Wednesday 21 April 2010

Free Poker Tournament Essentials Guide

To start this article and in my opinion an absolute shocker of a mistake to make when playing in a poker contest is "checking it down" when an opponent goes all in- purely with the purpose to go up in the cash of a free poker tournament.

Now I suppose in some situations it is fine. For instance if there is not much money in the main pot, or there is no raise-equity in making a bet. But I simply hate the play of checking it down just for the sake of moving up in the money. My personal opinion is it takes away from your chance to win the pot. You also can let the other opponents catch up to you, when they would have obviously folded to a bet. It is a much safer play and stronger play to bet instead of check if u have the hand. This way u wont loose any more than u have too.

The following part of this article will illustrate the significance of online free poker tournament bankroll skills.

It's extremely effortless to be out of your entire budget by not having the basic bankroll supervision experience. I have found that Chris "Jesus" Ferguson's methods work fairly well in practice. For this method, you can only purchase into multi table poker competitions for no more than two percent or your total bankroll and Sit and Go poker games for five percent of your full amount.

At NoPayPOKER we recommend for money competitions you mustn't put in more than three percent of your entire amount though, Ferguson believes five percent is considered ok. So it comes down to your stance to risk at this stage, it's a good idea to find your risk tolerance at the online poker sites.

This is very important because good bankroll management is the key to success in online poker. It is also very important to move down in stakes if you go on a bad losing streak. This is problem the hardest thing you can try to do. Moving down in stakes is even more important than keeping a good roll management technique in mind.

Sunday 18 April 2010

A Novices Guide to Free Poker Limit Hold-em

Limit hold'em poker is a great game and usually the first to be picked up by players after no limit free poker. The rule's are all the same except in the way betting is carried out. The limit is the equal to the big blind and you can not bet over that limit so the only way to get it higher is to check in the first round of betting in early positions and bet in the later positions. Also a player may want to broaden his selection of playable hands quite considerably depending on their current style of play.

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

The key design is to simply carry the stakes up to a large extent as you can at any time you believe you could possibly win the round. There are many advantages and disadvantages of limit hold-em and one which is viewed as both is the idea of continuous gambling due to both you and the opposition to chase a hand on the river. Your opponent will acquire the same split as you when the time is right. With any luck this guide will assist your mentality of 'have a go'. The best place to put the theory into practice is on the free poker sites- remember play hard and have fun!

Thursday 15 April 2010

Free Poker Guide to Dealing with Online Poker Fatigue

Playing over the internet using cash on one of the free poker sites can be pleasing but can also take its toll. This article aims to give you a variety of ideas to keep the game refreshing, ok it's an alternative guide!

1. Once prefrontal lobe pressure has built up due too an excess of wishing on the river, nip to the kitchen and grab the nearest tea cosy and place it on your head. This will disperse the pressure around your skull, as well as keep you warm.

2. When playing Online Poker on a laptop. If you become worried that your unmentionables are beginning to cook, ask your partner if they would kneel in front of you and gently blow between your thighs. They will also make a handy footrest.

For the sci-fi fans out there, I suggest wrapping yourself head to toe in tin-foil as this will also stop opponents and uso's intercepting your thoughts.

3. When suffering finger cramp from obsessive bluffing, swap hands and rest your playing finger in a pot of low fat yoghurt. Allow five minutes to soothe then continue. Eat yoghurt at a later date.

4. A late night game or after a good few hours you may start to drift off and hear the land of nod calling. The best method of staying awake is to smash a six inch heavy duty nail into the wall directly behind you. You then need to wedge a few stacks of cards below the front of your front two chair legs to make the chair unsteady. You can now rest assured that if you do nod off you will fall back straight into the nail and probably never wake up again- now there's an incentive!

5. After a long period of time sitting down and playing you will eventually have back pain- a good solution is to pinch your checks several times which will not only give you a nice blush effect it will also give you something else to think about!

I have developed these methods myself, and I assure you they work. Remember: Tea Cosy. Blowing. Tin Foil. Yoghurt. Sellotape. Pinch.

Just like Gran use to say 'free poker is fun dear' but when you get online Poker fatigue you need to stop or take drastic action!

Thursday 8 April 2010

A Few Things You Might Not Know About Free Poker

Here are a few things that I am not sure that all free poker players know but they should know.

When Jamie Gold won the WSOP a rule came into effect into the poker community. That is not to talk about your hand or anyone's hand for that matter. If you hit a full house with your junk hand you may feel its funny and information others may find funny but if the hands is still going on many players will become upset very fast.

This rule extends further than your own hand and is also true if you decide to start playing mind games by calling opponents 'bluffs' or declaring their good hands. You must remember for every action there is a reaction, and if this reaction deters a player from going all in when they could have won or they go all in believing someone is 'bluffing' when they're not- well you don't need me to tell you that you will be as popular as a soft drink on stag do!

Another thing players may not know is that it is also a rule now that you can no longer show only one card from your hand. If you show one you must show both. Also do not "splash the pot", what this means is don't throw you chips into the middle of the table.

When betting always stack your chips neatly in front of you just past the line that should be marked around the table so that everyone can see and count exactly what you bet/called.

This is not a rule but just some news that many have not heard yet and that is the WSOP is no longer considered a professional poker event and will no longer be broadcast. I know what your all thinking but no that doesn't mean that Phil Helmuth is now considered a bum but it does mean that he will need to win another professional event in something other then the WSOP and he came very close this year.

Hopefully you found this article interesting and for us free poker players these rules should cause no issues!

Monday 5 April 2010

Free Poker Guide to Setting up Private Games

Private poker games have been around since the beginning of poker but in today's world with many households containing two career oriented adults with children it's very difficult to schedule a time for a game with friends.

In an advancing technological world there are solutions out there. The rapid spread of poker played over the internet including many free poker sites now offer the opportunity for you to set up your own private games. These games are slightly different to the ones you may have previously experienced however you will still have the choice of stakes, starting chips and blinds.

While Texas Holdem is one of the most popular online games Omaha is now making a big come back and on many sites both are available in the private games.

The majority of internet games only have a small opportunity to join so its good practice to be organised and invite all of the players well in advance. Not all sites have the option of slotted start times so shop about first.

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

At this point I should also make the obvious clear that as your playing over the internet you must obey the 'house rules' of the hosting site. Some sites have bans on bad language and also remember anyone has the ability to try and join your game or see it.

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

Friday 2 April 2010

Free Poker Games Guide - All Poker Players Suffer Bad Beats - Its How You Bounce Back that Counts

Excitement runs through your veins as your eyes lighten up to the possibility of what your hand shows: a 2, 8, and yes you guessed it a fabulous King. You mildly lean over giving the slightest touch to the 2 old boys that lay in front of you. All the practice on the free poker games sites has paid off. The cards you hold have finally come in rainbow and the 2 lows are a fair distance apart. Flushes and str8's are pretty much finished- and the kings reign supreme.

As you sit in anticipation for your turn you take a quick look over your opponents trying not to give any signs away of the fabulous hand you hold- there sits a fish. They have all played their part and helped water the stack as you sit watching it flourish. The bad calls and awful bets are all helping line your back pocket. They continue to outstack you after their latest hail-mary & you sit hoping they continue to push.

Your heart stops as fishy gets his go and as if it was Christmas he throws more money at the pot. This is it, its time to take the pot home; it's the moment you dreamed of while learning your trade on the free poker games, and you want to take this opportunity. Inevitably it's time to push your stack and show them all the Kings.

The fish slowly shows his cards and there it is pocket sevens! A huge gasp as everyone must be questioning what the hell they were doing. You stay calm in the comfort that his only possibility of saviour is to pull 2 more 7's out the hat. Now off of the turn; and as if by magic the first of those 7's appears. You can't believe it- and as if things couldn't get any worse, without hesitation the dealer reveals the 4th dreaded 7! Shock horror!

Your heart sinks and you drop to you knees. You have been forsaken. You swear never to play again as the gods can't exist and let that happen. You want to scream as fishy. But you don't. You congratulate and leave.

In hindsight you start pondering with what had just happened- is there anything you could have played different; probably not. I guess there's no point holding on to this and you decide to let it go remembering how fishy played his hand.

I guess the moral of this article is just to remember all players have different strategies and all come with the belief there strategy will take them to the end. You must not discard the bad beats or reprimand the opponents who give you them, as these are money making people. Keep them in your mind but don't divulge this to others- smile and believe their cash will soon be yours.

And remember, there are always free poker games to practice on before you have to take a serious bad beat for real!

Monday 29 March 2010

Free Poker Guide to the Slow Play

All poker games from the high stake bright light games for sin city to the free poker games come down to the ability to win cash from small opportunities. The strategy is to attempt to play reasonable in every game possible- sounds almost defeatist, but the truth is you simply can't win every game. One way to achieve this to out bet the opposition and a way of achieving this is through slow play.

The Art of the Slow-play
The slow-play is when you deliberately under bet so as to disguise the strength of your hand and trap your opponent with a weaker hand.

Unlike the bluff bet, the slow-play is effective against strong and weak opponents. Bad opponents simply bet their hand, so if they have something or they are simply on a draw, they are going to pay you off.

When not to Slow-Play
You shouldn't slow play when there is a flush or straight draw on the board. You should only slow play when your opponent has a hand that is not likely to improve enough to beat yours. Suppose the flop is AD-7H-KC and you hold 7D-7C, and you put your opponent on an A or K. It's usually more profitable to bet the hand aggressively on the turn.

If you slow-play the turn, you are sacrificing an opportunity to make money on the turn. The only reason to slow-play here is if your read on your opponents is that they will fold with any bet you make.

If you manage to get quads or a full house don't over play the hand- if the opposition are not strategically sitting right, they don't seem to gamble often on the river, instead they check or call. By slow playing this turn, this type of opposition wont raise or re raise on the river.

As a result continue to gamble on the turn regardless of their development. They will hardly put you on the quads so attempt to get some game on the turn.

How to Represent Your Hand
The obvious assumption is that a big gamble stands for decent cards. This is believed even more so when gambling after the flop. If an ace or king comes to surface on the flop you can represent the same by gambling. You will learn that it's what the opposition believes you have that is almost as important to the cards you are actually holding, especially if you have a relatively poor hand.

So there you have it a fast guide to the slow play. Typically it works better with money games than free poker where you'll find many beginners who don't pick up the nuances and throw all in regardless! But of you find yourself in a free online poker freeroll with real money up for grabs then think about how and when you might apply it.