One of the most persistent discussions in poker is about the role of luck in success, there are those who believe poker is mostly luck and those who think skill is the main factor, today lets lay this one to rest!

I have personally been a money and NoPayPOKER.com free texas holdem poker player for some 7 years, I have made some nice cash at times but I have also busted several bankrolls.As such think I can say I’ve got a pretty good understanding of the situation!

For starters lets define what skill is in the poker context. In my opinion a skilled player is one who can recognize betting patterns, understand flop odds, and percentages, and have a solid concept of strategy and theory. I have noticed however, not matter how well skilled one may be, you must account for variance, and sometimes aggressive, even poor play from others.

I believe in conclusion it is best to assume that poker is a combination of both skill and luck where the skill level of the player involved has a definite effect on the “luck” component of the equation in the medium and long term.

The assumption would be based on this conclusion that you have to be both pre flop aggressive, as well as post flop smart. Many times a player might find themselves in a position where they made the proper call, yet they find themselves behind due in part to an opponents luck hitting a one or two outer.

It is very difficult to try and overcome such a situation. This can, in part, be blamed on the speed of online poker hand as opposed to the live game. The action of online poker is much faster, and decisions must come much quicker.

Many players believe there are more bad beats in online poker than in the live game. Mathematically this can be attributed to the number of hands both seen, and played. There is also, I feel, a tiredness factor in action, players feel pushed or maybe suffer a succession of bad beats.

As a result decision making may become irrational, and typical hands that would be thrown away are now played, and even pushed pre flop out of anger in looking to win back lost funds.

Others, who are skilled can pick up on such trends and play them to their advantage, which often leads to greater loss, and in the eyes of the losing player, more bad beats which he feels was based on luck.

The successful (skilful) poker player knows how to manage each aspect of the game. In effect you become able to manage probability (luck) by application of skill and so apply the old phrase beloved of annoying sales managers/gurus everywhere, “make your own luck”. Basically meaning that your skill flattens out the “bad luck” to the extent that you are up consistently in the medium and long run.

And how to do this? My advice is to start safe and low risk. Go to one of the better free texas hold em sites like NoPayPOKER.com and practice lots and lots. You will find your confidence (and bankroll) growing and can then take a step up to some low stakes games, and from there…who knows!

I’ve been a poker player since I was a teenager, I’ve played for money in casinos and lots of fun money free poker at home. For the last few years though I’ve focused most on free texas holdem poker. Initially this was easy and fun but as time has passed I found it getting harder and harder to win, after thinking long and hard I realised that I’d become stuck in a rut I now call the “Easy Play” trap.

The poker “Easy Play Trap” is when you think you have to play every hand to win. You post and play every hand praying the flop with give you a hand. The problem with it is that you lose more and even worse anyone with any skill learns how you play really easily which makes things even worse. This is especially a problem on free poker sites where it is all to easy to not care. No problem is it’s just for fun but a very bad habit if you have aspirations to play live or online poker for money later.

Then last year I started playing what I call “SMART”. “SMART” players think of the odds of playing each hand based on your starting hand. The two cards in your hand give you an idea of what your chances of winning before the flop.

“SMART” poker means as follows:

Singles – A - K - Q – J

Married – AK – AQ – AJ – A10

Average – 10 10 – 9 9 – 8 8 – 7 7 – 6 6

Rare – AA – KK – QQ - JJ

Terrible – 2 7 – 2 8 – 2 9 – 2 10 – 3 8 – 3 9 – 3 10 -4 9 – 4 10 -5 10

Singles should be played with cards in the same suite.

Playing singles with low off suites can be high risk because some times it is the kicker which means a win. Watch the flops and determine how the cards are falling as if there are more small off suites hitting with a single you may want to try.

Married and Rare hands are your better possible starting hands before the flop and requires that you think first. Going all in with a Married or Rare hand ahead of the flop is good but may also be a killer. Watch the other players for a time to get an idea of what they play before going up against them.

Average poker hands are good to start with but the flop truly provides a picture of how you will play your hand. On an average a third will fall with the flop when holding a small pair. If not, and there is a small bet, try the turn but never the river as odds are against you.

Terrible are poker hands I try not to play because they normal are losing hands. True you might get lucky but if you do not have any money in the pot why waste the time and money on a chance. High blind and there is no raise, yes play, however low blind, forget it and wait for a better hand.

During a recent live game I was down to 80 in chips with the blinds at 10 – 20. I was not getting a hand and we were down to three players. Being “SMART” I came back and won the money.

And how do you learn to play “SMART”…The sensible way is to learn your skill on free texas hold em sites. Don’t get put off or sidetracked by all the Easy Play “farm animals” you’ll find trapped on such sites, that is part of the territory in the land of free poker. Then, once you have demonstrated consistent winning ways move up to low stakes games and stay there until you repeat the success and then move up again…WSOP one day, who knows!