Posts Tagged: free online poker games

This NoPayPOKER free poker training lesson looks again at what we think is the number one poker skill that the largest amount of poker players do not have or even realize the importance of. It is a skill that is without a doubt the most important single skill in poker namely Patience.

With the rise of online poker many people who would have otherwise never played poker have got involved on the basis of the get rich quick teases made in the mass media.

The majority of this new breed of poker player have little in the way of poker skills and most, if asked, will say that poker is mostly down to luck. That is a pity as what most of them don’t know is that if they took a bit of time to learn some basic skills and added in a dose of common sense then they could win, at the least, lower stakes online poker cash games consistently.

The fact that 90% of players do not take the time to learn means that the 10% who do are truly the wolves amongst the sheep. After all, to say that poker is mainly luck is clearly ridiculous, if it were so then how is it that we have so many well know and consistent poker professionals, many of whom make a good living from poker players with some of the best being multi-millionaires by virtue of poker game winnings? Exactly, in a game of luck that would be impossible, therefore poker is a game of skill or rather many skills.

The number of poker skills there are would require a long article just to list but it is possible to say that the first among equals is the ability to be patient. If you can’t be patient when you play poker then it doesn’t matter that you are a psychology and math PHD who can calculate all the odds in an instant and read people like a book because if you can’t wait for the right cards at the right time, you’re doomed.

So lets go into some poker education by illustration of the use and application of patience.

Use of patience in poker tournament play.
In tournaments, especially at the start you need to defend against reckless players who throw their chips with no care at all, in the hope of landing a lucky break. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking they know what they’re doing. They do not!

Instead you must hold out for some premium cards. Fold some, lose a few chips in order that you win a whole pile of chips from them later when you hand comes in and at the same time knock them out.

All you have to do is sit and wait for the dealer to push a couple of good cards to you. Just relax until then. I know that it’s hard to sit by and you feel you should be involved but trust me, winning money is lots more fun that losing and at the end of the day poker is all about money rather than playing a game and in any case winning money is pretty good fun!

Patience Developing Exercise (PDE)
Here is a simple exercise, and it produces the desired results though it is boring and time consuming (though less so that losing!)

Get into a free poker online freeroll. One with lots of players is best.

1) For the whole game you are only allowed to take part in a hand if you have pocket Aces or Kings.

2) Strictly no other pockets can be played.

3) And even if you have pocket Aces or Kings you cannot start a bet or put forth a raise.

4) If you do have AA or KK though you can call a bet.

5) But again, you can’t raise or start any betting.

6) Plus, if you are Big Blind and you don’t have AA or KK you must fold even if there has been no raise made against your Big Blind.

This exercise has helped many players significantly improve their skill set, give it a go!

When you use this in a game you will only be playing about 1% of the hands. AA and KK are each dealt to you approximately once in every 212 pockets. Yes that is boring I know! .

And I admit that this poker training article is a little boring as well but I would day, not as boring as being broke and, when you consider that this boring and rather invisible skill makes up over 50% of what it takes to win at poker I think you’ll agree the boredom of learning was worth it!

So if being patient is something you struggle with get into a poker free online games freeroll today and try the PDE process.

In poker online free where you have less experienced players without the poker skills and knowledge to win frequently or by design consistently, you just have to play solid ABC poker to win many games. Against experienced players, even in some free poker games online and for certain in cash games, simple solid poker does not work as good.

To win frequently you need at mix new methods into your game. A tactic that can be highly effective at times when used against more skilful poker players is the light 3 bet.

The Light-3 differs greatly to the normal ‘value’ 3-bet which is when you raise with a premium pre-flop hand such as pocket aces, kings, queens, or ace-king. With those kinds of hands, you’re looking to extract the maximum value from a strong hand before the flop.

The ‘light’ three bet is a really different sort of move altogether.

Purpose

With the Light-3 bet you are re-raising with a hand that might not the strongest pre-flop but become a lot better later. The Light-3 bet then is a type of semi-bluff, but only semi as the hand is not total rubbish.

You want to win the hand before the flop with your re-raise, steal the hand from your opponent after the flop, or get lucky and make up a big hand.

Even if it fails you will succeed in affecting your table image and balancing your range. If you play too tight, you’ll struggle to get paid off when you make a big hand. By “light” three-betting, people won’t think you’re a nit.

They won’t know whether you have pocket aces or a hand that may be much weaker.

Ideal Opponent

You should not use the Light-3 against weak players. You don’t need to get tricky against them when you can easily outplay them with straightforward tactics.

You do want to use the “light” three-bet against a good player who plays somewhat loose. Since the player will play a wide opening range of hands, he’ll be playing less than premium hands frequently. Oftentimes, this sort of player will lay down his hand when you “light” three-bet. He wants to steal pots. He doesn’t want a confrontation.

Ideal Hand

You obviously shouldn’t “light” three-bet with the worst starting hand possible. Although, some young online pros have been known to “light” three-bet with all sorts of trashy hands.

Ideally, you’ll want to “light” three-bet with suited connectors or suited aces. Although you may miss the flop, you may pick up a powerful enough draw to allow you to stay in the hand the hand. If you “light” three-bet with 7-2 off suit, it’s essentially a stone cold bluff with no real outs.

Summary and Warning
You don’t want to “light” three-bet too much and without an idea of the objective of the tactic. You should play a generally solid game but still generate enough action to get paid off with your good hands. If you “light” three-bet too much, you’ll just turn into another weak, loose player who bleeds money at the table.

If you’ve not tried the light 3 before practice it when you play poker online free first and work it into your money game repertoire when you feel confident in its use. If you’re new to poker learn how to play poker for beginners first at a free online poker games site and learn this sort of tactic in the process.

Sole table competitions or sit and go as they’re also known can earn some decent cash with no thought before play. I personally love playing the free online poker sites and also the low stake (up to ten dollars) sit and go websites. I have my methods on how I play these different games which I will share.

Solid and Tight early on.
By playing this way you must play a decent hand near the start of the tournament. Your place at the table is critical- Paris from twenty two through ninety nine, I call and then up to three times the big blind. A bigger 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.

This sets up some great steals. All they have seen is winners from you…they have no reason to believe you don’t have them now.

By only playing premium hands in the early stages you allow the “Bingo” players to play themselves out. Chances are by playing Solid and Tight you will have the opportunity to take one or two out yourselves.

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.

Add with this there are always the common sense fundamentals when playing for money. I’m one of the old school and being in my fifties I have seen the game evolve in many forms over many decades. To quote one of mu idols “No limit holdem can be taught in half an hour but can take over a lifetime to master”.

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.