Posts Tagged Face Cards

Free Poker Online Guide to Winning All in or Fold Poker Tournaments

Posted by on Monday, 21 June, 2010

I found out that there is a tournament variant called All-in or Fold. The rules are this: There is only one blind (called big blind). Each player starts with just one chip; it doesn’t matter how many, anyway, for these reasons: Your only options are: All-in, and Fold. All in or Fold poker tournaments are increasingly popular in both cash and free poker why not have a play if you come across one, they can be good fun. But be sure to read this first!

If you are on the big blind you are automatically all-in. You receive change, though, if, for example, you have 5 chips and another player goes all in with 2 chips and you call them (which is also an all in). He will not win five chips from you; you will get a change of three chips.

If you’re on big blind you can simply ignore everything else that follows. (This only happens about 10% of the time though on a 10-player table. If you somehow want to become hooked.) So it’s really a math game, and a position game too.

Why math game?
Because you are relying totally on preflop all-ins you must commit to memory the probability of your winning, or at least have a good feel for them. I can give some examples (You can generalize; the probability’s pretty much the same in a similar situation; for instance the first example will be: Two Overcards vs. a Small Pair, or say, A-10 over 5-5 and approximate the probabilities:

A-K vs 8-8
55%-45% in favor of 8-8

A-K vs A-Q
75%-25% in favor of A-K

A-10 vs K-K
75%-25% in favor of K-K

A-K vs 7-6
65%-35% in favor of 7-6

A-10 vs K-Q; A-Q vs K-J
63%-37% in favor of A-10 and A-Q

A-A vs 8-8
80%-20% in favor of A-A

A-A vs A-K
93%-7% in favor of A-A

A-A vs K-Q
85%-15% in favor of A-A

But these do not imply that you should wait for A-A or K-K or A-K before you move all-in, of course. Do it with two face cards, a pair, or A-x. Just make sure the big blind doesn’t reach you, for if that happens your decision’s beyond your will.

All-In or Fold is also a game of position. Oftentimes players in these tournaments play hands similar to the above, and throw away the rest.

Consider these two examples:

(1) You are in late position with 4-4 and there are two all-ins in front of you. You might be facing three or four overcards, or an overpair. Fold.

After all, if you are in late position, there will be many hands before you reach the big blind.

(2) You have A-8 in early position. You are two hands away from being the big blind, so you move all-in, and players after you will interpret an early-position all-in as a sign of strength.

What you consider, then, is the strength of your hand and the surrounding action.

With one-on-one, which happens mostly, the above probabilities still apply. But with three or more, hand strength matters more. Big pairs are still big; medium pairs shrink in power (because you can’t see the Flop yet; usually we see the Flop with a medium pair to hit a Set). A-x becomes weaker; A-K and A-Q weaken down a little bit. However, make sure you play a hand while you’re still in control of your decision. When you get yourself blinded out, it’s for your tournament life, mostly.

To read more articles like this and learn to play online poker check out the NoPayPOKER.com blog which is full of free poker tips and lessons as well as offering a no risk play free poker online site where you can put theory into practice.


Free Poker Online Guide to Understanding Styles of Play and How This Will Win More Games

Posted by on Saturday, 13 March, 2010

Playing paid or free poker online is a game of skill, chance with a little luck thrown in for good measure.

As we all know, 52 cards make up a deck and whatever 5 cards are dealt out, one of those will always win. You could be looking at a completely awful hand of a pair of 2s, or even an A high, but whatever they are, one will always win. This is the wonderful world of poker, not knowing which hands are going to win the game.

When dealt cards you must first decide whether they are suitable to your style of play. Then the decision is whether to fold, call or raise the big blind.

Every individual player has their own style of playing. Some players will only play face cards, whereas others will play any card given to them. That is a style of play. I know of many players who will play nearly every hand pre-flop as long as the bet is within their comfort zone.

Once the flop is seen, it becomes more interesting and a bigger decision needing to be made. If you are holding 3 4 off suit and the flop shows AKJ, what is the likelihood that you will continue with the hand? I would imagine you would fold, unless it is a check through until the turn card is shown.

No poker player is the same, and its important to remember that you can never bee 100% sure how each player will play a hand. There could very well be someone holding 3 4 offsuit and try to bluff and bet big once the flop is shown. I, for one, would never attempt that with such low cards, but I have seen it happen, it’s a great mystery of how others play!

For this reason, it is essential that you study each of your opponents where possible before sitting down with them at a table. You should be able to grasp enough information about their game play to figure out their moves when playing them.

Does that always work to your advantage you may ask yourself. Well, the answer would be no. As I stated earlier, any given 5 cards will win a hand and they may very well be holding Q 10 and flopped a straight. But the odds are in your favor to predict certain scenarios after learning others’ style of play.

Always be observant, never just assume someone is bluffing, and most important, remember to play your game. Your style of play is ultimately what you must rely on to win in poker so be sure to practice and refine in free poker online freerolls before moving up to cash games.


Top Tips for Playing Free Poker.

Posted by on Friday, 19 February, 2010

I very much hope that these free poker tips help you in your poker. The tips do include some poker terms/lingo so if you are new to poker and are unsure then please look up a good poker glossary.

1. Single Table Poker Tournaments (STT’s) are a quicker game than Multi Table Tournaments (MTT’s) and you want to give yourself enough chips to bet properly during the middle stages.

2. You should reduce your starting hand requirements slightly from late position in case of no raises: in no limit poker the expected value of say, a small pocket pair, can be very high.

3. Hands that you can play (in case of no raises and lots of limpers in the pot) in late position include two suited face cards, and suited aces down to an eight. In this phase you are looking for a nuts or near nuts hand (nut flush, full house or straight) that you can afford to slow play and make a huge gain for a small initial stake.

4. Bluffing in the early stages of a STT is pretty useless, because blinds aren’t worth it, and if there are multiple callers, one of them will pay to see you.

5. Post flop you should be mega-tight and never jeopardize either your chips or your table image chasing the river|One big difference between a STT and an MTT is where one player amasses a huge chip lead in the early stages. In an MTT, you hate having them on your table. They steal the pots while people on other tables are playing hands. But in a STT a clear chip leader can be a positive factor. The bluffers are in big trouble, because whatever they throw in, big stack can afford to call. It is possible to play nice and tight and still keep up.

Summary
Play tight, do not bluff and remember your position at all times. Let the fish die off, without losing too many chips, but look for simple opportunities to gain. Create the impression you are a rock and you’ll do great over the long term. If you’re new to it all practice on the free poker sites first before moving up in line with your growing confidence and bankroll.


Blackjack 101

Posted by on Friday, 3 July, 2009

Before you can properly play blackjack you must know the blackjack basics. Blackjack is generally played with between one and 8 decks of cards. The 1st thing you might notice when you start playing the game of blackjack is that before each new blackjack game begins, the dealer spreads the new cards across the table, first face down so that the backs can be inspected for markings, and then face up, enabling both the dealer and the players to determine that there are no extra or missing cards in the deck(s) being used .. or cheating. Blackjack rules state that a standard 52-card poker-sized deck is used, however the four suits have no significance in the game; only the numerical value of each card is important: 2s through 9s are counted at their point value, and all 10s and face cards are valued at 10. The ace is unique, and can be counted as 1 or 11 at the player’s option. Do you love casinos blackjack? Soon you’ll have the option to play it here.

Once the game cards have been inspected, the dealer thoroughly shuffles the deck or decks of cards. Upon finishing the shuffle, a player is given a colored revilement card, which is to be inserted anywhere in the arrange of game being held on the table by the dealer. This is clearly not so for an online casino. There are some grouping that prefer not to revilement the cards, if this happens opportunity to revilement the game is then given to the next player. Should there be no digit that wants to revilement the deck, the dealer will revilement the deck himself. After the revilement has been completed, the dealer places the colored bill toward the backwards of the arrange to indicate when to reshuffle. The dealer will stop the game in his hand to deal when a single deck is being used. A shoe or dealing box is utilised when there are multiple decks being used. In both cases, the first bill – called a defect bill – is not used, but is settled on the bottom of the single deck or in a remove rack. The defect bill is not usually shown, but the dealer may expose the bill if asked. Try to find a reputable online casino to play blackjack. Online gambling entertainment is truly fun.