The first hour

In freerolls you will find the whole spectrum of the poker world, the good, the bad, the annoying donks who go all in all the time.

The all in all the time donks are the ones to beware of in the early stages. Don’t take risks at the start of even a free texas hold em freeroll as this type of player, who doesn’t know the game (or care) goes all in with any hand, A 4 (not even suited) and it would be seriously annoying to get beaten by that is you have A Ks!

Just call when it is low if you have AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK (suited) KQ (suited) Note: Never go all in with these cards in the pre-flop (bad beats are very frustrating)

And extremely important; DO NOT BLUFF at this stage.

Following the first hour

Now is the time that most of the bad players are gone, except for the lucky ones!

Here you are able to play more aggressive and attempt to steal the blinds (extremely important because the blinds increase and ante must be paid so what you can get by playing cards is too less to keep playing)

You can also introduce some new cards to you playable hands like:

• 10 10
• KJ
• AA (all in when in late position and not a lot of people in the pot)
• KK (just like AA)
• KQ
• QQ
• AK
• QJ
• AQ

When you’re in the pot with a few players and they just check or make low bets/calls you can try to bluff.

Be sure that your stack is not less then the average stack, if it does go back to the “first hour strategy” and tighten up! (it is not a shame to pull back and change strategy a couple of times to create some confusion!)

Congratulations If everything went well you are now in the money, but you can’t tell me you want to quit now and earn some crappy cents, that’s just waste of your time since the most freerolls will extend to 4-5 hours. So concentrate!

This is the part where the “n00bs” are gone so you play with some poker freaks so be serious-minded!

You’ll be able to recognize the good players not at the quantity of chips they have but at their check, bet, call, raise and fold actions!

They will try to get to see the flop with as less chips as possible and fold most of the time (most common way to spot the good ones).

If you want to be in the top 3 (other places won’t pay that well) you have to be careful, but take some risks to! The hands you can play are the same as in the second part of the freeroll from the 77,88 and up.

When in late position try and steal the blinds, but not too often or you will be recognized as a bluffer!

Good luck with your freerolls! To end off, if you are new to poker it is, without doubt best to start on free online poker freerolls. As you get better you can move up in levels of risk and reward on some of the mainstream online poker sites.

Bluffing can reward you or demolish you.
When playing with real money, I would be extra careful when it comes to bluffing. I will discuss my ideas and concepts of bluffing in no limit money and free online poker.

The first concept of bluffing will most likely work 80 to 90 percent of the time if done correctly is if you have that “gut feeling” after someone checks after the flop, turn or river then they do not have anything and you should bet any amount.

The best way to demonstrate this is when you are playing someone heads up. If there are only two of you and you have top pair or top kicker, you are most likely to win. The reason is because the other person only has two cards out of the deck just like you so the chances are slim. When you bluff against a heads up player, make sure you know something about that player, so you know when to bluff at just the right time.

Next, you have to understand what is at stake when you produce a bluff. If you push all in and you know you do not have the best hand, you must consider the worst. You may get lucky, or you may not. Bluffing is similar to betting on red or black in roulette, it’s a fifty-fifty chance. If you are bluffing in fun free texas hold em you may think it does not matter because it is not real, true maybe but you’ll never become a very good poker player with that approach and you will never move beyond the free texas holdem level.

Bluffing is only one part of poker and can never be truly mastered, even top pros will admit to frequent doubts over whether to bluff or not or if the other player is just slow playing or really doesn’t have anything.

Third, another concept of bluffing is the persistent value bet method. During this method, you are betting on nothing from the flop all the way to the river hoping they will fold if they have chased their hand. If you bet the same amount on the flop and turn but bet a little higher on the river with your bluffing hand, the other person is most likely to fold their hand to you. But again, this does not always have the same outcome every time.

Finally, my favorite part of bluffing is when you try to produce a bet that seems like a bluff, but is not. The best bluff bet is the famous all in or the bet pot. Also, if you are playing with the same group of cash or free texas holdem players on a regular basis, you can change up your style by betting an amount they would not expect. The best way to get as much as you can get from someone out of a hand is to simply call all the way and go all in on the river, hopefully they will think you missed what you were chasing and they will call.

In closing, I hope you now understand a bit more about bluffing as a whole. It is one thing to be a poker professional but being a bluffing poker professional is an entire different world. Bluffing is either something you are good at or not. If bluffing works for you most of the time, you may be just lucky or you may truly have the gift of bluffing mastered. But just remember, the most important concept to understand about bluffing is that it will NOT always be successful.

If you are new to online poker go and play for fun and experience bluffing, test ideas, bluff, fail, get bluffed by others. Find one of the better free texas holdem poker sites and have fun AND learn before starting to risk real money.

Maybe there is a scenario when this is ok- an example would be if there’s not a lot of cash floating about in the pot, or there is no chance of making a profit by making the gamble. This doesn’t move me away from my bad feelings towards checking it down just to go up in the cash however. I guess my feelings come because this type of play stops the chance to win the pot. In addition this can allow the opposition to catch you, when they would have clearly thrown in. It’s a great deal safer and stronger to play to gamble instead of check if you have the cards. This way you won’t loose any more than you have to.

Next is the importance of online free poker tournament bankroll management.

It is very easy to stack-off all your roll by not following a few bankroll management skills. I have found that Chris “Jesus” Ferguson’s techniques work quite well. In this technique, you can only buy into multi table poker tournaments for no more than 2% or your total bankroll and Sit and Go poker games for 5% of your total.

At NoPayPOKER we suggest that in cash games you should not invest more than 3% of your total roll though Ferguson says 5% is ok. So it comes down to your attitude to risk at this point.

A major part of online poker achievement comes down to decent skill, and knowledge of managing your bankroll. An obvious example of how to use this technique is to move down the scales of stakes when you hit a bad losing run. Most players understand this theory but find it very hard to put into practice, as they want to try and recoup the money they have just lost as quickly as possible. However dropping down in stakes is even further significant than having a decent roll methodology mindset.

Solid and Tight early on.
This means that early in a tournament you only play premium hands. Position is very important. Pairs from 22 thru 99 I only call and then only up to only 3 times the Big Blind. A larger raise and I fold them.

Big pairs such as 10/10, Jack/Jack, Queen/Queen, King/King & Ace/Ace I will always call for a raise on a short table.

Be prepared to call an all in with any of those. Hands like QJ, QK, KJ, and A 10 I play like small pairs and fold to raises larger than 3 times the Big Blind.

Now the hands that can get you into trouble.
I will explain to you in this next part some of the cards which may leave you in despair. Ace/Jack, Ace/Queen & Ace/King- you really have to understand when it’s best to fold these cards. Don’t get me wrong they’re brilliant cards when there’s just a hand full of opponents remaining, however during the opening they’re no good to any pair.

Learn to lay them down in the early part of a free poker tourney. One of the things I also do until the last 3 and in the money is show my winners. The table see’s Those KK and trip 7’s and so on. And I haven’t bluffed on a single hand…Yet. That comes when only 3 left. No more show and tell.

By doing this you will get the opportunity to have some great robberies. Your opponents have only ever seen your victories and therefore have no reason to start doubting you now.

As you just played the best cards at the start you have opened the door for the ‘bingo’ players to put themselves out. The odds are by being strong and rigid the chance will fall for you to knock a few opponents out yourself.

The bottom line is- you’re playing to win- and by winning you hope to make some money, and making money on the sit and go games takes a lot less effort. The majority of the time the top three will get some money and by coming third you normally break even. Therefore making the cash is crucial to doing well in sit and go poker games.

Another factor in play is a pet peeve of mine. I cannot count the times I have seen a table fold to a dead seat. There is nothing like seeing a deadhead getting free chips. The key factor here is PAY ATTENTION. You have to be in the game and not on vacation.

These are just a few common sense factors that I employ when playing for cash. I am well over 50 and have played poker in many forms and fashions for a lot of years, but I do have to agree with Doyle Brunson..”No Limit Holdem can be learned in an hour but takes a lifetime to master.” You go Doyle. Hope some of this helps someone improve their game.

To this I’d add, when you start or if you’re already familiar with poker but struggling – go and practice on micro/low stakes or free online poker site tournaments. There are some great ones out there and you can play loads with little or nothing at risk and in doing so really build your confidence and skills before starting to risk it bigger.

Poker, mainly Texas hold ‘em, has been pushed on the public almost too much. Everyone thinks they’re going to be the next great champion. Now sometimes I’ve seen players get frustrated because the person they’re losing to just started learning how to even play the game.

But for me, it’s not even so much that anymore. I feel a lot of the challenge has just been taken out of the game. There are a lot of people nowadays who just don’t know, or don’t care, what they’re doing. People flop bottom pair, middle pair, top pair with BAD kicker, gutshot straight draws, open ended straight draws, flush draw with two cards in their hand, or even flush draws with one card in their hand. Sometimes, they don’t even flop anything. And, they have no excuse why they may even call a bet to go any further, but they do.

What grinds me is this new breed of player has no business playing for any kind of bet, but does, why? Because they either believe they know what they’re doing or believe their lucky charm will carry them through.

Like I mentioned earlier, they think they’re going to be the next great champion. They see, and sometimes feel, the thrill of hitting their card for a win. If they don’t think they’re going to be the next champ, they do it for the possibility of the money they can win.

I do place a lot of blame on free online poker sites. People watch/play these sites so much and see bad hands get rewarded so often. That’s where most bad play comes from.

Ok- maybe I jumped the gun a bit by laying into free online poker sites- as I understand the reasoning for poor play taking home the pot. The methodology is continuation, and they must ensure people go onto the next table asap.

So what happens? Most end up seeing that miracle gutshot hit. Or the one outer hit. Or even worse; the runner, runner (nothing funner) hit. I just wish I could find a site that wouldn’t allow that to happen so, so much. But I never know if my desire will return. Even if I could find a site like that, there’s always the “other” problem. The vast number of players out there who really have no business gambling like that with real money involved. But who am I, or you, or anyone, to judge what might make other people happy?

Try not to waste too much of your time at major sites because often their freerolls have anywhere from 2,000 to 20,000 people. Chances are that the payout at the end will be pretty big, but the chances of getting there are very unlikely. Place top 1% to win a ticket to this, for a shot at that. After placement in top 1% two or even 3 times in a row is how you make money.

Hitting the big tables is where many players fail. Search for a site which is smaller and doesn’t have more than 200 people in the freerolls. You may not win a trip to Vegas but this will start you on your way. Winning anywhere from 10c to $5 or $10 is not uncommon and a few placements like this is all you need to be on your way. Now you have made the first steps and have a some money to play with, the trick is to know how to manage your bankroll to avoid losing everything you have won so far in a single game.

The common way to do this is said to be using 1/20th of your bankroll for NL cash games. You want to have at least 300 big blinds in limit cash games so if the big blind is 5c you should have at least $15 before you sit. If you prefer SnG tournaments with 6-10 people you should use only 1/40th of your bankroll and about 1/100th for large tournaments.

It is wise to play with your bankroll wisely, as every player will have highs and lows when playing. By managing your bankroll correctly you will be able to take a beat and still have some chips left to continue betting without being down and out. Obviously, if you can fund more games after you have lost your whole bankroll then these tips do not apply to you, but its always wise to keep an eye on it no matter how much money you may have. If you, like most of us, need to build from a very low starting base then free online poker sites are ideal and will get you rolling.

If you want to play real life opponents in the flesh, then my preference is to play people I know rather than hitting a casino. Casino’s get a large chunk of the pot which leaves less for the players, plus, I know that people I am playing against wont cheat.

Internet online poker is another option, and my option of choice. There is an infinite number of players and many choices of poker room.

I will divide rooms between free and paid, not including those that play purely for fun and are 100% non profit. We want to win some money after all!

Here are some things to check to make sure the room is good:

The payment: the vast majority of these rooms have quality certificates and security certificates. Be sure your choice does. Read the small print too to understand what is involved with deposit and how and what is involved in withdrawing money.

Are the games played enough for you to win? In real money games the room must run a rake and take a small part of the pot. Tournaments take a commission and there is a minimum number of participants to do them profitable. Does the room have enough members playing at once in the games and tourneys you want tom play to make it worthwhile? You should be able to see this easily by keeping an eye on their poker games software where numbers of players are shown.

Most sites will offer an attractive sign up bonus. Obviously this is paid with money from other players and there will be many conditions for the use and withdrawal of money . Make sure you read and fully understand this. Some rooms are better than others. Do not forget that the bank always wins but some do it more nastily than others!.

If I am playing pay poker then I spend most of my time at Titan Poker, however if I am playing free online poker the I head for NoPayPOKER.com. NoPayPOKER.com even give you $25 US to play with when you join, and there is no catch as long as you spend it at their site.

If poker is a whole new world to you, then I would advise that you start by playing on free online poker sites, such as NoPayPOKER, where they get their money from advertising and not from players. Only go for sites which are 100% free and do not ask for any initial payment up front.

The only problem in these rooms is an acceptable limit of withdraw the money, which is entirely logical for the costs of proceeding that involves a payment. That’s the price you pay I guess.

Having spent time on over 30 online poker sites, I fully believe that NoPayPOKER.com is the free online poker tournaments site to play at, and Titan Poker if you want to play cash games.