The Sly Player

There are of course hundreds of strategies you can use while playing Texas Holdem and other poker games, but lets talk about one I like to use regularly.

Sometimes, especially with online poker when I am playing with a group of aggressive poker players, I like to play in a way that makes it very difficult for them to read me.

It costs a little to play the way I am going to discuss, because you will pass up some good raise opportunities, but in the long run it will pay off.

Playing passive is what I am talking about. Never raising, only checking, calling or folding. This is a game that takes patience and one that relies on your opponent's mistakes. Impatient players make mistakes eventually, even if they are very good poker players.

By never raising, they are never sure when you have the really good hand. As I said before, you will lose money when you check or call while holding the winning hand because they will not take the bait and will call or check with you.

But there will be the times when they will see you call or check and they will bet big because they think they have the winning hand. Once you have checked and they bet or raise you, you can now feel free to raise them back if you are sure you have the winning hand.

The bigger wins will offset what you did not win by not raising the times you could have. Its like being the house. Let your opponents make the bets. You stay when you have a good chance of winning and fold when you don't.

Again, there are many ways to play poker, but I have won a lot of money being the passive player when I am playing with an aggressive group of poker players.

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Have You Seen Any of These Poker Players?

By Chris McElroy

Different types of players frequent online poker websites. here are a few you might recognize.

The Money Guy: He has very little money, but his only persona has millions to hear him tell it. He may even have *Ferrari* somewhere in his nickname.

The Karate Kid: This is the kid that comes on after school or after his parents are in bed and threatens to kick everyone's butt, telling them he knows kung fu, karate, judo, and 5 other Japanese words.

Doc FoldAllDay: This is the guy in the play money poker room who acts as if everyone should be entirely serious about every single hand as if their life depended on it. He folds then tells you how you should have played your winning hand.

Mild Bill Hickup: This is the guy that can give you 25 reasons why he is not doing very well at the tables tonight. Including but not limited to the following; The staff here at (Online poker website) gave me a call and said their software was not randomizing properly tonight but they are working on it. I'm drunk and don't care tonight. I'm just here waiting for the money game I will be playing later. I am experimenting here where it doesn't matter so when I play in that million-dollar tournament later I can try some new things. I only come to the play money room to relax between real money games where I have won more than $50,000 this month.

My Favorite Martian: The only reason he is ever losing is because, YOU ARE ALL USING SCANNING SOFTWARE TO READ MY HAND! He also wears a tinfoil hat.

Romeo: Doesn't care about the poker game at all. He just keeps asking all the female players for their "stats".

Juliet: always spends thirty minutes looking for the game where she can be representing by the best endowed avatar so the guys will all pay attention to her. Poker is just a side thing they put in the chat room.

Paris Hilton: Just can't understand why everyone is so concerned with winning and still isn't sure why she didn't win that last hand. Why her pair did not beat that flush thing. Ewww, Who wants a flush anyway?

The Libber: Doesn't talk to anyone, just here to prove she can beat a man at a man's game dammit!

Rain Man: Has his poker calculator software out and running to calculate the odds of him winning each hand so it takes until he is almost out of time every time it is his turn to make a decision.

Lotto Suit Larry or Lisa: This is the guy or gal that bets the limit every single hand until they win one then become afraid to bet the rest of the entire night so they can hold on to their winnings.

These are just a few of the characters you will play poker with at an online poker room. That is why it is so much fun. The diversity is amazing. No two rooms are the same.

Did you recognize any of these players? Can you think of a few more?

Chris McElroy made a living playing pool and poker for years and still enjoys a game now and then. For more information about online poker visit http://www.starthereforpoker.com or http://pokertipsandtools.blogspot.com

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Why Online Poker Websites Are A Safe Way To Play Poker

by: Jeff Dragt

Frequently, whenever anybody thinks about the idea of making a purchase online or transmitting their credit card information via the internet, they may tend to wonder about the safety aspect surrounding these types of internet transactions.

The same kind of worry rings true for those individuals that are interested in entertaining themselves by utilizing online poker websites as a gaming establishment alternative. They may tend to ask themselves whether or not this is a safe thing to be doing or if they may be jeopardizing things such as their bank account and overall financial safety by doing so.

Another way in which a prospective online poker player may question safety and legitimacy aspects of an online poker website is with regard to collusion among some of its online poker players. However, it may help you to rest a bit easier after reading the following text and learning about the different ways in which safety concerns are being addressed with regard to gaming websites such as online poker websites.

The best way for an individual to utilize the internet in order to exchange money on the web is to use something referred to by some individuals and organizations as a “digital wallet”. This type of safeguarding mechanism works in a way in which an established, forthright company, which we will refer to as the payment systems company for the remainder of this article, is the medium between the online poker player and the online poker website. The online poker player will submit his or her credit card information via the internet to the payment systems company and the payment systems company will then pay the online poker website.

It is important to note the fact that the online poker player’s financial information will never be seen by the online poker website and will only be seen by the established and valid payment systems company.

Once the poker player wins, the online poker website will pay the online poker player through the payment systems company and the poker player will then be able to gain access to the money by way of an electronic funds transfer from the payment systems company to the poker player’s bank account that is provided or via a check.

If the online poker player loses in the various online poker games, then the money will be transmitted from the online poker player’s credit card to the online poker website company by the payment systems company.

This type of system ensures that the poker player’s financial information is not being unnecessarily distributed to various companies and websites. It will allow the poker player to have peace of mind, knowing that his or her financial information is safe from outside prying eyes.

Also, oftentimes these payment systems companies will have free protection established for the individual utilizing their services should their information get into the wrong hands. In the slim chance that this might occur, the payment systems company would refund all money to the individual harmed by the financial hijacking. This also allows the individual online poker player to feel more relaxed when dealing with an online poker website.

Another fear that individuals have with regard to playing poker games via an online poker website is that collusion may be present among other players. By definition, collusion is a secret agreement between two or more persons to commit a fraudulent act. This type of thing may occur if two poker players utilizing the same online poker website are working together to defraud other players out of their winnings.

They may try to do this by working together and communicating by telephone or maybe even by using a network and playing poker on the same website in the same house. There is a specific way in which online poker websites address this issue.

The way in which online poker websites address this issue is by having a system where they can monitor all hands that are being played each time by individual players throughout the online poker games.

Should the online poker website investigate and feel that there is some sort of collusion going on, they will take matters into their own hands to resolve the situation.

It is good to know that most online poker players are aware of the fact that online poker websites monitor all activity occurring within each game and this in and of itself may help to prevent any potential thoughts of collusion on the part of the online poker players.

It is also beneficial to know that online poker websites are doing their part to prevent any possible collusion among online poker players as it hurts their business greatly should people be colluding to defraud other players and the company itself out of any potential winnings.

Prospective online poker players may also be fearful of playing online poker if they feel that other individuals will be able to hack into the system and see other players hands throughout the games and then base their wagers and folds on what they can see is being held by other poker playing individuals at their virtual table.

The online poker websites have also addressed these types of issues by engaging various brands of software that use encryption methods to prevent any type of hacking on the part of poker players.

Again, by protecting the large influx of online poker players that utilize their website to engage in online poker games, the online poker website is protecting itself as well. If their company is seen as having a less than desirable website in which to play poker, they will lose a lot of potential online poker players which will ultimately put them out of business in a quick manner.

These are just a few safeguards that are taken by online poker websites to ensure the safe playing arena for its online poker players. With all of the technology out there these days, you can rest assured that these online poker websites are doing all that they can to make sure that your online poker playing experience is a safe and gratifying one.

About the Author: Jeff Dragt has been working for a variety of online poker rooms for years. For more information about poker please visit. http://www.highlimitplayers.com

Article Source: www.iSnare.com

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The Basics - Poker Hand Ranking

For those that do not know the basics, here are the ways the hands and cards are ranked in poker.

Number of cards in the deck: 52.

Number of suits: 4 (Hearts, Spades, Diamonds, Clubs)

Number of cards in each suit: 13 (In order of rank; Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2)

Number of cards in a poker hand: 5 (even in games where you are dealt more than 5 cards, only 5 cards count as your poker hand.)

Rank of poker hands from highest to lowest:

1. Royal Flush; (ace, king, queen, jack, ten, all the same suit.)

2. Straight Flush; (5 cards in sequence of the same suit. see "straight" below for explanation of in sequence) (The lowest ranking straight flush is the wheel-flush, ace, 2, 3, 4, 5. 5 is considered the top card, not the ace.) (if two players have a straight flush, the one with the higher top card wins.)

3. Four of a kind; 4 Kings, Queens or other cards. (Of course the higher ranked 4 of a kind wins, such as 4 kings beats 4 queens)

4. Full House; This consists of 3 of a kind, (see below) and a pair all in one hand. (example; you have 3 fours and 2 kings. That would be fours over kings, while having 3 kings and 2 fours would be kings over fours.) (If 2 players each have a full house, the better three-of-a-kind part of the hand wins. example; you have 3 eights and two aces, your opponent has 3 nines and 2 twos. Your opponent wins. Their nines beat your eights.)

5. Flush; 5 cards of any rank, but all the same suit. (If 2 players each have a flush, the flush with the highest top card wins, if that is a tie, then whoever has the highest second card wins, if that is a tie, you compare the third, fourth, fifth card, etc.)

6. Straight; 5 cards in sequence. (example; 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 is a 7-high straight. If you opponent has 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, they have an 8-high straight and they win.)

7. Three of a Kind; (Trips) 3 cards of the same rank. (example; 3 sevens, 3 eights, 3 kings. if 2 players have 3-of-a-kind, the highest ranking cards wins the hand)

8. Two Pairs; A Pair is 2 cards of the same rank. 2 pair means you have 2 sets of 2 cards of the same rank. (If 2 players each have 2 pair, the player with the highest top pair wins. Kings and twos would beat queens and jacks.)

9. Pair; 2 cards of equal rank. (If 2 players each have a pair, the highest ranking pair wins. If 2 players each have the exact same pair, then out of the 3 remaining cards in your hand the highest card is your "kicker". The highest kicker wins. If still tied, you go to the next highest kicker, etc.)

10. High Card; Where no one has a pair or above, you compare hands like this. The highest card in your hand vs the highest card in opponents hands. If that is a tie, then you compare the next highest card, then the next if still tied and so on. (King, Queen, 10, 6, 2, would beat King, Queen, 10, 5, 4. It would have been a tie until the fourth card compared and the first hand has a 6 to their opponent's 5.)

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Online Poker games for safety NOT fun

By: Randy Hutchings

Online Poker and free Online Poker had been one of the Internet's hottest games since 2001. There has been some great sterotype advise when ask about "what is important when you decide to play online poker".

Choosing an Online Poker room should not be taken likely and when you've made your choice do not move around. Here's three basic answer I receive from people I ask about:
"What is important about picking an Online Poker site".

Basicly I recieve several answers but what was in common with most people was these three opinion about the security of their Online Poker rooms.

1. If you play online poker game make sure that random number generators are used to ensure total game integrity.

3. Play Online Poker only if 128-bit SSL technology is used to secure and protect the privacy of the players. You do not want to get ripped off from these fly by night websites that spring up just to grab your money and gone the next day.

3. Make sure that they provide statistical analysis tools combine with expert vigilance to provide the most effective shield against player collusion.

I do feel that these response are all legitimate concerns when you choose to play Online Poker but there is much needed light to be shine on the over all picture of Online Poker that should be associated with your choice in choosing a poker site.

First of all , choose an established and trusted Online Poker site. This is the most important step in ensuring a safe and worry-free Online Poker experience. Potential players should consider things like site encryption, anti-collusion measures, shuffling-integrity and deposit information when trying to select a Online Poker site. Players should approach all Online Poker sites and rooms with a fair amount of skepticism.

Now when you feel you have established these measures it is important to find out whether the credit-card information is held on the same or separate secured-server from the game client. Most reputable Online Poker sites would make mention of their security systems and should have a comprehensive privacy policy to ensure that your information is not sold or used in any other way. If you are uncertain about this on any particular site use another form of payment other then your Credit Card. I found out that most reputable online poker sites have various other ways to fund your Online Poker account.

So much for the the basic security concerns but when they have been relieved there are a few additional security precautions for Online Poker players as well. One of the most important one is government regulation.

Several sites are regulated by foreign governments such as Kahnawake (a native reservation in Canada), however, to be honest regulation is not entirely required. The most important benefit that regulation may provide is for some peace of mind when playing Online Poker, therefore remember that other sites without regulation can be equally trustworthy.

Certain jurisdictions that provide regulation offer little more than a professional looking logo in terms of actual security that's why I'm sharing with you that you should not rely solely on some form of government regulation to decide on a site.

Another possible online security issue is with dealing the cards (shuffling algorithm) that the Online Poker sites use to deal the cards. Pretty much all sites can be trusted to have a reputable algorithm so long as they display signs of integrity.

Furthermore, I found out the some of the best Online Poker sites have their algorithm reviewed by 3rd party auditors. Why is done? These sites want to ensures you the player that the shuffling is as fair and random as possible, and therefore, creating the most real-life poker game possible.

The best and secure Online Poker Sites makes it very well known about their ability to override collusion. They are very informative also about their ability to keep a backup of all played poker games and each player should be able to review his/her own hands at any time.

This ensures that if there is a disagreement over a specific game the administration can review it for errors and make corrections as needed. There is adequate technology available to prevent colluders online so any good secure Online Poker room should have it in place.

Good secure Online Poker sites provide software with built-in detectors to ensure that players are not winning under questionable circumstances, but there should be a staff member manually checking out player complaints.

Also, one should always play at a site that has enough dealers and support staff to ensure that any challenge can be taken care of immediately. Even a highly reputable site is bound to have challenges and there is nothing worse than having to wait around for managment when you want to get your poker game on.

Good secure poker sites provide statistics on everything that happens at an Online Poker table and the site has the instincts to monitors things that seem out of the ordinary.

For example, players that play at the same table all the time or are involved in an unusually high number of the same hands together, will not get away with that for long. The only place where I think collusion could be somewhat of a possibility is in a limit game because you can't distort the odds. But because of suspicions other players have and the ability of the site to look into statistical aberrations it makes it very hard to collude.

There are several Online Poker rooms that have been in business since 2001. Anyone of these long-standing Online Poker rooms I believe should be safe, though if you have any doubts of its validity you’re probably better off trying another online poker room. There are so many Online Poker rooms that are reputable and secure that there is no reason to play elsewhere.

If you think a bonus or an offer seems too good to be true you should do a search on that site, and furthermore, if there is extreme negative feedback on the site you should avoid it. Please keep in mind that all sites will have some negative feedback so just make sure all the above mentioned Online Poker Security measures have been met.

In conclusion, most sites especially those around since 2001 have advanced encryption algorithms that make it almost impossible to hack. Think about it, do you honestly think the Online Poker market would be booming like it is if there were on-going security issues?

Article Source: http://www.articlecrash.com

Randy G. Hutchings is an Online Marketer that been given reviews and written many articles about Online Scams in Homebase Business and Online Casino's. Online Poker News and Reviews

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No Deposit Bonuses

No Deposit Bonuses are cash promotions that are given to players that sign up to a poker website. These bonuses do not require any type of initial money deposit by the player.

In order to entice players to a poker website, the website is willing to give free money to the player just to sign up as one of their members.

These are one of the most highly desirable types of bonuses for players starting out because they require no obligation from the player to deposit money. The amount of cash that is given to the player varies among websites.

Click here to see a list of poker websites that offer no deposit bonuses

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The Trap and Poker Psychology

By Chris McElroy

Everyone who plays poker has heard of "having a poker face" or being trapped. Having a poker face is more than just the look on your face, it's all of your body language and actions combined.

A good poker player is an observant poker player. You have to learn to associate your opponents facial expressions, body language, speech, and even the bet amounts with what they eventually are revealed to have been holding in their hand.



Facial Expressions: With online poker, you of course cannot use this. But in a real poker game you can. Start with the eyes. When they call or raise a hand, do they look down, to the right, to the left, at an object in the room? Then what did they have when they did that?

Do they smile? Grind their teeth? Immediately take a sip of their drink after or before the bet? Look for these things each time they call or raise.

Body Language: Do they play with their poker chips under certain circumstances? Lean back or forward? Look for things they do with their body and then what kind of hand they had each time they do that action.

Betting Amounts: Some poker players don't realize they have a pattern at all or they figure no one will figure out the "code" they use for themselves. Watch how much they bet, then what type of hand they had and see if you can associate a particular hand strength with a specific range of bet or even a specific raise amount.

If you find a pattern where your opponent always does a specific action in relation to having a good hand or bluffing, you have their number and can beat them at poker easily . . . or can you?

The Trap: You can establish a pattern that will be picked up by the other players. Let it cause you to lose a little money here and there. Let your poker opponents think they have your number by doing specific actions associated with different hand strengths.

Don't let it cost you too much money and watch for the signs they are taking the bait and are using your patterns to beat you.

Then you can spring the trap. Wait until you get a really good hand, a sure winner and do the actions you had been doing when bluffing or when you had a lower strength hand.

Your poker opponents will think they have you and bet the limit. You'll win what you lost and a lot more.

Playing poker is a lot more than just knowing how to bet the cards in your hand. There is a lot of psychology involved, mind games, if you really want to play with the best.

Chris McElroy made a living playing pool and poker for years and still enjoys a game now and then. For more information about online poker visit http://www.starthereforpoker.com or http://pokertipsandtools.blogspot.com


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Play Money Poker VS Real Money Poker

By Chris McElroy

In this article on poker, I’m going to talk about people who enjoy playing poker at online poker websites, but who like to play for play money and some of the reasons they want to do so.

I play a lot of online poker. I play for real money, but also play poker for play money at a few different online poker websites. Playing Texas Holdem Poker is fun regardless of the money on the line or lack of it.

Whenever you go into any of the poker rooms, there are always people there who believe they are the best poker players since Wild Bill Hickok. But that is actually part of the fun of playing poker. The guy with the most poker chips, whether real or play, gets the bragging rights, no matter how lucky they may have gotten.



But in some of the play money poker rooms online you hear people say, "Well if you are such a good poker player, why don't you play for real money?"

There are a lot of reasons for someone to play poker for play money. Here are some of them.

1. Practice makes perfect - It gives you a chance to explore strategies and experiment with them that you would never gamble real money on until you see how well they work. Believe it or not, there is some extremely good poker players in some of the play money rooms.

2. Non-Gamblers - Maybe the person loves to play poker but just doesn't gamble. You can enjoy poker without gambling real money.

3. Learning - Playing poker for play money is a great way to learn how to play. Just like in practice makes perfect I mentioned above, some people are not advanced enough at poker to even have a strategy yet. Everyone has to start somewhere.

4. Some people play online poker to relax after a hard day at work or with the kids. They like the ability to chat to other players and treat online poker as a chatroom with the ability to play poker while they chat instead of a poker room where they can also chat.

5. Financial Reasons - It is never smart to "gamble the rent", an old gambler's advice goes. And its true. Maybe the person you are playing would be playing for real money if their circumstances were a little different.

The point to all of this? Give people a break. If you go into a play money room at an online poker website, do not assume that because someone is playing in a play money poker room that they are not a good poker player.

Be polite and make friends. You'll find the play money poker game is a lot more fun with everyone chatting and joking around than being too competitive or insulting.

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This will be our new blog. We will be bringing you poker tips, tools, and information about the best places to play poker on the web. Bookmark us and check back for daily information!

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