Posts Tagged ‘free poker online’
Whether playing online playing for money or free poker can be a rewarding, but a tiring addiction. So here are a few simple (tongue in cheek!) tips to keep you playing for as long as possible.
1. As anxiety has maximised due to an overload of hope on the river, run to the fridge freezer grab an ice pack and wrap this round your head. This will dissolve the anxiety around your head, but may make you cold.
2. When playing Online Poker on a laptop. If you become worried that your unmentionables are beginning to cook, ask your partner if they would kneel in front of you and gently blow between your thighs. They will also make a handy footrest.
Alternately wrap yourself up in Tin Foil to reflect the heat. This will also stop any evil aliens sending you messages.
3. In the unfortunate even of finger pain, you may wish to give this little piggy a rest. To kill two birds with one stone it would be an idea to rest your finger in an ice cream, which you can then eat afterwards.
4. During the long games with a full table you might feel like you are going to nod off. Bang a nail in the wall behind your playing chair and attach a length of string to it. Sellotape the string to your ear. That way if you do nod off, you will rip your ear off. Waking you up ready to make a bet.
5. After a long period of time sitting down and playing you will eventually have back pain- a good solution is to pinch your checks several times which will not only give you a nice blush effect it will also give you something else to think about!
I have developed these methods myself, and I assure you they work. Remember: Tea Cosy. Blowing. Tin Foil. Yoghurt. Sellotape. Pinch.
Always remember free poker is always a laugh but when you get online exhaustion you need to take some serious action.
Low pocket pairs are better then many people think they are. They are also a lot worse then some people think they are. If you’re playing a free poker game it may not seem such a big thing but when its high stakes this stuff matters! Actually, even if you are playing “just” free poker games for any reason other than fun then you should treat it serious. So read on!
First off if you have pot odds of at least 4 to 1 you can be safe to call, it is a slight disadvantage but nothing that will break the bank. 4 to 1 may sound like you would be calling every pocket pair but its actually quite hard and impossible in early position.
The difference in folding a few more times could be saving you thousands of dollars in the right environment. If the blinds are still relatively low in comparison to the chip stack and if you have enormous implied odds are also safe times to see these low odds hands.
When the blinds are few and far between then there’s not too much to fear monetary wise. As if you call every pocket pair you will see fewer blinds over a 3/4 of an hour spell.
Although predominately pocket pairs are used as cards to see from the flop, in some scenarios you may even consider going all in with them. To give this some context I wouldn’t suggest going all in with any cards less than 66 as A2 – A5 are favourable cards in today’s game. I cast my mind back to my early playing games where I would miss the flop with AK; you would still end up with an above thirty percent chance to hit the river- so I would go all in without thought.
I use to believe that a thirty percent chance was a favourable amount when talking odds, but as you become more experienced you understand that the only time these odds pay out is the rare occasion your put in a scenario and have to call. Learn your trade playing free poker games before moving on to the money tables so you can understand these rules and odds first hand.
Your position in a free poker tournament or Sit ‘n Go is very important. Depending on where you are, there are certain ways to play and optimise your chances.
For example, if the player on my left opens, the next two men call, and the following player raises it, then I can’t come in with that possible straight, for these three reasons: First, if I call that raise, those other players behind me may have limped their good hands. So if I put my checks in to draw at this straight, the next man calls it, and the third man moves in and raise the re-raiser, my straight probably wouldn’t be any good if I make it. (When you put checks in the pot, you’ve got to think you’ll be able to go with your hand).
Additionally I’m not in place- and it comes down to being in a bad position as under the gun- 1st to tattletale your hand. The original raiser could go again with a common amount- I could call them- as at this time I don’t believe my str8 has the potential to win. I will also get some action from 4 other opponents. When this occurs it will leave the pot at five to one I cant make my str8 although the card draw chances are not five to one that I wont. So in this play I could gamble all my checks and this is where the concealed percentages appear. I know that my str8 will take an opponent down.
Besides, by not being able to open, I don’t have a quarter in the pot at this point. There’s no reason for me to risk my check to come in and draw at this “possible.” Even if I do come in and make it, I may go broke. So rather than do all this guessing, I know there’ll be another deal in about forty seconds and I’ll just wait for a new hand.
However, I would play this hand altogether differently in a limit game. I’d go ahead and call this raise and re-raise, knowing there is a limit on what I could lose. And if I did make it, I’d sure as hell bet that I could, because I don’t draw to any hand that I won’t bet. If you draw at something, make it, and check it, then you’re defeating yourself.
There are general strategies you can use for Hold’em competitions & sit & go tables. Practice makes perfect and the more you practice your style and advance the better you will become. You don’t want to learn this trade by parting and potentially loosing your hard earned cash so what better place to learn your trade than playing a free poker tournament.
When you start a game of free poker online all of your experienced opponents will be looking out for as many signs and vibes as they can pick up. As the only thing you know for sure when the dealer passes the cards out face down is your own hand and the community cards. The difference in strategies between free online poker games and live in the flesh games is the signs and signals that you need to look out for are obviously very different. That doesn’t by any stretch of the imagination mean there are no signs that I can’t teach you to look out for in the free online poker games; but for now I will give my attention to the live in the flesh games. From my experiences of playing in various small venues and also the glitzy casinos, the signs that players give away are very common and many can be pigeon holed.
I guess the only place to start is with the eyes. Nearly all beginners believe, mainly due to the explosion of poker on the TV, that they should be looking at everyone’s eyes. If I sit down at a ten man table I am expecting six or seven of them to be wearing sunglasses. Personally even without sunglasses, I find it difficult to read tells from player’s eyes, apart from the obvious where a player will raise their eyebrows directly after looking at their cards. My point here is that you should probably forget the eyes as they are likely to be hidden anyway.
Ok assuming like me you don’t concentrate on your opponent’s eyes as the main source of intellect. You will need to find more assuring ways of spotting the tell tale signs of what cards your opponents holds. The best signs I would look out for are all based on body language such as posture- slumped normally suggests bad cards and if you happen to notice a player suddenly sit up straight after viewing their cards this would be due to their increased interest at the excitement of what they might win!
Only good and experienced free poker players can remain motionless and you may be surprised at the amount of body language signs you give away without even realising it. You may notice an experienced / decent player readjust themselves, this is done vigilantly due to the fact their self conscious has remind them to remain neutral.
Quite often body language is accompanied by table chat. Chat at the table and the signs you give away as a result are easier to hide as you can simply remain silent throughout- which is not a bad idea during the big games. You would be shocked at the level of skill some players have at recognising distinctive changes in tone and rhythm and knowing what this means to your play. There are other fundamental parts which can also explain loosing at the cost of general chit chat. You could genuinely become distracted taking your concentration away from the game. This is the difference between the regulars and the pros. The pros are masters at using all their ability to fish for signs: by playing while talking to you they’re actually finding your weaknesses while only showing you strength. Most of the time you don’t realise what’s going on till you inevitably remind yourself at the end of the game of the friendly chatty guy who ‘lucked in’ and took home the pot.
Other classic signs consist of: sweaty hands, viewing your hand and then straight after viewing your stack, licking your lips, or even for some a pulsating vein in the neck. The art of free poker is noticing trends and playing numbers and for the best part of this article is only relevant to in life games. There are certain signs you can still look out for at the online tables such as if you notice an irregular trend in gambling amounts. Many new players play the game by the book- pocket aces bring a bet id 4x the big blind, KJ is 2x the big blind and suited connectors bring a flat call. The more you play the more you will notice that the majority of players stick to their beliefs. Once you cotton on to these beliefs you can use them and manipulate them to your advantage.
Just remember to be sure that the sign the opposing player is giving you is an actual sign. As with most things in life if something seems to obvious and too good to be true- it might be. As one art of poker is knowing how to spot players signs and another is spotting players faking their signs.
Whether playing online playing for money or free poker can be a rewarding, but a tiring addiction. So here are a few simple (tongue in cheek!) tips to keep you playing for as long as possible.
1. As anxiety has maximised due to an overload of hope on the river, run to the fridge freezer grab an ice pack and wrap this round your head. This will dissolve the anxiety around your head, but may make you cold.
2. After spending half the night on the laptop you may notice and become concerned that the meat and two vegetables are slightly over cooked- I suggest asking your other half to get on their knees and blow on the affected area. As an added bonus you can also put your feet up.
For the sci-fi fans out there, I suggest wrapping yourself head to toe in tin-foil as this will also stop opponents and uso’s intercepting your thoughts.
3. In the unfortunate even of finger pain, you may wish to give this little piggy a rest. To kill two birds with one stone it would be an idea to rest your finger in an ice cream, which you can then eat afterwards.
4. A late night game or after a good few hours you may start to drift off and hear the land of nod calling. The best method of staying awake is to smash a six inch heavy duty nail into the wall directly behind you. You then need to wedge a few stacks of cards below the front of your front two chair legs to make the chair unsteady. You can now rest assured that if you do nod off you will fall back straight into the nail and probably never wake up again- now there’s an incentive!
5. If after a couple of days playing non stop you begin to experience back pains, repeatedly pinch both your cheeks, this will take the focus off you back, as well as give you a rosy glow.
These methods have been invented by myself and I can assure you no women, child or animal has been harmed in making these!
Always remember free poker is always a laugh but when you get online exhaustion you need to take some serious action.
Low pocket pairs are better then many people think they are. They are also a lot worse then some people think they are. If you’re playing a free poker game it may not seem such a big thing but when its high stakes this stuff matters! Actually, even if you are playing “just” free poker games for any reason other than fun then you should treat it serious. So read on!
First off if you have pot odds of at least 4 to 1 you can be safe to call, it is a slight disadvantage but nothing that will break the bank. 4 to 1 may sound like you would be calling every pocket pair but its actually quite hard and impossible in early position.
By folding a couple more times now could potentially saving you a lot of money in the long run. If the blinds are quite small compared to the money on the table, and you have gigantic unspoken odds it’s a good time to see these low odd hands.
If the blinds are low then you really have nothing to worry about the amount of money that you lose here calling every single pocket pair you see will be less then the amount of the blinds in 30-45mins.
Pocket pairs are mostly just something to see a flop with and get away from easy but in rare cases you may even consider going/calling all-in with them. I wouldn’t recommend pushing with anything less then 66 as A2-A5 are popular hands these days. I remember when I first started playing poker and I found out that missing the flop with AK your still usually over 30% to hit by the river so I would just push all in regardless.
Some people including myself at one time thought 30% was not bad at all but really the only time you should with such low percents is when you’re forced into a situation that calls for it. Practice your card skills like this in free poker games first before moving on and up into the green.
Excitement runs through your veins as your eyes lighten up to the possibility of what your hand shows: a 2, 8, and yes you guessed it a fabulous King. You mildly lean over giving the slightest touch to the 2 old boys that lay in front of you. All the practice on the free poker games sites has paid off. The cards you hold have finally come in rainbow and the 2 lows are a fair distance apart. Flushes and str8′s are pretty much finished- and the kings reign supreme.
Awaiting your move you glance across the table hoping all while your not revealing the monster you hold at bay. Of course there sits the fish. They have grown your stack and you thank them for it. There poor calls and lousy bets have been most profitable. Just outstack you after there latest Hail Mary and you send a prayer towards the heavens and call them to push.
Your heart stops as fishy gets his go and as if it was Christmas he throws more money at the pot. This is it, its time to take the pot home; it’s the moment you dreamed of while learning your trade on the free poker games, and you want to take this opportunity. Inevitably it’s time to push your stack and show them all the Kings.
The fish reveals and there lay pocket 7′s. The table gasps and all wonder what they were thinking. Your heart pounds then calms as you realise only two more sevens can save him. Now off to the turn. And as if on call appears the first of those magic sevens. Surely not you heart screams as the dealer speeds forward and delivers that dreaded fourth Seven.
You fall to you knees- how can this be possible, this seems more than a bad case of lady luck as you contemplate quitting poker till your dying day. You want to shout at fishy, but you still manage to keep some dignity and you simply say “well done” before leaving.
In hindsight you start pondering with what had just happened- is there anything you could have played different; probably not. I guess there’s no point holding on to this and you decide to let it go remembering how fishy played his hand.
I guess the moral of this article is just to remember all players have different strategies and all come with the belief there strategy will take them to the end. You must not discard the bad beats or reprimand the opponents who give you them, as these are money making people. Keep them in your mind but don’t divulge this to others- smile and believe their cash will soon be yours.
And remember, there are always free poker games to practice on before you have to take a serious bad beat for real!
Your position in a free poker tournament or Sit ‘n Go is very important. Depending on where you are, there are certain ways to play and optimise your chances.
For example, if the player on my left opens, the next two men call, and the following player raises it, then I can’t come in with that possible straight, for these three reasons: First, if I call that raise, those other players behind me may have limped their good hands. So if I put my checks in to draw at this straight, the next man calls it, and the third man moves in and raise the re-raiser, my straight probably wouldn’t be any good if I make it. (When you put checks in the pot, you’ve got to think you’ll be able to go with your hand).
Additionally I’m not in place- and it comes down to being in a bad position as under the gun- 1st to tattletale your hand. The original raiser could go again with a common amount- I could call them- as at this time I don’t believe my str8 has the potential to win. I will also get some action from 4 other opponents. When this occurs it will leave the pot at five to one I cant make my str8 although the card draw chances are not five to one that I wont. So in this play I could gamble all my checks and this is where the concealed percentages appear. I know that my str8 will take an opponent down.
Besides, by not being able to open, I don’t have a quarter in the pot at this point. There’s no reason for me to risk my check to come in and draw at this “possible.” Even if I do come in and make it, I may go broke. So rather than do all this guessing, I know there’ll be another deal in about forty seconds and I’ll just wait for a new hand.
This time though I will change my strategy and play the game another way as it’s a limited game. I would call the raise and then re raise as I know there is a cap on what I could be out of pocket for. If I made it I would be a certainty that I could as I do not draw to any cards that I will not bet. If you draw at any point and make it, but then check it- you are beating yourself.
These are specific tactics for both Hold ‘em poker tournaments and Sit and Go poker games. As with so many things you need to practice your approach as much as possible, the ideal place to do so is a free poker tournament site where you can lose without losing real money.
Unlike the usual styles of poker heads up & short handed poker is different. Similar to money tables there is more of a desire to view an increased amount of hands and play more forceful. By the finish of the majority of the lengthy free poker tournaments I have competed in, the opposing player just seems to stop trying. I begin forcefully with any Q+ or decent low blind cards such as J7 off suit. Even though these cards can be a waste of cash- they’re quite often the best preflop hand.
When playing heads up and short handed be sure to bet pretty much anything that hits on the flop and sometimes even if nothing hits.
A high is usually the top cards on the flop. Continue making the opposition guess whilst you keep a sight on their normal gambling range. When they change their habits its okay to put 1 or 2 down every so often.
Sometimes your opposition will respond to this and increase their gambling to try and come back with bigger bets- my best tip would be to let them, give them a chance to see if they can catch the uncomfortable high & low bets as you did. The roles may switch a few times with the other players before you get your way and they eventually collapse.
During the heads up game you will see many poor losses. Commonly due to opponents playing a vast amount of hands without anyone being able to put one another on any set hand preflop. Like most things in life its better not to put all your apples in one cart unless the cart is made of iron! Cards such as AX or K9 are decent at this phase of the competition although they’re still not brilliant- I would say a decent 30% with just about any hand.
Good luck in all of your poker and free poker.
When you start a game of free poker online all of your experienced opponents will be looking out for as many signs and vibes as they can pick up. As the only thing you know for sure when the dealer passes the cards out face down is your own hand and the community cards. The difference in strategies between free online poker games and live in the flesh games is the signs and signals that you need to look out for are obviously very different. That doesn’t by any stretch of the imagination mean there are no signs that I can’t teach you to look out for in the free online poker games; but for now I will give my attention to the live in the flesh games. From my experiences of playing in various small venues and also the glitzy casinos, the signs that players give away are very common and many can be pigeon holed.
I guess the only place to start is with the eyes. Nearly all beginners believe, mainly due to the explosion of poker on the TV, that they should be looking at everyone’s eyes. If I sit down at a ten man table I am expecting six or seven of them to be wearing sunglasses. Personally even without sunglasses, I find it difficult to read tells from player’s eyes, apart from the obvious where a player will raise their eyebrows directly after looking at their cards. My point here is that you should probably forget the eyes as they are likely to be hidden anyway.
Ok assuming like me you don’t concentrate on your opponent’s eyes as the main source of intellect. You will need to find more assuring ways of spotting the tell tale signs of what cards your opponents holds. The best signs I would look out for are all based on body language such as posture- slumped normally suggests bad cards and if you happen to notice a player suddenly sit up straight after viewing their cards this would be due to their increased interest at the excitement of what they might win!
Body language is difficult to control as quite often we are unaware of doing it ourselves. Good free poker players are aware of body language. As good players are aware of body language, this also means they are aware of their own body language. If a good player readjusts himself this has to be upon cautiously because they are aware of what they have just done.
Body language comes hand in hand with table talk. If I’m in a big game I always keep quiet. Good players are able to sense strength and weakness from your voice and tone. I’ve been sat at a table chatting to the person next to me and consequently lost a pot, because I was not paying complete attention on the action. Really good players are able to chat away whilst being 100% aware of what’s going on. They will sometimes be playing a hand whilst casually chatting away to the person next to them. Before you know it they check raise you, then carry on chatting!! I am always wary of a good player playing a pot who doesn’t seem interested in it. I often read this a show of strength.
Other well known tells include sweaty palms, looking at your cards then directly looking at your stack, licking your lips, and even a bulging vein in the neck. Along with body language and table talk another big tell is betting patterns, and this is where I come onto the internet. Everything I have mentioned so far is useless online. Betting patterns are the only pieces of information you can get from players in an online environment. A lot of newish players tend to play free poker by the manual, pocket aces bring a bet of 4x the big blind, KJ is 2x the big blind, and suited connectors bring a flat call. By watching players at your table for a short time you will be amazed at how they stick to these principles. Once you have established players betting to a pattern, clearly you are at a big advantage.
When playing a hand as a result of reading what you believe to be a tell, always be careful as you may have misread the signals, and you may be playing a shark feeding you false information.