 more card to complete your hand, typically with a straight or flush).

Suited connectors are hands that are of the same suit, and next to one another, such as 7c 8c, 10d, 9d, or my favorite, Js Ts.

These hands play well in multi-way confrontations, against many opponents. When these hands hit, you typically have a very strong hand, strong enough to beat most everyone else. With suited connectors you are hoping to flop a strong draw, such as an open-ended straight flush draw, a flush draw or a straight draw.

Pre-flop, these hands are weak hands, and even if you hit the top pair these are still a fairly weak and vunerable hand. Suited connectors have a lot of potential to turn into very strong hands. See flops cheaply and late in position with these cards, especially if there are already a lot of players calling the blind to see the flop. Look to flop strong draws or two pair to continue against any heavy action before you.

Look to flop straights, flushes and draws to both. Do not overvalue flopping top pair with small or medium sized suited connectors. Two pair is normally good, but that means that someone else very well may have a straight draw while you have two pair with suited connectors.

Suited Connector Quick Tip: One of the best hands to hold against pocket aces is suited connector, such as 7h8h.

3. Two Big Face Cards
Do not slow play your big face cards. If you are going to play these cards, you need to come in for a raise pre-flop. Big face cards start out very strong, pre-flop, and that means that normally you should make the others pay to stick around for the flop.

Pre-flop these hands are probably some of the strongest at the table, out ranking most of the other hands out there. For this reason, these hands you want to play against as FEW players as possible. To make sure you are playing against few players, you should RAISE pre-flop when it is your turn to act instead of just calling the blind.

A hand like AQ is a strong hand, but it doesn't play well against 3+ players on average. Ideally you will be playing this hand against 1 other opponent, and you ban bet the flop virtually regardless of what comes down.

Avoid calling raises with hands like KJ, QJ, AT, even AJ and KQo. You are often times dominated by everyones 'favorite' hand, big slick (AK). There is no shame in folding KJ pre-flop.

Big Face Card Quick Tip:

Raise pre-flop to limit the field to just one other player whenever possible.

For more poker tips, be sure and check out our listing of poker strategy articles and the absolute best way to improve your play is by finding an online poker room that has SERIOUS 'play money' poker (if you don't want to deposit)..

The best way to practice these no limit holdem tips is to download free online poker software. I recommend PokerStars or Bodog Poker for new players. You can play with free chips and practice these strategies. I do recommend that you also play for extremely small stakes to get a real feel for poker. Free money poker is played differently as poker is for anything of value, even if the value is very small.

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/no-limit-holdem-tips.htm

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Matthew Hilger is generally recognized as one of the best authors on the subject of internet poker. He and some of the most knowledgeable players and writers in the poker industry have joined to contribute columns on every aspect of poker. Contributors range from Tournament Pros like the Hendon Mob� to Internet Poker Pros from the Internet Texas Holdem community. Beyond Texas Holdem Strategy, this section covers Omaha, Backgammon, Sit 'n Go tournaments, multitable tournaments, cash games, poker psychology, mind sets and general revelry.

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Here are some Texas Hold Em tips to improve your game!

2008-07-04T07:47:00.001-07:00

Please note this blog is meant to provide information on Texas Hold Em in its legal and non-gambling applications.

A Featured Hold Em Article

Two Important Rules To Always Keep In Mind

Rule #1: Apply pressure.

Your bets MUST apply pressure to those acting after you. This is the first thing I tell struggling / timid players and the first thing I remind myself of when I�m running bad. You have to make sure that your bets cause the other players to have to make difficult decisions. How often do you see players opening with a minimum bet, or raising the minimum from late position? These bets don�t apply pressure, they merely build the pot.

Here�s a typical example:

Blinds are 50/100, early in a live multi-table tournament; assume everyone has 1800 in chips. You have AKo (Big Slick) in late position.

2 players call before it gets to you in the cutoff seat (one before the button). You like your hand and decide to raise. You raise to 200. While it is a fantastic idea to raise with Big Slick, you need to raise a larger amount... you need to apply pressure!

This is a very common example of a no-pressure bet that is very common by new players and bad players! If you are going to raise, you need to make a hefty sized raise to make most everyone fold!

Think about this, You have two callers who already have 100 invested plus the button, SB and BB left to act. Your raise didn�t cause anyone a second of anxiety. The button now has odds to call with many drawing hands, the BB only has to put one bet in to see the flop and there�s no way the initial limpers are going to fold for one more bet each.

What have you accomplished here? The answer is nothing good. Not only have you not isolated against a single player, which should be your goal with this hand, you have built the pot to an amount that gives the chasers a great reason to stick around!

The right move here would be to raise a minimum of 3xBB. But I think in this situation, with 2 limpers and 3 players to follow that�s amount is still probably too small. I think a bet of 4-5xBB is the better move.

This bet will apply enough pressure that you may actually win the hand right there.

But in this situation, you've bet $200 pre-flop (the minimum raise).
The SB folds and everyone else calls. The pot has 850.

The Flop comes 78K with two hearts, it�s checked to you.

You've hit Top Pair, Top Kicker which is a strong hand. You are most likely in the lead right now but there are 2 hearts on the board (you don't hold the King of Hearts, either).

You bet 200.

This was a great flop for you, but it is dangerous. There�s a possible 4 flush and 4 straight. You�ve got to bet an amount that will put pressure on the drawing hands and 200 just won�t cut it. No one is going to fold their flush draw to a 200 bet when they can win a 1000+ pot.

You need to size your bet accordingly. So, what sized bet would be good enough to put pressure on the flush draw? A bet of about � of the pot should do it.

If you put 600 in the pot, the flush draw now has a big decision to make. That bet will put more than half of their stack in the pot, if they call they�re basically committing to play for the rest of their chips. (This is a very important point. Pay attention to your opponent�s chip stack. A bet that commits their stack is a pressure bet.) If they know what they�re doing, they�ll fold right there, if not you�re about a 3:2 favorite to win the hand and more than double your stack.

In this situation you bet 200 on the flop. The BB & first limper call. The pot has 1450.

The turn is a 2 of spades. You bet 400.

The turn was great for you, it didn�t help the straight or flush draws, but your bet was again too small. A flush or straight draw only has to pay 400 for a chance at 1850. The pot is giving almost 5:1 on a 4:1(approximately) draw. A � pot bet would have put the necessary pressure on the chaser, while 400 is an easy call.

The BB calls.

The river is a T of clubs. You check, the BB bets 500 and you call. The BB shows 96s for the straight.

This is where you glare at the BB and storm off to tell your friends how your AK got cracked by 96. But this wasn�t a matter of the BB getting lucky. He played it right on every street. You made his decisions easy by not applying pressure with your bets.

The next time you�re ready to throw your chips in the pot ask yourself this question; �Is this bet going to be easy to call?� If the answer is yes, then grab some more chips and put some pressure on your opponents

Rule #2:

Don�t swim with the sharks. This is the newest addition to my rule book and it has helped me increase my winnings over the last 6 months more than anything else.

The basic rule is this. Avoid playing heads up against players who are as good as or better than you.

Get your chips from those players that are less skilled / knowledgeable than you.

There are a number of quality players that I play against every week with whom I have never been involved in a big hand. If a typical table has 4 good players and 5 poor players, why would you bang heads with the good players? Get your chips from the ones you know you can outplay.

This is really very easy to do. If a player that you believe to be better than you raises, fold. Simple. Unless you have a premium hand (AA,KK,QQ,AK), why get involved? Just wait for an opportunity against a fishy player.

That means you�ll be folding hands you might normally play, like AJ or KQs, etc. If you do have a premium hand, then don�t just call, re-raise instead. You want to try to win the hand pre-flop so you won�t be out played post flop.

Of course, you won�t always be able to avoid confrontation with a good player, but you can definitely limit it.

As an example, I recently took a trip to Tunica with a friend of mine who is a very good player. Over two days, we played at the same table for about 16 hours. In all of that time we only played one hand heads up and that one was for small dollars. I�m sure over there were several hands over those 16 hours where we could have done battle, but why would we when there was a super fish at the table giving away enough for all of the good players to share?

There are plenty of fish to get chips from, so save the sharks for the final table. Recognize who the quality players are and adjust accordingly.

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/2-poker-rules-to-live-by.htm

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Tired of playing hold em and not coming out a winner? Here are some techniques to make you better.

2008-07-02T17:23:00.001-07:00

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This Online Poker Article Will Make You A Better Player

Texas Holdem Lesson - Five Tips!

1. Big Bets mean big hands, don't call them!

Do not call large bets without a very strong hand yourself. Unless you are against truly wild players (or extremely tough players), big bets will most of the time mean big hands! You have to have a bigger hand to beat a big hand.

So, unless you have a very strong hand (or a monster draw with good odds) you need to strongly lean towards folding a hand like top pair plus good kicker on scary boards like straight or flush draws, or even most semi-coordinated boards once all 5 cards are out. Especially on the river, don't call down big bets with medium strength hands!

A big bet is considered "big" by comparing it's size in relation to the current pot size. 2/3rds to 3/4th the size of the pot are generally considered large bets.

2. Bluff "less" Especially when playing poker online!

I say less but that depends on how often you bluff now. The real tip is to make yourself have a compelling reason to make a bluff. Yes, pulling off a successful bluff is an awesome feeling... winning a big pot on a bluff is fun, but overdoing it is one of the fastest way to donk off your bankroll. Slow it down unless you're playing with a bunch of rocks (tight guys who will fold unless they have a monster hand).

Good bluffs need to be set up, well timed and 'fit' into the holdem game. Just making some random bet during some point in the hand because you want to win the pot is a loosing play. Make sure you have a reason to bluff (you sense serious weakness, or have dead on reads). Don't bluff away your money, especially online! It is easy to 'call and see' online since you are not sitting there face to face and have to 'face the music' of making a donkey call.

Plus, many good players will check top pair good kicker on the river if you have called them down with a drawing hand that has obviously missed. (ie, 4 to the flush on the turn, and a blank on the river). They check to give you the chance to bluff your busted draw and pick you off with a hand like top pair or even 2nd pair, when you would have simply folded to their river value bet.

Good bluffs depend on opponents who are paying attention and have the capability of laying down a strong but vulnerable hand. Make sure you have seen something in a player that shows you that they are paying attention and can lay a hand down. Most online players call.

So - don't bluff so much, your bankroll will thank you! (mostly considering $$ games here, tourneys are more situational even than $$ games imo)

3. In general bet larger amounts.

Bet more when you are betting for value, they'll call you. Bet more when you have a strong but vulnerable hand so you end the hand there and take down the pot now. Bet more so you make they draws pay way to much to properly draw for their outs. When you bluff, bet the amount to 'get the job done', which is normally a larger amount (unless your opponent things large amounts mean bluff and smaller value bets mean monsters....

When in doubt, bet a little bit more. If there are flush draws or straight draws on the board, trying to value bet a hand like Ac Ad on a board of Js 10ds 8h with 1/4 or 1/3 pot sized bets on the flop or turn is way to small. This is a highly coordinated board, with straigt draws, flush draws, straight flush draws etc... you name it. Your hand is probably good, but you need to find out right now. You need to stick in a bet around the 3/4th's to pot sized bet to find out where you are at. You could already be behind. Strong re-raises should be respected, as well as smooth calls depending on the turn and the action.

Bet bigger and take it down or give the drawing hand very bad pot odds for calling! 3/4ths pot size to full pot size bets get it done!

4. Frequent continuation bets are fine if you are the initial aggressor pre-flop.

If you've raised pre-flop and gotten 1 or 2 callers it is fine to often make continuation bets on the flop. Continuation bets can be made when the action is checked to you on a non-threatening board.

A continuation bet is a bet that should be between 1/2 the pot up to the size of the pot, made on the flop after raising pre-flop (not calling a raise). If you make a lot of continuation bets, you also need to bet exactly the same when you make a hand.

To be a successful continuation bettor you must also bet the same when you hit your hand. Please notice I said 'frequent' and not 'constant.' Finding exactly where and when to make these takes practice, but if conditions are not bad, start firing away.

5. Don't go broke in an unraised pot - play cautiously when you and others limp on in!

In unraised pots players can literally have any two cards and if you do not have a seriously strong hand (nut or near nut), don't play a large pot. Two pair no good - fold it to serious aggression or resistance. Don't go broke by flopping two pair in an unraised pot!

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/texas-holdem-common-sense-tips.htm

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2008-06-30T14:59:00.001-07:00

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Another Great Poker Article

5 Tips To Use When Playing Heads Up Poker

Here are my 5 tips you can use to improve your 'Heads Up' poker play

1. You don�t have to play every hand. It�s ok to fold your small blind if you have a lousy hand. Most players heads up play every hand. IMO, this is a mistake. You can�t wait for the best of the best, but you don�t have to play 63o either.

Don�t worry about the chips you�re losing here. Folding the small bind makes the other player think you�re only playing good hands so you�ll be able to raise him off of his BB enough to make up for it.

2. Don�t limp from the small blind, at least not very often. For the most part, you should either fold it or raise it. Save your limping for the BB. You don�t have position, so you need to win most of these hands pre-flop. The BB will probably raise you anyway. You need to be the one leading the betting.

The exception is if you get a monster like KK or AA.

3. Slow play the monster hand. If you get a big pocket pair, let the other overly aggressive player do the betting for you. This is player dependant, but if you�re against a player like I was playing last night, who kept using the all-in bluff, why not let him lead the way.

4. Mix up your play, a lot. I like to play a few hands in a row where I raise every hand and follow that by several folded small blinds. Switch up your raises from the minimum raise to a big half your stack raise. Keep the other player confused.

A confused player tends to be a passive player.

5. Don�t forget what got you there! If you�re a tight aggressive player and that�s what got you to the final two, then keep being tight aggressive. Don�t suddenly become loose aggressive. You�ll be out of your element.

Obviously your play has to loosen up when you get to this point, but you don�t have to be an �any two cards� type. It�s still ok to fold middle or bottom pair to an all-in bet.

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/5-tips-to-use-when-playing-heads-up-poker.htm

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2008-06-28T07:07:00.001-07:00

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A Featured Online Poker Article

AK - The Misplayed Monster

Ace King � How To Play The Misplayed Monster

Tell me if this sounds familiar; �I can�t win with AK�, �I had big slick, I can�t believe you beat me with that!�, etc., etc. etc.

AK is a very strong hand, however it can and does get beginners in trouble. If I were to hazard a guess, I�d say that AK is the most misplayed hand in No-Limit Poker.

The Strength of AK
AK is a monster hand. According to Poker Room�s Expected Value (EV) calculator AK suited is the 5th strongest hand (behind AA, KK, QQ & JJ), and AK off-suit is the 7th strongest (behind TT).

There is absolutely no doubt that AK is a positive EV hand. That�s pretty much in line with what all the Poker books teach as well.

The strength of this hand is that when it hits, more often than not, you�re going to have the best hand. Of course there will be the suck outs even when it does hit, but that�s the nature of the game. Most of the time when you pair you�re Ace or King, you�ll go on to win the hand. The other thing that makes this hand strong is that when it doesn�t hit, it�s easy to get away from, or should be. I�ll touch on this more in a minute.

The Weakness of AK
AK is very pretty to look at, but it is still a drawing hand. If you don�t hit an Ace or King, you�ve just got Ace high. Unfortunately many new (and not so new) players get sucked in by its beauty and just can�t seem to let it go, even when it doesn�t hit. How many times have you seen a player call to the river and turn over and AK that didn�t hit?

Another weakness is that you�re mostly playing for top pair top kicker (TPTK). You can only make one straight and most of the time your flush draw won�t hit. Because of this, it�s not a hand that plays well against multiple players.

Pre-Flop
We�ve established the obvious, that AK is a big hand. We�ve also established that it�s lack of draws make it weaker against multiple players (but still strong enough to play). So this tells us that we need to raise with AK.

Until the game is heads up at the final table, see very few situations where limping with AK is justified. I understand the whole �mix up your game� theory, but save it for another hand. AK NEEDS to be raised or re-raised pre-flop.

With AK you will miss the flop 66% of the time (against 3 limpers), but on those hands where you hit, you want to be isolated as much as possible and you want the pot as big as possible. Let�s do the math.

I�m assuming equal bets to keep the math simple. If you limp with AK vs. three limpers you will win 4 Bets 33% of the time (ignoring post-flop). It costs you one bet each time, for a net 1 bet per 3 hands or 0.33 bets per hand.

By raising, 33% of the time you win 8 bets, costing you 2 bets each for a net of +2 bets per 3 hands or 0.66sb per hand. So, by not raising in this situation your EV per hand goes down by 0.33 bets.

This is obviously very simplistic and it doesn�t take into account the additional EV you get by folding your opponents, but it still illustrates the point. This is not a hand to limp with.

How to Play AK When It Hits
This is the easy part. BET IT! How much you bet is dependent on the texture of the flop of course. If there are draws that can hurt you, bet more. If there aren�t any obvious draws, bet what you need to and maximize your winnings. Easy, right?

How to Play AK When it Misses
I spent some time on pre-flop play, but frankly most of the problems players have with AK are not related to pre-flop play. They have a problem because when they miss the flop, they play it like they have a real hand instead of just Ace high. This is where players get into trouble.

So how should you play your AK if it misses? Well, it depends. (That�s the answer for most poker questions, isn�t it?) It depends on your position, number and type of opponents, and the exact texture of the flop, among other things. This is a fairly complex topic and there are no exact approaches, but there are some general rules that will save you some chips.

Please commit this to memory: Just because you raised pre-flop does not mean you are obligated to bet the flop.

A continuation bet (a flop bet following a pre-flop raise) is very powerful and should be used, but the situation has to be right. One thing to keep in mind is that you do not want to bet into a large field from early position.

With several players to act after you, generally the best approach is to check and either fold to a big bet or call a small bet if you have the odds to draw to your over cards and the texture of the flop is favorable. Mostly you�ll want to fold.

There are situations where you�ll want to bet. You want to bet your unimproved AK on the flop if any 2 of these conditions exist (#1 being the most important)

.1. You are up against 2 or less opponents (that are not calling stations!).

2. You are in late position and it is checked to you

3. The board is rainbow and uncoordinated

4. You have additional draws to go with your over cards

I�m sure there are other times when it would be smart to bet, but these are the general rules I follow (try to follow).

Don't get married to over cards. If they don�t hit on the flop, chances are, even if you hit, you�re going to be second best. Trying to push through several opponents with only over cards is a good way to lose a lot of chips. Remember, AK is profitable, in part, because it is easy to fold.

-jtd

Source: http://www.kickasspoker.com/poker-strategy/articles/AK-the-misplayed-monster-how-to-play-big-slick.htm

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2008 WSOP Event #45, $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Day 3: DeMichele, Greenstein, Negreanu Lead Final 24

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:00:00 -0700
Lyle Berman took the chip lead into Day 3 of Event #45, the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship, with 67 players returning to the Amazon Ballroom at the Rio All-Suites Resort & Casino. By the end of the day, Michael DeMichele had taken...

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Consider this article on poker. The techniques will make you a better player.

2008-06-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

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A Online Poker Article to Instantly Improve Your Game

To go or not to go all in ? that is the question

By Johnny Kampis

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. So goes a Chinese proverb that is also an apt description of the beginning of a poker tournament.

Consider starting with 1,500 chips in a tournament with 100 people. In order to win the tournament, you must have 150,000 chips in the end. When you think about it like that it seems almost an unfathomable task, an attempt to climb Mt. Everest. But somebody?s got to do it.

I?ve found over time that I tend to do better at live tournaments than those I play online. At first, I thought it was maybe because I was good at reading people, which is impossible to do online, but then I realized it was something else. When you play online, it?s always easy to see what the average chip count is among the players remaining in the tournament and it can be easy to panic if you are far below the average. I tend to start pushing all in with hands I shouldn?t play or in situations in which I should probably fold.

But when you?re playing live, there is no screen to tell you where you stand against the rest of the field. You can do some calculations in your head to figure out about where you stand, but there?s no number constantly in front of you telling you that.

Just as patience is key in a regular ring game of poker, it?s also key when you have a below average stack in a tournament. Consider that the average stack in a tournament you are playing is 10,000. You have 5,000 and the blinds are 200 and 400. You are well below average, but you aren?t a short stack yet. You don?t have to push all in when you raise. It gives you time to wait on a quality hand before making a move, and if you can double up once you are back to average.

I played a tournament at Binion?s in Las Vegas this summer in which I was a below average stack nearly the entire event, but I stayed patient and was able to get good hands on which to double up on. Finally, when I got to the final table I caught hand after hand and ended up winning the tournament. Had I hurriedly pushed all in earlier in the affair with a less than premium hand and lost I wouldn?t have given myself a chance to catch the hands I was dealt later.

It?s better to pass up a so-so opportunity now in order to get a much better opportunity later. Otherwise, you?ll never get to climb Mt. Everest.

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With these online poker techniques you will improve your game dramatically.

2008-06-24T00:10:00.000-07:00

We do not promote gambling of any type. This blog information is to be used when playing online poker in its legal and non-gambling applications.

A Poker Article For Your Reading Enjoyment

Phil Hellmuth's rap and hip hop

By Adam Johnson

His head was buried in the sleeve of his black jacket, his left arm extending toward the middle of the table. Listening to music from his Ipod, he decided to have some connection to the outside world, however disconnected to his present world it may have been.

Yet there was Phil Hellmuth, the self-proclaimed best hold-em player in the world, struggling with his short stack in the $1500 Pot-Limit tournament at the World Series of Poker.

If someone who couldn�t spell poker walked up to the table, they probably would have guessed this downtrodden man wasn�t much in the poker world.

How deceiving their deductions would have been.

Suddenly he sprouted to life and sought out myself, one of many media members in the Amazon Room near his table, to be his much needed set of ears.

�You want to hear about some hands, I�ll tell you about some hands,� said Hellmuth, the then ten time bracelet winner with an eagerness that made me wonder if I asked him a question.

After hearing how his A-A couldn�t beat seat 10�s A-6 and how his late position pre-flop raise was defended by a guy out of the blind with 6-high, it was quite clear that he felt like Peter Weber in a prestigious bowling tournament with bumper lanes. His skills just didn�t seem to translate and his frustration was visible if not tangible to those present.

Such is the life of a gifted tournament poker player on most days, when failure can last for months and someone with little experience can win a major tournament.

Seated to Hellmuth�s left was another short-chipped professional and good friend of Hellmuth�s, Gavin Smith.

Known as one of the most gregarious players on the tournament circuit, Smith was up to his usual antics at the table, taking a completely different route than Hellmuth.

Upon a request from the aforementioned seat 10, the main subject of Hellmuth�s diatribes, Smith grabbed Hellmuth�s Ipod and read the display, �Bad Boys for Life, P Diddy,� he said.

A poll wasn�t conducted at the time, but P Diddy didn�t exactly seem to be in Hellmuth�s �range� from reading the table�s body language. Seat 10 and a few other players chuckled and Smith told them that Phil is actually a big fan of rap and hip hop music.

Wearing black designer shoes that likely cost as much as the tournament entry and a black and yellow Ultimate Bet Hockey jersey, nothing about Hellmuth�s style screams hip-hop.

Perhaps in a giving mood after sending Hellmuth into a momentary tailspin, seat 10 sent his Ipod to Smith, who hooked it up to Hellmuth�s while his head was buried.

Hellmuth continued on as if nothing happened, and listened to a Kanye West song seat 10 doctored up for him.

Completely amused by the situation, Smith asked for my phone and took a picture of Hellmuth listening to the man�s Ipod. Smith organized that I send the picture to the man so his friends and kids could see Hellmuth listening to his Ipod.

A conversation about rap ensued between the two, exchanging similar tastes in music. Much like Hellmuth, Smith�s gears were stuck in neutral as well.

�If I get up to 20,000 chips, I�ll be dangerous,� he said, with a stack that was probably a third of that number.

After sheriffing (not a real word) a player who bet K-J on the turn and went all-in on the river on a paired board with all baby cards, Smith check called on both streets after betting the flop, revealing the best hand with a measly two-pair.

The busted player seemed shocked as did others at the table, that Smith knew his hand was good. To those familiar with Smith�s ability, the result seemed pretty standard.

Hellmuth busted within the next hour and Smith held true to his prediction, finishing 2nd in a field of 781 players.

They provided a contrast of playing styles and personalities in a time when chips were hard to come by for both, but as always, they are never short on entertainment value no matter what.

Source: http://www.wisehandpoker.com/articles/index.php?article=phil-hellmuth-rap-and-hip-hop.html

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Matthew Hilger is generally recognized as one of the best authors on the subject of internet poker. He and some of the most knowledgeable players and writers in the poker industry have joined to contribute columns on every aspect of poker. Contributors range from Tournament Pros like the Hendon Mob� to Internet Poker Pros from the Internet Texas Holdem community. Beyond Texas Holdem Strategy, this section covers Omaha, Backgammon, Sit 'n Go tournaments, multitable tournaments, cash games, poker psychology, mind sets and general revelry.

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Ready to improve your Texas Hold Em game? Lets get started then.

2008-06-18T05:51:00.000-07:00

Please note this blog is meant to provide information on Texas Hold Em in its legal and non-gambling applications.

A Texas Hold Em Article For Your Reading Enjoyment

Important Strategies

Here is another whopper of an article from pokertips.org. Great information for every caliber player.

Introduction to No-Limit Texas Hold'em

No-Limit Hold'em is game of general strategy, basic tactical skills useful in all forms of poker, and a game of intense psychology.

Let's first go over general strategy. There are two things you should quickly figure out when you enter a no-limit game:

1. What types of players are my opponents?

2. How many hands go to a showdown?

Types of opponents

Generally, people speak of four types of players: tight-passive, tight-aggressive, loose-passive, loose-aggressive. The first modifier (tight or loose) characterizes the number of hands the person plays while the second (passive or aggressive) describes the player's betting style. I think that for no-limit hold'em, loose-aggressive should be divided into two parts: maniacs and solid players. Let's go over each of these types of players.

Tight-passive: These people do fine in a fixed-limit game, but they won't win much money in a no-limit game. This is because they do not get full value out of their winning hands. When playing against these players:

1. Bluff at the flop a lot. Put in a raise preflop, and try to take down the pot at the flop.

2. Fold when they represent a hand. If they bet a little, they're probably on a draw or have a weak hand. In this case, you should still stick with your hand if you hold something decent. If they bet a lot, they probably possess a solid hand.

3. Take advantage of your control. Don't go wild with your bluffs, though. You should still fold preflop when you have nothing. If you make a flop bluff, think twice before making another bluff on the turn. Also, you can still win a fair amount of money off of these types of players whene you hold a good hand.

Essentially, you can quickly tame these players into calling stations or folding stations. If one of these players is making a lot of money against you while being a calling or folding station, you are doing something seriously wrong. These players are common, and you will certainly play against quite a few.

Loose-passive: These players have to hope that people continually bluff into them, because they frequently call with the second-best hand. Calling with the second-best hand is a recipe for disaster at no-limit games. You won't often see loose-passives playing no-limit hold'em, because they lose money too quickly playing the game. If you are fortunate enough to have a loose-passive player at your table, just win money off of him by making mid-sized bets when you hold a good hand.

Maniac loose-aggressive: These guys will buy a fair share of pots. However, they will often get themselves trapped, and they will lose their stacks in one or two hands. What separates these players from good loose-aggressives is that they lack discipline. They love the action of no-limit so much that they get themselves trapped too easily. These types of players are rare.

Strong loose-aggressive: These guys seem like they are horrible maniacs, but in reality, they are a very dangerous form of player. They will certainly lose a lot of money in pots, but they also will buy a lot of pots and win huge ones. The way these players win is mainly by getting a good read on the opponent, and then making a well-timed bet.

One trick I use to beat these guys is to take them down in one big pot. Since they will play a lot of hands, especially shorthanded, they'll often play hands that lend themselves to being the second-best hand. Once I catch them in this situation, I just have to make sure I don't let them go too easily. Another tip is to make sure you are playing in a game where the money is not too meaningful to you. You should not let these players scare you financially when they make a large bet or raise. You need to be able to play back at (reraise) these guys or call them down.

These players only do well when people have large stacks. If you or the loose-aggressive player has a small stack, you are at an advantage because their ability to bluff is limited.

Tight-aggressive: This is my style and the strategy that I'll teach. The tight-aggressive's main problems are that he may get bluffed out too easily and that he may be too easily read.

Showdown Percentage

This is a critical concept in no-limit hold'em. Since no-limit lends itself to bluffing, one can make a lot of money simply by stealing pots if your opponents are very tight. However, this strategy obviously fails if everyone shows you down at the river!

Generally, before I play in a game, I pay attention to the number of hands going to showdowns. This is really easy to do on the internet because you don't even need to watch the game. You just leave the window open, go eat a snack, go to the bathroom, whatever. Come back twenty minutes later and see what sort of game you are about to dive into. All you have to do is scroll through the chat box and see how many hands went to showdowns and how big the pots tend to get.

All things being equal, more showdowns are better. While it is impossible to bluff if everyone calls you down, you stand to make a lot more money if people call you with tenuous holdings. The best way to make money at no-limit games is to simply sell your hand when you have it. If people call down a lot, you will be able to extract a lot of money from pot-sized or larger bets when you hit a premium holding (such as a flush or set).

Types of Hands to Play

The types of hands you play in no-limit differ than those in fixed-limit. This is because of implied odds. Hands like KQ go down in value because they cannot withstand much pressure. Even if you hit a King with this type of hand, you still may be losing to a set, two pair, AK, or eventually to a draw. Thus, with big cards, you generally want to take down the pot at the flop. The exception to this is if you think you have someone outkicked (like with AK vs. KJ with a K on the board), or if you hit the flop hard (like KK3 when you hold AK). In these cases, you generally want to extract money from your opponent bit by bit.

The types of hands that go up in value or ones that you can bet with confidence: pocket pairs and suited connectors (strong draws in general). Pocket pairs do well because they are sneaky and can often withhold pressure. With pocket pairs, you can bet hard if you have a set or an overpair, which are hands that people generally don't expect. Suited connectors go up in value for several reasons. First, if the flop comes weird, you generally will be paid off.

Please realize that your stack size greatly affects the types of hands you should play. Big, unpaired cards like AK or KQ do better with smaller stacks, while suited connectors are more effective with larger stacks.

How to Bet

Many novice no-limit players simply don't know how much to bet. Here's the concept in a nutshell. You want extract as much money as you can from opponents who have made hands but are losing to you. You want to give people with draws bad odds. At the same time, you don't want to trap yourself.

Bluffing

This relates back to the showdown percentage. More showdowns means bluffing is less effective. If you are in a game with a lot of showdowns (typical of lower stakes), cut down on bluffing and punish them when you have a strong hand.

Source: http://www.pokertips.org/strategy/nl-primer.php (abbreviated)

Latest Texas Hold Em News:

2008 WSOP Event #30, $10,000 Limit Hold'em World Championship Day 2: Katz, Hollink Head Final

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:29:00 -0700
Aaron Katz, who at times plays in the legendary "Big Game," is the only player going into the final table of the $10,000 limit world championship Event #30 with over a million in chips. But that doesn't mean he will have...

2008 WSOP Event #27, $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em: Lunkin Wins Bracelet

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:00:00 -0700
Vitaly Lunkin had only one prior cash in the WSOP, an 829th-place finish in the 2006 Main Event. He can now add to that a first-place finish in a 2008 $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event. A Russian pro who has cashed in ten previous...

2008 WSOP Event #31, $2,500 NLHE Six Handed, Day One: Shahar, Minieri Lead Pack

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:00:00 -0700
It stands to reason that if short-handed tables play fast, short-handed tournaments play fast. Logic ruled and the 1,012-player starting field whittled itself down to just 73 players in Day 1 of the $2,500 NLHE Six-Handed event...

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Here are some Texas Hold Em tips to improve your game!

2008-06-16T22:13:00.000-07:00

This blog is for entertainment purposes only. It is meant to provide information relating to the game of Texas Hold Em in its legal and non-gambling applications.

A Featured Texas Hold Em Article

Important Strategies

Here is another whopper of an article from pokertips.org. Great information for every caliber player.

Introduction to No-Limit Texas Hold'em

No-Limit Hold'em is game of general strategy, basic tactical skills useful in all forms of poker, and a game of intense psychology.

Let's first go over general strategy. There are two things you should quickly figure out when you enter a no-limit game:

1. What types of players are my opponents?

2. How many hands go to a showdown?

Types of opponents

1. Bluff at the flop a lot. Put in a raise preflop, and try to take down the pot at the flop.

These players only do well when people have large stacks. If you or the loose-aggressive player has a small stack, you are at an advantage because their ability to bluff is limited.

Tight-aggressive: This is my style and the strategy that I'll teach. The tight-aggressive's main problems are that he may get bluffed out too easily and that he may be too easily read.

Showdown Percentage

Types of Hands to Play

How to Bet

Bluffing

Source: http://www.pokertips.org/strategy/nl-primer.php (abbreviated)

Latest Texas Hold Em News:

Sexton's Corner, Vol. 49: Russ Hamilton, Part 2 -- $1,000,000, a Bracelet and 43 Silver Bars

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 07:43:00 -0700
We left off with Russ Hamilton looking down at his hole cards, heads up against Hugh Vincent in the WSOP Main Event in 1994. The hand that won Russ the tournament was pocket queens, just as it was predicted in the mysterious note...

World Series of Poker Daily Summary for June 14th, 2008

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 22:06:00 -0700
Another pair of WSOP winner's bracelets found loving homes in Saturday's action at the Rio, including one that will likely have visits from close kin. History was made when Blair Hinkle captured Event #23, $2,000 No-Limit Hold'em...

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Consider this article on online poker. The techniques will make you a better player.

2008-06-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

This blog is for information and education only. It is meant to improve your online poker game in its legal and non-gambling applications.

A Featured Poker Article

Important Strategies

Here is another whopper of an article from pokertips.org. Great information for every caliber player.

Introduction to No-Limit Texas Hold'em

No-Limit Hold'em is game of general strategy, basic tactical skills useful in all forms of poker, and a game of intense psychology.

Let's first go over general strategy. There are two things you should quickly figure out when you enter a no-limit game:

1. What types of players are my opponents?

2. How many hands go to a showdown?

Types of opponents

1. Bluff at the flop a lot. Put in a raise preflop, and try to take down the pot at the flop.

These players only do well when people have large stacks. If you or the loose-aggressive player has a small stack, you are at an advantage because their ability to bluff is limited.

Tight-aggressive: This is my style and the strategy that I'll teach. The tight-aggressive's main problems are that he may get bluffed out too easily and that he may be too easily read.

Showdown Percentage

Types of Hands to Play

How to Bet

Bluffing

Source: http://www.pokertips.org/strategy/nl-primer.php (abbreviated)

Latest Poker News:

Event #25, $10,000 Heads-Up NLHE World Championship: Round of 32 Set

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:00:00 -0700
Event #25 in the 2008 WSOP, the $10,000 Heads-Up Championship was capped at 256 players, all vying for the bracelet and $539,056. Three rounds of the event were played in Day 1, each round cutting the field size down by half until 32...

World Series of Poker Daily Summary for June 13th, 2008

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:14:00 -0700
Two more poker players wrote themselves into WSOP history as first-time bracelet winners during Friday's action at the Rio, while four more events trimmed their fields on another busy mid-Series day. With a big weekend...

2008 WSOP Event #26, $1,500 Razz, Day 1: Greenstein Surges to Top

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:47:00 -0700
Day 1 of the 2008 WSOP's Event #26, $1,500 Razz, saw 453 players sign up for the seven-card stud lowball event. Entrants were up significantly over 2007, when Katja Thater took down her first bracelet after besting a field...

2008 WSOP Event #23, $2,000 Limit Hold'em: Jeffreys Leads as Final Nine Set

Sat, 14 Jun 2008 11:01:00 -0700
Andrew Jeffreys and the late-surging Blair Hinkle are neck and neck going into the finals of Event #23, $2,000 Limit Hold'em, having amassed over a million chips each, while Day 1 leader Justin Dirksen holds third, well ahead...

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Are you ready to be a better hold em player? If you answered yes read on.

2008-06-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

Please note this blog is meant to provide information on hold em in its legal and non-gambling applications.

Another Great Hold Em Article

The Art of Deception

Here is a good article on the art of bluffing. Your skills in this department increase exponentially with your comfort level (with fellow players as well as stakes). These are some things to keep in mind.

Deception

Poker is not just a mathematical game. It is also a game that entails a lot of psychological combat. Three of the most important psychological weapons in poker are bluffing, semi-bluffing, and slowplaying.

Bluffing

Bluffing is much more useful in a no-limit game than in a limit game. In a no-limit game, a player's entire stack is at risk each hand. In a limit game, players know they can only lose so much if they call to the river.Bluffing is almost useless in a low-stakes limit game (anything less than $2-$4). Rarely will a hand not be called to showdown, so there is no point in scaring people out of the pot. Bluffing becomes a much more powerful tool at high-limit games. When you play at a higher limit, it's best to bluff when you 'represent' something and there are only one or two opponents in the pot. For example, betting at the flop with a high card on the board represents a pair, and raising with a flush draw out represents the flush.

Semi-Bluffing

Semi-bluffing is the name for bluffing when you also hold a drawing hand. For example, You currently only have ace high, but you may hit a spade flush or make a pair of aces or kings. If you bet with this hand, you are bluffing, but you also have a high likelihood of gaining a strong hand on later betting rounds. Semi-bluffing can be a very useful technique, especially in no-limit games.

Slowplaying

Slowplaying means deceiving your opponents into thinking you have a weak hand, when in fact you hold a powerhouse. For example, you flopped a full house! There is no need to scare people out of the pot, because there is little chance of someone drawing out on you. You should wait till the turn or maybe even the river to jam the pot with bets and raises. You should slowplay if two conditions are met:1. You hold a whopper, and there is almost no chance of someone drawing on you, and2. You will only get action if some other cards come out that improve your opponents' hands but not by so much that they will beat your hand.

Source: http://www.pokertips.org/strategy/deception.php

Latest Hold Em News:

GET YOUR FREE COPY! | BUY NOW

Matthew Hilger is generally recognized as one of the best authors on the subject of internet poker. He and some of the most knowledgeable players and writers in the poker industry have joined to contribute columns on every aspect of poker. Contributors range from Tournament Pros like the Hendon Mob� to Internet Poker Pros from the Internet Texas Holdem community. Beyond Texas Holdem Strategy, this section covers Omaha, Backgammon, Sit 'n Go tournaments, multitable tournaments, cash games, poker psychology, mind sets and general revelry.

Visit the Texas Holdem Poker Strategy Section

GET BONUS NOW | READ REVIEW

MORE INFO ! | ORDER | FREE COPIES!

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Consider this article on hold em. The techniques will make you a better player.

2008-06-10T23:57:00.000-07:00

This blog is for information and education only. It is meant to improve your hold em game in its legal and non-gambling applications.

A Hold Em Article to Instantly Improve Your Game

Important Strategies

Here is another whopper of an article from pokertips.org. Great information for every caliber player.

Introduction to No-Limit Texas Hold'em

No-Limit Hold'em is game of general strategy, basic tactical skills useful in all forms of poker, and a game of intense psychology.

Let's first go over general strategy. There are two things you should quickly figure out when you enter a no-limit game:

1. What types of players are my opponents?

2. How many hands go to a showdown?

Types of opponents

1. Bluff at the flop a lot. Put in a raise preflop, and try to take down the pot at the flop.

These players only do well when people have large stacks. If you or the loose-aggressive player has a small stack, you are at an advantage because their ability to bluff is limited.

Tight-aggressive: This is my style and the strategy that I'll teach. The tight-aggressive's main problems are that he may get bluffed out too easily and that he may be too easily read.

Showdown Percentage

Types of Hands to Play

How to Bet

Bluffing

Source: http://www.pokertips.org/strategy/nl-primer.php (abbreviated)

Latest Hold Em News:

Dr. Pauly at the 2008 WSOP: The Most Underrated Man in Poker — Erik Seidel

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:33:00 -0700
It was twenty years ago last May when Erik Seidel lost to Johnny Chan heads up for the 1988 World Series of Poker Main Event title. Chan was the reigning world champion and the most feared poker player in Las Vegas. Seidel was...

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Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:00:00 -0700
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2008 WSOP Event #17, $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout Day 1: Final Ten Set

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 18:10:00 -0700
Event #17, $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, got underway Monday relatively early, poker time, at 12:00 pm. It ended "early" as well – at nearly 7am Tuesday morning. Last year 900 players took part and the winner was Donald Baruch...

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Are you ready to improve your poker game? Its time to get started...

2008-06-09T22:13:00.000-07:00

The information in this blog is in no way meant to promote gambling. It provides information on poker to be used in its legal and non-gambling applications.

A Great Online Poker Article

Playing Multiple Poker Tables

Here is a great article about the advantages and pitfalls of playing multiple tables online. The majority of people will tell you that multiple tables increases your profit. The following article outlines why that may not necessarily be the case.

Playing Multiple Tables
One of the many advantages to playing poker on the internet is the ability to play multiple tables at once. Some sites, like Party Poker, allow you to play up to ten tables at once. Players who have proven themselves to be winners should consider playing multiple tables at once on the Internet in order to maximize their win rate (though playing an exorbitant amount such as eight tables is almost always inadvisable).

When playing two tables at once, most players' abilities will suffer. This is because you can't pay as much attention to each game. You will not be able to adopt as many player-specific strategies as you would if you were only playing one table. Thus, if you are used to making $10 an hour playing one game at once, do not automatically assume you will earn $20 an hour by playing two games at once. Chances are, you will earn less than $20 an hour. Thus, the key decision in this case is whether you think you would make between $10-$20 an hour playing two tables or less than $10 an hour.

Since playing two tables lowers your profit rate per table, you must have already established that you can beat the game consistently in order for it to be profitable to play two games at once. If you are breaking even at a limit and decide to play two games at once at that limit, you will probably begin to lose money since your profit rate will go from 0 to say -$5 an hour per table, which amounts to -$10 an hour.

Another critical factor when deciding whether or not to play multiple tables at once is the type of game you are playing. If you are playing a no-limit game, you may be highly dependent on player reads. Therefore, playing multiple tables might be a bad idea if it will significantly affect your ability to win. However, if you play fixed-limit games at low stakes, chances are your advantages are derived from basic, tactical skills. These types of skills, such as patience and discipline, will not be affected by multiple tables. Therefore, multiple tables tends to be a better option for limit players than no-limit players.

Furthermore, playing more than one game can be stressful. You will be constantly checking each game, making snap decisions every 15 seconds, etc. This may decrease the joy factor of the game, which may be more important to you than any extra money you could make by playing two games at once. After all, poker is not just about winning money; it is also about having fun.

Source: http://www.pokertips.org/strategy/multiple-games.php

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