Have you ever wondered if you were behind with the best hand when playing free poker online? Is it even possible?

To answer your question. Yes, it is possible to feel the need to fold the best hand occasionally.

Depending on the situation, whether pre or post flop, you may find yourself in a position where you need to fold your great hand.

Times like this will arise when you are holding a pair of great cards, but your opponent is holding better cards, for example, you may be holding a J Q and your opponent has an A K.

Now depending on situation and chip stacks odds are these hands that would be playing a big pot? You may find yourself playing in a tournament in the early stages and you have a generous chip stack and find that your opponent has a hand which is better than yours, or at least as good. This is a time that you will be wise to fold, there is no point in losing out on the whole tournament.

You may also find yourself in a situation post flop where you are holding a great hand of two aces and your opponent is holding a 7 and 8 of hearts. Along comes the flop at 5, 6 and two with two hearts.

Now you make a small feeler bet but your opponent re raises you big. Although your aces are the best hand mathematically you are an underdog and might want to fold them depending on situation and chip counts.

Players who are prepared to fold a decent hand can have much more success, especially in tournament situations. You will often see players regretting not folding, but at the same time, you must also need to be prepared to call if you think necessary.

Successful poker is not about big wins and losses but how many times you put your money in good. Practice by playing free poker online to get your base skills honed and then go for it!.

Whatever type of poker you are playing, free poker games, pay poker or poker with friends for fun, watching the cards which make the flop is so important, especially when you are new to the game.

As the shared cards on the table are played by all of the players in a game, there is always a chance that another player is holding the same cards as you do, and hold a higher kicker. For example: Two pair is a very common hold in hold’em. Let’s suppose that player A has two sixes in the hole. That’s a turning hand, because there’s a damn good chance he’ll get one more to make trips, and he’s going to get three cards in the flop instead of one at a time to see if he can get that other six.

The turn comes an eight, eight, and deuce. Now Player A has sixes and eights. Player A is now looking good to win the game over Player B, who is holding an ace, king as there are still 2 more cards on their way and this player will need to catch one of these in order to beat Player A.

Along comes a ten. Then along comes a ten. Now Player B has taken over and Player A cant beat him. Player B has tens and eights with an ace kicker. Since only five of the seven cards are played to make a hand, Player A has eights and tens with a six kicker. He now has a three pair, which are useless now. If that last ten hadn’t hit, Player A would have had a hand, but Player B who didn’t have anything to start with, wins the pot on the basis of his ace kicker.

If you are new to hold’em, have a go at playing free poker games and see how you get on before betting any real money on the cash tables.

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. Your play in the early stages of any paid or free poker tournament should be very tight: there are lots of people eager to get into the action and each “player out” greatly improves your chances of making the bubble (money places). Even with good cards, all-in show downs are marginal.

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
Start your game by playing as tight as you can and avoid bluffing. Wait for other players to loose without giving up too many chips. Create the impression you are a rock and you’ll do great over the long term. If poker is a whole new world to you then I would recommend playing some free poker sites to build up some confidence and skill in the game.

I spend more time playing free poker online now than casinos, but a few years ago I was on a boozy weekend in Vegas and in my drunken state managed to pull of a poker win and pocket myself $1,000 winnings! I admit, it was pure luck that night as I wasn’t exactly playing at my sober best. Anyhow, after collecting my winnings and feeling rather pleased with myself I realised I had a tiny problem… what to do with my winnings as I didn’t want to walk around with it and I hadn’t taken a safety deposit box at my hotel. I hold a box at another hotel all year round for when I pop to Vegas in the hope of winning some money and this was my only option.

So, not wanting to keep about $1,000 in my pocket, I knew I had to walk across the street to the Horseshoe to put my money in my box. Nowadays, that wouldn’t be a problem, but as I said, at that time there were lots of undesirable characters inhabiting Downtown, and let’s just say that there was little or no security.|So, having realised I was too drunk, I decided to take the walk to deposit my money safely until I was sober enough to look after it properly. This sort of problem wouldn’t be an issue nowadays as Vegas is much more commercial, but in those days there were many people who you wouldn’t want to meet on a dark street with that sort of money in your pocket[/spin].

I thought I was ok, until I left the hotel and made my way on the street. It was the early hours of the morning and the streets were naked and very very dark. Realising that I didn’t have a lot of choice but to walk the one block to the other hotel I just pulled myself together and started to make my way to the Four Queens.

This was the point that I was wishing I was playing free poker online rather than being out in the streets like a crazy man!

Just as I approached the corner, two big, tough-looking guys came around the corner. Both were carrying beer bottles and appeared to be very drunk and looking for trouble. As soon as they saw me, I knew what was coming. I was sure that they were on the prowl for a handout or, with no one else around, maybe something worse.

As I kept walking, they approached me as if they were going to block what was left of the sidewalk.

As they approached me, one of the men asked if I had got a couple of dollars they could have.

Not about to inform them of my win, I had to come up with something pretty quick before being beaten to a pulp, so, I took a chance and drunkenly squared up to them shouting ‘Don’t **** with me… I have just lost $25 in there!!!’. The two guys didn’t know what to do and actually looked quite bemused as they parted for me to walk through them.

A few steps later, I turned and loudly shouted another expletive at them. It was a great spur-of-the-moment bluff. Oh, I could have said, “I don’t have any money,” or given a dozen other excuses, but I don’t think that any of them would have worked quite as well as what I did. The bottom line was that these fellows wanted no part of a guy who could be that angry about losing 25 bucks.

It really was the best bluff I had ever pulled and if I hadn’t then I wouldn’t be playing any type of poker now whether free poker or pay poker. So, if you are one of those two guys reading my story… oh well… better luck next time chaps!

There are many types of players you will find in real world, paid and free online poker. I will write about the main ones, how to recognise them and adjust your poker game to play against them.

Rocks - players who play very few pots and like to fold.
This type of poker player is one who tend to only play strong hands. They will avoid playing any weak hands and will fold these. If they stay in the hand and don’t fold then its best that you fold as they very likely have a better hand than yourself. However they are very good opponents to steal the blinds from

TAGs - tight before the flop and aggressive after the flop.
These players tend to make quite a bit of money and tend to stick to pay tables rather than free poker games as that is where the serious cash is. They are best avoided where possible.

Maniacs - crazy players who play very aggressively.
These players will rarely check but bet very often and raise a lot too. Against these players you should check when you have a strong hand if the maniac has to act after you. This is because he will bet very often with trash hands that he wouldn’t call a bet with.

Calling Stations playing poker
A style of play that is usually not profitable.
It has been proven by pros that it’s better to bet and raise then check and fold.
Against these players you should not try to bluff them because they will often call with poor hands. However you should bet when you have a good hand because they will call with trash hands pretty often. If they bet then you should very often fold because they rarely bet so they must have something strong.

So, now you know the main types of playing styles, its time to use them in poker and free online poker. Look carefully at your opponents and match them up to each style of play and then use these tips to your advantage to help you win.

I’ve written many articles on poker but one of the best ways to learn is to play. You can read free poker article all day but when you’re out there with the other players implementing what you learned can be a whole different story. Some players may feel scared to lose chips or just plan feel a certain move is dumb or “only for donkeys”.

By keeping a constant eye on the tables and playing poker regularly is the best way of staying ahead of your opponents. Making poker moves away from your comfort zone, such as bluffing and blind stealing is something I would recommend you continue over time to prove to yourself that they do pay off. Trying these moves a few times a week just won’t cut it, you’ll lose 2 or 3 times and just give up on that major part of poker all together.

Many poker players say that if you cant see the donk at the table, then you are it. It can also be said that if your looking around a table and everyone looks like a donkey you probably don’t know how to play poker. Some may be offended by that, but by winning is what determines who the best players are not what hand they had pre flop.

The thing to remember when playing poker is that everybody takes a beat at the tables. Nobody is invincible and it happens to the best of us, but the long term result is what matters. Keep at it, play the free poker games as much as you can then try to move up to money games, if it doesn’t work out don’t despair. Go back to a free poker site game and do it again… and again.

Many free online poker players and way too many higher stake players have a bad habit called “chasing”. A bad habit that you will recognise as having analogies in many human pursuits not just poker, especially money and relationship ones!

The definition of chasing is, to play a hand and take the chance of your cards hitting the board, that is to say, play a hand when you are behind.

I always say that I would chase down a parked car, just in the hopes I hit. This could be considered a negative thing, because people just think “Oh, they are just a bad player”.

Some poker players to try to get the chaser out of the game by betting higher in the hope that they fold, however, there are always some chasers who are determined to stay in and will call.

Many players chase a hand because they are pot committed. This is when they have invested many chips into the hand and chase hoping to hit their prayer, regardless of the consequences.

They say people who do this have a lack of discipline, which means no patience, and in a rush to play the hand. Admittedly, chasing is a bad habit to have when playing poker. It is something that can work out beneficial from time to time, but certainly not something that needs to be played day in day out. With that said I must say that playing a 4/6 versus an AK is thrilling especially when it hits.

If you are a self confessed chaser and find it difficult to stop, try to do it less often by knowing when its time to fold. By chasing too often you can put yourself in a vulnerable position and end up losing. Pick your chase carefully if you want to win.

Whether or not you are a chaser, you will need to learn as much as you can about pot odds when playing any type of poker. This is especially important if you want to move up in the poker world from free online poker to high stakes poker and start to win some big money.