PERFECT, YET CHANGING

Online Poker : Playing Against an Aggressive Player

2009-07-13T02:18:00.000-07:00

Well, if you have a choice at a poker game between Mr. Passive and Mr. Aggressive, you might want to avoid Mr. Aggressive and pound on poor old Mr. Passive. However, if you do find yourself up against an aggressive player heads-up, there are some things you should keep in mind.

Defeating a passive player by playing poker aggressively works, so we should assume that the remedy for an aggressive player would be to play passively, right ? Wrong. Against an aggressive player you will simply have to fight fire with fire and attack him with an array of weapons, the most deadly being the check-raise.

When you know that your opponent will bet almost any flop, the best way to take advantage is to check-raise him out of position, then raise him in position. If you can call raise. When you feel like you have the best of it, take the lead and try to put in the last bet on every street, getting full value for your poker hand.

Sitting back and waiting to trap your opponent with a big hand simply doesn't work in limit poker. This is a viable poker strategy in no-limit because you can trap a player for his whole stack, but in limit poker the best you can do is maybe win an extra bet or two. In the meantime, while you are waiting to trap him, he is just picked up more than three or four bets from you with nothing ! Remember, the winner of a heads-up pot will generally be the player who plays better in marginal situations.

Limit Hold'em is all about pound, pound, pound. No fear.

Internet Poker : Playing Middle Pairs from Middle Position (J-J, 10-10, 9-9)

2009-07-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

If you are the first to enter the pot, you should raise coming in. Remember: aggression, aggression, aggression! If someone has raised in front of you at a poker table, you should reraise to narrow the field and give yourself the best chance to win the pot. Unlike a poker hand such as A-K suited, these middle pairs don't play very well in mutiway pots. By reraising, you will get a little bit more information about the initial raiser's hand.

If the initial raiser makes it four bets in the poker game, he probably has a bigger pair or at least A-K. Defining your hand as a strong one is a good idea and by reraising you can represent a premium hand. Why is this good?

Take this example: Say you reraise with 10-10 against a player who has raised from early position. You get it heads-up and the flop comes down 7-3-2. The initial raiser checks and you bet your 10-10. If your opponent has A-Q, he would be correct in calling one more bet on the flop. However, since you have represented a stronger hand than you actually have the initial raiser may fold thinking that you might already have A-A.

Stay tuned for more poker strategies, coming up !!!!

Semi-Bluffing the Turn at a Poker game

2009-07-02T23:24:00.000-07:00

In an online poker game situations where you have decided to check and call the turn anyway, you might be better off betting. Remember, taking the lead and being aggressive are probably the most important factors in limit hold'em.

For example, say a fairly tight early position poker player raises your blind and you decide to defend with the A-7 of spades. The flop comes 6♣ 7♠ 8♠. Rather than go for a check-raise, you decide to bet and see where you are. Unfortunately, this tight player decides to raise you on the poker table, which means you can safely assume that you are beat. Of course, with a backdoor flush draw, trip draw and two-pair draw, you are going to call one more bet.

Now the turn brings the 4♠. How about betting again ? After all, you now picked up a flush draw and are going to call anyway, so why not represent the straight and possibly force your opponent off the best poker hand ? It's highly unlikely that your opponent will raise you here, as he would need to have at least a 5 or maybe even 9-10. Since you know him to be a tight player, chances are he has an overpair or possibly a set. If he does call, oh well. You still have lots of outs and would have called a bet anyway. If you miss on the river, you should probably abort the bluff. If he decides to call you on the turn, he is going to make one last desperation call on the river if he has you beat. Save your money and check it down.

Blackjack

2009-06-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

Originally called Twenty-One (Vingt et un), Blackjack historically has been played by gamblers around the world since as early as the 17th century. As a result of French colonies in the US, the game was introduced there and when Nevada legalized gambling in 1933, it became one of the first games to be offered by early casinos.

However, 21 wasn’t a popular game among casino-goers. As a result, in order to draw more crowds to the game, casinos offered special bonuses for hands that contained the ace of spades and either one of the black jacks (jack of spades or clubs). The name stuck, and 21 became widely known as “Blackjack”.

Blackjack is the most popular casino game in the world today. It stands out from the crowd simply because it employs a mix of skill and knowledge. The game is offered in every casino around the world, and numerous movies, such as 21 and Rain Man, are based on this game and a controversial strategy that players use known as card counting.

Overcoming bad beats in texas hold’em

2009-06-23T00:50:00.000-07:00

In order to win at Texas Hold’em or for that matter at any poker game, you need to have the right strategy. The kind that helps you win pots of money. Your strategy could be based on any aspect of the game ranging from specific in-game theory to the psychological aspects of play.

A major setback to any poker players game is a bad beat. The kind that drops you from the high of being all in on the flop with top set against two over cards, to the low of being outdrawn to a runner-runner flush. This is where your strategy comes in, where you have a game plan before playing your next hand.

Losing a lot of money in the game can be pretty frustrating. An aggressive player will determinedly chase after it for the rest of the session while attempting to pull off huge bluffs and losing more money in the bargain. Some beats are so bad, they drive you insane and you waste the rest of your chips on that ten-high flush draw.

Do not lose heart, there are ways in which you can avoid such an obvious leak of chips:

Take a break: Cool off. Poker is a mind game, and your mind needs some rest, sometimes. If you return to the game in a rational frame of mind, the probabilities of you playing at the top of your game and winning your money back are higher.
Think in terms of expectation: Think of the money you had expected to win on the hand that you lost with. As for instance, if you hold an AA against an AK pre-flop, there are 90% chances that you could win the hand. You could use an odds calculator to figure this out. You can now say that you won 90% of what was in the pot, the 10% chance of losing being an occasional situation that caught up with you this time. Okay, maybe you lost this particular hand but later on you will be winning more.

A poker player will come across bad beats at some point of time in his play. It is what makes the player sharpen his poker skills at the game and not just depend on luck alone. What is important is that we overcome the bad beats by playing the right strategy.

Baccarat

2009-06-21T22:43:00.000-07:00

In the film Rush Hour 3, Chris Tucker attempts to play Baccarat in a Paris casino while thinking it's blackjack. The whole scene ends with Chris having a great hand of three kings and mistaking the rules for poker cheering happily. Sadly for him three kings adds up to zero in Baccarat, causing him to lose. In Baccarat, cards 2-9 are worth face value, 10s and face cards (J, Q, K) are worth zero, and Aces are worth 1 point. Players calculate their score by ignoring the tens digit in the sum of cards. The main aim in baccarat is to place a bet correctly on the hand that will finish with a card total that is closest to nine

Baccarat has its own regional flavors which include American Baccarat (Punto Banco) – played mainly in North America, the French version of ‘Chemin de Fer’ and the ‘European' version.

The most common form online is American Baccarat. Here at the beginning of each game, the player has three betting areas associated with his/her position at the table. They are: "Banker", "Player" or "Tie". Each Baccarat game begins with the dealer dealing 4 cards: 2 each for the house and the player. If the total of either or both sides is 8 or 9, you call this `a natural` and then no more cards are issued. If, however, the point total of both sides is identical, it's a tie. Other than a natural or a tie, a third card is dealt according to specific Baccarat rules which specify the winner. If you wager on a winning house hand, the payoff is even money, 1:1 except in case of a tie which pays 8-1.

What's unique about playing Baccarat is that, unlike other card games like blackjack where you wager after you receive some cards, in Baccarat you place your bet before your cards are even dealt; not during game-play.

Poker Tournaments

2009-06-18T20:55:00.000-07:00

If you’ve just started to feel your way around the poker game, reading up on the rules and getting nowhere; a good idea would be to try your hand at the poker tournaments. No need to be alarmed, you might think you don’t even know to play the game; a tournament is out of the question. I had felt the same way, when some of my friends suggested it.

Online poker sites offer a variety of tournaments. Go to the card room and see how it works. It might be a little scary at first, what with the dealer looking so glum and matronly and cards flying all over the table. Ask a friend to help you out, someone who knows the works. Try to figure out what’s happening at the table. You can play with practice chips, so there’s no fear of losing money. Join up any table or if you feel you’re not ready, just watch the game.

You could play a freeroll tournament which is played at multiple tables with more than ten players. There are no buy-in or entry fees. A guaranteed tournament will give you a guaranteed prize, whether you win or lose. A good boost to your ego. A sit and go tournament will charge you an entry fee, but the catch is – there are rewards for runners- up as well. Beware of online poker cheats – and play away.

Poker Hand Rankings

2009-06-18T01:07:00.000-07:00

Poker is a 5 card game. When it comes to the showdown, irrespective of how many cards one plays with – 7 or 9 or whatever, the best five cards decide the winning hand. Possible winning hands are classified in order based upon the odds of their occurrence and are ranked, starting with the highest, as follows:

Royal Flush: AKQJ10 (All of the same suit)
Straight Flush : 23456 (All of the same suit)
Four of a kind : A8888- Four cards of the same rank
Full house (Boat) : 33444 – Three and two cards of the same rank
Flush- Five cards of the same suit.
Straight- five cards of sequential rank but in more than one suit
Trips or three of a kind – 3 cards of the same rank
Two Pair – Two cards of the same rank twice
One pair – two cards of the same rank
High card – None of the cards match, the highest card in the hand wins. In poker this is the worst hand

Within each grouping, the rank of all five of your cards will determine the winner. For example, if my opponent and I both have 1 pair, then whoever's pair is higher wins (ie - AA beats KK).A royal flush will send a flush down the toilet. If two players have hands that are identical except for suit, then they are tied and split the pot

Hand rankings have also led to the rise of poker-slang. A player pulling off a Big Slick refers to him holding an Ace and King or a Big "Chick" which refers to him holding an Ace and Queen as his two hole cards. Or one may even experience a ‘gut shot’ which refers to a hand where you have 4 of the 5 cards needed to make a straight, but your 4 cards are not "connected" or in sequential order, so you need a single card in the middle of your straight to complete the straight.

Poker Hand Rankings

2009-06-15T21:54:00.000-07:00

In the game of poker, you need to construct hands of five cards based on the rules of poker. These rules will be different for every variant of the game, it’s important that you know them all. Once you and the other players make your hands, they will be compared using a standard ranking system. The player with the highest-ranking hand wins the deal.

Your poker hand is strong if it has multiple cards of the same rank, or if it has all cards from the same suit or if all the cards have consecutive values. The position of the various possible hands is based on the probability of being randomly dealt such a hand from a well-shuffled deck.

I’ve listed below the general rules to be applied while evaluating poker hands, whatever set of hand values are used.

Individual cards are ranked A (high), K, Q, J, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 (low). Aces can appear low when they’re part of an A-2-3-4-5 straight or straight flush. You use individual card ranks to compare hands that contain no pairs or other special combinations, or to compare the kickers of otherwise equal hands. An ace plays low only in ace-to-five and ace-to-six lowball games, and plays high only in deuce-to-seven lowball.

Suits have no value. Suits of the cards help you figure out whether a hand fits a certain category (specifically the flush and straight flush hands). In most poker variants, if two players have hands that are identical except for suit on a poker table, then they are tied and split the pot (so 3♠ 4♠ 5♠ 6♠ 7♠ does not beat 3♦ 4♦ 5♦ 6♦ 7♦). A ranking called high card by suit may be used at times to randomly select a player to deal. Low card by suit decides the bring-in bettor in stud games.

A hand always consists of five cards. In poker games where more than five cards are given to each player, the best five-card combination of those cards plays. Hands are ranked first by category, then by individual card ranks: even the lowest qualifying hand in a certain category defeats all hands in all lower categories. The smallest two pair hand (2♦ 2♠ 3♦ 3♣ 4♠), for example, defeats all hands with just one pair or high card. Only between two hands in the same category, are card ranks used to break ties.

Online poker

2009-06-11T22:17:00.000-07:00

Online poker is the game of poker played virtually over the internet. Online poker rooms have contributed greatly to the increasing popularity of the game all over the world. Traditional brick and mortar casinos generally hesitate to promote poker as they feel that other games of chance such as slot machines are far more profitable.

Even though the rake of a traditional casino is quite high the cost of running the poker room is even higher. Online casinos, on the contrary attract lower overhead costs. Players are allowed to play for low stakes and freeroll tournaments offered on most of the poker sites are a major attraction to beginners as it allows them to play and win at the game without paying any entry fee.

This, however, does not mean that online poker rooms run a loss. The rake is collected from most real money ring game pots, calculated as a percentage of the pot based on a sliding scale and capped at some maximum fee. Every online poker room has its own rake structure.

Multi-table and imprompt sit-and-go tournaments are charged an entry fee around five to ten percent of the tournament entry fee is added to the cost of the tournament.

Online poker sites sometimes offer games like blackjack or side bets on poker hands where players play against “the house” for real money, where the odds are usually in favor of the house.

Online poker sites invest the money that players deposit. This is a good source of revenue as the sites do not have to pay interest on players’ bankrolls.

Poker : Game Play

2009-06-11T00:31:00.000-07:00

Internet Poker is a family of poker card games that share betting rules and usually hand rankings. They differ in the qty of cards being dealt, hand formation, limits on bets and which poker hand wins the pot. Between rounds, the players' hands develop in some way, often by being dealt additional cards or replacing cards previously dealt.

The right to deal a hand typically rotates in a clock wise direction and is marked by the dealer button (Buck). After the initial deal, the first of what may be several betting rounds begins. One or more players are usually required to make forced poker bets, usually either an ante or a blind bet (sometimes both).

The action then proceeds to the left. Each player in turn must either match the maximum previous bet or fold, losing all further interest in the hand. A player who matches a bet may also raise, increasing the bet. At any time during a betting round, if one poker player bets and no opponents choose to "call" (match) the bet and instead "fold", the hand ends immediately, the bettor is awarded the pot without a show of cards and the next hand begins.

At the end of the last betting round, if multiple players remain then there is a showdown, in which the players reveal their previously hidden cards. The player with the best hand according to the poker variant being played wins the pot.

Overlay in poker tournaments

2009-06-07T22:10:00.000-07:00

Overlay is the extra money, above and beyond the amount that a poker room collects from the combined player buy-ins, in guaranteed prize pool tournaments. If a poker room offers a tournament with a guaranteed prize pool, it could potentially become an Overlay Poker Tournament. It all depends on how many poker players actually register and buy-in in the poker tournament.

An overlay poker tournament offer you the player more value than your buy-in is worth in face value. For example: There is a $5000 guaranteed poker tournament with a buy-in of $50. So for the poker tournament to be an overlay tournament there has to be LESS than 100 poker players to register for the poker tournament (100 x $50 = $5000). If 90 poker players register for the poker tournament there is an overlay of $500 (10 x $50 = $500). This is extra money added to the prize pool by the poker room, as they didn’t acquire as many poker players as they expected. The poker room takes a loss and the players in the poker tournament have an extra incentive to play. You can find these poker tournaments at times of the day when the poker room is not as full or peak times of players being on the online poker site.

If you’re a multi-table poker tournament player and you’re not looking for these overlays, then you are missing out on the best-kept secrets out there for online poker tournaments.

INTRIGUING POKER TELLS

2009-06-01T23:15:00.000-07:00

Poker tells are information highways of determining your opponents hand value. It’s absolutely crucial to pick up on “poker tells” on both live poker and online poker. Though, tells are more transparent on live poker, one could still extract tells while playing poker online. It’s a mind rocking and butt-kicking task but it could mean more chips gained when a player masters how to evaluate tells’ from his opponents.

On the other hand, poker players could refine and execute alternative attitude tactics at poker tables in order to desist their opponents from coming up with the right tells. Hence, poker tells could be intriguing workmanship among players.

A few examples of Poker Tells on Live Poker Games:

Table Talk: One could come up with an informative tell by closely paying attention to what his opponents are saying. Poker table talks are sometimes advertising impressions on your current poker hand whether you are aware or not, it is a costly mistake to talk much. Especially when you are at a table of players with excellent and exacting poker evaluation tells. By talking much that could mean you are holding a weak hand while when one suddenly become silent, that could mean he is holding a solid hand.

Eye Contact: looking at your opponent’s eyes is beneficial when evaluating tells. In most cases, players choose not to stare directly at their opponents when holding a monster hand.

World of series poker tournaments!

2009-05-27T01:24:00.000-07:00

As you know, the World Series of Poker brings tons of poker players to Las Vegas, Nevada. These players come to play poker tournaments. You must exercise properly and eat healthy and be in the right frame of mind to play the tournament schedule.

Poker tournaments take a lot out of you, as the concentration level has to be high for many hours. One simple and little mistake and you could be out of the tournament. Most players do not exercise or eat right before playing those long hours, but if you are planning to play the major events you must prepare ahead of time.

Start today to plan for these events. Remember, before the World Series of Poker many top players usually take a couple of weeks off to ensure they are in the right frame of mind and they are at the top of their poker game. The players who do this usually do well and take down the big prize pools. It would seem to be a small edge but it is not. Plus, any edge to get you to the final poker table would be a great decision.

Playing online poker!

2009-05-26T23:35:00.000-07:00

You can play online poker for money; did I hear you right poker for a new and exciting way to make money? Yes poker for those people who are interested in making a lot of money. One of the newest ways to make money also happens to be one of the funniest and exciting ways to make money. All that it takes is a computer, a good internet connection and a little common sense.

There are many success stories out there and you can search the Internet and find out who they are; personally I know a kid who started with $500 dollars now worth over a million dollars. Another poker player who I know started with 50 dollars now tries to get Internet poker players to play him and gives bonuses of $500,000 dollars to anyone that can beat him.

You do not have to be that great to make a hundred thousand dollars but you will have to work and put your time in. You however have the luxury of having no boss, take time off when ever you feel like and travel virtually anywhere in the world. If this is what appeals to you making money from Internet Poker seems to be made for you.

There are poker sites that even give bonus money just to sign up on their sites. You heard me right - free money just to sign up.

Playing with a medium stack in poker tournaments !

2009-05-22T10:14:00.000-07:00

Learning how to play poker with a medium stack in poker tournaments is very important in today’s world of internet poker. You will notice in most tournaments most poker player’s fields will have a medium stack about half way through the tournament down to the final poker table. This makes every decision a vital one. So playing too tight you will find yourself short poker chips in a hurry as we all know how fast the blinds and antes will eat up your chips.

So you will ask what is the correct way of playing this type chip stack. I would mostly focus on playing hands that you would be willing to play for your entire stack in early position, so tight aggressive is the best approach. This will keep you out of trouble of raising and being re-raised and having to fold your poker hand and throwing those chips down the trashcan.

So in later position, keep in mind in focusing on stealing blinds and opening the range of hands you will play, this will help you keep your chips moving forward. Try this the next tournament you play and see how it works for you.

Bad poker decisions.

2009-05-19T23:14:00.000-07:00

One example is how many poker players approach one-table satellite tournaments (sit and go’s) in casinos and online poker rooms. They seem to think that they can win their tables in the first half hour, when there is still eight or nine player’s left!

They set out to accumulate a lot of poker chips, but this is pointless as the increase in chips in this situation is of trivial value as the blinds and antes go up. The key to winning these "mini-tournaments" is primarily to be there when it matters, and it seldom matters before you get down to four people.

At this point, now you must play aggressively, without the fear of being eliminated. You can't play conservatively because the blinds are moving around quickly, there aren't that many chips in play, and your opponents with smaller amounts of chips are forced to be aggressive. In other words, on those rare occasions where you would have won five times your share of the pots early, all that give you is the ability to lose one pot later in a satellite.

Pyramiding in cash online poker games

2009-05-11T04:12:00.000-07:00

If you play a tournament and come in first place you will finish with all the poker chips but you will only receive around twenty percent of the money of the prize pool ! If you play cash game and get all the chips on the poker table you obviously get to keep that total amount. Doesn't that sound like a better deal to you !

For example: If you want to invest $20 + $2 dollars in a poker tournament; then try a pyramiding strategy and invest the same amount in a cash game! Start at the stakes that meets your bankroll (twenty times the big bet in limit and seventy-five times the big blind in no limit) and when you double up - move up to the next stakes. You're basically doing the same thing in a tournament however you are never FORCED to move to the next level at a certain point of time.If you find a table where the action is good and you are making steady money and above average bets per hour, there is no need to move up until the player or players who are donating/tilting there money to you have left. Then its time to evaluate whether or not to move up again at this point! If you want to have a safety net, you can even take your original investment off the table and then you are free-rolling. This will give you the money to start your next session of the pyramiding strategy at the poker game.

Don't feel intimidated about the amount you may end up playing for in a single night because in all reality you may be playing for thousands but your original investment was very small! In tournaments you are forced to stay and play until youare out or youhave won the entire tourney - this is not so during this poker strategy! At times you may be in a tournament and want to quit because you are too tired to play or maybe you just don't feel like playing anymore. This is when you will find yourselfsplashing around or in pots where you otherwise wouldn't be in! These situations should never happen in cash games because you should just get up when you're feeling this way, and if you played poker as much as I have; you know when youare doing it! This is where great money management skills come into play.

When you do call it a night, the next day you should start over. If you just keep pyramiding up in the cash games and never stop you are bound to have some upsets where the donkeys seem to start getting there! So never try to win all the chips in the casino in one single night. Eventually youwill take a bad beat or just put your money in behind at some point that is why you must get some of your profits from the day off the table and start over. With this specific strategy you can get the same results of large wins that you might get from a tournament but instead of only getting twenty percent of the money, youwill get the full one hundred percent!

In a poker game why would you need a professional poker coach?

2009-05-07T21:45:00.000-07:00

Why would you need a professional poker coach? The answer is simple! The speed and quality of your poker play would improve in lightning speed compared to you doing it on your own. It would improve your poker game and your experienced decision would defiantly make you more money at the poker table. Some of the top professional athletes in the world have personal coaches, so why shouldn't you take this advantages well.

No matter how great you are at business, a particular sport, or even internet poker there is always the possibility to excel and take your game to the next level. It could mean the difference of being a break-even player to a winning poker player. So why not apply the same principle to your own poker game?

Another cheaper form of improving your game is instructional poker videos. There are many outstanding instructional poker video sites, which provide an incredible library of poker instructional videos at your finger tips! Just semi-pro players do not just make these videos; they are plenty of them made by the top pro players in the world. So what are you waiting for? So it's time for you to take your online poker game to the next level and make the extra cash you are looking for.

Internet Poker game - History of Poker chips

2009-04-29T02:02:00.000-07:00

You would probably think that poker chips… is this subject to talk about? I would say Yes, it is. In our day-to-day life, we go through many things which we do not have any knowledge of. I am trying to give you some information about the history and manufacturing of poker chips from the era, the poker game started. The most common material types used today in the manufacture of modern poker chips are plastic, clay composite, and acrylic composite. Clay chips, the oldest of the bunch, have been manufactured in America since the late 1800s.

I would say, the most expensive clay composition poker chips were made by the U.S. Playing Card co. in Cincinnati, OH, 1907-1939. These were "Crest & Seal" chips, which were made of a circular lithograph, rooted into the clay, with a "Seal" of a polyurethane type liquid, over the entire surface. As you all know, the game of poker began in the middle 1800's in bars, saloons and on riverboats in the mid-west and western United States.

The word "poker" was derived from the French game, "Poque" and the British game, "Brag." In the early days of poker game, coins, gold dust and sometime gold nuggets were used as the exchange units. After that it was replaced by chips as they were easier to manage. These chips were a composition made from clay and shellac and also from pieces of ivory, bone, wood and paper.

With the explosive growth of online gaming and specialty TV shows and even the World Series of Poker, public interest in poker has accelerated faster than ever before. Despite online poker’s rise, nothing replaces the feeling of shuffling heavy clay poker chips in your hand, throwing chips into the center of a casino table, or stacking tall piles of chips after showing a victorious poker hand. With poker being known as the “cheating game,” many precautions have been taken with counterfeit poker chips. Unlike the poker chips of yesteryear, which counterfeiters could copy in any basement, poker chips are no longer so easy to reproduce. The idea of injecting molds for poker chips and adding coin inserts have helped to narrow down the problem, as have the additions of UV dyes and holograms on the face of the poker chips.

Stay tuned for more exciting stuff about internet poker…

Online Badugi Poker Game is a game of the future

2009-04-28T02:15:00.000-07:00

One of the international poker legend said, “Badugi is the game of the future.”, I had to find out for myself what it was all about. You can PLAY Badugi online now.

Wildly popular in Asia, especially Korea and China, my Chinese and Korean friends taught me the rules and fun of playing Badugi, and I have enjoyed it so much, and at times, even more than Poker itself!

I want to talk a little about the game itself…. Badugi is a four card lowball poker game where you must try to have one card of each suit, and no pairs. If you are holding four different cards of four different suits then you are holding a Badugi!

Badugi betting structure is aggressive fun! The limit for the first two rounds of betting is called a small bet, while the limit for the third and fourth betting rounds is called a big bet and is generally double the small bet.

Badugi uses the same blind structure of other poker games, with the two players to the left of the dealer paying the small and the big blind respectively.

Each player is dealt four cards and play begins with the player on the left of the big blind and continues in a clockwise direction. Once all players have acted, all players remaining in the hand can then discard any number of cards in their hand, and be dealt new cards.

Players can of course keep all their poker cards in any round if they are confident of the cards they hold. If a player draws no cards in one round they can still draw in subsequent rounds if they feel they need to improve their hand.

After the first round, players again have three options, they can check, bet or fold. If 1 player bets all other players have to equal that bet amount or fold before the next draw takes place.
There is then a fourth betting round that is followed by a final draw. After the final draw there is a final betting round that is followed by a showdown.

At the showdown the player with the lowest Badugi wins, A-2-3-4 all different suits is the best hand. If no player has a Badugi then one card of his or her pair or same suit doesn't count, so the player with the best three or two card hand wins. So start playing the game now and have fun !!

Poker Strategies for Free-roll tournaments

2009-04-23T02:36:00.000-07:00

Making the money:
Hand selection!
Every decision is crucial at this point in a poker game! From any position you should raise with AA, KK, AKs. If you are re-raised you are going to have to make a choice, AKs is a possible fold if you will go all in by calling the re-raise. If a short stack raises you make sure you put him all-in if he is not already.
From mid to late position raise to four times the big blind for all pairs down to 99. You can also play off-suit paint this way, AJ, AT, KQ, KJ. Fold to re-raises.

Raise or fold!
Standard raises at a poker table should be four times the big blind, the amount of the short stack or, in heads up play the amount your opponent has remaining if twenty-five percent of your stack. There are not many poker hands you should just call with. Do not let them get off cheap. If you cannot justify calling an all-in, just fold.

Don’t be reckless! This is not the time. Fight your best when you are up against the wall. I hate to admit this, running is never a term I like to associate myself to, but we should all do it when it makes sense. Every hand counts so choose situations you can win.

Final Table:
Big stack!
Be aggressive! Punishing small stacks around is a key at this time. Make them call all-in, do or die situations for them. If they move in first and you can play almost any two poker cards.

For all other poker players’ raise them 4 times the big blind before the flop. Watch out for limpers setting traps, not a bad idea to just call with average cards. Mixing it up will confuse them. Remember reading other players is important, but the read you believe they have on you is just as crucial.

Short-stacked!
I love to fight with my back up against the wall- You have nothing to lose. Considering your position and other short stacks, almost every poker play will be an all-in move or forty percent of your stack. Consider in your decision who has already committed. Example: If a player is committed in the Big Blind and a player has made a big raise before you, this should be a time to think, could I afford to wait and move up another position. You should have no problem with playing heads up short-stacked. You can play single face cards and just about any pair.

Heads up play!
Play a very aggressive game of poker from here out. Raising is a must. Picking up blinds at this stage could be very beneficial. Most players, who play free rolls are weak at this stage of the game, use that to your advantage. Set up your opponent for a kill. Making notes on a player will be to your advantage in making correct reads. One wrong decision here could make the difference between first and second.
Hope this segment helps your game, stay tuned for more!

Free-roll Poker Tournament Strategies

2009-04-22T03:28:00.000-07:00

Possibly the most interesting advantage of freerolls is the fact that you can practice different tournament theories and strategies. So what if you strike out in your first few attempts! First and most important - it didn’t cost you a single thing. This will eliminate that added pressure that confuses players of recouping that buy-in by finishing in the money. Also keep in mind every session is a learning experience to improve your playing poker game style.

First hour of play:
I used poker hand selection to my advantage. I would move all-in with top hands like AA, KK, QQ and Ak suited from any position. You would ask why? Why not trap? There is no reason to; you will see players call with almost any hand like A-small to mid suited poker cards early in the tournament. Take advantage of this! You will develop a huge stack early in the tournament and that will help when the blinds change to $100-$200 level.

Flop Play!
With top pair or 2 pair and an unpaired board bet 4 times the big blind but fold to any raises more than fifty percent of your stack.
With trips, straights, full houses or higher try to slow play after the flop! If a player plays aggressive and bets big move all-in.
With a pair and over poker cards on the board, a four-flush or open-ended straight bet two times the big blind, call raises up to 4 times the big blind or fifteen to twenty percent of your stack. Fold to aggressive action when pot odds are not there. Remember your odds for hitting those draw hands, use math wisely in these situations!

Later rounds!
Draw hands on the turn could be dangerous, keep in mind position and stack size. Don’t be a fish and let the shark take you out early. Most players mistake at this point is over playing a draw. My dad would call this “getting caught with your pants down”.
With two pair and trips with no scare cards, play aggressive! Make those draw hands pay dearly. This is the time to make your chip stack grow.

Stay tuned for more !!

Internet Poker Game - When is the correct time to bluff

2009-04-21T01:28:00.000-07:00

Have you ever been knocked out of a poker tournament on the first poker hand on a bluff? I have. Boy did I feel ridiculous. It’s generally known that beginners bluff way too, so my question is, how often can you actually do it in a tournament?

So lets presume that the poker table is a neither too tight or too loose and they are well timed, believable bluffs such as c-bets or 'back alley mugging', how often would you do it?

From actual viewpoint of outright long ball bluffs, you would need to have history with an opponent and analyze the board texture to be able to say whether a bluff would work.

I wouldn't consider c-betting to be a bluff. If I open raise in position and my opponent checks to me, I am c-betting any flop 90% of the time. If I have more than one opponent, maybe less than that if it's checked to me, be still fairly often. I will not c bet as often when I whiff.

The thing to remember is c-bets aren’t always bluffs, since if you raise AK and then bet the flop, if your opponent folds it probably means he didn’t have much and your AK may have been best.

You only need your c-bet to work 50% of the time to be profitable. Bluffing is different. In the micros, you need to keep in mind that most people are only thinking about their own poker cards.

What is 'back alley mugging' ?
Multi street bluffing or "back alley mugging" is just spewing. You need this kind of bluff to work probably 80-90% of the time to make money at it. If you try to bluff some punk at the micros and you get called.

Sometimes you can't bluff often, no matter how well-timed, or well thought out it is. Some people just call anyway or have middle pair and are calling you down.

If you're getting called down, stop bluffing. If you're never getting paid off with good hands, start bluffing. Adjust every time there is not right amount.

If you try to bluff some punk at the micros and you get called, you should most likely just be done with the hand and check/fold. Why put more money into a losing situation?

Never bluff against calling stations. If you're posting in this forum you're likely playing micro stakes or low buy-in tournaments where calling stations are plentiful.

You should be bluffing rarely and most of your bluffs should be confined to c-bets and taking stabs at orphan pots (whether you consider those to actually be bluffs or not is really irrelevant for this discussion).

Operation of a Poker Software

2009-04-20T01:34:00.000-07:00

You might expect to play online poker game without installing software on your own machine, by playing directly on the web. But that is not usually how it works. The games function more reliably if each player has the same poker software loaded on a personal computer.

Binding all these personal computers together is another computer, perhaps halfway around the globe, that sends required data and messages from each player to the others. This controlling computer is called a "server". Think of it as a faraway dealer that shuffles, distributes poker cards to each player around the world, makes sure players act in turn, decides who wins and awards the pots. It also allows the exchange of open poker table chat that everyone can see.

Unfortunately, if you are looking for a poker software that runs on Macintosh or other personal computer other than the ubiquitious PC running Windows, you are probably our of luck. Most software is only developed for Microsoft Windows at this time. The good news, they tell me, is that Mac users can often add Windows compatibility software to their computers and join the worldwide online poker explosion.