Typically, the sage advice for average poker players who play free poker tournaments and find themselves playing a pot against good players is for the average player not to play the pot at all. In cash games, in a table surrounded by good players, the "novice player" only has to leave and find an easier table. But in tournament poker, it is not so simple to avoid being trapped on a table with some good or even exceptionally talented poker players.

In this article you will learn why good players will generally easily beat the novice, and, if you are a novice or less advanced player what you can try to do to survive and even prosper if you find yourself circled by hungry sharks!

A good player can normally easily beat the novice as he knows the patterns novice player tend to follow, given the Board cards, the novice's actions and the position. Good players can also put them on a hand.

They will know if a novice player is holding a suited connector; a pocket pair, or even, in some extreme cases, a Set. The good player knows to play a Straight weak or even fold it when the Board pairs and the novice suddenly dumps down loads of his chips.

Let us make some systematic analysis about our novice player. For the purpose of this we will say that a player wins a pot when, he wins the hand in a showdown or he makes all his opponents fold. If we want our novice player to win a pot against a good player, what kinds of hands should he play, and how?

For example, if the novice aims to win the showdown. Then he has to play the good players through the preflop, turn and river. At each stage the good player will get more information from the novice player than the novice player can get from the good player.

If the good player has more information, then he knows immediately whether the novice player has a good hand or not. He can continue to showdown and probably win a big pot, if he keeps on value-betting our novice. Or he can lose a small pot, if he slows down and just checks. Or he is able to make the novice fold.

Suppose our novice now tries to make his opponents fold. (Let us assume the Board can help him only a little, and his hand, from the flop up to the river, will not be of showdown quality.) During the flop, turn, and the river, the good player will extract more inferences from the Board cards than the novice player will.

If our novice, who normally has the tendency to get excited, overrepresents a hand unnecessarily, then he will just be called by the good player (unless he plays really strongly, but he can't overdo this either).

From these, we gather that the pieces of information needed to make a decision is:

1. Your cards.

2. Your perception of your opponents' cards.

3. The Board cards.

4. Tells your opponent gives away.

5. Tells you reveal to your opponent.

6. Previous tendencies of each player.

7. Position.

Both the novice as well as the good player has (1) and (3), but the good player's judgment is usually more accurate with all these criteria. A good player, for instance, will believe that 8-7 (his cards) is not so nice-looking in a flop of 10-7-3 (the Board cards), but a novice player may. As for (4), (5), and which stems from (1), (2) and (3), the good player is usually more aware of these. And good players care more for (7) than novice ones.

So if our novice wants to play a pot against a good player, he cannot really rely fully on the information above, for he cannot interpret them well. So our novice should find a spot in which the good player also cannot rely on most of the information above, so that they will be on equal footing. When is it? Answer: Preflop. How to play? All-in.

Preflop, your perception of your opponent's cards is less accurate than after the flop falls. Also, because there are no Board cards yet, tells are less reliable. Finally, because a novice is less likely to have previous tendencies resulting from experience, the good player has little hold on . And preflop all-ins are dependent on hand strength mainly than position.

By moving all-in you may make your opponent fold (which is a win) or entice him to a showdown. Don't call yourself all-in, however, unless you have a premium hand. Once your opponent does this move, if he is a good opponent, he knows you are vulnerable.) When he does want a showdown, he is deprived of postflop information that may increase his chances of making an good decision. At this point, although the good player is still good, he has to play in terms of novice play.

The good hands the novice may have are still the traditional all-in hands: A-A, K-K, Q-Q, etc. A-K (or similar) is quite shaky, but if you can lull someone with 7-7 to play with you, you are still about 50-50 with him.Whereas if you take him to the Flop, he will have more possibilities to play his 7-7 better than you would play your A-K, and you will be defeated most of the time. Let us say your chance to win above is just 25% postflop; why don't you take the 50-50 instead?

Summing up

It takes some time to learn how to play poker online or offline at a level above the unthinking donk "chip flinging" seen on many free poker tables.Most players it seems can't or won't put the time in, they claim to play just for fun which misses out on the key fact that winning lots and beating all these "fun" players is a lot more fun!

Yes it is crazy that so many play with so little skill, but it is also very good news for you as a player who aims to learn to play well. That's because once you learn to play poker with above average skill and are able to combat the "all-in-all the time" donk maniacs then you can take them apart in coldly calculated massacres anytime you like. This can mean really good easy money in low stakes money online games and in free online poker tournaments games that pay out real cash such as those found at http://www.NoPayPOKER.com.

To make this work first, play free poker tournaments to learn to play poker online free where you can learn while you lose but without losing real money, then once ready to can move up to low stakes and start to make some serious poker cash!

What do you do with a big hand preflop when you have a big stack, like K-K? And how might the other players react? Whether you play free poker games for pennies or high stakes in Monaco this is a critically important situatio and you need to know how to play it best.

Here is a great example from the WSOP:

BLINDS 40,000/80,000

A has As-10c moves all-in (Pot 1.296m)
B has K-K reraises to 5m (Pot 6.296m)

B has two options here. He can call and wait for an opponent to go all-in, though that would make him think...

Could it be A-A? Or Q-Q? If it was Q-Q there is a slight chance he might fold K-K, and regret it. But a big reraise can drive Q-Q or lower out, like what happened to another player:

C has Jd-Jc

(C’s comments on B’s hand were: “Why did you make it so much? ... You like your hand that much?”) If C calls, it’s for all of his chips.

C may think that B has A-K, but there are two all-ins in front of him, and one of them might be A-X (and with A-X he is still not safe) or a pair, but a suspiciously heavy raise to about 60 times the big blind is almost always a signal for A-A or K-K. So C could wait for a better opportunity than now.

C folds (Pot 2.39m)

C’s fold was brilliant, after the reraise, but it will still be brilliant even if B did not reraise. B might bet again on the Flop and C may not continue and just let go of the chips.

B’s reraise will work if he has A-A or K-K, but I doubt it if he will do the same with A-K or Q-Q, but it may have the same effect of making C fold. As for A, let us wish for his good health. B won the hand later.

In summary - Big Hand Preflop
I know this may seem like a lot to take in all at once, the fact is though that while poker is an easy game to learn it is hard to be very good at, hence the crazy stupid "chip flinging" you will come across on many poker sites.

Ironically the fact that so many players inhabit this dumb donk zone is great news for you. The reason why is that when you really learn how to play poker well you can turn mercenary and hunt them down in droves in low stakes real money games as well free poker games sites that pay out real money like NoPayPOKER and happily build your skills and bankroll!

As ever practice makes perfect so read, understand and learn how to play poker on the free poker games tables to get it nailed.

In this free online poker tips guide you will learn how to recognize and play the poker hand known as the "Big Hand".

The point of poker hand reconstruction is to learn how to play poker better by understanding how the hand works.

This can then be related to the context of play. You can start to get meaningful insight the motives of your opponents based on the cards, betting patterns, player profile types, stack sizes, pot size and other relevant factors.

The result I hope is that you can play that type of hand better in the future and win more money!

For this poker hand analysis we will examine the "Big Hand"

BLINDS 1,000/2,000 - (Pot 5,400)

PREFLOP:

A has Js-9s, calls 2,000

B has Ks-Kc, raises to 14,000

A calls 12,000 (Pot 33,400)

A just initially calls, hoping that there will also be many callers because he has suited connectors and wants to get sufficient pot odds.

B, meanwhile, may interpret the call from early position as A-A or Q-Q, and because he has a big stack (the two are the biggest stacks in the table) he can afford to raise a little bit, because if the other player reraises and he thinks the other one has A-A, he can fold.

Also, K-K is a little bit unsafe if an Ace falls on the flop, so this may serve as a tester raise. A calls, because he has a big stack and can afford it.

FLOP: Kh-9d-Kd

A checks

B checks (Pot 33,400)

Suddenly B has Quad Kings! A checks, because he has only a Nine, and can proceed carefully if B bets. B, hoping to conceal his unbeatable hand, checks too.

Paired boards are commonly good bluffing situations. One example is, a 8-8-3 board is good for bluffing because on a, say, J-7-3 board, you will find three cards which can pair one of them, and a bluff will be less effective.

But on the 8-8-3 board, bluffing has big benefits since there are only two cards which will conceivably help anyone, and also anyone there with a Three will be not as likely to call. (Only an Eight will do.)

But with a board with bigger cards like our Flop, B might have bet, but after that, A will be less likely to put him on a bluff (and more likely on a made hand) because he may have, say, K-10, and we play big cards more than small ones.

B doesn’t want A to back out of the pot. So B just checks.

Also, with two Diamonds B should check in the hope that A will put him on a flush draw so that if the flush doesn’t come, A will bet or raise to push B away, and B can gain extra chips.

TURN: Kh-9d-Kd-5h

A checks

B bets 20,000

A raises to 70,000

B calls 50,000 (Pot 173,400)

B still has invincible Quads, A still has Two-Pair. B could have now put A on the Nine or a draw, so B bets 20,000 so that A will call.

But since during the flop B may have represented a Diamond flush draw in A’s perspective, A raised to 70,000 so that B will move away.

B just calls, since there are two draws already, and B might want to represent one of them again so that A will attempt another bluff on the river.

RIVER: Kh-9d-Kd-5h-9h

A checks

B moves all-in 106,000 (Pot 279,300)

A folds

B still has Quads, but A is now in trouble because he has a bottom Full House. A King can kill him.

What A is hoping, though, is that B back-doored a Heart Flush and just check it along with him.

But B moves all-in. This is a very intriguing move by B. A solid player would value-bet this (sat, 40,000 on a pot of 173,400) and A can just call it.

It is OK to represent a Flush here, since the board is double-paired, which can destroy Flushes since the board is just one card off a Full House.

So what I am thinking is: B moved all-in because (1) he wanted A to think they may have the same hand or that his hand is weaker, like a Flush. B’s play on the Flop and the Turn was weak, so A might not have put B on a King but likely on the Flush draw we are talking about.

B wants a call. B now hopes that A backdoored a Flush too and also that he thinks his all-in is just a bluff, but A is in trouble because of the sudden strong play.

It was psychologically jarring.

Did B hide that King or not? A might imagine that better hands could come later, so he folds.

Also (2) B may not want a showdown; he did not want to show the two Kings; he wanted to trouble the minds of A and other opponents.

If they saw how he played K-K it will be added information. He wants to have them guessing.

It is important to play more unpredictably in order to gain chips later than to gain chips now, but be unable to get some later. I believe this is a brilliant reason.

In summary of the Big Hand

It takes time to learn how to play poker online or offline at a level above the unthinking, uneducated "chip flinging" seen at many tables.

Yes it is mad that so many players play with so little skill, but it is also very good news for you as a player who is learning to play correctly. That's because once you learn to play poker at an above average level and combat the "all-in-all the time" maniacs then you can take them apart in coldly calculated genocide anytime you like in low stakes money games and when you play free poker games that pays real cash such as that found at http://www.nopaypoker.com/

As ever practice makes perfect so read, understand and learn to play poker online free on the free poker sites tables to get it nailed.

You can't be good at everything In the world of poker from the entry levels of penny play free poker or big stakes players become experts or specialists in their particular games.

It is the same as in any profession, field of study or in the workplace where people find their unique niche for the company that they work for and devote their efforts to becoming as good as they can in order to be promoted and earn more.

So how does this relate specifically to the world of poker games?

Simply this, some people are great cash game players, while others are great tournament players. There are some players who are very good at both cash games and poker tournaments but this is very rare.

Most players specialize because they are more successful at one than the other.

How do you determine whether cash games or tournaments are your speciality? Well, it's not always clear. You obviously need to try your hand at both, but here are a few suggestions that may help you to figure it out.

Should You Focus On Cash Games?
If you're a patient player who looks to play only in clear +EV situations, then you may prefer cash games. Full-ring games are all about waiting for premium starting hands and extracting the most value from them in the most favourable situation possible. Thus, cash games are good for players who don't deal with variance very well.

The biggest mistake a beginning cash game player can make is playing too many hands. You don't want to commit too many chips in marginal situations.

The opposite can seem to be true in the late to middle stages of a tournament.

Should You Focus On Poker Tournaments
It is correct to play tight in the early stages of a tournament, but once the blinds start to escalate you'll need to loosen up your starting requirements. Once you're low on chips, you'll need to look to move all-in to survive. You may also need to put yourself in situations that may –EV in certain occasions. If you're one of the big stacks, it's also correct to start playing looser to bully the other players. It's all about accumulating chips to either survive or thrive in tournaments. It's not for the faint of heart or those who can't deal with variance.

The biggest mistake a beginning tournament player can make is not pushing all-in enough when they get low on chips. Because the price of blinds increase as the tournament goes on, your chip stack can easily get whittled away.

Tight players can't win tournaments.

Poker Game Specialization Conclusion
If you like tight then it is best to focus on cash games. But if you like action then tournaments are going to be your thing. With that said, it is possible for tight styles to work in tournaments with a few adjustments, and a loose style can work in cash games can work under certain circumstances.

Ideally do your testing in free poker that way you can learn to play poker for free and find your style while not losing lots of money in the process!

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I found out that there is a tournament variant called All-in or Fold. The rules are this: There is only one blind (called big blind). Each player starts with just one chip; it doesn't matter how many, anyway, for these reasons: Your only options are: All-in, and Fold. They are increasingly popular in both cash and free online poker so have a go if you come across one but not before you read this quick guide!

If you're on the big blind you're automatically all in. You receive change, however, if, say, you have 5 chips and someone moves all-in with 2 chips and you call him (which is an all-in, too). He won't win 5 chips from you; instead you'll get change of 3 chips.

If you're on big blind you can simply ignore everything else that follows. (This only happens about 10% of the time though on a 10-player table. If you want to become hooked for some reason.) So it's very much a math poker game as well as a position game.

Why math game?
Because you are relying totally on preflop all-ins you must commit to memory the probability of your winning, or at least have a good feel for them. I can give some examples (You can generalize; the probability's pretty much the same in a similar situation; for instance the first example will be: Two Overcards vs. Small Pair, or the first example will apply too if it were, say, A-10 over 5-5) and approximate the probabilities:

A-K vs 8-8
55%-45% in favor of 8-8

A-K vs A-Q
75%-25% in favor of A-K

A-10 vs K-K
75%-25% in favor of K-K

A-K vs 7-6
65%-35% in favor of 7-6

A-10 vs K-Q; A-Q vs K-J
63%-37% in favor of A-10 and A-Q

A-A vs 8-8
80%-20% in favor of A-A

A-A vs A-K
93%-7% in favor of A-A

A-A vs K-Q
85%-15% in favor of A-A

But these do not imply that you should wait for A-A or K-K or A-K before you move all-in, of course. Do it with two face cards, a pair, or A-x. Just make sure the big blind doesn't reach you, for if that happens your decision's beyond your will.

All-In or Fold is also a game of position. Oftentimes players in these tournaments play hands similar to the above, and throw away the rest.

Consider these two examples:

(1) You are in late position with 4-4 and there are two all-ins in front of you. You might be facing three or four overcards, or an overpair. Fold.

After all, if you are in late position, there will be many hands before you reach the big blind.

(2) You have A-8 in early position. You are two hands away from being the big blind, so you move all-in, and players after you will interpret an early-position all-in as a sign of strength.

What you consider, then, is the strength of your hand and the surrounding action.

With one-on-one, which happens mostly, the above probabilities still apply. But with three or more, hand strength matters more. Big pairs are still big; medium pairs shrink in power (because you can't see the Flop yet; usually we see the Flop with a medium pair to hit a Set). A-x becomes weaker; A-K and A-Q weaken down a little bit. However, make sure you play a hand while you're still in control of your decision. When you get yourself blinded out, it's for your tournament life, mostly.

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It was in a six-man free poker games site (thankfully) Sit-and-Go where my belief in the omnipotence of the Set (a made hand formed from a pocket pair and a board card with the same rank; for example, you have 4-4 and the Flop comes 4-10-A) was intensely curtailed.

More so, it was a sharp free online poker lesson on maturity. I know now when a Sets power is diminished.

A Set is very powerful if, say, you have 5-5 and the flop comes A-10-5. In this situation, against A-x (excepting A-10), you are 99-1 favorite, and if another player happens to have A-K or A-Q, you will see all the problems he will face later when he goes all in or calls your all-in.

But at this Sit and Go, there were 6 six players (blinds 10-20, average stack 1500), I was first to go. I had 4c-4s. I raised to 50. The button called, as well as the blinds.

The flop came 4h-6h-7d. Small blind checked; before me, big blind bet 200.

I asked myself, "How could he make such a fat bet (pot-sized)?". These players in previous hands always play any old hand that drops onto their screens. They may have A-6 or A-7, but also 8-7 or even 8-5. Or any two Hearts. They never know when to fold or not. And you don't know when your made Two-Pair will be crushed.

So I figured that the power of my Set was gravely reduced, so I just called in the hope that the Board would pair during the Turn, but the main reason is because there are were dangerous cards that can fall.

A Three, a Five or an Eight will render my Set unplayable, unless everyone checks; a Heart will jeopardize my chances.

Usually, I am inclined to move all-in with a Set, but there might be a stray Five. They are willing to call all-ins, even with draws. Even with gutshot draws. They do it all day.

And I can't banish them out of a draw by power-play. What if all of them call?

The turn came 3d. There are two Flush draws on the Board and one to a Straight.

Small blind checks; the Big Blind moved all-in (he had 1400 chips, I had 1200).

On already a pot of 2200, although I am getting 2-to-1 on a call all-in (or possibly 3-to-1 or 4-to-1 if the two others call), I folded. The Button called; Small Blind folded.

They showed the hands I guessed they had: an Ad-5c, and Qh-Jh. Either way, I will be smothered if I called too; the chance of the Board pairing is just 25% (10 out of 40) and I would be getting only 3-to-1. Not only I escaped devastating math; I also escaped the onslaught of made hands and big draws.

The point is this, if a hand starts good but then goes sour it is no longer good and won't EVER get good by magic! Its goodness is just a memory, and if you pursue the beaten path your chips will soon turn into a memory as well.

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In ordinary poker tournaments in online poker be they cash or  free poker, usually the top 1/8 or 1/10 make it to the money, and even here only a fraction make more than twice the buy-in.

The great chunk of money goes to those close to the final table. In double or nothing tournaments, half the participants win twice the buy-in.

For example, if there are 100 players with a buy in of $10 the top 50 win $20, the bottom 50 get nothing.

In this free poker lesson discussion let us assume 100 participants in a double or nothing tournament.

At the start, when blinds are small, play unambitious, steady poker.

Do the mainstream moves. Go all in with A-A or K-K and hope you get called by a weaker hand. If you have a Pair, hope to flop a Set. Build your stack size by 50% or more.

You can also try "small-ball" poker. While the blinds are low, call with hands that have great pot odds when involved in multi-player pots, like with 8-7, A-5 suited.

If you hit hard on the Flop, say Straight or Flush, knock out someone or double up someone who has a Pair. If you don't hit, fold, and wait for the time you will hit.

This is how to play until you are just, say, five left before the money. Now, you are one of 55 players left. If you are 55th place, what would you do?

As 50th gets the same as 1st place (double the buy in) there's no point going all in unless the blinds are killing you.

Play patient and steady. What typically happens is that the players from 40th down get impatient and go all in because the blinds are eating them, too.

When they get impatient they'll kill themselves off fast, patience, in poker, always wins in the end!

If, say, there are 55 players left, you are in 48th place and are dealt A-A, would you move all-in or call an all-in?

In a normal poker tournament, if top 30 win money and you are 27th with 33 players left, you can move all-in with A-A because your callers will be A-K, A-Q or K-K and you are a significant favorite. You can move up from 27th to say, 15th to 20th, and you can win more money later.

But in double or nothing, ask yourself: What if you have 9000 chips and win $10 when you could win $10 with just 4500 chips? It will be unnecessary. 50th place is the same as any place above it.

What about calling an all-in with someone who has 3000 chips? Will you do it? It depends on what player we are, but I would not do it.

The bigger stacks can collaborate on knocking the smaller ones out. Stay out of the way.

If you are on top, say you have five times your starting stack or better, consider it your responsibility to knock the smaller stacks out if you have the opportunity.

Don't overdo it, however. In this instance, I would rather snooze away from the table and let the more adventurous big stacks eat the smaller ones.

If you have, say, just thrice your starting stack, don't call all-ins unless you have nuts or a strong hand close to nuts. I did this once in a Flop with A-5-8 and I have A-10. I have 3200 chips (about 1.5 times my starting stack) and someone moved all-in his 920 chips.

One player between us folded (If he called he may have A-x, and I don't know what x is, so if we get involved in a pot he might push me and I wouldn't be able to continue with my A-10) so I called. The player who moved all-in bluffed with 9-2.

If you are on top, you can just wait. If you are near the bottom, just have more patience and don't knock yourself out like the others who have less patience do. Because once you reach 50th place in our 100-person tournament, you will feel just like a champion.

To read more articles like this and  learn to play poker online free check out the NoPayPOKER.com blog which is full of free poker tips and lessons as well as offering a no risk free poker site  where you can put theory into practice.

This article is about the endless argument over whether poker success is luck or skill, and, know what, I'm going to answer it once and for all! I have personally been a money and free texas holdem player for some 7 years, I have made some nice cash at times but I have also busted several bankrolls.As such think I can say I've got a pretty good understanding of the situation!

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

I believe in conclusion it is best to assume that poker is a combination of both skill and luck where the skill level of the player involved has a definite effect on the “luck” component of the equation in the medium and long term.

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

It is very difficult to try and overcome such a situation. This can, in part, be blamed on the speed of online poker hand as opposed to the live game. In the online poker game it is a lot faster and you have a lot less time to make decisions.

Many players believe there are more bad beats in online poker than in the live game. This is not unreasonable in a math sense due to the far greater number of hands seen and played. In addition there is a fatigue factor involved where players feel they are being pushed too hard, or perhaps have suffered a bad beat.

Subsequently decision making may become irrational, and typical hands that could be thrown away are now played, and even pushed pre flop out of anger in trying to win back lost funds.

Others, who are skilled can pick up on such trends and play them to their advantage, which often triggers greater loss, and in the eyes of the losing player, more bad beats which he feels was based on luck.

The successful (skilful) poker player knows how to manage each aspect of the game. In effect you become able to manage probability (luck) by application of skill and so apply the old phrase beloved of annoying sales managers/gurus everywhere, “make your own luck”. Basically meaning that your skill flattens out the “bad luck” to the extent that you will be up consistently in the medium and long run.

But how can you go about doing this? My advice is to start safe and low risk. Go to one of the better free texas holdem sites such as NoPayPOKER.com and practice lots and lots and lots!. You will find your confidence (and bankroll) growing and can then take a step up to some low stakes games, and from there...who knows

Bluffing in poker is when you don't have a great hand but you bet or raise to try and convince the other players you have a string hand and get them to fold even if they have better hands. An essential skill that you should start to practice whether you play free poker at www.NoPayPOKER.com or live room games.

Why you need to bluff?
Firstly it enables you to win with cards that are not so great.

Secondly, and I think more important, you bluff so you can win big pots when you do have the best hand.

So even bad failed bluffs can have a positive effect in that they may make other players call you when you actually have a strong hand.

But you must be careful here. Bluff too much and you set a pattern up and you will always get called and will lose much more often. if you never bluff, when you have good cards and raise the pot, your opponents fold and you win a small pot.

But if you can get it right and bluff with the right frequency, you will make your opponents unsure, and force bad decisions..

6 Ways To Be a Better Poker Bluffer
1) Be careful bluffing at limited tables. On this type of table you cannot raise too much as your opponents can call your bet easier than at a No-Limit Texas Holdem table.

2) You must "study" your opponents. If there are a lot of good players then logically your chances are lower, maybe you should look for another table.

This is true because strong players respect the bets of their opponents, and have the right discipline to fold their cards even with a medium hand.

The weak player, instead, doesn't understand that you are trying to bluff, or calls your bet just out of curiosity.

3) Try to build your reputation at the table. Make your opponents unsure of your moves at all times.

For example, you can start the tournament with a lot of bluffing, so your opponents will call you a lot and you can win big pots when you have the right cards.

Or you can start the tournament calling only with good cards (AK, AQ, high pairs). Later on you can bring in some bluffs with weaker hands as they will think by now that you must have good cards.

4) Your position is decisive and in general it is good to call when you are in the last positions, near the dealer, because you have more information about your opponents.

5) Practice! Start of on free online poker sites to get the improve your skills in an environment that won't punish you financially.

5) Learn to do the semi bluff. In the semi bluff you bet hoping they will fold but your cards might be good enough to win the pot if the turn and river are good. This happens, for example, when you have 4/5 flush, or 4/5 straight, or in rare cases when you have Ace-high.

Look at a semi bluff example:
You have 9 and 10 of hearts and the flop is Q-hearts , 4-clubs and 7-hearts.

In this case you haven't got the best hand. Your opponent has 4 and 3 (very bad card preflop), he has more chances to win.

So you can try to make a semi-bluff , because you have the 4 hearts cards.You bet, and your opponent starts to think about what to do.

He has only a pair, and a very low one. He thinks: "I have few chances to win.. only a pair of 4s. He is betting, probably he has the Q.. or 7.. Uhm, let's try with another hand", and the fold comes.

And also if your opponent calls, the turn or the river can be a hearts, so you maintain good chances to win.

The Semi-bluff is also useful to contain losses.
For example, the situation is the same above ( You: 9h-10h , Flop Qh-4c-7h ), and you decide to bet.

If your opponent is weak, he’ll probably fold. But if your opponent has the Q, if you don't bet a little, he will probably bet a higher amount of chips, to let you fold, and you become unsure of what to do.

Call with 4/5 flush, or fold? However, to see the next card, you have to put in the pot more chips than if you bet for first.

If you bet a small amount of chips, your opponent probably just call, and you "buy" another card with few chips.

How to defend against a possible bluff?
There aren't many choices. You can accept the challenge, or you can fold.v For this reason the bluff and semi-bluff are a very powerful weapon.

My last suggestion: if you decide to accept the challenge, restrict yourself to call is rarely the good decision. You should raise, to let your opponent think: "Uhm, it's better to stay relaxed, my opponent has good card".

Bluffing is a poker skill that needs practice. If you're not experienced start off on free poker sites such as NoPayPOKER.com where there is no risk of loss, you can still win some real money and have good fun to be had while you build skill and confidence. is the perfect place for Beginners to learn how to play poker without risking money. Experienced poker players can fine tune their game, test out new techniques or just grind away to accumulate all the free poker cash!

I've been a poker player since I was a teenager, I've played for money in casinos and lots of fun money free poker at home. For the last few years though I've focused most on free poker sites. Initially this was easy and fun but as time has passed I found it getting harder and harder to win, after thinking long and hard I realised that I'd become stuck in a rut I now call the "Easy Play" trap.

The poker "Easy Play Trap" is when you think you have to play every hand to win. You post and play every hand praying the flop with give you a hand. The problem with it is that you lose more and even worse anyone with any skill learns how you play really easily which makes things even worse. The problem is most common I find on free poker sites where, due to the very low or even no risk nature of the poker games it is easy not to be bothered. No problem is it’s just for fun but a very bad habit if you have aspirations to play live or online poker for money later.

Then last year I started playing what I call "SMART". "SMART" players think of the odds of playing each hand based on your starting hand. The two cards in your hand give you an idea of what your chances of winning before the flop.

“SMART” poker means as follows:

Singles – A - K - Q – J

Married – AK – AQ – AJ – A10

Average – 10 10 – 9 9 – 8 8 – 7 7 – 6 6

Rare – AA – KK – QQ - JJ

Terrible – 2 7 – 2 8 – 2 9 – 2 10 – 3 8 – 3 9 – 3 10 -4 9 – 4 10 -5 10

Singles are best used cards in the same suite.

Playing singles with low off suites is high-risk because some times it is the kicker that means a win. Watch the flops and see how the cards are falling as if there are more small off suites hitting with a single you may want to try.

Married and Rare hands are your better possible starting hands prior to the flop and requires that you think first. Going all in with a Married or Rare hand before the flop is good but can also be a killer. Watch the other players for a time to get an idea of what they play before going up against them.

Average poker hands are good to begin with but the flop truly provides a picture of how you will play your hand. On an average a third will fall with the flop when holding a small pair. If not, and there is a small bet, try the turn but never the river as odds are against you.

Terrible are poker hands I try not to play because they normal are losing hands. True you might get lucky but if you do not have any money in the pot why waste the time and money on a chance. High blind and there is no raise, yes play, however low blind, forget it and wait for a better hand.

During a recent live game I was down to 80 in chips with the blinds at 10 – 20. I was not getting a hand and we were down to three players. Being “SMART” I came back and won the money.

Now the important bit, how to learn to play "SMART": If you are new to poker or are stuck in the trap, get yourself over to a free texas holdem poker site and practice loads. Be serious about your game and don't get distracted by all the Easy Play Trap people you'll come across. The, once you are confident and showing consistent bankroll growth you can move on and up.

It is important to have the ability sit down at any money or free poker table, online or live and analyze the other players. There's no doubt that patience is the key ingredient when it comes to analyzing players and the most important stage is when the game starts.

Why you might ask?
This provides you with you an opportunity to settle-back and take mental notes on the player's actions. This is helpful during the first half hour of a free poker game in particular as quite a lot of players like to go all in and hope they win the pot. I myself will only call these players with a high pair, or suited low connectors because I've played them before, and they will go all in with any two hand cards given.

What Must You Try to Read?

The notes I suggest you take during the first half-hour or if moved to a new table in any money or free online poker game are quite simple.

Determine which players are playing carefully and which ones are playing loose.

Those who are playing loose are going to bet on almost every hand and call just about anything.This is very common in free texas hold em games where low risk reduces good sense at times!

Those who are playing conservative will keep folding until they get the cards in hand they want or any pairs of AA's, KK's, QQ's, JJ's.

How do you spot a Bluffer?
This can be difficult if you have not been watching the game as can happen a lot with free poker or if you are playing multiple games online.

If you have been watching the game you should have more of a feeling as to who might be bluffing..

For example:

Say you have an ace and king of spades you'll be feeling good about your whole situation. Now you wait for the other player to check or bet, to your surprise the player bets 400 chips when the pot is at 120 chips.

So you call the player and on the flop lands Queen of spades, Jack of Spades, and ten of hearts. The other player goes all-in in order to make you think he/she has the winning hand. You know you've won it so you call the player's bluff and go on to win.

That is very obvious but if you are up against a more conservative player then they could try to buy you in by betting low not over the pot before the flop and after. These Players really know what they are doing and most likely will have a full house against your ace high straight. Here is where your experience comes into play...have you marked who is loose and who is conservative?

Here are some practical game and player reading tips

1) Players who take a very long time and procrastinate are trying to mislead you into believing they've got nothing and wait for you to make a bet worth calling. (Note: in free texas hold em the player could be taking too long because he/she is playing multiple games.) Filter these players out as this might be a habit for them.

2) Look out for players who anticipate until the last second and raise you all-in. They are trying to buy the pot with a decent pair hoping you do not have any aces in your hand!

3) Everyone knows a chip bully. Every table has one. The only way to knock a chip bully off his expensive chair is not to be distressed by his/her large chip stacks. Should you have it, go for it. Most probably, he/she is bluffing because, they want to pilfer the pot or blinds.

Every Player Develops Habits.

And from habits develop betting patterns - But What patterns might they form?

A bad habit (for them) you will witness only too often is that some players lose 80% of their chip stack. They get ticked-off because they've taken a serious loss but rather than cut their losses choose to carry on, often all-in until they lose the lot or earn back some chips (rare!). These players have given up and gone on "tilt". The best thing to do is to call them once the time is right. So have patience and you'll nail them 100%.

Some players are extremely difficult to read because they Know they are being read and are always switching their technique. They will repeat themselves at some point but these patterns are very hard to spot. These players will take up a lot of your time! When you can read players like these..well you are probably playing WSOP!

I hope this article will help you fine tune your skills and has given you some ideas you can use at the tables. No player is impossible to read but if you can't read players you will make the game impossible for yourself!

My advice if you have difficulty with analyzing other players or if this is all new to you is to get in lots of practice in low risk games. Try low or micro stakes games or some free online poker games to get a feel for it all before betting any meaningful money

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Many online poker players won't like to read this but here's a fact - Recording and effective analysis of your online poker play is one of the biggest secrets of success if you're serious about your poker play and want to make money in poker online or offline. Playing for fun only? Not so necessary. Want to get good extra money or even full time? Then it's critical.

Firstly, as long as you input it right the data don't lie. It's very human to emphasize the good points and memories and minimize or bury the bad. If you play a lot and don't keep records you will almost certainly create false impression. Poker is a card game yes but it is also a game that can be analyzed in depth. Don't worry if you're not a math genius, you don't need to do math but you need to record and look at some other things.

The key things to track are the time you start and end playing, the game type, stakes, cost of entry, your winnings, the amount of your stack at each level and the outcome of key hands. A spreadsheet program is a great way to record this data and, once you learn how use the data you can do all sorts of useful calculations to further refine your performance and see what works well and not.

For example - The time of day you play is often very important; this can tell you what times of day you play best. Track game types and stakes to see what ones you do best and worst at. This is critical at online poker sites where you're paying for every game you play!

The cost of entry and your winnings are the truest track of how much you are winning and losing. By tracking your chip stacks at each level, you can see at what level in a tournament you are obtaining your chips. It you are losing big amounts of chips early, it may well mean that you're being too aggressive early on. In later stages you see low chip growth, then maybe it's time to test being more aggressive at these stages.

The result of the last hand in a tournament is the most critical one to track. You do this to discover what kinds of hands are knocking you out of tournaments. If you see a trend in such hands you should look at those hands more closely. As an example, you may see that Ace - King is ending your tournaments far more often than it should when you're all in. If so then you can combat this by betting Ace - King and not going All In. If you lose you're still in the tournament.

As a first action have a look at the NoPayPoker.com poker forum. See especially the article sections. You'll also find many of the players there very helpful and willing to give a helping hand on how to build your record sheets and make use of the info you collect.

Spreadsheet's data, analysis? I hear you scream. I can't be bothered with that, I'll just play my poker freeform. Fine, up to you but realize that if you ever want to be real good then you need to keep and use records. Realize too that players who do this would like you to stay away from it…you're much easier to beat when you're playing blind after all!