Category: English

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Believe it or not, these days it is possible for a player to start from zero and make his/her way up into the upper echelon of poker aristocracy, or at least reach a level where he/she can make a living playing poker.

In theory, it’s rather easy too. Poker pro Chris Ferguson had a challenge on FullTilt Poker that he could make $10,000 without any starting bankroll, and sure enough he pulled it off, in much less time than people would’ve thought possible. He began by playing freerolls to establish a bankroll he could start with in real money games, then gradually worked his way up, until he hit $10,000. Now, there’s a poll on Full Tilt’s site where people can vote whether they want to see him attempt to reach a million dollars, or consider the challenge fulfilled.

Sure, I’m not about to argue how great an opportunity online poker is for get rich quick schemes with no investment required. After all, saying that not all people possess the qualities that made it possible for Chris Ferguson to pull off something like that, would be a huge understatement. No, you’re not going to find the going that easy, but still the chance to build up a reasonable bankroll and then to generate some extra dough is there for you too. And no, you don’t have to take the money you would’ve taken to the back of your garden and burnt, and invest it. You don’t need to invest anything at all. The competition among the hundreds of online poker rooms now populating cyberspace is for the benefit of everyday players like you and I. It gives birth to bonuses and loyalty offers that would’ve been considered downright foolish not more than 2-3 years ago.

In this respect, there are poker rooms out there that will literally pay you to play, in one form or another. One of the most accessible ways into the ranks of real money online poker is the free bankroll. Quite a few poker rooms offer their players real money, upfront, with no strings attached upon their arrival. Certainly, they won’t be able to cash the money out and be on their way, because that would be the equivalent of robbery, but provided one manages to fulfill the wagering requirements, it’s a great start. The free bankroll will instantly hit your real money account, and you’ll be able to play with it as if it were you own. Once you played it through enough times (you’ve generated enough rake) you’ll be allowed to cash your money out. If you handle things well, you may even end up with more money than the free bankroll you were initially granted.

Cashing out after a successful free bankroll adventure is always a good idea. Chances are, the poker room that provides the free bankroll will not provide the best on and off-table odds for you, but you can’t look a gift horse in the mouth, this will have to do just fine until you get your hands on the funds. Once that’s done, you’ll have a choice of where to invest it. Fist thing’s first: look for a good rakeback deal. Playing with reduced rake will not only make it easier for you to beat the games in the long-run, it’ll also earn you money at the end of each month or week. Playing as a poker prop will land you an exceptional rakeback setup (well above 100%), which can provide a huge push towards the real poker bankroll that you aim for.

Whatever you do, try to avoid cash games as long as you know you’re under bankrolled. Cash games are by far not the ideal choice for bankroll building for several reasons. On one hand, you’ll pay more rake than in a tournament, on the other hand, the nature of play at cash tables will not aid you one bit.
STTs (Single Table Tournaments) are the games for you at this stage. They give you excellent odds, a flimsy opposition (at a 10 handed table, you only need to best 7 players to double up on your buy-in) and they’ll be over in a reasonable amount of time, so they represent a very good return on your time investment too.
Start with lower buy-ins and gradually work your way up into higher-buyin STTs.

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“Sometimes, we just feel this overpowering blind impulse to reassess a big pot. Apart from if we are drunk or tilted, this urge is broadly when we flop a great hand. At other times, we like to comment medium-sized pots, and this is predominantly when we have a ace but not great hand. Sometimes, we want to pore over a small pot and get to showdown cheap, this is when we have a average but probably-best holding.
This is the reason it is so important to try to adjust the pot size to match the quality of your poker hand. If we say that we raised 99 from late position and an opponent called by both blinds. The flop is perfect for us – J93. This is one of those occasions where our highest wish is to just get the money in the middle – and this is why it is so vital to start developing the pot right away!
If the blinds assess to us, we should place a bet – about 2/3 to 3/4 of the pot is a acceptable bet. Occasionally our opponents will have missed the flop completely and fold, but if they have hit a piece of it they will call – or even raise the bet! – And the pot gets nicely bloated already on the flop, increasing our chances of stacking the opponent. By placing a bet, we give ourselves the contingency to win a galactic pot whereas if we look at behind, we will have pains winning a big pot.
Creating pots on early streets with cracking holdings is an essential part of ace regard.
Then what about the medium-sized pots? Well, let’s say that we raised AQ preflop and once again the blinds called. The flop comes QT3. If both investigate to us, we should bet for value, but at the same time a positive measure of care is needed. If we don’t have a acceptable read, we no doubt do not want to remark upon for stacks – the opponent could have two pair or a set. We are wagering to extract money from a straight draw or a top pair with a worse kicker.
The recognized turn check out is to comment behind if the other player checks, with the resolution of calling most rivers if bet into and value-wagering most rivers if checked to.
With bad holdings, our aim is to keep the pot small. If we say that we, in an online poker game, limped A4 suited from late position after a few limpers (to try to flop a straight, flush or bona fide draw). The flop comes AT8, which provides us top pair with a lousy kicker.
In this case, it is in our interests to keep the pot small. If checked to, we should study and see a turn card (if we bet, we are likely only getting called by hands that beat us). If another player bets, we can call on the flop and re-review in retrospect on the turn (or just fold if it is a tight player doing the wagering). If there is a place a bet and a call in front of us, we just throw away this hand. We have no interest to size up a medium-sized or big pot.
Changing the pot size to the strength of your holding is an imperative part of poker. Of course, sometimes it is imperative to mix up our report a bit to not make us too probable, but the above lines are long-term winning recognized plays.
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Part of the charm of poker is the delicate and tough decisions we
face when playing. We have a feeling that our top pair with a bad
kicker is the best hand, but we are not sure. We think that our
opponent might be bluffing, but how do we know? This insecurity gnawing
at us when playing adds to the depth of the game and puts us on the
edge of our seats when playing online poker.

A good rule of thumb
is, when we are unsure, to either raise or fold. Let us assume that we
called a preflop raise from a tight player with JTs after a caller
in-between. The flop comes T73 rainbow. The early position raiser bets
out, the player between us folds. What should we do?

First of
all, we need to realize that our holding is very marginal. Sure, we
have top pair, but our kicker is bad and we are facing a tight player.
It is not exactly a hand to write home about (unless we have our mom on
MSN and want some good parental advice).

In this situation, our
options are to raise or fold. There is nothing wrong in folding. A bit
on the tight side, sure, but if we put the tight player on a good hand
there is no reason to continue playing. We can, however, test the tight
player by raising. If the opponent re-raises we just fold, if he calls
we do not put another cent in the pot unless we improve to two pair or
three of a kind. Playing like this has its advantages: we avoid to pay
off our opponents’ good hands (for example, over pairs or sets), but we
win most of the times he is continuation-betting with a hand like AK or
88.

The same is true for a hand like 87 on a flop like T76 – a
very marginal holding indeed. Middle pair and a gutshot straight draw
is not really a hand we like to get deeply involved with, but if we
feel the opponent might be bluffing it is not wrong to test him with a
raise. Folding is correct, but often, so is raising.

The common
denominator for both hands is our action on the flop. Raise or fold. No
calling! This allows us to avoid trouble later in the hand, on more
expensive streets. If we face resistance, we are probably beat. If we
are lucky, we draw out on the turn and get paid off, but otherwise we
just toss our hand in the muck without losing too much money.

Should
we just call the flop with a marginal hand, there is a risk of us
trying to bluff should the opponent check the turn, or maybe it will be
too alluring to call on the river just to see him turn over a better
hand. It all boils down to avoiding trouble on later streets by acting
on the flop. It both saves money and makes money, and is therefore a
good play.

Written by Andris Kangeris for 24hPoker.com

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Since we, unfortunately, are not born perfect, flawless and
all-knowing, we are bound to make a lot of mistakes each and every time
we try something new. We go through a learning curve where we identify
the errors we commit and try to correct these to the best of our
abilities.

This is also true for online poker. In this article, I will point out four common and costly beginner errors.

1) Playing too many starting hands

This
is probably the most common, and one of the most costly, mistakes a new
poker player makes. Most new players are so eager to just play that
they fail to realize the value of sound starting hand selection. There
are certain hands that should rarely be played and there are loads of
hands that should never be played. Good starting hand selection is the
foundation of solid play.

2) Betting too small

Another
common mistake is betting too small. It is not at all uncommon to see
people making tiny bets, even in large pots. This is almost always
wrong. When you bet too little, people will not fold the times you
bluff, and will have good odds to outdraw you when you have a good
hand. A good rule of thumb is to always bet ½ – ¾ of the pot size.

3) Slowplaying too much

The
rush of flopping a great hand, like three of a kind or a straight, is
exhilarating. So exhilarating that many new players forget to bet their
great hands! When you flop a great hand, the best way to get paid
usually is to just bet it. Sure, there will be these annoying times
when everybody folds, but those will be outweighed by the times when
someone calls (or even raises!) your bet. By betting your great hands
you give yourself the chance to win a huge pot instead of just picking
up a small one.

4) Calling too much

The fourth mistake is
calling too much. Beginners tend to never let go of a straight draw or
a flush draw, regardless of the cost. The curiosity of seeing the other
players hand is overwhelming on the river, so many beginners call in
spots where all logic screams that they are beat, just ”to see their
hand”. Calling too much is a very costly mistake. The next time you
just feel that urge to call on the river just to see the other players’
hand – think it over once again and think of the money you will save by
just folding.

Written by Andris Kangeris for 24hPoker.com

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“Sometimes, we just feel this irresistible urge to play a big pot. Unless we are drunk or tilted, this urge is usually when we flop a great hand. On other occasions, we like to play medium-sized pots, and this is
usually when we have a good but not great hand. Sometimes, we want to
play a small pot and get to showdown cheap, this is when we have a
mediocre but probably-best holding.

This is why it is so
important to try to adjust the pot size to match the strength of your
hand. Let us assume that we raised 99 from late position and got called
by both blinds. The flop is a dream for us – J93. This is one of those
situations where our highest wish is to just get the money in the
middle – and this is why it is so important to start building the pot
right away!

If the blinds check to us, we should bet – about 2/3
to 3/4 of the pot is a good bet. Sometimes our opponents will have
missed the flop completely and fold, but if they have hit a piece of it
they will call – or even raise! – And the pot gets nicely bloated
already on the flop, increasing our chances of stacking the opponent.
By betting, we give ourselves the chance to win a huge pot whereas if
we check behind, we will have trouble winning a big pot.

Building pots on early streets with good holdings is an essential part of good play.

Then
what about the medium-sized pots? Well, let’s say that we raised AQ
preflop and again the blinds called. The flop comes QT3. If both check
to us, we should bet for value, but at the same time a certain measure
of care is necessary. If we don’t have a good read, we probably do not
want to play for stacks – the opponent could have two pair or a set. We
are betting to extract money from a straight draw or a top pair with a
worse kicker.

The standard turn play is to check behind if the
opponent checks, with the intention of calling most rivers if bet into
and value-betting most rivers if checked to.

With mediocre
holdings, our wish is to keep the pot small. Let us assume that we, in
an online poker game, limped A4 suited from late position after a few
limpers (to try to flop a straight, flush or good draw). The flop comes
AT8, giving us top pair with a lousy kicker.

In this case, it
is in our interests to keep the pot small. If checked to, we should
check and see a turn card (if we bet, we are likely only getting called
by hands that beat us). If another player bets, we can call on the flop
and re-evaluate on the turn (or just fold if it is a tight player doing
the betting). If there is a bet and a call in front of us, we just muck
this hand. We have no interest to play a medium-sized or big pot.

Adjusting
the pot size to the strength of your holding is an important part of
poker. Of course, sometimes it is necessary to mix up our play a bit to
not make us too predictable, but the above lines are long-term winning
standard plays.

Written by Andris Kangeris for 24hPoker.com

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