Thursday, 12 August 2010

Play Free Poker Online Players Guide To How To Beat More Experienced Poker Players

The standard (and indeed common sense) poker strategy followed by average skill poker players who mostly play free online poker sites or low stakes and, for some reason find themselves up against strong players is not to play at all.

Normally this is not a problem, in cash games, when the novice realizes he or she is out of depth all the player has to do is bailout and find a more suitable table. But if you are playing tournament poker it's not so easy to get out of, you can and most likely will get into situations where you have to play good or even very good 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.

The good player knows when the novice has 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.

First lets understand how the novice tends to play so we can understand why the good players have such advantage.

A player is said to "win" a pot, for our purposes, if (a) he wins the hand in a showdown or (b) 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 the novice player will have to pass through the preflop, flop, turn and river against the good player. 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 data, 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.

Imagine our novice now tries (b) to make his opponents fold. (Let us assume the Board will 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 and the good player has (1) and (3), but the good player's judgment is generally 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 (6) 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 look for 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, since 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 (6). 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've got 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 will increase his chances of making an good decision. At this point, even though good player is still good, he has to play in terms of novice play.

The good hands the novice can 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 not take the 50-50 instead?

Conclusion

If you are new to poker then know this seems a lot to take in, the fact is though that while poker is easy to learn it is harder to be good at, hence the mad "chip flinging" you will see on many NoPayPOKER.com tables.

Most people it seems can't be bothered to learn, they are happy to play for what they call fun when in fact it's a lot more fun to learn to play and win more often!.

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.

The reason why is that when you really learn how to play poker well you can go mercenary and hunt the "fun donks" down in low stakes real money games as well as free online poker tournaments sites that pay out real money while you happily build your skills and bankroll!

As ever practice makes perfect so read, understand and play free poker sites to learn to play poker free good and get your skills finely honed.

Wednesday, 11 August 2010

Learn To Play Poker Free And Dare Other Players Into Traps

When you play both play free online poker games and any size cash poker Three-bets mean good hands (or bluffs). Four-bets mean better hands (or bluffs). I dare you!

 
But despite even for the most skilled players in the world, the best hands still come from luck! Here is a perfect example:

 
BLINDS 50k/100k, ante 10k

 
PREFLOP:

 
A has K-K, raises to 290k

 
A great start for A but he holds temptation at bay with the measured raise. He certainly plays K-K shrewdly. Many other players would play A-A or K-K weakly preflop for trapping later. A however just plays his K K like a standard hand.
  • B has A-Q, raises to 650k
  • A to call 360k
B’s reraise is to try and find out if A has a decent hand or is just trying to steal. With suited connectors, A can call, but with K-K, A does better:
  • A reraises to 1.49m
  • B to call 840k 
Now A plays his K-K in a more normal manner. He is making the pot bigger. It’s like saying "I Dare You!" Had his reraise be small (like only a reraise to 720k) it would not be "I Dare You"; it will be "I Want a Call" and B may call, but A has nothing to fear if B calls unless an Ace falls.

 
But he does not want a call. It is OK if B folds (which is just expected if B had no hand, but he wants B to put him on a bluff and push him.

 
B, meanwhile, is thinking something. Because A's raises are from the cutoff, B may think that the second is a bluff (and good for A if he knows this is what B is thinking). So what does B do?
  • B moves all in
  • A to call 3.76m 
Now B is the one daring A!

 
A could have thought any of these:

 
(1) Was B trying to bluff me out? (He can’t, if he is. In fact, I want him to do that.)

 
(2) Did B trap me with a four-bet with the A-A? or K-K? (There is a small possibility.)

 
(3) How much will I invest? I had 10.7 million at the start and I am going to invest 5.3 million. About half my stack. But I am going to try to knock him out, anyway.

 
(4) Did B have A-x? (Most probably. They do it all the time. However, I'm quite uneasy if it's worth half my stack.)

 
But A didn’t, because he instantly called. Moreover, A could have thought instead, "My ploys were successful. I trapped him. Now he’s finished."

 
A calls 3.76m (Pot about 12 million)

 
Three-bets and four-bets almost always signify A-A, K-K or with some brave players, A-K or Q-Q. B had A-Q, which is not so good for a call (A may have figured out that B held A-Q, so he reraised instead of trapped; if he just called, then an Ace may fall and he may not continue with his K-K) but even worse for staying in a hand with plenty of raises and reraises.

 
However, luck has the last word in this hand.

 
The board ended up Js-7h-3s-Ad-Qd, which clinched B’s win.

 
Conclusion
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.

 
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 on free online poker sites and low stakes real money games sites and happily build your skills and bankroll!

 
To make this work first, play free poker sites 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!

Saturday, 7 August 2010

Learn To Play Poker Online Free Tips For Whem When And How To Call In Poker Games

Whether you play free online poker or play for the biggest stakes imaginable a common theme is that aggressive players do all the betting and the raising, and get all the chips.

Players who mainly call are classified as passive. This is because as a caller you do not influence the game dynamic and are, to some extent, are being played by the bettor(s). But if you have tons of reasons to call, and you have contemplated about it very carefully, you can call with no shame.

Here is one such hand (Shame on him if he folds):

BLINDS 60k/120k, ante 15k

PREFLOP:

A has 5h-5d, raised to 310k (under the gun)
B has Kc-10c, calls 310k (from middle position)

A’s raise from under the gun signifies a strong hand, but let us add that A is a strong aggressive player (somewhat on the loose side) that can represent any hand. Also, A can make everyone fold. B’s K-10 suited is good for just calling, and he does.

With K-10, one should be more careful if a King comes up. If a King comes then A might have KJ or AK (AK, especially from an under the gun raise). I don’t think B is aware of this, maybe because he hasn’t seen the Flop yet. Here it is:

FLOP: 10d-4c-2d

Now only a Ten comes, which is more favorable for B. Those who do not have flush draws with two Diamonds may play a J-10 or a 10-9 strongly, and the King kicker is very strong.

A bets 535k

Because A raised under the gun, he tries a continuation bet. If he gets called, he can put B on a flush draw or a small pair (like 7-7), so he can frisk away later with not much loss.

But B may want to end the hand with his Pair of Tens, probably because overcards can fall. Moreover, A has been too aggressive all throughout, as we said, and it may be with two face cards or A-x, so B returns A’s favor:

B raises to 1.61m
A needs 1.075m to call

Because A has been representing a strong hand so far (raising under the gun and continuation-betting), he might as well stay consistent. Moreover, A may think that B raised because he thought A had nothing, and he is trying o push A out of the pot with something like K-J or a Flush draw.

As for the possibility of a Ten in B’s hand, why would A think B had a Ten? Even if B did, he would just call (commonly) and then check-check it all the way, because a Pair of Tens is not so strong, especially if faced with a three-bet like this:

A moves all-in 3.075m
B needs 2.5m to call (Pot now about 7.5m)

Possibly A went all in as his Pair of 5's have value on a board where there's just 1 overcard and whose caller might have a Flush draw. In this case, the caller may still be reluctant because even with a Flush draw with two overcards, it's still a draw. But he may also be thinking that B is putting a play on him, so he played-back.

Now B is put on the decision which calls for a call.

Here are B’s reasons why he may not call (which B may be thinking, but which will be my reasons for so doing):

(1) A three-bet plus all-in may signify J-J or higher, which is very likely if only small cards are on the table. Or: even a Set which A may have used to trap with.

(2) He is getting approximately 3-to-1 on a call (2.5 million to win approximately 7.5 million), but he should call only if he is getting 4-to-1 (21% chance of hitting Two-Pair or Trips), which is the right price.

(3) If he calls, he will have about 6 million chips remaining. But if he doesn’t, he will have about 8.5 million remaining, and his loss is relatively small for his stack (which is nearly 10 million).

Now here are B’s reasons why he should call:

(1) He can knock out an opponent who has proven to be very dangerous so far.

(2) Maybe A is the one on a Flush draw. Or maybe a Flush draw with two overcards where both of them have nearly equal chance of winning. So it’s OK.

(3) Maybe A put B on a Flush draw and decided to push B out of the pot instead of letting a Diamond emerge. So A’s all-in is just a bluff now.

(4) Maybe A put B on a bluff and decided to counter-bluff.

(5) With only one overcard which is not so likely to be in someone’s hand just as a face card is, B may put A on a pocket pair 5-5 to 9-9. In that case, he has a better Pair (Tens).

(6) He can lift himself up to 14 million chips after this.

(7) It is because B’s guts says so.

With these things in B’s mind, but still brewing over the cons, B tried hard to decide. For a long time he stared at his opponent and the Board. He commented first, You may hate me for this,” but then added, as if nothing but instinct prompted him, “but I call.”

B calls 2.5m (Pot just above 9 million)

A is in trouble now. B won the hand and knocked out A (who is Antonio Esfandiari! B is Steven Begleiter). B may be neutral in choosing between folding and calling, but if I’ll call, I’ll call not solely because of value of the Tens, but because of the above reasons.

In summary
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 free 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 free well you can turn mercenary and hunt them down in droves in low stakes real money games as well as free online poker sites sites that pay out real money like http://www.nopaypoker.com/ and happily build your skills and bankroll!

To make this work first, play free poker to learn to play holdem 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!

Thursday, 5 August 2010

Learn To Play Online Poker And Manipulate Other Players So You Win Even With Bad Hands

In poker be it free online poker or big stakes you do not just play the cards. You also play the player, or to put it another way, you aim to manipulate other players so that they do what you want them to do. Your objective of course being that they donate to your stack!

Playing the player has 2 sides. On your side you are trying to read your opponent, classify their style, of play, motivations and actions and play your cards in accordance with your conclusions.

In regard to the other players you aim to play them in order to misdirect their attempts to play you, to have them make incorrect conclusions about your style, motivations and drivers.

To learn how to do this lets look at an example of playing the player in action from a WSOP event.

BLINDS 50k/100k
1) A has Ac-Qh raises 350k
2) B is on big blind, has Kc-Js, calls 230k (Pot 880k)

K-J is usually a bit weak to call a raise. Moreover, B doesn’t have position over A, but he calls because he wants A to guess.

From the big blind, generally we just call because we are on a discount, so we might have 6-5, 10-8, and a bunch of other indeterminate hands which require guessing.

FLOP 4d-5h-3d

B bets 535k

Because small cards fell, B now wants A to think that his call from the big blind hit the Flop, and that his hand may well include those indeterminate hands like 5-4, 8-5, or even 6-7, or two Diamonds. But what did A think?

A raises to 1.8m (Pot 3.215m)
B needs 1.265m to call

Here, A thought that B’s bet was just a continuation bet, and with small cards falling A’s belief is reinforced that B is just trying to finish the hand. How would small cards likely hit B?

Additionally, B has been playing aggressively all night (stealing pots, etc.) so B could be betting with something (which is not likely with small cards falling) or with nothing. B could be playing just about anything, especially from the big blind.

At this point A made a gamble that B had nothing. He could also have assessed that if B had something and goes all in later then he can move out fast. So he raised to try B’s strength.

B folds

B folds, because, indeed, he has nothing, and if he calls, he will be committed to continue. (Had B moved all-in then it will be a good all-in, for A could still be guessing at this point what B’s hand was. But B’s cards were not strong enough.)

Also, he folds, because A raised from late position, which allows for a wider range of hands, like even 5-4 or two Diamonds.
Poker, indeed, is not simply a game of good hands versus good hands. Experienced poker players will win with bad hands under the right conditions.
We give credit to B for first trying to win with a bad hand, a good effort to play he player. Unfortunately for B, A did the playing the player task superbly too, having noted previous actions and motivations and related that to current con text and probability and so played out to win well.

In summary
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.

Ironically the fact that so many players inhabit this dumb donk zone is great news for you. 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 online 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 free online poker for free on the free online poker tables to get it nailed.

Wednesday, 4 August 2010

Free Poker Games Guide To Winning A Big Hand Preflop

When you have a big hand like KK and a good large stack preflop what is the best way to play it? And how does everyone else react? Whether you play free poker online 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

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.

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 free well you can turn mercenary and hunt them down in droves in low stakes real money games as well free poker sites that pay out real money like http://www.nopaypoker.com/ 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 tables to get it nailed.