Learn Poker With The Texas Holdem

By Adam S. Kingston

Gambling is no more an intimidating pastime for some not used to the idea of placing bets and winning. Suppose you want to get started in the world of gambling, the first thing to try - and it is worth trying - is poker. When you sign up for an account in the best online casinos, you get the chance to see and enjoy different variations of online games. Any beginning player would know that they can start off with the easy and simple games as they learn strategies and perfect their techniques.

One good thing about most casino sites is their free downloads which allow you to be able to go through mastering your skills before you can go any farther. As you earn more skills and learn more techniques and develop the right attitude, you can slowly move up and participate in more thrilling games with the experienced and seasoned poker pros who display more skillful strategies during meets.

Practice to hone your skills

Visit different casinos over the internet and find out the best site that offer poker for both the well-experienced and the new gambler. Be patient while you learn new tricks each time and you can actually get amazing tips from books and from the internet, which you can use during your learning sessions. As you play more you develop more skills and you obviously improve with each session and take note of the fact there is no real ideal strategy in casino games.

Poker is largely based on luck to which any player is bound to and anybody is simply going to be surprised in ways they could never have fathomed. As earlier implied there is no perfect strategy because even the thing seasoned pros learned over the years could fail during unfamiliar instances. This is the true whim of luck, keeping the game up and exciting, otherwise predictability may cause the game to lose its vital aspect.

Starting off with the basics like Texas holdem poker can be a great way to kick start poker as it is simple and the strategies are easy to pick up, and then leave it to your luck to do the rest. It will take some time before you learn to place the right bets as well as control them and read the hands of others. - 31897

About the Author:

Discover how you can stop losing and finally begin winning at the casinos... Revealed: The mathematically tested roulette system to dramatically increase your odds when playing at online casinos. To learn the techniques for yourself, watch this free video now: Click here http://www.EasyCasinoProfits.com

Texas Hold'em: Advanced Betting Techniques - Part 3 of 3

By Daniel L. Cox

Winning poker comes down to being able to squeeze a profit out of tough situations. The object is not to win every hand played, but to win every hand you play. The best way to do this is to out bet your opponents. Every bet made should have a purpose. Either it is made to induce a weaker hand to fold, or it is made to maximize the winnings on the hand.

There are many opportunities to outplay your opponents, and you have to know which opponents you can outplay. It is difficult to finesse weak players. The slow play often backfires because one of the loose limpers will hit a hand. The bluff does not work, since these players call with any two cards. The following sections demonstrate many of the advanced aspects of the game and how best to play them.

Selective Aggression

Showing selective aggression by taking the lead in betting can win many pots. This is true from early position or after other players check to you in middle or late position. A strong raise under the gun from a tight player usually represents a strong hand, as does a re-raise from late position. One can use these bets to increase the pot size with a strong hand or to take down the pot with a semi-bluff when holding a big drawing hand.

Fallacy of Pot Commitment

Many poker advocates espouse that at a certain point in a betting round the amount of chips you have already put in the pot requires that all of your remaining chips should follow. Sometimes, even if the pot or implied odds warrant an All In bet, it is not the right move. If you put your opponent on a hand that you feel you cannot beat, fold- no matter how many chips you have invested-so you may live on to fight another day (or at least another hand).

Learning to Let Go

Never become so married to a hand that you cannot lay it down. You have to pay attention to the community cards as they fall. You have to watch the betting patterns of the players and see how they correspond to previous hands. Most players use a slow play at one time or another. Due to this, a premium starting hand can fall to a better one. They also fall to limpers or big blinds that hit miracle flops or mediocre hands that improve tremendously on the flop.

The majority of the money you lose does not come from folding pre-flop hands that hit big. Instead, it comes from keeping the second-best hand and paying off the best hand at the river. Getting married to a hand that was initially strong is a critical error when playing Hold'em. There is an old adage in 7-Card Stud that says you should fold as soon as your hand is not the best on the table. In Hold'em, unlike 7-Stud, you cannot see what cards the other players have, so it is not possible to fold as soon as you are beat. You can try to avoid having the second-best hand by folding hands that may lose pre-flop. If someone in early position puts in a strong raise, fold that Qs-Jh or low pair. You can reasonably assume the raiser is holding Ace-King, Ace-Queen, King-Ten or now has a high pair.

You should throw your hand away the minute you know you cannot win. To continue to call or raise because your hand was very strong early is highly unprofitable. Constantly watch the board and modify your decision to hold or fold as each new card appears and as each player reacts to the board with their actions or inactions. If you cannot learn to let go-even those pocket Aces-you can lose a large number of chips over the course of a gaming session or during a tournament.

When you are not sure where you stand with your hand, it is alright to fold. Even if your opponent is known as a blind stealer or often bluffs, keeping a weak hand is never the right move. Continuing on when you are not sure you have the best hand is often costly, in both chips and emotions. Of course, if you are planning to bluff, keep the hand and attack if you sense weakness.

Putting on the Brakes

One thing that is important to winning poker is recognizing when to put on the brakes. No-limit poker is all about aggression, but not knowing when to exercise caution is costly. The betting strategies above are when, at each street, you feel you have the dominant hand. Trying to gauge the strength of another player's hand with a check or a call is the correct play when you are no longer confident of having top hand. The check is also an inexpensive move when changing gears or altering your table image.

Do Not Get Greedy

If you have strong hand, keep watching the board for flush and straight draws and, if noted, put on the brakes. A pocket pair of Eights or Kc-Qc loses value with Ks-8s-Qh-10c-6s on the board. Flopping a set or two pair is hard to lay down, so just limiting your desire to raise and re-raise or go All In can save many chips if your opponent hits.

Being a Table Bully

There is a difference between getting greedy and over-betting your hand and purposely controlling the action when you have a larger stack. This is most common in tournament play, where players develop large-stacks of chips, but is also prevalent in no-limit ring games. Any time your stack is larger than the other players at the table, you can become a table bully. The purpose is to use your chip stack to force other players out of a hand with the threat of their losing it all. This is an effective way to steal blinds and force medium to good hands to fold without challenging your hand. - 31897

About the Author:

Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an ezine dedicated to poker. He is also the award-winning author of "Winning Blue-Collar Hold'em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments" and three upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMag, where he gives you a daily poker quote or pokerism.

Advanced Betting Tips for Texas Hold'em Poker

By Daniel L. Cox

The ability to squeeze a profit out of marginal situations is what winning poker comes down to . The object is not to win every hand played, but to win every hand you play. The best way to do this is to out bet your opponents. Every bet made should have a purpose: Either it is made to induce a weaker hand to fold, or it is made to maximize the winnings on the hand.

Since there are many opportunities to outplay your opponents, you have to know which opponents you can outplay. It is difficult to finesse weak players. The slow play often backfires because one of the loose limpers will hit a hand. The bluff does not work, since these players call with any two cards. The following sections demonstrate many of the advanced aspects of the game and how best to play them.

Representing Your Hand

A strong bet can represent a strong hand, especially true when betting after the flop. If an Ace or King shows on the flop, you can represent an Ace or King in your hand by betting. Often, it is what you represent that is more important than what you actually have, especially if you have put your opponent on a medium or weak hand.

Shuffle Up and Steal

The most common place to steal the blinds is from the button. If no players have made a raise in front of you, and only the blinds are remaining in the game, a raise often accomplishes the steal. Statistically the blinds should fold unless they have a strong hand. Do not simply limp in, because the blinds will then normally check to see a half-price or free hand. It is a good place to pick up extra chips, but it is not going make you rich. It is often a way to end the hand quickly and have a new hand dealt with more players and more money available.

One thing to remember here is that some players -- known in poker terms as defenders -- are maniacal in their defense of their blinds. These players protect their blinds in situations that do not make statistical sense, solely to keep someone from stealing their blinds. Save your blind steals for other players who do not defend them as strongly, unless you have an extremely strong hand. With this strong hand, taking on the defender is often the correct move. A strong bet may entice the defender to free up a large quantity of chips. Though trying to take advantage of a maniacal defender is not always successful, it can be highly profitable in the end.

Stealing the Pot

Stealing the pot is easiest if you are the last player to act and the action was checked to you. At this point, a bet will reduce the number of remaining players or allow you to collect the pot without opposition. Do not use this ploy exclusively, as better players catch on quickly and begin check raising against your (most likely) poor hand. It is good to use this ploy to steal the pot when you have an excellent drawing hand, such as a nut flush draw. Players more often tend to "check to the raiser." If you draw to your hand, you now have a larger pot to win. If you do not hit, you can always check, hoping the final card makes your hand.

Check-Raise

A check-raise is declining to bet when you first have the opportunity, with the intention of letting another bet arise. You can then re-raise. Your intention is to lure them into a false sense of security, allowing your raise to increase the pot. After they commit to a first bet, they are more likely to call a second bet. If your re-raise is strong enough, they may decide to fold.

Check-Call

The check-call is often useful when you have a mediocre hand and you are unsure of its strength against the other hands. It is also very effective early in a session to set up opponents for a winning check-raise later. When playing a moderate hand, especially in limit games, it is not a bad move to check first, and then call an opponent's raise, rather than raising on your own. After a few times, this pattern establishes a passive table image of a calling station. Opponents become confident betting into you and you can later make them pay when you aggressively play a solid hand.

The check-call, as well as the check-raise, is a great weapon with an extremely loose player to your left, allowing them to do all of your raising, thus masking the true strength of your hand. Unfortunately, the check-call can be dangerous for a mediocre hand when up against an opponent with premium cards. Another drawback is that, if no one else raises, the other players receive a free card.

Value Bet

When you are positive you have the best hand, a value bet may be your best move. This bet is one that is small enough to entice a call on the river. It is easy to add that final bet in a limit game. It is only a single bet and does not cost much, and the second best hand nearly always calls. For many players in a no-limit game it can be much harder to call. You want to make the bet small enough to call, but large enough to punish your opponent for making it. Do not give your opponent a free showdown at the river. You do not want your opponents to think you actually want them to make a call.

By making it appear you did not want a call, you might get an opponent to pay off your bet on the river. Most players only bet on the river if they have a strong hand, or, less frequently, as a bluff attempt. If you do not get the call, that is fine. Do not show your winning cards, collect the pot and leave your opponent wondering if it was really a bluff.

The Continuation Bet

A continuation bet is one where you start out betting strong pre-flop and keep pressing the bet all the way to the river. This is most effective with premium hands that improve on the flop, but you can also use it successfully if the flop did not improve your hand. By showing strength when you have a premium hand, other players assume you are doing so when you are on a draw or making a bluff.

The Squeeze Play

The squeeze play is a tactic best made in a no-limit game. When a player re-raises after a raise, it makes the players between the raisers afraid of being squeezed "Between a Rock and a Hard Place." This is also known as "Stealing with Equity." Do a squeeze play when you have a good hand and you suspect another player is on a draw. For example, you have top pair with the best kicker. Making a large raise or re-raise could force others off their hands, since the odds are against them making the straight or flush draw. Your aim is to change their pot odds to make it inadvisable for them to call.

Raising Under the Gun

In a limit game, this is when the person under the gun (or the first player to bet) raises rather than checks the bet, forcing the other players to call two bets at once. In a no-limit game, it is a large over bet or an All In bet. Your intention is to limit the number of players left in the hand. This move amounts to a reverse steal, since normally only a player with an exceptionally strong hand would raise so far out of position. Players who are notorious bluffers often do this. The effect almost certainly causes players to fold, but the ones remaining are equally as aggressive or have a premium starting hand. Often, players raise under the gun as a means of betting to gain information. It is best to use this tactic when only a few players are left in the hand. - 31897

About the Author:

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an e-zine dedicated to poker. He is also the award-winning author of "Winning Blue-Collar Hold'em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments" and three upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Facebook and Twitter as PokerInsiderMag, where he gives you a daily poker quote or pokerism.

Texas Hold'em Poker: Chip, Card and Betting Tells - Part 4 of 4

By Daniel L. Cox

Chip Tells

An obvious tell (subconscious action) can be the amount of force a player uses in placing their chips in the pot. If the player spikes their chips (slamming down a stack past the bet line), they are more likely to have a weak hand.

Also, be aware that fumbling of the chips may betray inexperience at a brick and mortar casino, and belie the fact that the player has considerable experience online. This is very apparent with some players on televised poker tournaments that draw their players from online qualifiers, such as Fox Sports Net tournaments sponsored by major online poker sites.

When a player moves their chips closer to themselves after making a call or raise, they often have a strong hand. By placing them close, they can be subconsciously keeping their chips within easy reach to rake them back when they win. A player who uses a lot of force in tossing in the chips toward the pot, or flings them away, often has a marginal hand. This tossing away of the chips is often because they feel they have already lost the hand and the chips as well.

Players with several denominations of chips in front of them can often give away their hand by which chips they use when betting. If they are unsure they have the best hand, they place their smaller denomination chips in the pot, subconsciously giving away their small chips and keeping their big chips for themselves. If they bet with the high denomination chips, they are not expecting to lose them. A player making a move for their chips out of turn is normally indicating that the most recent community card is an improvement.

Insight may be gained by observing how players maintain their chip stacks. Neat, organized chip stacks are often the earmark of a tight-aggressive player. Loose-aggressive players often have sloppy, irregular chip stacks. How a player cuts out the chips can also give insight into the strength of the hand. Cutting out chips is when a player separates the chips from the stack before placing them in the pot to see how many chips will remain after the bet. It is similar to the way a cowboy would cut out a calf from the herd for branding.

This is the key place to look for chip tells. A player who is unsure of the amount of chips needed for a call, or who is having trouble counting out the correct number of chips, is often unsure of the strength of his/her hand. A player counting and recounting chips may also be unsure of his/her hand's strength. Unfortunately, playing with chip stacks are where most players go Hollywood (Acting at the table, normally with a reverse tell.), so realize that the player may be using a reverse tell to fool you and the other players.

Card Tells

When a player looks at their hole cards can be a tell on their experience level. Instead of watching the other players look at their cards, many inexperienced players look at their own cards as soon as they receive them By not waiting until it is their turn to play they miss viewing possible tells other players may exhibit.

It is important to watch how other players still in a hand react when the dealer places the community cards on the table. Their eyes may look to their chips, a look of pleasure may pass fleetingly over their face, or a look of disgust may show they did not hit the card they needed.

Watch for the player who rechecks their hole cards if the flop falls with several cards of the same suit. They may remember the rank of the cards, but be unsure of the suits, and be checking to see if they are on a flush draw. The same tell is possible if the flop cards are connected, since they are verifying their straight draw. Be wary of any strong bets after these tells.

Betting Tells

The speed with which a player bets is often indicative of the hand they have. A fast call or raise normally signifies strength, while taking too much time can be a sign of indecision. Observe the player's actions for a while to determine the normal speed they play their hands before you can recognize this tell. Also, be prepared for the false tell, as this is an excellent place for an opponent to think long and act weak while holding a premium starting hand.

By noticing a player who always raises with large pocket pairs, you can avoid a confrontation when you hold a marginal hand. If you notice a player with a tendency to continue to bet after a pre-flop raise, then you can safely check to them when you have a big hand, knowing you can get a raise from them.

It is important to follow the betting patterns of your opponents through each street. Follow all hands to the river to see what they have bet and how strong their hand actually was. This information becomes invaluable the longer you play with a particular opponent, as you will be able to correlate their betting with their hole cards. - 31897

About the Author:

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an e-zine dedicated to poker. He is also the award-winning author of "Winning Blue-Collar Hold'em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments" and four upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMag, where he gives you a daily poker quote.

Advanced Betting Techniques in Texas Hold'em Poker: The Slow Play - Part 1 of 3

By Daniel L. Cox

Winning poker comes down to being able to squeeze a profit out of marginal situations. The object is not to win every hand played, but to win every hand you play. The best way to do this is to out bet your opponents. Every bet made should have a purpose. Either it is made to induce a weaker hand to fold, or it is made to maximize the winnings on the hand.

Since there are many opportunities to outplay your opponents, you have to know which opponents you can outplay. It is difficult to finesse weak players, and the slow play often backfires because one of the loose limpers will hit a hand. The bluff does not work because these players call with any two cards. The following sections demonstrate many of the advanced aspects of the game and how best to play them.

The Art of the Slow-play

The slow-play is when you intentionally under-bet in order to disguise the strength of your hand and attempt to trap an opponent with a weaker hand. Unlike the bluff, the slow-play is effective against both strong and weak opponents. Bad opponents simply bet their hand. They are going to pay you off if they have something or they are simply on a draw,

When there is a flush or straight draw on the board, you should not slow-play. You should only slow-play when your opponent has a poker 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 Ace or King. It is usually more profitable to bet the hand aggressively on the turn. This way you can get at least one extra large bet by letting your opponent make the initial raise for you.

The flop is the main round to use the slow-play. On subsequent betting rounds, your opponents give you action for one of two reasons: Either they improved their hand on the next street and their hand is now worth betting, or they think their mediocre hand is good because you did not show strength the previous round.

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 this is the case, then it may be worth checking to see if you can get a bet from them on the river, since winning a pot with one round of betting in it is better than winning one with no money in the pot.

Some players want to slow-play a monster hand on the turn so they can make the big raise on the river. This is another example of trying to be too complex in betting. Because of their desire to raise on the river, they slow-play the turn and forgo an opportunity to make good money from several opponents. On the river, these plays usually end up isolating a single remaining opponent, who may or may not call a raise.

You should concentrate on building the pot at every opportunity when you have the premium hand. Do not attempt fancy slow-plays. They can cost you money from missed betting opportunities or from your opponent hitting a hand on the turn or river.

When Not to Slow-Play

Do not over play the hand if you should hit quads or a full house. Players playing mediocre cards from a good position frequently do not bet the turn or river. Instead, they check or call. If you slow-play the turn, this type of opponent does not start throwing in raises and re-raises on the river. Therefore, just keep betting the turn, despite the improvement. They rarely put you on quads, so try to get some action on the turn. Do not stop playing your style of play and slow-play when you have a great hand. That becomes an easy tell to spot and makes your play predictable.

Remember that the act of betting does not automatically give your hand away. This is especially true if you have been constantly changing gears and mixing up your table image throughout the gaming session. Also, never overlook the fact that another player with an inferior hand may slow-play the flop with the intent to open up on the turn. Letting them do so allows you to hide the strength of your hand when they do raise or re-raise. As with the bluff, the slow play is not as useful in limit poker as it is in no-limit. With only a small bet, most players that are going to stay in the hand will do so for at least one additional bet.

Representing Your Hand

A strong bet can represent a strong hand. This is especially true when betting after the flop. If an Ace or King shows on the flop, you can represent an Ace or King in your hand -- when you don't have one -- by betting. Often, it is what you represent that is more important than what you actually have, especially if you have put your opponent on a medium or weak hand. - 31897

About the Author:

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an e-zine dedicated to Texas Hold'em poker. He is also the award-winning author of "Winning Blue-Collar Hold'em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments" and three upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMag, where he gives you a daily pokerism.

Face and Body Tells in Texas Hold'em Poker - Part 3 of 4

By Daniel L. Cox

"I see you. Your eyes. Your hands. Your chips. Everything. So I don't need to see your cards." - Poker Pro Howard Lederer on a Commercial for Poker Site FullTilt.NET

The fight or flight response is human nature when one faces a confrontational situation. Since poker is often a confrontational endeavor, knowing the key tells (subconscious actions) may provide insight into a player's hand. Symptoms of the anxiety response include pupil dilation, increased heart rate, shaking hands, abnormal inhalation, muscle flexing, dry throat and voice modulation are all .

One reason to try to get a player to talk while in a hand is to notice a slight change in the voice. A dry mouth or higher voice might betray a monster hand. Looking at the eyes pinpointing is actually difficult, but seeing the chest expand or the vein on the side of the forehead throb might be clues.

Playing in a tournament at a few years ago, an older gentleman placed a significant raise. With a shaking hand, he placed a large percentage of his chips in the pot in front of him. Another player at the table saw the shake and said, "You must really have a big hand." The older man stared him down and said, "No. Parkinson's."

If a player's hands are shaking as they place their bet, it is often a sign of a monster hand. Just be sure you have paid attention to their hands earlier, for they may simply have palsy and their hands always shake.

Players are more likely to make eye contact with you if they are weak and more likely to avoid eye contact if they are strong. If you find yourself in a marginal situation, look at your opponent. If they are staring right at you, you should be more inclined to call. If they are looking away, you should be more inclined to fold.

"Son, I've made a life out of readin' people's faces, and knowin' what their cards were by the way they held their eyes." - Kenny Rogers, The Gambler

Do not look at cards as the dealer lays them on the felt. Instead, look at the players still in the hand and try to gauge their reactions to the cards. Many players instinctively look down at their chips if the flop helps them, calculating the amount and preparing to bet. You should be less likely to bluff or play marginal hands after spotting this tell.

One classic tell is a player who glances away from the flop when they have hit a monster hand. If this trait becomes consistent, then you can comfortably fold your pocket Jacks when the player glances away from the Ace, King or Queen on the flop.

How a player positions his/her body can often show a lot more than they realize. When the flop hits the board and helps a player, they often move forward, showing more interest in the hand. A slump of the shoulders often occurs when a hand does not improve. Sitting up straighter and showing more interest in a hand can denote strength. A bluffer often leans into the table in an intimidating, confrontational manner. In a similar vein, players who look at their hole cards before their turn, then start talking on the cell phone or showing disinterest, normally have a weak hand and are just waiting to fold.

Body language can show how a person is feeling in general, not just on a particular hand. Someone having a bad day at home or the office can bring that to the card room and play poorly because of it. A tense player may play more conservatively or may be more prone to go on tilt. A happy player (or one who has overindulged) may become looser and play more hands or bet larger amounts than normal. It is not only the body language of players still in the hand that can provide tells on opponents' cards.

Watching the actions and talk of players who have already folded can be just as important. A pained expression or comment following a dealt card could provide an insight into the cards already folded. The use of sunglasses has become a prevalent and controversial feature, from local home games and poker rooms to the televised final tables. Many players feel the use of black or mirrored shades give them an edge by not allowing players to read their eyes. If you feel the player sitting across the table from you can remember what the size of your pupils were from four to eight feet across the felt prior to and after that big flop, then grab a pair of shades and cover up.

While playing in a satellite tournament for the 2009 Wynn Classic, I had the seat to the left of a Frenchman wearing opaque sunglasses. Thinking that his sunglasses protected him from giving away tells, he never realized that his eyebrows arched with a good hand and his forehead creased when the cards on the board did not improve his hand.

You need more than sunglasses to conceal the strength of your hand if your eyes are giving away significant facial tells. Phil "Unabomber" Laak takes this trend to the extreme when he cocoons himself inside his hooded sweatshirt. The use of these hoodies is often frowned upon and actually banned in some casinos and card rooms.

Sometimes the glasses are more for a shock effect, from 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion Greg Raymer's hypnotic orange eyes to the holographic bulging eyes this author uses. The use of this type of lens is more to disrupt an opponent's concentration than to cover up a facial tell. - 31897

About the Author:

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an e-zine dedicated to poker. He is also the award-winning author of "Winning Blue-Collar Hold'em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments" and three upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMag, where he gives fans adaily poker quote or pokerism.

Poker Tells in Texas Hold'em Poker - Part 1 of 4

By Daniel L. Cox

"Poker, like a lot of things in life, is all about strategy. Sometimes it pays to act weak when you are in a position of strength." - Poker Professional Daniel Negreanu in a Commercial for Poker Site FullTilt.NET

Tells are subconscious actions by a player that may give an observant person an insight into that player's hand. Mastering the psychology of poker is crucial to winning poker, and reading tells is one of the skills you need. When you first sit at a table, or, even better, as you are watching a table to decide if it is where you want to play, pay attention to the players. This gives you time to notice tells, since it is easier to observe player actions when you are not in a hand. This is one of the reasons that, when you first sit at a table, you choose a seat where you will be waiting for the blind to come to you, rather than paying to start playing immediately.

Both your opponents' and your own tells are extremely important in Hold'em poker. For more than two decades, Mike "The Mad Genius of Poker" Caro and many others have made a living espousing the importance of players' tells. His most commonly quoted tell is "Weak is strong and strong is weak." In simple terms, if opponents, through their words or deeds, act as if they have a strong hand, they very often have a weak hand and vice versa. Since it is such a well known tell, many people try to reverse it, so beware of this tell when it is out of character for the opponent. Phil "The Poker Brat" Hellmuth, winner of eleven WSOP bracelets, says that figuring out just two tells a tournament can make the difference between cashing out and busting out.

Try to spot any obvious tells that may give you an advantage later. You need to know what many of the common tells represent and then attempt to see them in the players around the table. Be sure that you yourself are not providing tells to your opponents. You can either stifle obvious tells, or, more effectively, do the opposite. The best defense is to mix it up and, from time to time, "make strong mean strong." Though tells can be important information and a needed weapon in our poker arsenal, it is equally important to realize that tells are only one small part of the entire story and should never be taken in isolation or as an absolute truth.

Not providing betting tells to your opponents is just as important as observing your opponents' . You do this in one of two ways. One, keep your bets the same size whether you are holding King-King or 5-7 offsuit: Take the same amount of time to bet the monster hand as you do when you fold. Two, constantly change the size of your bet. By making the bets different sizes for the same cards, you portray a confusing pattern to opponents. By being inconsistent, you do not allow your opponents to get a read on your style. Remember that the less information you provide your opponents through your own betting patterns, the better. - 31897

About the Author:

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an e-zine dedicated to poker. He is also the award-winning author of "Winning Blue-Collar Hold'em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments" and four upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMagand Facebook, where he gives you a daily poker quote or pokerism.

How to Play When It's Heads-Up in Texas Hold'em Poker

By Daniel L. Cox

The game of Hold'em changes once you get to heads-up play. You can make a few big mistakes in limit Hold'em and, it sometimes works in your favor if you appear to be a loose player, but a series of small mistakes can end the game early. Constant small misreads of your opponent are far more likely to end your tournament than an incorrect size bet.

When playing heads-up, the most important factor is to understand is your opponent's style. You should have a good read on your opponent's ability, image and level of play since you have been playing against them for at least the time together on the final table. If they are more skilled than you are, you can negate their advantage by forcing big pots to end the game as quickly as possible. If you are the superior player, take your time by playing smaller pots: Your skill level should win out in the end.

Heads-up essentially comes down to a psychological war of aggression. You should raise aggressively with any hand you play and, more often than not, follow it to the river if you have any part of the board, trying to get in every extra bet possible when you believe you are in front.

You must know how to adjust your game in order to win the tournament outright. There is no one else to hide behind when it is down to just two players, since you are paying blinds every hand. If you wait for great starting hands, your stack is going to end up blinded away. It often comes down to AC (any card, not Atlantic City) poker. The chances are that you will see the flop with nearly any hand. The end stages of some tournaments will see the blinds equaling the size of the chip stacks. The exceptions to seeing the flop are a sizable raise from your opponent or an extremely poor starting hand. It sometimes comes down to going all-in blind on every hand and hoping your cards win. This style of play twice made Doyle Brunson a WSOP Main Event winner with 10-2 off suit.

Position is the other defining element to heads-up play and is just as important as the break in pool. Position plays a lesser role in Limit Hold'em, but is stilll important. The person on the button traditionally posts the small blind and, therefore, acts first. This player has both the opportunity to take the lead in a pot pre-flop and to put pressure on the big blind post-flop.

To control the game heads-up you want to do the majority of your attacking when you are on the button, and the majority of your defensive poker when you are off it. The comparative size of the blinds to your chip stack plays an important part in your decisions. With huge blinds, you stand a greater chance of risking your entire chip stack in either position. Remember, the button's main advantage is that there are three rounds of betting after the flop, giving you the opportunity to fire chips at your opponent three times, essentially putting most of their stack on the line, even in a limit game.

Though this strategy is the first step to success in heads-up play, a lot depends on your opponent. If you follow the formula of constantly attacking from the button and defending off it, you should quickly find out how your opponent's game contrasts with yours. If you find them using the same strategy, the chances are that you will end up in a long battle of attrition. In this case, with neither of you giving in, the blinds eventually become so huge that winning or losing the tournament comes down to a few big pots. - 31897

About the Author:

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an e-zine dedicated to poker. He is also the author of "Winning Blue-Collar Hold'em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments" and four upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMag, where he gives you a daily poker quote or pokerism.

Playing Texas Hold'Em Online - What Should You Expect?

By Leslie Bogaerts

Nowadays it's possible to play texas hold'em online, which means you can play whenever you want, wherever you want. Before the technologie to makes this possible existed, you needed to get a group of friends together, which wasn't always the most easiest thing to do, especially not if your schedules weren't really matching, and play a home game of texas hold'em. And if you really wanted to go out and play poker in Las Vegas or even Atlantic City, you had to plan a trip and take a break from work.

Before you can play texas hold'em online, you will need to sign up to a site, which is free and download a game room from the site. In most cases this download is free also to play texas hold'em from casino or gambling websites. The game room will be used to access the card room of the site, where you will find different tables and where you can play with your friends and complete strangers. In some cases you will be using real money and playing for real money, on other sites, like pokerstars.net you can play for free.

The biggest priviledge of playing texas hold 'em online is that you can play whenever you want: at any time of day or night. If someone would like to play after a hard day of work, he can just go home and be sure that he doesn't have to commute to get to a place where he can play. He just has to turn on his computer and connect to the internet. What could be easier than that?

Because texas hold'em can be played online at home, it's more accessible to the public. A broader group of people have started playing, even people who would never stepfoot in a casino or game room. This means that casino sites are a lucrative business and thousands of sites are available for you to choose from if you want to play texas hold'em online.

And don't forget: play safe, don't loose to much money. - 31897

About the Author:

One of the easiest poker games is texas hold'em online. To help you start, we provide you with a tutorial that you can use in your advantage when playing texas hold'em online.

Texas Hold'em Poker: Conversational and False Tells - Part 2 of 4

By Daniel L. Cox

Tells are subconscious actions by a player that may give an observant person an insight into that player's hand. This article is the second of a four-part series on Poker Tells.

Conversational Tells

The easiest way to tell if a poker player is lying is to see if his lips are moving. - Pokerism

Pay attention to what your opponents are saying. Be careful of players who say, "I am only in this hand because I want to go home," because what they actually want is to stay right where they are, stacking your chips in front of them. Most players that say, "I feel like gambling" do not like to gamble at all, since they often feel they have the winning hand.

When an opponent complains, "You beat me every time we go heads up," be afraid, be very afraid. This is a common verbal tell to bring you into the hand when your opponent has the superior cards. Do not listen to an opponent who says "save your money," because they do not mean it. If they wanted you to save your money, they would not have made the bet. This is another variation of Mike Caro's "Strong is weak, weak is strong" philosophy. Be wary though, because a few crafty players say it just to create an opposite image.

Another easily noticeable tell is when a talkative player suddenly goes silent, for it often means they have a strong hand. Mike "The Mouth" Matasow is often guilty of this flaw in his game.

These are all examples of observing your opponents constantly and only using tells in context. After determining an opponents' playing patterns, do not try to pull off a bluff against an obviously strong hand. If you spot the types of tells that show strength, it is prudent to fold marginal hands.

False Tells

Faking obvious tells to get what you want is often possible. Doing the reverse of any of the described tells tends to throw off an observant opponent. Changing gears does not just have to do with your table image, but is important in your own body language and actions at the table. There is a Latin phrase "consu consulto," which means "accidentally on purpose." This explains false tells perfectly.

When you have a strong hand, do not be afraid to appear to agonize over the call or raise, taking your time or showing an indecisive attitude. A well-placed sigh can give the impression you are staying in with a weak hand. Your opponent may think you are weak and bet accordingly.

Hesitating slightly before making a check when you have a weak hand is another example of gaining an advantage by using false tells. This may induce the other players to check as well, giving your weak hand a free chance to improve.

If you have decided to make a bluff, do so quickly. Players are more likely to fold a marginal hand to a quick, decisive bet than a protracted one. The ability to distinguish and take advantage of another player's tells is a very powerful tool. While their proper use should take your game to the next level, you should view tells as a supplement to the solid fundamental game. Use the information you learn from tells to make tough or marginal decisions easier and your game more profitable.

Give Information to Get Information

Overt tells are not the only way to gain information at the table. Any time anyone shows cards, it is beneficial. If there is a large raise in front and you are last to act, instead of simply mucking, flash a weak hand that you have just folded. You are not giving anything to your opponents, yet if they reciprocate by showing their cards, you have gained information for use in later hands.

While mucking, it is not normally a sound philosophy to show your hand. Occasionally showing winning hands or bluffs can often help portray an image, especially a false one. When trying to portray a loose image, showing a bluff early - even if unsuccessful - may assist in forming a loose image. The next time you have a monster hand, bet it the same way as the bluff, and the other players may see it as another bluff attempt, allowing you to collect extra bets. The same is true when showing a monster hand early, even if everyone folds. If you have successfully built a tight image, this can set up the other players to fold to a bluff or semi-bluff later.

It is important to gather information from other players to use against them later. It is equally as important to give information to others that you can then use against them later. - 31897

About the Author:

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an e-zine dedicated to poker. He is also the award-winning author of "Winning Blue-Collar Hold'em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments" and four upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMag, where he gives you a daily poker quote or pokerism.

How to Play Premium Starting Hands in Texas Hold'em Poker

By Daniel L. Cox

"In order to win consistently at poker, you need to understand which hands are profitable to play and which aren't." - Poker Author Mike Caro

I have seen the types of starting hands played change in the last five years with the predominance of televised poker, which is not a good thing and leads to more losing hands. Knowing which hole cards are worth playing pre-flop and which to fold is an important skill that can't be learned by watching televised poker games. Though it is true in Hold'em that, with luck, any two cards can win any given hand, it is not true that any two cards can win consistently.

You should only play less than premium hands under two circumstances: to enhance your table image or to protect your blinds. For now, you should look at the most profitable of the 169 combinations of hole cards available in the standard 52-card deck and the betting strategy you use with them for each of the three positions on the table. When one plays a tight-aggressive style, sticking to the premium starting hands is the first factor to consider. It is common to go one or two rounds without getting a solid starting hand to bet: Patience is the virtue you must possess if you desire to succeed. The game of controlled aggression has turned maniacal at times, with many players playing (or praying) with hole cards that should never see a flop.

To determine which cards are premium starting hands, I use rankings based on percentages. The percentages found in the figures are the probability the listed hole cards would win if the hand should go to the river at a full table of nine or ten players. The probability of having Ace-Ace as the hole cards and subsequently winning increases from 31% with nine opponents to over 85% in heads-up play. The reason for this dramatic difference is that in ten-handed play, any of your nine opponents can win the hand. Taking the individual statistics of each of the nine other hands and adding them together, at best, the sum equals 69%.

"Pocket aces win the small pots and lose the big ones." - Pokerism

There are several criteria for determining premium starting hands. Weak players often take inferior hands too far and lose money as a result. First, to decide if a hand is premium, is to look at the cards themselves. The individual ranks and combined strength, as well as the suit(s) are important. Second, one must factor table position into the decision process. Third, the size of the pot and subsequent pot odds play an important part in the decision process. Fourth, the type of game you are in can change how you feel about your pocket cards. A table full of loose-aggressive players makes many premium starting hands less attractive than in a tight game. Finally, the quality of your opponents can strengthen or weaken staring hands. Higher quality players make fewer mistakes and, therefore, do not give as much value when you have a strong hand. Lower quality players often do not believe another player has the cards they are portraying, and often pay more to see that they are holding the second-best hand.

I once read an article that showed that a person could make nearly $25.00 an hour playing in a $150.00 buy-in, $1/$2 blinds, no-limit ring game by going All In with only the top four hands. The rationale was that you would double up once every two to three hours and this would make up for any hands where the top four hands were beat. It takes six to eight hours a day, over an extended period of time, to realize these profits, but it appears possible.

Fearsome Foursome

The strongest four hands in poker are called the Fearsome Foursome. Pre-flop, these hands have the greatest chance of winning. You can play the top four hands found in the table below from any position. The proper no-limit bet is a raise of three and one half times the big blind. With pocket Aces, Kings,Queens or suited Ace-King in a limit game, you should raise and re-raise before the flop until you cap the betting.

Hole Cards Rank Percentage

Ace-Ace 1 31.09% King-King 2 26.02% Queen-Queen 3 22.03% Ace-King 4 20.09%

Elite 8

"The proper way to play pocket Jacks is to bet All-in pre-flop and fold after the flop." - Pokerism

The next four best starting hands round out the Elite 8. Though these are strong hands, you have to be a bit more careful with pocket Jacks and the suited high Aces, but the chances are still huge that you are top hand before the flop. You should raise and try to drive out the drawing hands if there are no raises in front of you. Depending on the style of your opponents, beware of the flop that shows Aces or Kings. If there is an over card on the board and a tight player raises in front of you, your best decision may be to fold your Jacks.

The interesting thing about the strength of the Ace-King and Ace-Queen is that in tournament situations they seem to bust out more players than any other hand. Though they are very strong pre-flop, they are still just drawing hands. Often, high cards are a coin flip pre-flop, and, depending on the flop, can become very weak, very fast. Players always show amazement when a high pocket pair is beaten, but as you can see in the table percentages, they are easily beat when they do not improve on the flop.

Hole Cards Rank Percentage

Jack-Jack 5 19.09% Ace-Queen (S) 6 18.66% King-Queen(S) 7 18.08% Ace-Jack (S) 8 17.47%

Too many players want to see the flop with a Queen, King or Ace in the hole, making pocket Jacks very vulnerable. The odds of a face card hitting on the flop are high, though the odds of your face card hitting are cut by two-thirds. Hitting the higher pair on the flop occurs often enough to destroy the Jacks, further fueling the loose players' philosophy that any card can win. In the final analysis, holding on to face cards without a strong kicker, especially when you are out of position, is extremely detrimental to your chip stack. - 31897

About the Author:

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an e-zine dedicated to poker. He is also the award-winning author of "Winning Blue-Collar Hold'em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments" and three upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMag, where he gives you a daily poker quote or pokerism.

Table Position is Important to Betting Decisions in Texas Hold'em Poker

By Daniel L. Cox

"Hold'em is a lot like making love: Position is everything." - WPT Host Vince van Patten

Determining your opponents' playing styles is important, but gaining knowledge from your position is more so. Where you sit in relation to the dealer's button is called Table Position. The three basic table positions in poker are early (the Big Blind, Small Blind and Under the Gun), middle and late (including the Cutoff and the Button). The reason the dealer rotates the button after each hand is because table position is crucial to determining appropriate odds and bets.

The strength of position comes from the fact that the betting moves in a clockwise fashion. When playing in late position -- which is the strongest position -- you get to see how other players react to their hands before the action comes to you. The Pokerism "Position is power" comes from this simple idea.

Though your hole cards are crucial, how you use position to decide your betting strategy is the most important tool in your poker skill set. One of the gravest mistakes you can make is playing your starting hands the same, no matter what position you are in. Though you may understand the strength of playing premium starting hands, incorrectly entering every pot without considering position is costly. The more information you possess, the more you increase your chances of winning the hand.

You can easily end up with a raise or even re-raise by players betting after you if you bet with a marginal hand pre-flop from early position, as your margin for error is tighter from there. This could place you in the untenable position of immediately having to decide whether your hand is worth losing the extra chips (two or three small bets in limit, to an All-in in no-limit) just to see the flop. If you make the correct move and fold after betting, you lose the chips you already put in the pot. The correct move with a marginal hand in early position is to fold, avoiding costly raise losses in the future. Thus, if you are in early position, you should restrict the hands you play to the top premium hands. Statistically at least one of the players behind you also has a premium starting hand, and they have the advantage of acting last or closer to last pre-flop.

Though your pre-flop hand selection increases in middle position, in most situations you are still limited to playing strong opening hands. If you are playing from middle position, you have players waiting for action and others that have already played. You get better odds than early position when playing weaker hands, but you still have a significant risk from the players behind you.

Poker Legend Doyle Brunson once remarked, "If I had position on a player, I wouldn't even need to look at my cards." Being in late position with a good hand has major advantages over being early with a good hand. A player in late position holding a premium hand has the ability to manipulate the pot size, making future bets easier to call on the turn or river. Late position is especially important when playing marginal hands, such as suited-connectors or Aces with weak kickers. With the advantage of seeing your opponents' actions before you act, you can expand the range of your starting hands, often playing weaker hands from late position. If you do not consider position when playing a hand, you give an edge to players who do understand its importance.

Since the button is the strongest opening position, many players try to bluff or over-bet a weak hand from this position. Gaining knowledge of other players' styles helps you determine if they are overplaying a hand from the button or actually have a strong hand. Learning your opponents' styles also provides a clue to how strongly you should protect your own blinds.

The type of game and the stakes involved can magnify the importance of position. In a low-stakes, limit game, with a table of loose players, position means less, since these players tend to play any two cards and draw to the end regardless. As the stakes get higher, position becomes more important. Position becomes even more important in no-limit play, as the threat of the All-in on each hand considerably raises the stakes more than in limit play. - 31897

About the Author:

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an ezine dedicated to poker. He is also the award-winning author of "Winning Blue-Collar Hold'em" and four upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMag, where he gives you a daily poker quote or pokerism.

Winning Texas Hold'em - The Power of Position

By Steve Schafer

One of the least utilized (for beginning players) and yet most important factors to consider when playing Texas Hold'em is table position. Your table position in hold'em is your location at the table in relation to the button. Your position rotates every hand with the button, so it's important to know how to play them all. Your table position will be a huge factor on how you play your hands, and whether or not to play a hand at all.

In Texas Hold'em, there are essentially four positions. They are the blinds (BB and SB), early position (EP), middle position (MP), and late position (LP). I gave the blinds their own category because the strategy for playing them is a little different. Understand that the tips below are general, in that they do not account for other game play circumstances. In general, though, following them will help your Hold'em game quite a bit. Let's look at how your table position affect you game:

Early position in Texas Hold'em is the two seats just left of the blinds. Those players are the first to act pre-flop and most of the other players act after them post flop.The problem with EP is that if you play too loose here, you will find yourself stuck in a pot against a premium hand and you can easily loose a bunch of chips. Play really tight here. Play only premium hole cards (AA, KK, QQ, AK, AQ). Your goal here is to take the pot down early if you can. Raise with high pocket pairs (aces, kings and queens). Limp with you AK or AQ. If someone in late position raises after you limped your AK, go ahead and re-raise them. If they call you, you can bet into them after the flop and try to win the pot there. If they re-raise your re-raise, you are likely either dominated, or at best facing a coin-flip.

Next is middle position. These are the two positions just to the left of the two early position seats. You have a little more room to play here, but not much. Play it pretty much like early position, with the exception of maybe adding JJ or suited AJ to your starting hand arsenal. Be wary of early position limpers (unless you have already seen them limp in EP with junk) and you should fold to just about any raises from EP.

Late position is the player on the button and the player just to the right of the button (called the cut-off position). In Texas Hold'em, late position is king. Here is where you get to open up your game a bit. You can add a much bigger range of starting hands to your arsenal. In fact, if the table folds around to you in late position, you should be raising with any two cards that have good post flop potential. Suited J-10, 88, and suited A9 all start to look really good in late position. You have already seen most of the players act, so you get to use their actions against them. You also get to act after them in the later betting rounds, which gives you an opportunity to outplay them.

One of the most difficult positions to play in Texas Hold'em is the small and big blinds. You already have chips committed to the pot before it is your turn to act and everyone is trying to raise your blind. The good news is that you often have the correct pot odds to call raises, since you already have in the pot. The bad news is that unless you are really really good at playing from the blinds, your position will put you at too big a disadvantage to be able to outplay your opponent post flop. In less you can see a flop cheaply, or have premium hole cards, I would fold.

There are some very basic strategies for playing Texas Hold'em according to your position. Hold'em is a game of patience and discipline. Be patient, pay attention to your table position and it will definitely help you to become a winning Hold'em player. - 31897

About the Author:

Before you play another tournament, make sure you check out Steve's Poker Strategies site for more great poker winning tips.

privacy policy

Privacy Policy

The privacy of our visitors to this website is important to us.
At this website, we recognize that privacy of your personal information is important. Here is information on what types of personal information we receive and collect when you use and visit this website, and how we safeguard your information. We never sell your personal information to third parties.

Log Files
As with most other websites, we collect and use the data contained in log files. The information in the log files include your IP (internet protocol) address, your ISP (internet service provider, such as AOL or Shaw Cable), the browser you used to visit our site (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox), the time you visited our site and which pages you visited throughout our site.

Cookies and Web Beacons
We do use cookies to store information, such as your personal preferences when you visit our site. This could include only showing you a popup once in your visit, or the ability to login to some of our features, such as forums.

We also use third party advertisements on this website to support our site. Some of these advertisers may use technology such as cookies and web beacons when they advertise on our site, which will also send these advertisers (such as Google through the Google AdSense program) information including your IP address, your ISP , the browser you used to visit our site, and in some cases, whether you have Flash installed. This is generally used for geotargeting purposes (showing New York real estate ads to someone in New York, for example) or showing certain ads based on specific sites visited (such as showing cooking ads to someone who frequents cooking sites).

DoubleClick DART cookies
We also may use DART cookies for ad serving through Google’s DoubleClick, which places a cookie on your computer when you are browsing the web and visit a site using DoubleClick advertising (including some Google AdSense advertisements). This cookie is used to serve ads specific to you and your interests (”interest based targeting”). The ads served will be targeted based on your previous browsing history (For example, if you have been viewing sites about visiting Las Vegas, you may see Las Vegas hotel advertisements when viewing a non-related site, such as on a site about hockey). DART uses “non personally identifiable information”. It does NOT track personal information about you, such as your name, email address, physical address, telephone number, social security numbers, bank account numbers or credit card numbers. You can opt-out of this ad serving on all sites using this advertising by visiting http://www.doubleclick.com/privacy/dart_adserving.aspx

You can choose to disable or selectively turn off our cookies or third-party cookies in your browser settings, or by managing preferences in programs such as Norton Internet Security. However, this can affect how you are able to interact with our site as well as other websites. This could include the inability to login to services or programs, such as logging into forums or accounts.

Deleting cookies does not mean you are permanently opted out of any advertising program. Unless you have settings that disallow cookies, the next time you visit a site running the advertisements, a new cookie will be added.

disclaimer

CONTENT DISCLAIMER

The information contained in this website is for general information
purposes only. The information is provided by this website and
while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct,
we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or
implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or
availability with respect to the website or the information, products,
services, or related graphics contained on the website for any
purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore
strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including
without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any
loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits
arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.
Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are
not under the control of this website.
We have no control over the nature, content and availability of
those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily
imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.
Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly.
However, this website takes no responsibility for, and will not
be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to
technical issues beyond our control.

contact us

Your Name
Your Email Address
Subject
Message
Image Verification Please enter the text from the image [ Refresh Image ] [ What's This? ]