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To gamble in poker tournaments is when you take big risks in critical situations and is not a good thing to do most of the time, however there is a time and a place for everything and this free online poker article looks at that. The question of when to gamble is easy to answer. The time is in the knockout stages, when you need to get rid of opponents as in the example below.

This hand was shown on the Flop. (Pot 980k)

FLOP: 5c-8d-10s

A has J-10, moves all-in 1.235m (Pot 2.215m)
B has J-9, to call 1.235m

A is short stacked but has a top pair and might double up. B has a Straight draw. It doesn’t matter whether A has a Set, an overpair or just a pair, say, top pair (like A’s J-10) or even just an Eight. B has a great chance to win if he gets the Straight, and if A does not have a Set, which A does not have at this stage that could be turned into a Full House; for this A needs running cards but is only getting 1.79-to-1 on a call, which is too little.

Fair odds are going to be 2.33-to-1, which signifies that B’s chance of winning is only 30% (other outs may be folded already by other players). If B knew that A had top pair, should he call? (Of course, A may be bluffing, but even if A had A-K, B will still be an underdog.)

Pot odds may offer information, but can it offer enough resolution for B to make the tough call? Suppose, now, we add that (a) B is below the chip average in the tournament and (b) this call is for 1/3 of B’s stack. We might should also guess that this is actually the best hand that B has obtained after so many hands, and B is blinding out dangerously. Can this stiffen B’s resolve to make the call? In tournaments, an intricate balance between survival and accumulating chips is paramount.

B can survive by folding, but he could pass up the opportunities that a bigger stack could have. Bigger stacks can call shorter stacks who move all-in. Bigger stacks can steal blinds more frequently. He can also move above chip average. But if B misses his draw, he will be awfully short-stacked and will be more readily called if he decides to move all-in with hazardous hands, like A-J which is an underdog against a better Ace or a pocket pair.

The question, now, is this: Does B consider the difference between 1.79-to-1 and 2.33-to-1 a worthwile price to pay to be able to obtain some of the potential opportnities a big stack can have? On a pot of 2,215,000, if B needs 1,235,000 to call he gets 1.79-to-1. But for B to call with fair odds on a pot of 2,215,000, he is supposed to put only 30% of 2,215,000, which is 664,500.

There’s a difference of 570,500 chips. We could transform the real scenario to a mathematically equivalent question: Would B be willing to give up an additional 570,500, theoretically, in order to enjoy the privileges of a big stack, as well as to avoid the risks of a short-stack?

With the problem mathematically remodeled, the answer now will depend on B’s character. Is he conservative generally? Then he can fold and wait for better hands. He might not be able to psychologically recover if he loses the hand, and might play less attentively later. But it turns out that B is a willing gambler, therefore:

B calls 1.235m (Pot 3.45m)

And he does make the call! Not a favorite, but this is also a chance to knock out a great player.

TURN: 5c-8d-10s-2d

But, not quite yet. B has one more opportunity to try to knock out A.

RIVER: 5c-8d-10s-2d-7h

He gets it! His gamble pays off! But big decisions like this must only be made after major consideration of consequences. If B had a bigger stack (above chip average), he should fold because he might waste away his chips on poor odds and might turn a comfortable stack into a shaky one.

However, if B’s stack was even bigger, close to or even chip leader then a call might be the move to make as loss will only be a minor chip loss. Yet if B’s stack is equal or less than A then he can’t call if he knows A has top pair as he will likely get pushed all-in, and if that happens then there is a great danger of the opponent having a monster hand waiting to kill you off. B made his call, but only at the right conditions and even if you only play poker online for free take care before making moves like this!

When a desperate player in a poker tournament even a free online poker one doesn’t get A-A or K-K they tend to go all-in with Ace-something. Many will move all in with A-K, A-Q, and even A-4.

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

So players running out of chips have a tendency to wait for Ace-something before they move all-in. While the Ace element gives them assurance, the likelihood is that someone will call them with Ace-higher and make them a significant underdog. Furthermore, if the purpose is to move all-in, why not try the same move with King-something (preferably suited)?

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

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

While using A-5, you have to hit the Five if you wish to pair and take the lead. With K-5, you can have both King and Five pairing.

If you extend your all-in hand range to incorporate K-x, you may have to move all-in more than ever before. 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.

You can also 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, consider the King too, it might just make your day!

So why not try out the King High approach on the free poker online tables first, get accustomed to it and then apply in more dangerous poker games later.

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

If you’re not used to this thought process then by far the best way to get ahead is always to practice a LOT on free poker online sites for instance http://www.NoPayPOKER.com and ONLY when you are winning consistently move up to actual money stakes.

At NoPayPOKER you will find true free poker online where you 100% cannot lose money no matter how bad or crazy tilt 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 poker online training series on the http://www.NoPayPOKER blog, from how to play poker for beginners courses upto expert. Go join today and play poker online free right away with the free bankroll you get just for signing up.

Regardless of if you’re a beginning free online poker player or a WSOP top table pro, the all-in is the biggest move in poker.

Generally you should only consider moving all in if you have a hand that stands a good chance against powerful hands such as A-K and A-Q which are the most common hands played all-in.

It is because these are the hands also most willing to call. Which hands, then, are we ready to put our tournament life on? Pocket pairs come to mind. So does A-K (or A-Q or even K-Q suited or K-J suited if you are running out of chips)

But someone does it differently. I would like to add that here; player B is an impatient, rowdy player who is familiar to us TV poker fans.

BLINDS 12k/24k

A has Ad-Kd raises 75k

A’s raise is just standard for A-K suited, although it is slightly stronger (the average preflop raise is about 2.5x the big blind, but this raise is a little greater than thrice). But look at B’s move, which may be less standard:

B has 10c-5c moves all-in 544k

How about that: a 10-5? With about 22 big blinds left, which is relatively a short-stack (but not so short), B moves all-in. However with a 10-5? B can wait for slightly better hands than this.

Now let us try to justify the 10-5 in this situation. If B did it with a small pair, he is a slight favourite (about 55-45). If with A-x (with x smaller than a King), he is a significant underdog (about 75-25).

With any two cards except Ace or King, he is a less significant underdog (about 66-34).

So the win-rate of 10-5 against A-K (here B deciding that A’s hand was A-K or similar was quite a gamble; if he’s up against A-A he is a big underdog, about 85-15) is just the average of the win rate of a pocket pair against A-K and the win rate of A-x against A-K, and therefore not so bad.

Moreover, with 10c-5c B has two live cards, in contrast to A-x, where x is the only live card. Moreover, B may dislike having 22 big blinds dwindle to, say, 15 or 14 later, so he decides to put his heart and soul into this hand. Who is this player, anyway? “I’ve got a 10-5, girls and boys.” You heard right, the garrulous Mike Matusow! “The Mouth!”

A calls 469k (Pot 1.124m)

Now let us observe how “The Mouth” will fare against all odds.

FLOP: Js-7c-5s

“That’s a Flop!” A Five fell, pairing Matusow!

TURN: Js-7c-5s-8d

RIVER: Js-7c-5s-8d-6d

Moving all-in can end up being the most dangerous moments in poker. Even in free online poker it is also the most thrilling, anyway. The all-in recharged Matusow’s stack to 45 big blinds.

This isn’t the sort of eccentric play that can be exploited forever though. When Matusow believed that A has A-K or similar, he is gambling.

Most players will call with pocket pairs but I doubt in this case that A will call with less than 10-10.

Against A-A or K-K or a higher pair, 10-5 will win only about 15% of the time, and with 10-10 to 5-5, about 25%, and with 4-4 to 2-2, nearly a coin flip.

The All-In In summary

Take the time to read and understand the principles behind this article. Begin to understand the key points behind what is going on within this example and think of ways to put these lessons into your personal play.

It takes time to learn how to play poker at a level where you make money consistently.

But if (and when) you learn to really play poker well then you will make some great money. Why?

Because most players never get close to what we can call a good standard of play.

So you, if you can get to a good standard will do very well very easily. You don’t have to be a TV pro to make good money in poker!

The fact that most players are at such a low skill will mean that whenever you hunt/play them on free online poker games or low stakes sites you’ll be able to clean up.

To learn to play poker free go see the NoPayPOKER blog, the free poker lessons there cover all levels from newbie to advanced, plus, the website itself as a free online poker site is the ideal place to practice what you learn.

Yesterday we learned that Intel tore it up during the first quarter of 2010. Good for them, but what about longtime rival AMD? Turns out they’re doing nicely as well, with record quarter revenue and signs of general recovery for the semiconductor business. I won’t get into the details (check the Register) but it looks like the daring footwork done over the last couple years is paying off for the underdog semiconductor company.

Glee, the all singing, all dancing Television hit is taking the globe by storm. While inevitable similarities to High School Musical are being created left, right and centre, the Glee show is taking a bit of a completely different direction to those motion pictures. It tends to indicate that characters are not good, and on the entire may be a very little more realistic than the Zac Efron/Vanessa Hudgens extravaganza.

Glee’s second season is coming, and rumours are already doing the rounds of a Glee feature adaptation, except for now it’s remaining on Television, where it’s garnering large viewing statistics. It is not just happening stateside either, as Glee mania has gripped fans around the world.

The soundtrack CDs of songs from the Glee TV series are proving to be giant hits with enthusiasts, as is that the notorious cover version of ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ by classic rock act Journey. Ok, therefore it could come across as sugary and relentlessly twee, it will have its positive factors. The characters are not good, undernourished, perfect idols. Many of them come across as normal, with regular problems and issues. Positive, the show is concerning as laborious hitting as Pokemon, however it has its worth.

While the Glee TV series is way from new, it has really tapped into the audience that has been left shocked by the end of High School Musical, and in the process it’s gathering even more enthusiasts, all of who need additional singing and dancing comedy drama in their lives. In essence, it’s filling enthusiasts with glee. As unhealthy as that pun is, it would appear to be true!

I should stress that I am not a friend in any method, form or form. However, I do honestly believe a TV show with a positive message, that follows a assortment of underdog characters, definitely has its place on our screens. I could actively dislike the show, however there are uncountable individuals that am fond of it, and I can’t deny them that, as it’s an innocuous and entertaining series that a nice several individuals are getting something out of.

The Glee TV series is picking up a fine custom of aspirational TV shows for viewers looking the normal changes of life, picking up the baton from shows such as Fame and its sort. With Glee TV series products proving to be substantially asked for, and each episode creating additional fans and additional chat, it’s a fairly safe bet that the Glee TV series can be around for your time yet. This is often something that, to its several fans, is really price a song and dance.