Types of Players

Call Stations
The Call Station is happy to see the flop but will not raise or best, only call until the river comes, hence the name. Play a normal game with decent hands and you’ll get money out of them, just one exception, no bluffing as they will, as the saying goes, call your bluff! Also known as Loose-Passive.

Rocks.
These players do not want to get involved with more hands and thus only plays with strong or premium hands.

The rock is easy to bluff as he believes everyone else is as honest as he is! This players favorite action is folding or calling if he has a premium hand. If a risk calls your bluff respect the call as he won’t be counter bluffing you. Also known as Tight-Passive.

Maniacs.
The maniac loves to bet, raise and bluff all the time almost regardless of the hand. They will often go all in pre-flop without hesitation. This is a common free poker games player. Only call these players if you have the best hand. Bluffs won’t work because they will counter bluff you back. Also known as Loose-Aggressive.

The Solid Player.
These players are sometimes be called the professional players. They understand poker inside out and know a lot of tactics for all occasions and will be trying as hard as you to identify your play style. They know when to fold and when to go all in if sense a bluff. They don’t think poker is about luck, they understand how probability and poker work and make their own luck. The Solid player is also called a Tight-Aggressive.

Position
Position is often the key to getting the most of poker. If you don’t know how to play by position then you are playing poker blindly. An QK might look great to call but its really not too good if you are the first to act and the other players are awaiting your action.

Early Position.
This position describes the first player to act prior to the flop. This position follows the blinds.

There 2 early positions in a table of 10 players. In this position you are at a great disadvantage to other players due to not enough information on the table. It’s always best to be tight in this position and raise with only good hands such as AA, KK, QQ, AK and fold anything else. Why? Since you lack information on the other players and calling so many hands would risk you putting all your chips to the pot. Always raise.

Middle Position.
There are 3 middle positions in a 10 player table. In middle position you will have a little understanding on the other players.

It’s always best to play at least semi loose but still be mindful as there are still other players waiting in line. Hands that can be played in this position are 88 to AA and suited connector cards like 89 diamonds. Be sure to know when you are beat at the flop and fold your hand. Re-raise only if you think that you have the best hand.

Late Position.
Usually this position is the most advantageous. Why? Since you have maximum information on the other players. It is possible to play many cards in this position if the pot hasn’t been raised.

Call with unsuited or suited connectors, suited cards, small pairs like 22, 33, 44 and practically any card as long as you know what the other players are like. This is where bluffs will tend to be successful.

For a great free poker lesson on playable cards and position see the D M Vadnais series, “Building Your Bankroll” also on NoPayPOKER, it’s brilliant.

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One of the players was duped, but so was I even though I wasn’t in the hand. There is a simple lesson that comes out which is, firstly, you must learn when to fold and second, as related to folding, learn to recognize all the outs available in the hand – or else!

Here’s how and why:

BLINDS 30/60

A has As-Jd, calls 60
B has ??-??, calls 60
Big blind and small blind joins (Pot 210)

FLOP: 8c-4c-As

A thinks his Ace is strongest and so stays aggressive:

Big blind and small blind check-fold
A bets 300
B calls 300

Because A fired out more than the pot, B is now getting less than 2-to-1 on a call, (1.7-1) which is the right price to call for a Straight or a Flush draw with two cards to come. A’s bet is just enough to drive out an incomplete hand. However, since B seems to be a weak player who chases draws, he decided to call.

TURN: 8c-4c-As-5c

The Five of Clubs came, and A, at this point, still has a strong hand, but has weakened. His Pair of Aces is good against what he believes should be a stray Flush draw. If he makes B continue, however, he might not be able to play his Pair. So A continues battering:

A bets 500
B calls 500

RIVER: 8c-4c-As-5c-7d

A Diamond came! Not a four-Flush. Of course A believes his Aces are good already, except if his opponent had A-K. So A tries a check-trap

A checks
B bets 1250
A calls all-in 1250

B reveals 8d-6d, wins the pot

How in the world did B have the Straight? When A saw 3 Clubs, he figured B had, maybe , 1 Pair and 1 Club that could make a made Flush later on. It didn’t, so A thought B’s all-in was because of the value of the small Pair B already had. He believed it will be only 8-x or less, so A called with what he thought was the best hand. It wasn’t.

True the board was risky, but A did not realize just how much danger there was. By focusing too much on the Flush, he didn’t realize that the Board was one card off a Straight (only a 6 is needed to topple him), and when only three Clubs came, he was lifted his fright of the Flush, but it made him recklessly disregard all other potential hands. His check was correct, but if he’s to have folded a fold would be better after that check.

And I, too, was duped. I thought B had a busted Flush, too. When B pushed A all-in, I, too, thought he was doing it with a pair and a busted Flush draw. It was with a Straight.

So what free poker lessons can be taken from this hand?

One is to know when to fold. If the board is one card off a Straight or Flush or any other big made hand, and a big bet is in front of you (which you reasonably believe is not a bluff), you should, more often than not, fold.

Two is to know which cards can crush you. All of them, not just some.

For A, during the Flop and the Turn, he realized that only Clubs can crush him. On the river, as there are only three Clubs (if B had the flush made, he would have moved all-in on the Turn, and A could have folded), A thinks he?s safe. He focused on the Clubs too much; he forgot the 6.

Of course it’s easy with hindsight and analysis, being aware of factors like all the available outs is a tough one if you’re new to poker (hell even if you’ve got some time tucked away) so for that reason it’s best to practice and play poker online for free a lot at http://www.NoPayPOKER.com before you go off to places like Feltstars and PartyPoker or live games and start throwing real money about. Even when you do progress I advise you to come back and play free poker online regularly in order to de-stress, make errors without loss and practice new ideas.

At worst, if someone with A-4 is called by the medium Pair, there’s still one overcard. With A-K you could be called by Ace-lower and still be a significant favorite.

This is fine but should not be your only all in gambit in such situations. In this this free poker games article you’ll see why you should also move all in with King-High when your backs up against the wall!

The trend for tournament players today has altered slightly in favor of moving all-in with King-something, like K-Q, K-J, K-10 (certainly, the applications here apply also to A-K) and also K-x suited. Other players will also call with a smaller pocket Pair, and so A-x has the same probability of winning as K-x against a smaller Pair if both cards are overcards.

And K-x comes with a additional benefit. While a hand like A-5 is a major underdog against A-J, K-Q or K-5 is only a slight underdog.

Approximately, it’s a 13 to 7 underdog, but match it up to A-5 which is a 15 to 5 (or 3-1) underdog. What you want to fetch with K-x is its live card value.

With the A-5, you need to hit the Five in order to pair and take the lead. With K-5, you may have both King and Five pairing.

If you extend your all-in hand range to include K-x, you may have to move all-in more than usual. Because many players will fold to an all-in (including marginal high A-x such as A-10 or A-9) other players at the table will get a more aggressive impression of your play.

Also you can steal the blinds more often. The all-in itself (and not really the cards employed to move all-in) is a sign of strength; it is the same with A-x or K-x.

All in all, if you’re running out of chips and the all in approach beckons don’t limit yourself to just Ace-x, think about the King too, it might just make your day!

So why not experiment with the King High approach on the free online poker tables first, get used to it and then apply in more high risk poker games later.

Hopefully this was interesting and helps your poker game be it free online poker or for cash. Certainly it will demonstrate that in a given poker game situation you will find options to consider based on the cards you’ve got, the game phase, opposition and known and predicted risk to mention but a few.

If you are not used to this approach then by far the best way to get ahead is always to practice a LOT on free online poker sites such as http://www.NoPayPOKER.com and ONLY when you are winning consistently progress to real money stakes.

On NoPayPOKER.com you’ll play genuine free online poker where you absolutely, 100% literally can not lose any money ever no matter how bad you play! Practice to your hearts content and lose all you like, you can always just join the next freeroll after all!

And there is a huge free online poker training series on the http://www.NoPayPOKER blog, from how to play poker for beginners courses upto expert. To get into it just join free today and play poker online free right now with the free bankroll you get to start you off.

Unfortunately the reality is that to succeed in poker this is a key part of the game that you have to master, especially if you have any aspirations to play live money games.

The big problem for non math wizards is that it is genuinely hard to do it in alive game in your head.

By way of example:

Suppose you hold 8-7 and the Flop comes 5-6-A. You want to know your odds on hitting a Straight later.

Should you use a rigorous mathematical solution, you are going to construct this nightmare:

The cards which will help you are the Four and the Nine. There are upto 8 such cards left in the deck. The odds of your getting them later is P (1-P)Q, where P is the probability of hitting your hand on the Turn, and Q is the probability you will hit at the river. It is P (1-P)Q because (1-P)Q is the probability that you will hit on the river if you don’t complete your hand on the Turn.

Now here are the values for P and Q.

- P = 8 cards still on the deck that will help you divided by 52-5 = 47 remaining cards = 8/47.
- Q = 8 cards still on the deck that will help you, since you didn’t complete on the Turn divided by 52-6 (since there are six cards already out, your hole cards and the Board) = 8/46.

The overall answer is 8/47 (1 – 8/47)(8/46) = .170 (.829)(.174) = .170 .144 = .314 = 31%. You have a 31% chance of hitting your Straight later.

Ouch, that’s fun and beyond the majority of us! However, in a table you usually do not have a calculator (and even if you do you still need to know what to input into it .

And many poker players just know the outs, but not really much of basic probability theory. How is this? An out by the way is any unseen card that, if drawn, will improve your hand win chances.

Here then is a much simpler, easy way to work out odds

Why don’t we try an approximation formula:

- You divide 8 by 50, because 47 is near to 50, and get 16.

- Double it again so you get .32.

- It’s a reliable estimate.

- All things considered, poker players, in games, do not need exact solutions; they want only a hint as to where they’re standing.

- In this case “about 32%” is a nice enough answer.

So, in the Flop, here’s the approximation:

- Get the number of your outs, then multiply it by 4, then affix a percent sign.

- That’s a reliable approximation percentage of your hitting the hand.

- During the Turn, if you still have outs, multiply it by 2, then affix a percent sign.

- Preflop, when you choose to push all-in, you usually don’t have to do this since you will rely mainly on pure hand strength.

The best way by far to perfect your odds skills is to play poker online free at http://www.NoPayPOKER.com, there you can get it wrong a hundred times and never lose money! Of course there are odds calculators of allsorts about that can help and do the real complex stuff but these won’t ever help you if you want to play live so it’s best to learn it for yourself if you have any ambition to move beyond free online poker and win proper money.

Players who call to much are referred to as “calling stations”, and they tend to lose more often than not, however their calling is not the reason they lose their chips. The lose because they do not call at the right times and places.

During this free poker online article, we’ll explain to you by way of example how to use calling in poker correctly.

Are there right reasons for calling?

The reasons you may call may be the same reasons that an aggressive player would use for betting. Here are some example situations where you may use the poker call.

- As an example, if you have A-K in a board of 10-3-K-7-8, if you’re first to act, you bet; you don’t check and call.

- You value-bet. However, if you’re not first to act, what do you do if someone bets?

- Do you raise? Now, right reasons for betting are not-so-right reasons for raising. As you still have a hand you don’t raise but neither do you fold.

The rule now, for the above hand, is:

- If you are first to act, you bet.

- If you are not first to act, and someone bets, call an amount less than or equal to the amount you intend to bet if you are the first to act.

- When the amount is greater, you fold. This rule applies only when you have a hand.

- Without a hand, like just Ace-high, you bet, but you fold to a bet.

- Don’t call with Ace-high (unless from curiosity).

Let us try another hand.

You have 8-7 and the Flop is K-6-9. Your options are to check-call or bet. As your hand is not complete betting is the better option as you can hope to make the other player fold.

- If you check-call, however (or call a bet), you may send a message to your opponent that you are on a draw, and then your opponent may keep bullying you later.

- Nevertheless, you need to complete a powerful hand, so you call.

- Just make sure you have the pot odds to call, however.

- If your opponent continues bullying you once you complete the Straight, you can raise.

Now, in another hand, you have A-6 in a Flop of 9-6-2.

- Since the flop comes small cards, anyone with big cards will fold to a bet.

- You can bet your Sixes. And you can also call with it, especially if your opponent decided to end the hand right there with A-Q.

- You are able to call, and later, if your opponent is constantly working you with small bets, you may call each small bet, because your odds are still acceptable.

- In addition, you may pair your kicker or your Six if you call.

Lastly, if you have Q-Q in a Flop of Q-10-10, you’ve got the other guy dead.

If your opponent bets, and you raise, the chances are greater that your opponent will fold than not.

- For the reason that although your opponent could have A-Q, it is not likely since you know there are three Queens already out.

- Also an additional Ten is less likely for a similar reason.

- Your opponent may have K-J or A-K (for a useless Straight draw) or a Flush completer.

Give the opposing players openings to finish their hands, this way you hope to tempt more action from them. If an opponent completes the Straight or the Flush later, you will have the advantage. So keep calling, until everyone escalates.

This also applies if you feel your opponent has the spare Queen or Ten. You may let your opponent just bet and bet till the river, where he thinks you’re calling since you just had a Queen or a small Pair, so at the river you may move your chips in.

Now, what’s misguided with calling stations’ calling beliefs?

- First: they call even with the pot odds against their favor. They generally chase inside Straight draws and so they lose their chips over time when they keep doing so.

- Secondly: they call big bets with modest, but marginal, hands even if they understand they’re beat. In a flop of 9-6-2 above, A-6 may call, but only if your opponents’ bets are small. But in front of a large bet, fold A-6 because you might not win against 9-x if you cannot pair your kicker or turn Trips.

Calling stations are the ones always calling with small pocket Pairs in the presence of overcards.

- Third: they generally imagine that every player is bluffing so they are usually tempted to call even with Ace-high. Quite simply, they call a bluff or something that seems like a bluff.

I hope this gave you some good insight into the use of calling in poker. When you play try to look for similar situations where you can apply the call artfully and be aware of when not to use it.

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The guides and lessons are 100% free, you do not even have to join NoPayPOKER or play any of the free poker games. Though quite frankly you’d have to be crazy not to as it is free and risk free and you do get a free bankroll just for showing up!

Playing the player has 2 sides. On your side you are trying to read your opponent, classify their style, of play, motivations and actions and play your cards in accordance with your conclusions.

In regard to the other players you aim to play them in order to misdirect their attempts to play you, to have them make incorrect conclusions about your style, motivations and drivers.

To learn how to do this lets look at an example of playing the player in action from a WSOP event.

BLINDS 50k/100k

1) A has Ac-Qh raises 350k
2) B is on big blind, has Kc-Js, calls 230k (Pot 880k)

K-J is usually a bit weak to call a raise. Moreover, B doesn’t have position over A, but he calls because he wants A to guess.

From the big blind, generally we just call because we are on a discount, so we might have 6-5, 10-8, and a bunch of other indeterminate hands which require guessing.

FLOP 4d-5h-3d

B bets 535k

Because small cards fell, B now wants A to think that his call from the big blind hit the Flop, and that his hand may well include those indeterminate hands like 5-4, 8-5, or even 6-7, or two Diamonds. But what did A think?

A raises to 1.8m (Pot 3.215m)
B needs 1.265m to call

Here, A thought that B’s bet was just a continuation bet, and with small cards falling A’s belief is reinforced that B is just trying to finish the hand. How would small cards likely hit B?

Additionally, B has been playing aggressively all night (stealing pots, etc.) so B could be betting with something (which is not likely with small cards falling) or with nothing. B could be playing just about anything, especially from the big blind.

At that point, A gambled that B has nothing. He could also have assessed that if B had something and goes all in later then he can move out fast. So he raised to try B’s strength.

B folds

B folds, because, indeed, he has nothing, and if he calls, he will be committed to continue. (Had B moved all-in then it will be a good all-in, for A could still be guessing at this point what B’s hand was. But B’s cards were not strong enough.)

Also, he folds, because A raised from late position, which allows for a wider range of hands, like even 5-4 or two Diamonds.

Poker, indeed, is not simply a game of good hands versus good hands. Experienced poker players will win with bad hands under the right conditions.

We give credit to B for first trying to win with a bad hand, a good effort to play he player. Unfortunately for B, A did the playing the player task superbly too, having noted previous actions and motivations and related that to current con text and probability and so played out to win well.

Summing up
I know this may seem like a lot to take in all at once, the fact is though that while poker is an easy game to learn it is hard to be very good at, hence the crazy stupid “chip flinging” you will come across on many poker sites.

Yes it is mad that so many players play with so little skill, but it is also very good news for you as a player who is learning to play correctly. The reason why is that when you really learn how to play poker well you can turn mercenary and hunt them down in droves in low stakes real money games as well play free poker games sites that pay out real money like NoPayPOKER and happily build your skills and bankroll!

To make this work first, learn to play online poker on free poker games tables where you can learn while you lose but without losing real money, then once ready to can move up to low stakes and start to get rich!

Ok to start with if the pot odds are about four to one it’s relatively secure to call, although a drawback, you won’t be pocketless after. Four to one may make you think that you should be calling every pocket pair but at the early stages it’s very difficult.

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.

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.

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.

Ok to start with if the pot odds are about four to one it’s relatively secure to call, although a drawback, you won’t be pocketless after. Four to one may make you think that you should be calling every pocket pair but at the early stages it’s very difficult.

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.

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.

As you sit in anticipation for your turn you take a quick look over your opponents trying not to give any signs away of the fabulous hand you hold- there sits a fish. They have all played their part and helped water the stack as you sit watching it flourish. The bad calls and awful bets are all helping line your back pocket. They continue to outstack you after their latest hail-mary & you sit hoping they continue 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 slowly shows his cards and there it is pocket sevens! A huge gasp as everyone must be questioning what the hell they were doing. You stay calm in the comfort that his only possibility of saviour is to pull 2 more 7’s out the hat. Now off of the turn; and as if by magic the first of those 7’s appears. You can’t believe it- and as if things couldn’t get any worse, without hesitation the dealer reveals the 4th dreaded 7! Shock horror!

Your heart sinks and you drop to you knees. You have been forsaken. You swear never to play again as the gods can’t exist and let that happen. You want to scream as fishy. But you don’t. You congratulate and leave.

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.

Everybody comes to the table expecting to win in a different way. Remember the bad beats but never admonish those who hand them to you. They are profitable people and need to be remembered. Keep them close to you heart and tell no one. Smile and remember there money 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!

Lady Luck

Well to start with let me be very clear about the fact that like all games of cards this too depends a lot on your luck. Many people say that you can make your own luck, which when playing poker is achieved by picking your cards and games cautiously. If you have any card above 10 it really helps, having an ace though is the best option. This is because most people bet only when they have a card with a high face value. The best time to go all-in is when you are holding a face card or even better, two of them. Although as I said that there are no guarantees and still a lot depends on luck.

Know The Players

One type like to take high risks and more often than not bet all that they have in one go. At times this can be good but in most cases it’s a suicide mission and you are advised to bet once these people loose all their chips or settle down and start betting in a normal way.

The other type of player is the one who is very tight with their betting and even if they have a decent hand is still likely to bet a low amount. These types of players are of no significant danger of knocking you out.

Next come the so called bluffers and these can be quite dangerous. It’s really hard to figure out when they are bluffing and when they really have good cards. They confuse you a lot so be careful while dealing with such players. The best thing though is to play with only when you are confident about your cards.

Betting Strategy

When it comes to betting you need to decide how much you want to bet and if possible wait until the last minute to decide, if possible. If not, just play according to the cards you have been dealt and go all out if you really have a good hand. The best way to get more return for your good hand is to bet small amounts in the beginning, to keep all interested and then increase the bet steadily. In this way the other players are forced to keep betting and you can increase the number of chips you earn.

I look forward to seeing you at the free poker tables soon!