Basic Poker Article about Bluffing and Semi-Bluffing

Bluffing is an important part of most poker player's games. Knowing when and how to bluff will dramatically increase your win percentages. Semi-bluffing is an extra weapon for your Texas Holdem poker armoury.

The differences between bluffing and semi-bluffing :

Bluffing is defined as an act of deception by a false show of confidence in the strength of your cards. Basically, you're trying to convince your opponents that your hand is unbeatable. When you choose to bluff, you're actually hoping that everyone else folds. If anyone calls you'll be on the losing end of the round.

However, Semi Bluffing falls between normal betting and bluffing. A Semi buff is very similar to a bluff, the only difference being that you can still make a winning hand. So if someone calls your semi-bluff you can still find the last card to make a winning flush or straight.

When to semi-bluff:
The best time to semi-bluff is if you have to good hand that is only one card away from being an almost unbeatable hand. You'll play a semi-bluff before the river, leaving open the possibility of picking up an extra card that should win it for you.

It's not a great idea to bluff really poor poker players, in most cases they don't bother trying to read the game or your hand and they'll simply call after every raise.

Also avoid bluffing if you're playing in low limit poker rooms, you'll find that a higher percentage of hands will go through to a show down.

About the Author

Stanley Majors is an experienced online poker journalist who writes articles on a range of poker topics. His numerous articles found on Texas Holdem Net ,provide useful and factual poker information and insight.

Basic Poker Article about Hand Reading

Reading Poker hands will dramatically increase your win percentages, but learning this skill is not an easy task. It takes hours of play, a good memory and an attentive eye.

Reading poker hands is not the most important part of any poker armoury, and it's not very useful for low stakes poker rooms either. Players at this level are not very skilled making them unpredictable and harder to read.

But as you become more experienced and start to move up to higher stakes games you'll begin to find that your opponents will actually be reading your play. And if you don't learn to read their hands you'll be at a big disadvantage.

This skill can only be developed through experience but by following these tips you should be able to accelerate your learning.

How often do you track the actions of your opponents, guessing what he is holding begins by reading his bets. Often players forget who actually raised or checked in the Flop or Pre-Flop. Keep a close eye on the betting in the early rounds and use this information to add to in later rounds.

Don't play more than one poker table at a time, you will not be able to follow both games in detail.

Even if you fold pre-flop, don't lose you focus on the game. You can pick up some useful bits of information about a particular player's style during this time.

Also watch every showdown carefully and remember how aggressive the player had been in previous rounds. For example, if he wins with a low rank two pair he'll be encouraged to be more aggressive the next time he is dealt a similar hand.

Every aspect of the game can add to your knowledge about your opponents.

If a new player sits down at the table he will eager to get a piece of the action, you can often draw this player into betting on a weak hand.

If a player has recently won a big pot he'll be more aggressive, and may try to bluff more frequently. And finally, players near the end of their stack are also more inclined to go “All-in” be alert to this possibility and use to it your advantage.

About the Author

Stanley Majors is an experienced online poker journalist who writes articles on a range of poker topics.
His numerous articles found on Texas Holdem Net ,provide useful and factual poker information and insight.

How to play Aces (AA) in No Limit Holdem Tips

Poker Aces refers to two aces dealt pre-flop. It is the strongest possible pre-flop hand in Texas Holdem Poker. But despite this many players find themselves on the losing end when dealt this hand.

When you're dealt a pair of Aces, you just don't fold pre-flop. You're sitting with the best possible hand at this stage of the game. So how do you bet with Poker Aces ? Do you simply go all-in? I'd say no to that.

Remember, you're trying to produce as much profit out of this strong position. You want to maximise the opportunity. Going all-in will simply scare most players into folding without placing a bet.

If you're in the early position (first or second to bet), you'll place a single bet. Anyone with a decent hand will call, hopefully someone might raise. If there has been a raise don't jump to re-raise or call, pause for a short while – make them think you're considering your options and then call.

After the flop your strategy will be to eliminate anyone that could get a straight or a flush. So I would begin to raise aggressively, if you're lucky you'll trick one player into believing that you're bluffing.

If you're in the middle or late position (one of the last to bet) you'll watch as everyone calls and then raise. Even though you're sitting with a pair of aces, if possible try to avoid a show-down. Protect your hand by forcing others to fold after the flop. If you don't drive out your opponents you risk losing your hand.

Here are a few things to remember of when betting on poker aces:

Firstly, you have the early advantage over every other player – use it to maximise your profit.

Secondly, if you find that an opponent hastily calls your aggressive bets – you may have already lost your advantage to someone with Three of a Kind, a Flush or a Straight.

Thirdly, if you're too aggressive pre-flop you're basically advertising that you're sitting with a high pair and this will scare most players out of that round.

Basic Beginner Limit Texas Holdem Strategy Tips

Limit Texas Holdem Poker is the most popular type of holdem poker, attracting many novice poker players. The reason it is so popular is because the betting is not too aggressive. The stakes are not high and because the betting is limited, you can easily compete with very little money.

If you are playing at a 50c/$1 Limit Texas Holdem Poker table, the betting will be limited to increments of 50c for the pre-flop and flop, and $1 for the Turn and River rounds.

If you are unfamiliar with these poker terms then read the Texas Holdem Poker Terms article for a clear explanation of what they mean.

In Limit poker rooms the best poker hand most often wins, because players are more likely to stay in the game and force a showdown. If you were playing in a No Limit Poker Room players are more likely to fold before the turn or river, than risk losing a large piece of their stack.

Bluffing in Limit games are not very common, because it's not too costly for your opponent to call if he suspects that you are trying to bluff him.

If you're playing at a low-limit table and you're dealt a strong hand you should try to keep as many players in the game as possible. Trying checking if you're one of the first to place a bet, this should trick most players into thinking your hand is weak.

After you reach the Turn begin to raise, and try to build the pot up as big as you can.

The key is to draw as many bets out of your opponents without revealing that you are in a strong position.

In low-limit poker games you should be looking for pre-flop hands that are no less than a 9s or higher pair, or two high rank unpaired cards. Read the Texas Holdem Poker Hands article to learn more about poker hands.

12 Tips - How to succeed in online poker freerolls

Online poker freerolls are a unique breed amongst poker tournaments and require a certain way of playing in order to succeed. Here are 6 top tips that will help you succeed in online poker freeroll tournaments.

1. Be patient.

I've put this rule first as I believe patience is the number one most important quality required to do well in the freerolls. One important point to bear in mind is that freerolls usually have hundreds of entrants and can take several hours to complete. If you want to be there at the final table you will need to be very patient.

2. Be Aggressive.

Freerolls are multi-table tournaments and you will usually be seated at a table of ten all the way through the tournament. This is a good thing in a way as it means you don't need to adjust your play to suit a shorter table, but it does mean that when you do have a good hand you need to play it aggressively. Top pairs like Aces and Kings should always be raised strongly pre-flop as they can often come unstuck after the flop. Whenever you get a good hand, ie a high pair or AKs, AQs, you must be aggressive.

3. Play less hands.

As well as being aggressive you need to be controlled and play less hands. Don't be tempted to play hunches, sit tight and wait for the good hands then play them aggressively. A good rule of thumb is to throw away any hand that contains a card that's lower than an eight.

4. Use your table position.

If you are first or second in the betting, a King 10 isn't a very good hand. There are nine players to follow you and if any of them have a pair or an Ace or a King with Queen or Jack then you are struggling. However if you are at the end of the betting and you can "limp in" with a call or check, then your KT becomes an altogether better prospect. Nobody has raised yet so your King might be good and it is certainly worth seeing the flop.

5. Vary your play.

Although you need to be patient and wait for a good hand, don't become too predictable. If you only play the big hands and always raise then your opponents will simply back down and let you take the blinds. The trouble with this is you won't be winning enough in blinds to keep your head above water as you are playing too few hands. You need to vary your style of play and become hard to read.

6. Avoid bluffing.

Bluffing should be avoided, except on very rare occasions. As there are always ten people at the table there is a very high chance that someone will have a good hand each time and will want to go against you, even if you go all in. All in on a bluff is almost suicidal at the online poker freerolls, there's nearly always somebody prepared to call you and you have little chance of surviving.

7. Watch your opponents and learn their playing style.
You can learn a lot of valuable poker information just by watching your opponents playing style and habits at the table. Do they bet almost every hand, do they sit back and wait for a good hand (like you should!), do they fold easily at the first sign of a raise, do they just want to see a free card, is there a "maniac" who raises every hand?

8. Concentrate on the game.
If you want to find out how your opponents play, you need to concentrate fully on what you're doing. Don't write emails while your playing or surf other sites, and turn off that TV!

9. Avoid hesitation.
If you hesitate before you make your move then it is seen as a sign of weakness. In the freerolls you don’t have the luxury of watching your opponent's reactions and one of the few "tells" that you have is the speed at which your opponent makes his move. The worst sin here is to hesitate for a while then check, you have just told the table you don't have a hand but you want to see the next card. You will simply be raised straight out of the hand.

10. Don't chase draws.
It can be very tempting when you see that you have a straight draw, (eg you've got a 6 7 and there's a 5 and 8 in the flop) but the reality is that this hand rarely produces a winner. If you can see the other cards free or for a cheap call then by all means take a look, but remember at this point you have absolutely nothing and your opponents have almost certainly got at least a pair.

11. Remember that your opponents will play different cards from you.
Just because you are doing everything right doesn't mean that they will too! People will play all sorts of hands, especially in a freeroll and you can expect some crazy bad beats. Particular attention should be paid to the possibility of straights, if there are three cards on the table like 5 6 8 for example, there's a good chance somebody might be playing with a 7 4!

12. Treat the freerolls seriously.
Although you're not investing any money to take part in the freerolls, you are investing a chunk of your time so take them seriously. They are a good training ground for learning tournament skills and to win one is a very good achievement.
Not to mention you could win some money!

About the Author

Article by Ian McIntosh, Check out the latest poker articles at Love-Texas-Holdem.com as well all the latest information on Texas Holdem tournaments and freerolls.

General Preflop Strategy article and importance of position

Poker seating and the position one has at the table is one
of the most important and least talked about aspects of
poker. It's especially relative to the Texas Hold'Em poker
game because it is positional in nature. Where a player sits
each hand determines the amount of information he or she can
gain on other players. This can have a big effect on your
poker strategy and how a hand is played. This article will
reference how to play poker from a table of 10 players and
discuss playing from the dealer, early, middle and late
positions.

Dealer Position -- This position, also referred to as "on
the button", is the most coveted because once the flop takes
place, the dealer is the last to act. This means you can
watch and gather information on all the other players before
making your decision. Aggressive play is expected from this
position, especially when all others have checked. Almost
any hand except trash hands like 9 2, 10 4 offsuit can be
considered for play here.

For example, your opponent has Jc, Jh. You have Qd, Kd and
are the dealer. Your opponent raised $20 before the flop and
you called. The flop shows 2d, 3d, 5d. You both check the
flop and the turn shows 8c. Your opponent checks, you raise
$20 and they call. On the river the Js comes up and your
opponent raises $50. From watching you figure they may have
trips. You raise to $100, they call and you win with a King
high flush. Had you been in your opponents position of
having to bet first, you would have been hard pressed to
figure what the dealer had.

Early Position -- This is made up of positions 1, 2 and 3 to
the left of the dealer and are the least advantageous as you
are the first to act after the flop and have no information
on the other players. Here one should play only the
strongest hands like paired A's, K's, Q's, J's, Tens, or
suited AK, AQ, AJ and KQ. Anything outside of these one
should consider folding and waiting for a better
opportunity, especially with an aggressive table. One thing
that can be done from an early position is bluffing. Betting
from an early position can imply that you do have a strong
hand, but bluffing too often will result in others picking
up on it and can be disastrous, particularly when aggressive
bettors are at the table.

Middle Position -- Positions for the middle are 4th, 5th and
6th to the left of the dealer. Because the disadvantage is
not as great as with the early position, you have greater
flexibility to play more hands. Hands like paired 5's thru
9's, suited connectors from 5 6 on up, unsuited connectors 5
6, 6 7, on up. There are more hands that can be played but
this covers the majority that can be easily remembered.
Being in the middle, it is better to raise than call if no
one is in the pot, if you have a playable hand and you feel
some players will fold.

Late Position -- The 7th, 8th and 9th seats at the table to
the left of the dealer make up the late position. Here you
are in an excellent seating area of the table. You can
gather a great amount of information about the players and
their hands. In these positions, one should be aggressive if
not many have entered the pot. If there are a lot of
players, scale back the aggressive play unless you have the
type of superior hand as discussed in the early position.
Another advantage of the late position is that you can
easily play cards like 5 8, J 7, Q 8. For example, supposing
you have 5 8 in the late position and the flop is 2 6 7
unsuited and everyone else checks. Raising at a
non-aggressive table would be the correct thing to do as it
gives you a chance to gain control of the pot as well as
keeping other raises in check from those who would try to
steal the pot. But remember, it is not a license to play
trash hands.

Poker seating is an advanced player concept, but the basics
are simple enough for anyone to remember and take advantage
of when the opportunity does present itself. Good luck!

When Should I slowplay and when not?

Whenever you are dealt a good hand, the question you always ask yourself is, should I slow play this or not. Obviously the factors that you are weighing over in your head are the fact that by slow playing you have a chance to win lots more money, but you also have a much larger chance of getting sucked out on.

So lets go over when you should slow play and when you shouldn’t:

Times you shouldn’t slow play
- When your hand isn’t that good. A bad hand to slow play would be top pair or even an over pair. These hands are good, but they aren’t that good. They are very vulnerable to lots of cards that could come on later streets. Generally betting to thin the crowd is advisable.

- When there are lots of draws. You never want to give free cards to someone on a draw. Make them pay to chase their flush or their straight. If they do call, they might win, making it more expensive for you, but any time they call when you have a higher percentage of winning it is +EV for you. That is often how much money is made and as long as you aren’t playing above your bankroll you shouldn’t mind people calling down with crap hands. In fact that is what you should look for in table selection.

Times that you should slow play
- When you have a great hand that is unlikely to be beat. Lets say you flopped a full house when there is a flush draw out there, or flopped a nut flush. These times you should slow play. Give people a chance to hit their losing hand and lose their whole stack to you. You hit the nut flush? Someone probably has a lone K or Q of the suit. If they hit they will pay you off.

Other things to consider are the size of a pot. It is generally more advisable to slow play when there is a small pot, because the implied odds are large in comparison to the pot size. If there is a large pot you want to win the pot right then. Forget about milking it to the last dime.

This Article was written by College Poker Tips. Visit College Poker Tips to get their great advice on No Limit Hold em and Omaha Hi Lo

College Poker Tips is also hosting a Party Poker Fish List, made up of over 30,000 hands and 5,000 players. Use the free statistics to find out who the fish, maniacs and rocks are, and how to play against them.

Some Texas Holdem Poker Terms

If you're new to Texas Holdem poker this article will be very useful. It's fairly easy to find online poker articles that offer tips and strategies to improve your game, but often they're filled with confusing Poker Terms. So if ever you get stuck you can simply refer to this list of Texas Holdem Poker Terms.

Fixed Limit Texas Holdem Poker:
In this type of poker game the betting is limited to a predefined amount. Usually you'll be able to see the limit in the description of the poker room, displayed as: $5/10. Meaning all bets are limited to $5 in the pre-flop and flop and $10 in the turn and river.

Pot Limit Texas Holdem Poker:
These types of poker games also have limited betting but it is not predetermined, rather the limit is set to the current size of the pot. As the pot grows so does the betting limit.

No Limit Texas Holdem Poker:
In these games the betting is not limited in any way, although some casinos do place a restriction on how often you're allowed to raise in a single game. These games are mostly played by experienced poker players.

Blind Bet:
Blind bets are forced bets. A blind bet is used to begin the betting before the players are dealt any cards. The first two players to the left of the dealer button are normally required to place blind bets.

Call:
A call is a betting option. To call in poker means to match the bet of another player.
So if Player A, bet $5 and you ‘call', you're saying that you'll match his $5 bet.

Check:
To ‘check' is to not place a bet. You only have the option to check if no other bets have been placed before in the round. By checking you're choosing not to bet, and as opposed to folding, you're still in the game.

Fold:
To ‘fold' is to quit the current hand, you're choosing not to place any more bets and end your participation in that hand.

Raise:
To ‘raise' means to place a larger bet than the player before. If Player A bets $5, to raise you would then place a bet of $6 or more.

Going ‘All In':
Going ‘all in' means you're betting everything you have on your hand. If Player A bets $200 and you cannot match that bet, you have the option of going ‘all in'. If you win the hand you're paid a portion of the pot – relative to the amount you've wagered.

Dealer Button:
The Dealer button is a token which is passed around the table in a clockwise direction after every hand. The dealer button is used to determine who the dealer is for that hand. It also determines who needs to place the blind bets, it is common for the first two players to the left of the dealer to place blind bets.

Pre-Flop
The pre-flop is the first round of Texas holdem poker. Players are dealt two cards each, and these are referred to as pocket cards.

Flop
The flop is the second round of poker, and occurs when the first three communal cards are dealt face up on the poker table. These cards can be used by everyone in the Poker Room to create the best 5-card hands.

Turn
The turn is the Third round. In this round a fourth communal card is dealt face up.

River
The river is the final round of Texas Holdem Poker. In this round the firth communal card is placed face up on the poker table...

Read more: Texas Holdem Poker TermsStanley Majors is an experienced online poker journalist who writes articles on a range of poker topics. His numerous articles found on Texas Holdem Net,provide useful and factual poker information and insight.

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