Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professional'S Guide 2005 (C) Ajmills PDF

A.J.
Mills2004
CopyrightandDistributionNotice
AllrightsreservedunderInternationalCopyrightConventions.
Thisdocumentisforpersonaluseonly.BookcopyrightofA.J.Mills,2005.
ForcopyrightordistributionenquiriesemailA.J.Mills@1stcasinos.co.uk
PLAYING TEXAS
HOLDEM ONLINE

THE PROFESSIONALS
GUIDE

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 2

AN INTRODUCTION TO ONLINE POKER
THINKING AND INSIDERS SECRETS
IdiscoveredthesecretrecipetoKFCChicken15yearsagoandI
havebeenhookedonInsidersSecretseversince.
H
ave you ever been to a party or a bar where youve
metsomeone for the first time who told you an insiders
secretto their business or work? Maybe Im just a good
listener
but this happens to me all the time. We all know these
insiderkinds of details about our own little world. For
example, if weworked at Cadbury, the Cadbury Secret would be
one of the
firstthingswewouldlearnaboutonthejob(evenifitwasntoffici
allypart of the training program). There are other kinds of
insiderknowledge how something is really made at the plant
we workat, how certain products are marketed, where an idea
really camefrom, or how you can make a product yourself for
onetenth the

price.
Dontyouwishyoucouldtalktoaninsiderattheplantwherethec
ar you are considering buying is made? Or someone who
reallyknowsthescooponthemortgageindustrywhenitstimeto
getre financed? How about talking to the guy who
programmed theVLT machine you play everyday at lunch?
Would that help youwinmore?
EverybodywehavetalkedtoaboutTexasHoldemhassaidthat
whattheyreallywantismorethanjustabookthattellsthemthe
rules to the game. They want something new. Something
freshthat will give them an edge over the other players.
Somethingexciting.
Sowetalkedtotheinsiders.Howdoesthesystemwork?Howaret
he cards shuffled (whats the randomizing algorithm)?
Hasanyonedoneanystudiesonwhatcardsreallypaythebest?W
hattables play the best? Are there systems that work online
betterthan others? What do the insiders know about cards to
play? Canwereallymakemoneyatthisgame?
Fromthisfeedbackwedevelopthisbookconcept.Thenwehunted
down the facts. In the end, this has been a lot of fun and
quiteprofitable. We love the game of Texas Holdem but now we
havethe tools to win more games. As usual, if you have the
insider
stuff, you are better armed to succeed. Pretty much one of those
simplerulestoliveyourlifebyifyouaskme.
I believe that winning in life, love, business and sports and yes,
poker,isallaboutthreedynamicsIliketocalltheCSIs.
Contingency(chanceorluck)
Selfawareness(knowyourstrengthsandweaknesses)

Intelligence(orstreetsmarts)
We have divided this book into these three key areas for a
verygood reason. When you play online poker for real money
for
thefirsttimeyouwillfinditdifficultjusttosurvive.Yourstack(yo
urpersonal chips) will disappear like an umbrella in a
typhoon. Ifyou have what it takes to stick it out through this
initiation (andthe
expendablecashtolast),youwillnextdiscoverthatwhatyouare
lacking is real technical knowledge. You will soon realize
thatyou need to play this game more with field intelligence
thaninstinct.Thatis,ifyouwanttowinconsistently.
Finally,asyouprogressintolargerpotgames,therealtestwillbey
ourabilitytobementallytough,disciplinedandaggressive.Ourla
st section on selfawareness discusses the philosophy of
greatpokerplayers.
Therearedozensofbooksavailabletodayonpoker.Ivereadmost
ofthem.Theytendtofocusononeormoreofthefollowingareas:
Analysisofoddsandstrategy
Historyandactualplayexamples
Techniquesontellsorhowtoreadtheotherplayers
Mentalpreparationforthegameitself
Noteventhebestbookscoveralloftheseareasorattempttobring
these different
practicestogetherinsomemeaningfulway.Thisisour goal with
Insiders Guide;to link strategy and intelligence and mental
preparation in a waythat will ramp you up to be successful at
the best game in theworldintheshortestpossibletime.
Whatsnewaboutthisbook?First,unlikemostofthebooksonthe
market,thisvolumeisNOTbasedonfiftyyearsofwritingaround

the traditional bricks and mortar game of Poker. Our focus
isspecifictothenewonlineversionsofTexasHoldemPoker,playe
dby over 20,000,000 people worldwide over the Net every
singleday. Anyone who has played online poker knows this is
quite adifferentanimalindeed.
Secondly, we present the Food Chain Theory, a new systemof

play based on the results of three major research
programscarried out by computer simulations on Texas
Holdem Poker. Ifyou follow the system religiously, you will
find your winningsincreasing gradually at first, and then
substantially. All
theresearchshowsthataggressiveplayisthekeytowinningmons
terpots; aggression at the right time and based on a solid body
ofknowledge.Wewillshowyoutheprocessandoutlinethestepst
obeingatruecardshark.Butyoumustfollowtherules.Whenwe
runlabsontheCageFoodChainTheorywefindthatplayersget
caught up in the game and bend the rules of the system,
lettingtheir emotions rule their play. Or they go by gut
feeling on
adecisivehandinsteadofconsideringpotoddsandcardodds.The
online casinos love that kind of play it makes them
millionseverymonth.Itwonthoweverputanyextramoneyinyo
urbankaccount.Youvegottostopplayingbygutfeel.
Of the three dynamics, we start with the intel section

andcontingency data first; this is where the rubber hits the
road formost players and we wanted to get you started with an
excitingnewsystemofplayingthatwillgiveyouafirst
handadvantage.
Whats Intel? typical military speak for field intelligence

orrelevant knowledge. What you need to know, now. In the
covertworld of spies and agents,
havingtherightnuggetofinformationavailable when required
can save your life or someone elses.
InPoker,itmeansmakingthewinwhenotherswouldntandaddi
nga few points to your odds. This is different from
lifetime

experience which you can only gain from playing the game
thousandsoftimes.
Fieldintelhelpsyouparachuteintoasituationandbecompetent
andsavvyinabighurry.
The Food Chain Theory of Poker condenses dozens ofschools of

thought on Poker into an easy to digest program thatyou can
begin using immediately. The goal of this technique is toget you
out of the fish category and in to the shark
categorybeforeyougeteatenalive.Pardonthefoodpunsbutthes
peedandaggressiveness of real money online poker can spin
your headaround.Youwillneedtobearmedandready.
In many areas of this book we deal with the latest in research on

contingency, another word for odds.
Whynotjustcallitluck?Becausecontingencyisafarbroaderand
moreelegantterm.Luckis not a thing you can buy or create
and you certainly
cannotattractitorcaptureit(orchaseitaway).Whatweashumans
seeas
luckisreallyjustchancecircumstanceplayingoutbeforeus.
The best way to visualize contingency is to imagine a fork in

theroad. Which then leads to another fork. And still another.
Eachrequires a decision and each decision can lead to very
differentconclusions. Thats what contingency is all about.
Sometimes wechoose the path without knowing where it will
take us and othertimeswedontgettochooseatall.
InPoker,wecanusemathtobetterunderstandtheoddsofcertain
combinations occurring in your game. Really understanding
theodds in Poker is one of the keys to success; not only
because ithelps you to better understand the possibilities but
because itteaches us the expected monetary value of our
hand as well.Whats the good in knowing that the chance of
pulling another

Queen is 1:7 if we dont know how to translate that information
intoapracticalbettingdecision?
Recent computer simulations of Texas Holdem have taught
usquite a bit about real game odds and strategy. What theyve
alsoshown us is that it takes several lifetimes to average out the
oddsbetween matched players. So you need a powerful
advantage towin against others with similar skills and
preparation. Thatadvantageisbetterselfawareness.
Assumethatyouandanotherplayerareperfectlymatchedincard
skills. You play each other every week. But one of you has
hadlifetime wins of several times the other based on pulling
bettercards.Howlongdoyouhavetokeepplayingbeforethewin
ningsevenout?About250,000yearsaccordingtocomputerresear
ch.
So how does a better player gain advantage if they dont have

afew thousand lifetimes at their disposal? By being
significantlybetter than the other players. You need huge
advantage to be aconsistent winner. You need to know the
other players and youneed to gain this advantage as quickly as
possible. You need tounderstand betting odds better. You need
to know yourself.
Andyouneedtobeveryaggressivewhenthetimeisright.
Thats the essence of a shark. Skilled. Aggressive. Knows the

environment.Knowstheprey.Undaunted.
Havefunandbestofluckatthetables.
A.J.Mills

WHY IS ONLINE
TEXAS HOLDEM
POKER
SO DIFFERENT?

Texas Holdem Poker has become the fastest grow

ing game on the Internet. Play it a few times
andyouwillunderstandwhy.Itsaddictive.Fast.E
nter taining. Colorful. And there you are,
playing livewith people from all over the globe, a
great virtual
casino experience and real money is being won by people just
likeyouandme.Whatsnottolike?
Well,yousay,Iwouldliketowinmoreoften...
Like the people who play slots or video poker terminals (VLT),
most people just play poker online for fun. Dont get me wrong.

They would love to win; they just arent prepared to do
thehomework necessary to get really good at the game and
winconsistently.Whohastimeforthat?
TheProsdo,thatswho!
And the Pros like Online poker. Unlike VLTs, the odds are
notstacked so much in favour of the house and players can
actuallymakeconsistentprofits
iftheyunderstandthegamewellenough.
I have an uncle who is famous in our family. He has an
unusualcareer. He has made a great living playing professional
poker forover 40 years. (He was known in the trade as a
rounder
fordetailsseethedictionaryattheendofthisbook.)Andhehasm
ademorethanjustadecentliving
hehasseveralhomesandayachthe moors in Florida. Hes an
interesting character and he hastaught me a lot. Much of this
book is based on his advice andteaching.
My uncle says there are two major differences between casual

playersandprofessionals.
OneProfessionalsalwaysknowexactlywhomtheyareplaying
with.
Dont be deceived. When you play poker you are not
playingagainstthecards
youareplayingagainsttheotherplayers.Greatpoker players
never forget this. The goal of our book is to teachyou how to
better understand the guy or gal sitting across fromyou at the
virtual poker table. A better understanding of thedynamics
between humans at the table alone will
dramaticallyimproveyourchancesofwinning.
TwoProsunderstandtheodds.

Thisbookwillteachyouhowtocalculateoddsusingactualgamee
xamples and give you shortcuts that will help you to
increaseyourchancesofwinningeverytimeyouplay.
Oddsdonttellyouhowtoplay,theytellyouhowtobet.
Firstyouneedtounderstandwhyreadingabouttheconventional
brickandmortargameofTexasHoldem(thekindyouplayinar
ealcasino)certainlywonthurt
butitwilldefinitelynotprepareyoufortheuniqueexperienceofp
layingthegameonline.
WHY IS ONLINE POKER SO DIFFERENT?

Online poker adds several interesting wrinkles to the game
ofTexasHoldem.Somuchischangedinfact,thatthereareawho
lenewsetofgamestrategies.Theoddsofwinningtheonlineversi
onofthisgamearenowstackedevenmoreinthefavourofthebett
ereducated players. This is one of the secrets to real success at
thevirtualtable.
1.YOUCANWATCH.
If you walk into a bricks and mortar casino tomorrow and
decideyou would like to just watch a game of Texas Holdem
to betterunderstand how its played, security will soon hustle
you out
ofthebuilding.Pokerisnotaspectatorsportatcasinos.Ifyouwan
tto learn the game you need to play. And playing when youre
arookie (or as the pros call it a fish) can be a very
expensivelearningexperience.
On the other hand, online, you can watch a real game as long
asyou want, for no cost and for no risk. Watching a table can
teachyoualotabouttheplayersandtheirbettingstyleandthega
mein

general. Watching playersforfreeisoneofthegreatadvantages
ofonlinepoker.
TakingnotesisanothergreatstrategyinOnlinePoker.
Thereisnothingwrongorunethicalaboutkeepingnotesonotherp
layers. Some Online Poker rooms even provide a feature
thatallows you to take notes online while you play. This
featurefacilitates the building of a database around the playing
styles ofconsistent players. Our advice is to record what kinds
of handsthey play, how quickly they react, and to record detail
on bettingandraisingbehaviour.
In the heat of the game, you may not always have time to
gothrough all of the details. But one day, a regular player will
joinyour table with a healthy stack of chips and you will
appreciateknowing everything you can ahead of time about
their playingstyle.
2.YOUKNOWEXACTLYWHATSINTHEPOT?
At a regular card game, you need to do some rough guessing
atpot totals. (The other players rarely encourage you to go
diggingthrough the pot to come up with a tally). Online, the
total iscalculated for you to the penny. This makes
calculations abouthow much to bet very accurate. Why is this
important? You
willlearnlaterthatoneofthekeystowinningisasystemusedby
prosfordecadescalledPotBetting.Themoreaccurateyourknowle
dgeof the pot, the better able you are to know
exactlyhowmuchyoushould be betting on a given hand. Online
Poker is a Pot Bettingdream come true. Sharpen up your math
skills a bit, and you areontheroadtomakingmoney.

3.YOUHAVEMORETABLEANDBETTINGCHOICES!
Haveyoueverwalkedintoarealcasinolookingforaseatatacard
game? You may be lucky to find a few dozen. Which one is
thebest for your playing style? You wont know until you sit
downandplayanumberofhands.Andifyoudontlikeyourcom
panyatthattable?Youmovetoanothertableandtryagain.
Therearethousandsofonlinecasinoswithdozensorhundredsoft
ables at each one fro you to choose from. You can pick from
awiderange of betting options and from an infinite variety
ofdifferent player combinations combinations you will
haveobserved before putting down your hardeared money.
And youcan do this in a matter of minutes right from your
computerscreen.
Never have there been so many options for the poker
playerwilling to learn. Remember, you are not just playing
against
theodds,youareplayingagainstotherplayersandinamathemati
calsense, the table as a whole. This is the real key to winning.
Lookfor a table with the greatest number of weaker players
and youwillhaveanautomaticadvantage.

FOR THOSE OF YOU

WHO JUST WANT TO
GET STARTED NOW!

I
f you are anything like me, you just want to get to the
goodstuff. So lets jump right into the game and the Food
Chainsystem.
Sure,therearerulestolearnandtechniquestounderstand
andall kinds of interesting tips on betting and odds. This
book isfullofstrategyandbackground.
But I just want to jump into the game itself as a starting
point.Howcanyoubeawinner?OK!Letsstartwithanexampleo
fhowthis system works. Then you can learn about the details
more atyourleisure.

TheFoodChainTheoryofOnlineTexasHoldemPoker!
Fish,astheyarecalledinTexasHoldem,areprey.
Fisharethelosersandthebeginners
andthesloppyplayers who get eaten everyday by
the bigger fish. Innature they are called prey.
Thank goodness for the
fish.Theysustaintheentirepokerfoodchain.Withoutfish,there
would be no monster pots or big paychecks and the game
wouldnotbenearlyasinterestingnorasprofitable.
Dont get me wrong. Everyone is a fish in the beginning
andthere is no way around this essential truth. Everyone gets
burnedand eaten repeatedly when they start to play poker.
Everyonelosesoneventhebestnutshands.
This book is about how to get out of the fish category as

quicklyaspossibleandstarttakingmoneyhome.
Anoteabouttheresearchthatbacksthisbook.
The book you are reading, unlike most of the poker
booksavailableonthemarkettoday,isnotbasedonanecdotalexa
mplesand table stories told by the old pros, a few lucky
winners or

guys who have spent decades learning the ropes; the majority
ofthem playing the old fashioned bricks and mortar version of
thegame.
IamaComputerProgrammerwithanintenseloveforPoker(and
other games) wherethereisastrongcomponentofskillinvolved.
ThisbookisallaboutthescienceofPoker.
CardShark, our research team, has gone through millions of

linesof code, data results and analysis on billions of played
hands ofPoker. A good percentage of this research was sourced
from thesame online casinos you and I play at everyday. The
rest camefrom reputable sources such as CarnegieMelon
University wheregrad students have been running
computerized Texas Holdemsimulations for years. Our
theories are based on solidmathematics, proven odds
calculations and the results of
someveryinterestingcomputerstudies.
At least three major research studies over the past three
yearshave generated over 5 billion virtual hands of Texas
Holdempoker.
Youwouldhavetoplaypokereverydayforseveralmillionyearst
o experience that many hands. (I know youre trying to live
ahealthierlifestylebutImnotbettingonanyoneschancestomak
eitthatfar!)
Most of the strategy in this book is based on this new
excitingresearch PLUS some good oldfashioned table sense
based onover20yearsofreadinggreatcardplayers.
Youmaybesurprisedbywhatthisnewresearchshows.IknowI
was.

The better the information you have about what is
reallyhappeningwiththecardsandthetable,thefasteryouwillge
toutof the fish category and into the winning zone. We open
up thebig black online poker box and show
youtheinsides.Whatcouldbemorefun?
Heres the question we hear every day. How much money
canyou make? Again, based on recent surveys, a good player
canmake $40,000 to $50,000 per year playing medium $3$10
stakegames.
A real expert, a SHARK, can make $100,000 or more per year

andhundredsdo.
Letsstartwiththeresultsofarecentcomputeranalysis.
Imagine what we could learn about this game if we created a

virtual 10player Texas Holdem table, programmed the
playersindifferentways
andthenjustletthemplayforafewthousandyears.
With some of the test runs we would use very aggressive
playerbehaviours just to see how that type of combination of
playerseffectswinningandlosing.Inotherexampleswewouldus
eaverytightandconservativegroupofplayerstoseehowthataff
ectsthegame over a period of time. Billions of hands were then
playedand analyzed again and again over several months.
More thanmanylifetimesofplay.
Here is the simplest form of the results of this research based on

yourchancesofwinningwiththefirsttwoholecards.

Player Type If you are a beginner, you are fish.

Ifyou are more interested in playing than winning,
youarefish.Ifyoudontdoyourhomeworkandcomple
tely
understand how the odds affect your chances then yesVirginia,
youareafish.
But even good players can become fish during play.
Tournamentplay is a good example where the game can
change radicallydepending on the number of players left in the
game. If you startto panic or get shortstacked, you may
unintentionally revert to
fish tactics. As a beginner you will tend to act like a fish
youmaystayinthepotlongerthanyourhandwouldjustify.You
mayraise when your cards are not that strong. Fish are typified
by
aplayingcharacteristiccalledloose.Loosenessimpliesadisregar
dfor card odds and a general lack of knowledge about the
otherplayers. Combine this looseness with aggressive
behaviour
andyouhaveoneofthemostinterestingcreaturesataPokertable
a
maniac.
To survive and make money, fish need to play a very tight
game.As knowledge and table smarts improve, they can
increase theiraggressiveness,boldwithfreshwinnings.
The best guide to beginner card play is to use the Fish Rule as
stated in the Player Type Chart. Based on the latest computer

research, fish should only stay in the hand if they have one of
thetop24pocketcardsdealt.
Why? Because if they have one of these hands, regardless of
thetype of talent at the table, they will have an excellent
chance ofwinning. They will also begin to understand the
discipline of a
tighter playing style, which is based on knowing the odds and
readingthetable.
Betting tactics should not be an issue here and neither should
thereadingoftellsorevenplayerposition(whichwewilldiscuss
indetaillater).
Here are the top 24 pocket hands in any Texas Holdem game
(outofapossible169).
Letsstartoffwiththetopofthehitparade.(Thesreferstocards
inthesamesuit.)
ThebigTop4AA,KK,QQ,JJ
areridiculouslyprofitableatanytable.Alwaysraiseandre
raisewiththesecards.Theydontcomealongoften,sotakeadvant
age.Notraisingonthesecardsisasignoffoolishness.Beingaggres
sivehereisanobrainer.
The top 16 ranked starting 2 card Holdem hands (or
pocketcards)arefundamentaltowinningplay.Theymakeupon
ly7%of all hands dealt, so its unlikely that you will get
rich by

limitingyourplaytojustthesecardcombinations.Butyouneed
toknowwhattheyrepresentwhentheydocomealong.
IfyoucomparethischarttoolderbooksonPokeryoumaynoticea
n obvious variation. The latest research has shown that
theoverall power of AKs is slightly greater than that of
KQs
especiallyingameswherefewplayersareleftaftertheriver.
Infact,withsixplayersaftertheriver,AKplaces10
th
,whileinag
ame with 6 players, it places 5
th
. This revelation was
firstdiscovered in the R&D being done using the latest
computerizedpokersimulationsinthelate90s.
JJisanotherexampleofholecardsthatvarygreatlydependingont
he type of game they are played in. They have been
highlightedonthechartforthefollowingreason
Atalargetableof6ormoreplayers,JJisranked4
th
inpower.Inas
ituationwheretherearefewerplayers,thepowerofthispairgoes
downto9
th
.
GamerankwithonlyTWOplayersaftertheriver(Top10)
GamerankwithSIXplayersaftertheriver(Top10)

ThekeydecisionanyHoldemplayermakesiswhetherornotto
playthestarting2
cardhandtheyaredealtwith.Andiftheydoplay,howdothey
playsmartthroughthehand.
I you are a FISH, never bet on anything but the top

ranked24pocketcards.
InsiderSecret
WewouldalsosuggestthatyouALWAYSraiseontheTop10.
Raise on the Top 16 unless you think the raise is not likely to
driveoutotherplayersinaveryloosegame.
Underverytighttableconditions,onlytheTop5shouldberaised
beforetheflop.
However,ouradvicewouldbeifyoufindyourselfataverytight
table, you should probably get up and go find better
playingconditionselsewhere.

AK is a good example of hole cards that only do really well in
ashorthanded game so you need to raise and drive out
otherplayers right away. If you cant, you will have lost most
of thepowerandadvantageofthesecards.


TT on the other hand drops dramatically in power with fewer

playerssoraisingtopushoutweakerhandsisapoorstrategy.
Barracuda The next level up from the Fish category
isBarracuda. Youre not the biggest and meanest fish
inthe sea, but you have experience and youve
survived.Andyouremakingmoneywhenyouplay.
The Barracuda Player can safely play the Top 40 pocket cards as
listednext.
You are now in the land of the mediumsuited connectors

KQs,QJs,JTs,T9swhichdoverywellinsmall
stakegamesaswellasthebiggishoffsuitacesAQ,AJ.
BarracudaTip:
Pick your 10player table carefully. Look for
playerswho seem to be having fun, and where at
least
halfofthemstayintoseetheflop.Pickingtherightt
able

is a major determinant of how well your hands will hold up in
thelongrun.
When other players know what youre holding, you
suffertremendous disadvantage. Just playing good cards is not
enoughasaBarracuda.RaisingAAandKKisclearlynotenough.
You need a carefully planned but hard to read raising strategy
aswell. At the Barracuda stage you begin to experiment with
moreaggressive play. As you will read later, timing your
aggressivestrategy is the key. Being aggressive with a large
number ofplayers at the table, unless they are all very
conservative, will notwork most of the time. And no matter how
aggressive you are,
ifyouaresurroundedbysharks,youwillbechum.
As a Fish you were focused on the top 1016 pocket cards dealt.
Youneedtoexpandthisnowintwoways.
One, you need to be more aggressive before the flop on a wider

rangeofcards.
Two, you need to mix up your betting strategy. As you will
seelater, the best player type is tightaggressive.
Thischaracterization is based more on how the other players see
youandlessonyourownstrategy.Inpoker,perceptioniseverythi
ng.You need to be seen by your opponent as someone whos
style isslightly hard to read and occasionally unpredictable.
Then
whenyoudoraiseaggressively,youropponentswilltakeyouserio
uslyandsurrenderthepot.
Be aware that in online Poker, because players come and
goconstantly,itsmoredifficulttobuildareputationatthetable.It
slikeperformingonthestage;youneedtoexaggerateyourmoves
abitmorethanyouwouldonaoneto
onebasis.Becauseitseasier

to be aggressive online, your aggression needs to be clear that
meanspushingupthebetsmorethanyouwouldatarealtable.
Slow play can have its advantages here too. It tends to catch
theattention of other weaker players anxious to donate to the
pot.Evenifyouknowexactlyhowmuchyouplantoraise,slowdo
wn.Letthecounterclickoff.Thisisagreatattention
gettingdevice.Ifafterstalling,youfold,youcommunicateindecisi
on.Ontheotherhand, if you raise heavy, youve made the move
quiteclearandyouvegottheotherplayersthinking.
Mentaltoughnessisoneofthekeystosuccessasyoumoveupthe
poker food chain. Being mentally tough means ignoring the
otherplayersconcernsabouthowfastyouplay.
Mr.SlowPlay
One of the toughest tournaments Ive played in had one
playerwho constantly ran up to the last few seconds of their
availabletime on every turn. At first it looked like they were
distracted,
orplayinganothergameonlineatthesametime.Virtuallyeveryti
meitcametotheirturn,theywouldstalluntilthecountdown.Soo
n,other players began chatting about the slow play. Name
callingbegan. One player suggested taking aggressive action
against thisplayer as a group, simply because of the shared
aggravation.Which is exactly what happened. At one point,
one player
betaggressivelyagainstMr.SlowPlayandwentallinandlost.
Who won the tournament? Mr. Slow Play. What a great
strategy.Herattledalmostalloftheotherplayerswithhisslowdet
erminedpace. He went right down to the last few seconds on
the
clockdozensoftimes.Themoretheotherplayerscomplained,the
morehehesitated.

Because he was slow on every play, it was very tough to read
hisactual playing style. He was consistent. He also got a lot
ofattention.Whenhewon,noonemissedit.Hemanagedtocontro
lthe table in a way. Table control is clearly a goal of the
consistentwinner.
The Shark Player will have 80 hands in their play list (see
chartfollowing) knowing that they are good hands if the flop is
goodflop, that your opponents will generally discount the
likelihoodyoullbeholdingthem,andthattheywillhavethewillt
ofoldonasmanyroundsasittakeswhentheflopdoesntgointhe
irfavor.
As a gambler, with these cards, the real magic is getting the right
flopcards.
Based on using the Shark play list you would on average,

participateinabout1/3
rd
ofallpotsatyourtable.
Theactualnumberwillfallintherangeof25%
to33%depending
ontheraisingbyotherplayers.

Again, if your goal is to win, please stay away from very
tighttables because no matter how well you play, only the house
winswheneveryoneisgood.
AuthorsSklanskyandMalmuth(S&M)haveauthoredoneofthe
most popular poker book to date called Holdem for
AdvancedPlayers.Ourpre
floprecommendationsdifferinmanyways.
S&M has always advised raising with your strongest hands
andlimping (calling) with your weakest. But this a major
mistake intighter games, since your strongest hands are worth
much morethan the blinds, while your weakest hands are
worth much lessthantheblinds.Foldingisthewisestchoice.
Also, S&M advises not raising with hands like KT after
severalloose limpers. The newest research however indicates you
shouldusuallyraisesinceyourhandislikelytobebestandwillwi
nmorethan your fair share of pots (though usually not much
money).S&Ms argument is that fish will call correctly with
gutshots
(drawing one card to a straight) and pairs on the flop if you
raisepreflop, and you will suck more players into the pot.
Raising willnot greatly reduce your chance of your winning the
pot, soifyouwill win more than your fair share of pots, you
should generallyraise.
StatsfromanumberofonlinecasinoshaverevealedanotherS&M
myth that you should raise with baby pairs like 33 even if
youknow the blinds will call. The odds are that you will flop a
thripmore then 1 in 9 times but you will win the pot less than
1 in 9times. Since you will win the pot less than your fair
share, youshouldnotraise.

PLAYING THE PROGRAM STEP-BY-STEP
Letsstartwithanexamplehand.Iftherearetermshereyoudont
understand, you can check the Dictionary in the back or
theIntroductionToTheGamechapter.
Ready?
The three basics you need to understand before you bet one cent
onanyTexasHoldemgame.
1)Checkouttheotherplayers!Aretheygoodorlousy?Checkout
the section called Watch Who You Play With and then make


notesonthestrengthofeachplayer.Ihavesuppliedasystemyou
canusetodeterminetheirabilitytoplay.
2)Decideontherightspotatthetable.Veryimportant.Probably
one of the most important decisions you will make in the
game.YouwillfindalotoftipsinthechapteronTablePosition.
3) Make sure you have enough chips. Stack size does matter
inthis game. You will find tips on how to decide on how much
toplaywiththislaterinthebook.
OK!Youreseated.Youhavereadthetableandtheotherplayers.
Youhaveenoughchipstowin.Nowwhat?
Fromthispointon,justfollowoursystem.
InthisexampleyouaredealtaKingandanine.

Yourfirstquestionwillbehowgoodismyhand?
Well,welltellyou.ReferfirstofalltotheOpeningOddsChartat
theendofthisbook.
Look up K9 from the chart (which you will keep by your side
whenyouplay.)
Theoddsofwinningwiththesetwocardsis14%.

Now look at the pot. What is the total now? This is easy because
thecomputerkeepstrackofthisforyoutothepenny.
Letssaythepottotalis$80.
14% of $80 is $11.20. (This is our Pot Odds calculation. This tells
youhowmuchyoushouldbetbasedonwhatyouhave.)
So you match the bet of $10 and you are in. (Ten dollars is less
thanyour$11.20limit.Youunderpaidtostayinthegame.
Nowtheotherskeepbetting.Itgetsbacktoyouagainandthepot
isnow$120.
Whats14%of$120?Around$17.
Youve already bet $10. That leaves $7. (Your first bet on that
roundplus$7)
Youneedanother$10tostayin.
Accordingtomyrulesthen,youshouldfold.
Now the $3differenceisnotmuch.Youmightdecidetogotothe

$20 if necessary. But dont go any further. The odds are
againstyou and you are overpaying for the cards you have yet
to see.Now you are playing scientifically and based on well
understoododds. This is how the pros play. They watch the
other
players.Theywatchtheothercards.Andtheyknowthemath.
ThesecrettowinningTexasHoldem?Beattheoddsby
knowingtheodds.
InsiderTip


You need to beat the other players by knowing the odds
betterthan they do. Now lets learn more about the secrets of
onlinepoker.
Letsgetbacktoourtwopocketcards.

HerestheFLOP.

Now youre pretty excited. You just ended up with a pair
ofKings. Is a pair of Kings good enough to
win?Areyoureadytobetthefarm?DoyouhavetheNuts?
50%ofTexasHoldempotsarewonwithapairof9s
orbetter.
InsiderTip
So that sounds good. Except there is a partial straight on the

table.
Atthispoint,aftertheFLOP,thereareTHREEthingstoconsider.


Whatdotheotherplayershave(Tells)?
Whataremyoddsofgettingawinninghand?
Whatwillitcostmetoseethenextcard?
Backtothefirstpoint.
What do the other players have? Short of those xray glasses
theyusedtoadvertiseinthecomicswhenyouwereakid,howwill
youknow? This is the art of the tells evaluating the other
playerscards.
First,lookattheoddsfortheotherplayers.
Inourgame,thereisa2cardstraightonthetable.Anotherplayer
needs to have a 56 or 69 or 9T in any suit and they are close to
astraight.(Lateronwewillshowyouexactlyhowtofigureoutthe
exactodds.)

It is very likely that someone at the table is 1 or 2 cards from a

straight.Andtheystillhavetwomorecardstofillthatstraight.
Clearly, you need threeofakind to stay in the game. Another

King.
Asfarasyouknow,thereare2otherKingsinthedeck(younever
countwhatyouthinksomeoneelsehasintheirdowncards).


Theoddsaresimpletocalculate.
There are 17 cards dealt (based on 3 down and 7 players with 2

cardseach).
Youneed2outof17cards=11.7%odds.
The betting starts and you can see the pot is $180 when it gets to
you.
Howmuchcanyoubet?
11.7%of$180=$20.
If you know that you need another King to win, the most you
shouldbettoseethenextcard(basedonwhatyouknow)is$20.
You have one other very valuable bit of information at this
point.You can see how others are betting. This should give you
a
goodsense,combinedwithyourreadingofthetablebeforeyousta
rted,ofwhatkindofhandstheyhave.
LetsseethenextcardtheTURNcardasixofhearts.


WHAT WOULD YOU DO AT THIS POINT IF YOU

KNEWTHAT ONE OF THE OTHER PLAYERS ALREADY
HAD ASTRAIGHT?
Youwouldfold.Right?Wellneverbetonthecome.
Acardinalruleinpokeriftheyvegotyoubeatand
youknowit,foldnow.
InsiderTip
Yes,youmaygetacardtoimproveyourhandbutsocanthey,so
unlessyoucanseethenextcardforfree,dontwasteyourmoney.
Thequestionis,howdoyouknowwhattheotherplayerhas?Are
you making the determination based on how they are
betting?Maybetheyrebluffing.
Youknowyoucantbeatastraightwithathrip(threeofakind).
Ontheotherhand,besidethePAIRofKINGS,youhavefourcards
inastraight6,7,8,9.
Why you should not play anything below AT off suit? Why
itsbesttohaveA5sandbeloworATsandaboveoversomething
inthemiddlelikeA8s?


Any Ace unsuited hand below AT can be big trouble in any kind
ofgame.
Some people might even consider AT and AJ difficult hands
toobutforthegamesyouaregoingtobeplayingintheyareadequ
atestartinghands.
ThereasonA8,A7,A5allsuckisbecauseyoureallycanthitmuch
towin.TakeA8forexample.
Yourkickerisntthatgreat,the8,andyouhavenochanceofhittin
ganystraightsorflushes.Theonlywayyoucanwinreallyistoh
opethattheyhaveaweakerAcethenyoudoandyoucatchone.
Playingpokerislikeinvestinginthestockmarket.
Youwanttoputyourmoneyintogreatstockthathasachanceto
deliveragoodreturn.A8isntthatkindofstock.
NowtoanswerthequestionofATsandaboveandA5sandbelow
versusA9sA8sA7sA6s.
The first oneswork because you can also make a straight
withthem.I would take A5s over A8s because the A and the
5 canworktogethertomakeastraight,unliketheA8s.


When you play weak Aces though like A5s, you have to be extra
cautiousifyoucatchanAceontheflop.
You wont be sure if your kicker is good or not so youll have
togive the next step some thought. Playing these only in
laterpositions can help you make better decisions because
people
willcheckmostlikelyiftheydonthavetheAorthathandbeat.
WhydohandslikeAA,KK,QQ,AK,AQworkbestatsmaller
tables?
Imagineascenariowhereeveryoneisinthehand,andyoulook
downandseetwogorgeousredAces?

Yourpulsestartstorace.Thenyoulookuptoseethateveryone
hasalreadycalled.Atthispointyouhavetoknowthatyourcha
ncesofwinningareslim.
Powerhandslikethisrarelywinwhentherearethatmanypeople
callingpreflop.Why?
Howdoyouimprovethishand?
Inbigallinpotstwopairrarelywinsagainstflushesandstraights.
Sowhatdoyoudo?
Theresonlyonetacticleft.Youcouldcheckraiseontheflop
insteadofbettingrightnow.Theideawouldbetotrytoforce
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someoftheotherplayerstoleave.Limitingthefieldwould
increaseyourchancestowin.
WhyarehandslikeKTs,QJsJTs,89s,79s,and46sbetterwhen
youhaveafulltableofplayersin?
Youcanalmostnevergetintotroublewiththesekindsofpocket
cards.Ifyouhitsomething,itslikelytobequitestrong.Ifyoud
ontgetthecardsyouwant,itseasyatthispointtofold.
TrythatwithapairofAces!Withthosekindsofcardsyouare
marriedtothepotusuallytothebitterend.AhandlikeJTsand
89sareidealforplayingagainstbigallinpots.Ouradviceisto
alwaysraisetobuildthepot.
Thereasonthesefavourbigpotsisbecausetheyarealways
drawingtoflushesandstraights.
Makeyourhand...andyouwillbehardtobeat.
SUMMARY FOR THE BEGINNER
Readthetable.
Playverytight,especiallyinthebeginning.
Startwithenoughchips.
Betbasedonwhatthepotoddsare(neveroverbetthepot)
Watchtheoddsforupcomingcards.

EVERYTHING YOU ALWAYS

WANTED TO KNOW (AND MAYBE
DIDNT) ABOUT ODDS,
PERMUTATIONS
AND RETURN ON INVESTMENT

WHATARECARDODDS?
Ifyouhaventalreadynoticed,probabilityisahugefactorinTexas
Holdem.Forexample,thereare2,598,960possiblehandsina52
carddeckbutonly4RoyalFlushes.Iftheaverageseriouspokerpla
yerisdealt100,000handsintheirlifetime,theywillneverhold

(onthefirstfivecards)morethan4percentofallthepossible
hands.Andlikelyalotless.
Figuringoutstraightcardcombinationsforthepurposeofthistext
are called Card Odds (you will be introduced to other kinds
ofodds later). Card Odds can reveal some quite interesting
information.
For example, how many pat straight flushes will you see in
yourlifetime?Todeterminethatnumber,theexpectednumberofh
andsthat could be dealt during your lifetime is estimated
by thefollowingcalculation:
10completepokerhands/hr.x5hrs./gamex50games/yr.
x40yrs./pokerlife=l00,000handsofpokerperlifetime.
This is a pretty aggressive estimate, as most people will
nevercome close to this number of complete hands in Texas
Holdem.Based on this level of play, the number of pat (on the
first fivecards) poker hands that you should get during your
lifetime iscalculatedfromthecardoddsandtabulatedasfollows:
CardsDealt NumberofPatHands
Nopair
50,000Onepair
40,00Twopair
5,000Threeofakind
2,000Straight
400Flush
200Fullhouse
170Fourofakind
25Straight flush 1.4
Royal straight flush 0.15

Sostatistically,youshouldseeapatstraightflushonyourfirstfive
cardsonceortwiceduringyourlifetime.Mostaveragepokerpla
yerswillneverseeevenone.
Cardplayersoftentalkabouthavingaluckystreakorarun.Ma
thematically,streaksdontexist.Butsupposeyoudidhaveanam
azingrunofcardsoneevening.Whatwouldtheoddsbeofhaving
fiveconsecutivestraightflushesinarow?
Royal Flush 4 .0000015391

Other Straight 36 .0000138517
Flush
Four of a kind 624 .0002400960
Full House 3,744 .0014405762
Flush 5,108 .0019654015
Straight 10,200 .0039246468
Three of a 54,912 .0211284514
kind
Two Pairs 123,552 .0475390156
One Pair 1,098,240 .4225690276
Nothing 1,302,540 .5011773940
Total 2,598,960 1.0000000000

In every 1.7x10
24
deals . . . or once in every
700,000,000,000,000,000,000years.Youdhavetoreadthosecardsi
n the dark though, because our sun will be long gone by
thattime.
Playersusecardoddstomakeplayingdecisions.Adecisionmade
without taking into account card odds makes poker a
guessinggame.Thechancesoffinishingaflushorastraight,thepr
obabilityof getting an over card (face card), the percentage of
times youregoing to flop a card to match your pocket pair are
all extremelyimportantfactorsinTexasHoldem.

Knowledgeofthesestatisticsiskeytowinning.
Herearesomeotherbasicprobabilitiesthatyoushouldknow
about:
Youneedonemorehearttomakeyourflushontheturn
orriver35%
Probabilityofhittinganopen
endedstraightdraw(i.e.4straightcards,needoneoneit
herendtohitonturnorriver)31.5%
Probabilityofbeingdealtsuitedcards:23.5%
Probabilityofhittingathreeorfourofakindattheflop
whenyouholdapocketpair:11.8%
Probabilityyouwillmakeapairattheflop,holdingtwo
unpairedcardsinthehole:32.4%
ProbabilityofbeingdealtAA:.45%
Probabilityofnooneholdingaspecificcard,bynumberof
players,assumingyoudonothavethatcard,bynumber
oftotalplayers.
284.5%
370.9%
459%
548.6%
639.7%
732.1%
825.6%
920.1%
1015.6%
Probabilitysomeoneelsedoesnothaveanace,assuming
youdohaveanace,bytotalnumberofplayers:

288.2%
377.5%
467.6%
558.6%
650.4%
743%
836.4%
930.5%
1025.3%
HOWARETHEODDSCALCULATED?
Lets look at the example of having 4 outs (four cards you need to
make your hand). Say youre holding 6c7dandtheflopcomes9s
10hKc.Inthiscaseyouneedan8tomakethestraight.Sincethere
arefour8sinthedeck,youhave4outs.
YOURPOCKET

THEFLOP


ODDSWITHONECARDTOCOME
Calculatingtheoddswithonecardtocomeisrelatively
straightforward.
When youre looking to make the inside straight, you have
fourouts. There are a total of 46 unknown cards (52
minusthe2cardsinyourhandminusthe3cardsfortheflopandt
he1turncard).42of the cards dont make your hand and four
do. 42:4 or 10.5:1 =about 9%. I prefer to use the percentage
as it helps whencalculatingPotOdds(tocomelater).
ODDSWITHTWOTOCOME
To calculate the appropriate odds with two cards to come,
youmustfirstdeterminethetotalnumberoftwo
cardcombinationspossibleaftertheflop.
The easiest way to calculate this is by multiplying the number
ofcards available for the turn (47) by the number of cards
availablefor the river (46) and dividing that number by 2
(because a cardcantmatchitself).47*46/2=1081.
A certain number of these 1081 twocard combinations will
haveeightsinthem.Todetermineoddsproperly,youneedtocalcu
latetwomorefigures.
EIGHTS ON BOTH THE TURN AND THE RIVER

One of the four eights can appear on the turn. And if one
does,there will be three left for the river. If you multiply 4 by
3 anddivide by 2 (because a card cant match itself) you see
that therearesixuniquepairingof8s.

EIGHTSONTHETURNORRIVER
Ifaneightcomesontheturn,thereare46unseencardsremaining.
But youre no longer interested in the three remaining eights,
soyoucansubtractthose.Thisleaves43unseencardsthatwillmak
eauniquepairwithoneoftheeights.Multiply4(thenumberof8s
inthedeck)by43(thenumberofunseencards)toarriveat172.
FINISHTHECALCULATION
172 plus 6 comes to 178 the total number of two
cardcombination that have at least one eight in them and as
many astwoeights.
Outof1081possibletwocardcombinationsontheturnandriver,
178 of those combinations help us make our hand. Subtract
178from1081tofindthenumberofcombinationsthatdontmaket
hestraight(1081178=903).
The odds against making a straight by the river are: 903:178, or

20%.
WhatAboutTheCardsTheOtherPlayersAreHolding?
Everwonderwhyweneverfactortheopponentscardsorthe
burncardswhenfiguringouthowmanycardsareleft?
The reason is that we only considerunseen cards. If you

sawwhat the burn cards were, or an opponent showed you his
hand,you would know that those cards are not going to be
drawn andcould use that. We typically do not know what they
have, so wedonteventhinkaboutitwhentalkingaboutodds.

Forinstance,takeastandarddeckof52cards,remove2Acesandb
urn25ofthem.Ifyoudrewthenextcard,whatarethechancesofit
being an Ace? It would be 2/50 (2 Aces left out of 50
unseencards). It would NOT be 2/25 just because you burned
half
thedeck.Okay,dothesamethingagain,butthistimeyougettolo
okat the burn cards. Lets say that of all the cards you burned,
nonewereanace.Nowyouroddsare2/25becausetherearestill2
Acesandnowonly25unseencards.
You will find that you can easily remember a few of the
mostcommonsituationsforoutssuchasthefourflushorstraight
drawbut there has to be
aneasierwaythanmemorizingthefiguresforeverynumberofout
s.Thegoodnewsisthatthereisawaytogetagood estimation of
the odds without
theheavymathandyoucanalsousehandyoddscharts.
WHATHANDSWILLWINTHEPOT?
The following are the most valuable starting hands in
TexasHoldem. This chart assumes a medium to loose $510
TexasHoldemgame.Theresultsarebasedonacomputersimulati
onof
5,000,000 played hands. The percentage shown indicates how
manytimesintypicalgamethatthesehandswinthepot.
2Pair
31%Pair
27%Threeofakind
12%Straight
9%Flush
9%Fullhouse
9%Bust(nothing)
2%Fourofakind
1%Straightflush
<1%Royalflush
<1%

This is interesting data butheresthekickerlookatthepower

oftwopairsandsinglepairhands.Itsnotonlyhigherthanthe
WHATAREMYCHANCESOFWINNING?
Whataremychancesofwinningahandwithagivensetofpocket
cards?Whataretheoddsoffillingastraight?

Howmuchyoucanexpecttoprofitfromthesestartinghands?
Thestartinghandaveragewinforeachtimeplayedbasedon
mediumtolooseTexasHoldemPokergameswitha$5/$10limit.
AA
$34.19KK
$24.13QQ
$17.36JJ
$12.08AKsuited
$11.63AKoffsuit
$8.65AQsuited
$8.32
1010
$7.72AJsuited
$5.69AQoffsuit
$5.47
POCKETCARDODDS
Hole Cards Odds

Any Pair 16 : 1

Suited Cards 3 : 1

A-K 82 : 1

Suited Connecting Cards 24 : 1

A-A or K-K 110 : 1

A-anything 5.3 : 1

Any two cards J's or Higher 10:1

After the Flop

Pair J's or Higher 55 : 1

No Pair improving to a Pair 2.7 : 1


Pair improving to 3 of a Kind 8 : 1

Flop being 3 of a Kind 391 : 1

The River (5th Street)

A-K hitting an A or K by the River 1:6 : 1

Q-Q vs A-K (A or K hitting) 1.5 : 1

Hitting 5th card to complete a Flush 1.6 : 1

Completing an Open Ended Straight 2.9 : 1

Three of a Kind improving to Full House 2.7 : 1

Pocket Pair improving to 3 of a Kind after the
12 : 1
Flop

Hitting a Backdoor Flush 33 : 1

More Interesting Texas Hold'em Odds

5 Players, there's an A on the flop. Chances a 1.7 : 1
player has an A in their hole.

4 Players, there's an A on the flop. Chances a
2.1 : 1

2.9 : 1

4.3 : 1

WHATAREPOTODDS?
Pot odds are the odds you get when analyzing the current size
ofthe pot vs. your next call or bet. Pot Odds help you
makeimportantcall,raiseorfolddecisions.
Example 1: There is $200 in the pot and a final $10 bet coming at
you.Youarelookingtofillinyour4cardflush.Basedonneeding


one of four suits, the shortcut math is 1:4 chances or
25%.Winning consistently is about beating Pot Odds and not
over
betting.IfyourCardOddsare25%(youhavefourheartsandneed
another to win) and you only need to bet 5% of the present pot
($10 as a percentage of the $200) to see the last card, you are
ingreat shape. Based on Pot Odds for this hand you could go
ashigh as 25% of the pot based on your odds to pull a heart on
theriver.

Example 2: You are in a $5/$10 Holdem game with JackTen

pocketcardsandoneopponentleftontheturn.
You have an outside straight draw with a board of 259Q,

andonly the river card left to make your straight. Any 8 or any
Kingwill finish
thisstraightforyou,soyouhave8outs(four8sand4Ks left in
the deck) and 46 unseen cards left. 8/46 gives you a 6:1chance or
a 17% chance of getting the win. Your opponent bets
$10.
6/1=17%PotOdds

If you take a $10 bet you could win $100. Your bet is then 10%
ofthefinalpot.The10%betissmallerthanthe17%odds,soyouar
eingoodshapefromaninvestmentpointofview.
Whenever your call or bet (in this case 10% of the pot) is
smallerthanyouroddsofgettingthewinninghand(17%)youare
buyingthe next card at a discount. The key is looking at the
odds of awinninghand,notbuildingapartofawinninghand.
Toomanybeginnersjustplaygoodcardsandjusttossbadones
oriftheyhavetheprospectofstraightoraflush
theywilljustdrawanddrawwithlittleconsiderationtoanythin
gelse.
Unless you have the NUTS (nuts = the very best possible
hand)every time there is a certain degree of risk when you
put yourmoneyinthepot.
In the heat of the battle you may not always have time to get
outyourcalculatoranddothenumbercrunching.Youcanlookat
PotOddsinamuchsimplerway
justaskyourselfifthereisenoughmoneyinthepottojustifytheri
sk?
If there is a big pot unless you just know you are beat, or
itsimply costs too much too call (which means your pot odds
maynotbesogreatafteritsallsaidanddone)
trytogetsomeaction.Evenifyouknewyouwerealongshot
wouldyoubet$25or$50on a chance to win $500 or $1000 or
more? While you may be along shot its not a bad bet if there
is a reasonable chance youcouldwin.
On the flip side, and this is important, you may have a
decenthand
anditmayevenbethewinner,(useyouropponentortellsknowl
edge)butifitsgoingtocostyou$250tocallandyoustand

toonlywinafewhundredthenyourpotoddsarenotsogreatand
isprobablynotworththerisk.
Potoddsratiosareausefultooltoseehowoftenyouneedtowin
thehandtobreakeven.
Ifthereis$100inthepotandittakes$10tocall,youmustwinthis
hand 1 out of 11 times in order to break even. The thinking
goesalongthelinesof:Ifyouplay11times,itllcostyou$110,but
whenyouwin,youget$110($100+your$10call).
The usefulness
ofcardoddsandpotoddsbecomesveryapparentwhen you start
comparing the two. As we know now, in a flushdraw, your
card odds for making your flush are 1.9 to 1 or
35%.Letssayyoureinahandwithanutflushdrawandits$5to
youon the flop to call. Do you call? Your answer should be:
What aremypotodds?
Ifthereis$15inthepotplusa$5betfromanopponent,thenyoua
regetting20:5or4:1potodds
25%.Thismeansthatinordertobreak even, you must win 1 out
of every 5 times. However,
withyourflushdraw,youroddsofwinningare1outofevery3ti
mes!You should quickly realize that not only are you breaking
even,butyouremakinganiceprofitonthistoo.Letscalculatethe
profitmargin on this by theoretically playing this hand 100
times fromtheflop,whenisthencheckedtotheriver.
TotalCosttoPlay=100hands*$5tocall=$500
PotValue=$15+$5bet+$5call=$25
OddstoWin=1.9:1or35%(Fromtheflop)
TotalHandsWon=100*OddstoWin(35%)=35wins
NetProfit=NetCosttoPlay+(TotalTimesWon*PotValue)

=$500+(35*$30)
=$500+$1,050
=$550Profit
As you can see, you have a great reason to play this flush
draw,becauseyoullbemakingmoneyinthelongrunaccordingto
yourcardoddsandpotodds.Themostfundamentalpointtotake
fromthisis:
IfyourPotOdds>CardOdds,thenyouaremakingaprofit.
So,eventhoughyoumaybefacedwithagutshotstraightdrawatt
imes,whichisaterribledrawat5to1handodds,itcanbeworthit
to call if you are getting pot odds greater than 5 to 1.
Othertimes, if you have an excellent draw such as the flush
draw, butsomeone has just raised a large amount so your pot
odds are 1:1for instance, then you obviously should not
continue trying todraw to a flush, as you will lose money in
the long run. In thissituation, a fold or semibluff is your only
solution, unless
youknowtherewillbecallersbehindyouthatimproveyourpoto
ddstobetterthanbreakeven.
Your ability to memorize or calculate your card odds and

figureout your pot odds will lead you to make many of
the
rightdecisionsinthefuture.Justbesuretorememberthatfundam
entalprinciple of playing drawing hands when your pot
odds aregreaterthanyourcardodds.
Another good rule to follow a lot of players want to

somehowfactor in money they wagered on previous rounds.
With the lastexample, you probably had already invested a
significant portion

ofthat$200pot.Letssay$50.Doesthatmeanyoushouldplayor
foldbecauseofthatmoneyyoualreadyhaveinthere?$50/$200?
Thatsabigno.
Thats not your money anymore! Its in a pool of money to

begiven to the winner. You have nostake in that pot. The
onlystakeyoumighthaveistotallymentalandhasnobearingon
hardstatistics.
Thenextstepistousebetoddsandimpliedodds.Thatstougher,
because it involves predicting reactions of other players. With
betodds, you try to factor in how many people are going to
call araise. With implied odds, youre thinking about reactions
for therestofthegame.Oneexampleonimpliedodds...
Sayitsanother$5/$10Holdemgameandyouhaveafourflushon
theflop.
Yourneighbourbets,andeveryoneelsefolds.Thepotis$50atthis
point.Firstyoufigureoutyourchanceofhittingyourflushonthet
urn,anditcomesouttoabout19%(about1in5).Youhavetocallt
his $5 bet vs. a $50 pot, so thats a 10x payout. 1/5 is higher than
1/10, so bet odds are okay, but you must consider that this
guysgoingtobetintoyouontheturnandriveralso.Thatsthe$5
plustwomore$10bets.
Sonowyourfacing$25moretilltheendofthehand.Soyouhavet
o consider your chances of hitting that flush on the turn or
river,whichmakesitabout35%(betterthan1in3now),butyouh
avetoinvest $25 for a finishing pot of $100. $100/$25 is 1 in 4.
Thatsprettyclose.
Buttheresmore!

If you dont make it on the turn, itll change your outs and
odds!Youllhavea19.6%chanceofhittingtheflush(littleworseth
an1in5),buta$20investmentforafinishingpotof$100!$100/$20
is1in 5. So the chances could take a nasty turn if you didnt
hit it!Whats makes it more complicated is that if you did hit it
on
theturn,youcouldraisehimback,andgetanextra$20ormaybee
ven
$40inthepot.
Once youve mastered simple outs and pot odds, bet and
impliedodds are just a longer extension of these equations. If
you thinkabout these things while you play, they will
eventually becomesecondnaturetoyou.
MoreOddsExamples:Apocketpair
You start with a pair of Jacks in the pocket. Not too shabby. The
flophowever,doesntcontainanotherJack.
YOURPOCKET

THEFLOP


Lesson 1: Whats my chance of getting a Jack on the
turn?Youneedtojustfigureoutthenumberofoutsanddivideitb
ythenumber of cards in the deck. There are 2 more Jacks.
Theres 47more cards since youve seen five already. The answer
is 2/47, or
.0426,closeto4.3%.
Lesson 2: No luck on the turn, how about the river
card?Still 2 Jacks left, but one less card in the deck bringing the
grandtotal to 46. Whats 2/46? Thats .0434, which is also close to
4.3%.Yourchancesdidntchangemuch.
Lesson3:ForgetjustgettingjustoneJack!Iwantthemboth!What
aremychances?
Since were trying to figure out the chances of getting one on
theturn AND the river, and not getting one on EITHER the
turn orriver, we dont have to reverse our thinking. Just
multiply theprobability of each event happening. Chances of
getting that firstJack on the turn was .0426, remember? The
chance of getting asecond Jack on the river would be 1/46,
because therell only
beoneJackleftinthedeck.Thatsabout.0217,or2.2%.
Togettheanswer,multiplythem..0426X.0217isabout.0009!
Thatsaroundonetenthofapercent.Iwouldntbankonthat
one.
Lesson4:Hey,whatweremychancesofgettingapairofJacks
anyway?
To figure that out, think of it as getting dealt one card,
thenanother. What are your chances of the second card
matching thefirst one? There will be 3 cards left like the one you
have. Theres
51cardsleftinthedeck.3/51is.059or5.9%.Whatthechancethat


itllbeJacks?Well,thereare13differentcards.So,.059/13isabout
.0045,alittlelessthanhalfapercent.
Lesson 5: What were my chances of getting a Jack on the
flop?Nowyoudohavetothinkinreverseasinthepreviousexa
mple.Figure out the chances of NOT getting a Jack on each
successivecardflip.Firstcardyouhavea48/50chance(48non
Jackcardsleft,
50 cards left
inthedeck),secondcardis47/49,thirdcardis46/48.Those come
out to .96, .959, and .958. Multiply them and get
.882,oran88.2%chanceofNOTgettinganyJacksontheflop.Inver
titto figure out what your chances really are and you get .118
or
11.8%.ThiswillbeyourchancetogetoneortwoJacks.
Example#2Thestraightdraw
THEPOCKET

You start with a Jack of Spades and a Ten of Spades. You get
arainbowflopwithaQueenofSpades,aThreeofDiamonds,and
aNineofClubs.Youvegotastraightdraw.
THEFLOP


Lesson 1: What are my chances of hitting it on the next

card?Same as before, but with different outs. A King or an
Eight willcomplete your hand. There is presumably four of each
left in thedeck. Youve got 8 outs. The chance of getting one of
them on theturn is 8 over 47, because theres 47 cards left in
the deck. Thatcomesouttoabout.170,oraround17%.
Lesson 2: I didnt get it on the turn! What are my chances
now?Therearestill8cardsleftinthedeckthatllhelpyou,but46c
ardsleftinthedeck.Thats8over46.Itchangesto.174.Itsimprov
edtoawhopping17.4%!
Lesson3:Ishouldofthoughtaboutmytotalchancesfirst,Imsuch
anidiot.WhataremychancesofgettingthatcardontheturnORt
heriver?
Once again well have to calculate the chances of a King or Eight

NOTappearing,sowecandoitlikethelastproblem(inthiscase,
{39/47}X{38/46}).Or,sincewevealreadyfiguredoutourchancesi
n the previous two lessons, we can just invert the
probabilitiesand multiply them. You had a .170 chance on the
turn, and a
.174ontheriver.Byinverting,Imeansubtractingthemfromone.
Nowwevegot.830and.826!Multiplyandget.686!Thatsourchan
ceofNOT hitting our card at all. So invert it again and get
.314, or
31.4%.
Example#3Toptwopair
THEPOCKET


THEFLOP
YougetdealtaKingofDiamondsandaNineofHearts.Theflopis
looking pretty good for you with a King of Spades, a Nine
ofClubs,andaFourofClubs.Toptwopair!
Lesson 1: What are my chances of getting a full house on the

turn?
To get a full house, you need another King or Nine to pop
up.Thereistwoofeachleftinthedeck.Soyouvegot4outs.After
thefloptheresalways47cardsunaccountedfor.4/47isaround.08
5oran8.5%chanceofyougettingtheFullHouse.
Lesson 2: What are my chances of getting a full house on the

river?
If itdidnthappenontheturn,yourchancesusuallydontchange
all too much, but lets check. Youve still got 4 outs and now 46

unseen cards left. 4/46 is about .087 or around an 8.7% chance of
hittingitontheriver.A.2%difference.
Lesson3:Howaboutthechancesofgettingtheboatontheturn
ORtheriver?
Like the previous examples, to figure your chance of
somethinghappeningonmultipleevents,youneedtocalculatethe
chanceofit NOT happening first. On the turn it wont happen
43/47
times.Ontheriveritwonthappen42/46times.43/47is.915,and42
/46is
.913. Multiply them and get .835, or 83.5% chance of it
nothappening.Invertthatandyougeta16.5%ofgettingatleastaf
ullhousebytheshowdown.
Lesson4:WhatdoyoumeanbyatleastaFullHouse?
Since we figured the chances to NOT get dealt a full house,
thechancesarebuiltiniftheturnandriveraretwoKings,twoNin
es,oraKingandaNine.IfyouaredealttwocardsbothofeitherKi
ngorNine,itllbefourofa
kindandnotaKingandNine33%ofthetime. Think of it as
being dealt one card then the other. What arethe chances of the
first card matching the second? Whether its aKing or Nine,
there will be only one unaccounted for, but two
oftheother.Thats1/3,or33%.
Lesson5:Thenwhataremychancesofgettingfourofakind?
This one requires a little more thought. It doesnt matter
whichcardwerehopingfor.Weneedtofirstgetafullhouseonth
eturn.According to lesson #1, the chance of that happening is
.085.
Thechanceofgettingthesamecardwegotontheturnis1/46.Ther
esonlyoneout,andtheusual46unseencards.1/46isaround.022,
or
2.2%. Multiply the two probabilities (.022 X .085) and get .002 or

onefifth of a percent. It will be Kings half of the time and Nines
theotherhalf
Is this making any sense? If you really want to be a master
ofcalculatingodds,youneedtoseethesecalculationsinaction,ove
rand over. Like anything else, practice makes perfect. In
onlinegames especially with very few if any tells (shown
cards),statistical knowledge becomes the main factor when
choosingwhethertobet,call,orfold.
Ifyoudohaveahandthatyouknowcantloseyouhavethenut.
Betlikecrazy.
While there is a lot more to Texas Holdem poker than this
thisshould open your eyes to more things about the game of
pokerthanjustthecardsandtheirstatistics.
Yes
YouDOneedtoknowyourgeneralchancesofpullingwhattypes
of hands but if you learn to study your opponents, theywill
tell you their hands and youll be able to beat them
withoutevenknowingyours.
RETURNONINVESTMENT(ROI)
When the stakes required to play a game of Texas
Holdemincrease, there is not a proportional increase in the
averagewinnings or money flow because most players,
especially at thestartofplay,playtighterathigherstakes.
Hereshowthatworks.
Higherstakescauseplayerstobemorecautious.Potsdonotgrow
proportionately as the stakes and blinds increase. Your return
oninvestmentwillthereforedecreaseastheminimumblindgoesu
p.

Max Bet Pot Size
$ 2 Max 28 - 37
$ 4 Max 25 - 35
$ 6 Max 20 - 22
$ 10 Max 10 - 28
$ 20 Max 6 - 7
$ 50 Max 12
$ 60 Max 7.6
$ 100 Max 6.11
$ 200 Max 5.5
Most major online casinos release data on hands played (for
aprice) on a regular basis. A recent study (June 2004) from one
ofthelargestonlinecasinos,basedonseveralmillionactualhands
ofPokerplayed,revealedthatthereturnoninvestmentvariesquite
abitbasedonthemaximumbet.
Inthe$2games,thevalueofthewinningpotvariedfrom28to37ti
mestheBigBlind(BB)
themostyouwouldhavetoinvesttoseethe flop (short of raises).
The average pots were in the $60 range.With the right cards,
you could expect a return of 3000% on awinninghand.
As you can see in the chart above, this ratio falls as the Blinds
goup. In the $200 game, with pots averaging $6001200, the
ratioaverages 5.5:1. Sure, greater overall winnings but much
greaterriskbasedontheinvestmentyouhavetomaketoseethefl
op.
Also notice the volatility or variance of this ratio. On the
highstakes tables, play is very tight and often passive, so the
ratioremainsverynarrowpotsarepredictably5
6timestheBigBlind.At the smaller stakes tables, there is
considerably more volatility,indicative of a lot of looser players
and more aggressive playingstyles.

The$1/$2tablesaretheloosestwithpotsrangingfrom2837times
theBigBlind.
AreLowStakeTablesFaster?
Not necessarily. Texas Holdem is the king of fast play. Several

$1000 plus pots were played in less than a minute and ranged
aslongas6minutes
thesamerangeforthesmallstaketables.Overall, the average
length of an online Poker game today is just
overoneminuteor5060handsperhour.
Inhigherstakesgames,onethingisquiteclear.Thereareahigher
percentageoftighterandaggressiveplayersatthesetablesthanatt
hesmallstakegames.Thatmeanstherearemoresharksatthebigt
ables and a much better chance that you will be one of the
fish.The smart thing to do here is to say away from these
kinds oftables.
Given the fact that the return on investment is lower at the
highstake games, that the average level of play is much
moreaggressive and that a much larger stake is required, there
is
verylittleopportunitytobeaconsistentwinnerontableswith$50
andupblinds.
Alloftherecentresearchpointsto$5/$10Limittables
asidealcombinationofriskandreward.
InsiderTip
FACT!Whentheaverageloosegamblerloses,heorshekeepson
playinginanattempttorecovertheloss.Thisisirrationalandun
plannedplayandcanbeveryexpensive.

Ontheotherhand,whenmostinnategamblerswin,theyforgetall
about their losses and conclude incorrectly that they have
finallylearned how to win or that their luck has finally
changed. Theyexpress what is an irrational optimism at this
point a
totallyunfoundedandundeservedoptimismthatkeepstheminth
egameuntiltheyrevertbacktoalosingstreak.
Sharksexploitthisirrationalplayingstyleingamblerstogenerate
acontinuousincome.
POCKETCARDODDS
HoleCardsDealt Dealt Percent Expected Percent
SuitedStarters 680,351 23.56% 679,596 23.53%
ConnectedStarters 454,220 15.73% 453,064 15.69%
SuitedConnected
114,304 3.96% 113,266 3.92%
Starters
PairedStarters
AADealt 13,010 0.45%

KKDealt 13,182 0.46%
QQDealt 13,122 0.45%

JJDealt 13,069 0.45%
TTDealt 12,886 0.45%

99Dealt 13,092 0.45%
88Dealt 13,046 0.45%

77Dealt 13,111 0.45%

66Dealt 13,130 0.45%

55Dealt 13,173 0.46%
44Dealt 13,015 0.45%

33Dealt 13,075 0.45%
22Dealt 13,076 0.45%

AllPairedStarters 169,987 5.89% 169,899 5.88%
AKSuitedStarters 8,717 0.30% 8,713 0.30%
AKOffsuitStarters 26,051 0.90% 26,138 0.90%
AllAKStarters 34,768 1.20% 34,851 1.21%
THERULEOFFOURTWO
The rule of fourtwo is an easier way to figure the odds for
anysituationwhereyouknowyourouts.Itisnotcompletelyaccu
ratebut it will give you a quickballpark figure of your
chances formakingahand.
Hereishowitworks.
With two cards to come after the flop you multiply your
numberofoutsbyfour.Withonecardtocomeaftertheturn,you
multiplyyournumberofoutsbytwo.
Thiswillgiveyouaquickfiguretoworkwith.
If you have a fourcard flush after the flop you have nine outs.
Withtwocardstocome,youmultiplytheninebyfourandyouget
36percentchanceofmakingtheflush.

The chart shows the true odds at 35 percent. With one card
tocome you multiply nine by two and get 18 percent. The
chartshowsthatthetruefigureis19.6.Itisnotcompletelyaccurate
butitisprettyclose,anditisaneasycalculationtodoinyourhea
d
Howtocalculatehandodds(thelongerway):
Once you know how to correctly count the number of outs
youhave on a hand, you can use that to calculate what percent
of thetime you will hit your hand by the river. Probability
can becalculated easily for a single event, like the flipping of
the
rivercardfromtheturn.Thiswouldsimplybe:TotalOuts/Remai
ningCards.Fortwocardshowever,likefromthefloptotheriver,i
tsabitmorecomplicated.Thisiscalculatedbyfiguringtheprobab
ilityof your cards not hitting twice in a row. This can be
calculated asshownbelow:
FloptoRiver%=1[((47Outs)/47)*((46Outs)/46)]
TurntoRiver%=(47Outs)/46
Thenumber47representstheremainingcardsleftinthedeckafter
theflop(52totalcards,minus2inourhandand3ontheflop=47r
emaining cards). Even though there might not technically be
47cards remaining, we do calculations assuming we are the
onlyplayers in the game. To illustrate, here is a two overcard
draw,which has 3 outs for each overcard, giving a total of 6
outs for atoppairdraw:
TwoOvercardDraw=1[(476)/47*(466)/46]
=1[(41/47)*(40/46)]
=1[0.87*0.87]
=10.76
=0.24
=24%ChancetoDrawOvercardsfromFloptoRiver

However, most of the time we want to see this in hand
odds,whichwillbeexplainedafteryoureadaboutpotodds.Toch
angeapercenttoodds,theformulais:
Odds=(1/Percentage)1
Thus,tochangethe24%drawintoanoddwecanuse,wedothe
following:
Odds=(1/24%TwoOvercardDraw)1
=(1/0.24)1
=4.171
=3.17orapprox3.2
ANALYZINGPROBABILITIESINDEPTH
You may want to skip this section and go back to it later. Some
ofthisisprettydeep.Butimportant!
Getting a handle on the probability of being dealt various

pokerhandsisoneofthemostimportantandvaluableskillsaplay
ercanhave. We present a number of different ways to do
thesecalculations, from a rough guesstimate system called the 2
4 Ruletotheactualcombinationmath.
Thefirstoddscalculationthatmustbemadeistodeterminethe
totalnumberofpossiblepokerhandsinadeck.
As weve shown, a poker hand consists of 5 cards drawn from

adeck of 52 cards. Therefore, the number of combinations
isCOMBIN(52,5)=2,598,960.
If you use Microsoft Excel, you can duplicate these calculations

using the COMBIN factor. COMBIN returns the number of

combinations for a given number of items. To find the COMBIN
factorinExcelgotoINSERT...FUNCTION...MATH&TRIG.
For each of the aboveNumber of Combinations we divide

bythis number to get the probability of being dealt any
particularhand.
For the calculations, we will first split out theNo Pair

handswhich include Royal Straight Flushes, Straight Flushes,
Flushes,Straights, andNothings. Then, we will look at all
combinationsthathaveatleast1pair.
The cards in a hand without any pairs will have 5 different

denominations selected randomly from the 13 available (2, 3,
4...Ace). Also, each of the 5 denominations will select 1 suit
fromthe four available suits. Thus the total number of nopair
handswillequal:
COMBIN(13, 5) * (COMBIN(4, 1))^5 = 1287 * 1024 = 1,317,888.
AStraightFlushismadeupof5consecutivecardsinthesamesuit
andmayhaveahighcardof5,6,7,8,9,10,Jack,Queen,King,orA
ceforatotalof10differentranks.Eachofthesemaybeinanyof
4 suits. Thus there are 40 possible Straight Flushes. An Ace
highStraight Flush is a Royal Flush. Since there are only 4
differentsuits there are only 4 possible Royal Straight Flushes.
When wesubtract the 4 Royal Straight Flushes from the total of
40 StraightFlushes we are left with 36 other Straight Flushes
that are Kinghighorless.
A Flush consists of any 5 of the 13 cards from a particular

suit.There are 4 possible suits. The number of possible
Flushes
is:COMBIN(13,5)*4=5,148.However,thisincludesthe40possibl
e

Straight Flushes. When we subtract these out, we are left with:
5,14840=5,108possibleordinaryflushes.
Astraightconsistsof5cardswithconsecutivedenominationsand
mayhaveahighcardof5,6,7,8,9,10,Jack,Queen,King,orAcefo
ratotalof10differentranks.Eachofthese5cardsmaybeinanyof
the 4 suits. Thus there are 10 * 4^5 = 10,240 different
possiblestraights. However, this total includes the 40 possible
StraightFlushes.Thuswesubtract40,whichleavesuswith10,200
possibleordinarystraights.
Finally,wecometothenothinghandswhicharebasicallyallthel
eft over garbage. This is simply the total number ofNo
Pairhands minus all the good stuff. This gives us: 1,317,888 4
36
5,10810,200=1,302,540nothinghands.
Howabouttheoddsofgetting1pairorbetter?
A hand with just 1 pair has 4 different denominations

selectedrandomly from the 13 available denominations. 3
of thesedenominations will select 1 card randomly from the 4
availablesuits.The4thdenominationwillselect2cardsfromthea
vailable4suits. Finally, the pair can be any one of the four
availabledenominations. Thus the calculation is:
COMBIN(13, 4) *
(COMBIN(4, 1))^3 * COMBIN( 4, 2) * 4 = 1,098,240 possible hands
thathavejustonepair.
Thecalculationforahandwithtwopairsissimilar.Wewillhave3
random denominations taken from the 13 available. Two of
thesedenominationswilluse2ofthefouravailablesuitswhilethe
thirddenomination selects 1 of the four available suits. The
singletoncard may be any one of the three denominations.
Thus, thecalculation becomes: COMBIN(13, 3) *
(COMBIN(4, 2))^2
*COMBIN(4,1)*3=123,552possiblehandswith2pairs.

Three of a kind is calculated in a similar manner. There will be

3different denominations from the 13 possible denominations.
Onedenomination will select 3 of the 4 available suits while the
othertwo denominations select 1 card from each of the 4 possible
suits.Finally, the three of a kind can be in any of the
threedenominations. The calculation becomes: COMBIN(13,
3)
*COMBIN(4,3)*(COMBIN(4,1))^2*3=54,912possiblehandswit
h
3ofakind.
The next calculation will be for a Full House. A Full House

onlyuses 2 of the 13 denominations. One of these will select 3
cardsfrom the 4 available while the other selects 2 cards from
the 4available. Finally the denomination that has 3 cards can be
eitherone of the 2 denominations that we are using. This
gives us:COMBIN(13, 2) * COMBIN(4, 3) * COMBIN(4 , 2) *
2 = 3,744possibleFullHouses.
The final calculation is for 4 of a kind. Again, we will select

2denominations from the 13 available. One of these will select
4cardsfromthe4available(Obviouslytheonlywaytodothisisto
take all four cards.) while the other denomination takes 1 of
theavailable 4 cards. The denomination that has 4 of a kind
can beeitheroneofthe2availabledenominations.
Thus, the calculation becomes: COMBIN(13, 2) * COMBIN( 4, 4) *

COMBIN(4,1)*2=624differentwaysofbeingdealt4ofakind.
PokerOddsFromTheTurn
Many players who really understand Holdem odds still tend

toforget that the turn can change their odds dramatically. Its
truethatforaflushdraw,thecardoddsare1.9to1fromtheflopto
theriver. However, this is a theoretical situation where it
assumes

there is no additional betting on the turn. Typically this is
notgoingtobethecasesoyouwillneedtorecalculateyourcardo
ddsandpotodds.
Wewillusetheflushcalculationexampleagainandrunthroughit
100 times assuming there was $20 in the pot on the flop with two
$5bets.Ontheturn,thisleaves$30inthepot,plusa$10betfrom
youropponenttocall.
CosttoPlay=100hands*$10tocallonturn=$1,000
PotValue=$30+$10bet+$10call
OddstoWin=4.1:1or19%(Fromtheturn)
TotalHandsWon=100*OddstoWin(19%)=19wins
NetProfit=NetCosttoPlay+(TotalTimesWon*PotValue)
=$1,000+(19*$50)
=$1,000+$900
=$100Profit
Now,youcanseethatwhatwasaveryprofitabledrawontheflop
suddenly turned into a not so great draw on the turn. This
isbecause by not hitting your flush by the turn, it lowered
yourchancesofmakingaflushbytheriver.Theoddsthusincrease
dto
4.1 to
1insteadof1.9to1.Soeventhoughthepotoddsremainedthesam
eat4:1,becausethecardoddswentdown,thisflushdrawhasnow
becomeunprofitable.
Realizing the dynamic changes in your odds is

extremelyimportant so that you dont go making incorrect
draws based onodds from the flop. Just remember that your
odds
essentiallydoublefromthefloptotheturn,soadjustyourplayacc
ordingly.

Each entry in the following table is the result of
1,000,000simulated hands of Texas Holdem played to the
showdown andrepresents the percentage of pots won
(including partial pots inthe case of splits) by the indicated
hand against the
indicatednumberofopponentsholdingrandomhands.
The study shows a very clear correlation between your odds

ofsuccess against the number of players. Notice the JJ, TT,
99anomaly where the power of these cards increase
dramaticallyover perceived better pocket cards depending
on how
manyplayersareleft.ThehandsindicatedinBOLDcanhaveimpr
essiveresultsbutrequireaggressiveraisingtoforceoutweakerpla
yers.
Opponents: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Hand
AA 85.3 73.4 63.9 55.9 49.2 43.6 38.8 34.7 31.1
KK 82.4 68.9 58.2 49.8 43.0 37.5 32.9 29.2 26.1
QQ 79.9 64.9 53.5 44.7 37.9 32.5 28.3 24.9 22.2
Aks 67.0 50.7 41.4 35.4 31.1 27.7 25.0 22.7 20.7
AQs 66.1 49.4 39.9 33.7 29.4 26.0 23.3 21.1 19.3
JJ 77.5 61.2 49.2 40.3 33.6 28.5 24.6 21.6 19.3
KQs 63.4 47.1 38.2 32.5 28.3 25.1 22.5 20.4 18.6
AJs 65.4 48.2 38.5 32.2 27.8 24.5 22.0 19.9 18.1
KJs 62.6 45.9 36.8 31.1 26.9 23.8 21.3 19.3 17.6
ATs 64.7 47.1 37.2 31.0 26.7 23.5 21.0 18.9 17.3
AK 65.4 48.2 38.6 32.4 27.9 24.4 21.6 19.2 17.2
TT 75.1 57.7 45.2 36.4 30.0 25.3 21.8 19.2 17.2
QJs 60.3 44.1 35.6 30.1 26.1 23.0 20.7 18.7 17.1
KTs 61.9 44.9 35.7 29.9 25.8 22.8 20.4 18.5 16.9
QTs 59.5 43.1 34.6 29.1 25.2 22.3 19.9 18.1 16.6
JTs 57.5 41.9 33.8 28.5 24.7 21.9 19.7 17.9 16.5
99 72.1 53.5 41.1 32.6 26.6 22.4 19.4 17.2 15.6


AQ 64.5 46.8 36.9 30.4 25.9 22.5 19.7 17.5 15.5
A9s 63.0 44.8 34.6 28.4 24.2 21.1 18.8 16.9 15.4
KQ 61.4 44.4 35.2 29.3 25.1 21.8 19.1 16.9 15.1
T9s 54.3 38.9 31.0 26.0 22.5 19.8 17.8 16.2 14.9
A8s 62.1 43.7 33.6 27.4 23.3 20.3 18.0 16.2 14.8
K9s 60.0 42.4 32.9 27.2 23.2 20.3 18.1 16.3 14.8
J9s 55.8 39.6 31.3 26.1 22.4 19.7 17.6 15.9 14.6
A5s 59.9 41.4 31.8 26.0 22.2 19.6 17.5 15.9 14.5
Q9s 57.9 40.7 31.9 26.4 22.5 19.7 17.6 15.9 14.5
88 69.1 49.9 37.5 29.4 24.0 20.3 17.7 15.8 14.4
AJ 63.6 45.6 35.4 28.9 24.4 21.0 18.3 16.1 14.3
A7s 61.1 42.6 32.6 26.5 22.5 19.6 17.4 15.7 14.3
A4s 58.9 40.4 30.9 25.3 21.6 19.0 17.0 15.5 14.2
A6s 60.0 41.3 31.4 25.6 21.7 19.0 16.9 15.3 14.0
A3s 58.0 39.4 30.0 24.6 21.0 18.5 16.6 15.1 13.9
KJ 60.6 43.1 33.6 27.6 23.5 20.2 17.7 15.6 13.9
QJ 58.2 41.4 32.6 26.9 22.9 19.8 17.3 15.3 13.7
77 66.2 46.4 34.4 26.8 21.9 18.6 16.4 14.8 13.7
T8s 52.6 36.9 29.0 24.0 20.6 18.1 16.2 14.8 13.6
K8s 58.5 40.2 30.8 25.1 21.3 18.6 16.5 14.8 13.5
AT 62.9 44.4 34.1 27.6 23.1 19.8 17.2 15.1 13.4
A2s 57.0 38.5 29.2 23.9 20.4 18.0 16.1 14.6 13.4
98s 51.1 36.0 28.5 23.6 20.2 17.8 15.9 14.5 13.4
K7s 57.8 39.4 30.1 24.5 20.8 18.1 16.0 14.5 13.2
Q8s 56.2 38.6 29.7 24.4 20.7 18.0 16.0 14.4 13.2
J8s 54.2 37.5 29.1 24.0 20.5 17.9 15.9 14.4 13.2
KT 59.9 42.0 32.5 26.5 22.3 19.2 16.7 14.7 13.1
JT 55.4 39.0 30.7 25.3 21.5 18.6 16.3 14.5 13.1
66 63.3 43.2 31.5 24.5 20.1 17.3 15.4 14.0 13.1
QT 57.4 40.2 31.3 25.7 21.6 18.6 16.3 14.4 12.9
K6s 56.8 38.4 29.1 23.7 20.1 17.5 15.6 14.0 12.8
87s 48.2 33.9 26.6 22.0 18.9 16.7 15.0 13.7 12.7
K5s 55.8 37.4 28.2 23.0 19.5 17.0 15.2 13.7 12.5
97s 49.5 34.2 26.8 22.1 18.9 16.6 14.9 13.6 12.5
T7s 51.0 34.9 27.0 22.2 19.0 16.6 14.8 13.5 12.4


K4s 54.7 36.4 27.4 22.3 19.0 16.6 14.8 13.4 12.3
76s 45.7 32.0 25.1 20.8 18.0 15.9 14.4 13.2 12.3
55 60.3 40.1 28.8 22.4 18.5 16.0 14.4 13.2 12.3
K3s 53.8 35.5 26.7 21.7 18.4 16.2 14.5 13.1 12.1
Q7s 54.5 36.7 27.9 22.7 19.2 16.7 14.8 13.3 12.1
44 57.0 36.8 26.3 20.6 17.3 15.2 13.9 12.9 12.1
J7s 52.4 35.4 27.1 22.2 18.9 16.4 14.6 13.2 12.0
33 53.7 33.5 23.9 19.0 16.2 14.6 13.5 12.6 12.0
22 50.3 30.7 22.0 17.8 15.5 14.2 13.3 12.5 12.0
K2s 52.9 34.6 26.0 21.2 18.1 15.9 14.3 13.0 11.9
86s 46.5 32.0 25.0 20.6 17.6 15.6 14.1 12.9 11.9
65s 43.2 30.2 23.7 19.7 17.0 15.2 13.8 12.7 11.9
Q6s 53.8 35.8 27.1 21.9 18.5 16.1 14.3 12.9 11.7
54s 41.1 28.8 22.6 18.9 16.5 14.8 13.5 12.5 11.7
Q5s 52.9 34.9 26.3 21.4 18.1 15.8 14.1 12.7 11.6
96s 47.7 32.3 24.9 20.4 17.4 15.3 13.7 12.4 11.4
75s 43.8 30.1 23.4 19.4 16.7 14.8 13.4 12.3 11.4
Q4s 51.7 33.9 25.5 20.7 17.6 15.4 13.7 12.4 11.3
T9 51.7 35.7 27.7 22.5 18.9 16.2 14.1 12.6 11.3
A9 60.9 41.8 31.2 24.7 20.3 17.1 14.7 12.8 11.2
T6s 49.2 32.8 25.1 20.5 17.4 15.2 13.6 12.3 11.2
Q3s 50.7 33.0 24.7 20.1 17.0 14.9 13.3 12.1 11.1
J6s 50.8 33.6 25.4 20.6 17.4 15.2 13.5 12.1 11.1
64s 41.4 28.5 22.1 18.4 15.9 14.2 12.9 11.9 11.1
Q2s 49.9 32.2 24.0 19.5 16.6 14.6 13.1 11.9 10.9
85s 44.8 30.2 23.2 19.1 16.3 14.3 12.9 11.8 10.9
K9 58.0 39.5 29.6 23.6 19.5 16.5 14.1 12.3 10.8
J9 53.4 36.5 27.9 22.5 18.7 15.9 13.8 12.1 10.8
J5s 50.0 32.8 24.7 20.0 17.0 14.7 13.1 11.8 10.8
53s 39.3 27.1 21.1 17.5 15.2 13.7 12.5 11.6 10.8
Q9 55.5 37.6 28.5 22.9 19.0 16.1 13.8 12.1 10.7
A8 60.1 40.8 30.1 23.7 19.4 16.2 13.9 12.0 10.6
J4s 49.0 31.8 24.0 19.4 16.4 14.3 12.8 11.5 10.6
J3s 47.9 30.9 23.2 18.8 16.0 14.0 12.5 11.3 10.4
74s 41.8 28.2 21.7 17.9 15.3 13.5 12.2 11.2 10.4


95s 45.9 30.4 23.2 18.8 16.0 13.9 12.4 11.3 10.3
43s 38.0 26.2 20.3 16.9 14.7 13.1 12.0 11.1 10.3
J2s 47.1 30.1 22.6 18.3 15.6 13.7 12.2 11.1 10.2
T5s 47.2 30.8 23.3 18.9 16.0 13.9 12.4 11.2 10.2
A7 59.1 39.4 28.9 22.6 18.4 15.4 13.2 11.4 10.1
A5 57.7 38.2 27.9 22.0 18.0 15.2 13.1 11.5 10.1
T4s 46.4 30.1 22.7 18.4 15.6 13.6 12.1 11.0 10.0
63s 39.4 26.5 20.4 16.8 14.5 12.9 11.7 10.8 10.0
T8 50.0 33.6 25.4 20.4 16.9 14.4 12.5 11.0 9.9
98 48.4 32.9 25.1 20.1 16.6 14.2 12.3 10.9 9.9
A4 56.4 36.9 26.9 21.1 17.3 14.7 12.6 11.0 9.8
T3s 45.5 29.3 22.0 17.8 15.1 13.2 11.8 10.7 9.8
84s 42.7 28.1 21.4 17.4 14.8 13.0 11.7 10.6 9.8
52s 37.5 25.3 19.5 16.1 14.0 12.5 11.4 10.6 9.8
T2s 44.7 28.5 21.4 17.4 14.8 13.0 11.6 10.5 9.7
A6 57.8 38.0 27.6 21.5 17.5 14.7 12.6 10.9 9.6
42s 36.3 24.6 18.8 15.7 13.7 12.3 11.2 10.4 9.6
A3 55.6 35.9 26.1 20.4 16.7 14.2 12.2 10.7 9.5
J8 51.7 34.2 25.6 20.4 16.8 14.1 12.2 10.7 9.5
K8 56.3 37.2 27.3 21.4 17.4 14.6 12.5 10.8 9.4
94s 43.8 28.4 21.3 17.3 14.6 12.7 11.3 10.3 9.4
87 45.5 30.6 23.2 18.5 15.4 13.1 11.5 10.3 9.3
73s 40.0 26.3 20.0 16.4 14.0 12.3 11.1 10.1 9.3
Q8 53.8 35.4 26.2 20.6 16.9 14.1 12.1 10.5 9.2
93s 43.2 27.8 20.8 16.8 14.3 12.5 11.1 10.1 9.2
32s 35.1 23.6 18.0 14.9 13.0 11.7 10.7 9.9 9.2
A2 54.6 35.0 25.2 19.6 16.1 13.6 11.7 10.2 9.1
92s 42.3 27.0 20.2 16.4 13.9 12.2 10.9 9.9 9.1
62s 37.5 24.8 18.8 15.4 13.3 11.8 10.7 9.8 9.1
K7 55.4 36.1 26.3 20.5 16.7 13.9 11.8 10.2 9.0
83s 40.8 26.3 19.8 16.0 13.6 11.9 10.7 9.7 8.9
97 46.7 30.9 23.1 18.4 15.1 12.8 11.1 9.8 8.8
82s 40.3 25.8 19.4 15.7 13.3 11.7 10.5 9.6 8.8
76 42.7 28.5 21.5 17.1 14.2 12.2 10.8 9.6 8.8
K6 54.3 35.0 25.3 19.7 16.0 13.3 11.3 9.8 8.6


T7 48.2 31.4 23.4 18.4 15.1 12.8 11.0 9.7 8.6
72s 38.1 24.5 18.4 15.0 12.8 11.2 10.1 9.2 8.5
65 40.1 26.7 20.0 15.9 13.3 11.5 10.2 9.2 8.5
K5 53.3 34.0 24.5 19.0 15.4 12.9 11.0 9.5 8.3
86 43.6 28.6 21.3 16.9 13.9 11.8 10.4 9.2 8.3
54 37.9 25.2 18.8 15.0 12.6 11.0 9.8 8.9 8.2
J7 49.9 32.1 23.5 18.3 14.9 12.4 10.6 9.2 8.1
K4 52.1 32.8 23.4 18.1 14.7 12.3 10.5 9.1 8.0
Q7 51.9 33.2 24.0 18.6 15.1 12.5 10.6 9.2 8.0
75 40.8 26.5 19.7 15.5 12.8 11.0 9.7 8.7 7.9
K3 51.2 31.9 22.7 17.6 14.2 11.9 10.2 8.9 7.8
96 44.9 28.8 21.2 16.6 13.5 11.4 9.8 8.7 7.8
K2 50.2 30.9 21.8 16.9 13.7 11.5 9.8 8.6 7.6
Q6 51.1 32.3 23.2 17.9 14.4 12.0 10.1 8.8 7.6
64 38.0 24.7 18.2 14.4 12.0 10.3 9.2 8.3 7.6
Q5 50.2 31.3 22.3 17.3 13.9 11.6 9.8 8.5 7.4
T6 46.3 29.2 21.2 16.5 13.4 11.2 9.5 8.3 7.3
85 41.7 26.5 19.4 15.2 12.4 10.5 9.1 8.1 7.3
53 35.8 23.3 17.1 13.6 11.4 9.9 8.8 8.0 7.3
Q4 49.0 30.2 21.4 16.4 13.3 11.0 9.4 8.1 7.1
J6 47.9 29.8 21.4 16.5 13.2 11.0 9.3 8.0 7.0
Q3 47.9 29.2 20.7 15.9 12.8 10.7 9.1 7.9 6.9
Q2 47.0 28.4 19.9 15.3 12.3 10.3 8.8 7.7 6.8
74 38.6 24.5 17.9 13.9 11.4 9.7 8.5 7.6 6.8
43 34.4 22.3 16.3 12.8 10.7 9.3 8.3 7.5 6.8
J5 47.1 29.1 20.7 15.9 12.8 10.6 8.9 7.7 6.7
95 42.9 26.7 19.2 14.8 12.0 10.0 8.5 7.4 6.6
J4 46.1 28.1 19.9 15.3 12.3 10.2 8.6 7.5 6.5
63 35.9 22.7 16.4 12.8 10.6 9.1 8.0 7.2 6.5
T5 44.2 27.1 19.3 14.8 11.9 9.9 8.4 7.2 6.4
J3 45.0 27.1 19.1 14.6 11.7 9.8 8.3 7.2 6.3
J2 44.0 26.2 18.4 14.1 11.3 9.4 8.0 7.0 6.2
T4 43.4 26.4 18.7 14.3 11.5 9.5 8.1 7.0 6.2
52 33.9 21.3 15.3 12.0 10.0 8.6 7.6 6.8 6.2
84 39.6 24.4 17.5 13.4 10.8 9.0 7.8 6.8 6.1


T3 42.4 25.5 18.0 13.7 11.0 9.1 7.8 6.8 6.0
42 32.5 20.5 14.7 11.5 9.5 8.3 7.3 6.6 6.0
T2 41.5 24.7 17.3 13.2 10.6 8.8 7.5 6.6 5.8
73 36.6 22.4 16.0 12.3 9.9 8.4 7.2 6.4 5.7
94 40.7 24.6 17.3 13.2 10.5 8.7 7.3 6.4 5.6
32 31.2 19.5 13.9 10.8 8.9 7.7 6.8 6.1 5.6
93 39.9 23.9 16.7 12.7 10.1 8.3 7.1 6.1 5.4
62 34.0 20.7 14.6 11.2 9.1 7.8 6.8 6.0 5.4
92 38.9 22.9 16.0 12.1 9.6 8.0 6.8 5.9 5.2
83 37.5 22.4 15.7 11.9 9.5 7.9 6.7 5.8 5.1
82 36.8 21.7 15.1 11.4 9.1 7.5 6.4 5.6 4.9
72 34.6 20.4 14.2 10.7 8.6 7.2 6.1 5.4 4.8


AN
INTRODUCTION TO
THE RULES
OF TEXAS HOLDEM

SoyourenewtoTexasHoldempoker?Notaproblem.
Texas Holdem poker is by far the best game for a beginner
tolearn. Instead of other poker games like Omaha High or 7
cardstud which entail a great many more possibilities for
calculatingodds and perhaps even trying to count cards,
Holdem can
belearnedinafewminutesbyanyone,andyoucanbeplayingfair
lywell with a few hours practice. In order to learn the
game,however,youmustplayandyoumustplayfairlyoften.
AllOnlinePokerCasinostodayofferawidevarietyofplaymoney
tables for beginners to practice their skills until theyre ready
tomoveuptothefunatrealmoneytables.

ATexasHoldempokergamegoesasfollows:
1. The betting structure can vary, but most games start with
twoplayers placing out a predetermined amount of money so
there
isaninitialamounttoplayfor.Thisiscalledpostingtheblinds.Thes
eplayersarethetwototheleftofthedealer.
2.Thedealershufflesupacompletedeckof52playingcards.
3.Eachplayerisdealttwocardsfacedown.Thesearecalledyour
holeorpocketcards.
4.Thenthereisaroundofbettingstartingwiththeguytothelefto
fthetwowhopostedtheblinds.Thisroundisusuallyreferredtob
ythetermpreflop.
5. The amount betted depends on the table stakes, which are

postedbeforeyoujointhetable.
6.Muchlikemostgamesofpoker,playerscancheck,raise,orfold.
7.Afterthebettingroundends,thedealerdiscardsthetopcardoft
he deck. This is called a burn card. This is done to
preventcheating.

8. The dealer then flips the next three cards face up on the
table.These cards are called the flop. These are communal
cards
thatanyonecanuseincombinationwiththeirtwopocketcardstof
ormapokerhand.
9.Thereisanotherroundofbettingstartingwiththeplayertothe
leftofthedealer.
10.Afterthebettingconcludes,thedealerburnsanothercardandfl
ips one more onto the table. This is called the turn card.
Playerscanusethissixthcardnowtoformafivecardpokerhand.
11. The player to the left of the dealer begins another round of
betting.Inmanytypesofgames,thisiswherethebetsizedoubles.
12.Finally,thedealerburnsacardandplacesafinalcardfaceupo
nthetable.Thisiscalledtheriver.Playerscannowuseanyofthefi
ve cards on the table or the two cards in their pocket to form
afivecardpokerhand.
13. There is one final round of betting starting with the player to
theleftofthedealer.
14. After that, all of the players remaining in the game begin
torevealtheirhands.Thisbeginswiththeplayertotheleftofthela
stplayertocall.Itscalledtheshowdown.

15.Theplayerwiththebesthandwins!
LEARNINGHOWTOPLAY
Its difficult to learn to play Texas Holdem in the
traditionalsetting of a casinos poker room without losing to
experiencedgamblers. Thankfully, you can practice all you want
for free withonlinepokerrooms such as Pacific Poker or
PartyPoker.
The only way to learn the game is to play. And pay
attention.Check out Online Casinos to get a feel for the action.
Play all youwant for free, and start playing for real money
when you feelready. They have both low limits (betting) for
newer players aswell as high stakes tables. Since we mention
betting, lets look atthebasics.
THEBASICSOFBETTING?
Abetisadeclarationthateither
a)IhavethebesthandandIllwagermoneyonit
or
b)Youhaveapoorhand,andyouwillfoldifyouare
forcedtowageronit.
Typically,playersaresupposedtobetwhentheyhaveagoodhand.
Playerswhodonthavegoodhandsaresupposedtofold.
Of course, if this was the case, we all might as well wager
onflipped coins. Most players play contrary to this idea,
attemptingto be clever or deceptive. Dont fall into this trap
when you arejustlearningtoplay.

Keepitsimple.Dontbeclever.Betwhenyouthinkyouwillwina
nd fold when you cant. But there are going to be
situationswhereyoushouldbetevenifyourcardsarentthebest.
Here are some situations you should start looking at to improve

yourgame.
BLINDSTEALING
TexasHoldemisuniquebecausethetwoblindsareinwhether
theywanttoornot.
Asaresultofbeingforcedtobet,theyarealsolesscommittedthan
a player who really believes they can win
butsincetheyhavetobet,theywouldbefoolsnottostayinthega
me.
Nowimagineyouarethedealer,andonlyyouandthetwoblinds
arestillin.Inthissituation,ifyouraiseagainstthem,yourraiseisc
alledblind
stealing.Why?Yourraiseisforcingtheblindsintoasituationwhe
retheymayfold.
Remember,theyareonlyinthehandbecausetheyhavetobe.
Itseasytopushplayersinthissituationoutofthegame.Itslikely
that if you didnt raise and just called, the blinds would
probablycheck. You can make money this way, especially if the
blinds arelooser players. Its also a way to get the hand over so
you can goontothenextgame.
THESTEALRAISE
Thechoicespotinabettingroundisthecat
birdseat.Youarethelastinsequencetobetsoyougettoseewhat
theotherplayersareup to. If all the other players have checked
to you, and you bet

(regardlessofyourhand),youcanoftenforcetheotherplayersto
fold.Takingthepotinthissituationiscalledstealraising.
Obviously, if you try this every time, the better players will
beontoyouandseethroughyourtactic.Itsagreatideatostealrai
sewhenyouhaveagooddrawinghandsuchasaflushdraw.
THECHECKRAISE
Most Texas Holdem tables will permit raising after you have
checked.
Check raising is a technique to build the pot. If you have
awinning hand and you bet right away, you may chase
awayplayerswhocouldaddtothepot.Soletssayyoucheck.Ano
therplayer sees an advantage, assumes you are uncertain about
yourhandandraises.Nowyoucanraisetheirbetagain.Itsunlike
lyatthis point that they will fold having committed to the
round byraisingthebet.
THEOPENER
Thisisaverytraditionalbluffingmove.Thefirstpersonfollowingt
he blinds in the round raises aggressively, making all
otherplayers call both the blind and the
raise.Theonlyreasonaplayerwould do this so early in the
game is to limit the number ofplayers. Usually you will see a
number of players fold. The onesleft though will have great
hands or will refuse to be
intimidatedbythistactic.Somepeoplecallthismovebettingforin
formation.Thisonlyworkswithsmallgroupsofplayers.

HOW TO WIN MONEY IN

TEXAS HOLDEM
BEFORE
THE FIRST CARD IS EVEN DEALT
Decisions, decisions, decisions. Poker is a game

ofconstant decisions. They range from the critical
tothe mundane and they occur at a dizzying
pace;often dozens of times per minute. Online
card playis especially fierce and the pressure can
be intense.Do I raise? Do I stay? Do I call? Do I
fold? Even
when a loss attributed to a wrong decision is small, it
eventuallyadds up. Making the best decisions based on the
information
youhaveathandisthekeytobeatingyouropponents.

A great example of a critical decision in Texas Holdem
thathappens on almost every hand is the problem associated
withdefending a small blind. Suppose that while playing online
in aTexas Holdem game, with $1 and $2 blinds, a player
alwaysdefends their small blind stays in even with a
garbage handbecause theyve already invested the $2. Based
on the randomdistribution of cards, youre typically dealt
such a throwawayhandaboutonethirdofthetime.
At 50 60 hands per hour a typical pace in online card rooms
the average player is dealt the small blind six times every
60minutes.Iftheyalwayscall,theywindupcallingtwiceeachhou
rwhentheyshouldbefolding.Thats$6perhourminimum.Ifyou
playtenhoursperweek,attheendoftheyearyouvegivenawayo
verthreethousanddollars.Ouch.
Thats only one example of the kind of big picture thinking
thatcanmakethedifferencebetweenbeingawinneroraloserover
thelonghaul.
All the latest research (from the online casinos
themselves)showquiteclearlythatover50%ofyourwinningsat
theonlinepoker table will be determined BEFORE YOU ARE
DEALT
ASINGLECARD(somewouldsuggestitsevenhigherthan50
%).
HerearetheTenkeynon
cardbaseddecisionsyoumustmakeinTexasHoldempokertob
esuccessful.Fewofthesehaveanythingto do with the bricks
and mortars version of the game. After
thesummary,wewillgointomoredetail.Butevenifyouneverrea
dthefollow
up,ifyouadoptthesesimplebasicsyourwinningswillincreasedr
amatically.

1.SELECTACASINO.Rulenumberone.Beamemberofnolesst
hansixonlinecasinossoyoucanrotateandmovearoundfromcas
inotocasinoduringplay.Selectonlywell
knowncasinoswithexcellentreputationsforpayingquicklyand
maintainingindustry
acceptedrandomizingalgorithms(moreonthislater).
2.SELECTABETTINGLIMIT.Butonlyifits$1/2,$2/4or$5/10
blinds.Thissectionwilldiscusstheresearch,themath,andthestu
diesonhumannaturethatproveconclusivelythathigh
stakelimittablesarenottheplacetomakemoney.Theyarehowev
eranexcellentplacetoloselargeamountsofcashinabighurry.T
hereturnoninvestment(ROI)isbestatmediumlimittables.
3.SELECTYOURSTAKE.Nodecisionhereifyoursmart.Youmu
sthave50to100timestheBigBlind.Anylessandyourchancesof
makingmoneynosedive.Morewillonlyimproveyourtable
credandhelptointimidateweakerplayers.
4.SELECTATABLE.Spendatleast15minuteswatchingtheplay
ateachtable.Reviewyournotesifrecognizedplayersarepresent.
Checkoutatleastthreetablesbeforeyoustart.Thenselecttheloos
esttable.TowinatTexasHoldemPokeryoumustplaytightinlo
osegamesandplayinloosegamesonly.Ifallthetablesaretight,r
un.GobacktoStep1.
5.SELECTAPOSITIONATTHETABLE.Watchforthetightest
playeratthetable.Pickaspottothatplayersleft.Wehavededica
tedanentirechapterlaterontotablepositionstrategy.
6.TAKENOTESONPLAYERS.Recordplayingstyles.Dotheyr
aisebeforetheflop?Dotheyfoldbeforetheflop?Whatsthesize
oftheirstake?Dotheyreactquicklyorslowlywhentheirturn

comesup?Whatkindofcardsdidtheyplayon?Everyoneshould
takeplayernotesatcasinoslikePartyPokerwheretheyofferthef
eature.Dontknowhowtotakenotes?Justright
clickontheavatar(picture)ofthetargetplayerandclickPlayer
Notes.Thatfeatureisthereforaverygoodreasonuseit.
7.TURNOFFCHAT.Itsdistractingandrarelyvaluable.Ifyou
wanttochat,useMSN
butneverwhileyoureplayingformoney.
8.TURNOFFTVs,MUSIC,OTHERDISTRACTIONS.Nowis
notthetimetocatchthescoreonyourfavoritegameorconsumea
bucketofchicken.Ifanyonesgoingtobedistracted,itshouldbey
ouropponents.Letthemmisscues,watchtheirstackdisappearan
dwonderwhathappened.
9.PLAYTIGHT.FollowtheFoodChainTheory.Learntherules.
Understandtheodds.Betlikeashark,notafish.
10.PLAYFORONEHOUR
thentakeabreak,regardlessofwhetheryourewinningorlosi
ng.Thiswillkeepyousharperthantheotherplayerswhoareh
angingonforthatonelastwin.
Andthereyouare.Tenstepsthatwillmakeyouthousands,maybe
a lot more over time. Interested in understanding the
machinerybehindthesebasicrules?Readon.
NeverStartShortStacked!
One of the keys to winning Poker is having enough chips.
Youneedtobeabletoweatherastreakofbadcardsandbetherew
henthecardsfinallyturninyourfavour.

So what would we suggest for a minimum buy in? If you
areplayinga$2
$4game,startwithatleast$400to$800(roughly100times the big
bet). The degree of variation accounts for your styleof play. A
super aggressive player should bring more to the
tablethanatighterplayer.
Bigger stacks tend to get bigger respect as well. Especially
fromnew players. So keeping a decent amount of chips in front
of younot only improves your chances of winning, it
provides anintimidation factor. However, you should always
have enoughchips available in your bank to jump into a
different game. Ifyoukeep your whole bankroll in front of
you, you cant buyin
tosecondgamewithoutcashingoutofthefirst.
TheAwesomePowerofShortPlayingSessions
OnebigdifferencebetweentheInternetandlivebricksandmortar
play is that players are constantly moving in and out of
games.TheaccessibilityoftheInternetallowsplayerstojustsitdo
wnandplay a few hands, a few minutes, or maybe just an hour.
In a livegame, you generally are playing with the same
opponents for
atleastafewhoursandmaybeevenuptosevenoreighthours.Thi
srarelyoccursontheInternet.Howdoesthisaffectstrategy?
Your opponents will not have a very long time to evaluate
yourplay. This means that you should play more
straightforward
andlessdeceptivelythanyouwouldinalivegame.Oneoftheben
efitsofplayingdeceptivelyortryingabluffistheadvertisingvalue
youreceive on future hands when your opponents think you
are aloose wild player. A loose table image can help you earn
morechips later when you hold strong hands that your
opponents callbecause they think you might be bluffing. On
the Internet, you

maynotbesittingwiththesameopponentslongenoughtobenefit
fromthisimage.
Against regular opponents, you still need to mix up your play
ontheInternet,butoverall,youshouldmixituplessthanyouwou
ldin a live game. Against new opponents, the best strategy is
tosimply play a straightforward tight game without worrying
toomuchabouthowyourtableimagemightaffectfuturehands.
SomeUsefulOnlineBluffingTips
OntheInternet,youaredealingwithnamesandavatars,notfaces.
Some of the most powerful cues used in poker are no
longeravailable to us. This psychological part of poker makes
for
adifferenttypeofgameontheInternet.Forexample,thereseemsto
be more bluffing on the Internet compared to live games.
Playersfeel far more anonymous on the Net and are therefore
prone towilder,lesscautiousmoves.
Anotherreasonwhyplayersmaytendtobluffmoreonlinethanin
acasinoistheeaseinwhichyoucanbluff.Onlineyoujusthaveto
click your mouse. In a live game, you have to physically
moveyourchipsandstaredownyouropponentsatthetable.Chip
sarepopular in casinos because they remove us emotionally
from theconcept of real money. Studies have shown that players
are morereckless with chips than with real cash. Online, we are
even moreremoved from the idea that this is real money (they
are
virtualchips)sotheaveragebluffsarelargerandmorecommon.
Overall,ifyoulookatthedata,playerstendtobe
moredeceptiveonlinethaninalivegame.
InsiderTip

Thisimpactsonlinestrategiesintwoways.First,youcantassume
your opponents
arebluffingallthetime,butyouwillneedtocalland raise a little
more often against those opponents who
aretryingtowineverypot.
On the other hand, you should probably bluff a little less
oftensinceyouropponentswilltendtocallyoualittlemore.They
alsorealizethatplayersonlinebluffalot,sotheywilltendtocallm
oreevenwithweakhands.Theywillalsofinditeasiertojustclickt
hemouse to call compared to physically moving their chips in a
livegame.
Remember!EarlyDecisionsMatterMost
EarlychoicesinTexasHoldemusuallymeanmorethanlaterones
becauseoftheirimpactonsubsequentdecisions.Wheneveryoum
akeanincorrectmoveupfront,youruntheriskofrenderingeach
subsequentdecisionincorrectaswell.Thatswhyyourchoiceofst
artinghandsisusuallymuchmorecriticalthanhowyouplayonf
uturebettingrounds.
Preflop:Thepersonwiththebesttwoholecardsismost
likelytowinatshowdown.
Aftertheflop:Theplayercurrentlyholdingthebestfive
cardhandismostlikelytowinatshowdown.
Aftertheturncardisdealt:Theplayercurrentlyholding
thebestfivecardhandismostlikelytowinatshowdown.
Aftertherivercardisdealt:Theplayercurrentlyholding
thebestfivecardhandhaswonatshowdown.
What have we
learnedfromthis?Thevalueofyourpresentcardsisalwaysmuch
greaterthantheexpectedvalue.Ifyouropponenthas you beat
now and you know it, calling heavily for a card to

come is not tight play. Evaluating the hands of your
opponentswill only help your game if it helps you to avoid
unreasonablerisk.
WorkingTheLobby
Dont rush through the lobby of your favorite online

casino.Spending some time there can be as important as the
time youspend playing the game itself. Take a walk around
the
room.Checkoutthegamesandthelimitsbeingplayed.Theonlinel
obbyoffers a wealth of valuable information that is only a click
away:infoonthenumberofplayersseeingtheflop,theaveragepot
size,number of hands played per hour, names of the players in
eachgame, who is on the waiting list, and how many games
of aparticularlimitareinplay.
Thisinformationisessentialtochoosingtherightgameandlimit.S
ome folks prefer wild games. Some prefer more passive
ones.Some like full games; some like shorthanded. Players
who
arenearlyequallycompetentinallgamescanchoosebetweenado
zenormoregamesatthelimitoftheirchoice.
Game and table selection is a critical part of casino
poker.Fundamentally,itisevenmoreimportantonline.Atfirstgla
nceitmight seem that table selection is less important online
because itis extremely easy to move from one game to another.
This is
notthecase.Thetoolsareavailableforplayerstobeconstantlyawa
reof where the good games are. Constant vigilance is a price
ofwinningonline.
When signing up for games, never choose theany game at
thislimit option. This takes away your ability to manipulate
yourposition oneachsign
uplist.Forinstance,ifyouvesignedupforany$15/30Holdemga
me,andyournamecomestothetopofthe

list in a game filled with players you dont want to play with,
ifyou pass this game, you are removed from all the $15/30
listsautomatically.Likewise,ifyourisetothetopofthelistonaga
methat doesnt look good now, but has potential because of
othersbehind you on the waiting list, you may want to unjoin
that listand then rejoin again at the bottom perhaps when
your
name,nowsixth,risestothetop,thegamewillbegood.Ifyouves
ignedupforanygame,thatoptionisnotavailabletoyou.Yousi
mplywillbeputatthebottomofeverysinglelistyouareon!
Atthemostpopularonlinecardrooms,youhavegreateroptions
andalotofinformationtouseinchoosing.Dontrestrictyourself.
Keep severalcard
roomsonyourcomputertochoosefrom.Lookfor the games
that fit with your style. When your game styleevolves and
improves, cruise the lobby for a better fishing
hole.Keepconstantlyvigilant.Fieldintelligenceisthekeytowinni
ng.
LookForDistractedPlayers
Manyplayersassumethatstrategyforonlineandlivegamesisthe
same. After all, you still receive two down cards, five
communitycards, and play against nine opponents.
However, there areseveral characteristics unique to Internet
play that requires subtleadjustments including playing shorter
sessions, adjusting yourplaying environment, and avoiding
distractions at home. Letsdiscuss these unique characteristics
in a little more detail and
theimpacttheymayhaveonyourstrategy.
Youd be surprised how many players play two poker tables
atone time, read email, watch television, or even talk on
thetelephone while playing online poker. Those delays we
allexperience waiting for someone to take their turn is often
caused

by something other than a complex
oddscalculation.Basedonallofthesedistractions,someofyourop
ponentsmaynotbeawareofalltheactionthatistakingplace.This
isyetanotherreasontouseless deception in your game, since
some of your opponents
willnotevenseesomeofyourplayssothatyoucangainsomefutu
revalueoutofthem.
Since players move in and out of games a lot, cant see your
face,and are distracted by many other things, they tend to
notice
lessthatyouareplayingatightgame.Inalivegame,ifyousitther
eacouple of hours without playing a hand, dont expect a
lot ofaction when you decide to bet or raise. On the Internet,
you
canplayastraightforwardtightgameforalongtimeandstillgetg
oodaction when you bet since opponents either do not notice or
havenothadenoughtimetorealizethatyouaresuchatightplayer
.
On the other hand, if you dont play many hands in a live
game,your chances for pulling off a successful bluff are high,
while onthe Internet I doubt this gives you much of an
advantage. A bluffon the Internet is usually only profitable by
the merits of theplayoftheparticularhand,notbytableimage.
So remember, table image is not as important online as in a
livegame. Play a more straightforward game with fewer bluffs
andprotect your hands against those opponents who try to win
everypotbybluffingtoomuch.
LookAroundForAwhile
Once you have a solid low limit game plan, this
becomesextremelyimportantforbecomingaprofitableonlineplay
er.Whatgood is being a good player if you only play
against othergood players? Everyone will shuffle his or her
money back and

forth and the house will rake it all. Fortunately there are many
easy games online. Find games with players playing
50%+handspre
flop,mostsiteskeepstatisticsofthisontheirtablelists. Many
sites also have notekeeping systems; you can flag
aplayerasafish.Everytimeyouseeplayersmakingpoordecision
s,markthem.Ifyouspendenoughtimeonagivensiteyoullnotic
emany players have been marked as poor. Join the games
withthese players. Look out for players with large (800$+)
bankrollsplaying very low limit games (12$). These are
usually tightaggressiveplayers.
MonitorTheirStackSizes
Keep a very close eye on the exact size of the short stacks of
theother players. Paradise Poker has a very poor rule where a
bet ofany size below a full bet does not constitute a raise. For
instance,playing $10/20, on the turn you check with the intention
to checkraise. A player bets allin for $19, and another calls.
Your plan isscrewed. All you can do is call. On the other hand,
if you knowthat player has $21, you will be able to check raise.
In bricks andmortar casino poker, you very often cant tell how
many chips aplayerhasleft.Onlineyouknowwithin$1.
Anotherthingtoconsiderisbecarefulaboutcompletingbets.Ift
wopeoplecheck,thensomebodybets$19all
in,youbetterhavea supermonster to make it $20. Those first
two players
cantcheckraisethe$19,buttheycancheckraiseyouwhenyou
makeit $20. Likewise, a player behind you can raise it to $40
if youmakeit$20,butcanonlyraiseitto$20ifyoujustcall.
While everyone has his or her favorite sites, its best to
spreadyourselfaround.Havingsixdifferentonlinepokeraccounts
makesit easy to find soft games at any given time. Dont miss
out onprofitable games because you have confined yourself to
one site.


There are plenty of soft games online, you just have to do a little
searching!
StayExtraCoolWhenPlayingTournaments
Because of the nature of tournaments and the escalating
bettinglimits, your bankroll is the key to your ability to win.
If youbecome shortstacked, try to stay calm and play as
tight aspossible. Only bet on highranking pairs (the Fish 40),
and
onlycontinueplayingthehandiftheflophasimprovedyourhand.
Example:YouaredealtQ,Qasyourholecards.

TheflopcomeswithA,K,3.

IfsomeonebetsIwouldfoldthehandimmediately.
Why? Because you have not built on your pair and the betting is
goingtogetexpensive.
Some players make it a habit of playing loose during the first

coupleofroundshopingthattheycancatchuplater.Thereisno

logic for this kind of play in a tournament and can reduce
yourstackandpushyouintopanicmode.Anexamplewouldbet
ogoallin on a hand like J9 suited. Even if you see that you
willlikelybeshortoncomingblinds,thisisabadmove.Wait.
PlayLikeARock
As long as you have chips in front of you, you have a chance
ofwinning. Wait, wait and wait longer if need be, but never
panic.Youhavetime.Inlimitgames,patienceissupremelyimport
ant.
Youmaygoanhourortwobeforeyougetaplayablehand.Thisis
normal. This will set up two things for you. Credibility and
moreplaying time. Why do you want credibility? One word,
bluffing.Themoreyoufoldortakepotswithanextremelystrongh
andthebetter you lay the groundwork for a bluffing situation.
You
willbecomeknownasarock(Arockisanextremelytightplayer).
Thetighter the player, the harder it is to win against that
player.
Inpokerperceptioniseverything.Bepatient,ItWillPayOff!
TurnDownTheMusicButTurnUpYourSound
Researchersnowthatwelearnfasterandengageourbrainsbetter
whenweusemoreofoursenses.Theonlinecasinossupplyplenty
of color but make sure you take advantage of the sound as
well.Turn up the sound effects. Sure, it may get annoying
sometimeslisteningtoallthoseclinks,shufflesandchipsoundsbu
ttheyhelpustuneintothegameandoutofthosethingsgoingona
roundus.Youaremuchlesspronetomakemistakeswhenyoucan
hearandseewhatpeoplearedoing,asopposedtojustseeingit.
Clickbetweengametabstorefreshyourtablelistings.Thistrickis
useful mainly for tournaments,
whicharenotoriouslyquicktofillup.Manytimes,youllseeWtng
for5playersasthetablestatus,

butwhenyouclickonthegame,itwillhavealreadystarted.Thisis
duetothetablestatusnotupdatingquickly,whichyoucanforceb
yclickingbetweentabs.Ofnotehowever,isthatPartyPokerhasr
ecently upped the refresh rate of the tables substantially, so
thisisntamajorissuelikeitusedtobe.
HowToGetHandHistories
Youropponentdidntshowdontshowtheircards?Heresagreat
PartyPokertrick.Clickonthehandnumberatthetoprightofthe
screen and request the hand history for that game via
email.Depending on how busy Party Poker is at the
moment,
youshouldgetanemailwiththehistoryinamatterofminutes.
Scroll to the bottom of the history and you can instantly find
outwhattheotherplayerwasholding.Youcandothisinconjuncti
onwithplayernotestogetagoodideaofwhataplayeriswillingt
oplay with on a river. Showdown information is always the
mostcritical,asyoucananalyzetheirdecisionmakingprocessfro
mthegroundup.
GetCaughtBluffingOnceInAWhile
Onceinawhilethisisnotabadidea.Itisawaytovaryyourplaya
nd not be too predictable. You win pots that you dont
deservewhenyourbluffworks.Youloseafewchipswhenitdoesn
tworkbut it will get you calls from weaker hands down the
line whenyouhaveastronghandandneedtheaction.
BluffWithCautionInLowLimitGames
Oneshouldbeextremelycarefulineffortstobluffplayinglowlimit
onlinepoker.Youwillfindmanyplayerswillcallyoujusttokeep
youhonesteveniftheirhanddoesntwarrantacall.Forthemost

part, you should forget about it until you are already a
verysuccessfullowlimitonlineplayer.Whenyoudobluffitshoul
dbedonewithcarefulattentiontopot/impliedodds:IestimateIh
avea 1 in 10 chance of winning this bluff, do I get better than
101return? Since these estimations can be even harder to
makeonlinesincetherearefewtellstogoby,itsadifficultplay.
NeverLetThemSeeYouSweat
Ithinkthisisasignificanttipbecausewhenyouloseabigpot,itse
asy to let your emotions show even online. Dont let the
cardsdefeatyou.Andneverboosttheconfidenceoftheotherplaye
rsbylettingitgettoyou.
Ifyouwanttokeepyourpsychologicaledge;ithelpstotakeawayt
heirs.Nevergivethemareasontobeabletofeedoffofyou,evenif
youarelosing(bythewayeveryonelosesandhasbadbeats.Noo
ne can win 100% of the time; never give them the edge, even
ifyouarefuming.)
GetUpAndStretch
Takinga small break will help you to focus. While you are
onbreakdontthinkaboutthegame.itwillonlyhurtyoursession
astimegoeson.
StayAwayFromAlcohol
Do we need to even say this? Nothing can alter your
thinkingmorethanalcohol.Youneedtobeawareandfocusedatal
ltimes.Ihave no idea how many online players are drinking
or
doingsomethingelsewhiletheyareplayingbutIcantellyouthatf
ocusiseverything.Thereisalotgoingoninagameofonlinepoker
anditshappeningatwarpspeed.Youreallyneedtostayclear.

KeepAccuratePlayerRecords
If you dont keep records of your Texas Holdem Poker
playing,start now. Make a form in MS Word or MS Excel that
you arecomfortable with. Develop something you can use to
track
andupdatenoteswhileyouplayonline.Ifyouhavethesoftware,e
venbetter,setupadatabasethatyoucansearchonandcreaterepo
rts.If none of this works for you, at least get a fold
flatnotebookthatyou can use while you play. Accurate play
records will tell you
alotaboutyourself,yourstrategyandyouropponents.
Everyone falls into a losing streak, its normal. What you want
toavoidishavingthisnegativelyaffectyourplayandattitude.You
llbe asking yourself am I playing too tight? Should I change
mystrategy?AmIplayingtooloose?WillIeverwinagain?
Lookoveryourplayrecords.Youllfindtheanswersthere.Agood
setofrecordsisthebestthingIknowforapokerplayerspeaceof
mindandagoodnightssleep.
Your play records should include the date of each session,
startandstoptimes,hoursplayed,winsorlosses,runningtotalsan
danhourlywinrate.Youllalsowanttohavetotalsintermsofbig
bets.If you play in Holdem games of various limits then big
bets perhour is a better indicator of how you are doing than
dollars perhour. Your play records should have notes about
your play, youropponents, tells youve noticed and other
information that mightbe useful. At the very least, your play
records should be goodreadinglater.
TexasHoldemPokerisenjoyable.Winningisgreat.Keepingplayr
ecords is unexciting at best, but the information in good
playrecords is essential if you want to win. Without play records
you

wont know if changes in your strategy have had a positive or
anegativeeffect.Youwontknowifyouregettingbetterorworseo
rwhy. In fact, if you dont keep records, you dont even know
ifyourewinningorlosinginthegameandyoucertainlydontkno
whowmuch.
LearnHowToKnowWhenYoureDone
This is really just a general poker tip, but it still nabs even
thepoker pros at times. If you find that you are being
outplayed,outclassedorjustunluckyatthetable,itsoktoleave.D
ontthinkabout getting your money back or getting revenge on
the bastardthat rivered you for the 3rd time now. If you are
losing money atyour table, you do NOT have good table image
no matter
whatyoumightthink.Notonlyareyounotinagoodmood,which
putsyouontilt(admititornot),butotherplayerswillbemorelik
elytomake plays against you. This makes your game harder in
moreways than you want. With so many tables at Party Poker,
just getupandgo,itsthateasy.
Ifthegamegetsshort
handed(6orlessplayers)andyouarenotfamiliar with short
handed play, get out. This is an easy way
tolosealotofcashifyoudontknowwhatyouaredoing.Iseeth
ishappen all the time, when a table breaks up and players
arestuck with two tight players and three fish who dont
realizetheyareabouttogetruneatenalive.Dontbechumwhe
nallittakesisasingleclicktosaferwaters.
When you feel yourself slipping and playing too loose or having
troublefocusingonthegame,gatheryourchipsandgohome.
It should not matterifyouareupordown,leavethetable.Ifyou

are up, why risk your winnings? If you are down, why risk more

of your bankroll? There is not a good reason. Get some sleep.
Playingwhenyoucannotfocusisarecipeforlosing.
DontLetTheRakeBeatYou
Whydoonlinecasinosmakesomuchmoney?Becausetheymakea
profitfromeverysinglepokerpotthatisplayed
oftenmillionsofpotspermonth.Themoregamesyouplay,them
orethecasinosmake. Their profit from each pot is called the
rake. The rake is apercentage or a flat fee that the casino
charges you to play.
Nomatterhowgoodapokerplayeryouare,thehousehasanedge
onyou.Therakeisbuiltinsothatthehousetakesmoneyfromyo
uinsmall, unnoticed amounts. There are a few guidelines you
can gobytominimizethis.
Some poker rooms will only rake the pot once it has reached
acertainamount,soyouwanttoplayoppositethestyleofthetable
inthesecases.
Iftherakeisasetpercentage(usually4%to10%),thetacticsforan
aggressiveplayerwontbeassuccessfulasiftheratewasaflatfee.
Everyfailedattemptatblindstealing,forexample,isgoingtobe
raked,andallbluffingisnow4%10%lessworthit.
You have to be a better player to overcome that percentage,
andonce you get to that
point,youshouldntbetoopreoccupiedwiththerake.Ifyouarea
beginner,playtighterthanusual.
Mostonlinecasinoschargeapercentageofthewinningpot.
Example:Thewinningpotis$125.Thecasinoorthehousetakes
aminimumof$1and5%ofthebalance.

Total rake is $7 or 5.6%. That leaves 94.4% for the
winners.Compare that to 60% on most lottery games. The less
the rake isthe more money you can win and the better your
return on yourinvestment.
Thesizeofthepotandthebettinglimitcanhaveahugeeffecton
yourchancesofwinning.
Lets apply the same rules to a game where the maximum bet is
only2$.
Example: The winning pot is $22. The reason for the lower pot is
thelowbettinglimit.Nowletsapplythesameraketothepot.
Minimum of $1
and5%or$2.10.Thisdoesntsoundlikealotbutits actually
9.5%. The amount left to the winners in this game isnow90.5%.
It may not seem like much, but the house can now pull from
thetable an entire pot every 10 games. Thats a pot you cant
win soyouroddsofwinningaremuchlower.
Theoppositeofthiseffectistoplayaveryhighmaximumgame
for example a $50 maximum bet. This could create a $1000 pot
ormore. Sure, the percentage will now be even lower, but can
youaffordtoplaythesehighstakes?
A rule of thumb is to have 100 times the maximum bet with you
whenyoustartthegame.A$50maximumbetwouldmeanhaving
$5000withyouwhenyoustart.Amaximumbetof$5wouldallow
youtoplayfor$500.Quiteadifference.
For most players, a $12 maximum bet is too low. The rake just
becomestoohighasapercentageofeachpot.

The ideal game range is the $510 maximum bet range.
Thisrange will give you the best odds at winning and
will
notrequirethatyoumortgageyourhousetogetintoagame.
WhathappensifIstartplayinga$510maximumbetgamewith
only$100?
The problem is you may need several hands before you get
theright cards to win. With too small a bank, you may run
out ofmoney before you get a betting hand. Years of
experience
haveshownthatthe100xruleworks.Havingmorecertainlywont
hurt.The50xisaminimumrequirementtoplaytowin.
PlayingTexasHoldemMoneyGamesForFree
Betting in Texas Holdem is dictated by the big and small
blinds.Whenitbecomesyourturntoplacetheblind(theinitialbet
)youcan pass. This means you can see two cards without
any costunlessyouaredowncardfromthedealer.
The only problem is you cant come back into the game until
thedeal passes you again. That mean in a game with 10 players
youhavetositoutthreehandsperturn.
Inagamewithsixplayers,youwouldonlybeabletoplayforfree
inthreeoutofthesixgames.
Itmaynotsoundlikemuchfunbutyoucanplayforfreeand
itstotallylegalandwithintherules.

THE IMPORTANCE
OF TABLE POSITION
IN TEXAS HOLDEM
PositionisthemostoverlookedaspectofgameslikeTe
xasHoldembybeginners.Andthatsahugeshame.It
coststheseplayersalotofpots.
InsiderTip
Your position at the table is based simply on your position
inrelation to the dealer. The dealer is at the most
advantageousposition,ashe/shegetstoseehowalltheotherplaye
rsatthetablereactbeforemakingtheirowndecision.
The chances of your hand being a winner increase as more and

morepeoplefoldtheirhand.

Yes
ifyouhavesayKQsandaregoingupagainst1otherplayer,your
chances are not bad but if youre going up against 8 or
9others who feel theytoohaveahandworthbetting
yourKQsisnotnearlysostrong.
Now
ifyouareinanearlyposition(meaningyouareamongthefirstwh
ohastobet)thenyouhavenoideahowmanyplayerswillbeplayi
ngthishandwhenitstimetobetorfoldyourholecards.
Ontheotherhand
ifyouareinalateposition(meaningyouareamong the last to
call) you not only have the knowledge of whoand how many
players are in on this hand but if anyone
hasmadeaggressivebets.Ifyouareinalatepositionandholdan
OKhandsayasmallpairoraKJ
ifeveryonebeforeyouhasfoldedyouvegotastronghand
butifeveryonebeforeyouhascalledorraised
youknowyouvegotaweakhand.
As you see this has little to do with your hand but more the
circumstancesinwhichitisplayed.
Thepersontotheleftofthedealerisnotonlythesmallblind(SB),
butmustactfirstaftertheflop.
Thepersontotheleftofthesmallblindisthebigblind(BB).Thisp
erson is already obligated to the game and is in another
earlyposition.
Thepersontotheleftofthebigblindactsfirstbeforeboardcardsa
re dealt. This is often referred to asbeing under the gun.
Theclockwise motion of play allows those who act later (in
lateposition) to be at an advantage. As a result, those in late
positioncan play weaker hands or gambling hands with
less fear offinancialobligationorloss.


The blind positions . . . and the player under the
gunneedstobeveryselectivewiththeirhands.Theyd
onthave the privilege of watching other
players
betting/raising before they must decide if they want to stay in
themselves.
InsiderTip
For example, lets say youre under the gun (first to act). You
haveJackTen, unsuited. The player to bet after you raises,
andeveryonebutyoufolds.Nowyoureinajam.

Chancesaregoodthatthisplayerhasabetterhandthanyou,with
atleastanaceorapocketpair.Unfortunately,youvealreadybet,b
ecauseyouhadnoideaornowaytotellwhatotherplayersatthet
ablehadinthepocket.
You will always . . . throughout the game, be
actingbefore this player. This positional
advantage willcontinuethroughoutthishand.
InsiderTip
On the other hand, being in the dealers position not only
givesyou the benefits of observing how the other players are
betting,butitalsogivesyoutheabilitytoadjustthesizeofthepot.

Afterallotherplayershavebet,araisebytheplayerinthedealers
positioncouldpotentiallydoublethesizeofthepot(assumingnoo
ne folds). Since the players have already committed to one
bet,itseasiertocommittoasecond(orathirdorfourth!).
Ifyouwatchedapokertableoveraspaceofmanydays,
youwouldbegintonoticethatthewinninghandtends
tomovearoundthetableinaclockwiseposition.
Longtermstudieshaveshownthatovertime,thewintendsto
moveinthatdirection.
InsiderTip
Why? Because your knowledge of the hand increases your

chanceofwinning.
The blinds and player under the gun have the least
knowledge.As the play moves around the table, each player
gains moreknowledge about what the other players are doing.
Are they in?Are they hesitating? Are they raising? Are they
folding? The lastplayer to bet has the maximum knowledge and
therefore the bestposition
theyareinwhatissometimescalledthecatbirdseat.
Knowinghowmoneymovesaroundatablecangiveyouasense
oftheimportanceofpositionatthetable.
Oneofthelittleunderstoodbenefitsoflastpositionat
thetableisthatyougetalotoffreecardsaswell.
InsiderTip
Whenyougetafreecard,youretakingafreeride.Ifnobodybetsd
uringaround,yougetthatopportunityatzerocost.Thatswhata
free card is. Fine. A governing concept of free cards is that you

getlotsmoreofthemwhenyourelasttoactthanwhenyourefirst
to act. Even better, when youre last to act, you get control
overwhether or not you take a free card. You can accept
theopportunity, or you can bet and deny the same
opportunity toyouropponents.
Befriend players to your left; declare war on players to your

right.

PLAYER PROFILING
OR WATCHING WHO
YOU PLAY WITH!

H
eressomeadvicethatwillimproveyourgameasmuchasi
tll have a positive impact on your wallet or purse. If
youwatchedthemovie,TheBeautifulMind,youllbefamil
iar
with the Mathematician John Nash and his discovery of
GameTheory. Game Theory is a fascinating concept that turns
gamerelationships,opponentsandplayers,intomathematicalfunc
tionsthat can be crunched and computed. Playing styles
can beanalysed and defined. In fact, the best Texas Holdem
computersimulations focus on playing styles more than just
odds to studyhow the values of cards change depending on the
betting style
oftheotherplayers.Playingstylehasamuchlargerinfluenceonth
eoutcome of the game than most of us realized until the last
fewyears.

Basedagainonthesecomputerstudies,fourbasictypesofplaying
styleshavebeenidentified:
Loose-passive Loose Aggressive

Net Looser Low - Moderate Wins

Tight-Passive Tight-Aggressive
Moderate Wins Maximum Wins
Loose
passive:Oftenreferredtoascallingstations,theseplayerstendto
callanybetaslongastheyhaveeventheremotestchanceof
winning the pot. Interestingly, loosepassive players often
willnot raise when they have a good hand (thats the passive
side oftheir unique personality). By the same token, theyll also
not
foldwhentheyhaveagarbagehand.Theytendtostayinthemajor
ityofhandsunlesspushedhardtocall.
Looseaggressive: Looseaggressive players will make often
andinappropriate raises. They will not always have the best
handwhen they raise, and will even raise with garbage hands.
Looseplayers tend to bet irrationally first they raise, then
they stay,then they raise and then they fold. That uncertainty
is a deadgiveaway. Due to their inconsistent and irrational
play, loose aggressives are often calledmaniacs. Playing
against maniacscan be profitable, but they can also be
expensive to play
against,duetothenumberofwildraisesyoullhavetocall.

Tightpassive: These players are known asrocks. Tight
passiveplayers play fewer hands than most and play
them verycautiously. This is the preferred style of fish play
when startingout according to the Food Chain Theory of play.
When atightpassive player does raise though watch out, its
more thanlikely that they have thenuts. Playing tightpassive
will
keepyoufromlosingmoney,butitwontmakeyouricheither.
Tightaggressive: Tightaggressive players also play few of
thehandsdealttothem,butwillbemuchmorevariedinthewayt
heyplay. If a tightaggressive player raises, youll never know if
theyhave a good hand or if theyre bluffing. And thats
exactly thepoint. Tightaggressive players are selectively
aggressive. Theywill bet very cautiously on good hands to try
and trap
playerswithlesserhandsintobettinglaterandbuildingthepot.Th
eywillraise to create an expectation in other players that they
have agreat hand in order to push weaker players out of the
hand. Andthis is very important, as you understand how
reducing
thenumberofplayersinthehandcandramaticallyincreasethepo
werof your hand. Tightaggressive is the standard that you
shouldaspireto.
To practice your ability to read player types, find a mid
sizedgame.Thissizeofgameallowsyoumoreofachoiceofwhot
ositby.Watcheveryoneplay.Getafeelforwhosplayingtight,w
hosaggressive, and who sucks. Note who checkraised,
bluffed orsemibluffed. Count the number of times each player
bets on thepreflop or folds. These are key indicators to player
type. If youcan label each of the players in this way, you will
have advancedyourabilitytowinbyleapsandbounds.
Thefirstthingyouneedtodecideasyouobserveiswhetherthese
players are clearly better than you. Always avoid games
whereyou see a lot of early pre and post flop raises, and avoid
games

where it looks like one or two strong players are cleaning up
oneveryoneelseatthetable.Veryaggressiveplayerswilltakeover
atable and cause a lot of grief. Steer clear of these tables if
youconsider yourself a fish or a barracuda. Even as a shark,
usuallyone or two aggressive players at a table is enough
eliminate easywins. Increasing the overall tightness of a table
only benefits thehouse, which will make more money from the
rake than you willevermakefromthepot.
TheMathematicsofAggression
How effective is aggressive play in online Texas Holdem? Now,

noguessinghere.Iwantthefacts.
A very detailed study carried out by CarnegieMelon
Universityshowed the precise value of aggressive play. For the
sake of thisexercise, they had their computersimulated
player come outplaying aggressively on every hand,
regardless of pocket pairquality, against a varied field of
opponents. There were two very

distinct scenarios (and only two) where this was a winning
strategy.
One against a loose table, very aggressive play was a
winningstrategy. In the case of our experiment, betting preflop
on everysingle hand added up to moderate winnings. In a
real onlinegame, betting like a maniac on every hand may
diminish thepower of this strategy because other players will
pick up on yourstrategy but we suspect, not by much in online
play. Again,
thesecretisfindingtherighttable.Imaginethejoyofsittingdown
atalargetablefullofnewplayersandyoursisthebiggeststack.Li
ke
shootingfishinabarrelastheysay.Thisisthekindoftableyou
aresearchingfor.
Two against three or less players, this aggressive approach
wasalso a net moneymaker. As soon as you go to four
players orbetter, the technique started to haemorrhage serious
money. Allof our research shows that bluffing at full or near
full tables is awaste of money, and this study supports that. At
the end of thischapter we have included a complete chart on
the pocket handsthat successfully take the pot based on
number of players at
thetable.Youwillseequiteclearlythatstronghandsdoubleinpo
werand relatively weak cards can become big winners. Narrow
thefieldandyoucanpumpupthepowerofyourcards.
An excellent indicator of playing style is that
thebankrolls of tight players tend to go down in
smallamounts incrementally, and periodically go up
inmid
and large amounts. Watching stacks can give you valuable
informationaboutplayerstyle.
InsiderTip

LoosePlayersHaveBiggerSwings.
Money tends to move clockwise around the table because
itseasiertoreadplayerstotheright.Whenthatreallylooseplayer
isabout to take a negative swing, you want to be at a
positionaladvantageoverhimorher.
Even more, you want a maniac on your right. Maniacs
eliminateplayers with okay and drawing hands. Twenty year
old
highschoolstudentsaremorereadable,andyouprofitfrombeing
abletoactdirectlyafterthem
Heresaquestionthenwouldyouprefertositdowncardfrom
agreatplayerorapoorplayer?
Sitting in late position (next in sequence) from a poor player
doesnot give you much of an advantage. You really need to
know asmuch as possible about the best players, the ones most
likely totakeyourmoney.
Alooseplayer,someonewhoplaysonlyforfunanddoesntreally
understandthegame,islikeanoldcar.Heorshewillwanderallo
vertheroad,theirsteeringiswobblyandtheycantbedependedo
ntoplayaccordingtotheircards.Watchforandappreciateloosep
layers. They are great contributors. They tend to bet more
thantheywinandbuildpotsfortherestofus.
While different players prefer different styles of play, the
generalconsensusisthattheidealtableisloose
passive.Thatmeanslotsof callers and few raises, especially
before the flop. You will alsowant to play at tables where
most, if not all of the players areworse than you. You will
make most of your profit from otherplayersmistakes.

Tight players on your left will more likely call a bet than re
raiseeven though they might have a decent hand.
Youcanmoreeasilyscare them into thinking youve got the
nuts and buy more freecards despite the fact that theyve got a
positional advantage onyou.
Researchshowsthatlotsofpre
flopraisingreducesyourpotentialprofit. It also becomes more
expensive to see the flop overall,which negatively affects your
bankroll all those times when theflopdoesnthityou.
It is always better to have six players calling one bet

than three players calling two bets. Even though
thepot size in both cases is the same, in the first situation you
willmake a profit of 5:1, whereas in the raising situation you
willonlymakeaprofitof2:1.Simplyput,themoreplayersthere
areputting money into the pot, the more profit there will be
whenyouwin.
InsiderTip
Atightergame,wherefewerplayersarecallingbeforetheflopand
staying until the showdown, can also reduce your overall
profit.But some players prefer a tightpassive table, since tight
passiveopponents are rather predictable. A tightpassive table
gives aplayer the opportunity to steal more pots, since you
can oftenmakeotherplayersfoldwithawelltimedraise.
FishingForLoosePlayers
Ifyousitatatableoftenandatleasthalfoftheplayersarebettert
hanyou,youwilllose.Ifoneortwooftheplayersarebetterthany
ou,youhaveafairchanceoftakingsomemoneyhomebutthisis

still not an ideal situation. Your profit is going to be
determinedmorebythecompositionofthetablethanthetypeso
fcardsyouare dealt. You cant control the cards you can pick
your tableandmoveifitgetsugly.
Howdoyouknow?
Aswehavebeenpreaching,thegreatadvantageofonlinepokeris
that it allows you to observe the table before you play. Once
youhave chosen what appears to be a fairly loose table, you
begin tocarefully observe. The best recommendation I can give
you is, ifyou want to be a winner, spend at least 15 minutes.
Many wouldsuggest spending at least 30 minutes before
beginning play.Thismayseemslikealotoftimetoinvest
butonceyoubegintoplay,youwillhaveaclearideaofwhoyoun
eedtobeatandwhoyouneedtomilktowin.
TheTableRatingSystem
Heresasimpleratingsystemweusetoevaluatehowwinnablea
tableis.
Weassigneachplayeranumberfrom110.
Ten (10) is the loosest player a beginner, someone who bets

wildlyandshowpoorcardsattheshowdown.
One (1) is for the tightest player. Someone who plays and
winsconsistently, cant be bluffed, has accumulated
substantialwinnings,makesreasonabledecisions,doesntplayeve
ryhand.
Assigneachplayeratthetableanumberfrom110.

Ifyouarenotsurefromobservationwhattheirscoreis,scorethem
higherthanyouwouldguess.Theyareprobablybetterplayers.
On apiece of paper or in your head, mark the table with these

numbers.
When you get a chance to, always play down card from the two
bestplayersonthetable.Thisisawinningposition.
Nowaddupthenumbersanddividebythetotalplayers.
1+3+7+4+5+1+1+10+9=4.5
If the average of the table is 6 or better, dont play. There are
toomany good players for you to be a consistent winner.
Even
anaverageof5canreduceyourchances.Whatyouarelookingfor
isa table where most of the players are looser than you. The
lowerthenumberthebetter.
TheCasinoGivethSometimes
Players who never fold on the first two cards even when it
coststhem, are loose. A higher percentage means a much looser
game.Mostonlinepokerrooms,suchasPacificPoker,listtheperce
ntageof players who are seeing the flop. Players who fold often
on thefirsttwocardstendtobetighterplayers.
All online poker rooms also list the average pot size. You do
notnecessarily want to play at the table with the highest average
potsize,sincethismayindicatealotofraisesgoingintothepot.
For loosepassive games, choose a table with a relatively high

floppercentageandareasonablyaveragepotsize.

Another factor to consider is the number of players at the
table.Most online tables are tenhanded, which means youll
have toplay relatively tight. You should take position into
account andcall before the flop with premium cards or good
drawing hands.More players means more competition, so
youll have to showdownbetterhands.
At a sixhanded table, you can play considerably looser than
youcan at a tenhanded table. The side effect of this is that
youllexperience more variance (the swings in your bankroll
will begreater).Someplayersprefershort
handedtablesbecauseyougettoseetheflopmoreoften,andthus
havemorechancesatwinningthepot.
Aggressioninpokerhasfarmorepoweratashort
handedtable.
InsiderTip
It will take some experience to learn what type of table is best
foryou. While you cant go wrong with a loosepassive table
full ofmediocre players, you may find that a looseaggressive
or tight passive table suits you best. If you find yourself at a
table
whereyouarestrugglingtomakeaprofit,donthesitatetoleavean
djoinanothertable.
RaisesinLooseGames
All new poker players will generally start out in loose, low
limitgames. While most experienced players prefer the sort of
loose
passiveplaypresentatalowlimittable,othersmayhavedifficulty
playing against opponents who repeatedly suck out and win


with garbage hands and bad plays. A common complaint
amonglow limit players is that opponents will not always
fold toappropriate raises, and occasionally, mediocre low limit
playerswill make incorrect raises. Knowing when to raise, and
how tointerpret an opponents raise is covered below. The
followinginformation assumes that you have made an
appropriate
tableselection,andarenotplayingatatablethatisoverlyaggressi
veortight.
Ifyouvegotagreatstartinghand,especiallyahigh
pair(JJorhigher),donthesitatetoraiseandre
raisebeforetheflop.
InsiderTip

One of the most common complaints among lowlimit players
isthat opponents often suck out with inferior hands against a
solidhandsuchasAA.Thebestwaytowinwiththesehandsisto
playthemfastandaggressively.
Raisebeforetheflop,andkeeponbettingaftertheflop.Unlessthe
game is ridiculously loose (and your opponents are
ridiculouslybad), almost all of your opponents will fold to
your aggressivebetting. You wont always win with AA or KK,
but if you
playthemaggressively,themajorityofthetimeyouwill.

Again, the research shows that aggressive play will drive
downthe number of players in the hand and increase your
odds ofwinning.
Since many low limit players will play incorrectly and call
betsandraiseswithjustaboutanyhalf
decenthand,youneedtomakesure that you are raising when
you think you have the
besthand.Ifyoudohavewhatyoubelieveisthebesthandatthat
point,thenyou need to raise to get other players out of the
pot, who maydraw out on you with a garbage hand. If you
are repeatedlywinning and showing down the best hands,
then other
playerswillstarttorespectyourraisesandgetoutofyourway.
Ifyouvefloppedadecenthand(toppairwithgoodkicker,twop
air, etc.) and are betting on it, dont be scared off if
someoneraisesittotwobets.
Although you could very well be beaten, experience shows
thatbad players will sometimes raise with any decent pair, a
draw oreven overcards. Call the bet, and be prepared to call to
the riverunless the board looks scary or the action gets too
intense. If
youfoldeverytimeyougetraisedwithadecenthand,thenyoulll
oseout on some pots that you would have won, had you shown
thehanddown.
Utilizepotoddstodeterminewhetherthepayoffisbig
enoughtojustifyputtinginmorebets.Thenobserveo
pponentplaytoseeiftheraiseisvalid.
InsiderTip
Ontheotherhand,ifanopponentre
raisesittothreebets,beveryconcerned.Generally,amediocrelow
limitplayerwillnotreraiseunless they have a great hand. Take
time to study the board to

determinewhatyouropponentmighthave.Youmightbetempted
tofollowtheaboveadviceandcallhimtotheriver,hopingthathe
is bluffing. But time and time again, they will turn up a
superiorhand. Dont reraise unless you have the nuts, and if
you donthavetheabsolutenuts,bepreparedtocalltotheriver.
PlayingTighter
IfeveryoneattheTexasHoldemPokertableplaysloosethenno
onecanwin.
Theplayerswilltradepotsbackandforthwhilethecasinoslowlyr
akes all their money. The better Holdem players will lose
less,butinthelongrun,noonecanwin.
Noonecanwinifeveryoneplaystight.Onlythehousewins.
InsiderTip
The tight players will trade smaller pots back and forth while
thecasino rakes all their money. The better Holdem players will
loseless,butnoonecanwin.
If everyone at the Texas Holdem Poker table plays the same,
noonecanwin.LearningHoldemonlybysimplyplayingHoldem
isplayers folly. If you learn to play Texas Holdem poker
likeeveryoneelseplays,youcannothavealongrunedge.
TowinatTexasHoldemPokeryoumustplaytightinloose
gamesandplayinloosegamesonly.
Thereisnootherway.YouhavenoedgeinatightHoldemgame
and you only have an edge in a loose game if you play tight. It

might be possible to play loose and win in the long run if all
theother players are complete idiots, but nature does not
provideenoughcompleteidiotswhoplayHoldempoker.
AsplayerscomeandgoduringaHoldempokersessionthegame
will sometimes get tighter. Youll see more players folding on
thefirst round. The pots will be smaller. If your Holdem game
getstootight,findabettergameordontplayatall.
You want to be the only tight player in a loose Holdem
pokergame, but often there are one or more other tight players
at thetable. Sometimes loose players tighten up their play for
whateverreason,butthatsusuallytemporary.Youllhavetotakea
llofthisinto consideration when evaluating a Holdem
poker
game.Theresnoexactwaytomeasureit,butyoucandevelopafee
lforit.
TheLawOfBigNumbers
Most of us are impressed with big numbers like the size of
BillGates fortune. But what about small numbers that give
you ahugeadvantage?
Lets say that you improve your odds of winning by 5%?
Soinstead of winning 10 in every 100 pots (on average) you
couldincreasethatto15.Doesntsoundlikemuchdoesit?
Ten in 100 pots for 10 players really means you are getting
backthe money you bet less the house rake. Start with $100.
Play
100handsofPoker.Therakeis$1perpot.Thats$100thehouseta
kesfromallthewinningsleavingyou$90attheendofthenight.T
heplayedallnightandlost$10.Writethatofftoentertainment.

With15potsthatlittle5%advantagemeansalot.
Youarenowup,justbasedonaverageplay,$115forthenight.
Smallnumbersmakehugedifferences.Playthreetimesaweekfor
ayearandyouareup$18,000basedonyour5%advantage.
NeverSequenceBet
AsequencebetisabetbasedontheideathatWell,Iveputinso
much money on this lousy hand, I might as well see it
through.Never change future strategy based on a past hands.
So you gotlucky and drew on an inside straight? You should
have
folded.Notonlywillthatlucknotreturn,itwillmakeyoualooser
player.Wewilltendtousetheexperiencetomodifyfutureplay.
Show the avatars (people in chairs), but dont stereotype
them.This is probably the most debatable tip Im guessing,
because ifyouve turned them off, you probably really dont like
the
avatarstobeginwith.Andifyoudolikeavatars,well,theyreprob
ablyonalready. I just want to get my two cents in about this
Party Pokertip by saying that even though avatars are computer
graphics, itsagain human nature to easily identify faces. That
means we
canmoreeasilyassociateapersonalitytoaface,soitmakesiteasie
rtorememberhowsomeoneisplayingwhenwecanattachafacet
oaplayingstyle.
Thatbeingsaid,Imsurethereissomenegativeinfluenceofthesef
aces as well, because we probably tend to associate a
certainavatar with a playing style. For instance, Ill admit that I
used
tomentallyassociateoneoftheavatarpictureswithbluffing.Ithin
kthis was caused by a long string of coincidences, when
differentplayers using that avatar would constantly bluff, so I
just starting

linking that specific avatar with bluffing. Dont let this happen to
you.
Ifyouarea2ora3howdoyougettobea7oran8?
PlayingPokerSolitaire
Human psychology is very interesting. Research has shown
thatthe average gambler tends to underestimate the cards of
theiropponents and overvalue their own. One of the best
ways tounderstandthistendencyistoplaySolitairePoker.
Playout6
10handsofTexasHoldem,evaluateyourcardoddsforthe flop,
and then look at the other down cards. You will
besurprisedatthenumberofopportunitiestowinyouwillseeint
hecompetitionshands.
Be hard on your hand. Sure you could draw a card that will help
youbutsocanalloftheotherremainingplayers.
Oneofthebestexercisesinanactualgameistotryandguesstheot
her players two down cards based on their playing style
andbetting. The better you become at this, the better your game
willbecome.Intheend,isntthisreallythepointofthegame?
ReadingYourOpponents
Online Poker eliminates visual and verbal clues tells) from
thegame.Youcantseethefacesoftheotherplayers(theirrealface
s,inanycase).Thislimitsyourabilitytoreadtheotherplayers.The
rulesinonlinepokercompensateforthisbygivingusawealthofi
nformationinotherways.
- Howtheotherplayersreacttothebets?

- Howquicklydotheyrespond?
- Whatstheirbettingstyle?
- Howoftendotheyraiseandwhen?
- Aretheyconsistentstay,raise,raise?
- Orraise,stay,raise,fold?
WaitaFullTableRotationBeforePostingtheBB
Online Tells The inturn buttons lead to the most obvious
tellunique to online poker. If the blinking light representing a
playeracts immediately, its likely this person has clicked the
box of anin
turnaction.Itisusuallyeasytodeterminewhenaplayerhasano
brainer hand. The immediate check is often
incrediblyrevealing. If you are first to act, and for some
reason take amoment before checking, and your three
opponents immediatelycheck behind you like rifle fire, this is a
tell as big as Texas. Theyhaventgotathing.
Anothercommonsituation...thefirstplayertakesamoment,and
then finally checks. You have the bet/raise in turn
buttonchecked, so your bet appears, but instantly the player next
to youraises. Uhoh, he had the bet/raise button checked too,
and didntcare what you or the first player did. That tells a lot
more than ajustnormalraisewouldanawfullotmore.
Besidesthespeedofactionresultingfromusingthebuttons,other
online tells can be discerned from how slow a player
commonlyacts on their hand. Players who are consistently super
slow (rudehuman speed bumps) are likely not paying attention
to the game,either because they are playing two
gamesandarenotcompetentatit,orbecausetheyaredoingother
workathome.Eitherway,ifallofasuddenthispersonplaysahan
dcrisplyandpromptlyandaggressively... well, they just
woke up because theyve gotsomething.

The Stall is a common tell among average or slightly
belowaverageplayers.WhenthelastcardinHoldemorOmaham
akesacoordinated board (making a nut hand like a flush), the
mediocreplayer pauses as if thinking, and then finally bets.
This pausealmost always means powerhouse or at least
that the
bettorthinkshehasakillerhand.Somewouldcallitreversepsych
ology,butmoreoftenthannot,itstrue.
PREFLOPSTRATEGY
Beforeyoustartbettinglikeamadmanwhenyougettwoeightsi
nthepocket,youneedtocarefullyconsiderallfactorsinvolvedi
nsolidpreflopstrategy.
The factors to consider are the number of players,
howaggressive/passivetheplayersatthetableare,yourbankroll,
yourposition,andhowmuchriskyouarewillingtoentail.
THERIGHTNUMBEROFPLAYERS
With 10 people in the game, its much more likely that
someoneelsehasastronghandinthepocketthaninashort
handedgame.Also, youll need to be more cautious in larger
games, as thechances of someones preflop hand fitting the
flop will be
muchbetter.Morecompetitionmeansstiffercompetition.
HOWAGGRESSIVEARETHEOTHERPLAYERS
Assuming youve been playing with a few people for
severalhands, and you noticed some jackass is raising every
hand preflop, youll want to play tighter. Let the guy win the
blinds (bigdeal) and nail him to the wall when you have a solid
hand in thepocketpreflop

YourBankroll
If you have $2 left, youll want to play extremely carefully
andselectonehandtobeton,hopingtogetasmanyplayersinvolv
edaspossibleforalargerpot.Youllwanttobeall
inbeforetheflopisdealt.Ontheflipside,ifyouhave$1000ata$1/
$2table,youcantake the highrisk, highpayout bets. If you
are worried aboutlosing your money, you should stop playing
poker, switch
tablesortakeabreak.Secondreasontobuymorethanisnecessary,
isforintimidation factor. Opinions may differ, but faced off
against abig stack, my feelings are that a good amount of
players (but
notall)showabitmorerespect(read:fear)andwillplayaccording
lywhich is to your benefit. Now, dont read this as buying in
for
$1,000 in a $1/2 game, because then people will think you arejust
nuts,but$400.Nowweretalking.
BuyinMoreThanNecessaryAtThePokerTable
Ifyouvebeendoingyourhomework,youllknowthatyoushould
always sit in with at minimum 50 times the big blind at any
pokertable.Intherealitiesofonlinepoker,thisshouldbemorealo
ngthelines of at least 100 times the BB. You should think about
doingthis too. Why? First, dont ever be in the position of
holding thenuts and not having enough money to raise the pot.
Ive seen thishappen too many times, where a guy will have
flopped a fullhouse
ina$3/6game,butonlyhave$12inhisbankroll.Hecouldhavema
deakillingifitwerentforthefacthewasplayingwithasmallstac
k.

CHEATING,
BLUFFING AND SEMI-
BLUFFING

Trusteverybody,butcutthecards.FinleyPeterDunne
No, we are not going to teach you how to cheat. Our topic
isspotting cheaters. And of course, our focus will largely be
ononlinecheating.
Online poker rooms are probably the safest place to play at
rightnow. Did your mother ever tell you tonever trust a
stranger?Well,playingonlinelimitsthenumberofsneakypeople
youcouldpotentially be dealing with. The dealer is a program.
Programsdontcheat.Youdonthavetoworryaboutanysortofill
egalcardhandling.Therearenocardsonline.
Somepeopleworryabouthackers.

Itsbeenmany,manyyearssincethelastmajorinstanceofhacking
affected anyone wagering money in an online Holdem
game.Since then weve had breakthroughs like the
SSLv3/TLSv1encryption algorithms and multilayered
random numbersequencers. Not only do we have these very
technical
advances,butalltheonesyouwouldexpectinarealcasino.
Themostcommonformofonlinecheatingisplayercollusion.
Thats when two or more players reveal to each other what
cardstheyhold.Thisformismoredifficulttopulloffinalivegam
e,butplayingonlinegivesplayersthechancetohaveafellowplay
eronthephonewiththem,orsittingnexttothematanothercomp
uter.
Fortunately most of these players are the ones who have no
ideahow to use that advantage. These two must coordinate
welltogether, which takes practice. Online poker rooms not only
lookfortelltalesignsofcollusion,butchecktoseeiftwoplayersal
waysplay at the same table together. They would have to
usehit andrun tactics when using this form of cheating.
Colluding playerswouldhavetohitupahigh
limittable,thenfleetoanotheronlinepokerroomwiththeirwinni
ngsandneverlookback.
Itisbarelyworthittotrycollusion.Butjustincase,herearesome
thingstolookfor
1.Ateamofplayerswhotrytosteamrollotherplayersoutofthe
game. This means reraising each other to make non
colludingplayerscallmultiplebetsatonce.
2. Players who never play fast preflop. Thats the time to
talkabout what they hold. Watch whoever is under the gun
and bemindfulofreactiontime.

3.Agroupofplayerswhohikeupbetsbyre
raisingwithsomeonein between them. This gets the maximum
amount of bets out of
athirdparty.Thealarmshouldreallygooffifoneofthosere
raisingplayershasapoorhand,orifoneofthemfoldswithonebet
togodespiteamassivepot.Theresatimetobluffandatimetofol
dandmost people have an idea when that is, so be on the
lookout forplayers who exercise horrible judgement like that.
Identify
thatpersonasapotentialgoldmineforyourselforapotentialcheat
er.
Onceagain,itsVERYrareforsomeonetoevenattemptthesesorto
fthings.Still,neveraccuseanyoneofcheating.Eithercontactthep
okerroomsadministratorsorjustgetupandleave
BLUFFING
Youcanfoolsomeofthepeopleallthetime,andallofthepeoplesomeof
thetime,butyoucannotfoolallofthepeopleallthetime.
AbrahamLincoln
AKeyElementInPokerIsDeception.
Bluffing is the quintessential trick in poker. Of course,
thereasoning for a bluff is to deceive the other players into
thinkingyou have a better hand when you actually do not. For
a bluff towork, you need the other players to think you actually
have thatbetterhand.
Manybeginningpokerplayerslovethisideaofbluffingandoften
misuse it. The value of the bluff increases under certain
generalcircumstances that often have a lot to do with
information youassume about the other players. This vagueness
makes it difficultto give
definitivereasonsorplacestobluff.Somelessgeneralizedtimesto
bluffandsomeadvicearegivenbelow.Thebottomofthe

page gives some more ideas and perspectives on deception in
poker.
Sometypicalreasonstobluff...
A.Whentherearentmanyotherplayersinapot.
Simply put, its easier to trick a couple people than a crowd.
With fewer hands out there, chances are better that no one
hasmade a reasonable hand. This is fairly common though, so
manyplayerswontbelieveyou.Somewillstayinthehandjustto
keepyouhonest,sosometimesthisneedstobeapersistentbluffo
veraperiod of two or three betting rounds. That can be costly if
theydont fall for it. You need to know the players before you
use thistypeofbluff.
B.Whenyoureupagainstfairlytightplayers.
Thosethattendtofoldeasilyarethebiggesttargetsofabluff.
Betswillbeputoutjustasaformofinformationgatheringonthis
playershand.Ifyoubluffearly(pre
flop,flop)againstaverytightplayerandtheydontbuckle,yoush
ouldthinktwiceabouttryingit again on a future round. They
have something. Your job is todetermine whether they have a
made or drawing hand.
Onceagain,youneedtoknowtheplayers.
C.Ontheriver.
Especiallyifapparentdrawinghandsmissed.Thatswhenplayersr
eact to rule #1the moment you know you cant win, throw
inyourcards.Itisoftenagoodideatobluffwithaweakhand,lik
eacehigh or lowest pair with these kinds of bluffs, because
some

players will stay in just because of pot odds. If you do that, it is
actuallysemibluffing.
D.Youreinlatepositionandeveryoneelsechecked.
Thisoneyoullhavetogaugeforyourself.Itwillmostlikelyforces
ome players out, but not all. This is a pretty common bluff
onceagain, and many players will stay in just because of bet
odds,and/ortoonceagainkeepyouhonest.Thisisanotherexam
pleofa bluff that needs to be more persistent over a couple
bettingrounds.
E.Youbetpreflopandmissed.
Thats because they dont know you missed! This can
bedangerous,andyoureallyhavetoevaluatetoboardbeforeyou
getinto this one. Sometimes its good to bluff when AK
misses,sometimeswhen99misses.Youhavetoreallyfeelthisone
out.
F.Youhavegivenotherplayersthefear.
Its about how other players perceive you. If you just won a
handthrough good play, the players who saynice hand are the
oneswho now respect you. They will more likely fold to your
bluff ifyou play it right. The trick is to play the hand exactly
the sameway you played the other winning hand. Give it
thehere we goagainact.
G.Whentheflopisntsogreat.
Some players will fold automatically if all they have is an
overcard. With a rainbow flop of 2, 6, 9, not many players will
havemuch.Thisisanotherexampleofabluffthatcangohorriblya
wry.

I wouldnt be too persistent in this case, unless only more low
cardspopup.Onceagain,knowyourplayers.
H.Prefloponthebutton,andeveryoneelsehasfolded.
This is usually best used with tight players to your left. Its
goodbecauseitcanchangefromablufftoadeceptivelygoodhand
withluckandtherightflop.
I.Whenthereisapairontheboard.
Thisisespeciallyusefulwhenthepairis88orlower.Chancesaret
hat these cards might have been folded or are still in the
deck.This is one situation where you want to evaluate the
hand
verycarefullyiftheydocallthough.Thisisagreatsituationtoread
thetells of the players who are NOT involved in the game. Its
mucheasier to give away the fact that you HAD a card than
if youHAVEit.
Keepinmindthattheseareprettycommonreasonstobluff.Many
players know these reasons. Most of the time it just wont
work.Themainthingisalwaystoknowyourplayersandtonotdo
itsooftenthatitneverworks.
SEMIBLUFFING
Semibluffingisasortofbluffwhereyouhaveapoorhandora
drawinghandthatcanpossiblyimprove.
Againstplayerswithnothingitfunctionsalotlikeabluff.Against
playerswithsomethingitfunctionsasaformofaggression.Itisap
owerful tool, as it can lead to adeceptivelypowerfulhandifthe

cardscometoyou.Itcanalsobeasourceofgreatlossifoverused
ormisused.
Semi
bluffinginTexasHoldemisusedbestinbluffingsituations.Its
usefulness comes from the fact that players who recognize
abluff wont necessarily recognize when you make your draw. It
ismoreuseful(andpreferable)againstalotofplayers,asopposedt
ooutrightbluffing,sincetheoddstendtobebetter.Otherthanthat
,youllwanttousesemi
bluffinginlateposition,usuallyonthefloporturn,againstmedioc
reflops,andagainstpoorplayers.
Lets look at two examples of semibluffing from a perspective of

oddsandfromaperspectiveofbluffing:
1.YouhaveaJackofHearts,andaTenofHearts.
THEPOCKET

The preflop betting round concludes with six players
investingtwobetseach.TheflopisAceofHearts,QueenofSpades,
SevenofHearts.
Youareinamiddleposition,anddecidetosemibluff.Why?
Youve got draws, thats why! Any Heart or King will give you
ahand. Whenever you have multiple draws like that,
startthinkingof what would be ideal. If a Heart pops up you
have to worry

about a higher flush draw, so you probably want the King
ofHearts, as he is the most likely to be in someones hand.
AQueenofHeartswouldbedangerousforyou,sinceyoudbeloo
kingataroyalflushdrawvs.apotentiallymadefullhouse.
IdeallyyouwantanonHeartKingandthestraight.Thatwouldbe
thenuts.
Forsimplicityssakeletssaythatinyourevaluation,eitheraflush
orstraightwillgiveyouawinninghand.
Youhavetwelveouts(dontcounttheKingofHeartstwice).Thats
a little better than a 25% chance of hitting a winning card on
theturn.Evenreraisingorcheck
raisingwouldbeagoodideainthisposition based purely on
odds. Even if you miss on the turn,
itwouldbeinyourinterests(basedonplayersreactions)tocontinu
etobetitrightout.
2.Youhaveapairofsixesinthepocket.
THEPOCKET

Preflop eliminates all but you and another player who was in
earlypositionbeforeyou.
YougetarainbowflopofFour,Five,Ten.

Semibluff!
In this case you have to think of it more as a bluff. If this

onlyplayer played a hand in early position, they probably have
someovercards in this case. You want the pot right then and
there.MostplayerswillbluffbackatyouinthiscasewithjustanA
ceinthepocket.Sticktoyourresolve.Bluff.
Your chances of getting that six are pretty slim, and not worth
theodds.
You only have to worry about your opponent having over
pairsandmatchingtheTen.Soyoureallyhavetoevaluatetheplay
er,asopposedtothemathinthiscase.
TryToBeOnTheAggressive.
Youneedinformationaboutyouropponentshand.Bettingisareal
good way to get information. Also, a casual semibluffing check
raisecanbeallyouneedtoscareanotherplayerifyouthinktheyll
bluffatthepot.

How To Tell If You

Have A Texas
Holdem Nut Hand

W
anttohaveaTexasHoldemhandthatnoonecanbeat?
Withalittlepractice,youcanlearntoreadthetableand
determine the hole cards necessary to make the nut
hand. Most of the time no one actually has the nuts, but
whensomeone raises, take time to study the table carefully.
Do theyhave what it takes? It pays to know the difference
between aprobablewinnerandtheabsolutenuts.
A nut set is three of a kind with a pair in the hole equal to
thehighest card on the board and no possibility of a straight
or aflush. The smallest possible nut set on the river is a set of
queens
(seeexample)


Thissetofqueensisthenuts.Thereisnopossibilityofahigher
set,astraightoraflush.

In this hand, one or more players could have 10,9 in the hole
andthis top set of queens could then be sandwiched between
nutstraights.Even7,5intheholewouldmakeastraight.

Thenutholecardsarekinganythingofspades.Anytwospades
intheholewouldbeatthissetofaces.

Threeofakind with a pair on the board is trips not a set.
Tripscannot be the nuts. Kings, fives or threes in the hole
would beatthesetripjacks.
TexasHoldemPokerNutHandsFourOfAKind


You have the nut four of a kind if you have at least one of
thefour cards in the hole and there is no higher pair on the
boardandnopossibilityofastraightflush.
Youhavethenutsifthefourofakindisontheboardandyouhave
thenutkickerinthehole.IfthefourofakindisKingsorless,then
utkickerisanace.Ifthefourofakindisaces,thenutkicker
isaKing.Attheshowdownyouwillsplitthepotwithanyother
playerswhoalsohavethenutkicker.
If the four of a kind and the nut kicker are on the board, you
willsplit the pot with all the players who are in the hand at
theshowdown.

This is a nut hand. There is no higher pair on the board and
nopossibility of a straight flush. Hope like mad you get some
actionfrompocketaces,pocketdeucesoraheartflush.


The four eights are on the board, but the ace kicker in the
holemakes this hand the nuts. If any other players have an ace
in thehole,thepotwillbesplit.

Fourthreesandthetopkickerareontheboard.Alltheplayers
whoareinthehandattheshowdownwillsplitthepot.


Thesequadfivescouldlosetoahigherfourofakind.Thenuthole
cardsarepocketsevens

Thejacktenofspadesintheholewouldmakearoyalflush.
Threeofa
kindwithapairontheboardistripsnotaset.Tripscannotbet
henuts.Kings,fivesorthreesintheholewouldbeatthesetripj
acks.
TexasHoldemPokerNutHandsFlushes

The nut flush is an ace high flush with the
highestpossibleflushcardinthehole,nopairorbetter
ontheboardandnopossibilityofastraightflush.
InsiderTip
Sometimes, there is a flush on the board and it might be the best

hand,buttherecannotbeanutflushontheboard.
In Texas Holdem Poker there can be only one nut flush. If the
winninghandisaflush,itwinstheentirepot.
TexasHoldemPokerNutHandsFullHouses
You have the nut full house in Texas Holdem Poker

whenthereisonlyonepairontheboardthatishighert
hantheotherupcardsandequaltoyourhighholecardandthen
exthighestupcardisequaltoyourotherholecardandthereisno
possibilityofastraightflush.
InsiderTip
You have the nut full house in Texas Holdem Poker when
thereare two pairs on the board that are higher than the fifth
upcardand each pair is equal to one of your hole cards and
there is nopossibilityofastraightflush.
There cannot be a nut full house on the board. If theres a full

houseontheboard,thenuthandisfourofakind.
Youcannothaveanutfullhousewithapocketpair.
InsiderTip

ThePreFlopWinningOddsSystem
These charts are based on 400,000,000 Texas Holdem Poker

handsdealtto10players.
Thisismyfavouritetable.Itsitsbymymouseduringeveryonline
gameIplay.Andhereswhy.
HOWTOBETPREFLOP
ExampleYouaredealttwoqueens.Timecomestomatchorraise
abet.Thechanceofwinningthehandis22%(seechart).Thepotis
$50. Based on a 22% chance of winning, your pot odds
wouldindicate a safe bet of $10 at the preflop (22% x
$50). Thensomebody goes crazy and starts betting. Do you
know what kind


of a player they are? Do they have a pair of 9s? Over 50% of the
potsarewonbyapairof9sorbetter.

Tight players never deviate from these rules unless they are
playingwithaveryweaktable.
Whenyoustartout,ifyoufollowtheseguidelinesyouwilllosel
ess while you are learning and you will start to win
moreconsistently.
Anotherexample

Youaredealtapairofacesinthepocket.
The odds of winning with 2 aces is 31% the best odds in
thegame. Preflop you have a massive advantage. The only
choice atthispointwhatshouldthemaximumbetbe.
Estimatethetotalofthepotattheendofthebettingroundandbet
nomorethan31%.


If you estimate the pot to be $150 the maximum bet you should
takeis31%of$150=$31.
Question If the bet to stay in is much lower, should you raise?

Forexampleifthebettoyouis$20doyouraise?
Therearetwoconsiderationshere.Withanaveragehand,youmay
want to see players leave the game and improve your odds
ofwinning.Raisingtothemaximumcouldhavethateffect.
On the other hand, having the nuts means you want to build
thepotattheearlystages.Anythingcanstillhappen
youdonthavea lock on the win remember. You only have a
31% chance ofwinning.
Our advice win as much as you can when you have the
rightcards.Inthisexample,raisethebetto$30ifyouhavealotof
weakplayersandseewhostaysin.Betslightlyless$15
$20ifthetableisstronger.

ExampleYoudrawa2anda7.
This is the worst pocket hand you can be dealt based on the odds
ofwinning.Itshouldbeclearwhy.
You have no higher cards to build on. You have no flush

potentialandnochanceofdevelopingastraight.

Youhavea4%chanceofwinningthepot(seethechartsattheend
ofthisbook).Shouldyoustayin?
Only if the cost to stayinthegameandseetheflopislessthan

4%ofthetotalprefloppot.
Estimate the pot at $100 that would mean a maximum bet of
$4.Basedonagamewheretheblindis$5/$10youwouldneedatle
asta10%chanceofwinning.Getoutfast.
Whatifyoufoldandseea2anda7intheflop
twopairs?Thiscanhappenandyoumaybebeatingyourselfupo
verit.Butifyoulet a bad example of odds modify your play and
betting, over thelong haul you will be suckered in by long shots
and your style ofplaywillsuffer.Theoddsaretheodds.
Asyoucanseefromtheseexamples,asimpleruleis
thelargerthe pot, the better the cards you would need at the
preflop tostayinthegame.
REASONSNOTTOBLUFF
Bluffingshouldprobablynotbeanautomaticreaction.Manytimes
ittakesafeelforatabletomakeyouwanttobluff.Whendoingitk
eepinmindthateveryoneelseisalsolookingforanopportunityto
bluff. Maybe you spot them bluffing in a common situation
orthey spot you. It only works when you get away with it, so
youmustuseitsparingly.
Herearesometimeswhenyououtrightshouldnotbluff.
A.Whenplayersexpectyouto.


Dont be the fish. Revealing your playing style can be bluffing
intelltale situations against players who know them. Thats
acommonmoney
makerfortheotherplayers.Alwaysconsiderthisrulebeforeattem
ptingabluff.
B.Whenyouvebeencaughtbluffingrecently.
Youve been labelled as a poor bluffer already. Ride it out.
Letthem forget that hand. Start rebuilding a reputation as a
straightplayersoyoucaneventuallytryabluffagainlater(andho
pefullynotscrewitupagain)
C.Againstadangerousflop.

IftheflophasanAce,chancesarethatsomeonehasapairofaces.
Aces tend to make it beyond preflop. Also, players tend
tocontinuetoplaytheirAces.DontbluffagainstAces.

YoualsowouldntwanttobluffagainstafloplikeK,Q,9.Chances
aresomeonehassomethingtheyllstickwith.
D.Againstlotsofplayers.

Chancesarethatsomeonehassomethingthattheyllstickwith.By
bluffing in this situation, you just become an agent of that
player.Fromanoddsperspective,thisisneverworthit.
E.Againstbadplayers.
As much as they love to bluff, they love to catch someone in
abluff.Theyremuchmorelikelytokeepyouhonestbecausethe
ydontrealizewhatamoney
loserthatis.Itsmuchmoreprofitabletoplaystraightupintheseg
ames.Bluffingisonlyeffectivefroma
fearperspectiveinthiscase.
F.Youjustlostabighand.
Notonlymightyoubeonabadrun,butotherplayerswillexpect
you to be on a bad run, and will more readily call you.
G.Youareinablindposition.
You really have to evaluate the flop, but generally other players
willthinkyouhaveapoorhandandexpectyoutobluff.
UsingOddsDuringaBluff
Itsalwaysgoodtolookatpokerfromamathematical
perspective,andthatevenappliestobluffing.
You can determine finite amounts and percentages that can
tellyou if it is a financially feasibly good time to bluff.
This
isparticularlyusefulwhenthereareonlyoneortwoplayersandth
epotisratherlarge.


Itsgoodtodothesecalculationswithpotentialstraightsorflushes
thatappearedontheriver,thatyouweregoingforbutyoudidnt
make.

Its nice with a
flopthatstartswithHeart,Heart,Spade,andendswithSpade,Spa
de.YouhadtwoHearts.OrafloplikeFive,Seven,Eight, and
ends with Ten, Jack. You had a Six. Its also goodbecause
they might have been on the same draw, which
leadsthemtobelieve(alsofromonoddsperspective)thatyouwere
notonthatdraw.
Letssaythatoneoftheabovecasesoccurredina$5/$10gameand
ontheriverthereis$140inthepot.Youronlyopponentcheckstoy
ou.
Ifyoucheck,youknowyouvelost.
Soyoubluff.Thereasoningisthatifyouinvestanother$10,youre
getting 14 to 1 odds. As a percent thats around 7%. If they
foldmore than 7% of the time, you make money in the long
pokergameoflife.Ifnot,itsalosingventure.
You still have to evaluate the player, but from a
purelymathematical standpoint, you get the picture. You
can
alsoevaluateitbyreasoningthattheymissedtheirdrawmorethan
7%ofthetimeandwillfold.


If two players were involved in the pot, it cuts the odds in
half.Withthree,itbecomes1/3rdof7%,etc.Youcanseewhyyou
wanttobluffagainstfewerplayers.
Thiscanbeunreliablethough,assomeplayerswillstayinpurelyb
ased on pot odds. So when bluffing you cannot ever use
justodds.Getafeelforyouropponents,andactaccordingly.
HOWTOKNOWWHENTHEYREBLUFFING?
This isnt about reading tells. This is about the situations
wherebluffing is plausible, and when other players will do it.
You
cangenerallylookatthereasonsYOUshouldbluffandapplythem
toother players. Of course, you also have to know the player,
andevaluateitfromthere,butherearesomeideas.
A.Theyarebettingaggressivelydespiteapoorflop.

Iftheybetpre
flopfromapoorposition,andtheflopissomethinglike4,5,5,they
areprobablyjusttryingtokeepmomentumgoingand bluff
their way out of this hand. They probably havegenuinely
zero drawing chances with overcards or maybe anoverpair,
but a reraise could have them rethink that strategy.
ItmightalsogiveyouabettingroundortwototryandmakeYOU
Rhand.
B.PotOddsareintheirfavor.

Ifeveryonefoldsontheturnwithabigpot,likewhenanobviousd
raw was missed, expect a bluff. Its almost certain that
anyonewill bluff against a big pot. With the pot odds the way
they are,youprobablywanttostayinthosehandsalso.
C.Itsbetweenyouandthem.
The most common time to bluff is when you CAN pull it off.
Itsveryeasytotrickjustoneperson.Useyourskillsatevaluatingt
heprevious rounds and the board to determine what they
mighthave.
D.Theflopdoesnthaveanydraws.
Sometimessomeonewillbetinthiscasetoeliminatetheabilitytoa
cquire a draw, sometimes because they have a good hand.
Youreallyhavetoknowtheplayerinthiscase.
E.TheybetontheFlop,checkedontheturn.
Iftherewasadraw,anditdidnthit,theyareprobablyjustbuying
afreecard.Betbackagainstthemandtaketheinitiative.
F.Betontheflop,betontheturn,checkedontheriver.
Same as before, but they bought another turn. Might as well bet
backatthem.
G.Theybetandtellyoutosaveyourmoney.
Iftheyreallywantedyoutosaveyourmoney,theywouldnthave
bet. Sometimes players say that just to create the opposite
image,solookout.Fewarethatcraftythough,sotellyouroppositi
onthathesbluffingandreraise.

HOWTOATTACKAWEAKPLAYER
Themostsuccessfulplayersarenotalwaysthetightest
...andyoucantwinanythingwhenyoufold.
InsiderTip
Pros add to their hourly win rate by finding times to play
handsthat are small losers in the hands of lesser players. They
do thisboth by playing those hands especially well and by
playing themwhen a bad player is already in. Thats why
knowing your tableissoimportant.
The secret to beating online poker can be where you get a lot
oftight passive players sitting on their hands while a
successfulplayer(ortwoorthree)eatsanawfulplayer(ortwo)aliv
e.
Most people play backwards. They play loose and see a lot
offlops in the early rounds, then absurdly tighten up later.
Unlessyouareoneofthoserareplayerswhosimplycantplaywith
outabig stack, dont fritter away your chips in the early
rounds onmarginal junk. Those chips can be very useful once
the importantroundsbegin.
Sitting around waiting for good cards to play against the
tightplayersisfairlypointless.Thereiszeropointtoplayinginag
amewithdecentplayers.
The only reason to be in this game is to play with the fish.
BADHANDSTHATLOOKGOOD


This hand makes me think of the data a major Casino put
outabout the actual results of all Holdem hands for the first
sixmilliongamesplayedontheirsite.
The hands that lost the most money were not theworst
handspossible.Thebiggestmoneyloser(notcoincidentally)is32s.
Itlostmore than 32s or 72s. Then also, A2s lost more
than 32s.
Most players overvalue garbage cards. Its the kiss of

death.
InsiderTip

Hands that should do better than other hands (32s should
dobetter than 32o) end up doing markedly worse because
peopleplaythemandthinktheyhavesomething.
23isthesinglemostcostlyHoldemholdinginthehandsof90%
oftheplayers...anditholdsthatdistinctionbyfar.234isabigi
mprovement, adding the 7 helps, and adding a suit does too, but

anyone who thinks this is agood hand is surely going to lose a
lotofmoneywithit.
Again,thisscenarioisaboutthebestpossibleforthehand(besides
a free ride in the blind of course), but the hand is still
highlyspeculative and will be a money loser for nongood
players.Contrast this to A347 and even a nongood player
will have aprofitablehandonthebutton.
Thepursuitofavailableinformation,evenifittakesabitofwork,i
s largely what separates winning (and breakeven) players
fromlosingplayers.
Certainly most players lose, but the combination of the
winningplayers and the smallish losers is in the ballpark of
half theplayers. Bigtime losers is a smaller percentage
especiallyamongplayerswhoplaymorethanfivesessionsintheir
life.Also,the whole concept ofbigtime losers is fallacious
because
whileplentyofplayerslose100%ofwhattheydepositthat100%is
often
$100.

LIMIT TEXAS HOLDEM

TOURNAMENT GUIDE
M
uch of the popularity of Texas Holdem recently is
basedon televised Texas Holdem Tournaments. If
youvefollowed the Food Chain Theory of regular
game
play,youwillbehappytoknowthatTournamentplayprogressesi
n a very familiar fashion from fish to barracuda to shark
asthebettinglimitsincrease.
Inthebeginning,theruleistoplayveryconservatively.Playveryt
ight Fish level rules. Some players become very reckless in
thebeginning of tournaments, feeling they need to build their
stack.Thisiscompletelywrong.Averyconservativestylewillkeep
youalivelonger.
PlayingLimitTournaments
Firstoff,alladviceontournamentplayhereshouldbetakenwith
a grain of salt. I dont claimtobesometournamentguru,because

if I were, Id probably be somewhere making much more
money.However, I do seem to be placing in the money in
half of thesingletable tournaments I play, so maybe theres
something to besaidforthat.
The next chapter is for you if youve already played a
fewtournaments
andwanttofigureoutwhyyouareendingupshortstackedintoth
emidlevels(35)andthenendupgettingranoverby the loose
betters who seem to hold nothing. If youre a maniacand find
yourself loosing more often than not, you may find
thissectionusefultoo.
Remember players are eliminated when they run out of
chips.Thats the key survival technique at this stage. Make it to
the sixplayerlevelbyholdingontothechipsyouhave.
Atmid
pointinthegame,oncethetableisreducedtosixplayers,revert
to a Barracuda strategy. Follow the preflop
strategycarefully.
Once you are down to three players, Shark strategy is the rule
ofthe day. Aggressive play is an absolute requirement to win
intournaments.
Themostimportantthingtounderstandabouttourneyplayonline
is that it is fast. Im not talking about the speed at which
playersplay, but Im referring to the blinds structure. You only
have 10hands before the blinds go up a level. The limit levels
look likethis:
Level1:15/30
Level2:30/60
Level3:50/100

Level4:100/200
Level5:200/400
Level6:300/600
Level7:400/800
Level8:500/1000
Level9:600/1200
What this means is that when the deal has gone around the
tablefour times, youre already betting a significant percentage of
yourstarting bankroll (800 chips to start). Lets say you played
ultra tight to
level4,thatislikeplayinga$1/2gamewith$7,notreallyfun!Butc
riticaltosuccessfulplayintournaments.
LevelOnetoTwo
There are a lot of theories floating around regarding a

playstrategy for the early rounds. Some experts claim the secret
is toplay loose and hope for a monster pot at some point to
shore upyour stack. (You wont find the word hope in
our Pokerdictionaryattheendofthisbook
soIcantreallyhelpyouthere.)
All the latest research we have looked at supports playing

supertight,stayingundertheradarandsavingallthemoneyyouc
anforthe later levels when it really matters. The idea behind
the firststrategy of seeing as many flops as possible, is based
on the
sadtruththattournamentsgobyveryquickly.Weveallseentheg
uywho manages to win chips early on with garbage hands based
onthe fact that the rest of the players are playing very tightly.
Heobviouslyendsupinamuchbetterpositionintothelaterlevels.

Inthelongrun,thispersonwilllose,butintheshortrun,itcanbef
rustrating to see such loose play rewarded. Dont let these short
termgainsaffectyourstyleofplay.Staytight.Keeptoyourplan.
The Food Chain School of strategy says play tight in theearly

rounds. With 7 or 8 callers in a pot, many of whom
arenovice players and will draw on you, its very difficult to
winpots in the early rounds with mediocre hands. The top
pocketcards are what you
needtowin.Facingastraightorflushdraw,youcanalmostbesu
resomeoneisgoingtochaseafteryou.Betstogetpeopleoutand
carefulchecksontheriverwillpayoff.Note: Bluffing at this
stage in the game is nearly impossible.Dontwasteyourtime.
The most important thing you should be doing in the first

tworounds is taking notes on your opponents. Note what
handspeople preflop raise with, what hands they play, do they
reraiseflush/straight draws, anything that will help you out
later. If youdo this often enough, youll find that youll
naturally form yourown player profiles and realize how
you should play thisindividual.
Iftheyretight,thentheycanbebluffed.Iftheyreablufferorliar,y
oull want to call down questionable bets or reraise them if
youhave anything. Common sense stuff, but most people just
hunkerdown and play their hand. Dont do this! Pay close
attention toeveryones betting habits when youre not in a
hand. Be
intenseaboutyourpoker,dontwatchTVonyouroffhands.
LevelThreeandFour
The big change once the game hits level 3/4 is that bluffing now
becomes an option. As the stakes become higher, youll find your

opponents less willing to draw on you unless they truly areweak
players.
This is a doubleedged sword as aggressive players will

becomemuch more dangerous into these rounds. This is
why playerobservation is absolutely key. Against a tight table,
with a majorthreat on board (possible straight, flush, trips),
betting out
underthegunornearlastpositionareverypossibleoptions.Bettin
goutearlyusuallysignifiessomekindofstrengthwhentightplaye
rsdoit, so if you have a tight table image (established in the
earlyrounds),mostplayerswillrespectthatandfold.
Remember looking at the pros and cons of bluffing online? In

atournament game, your big advantage is a captive table.
(Sure,players are leaving but at least new players arent
coming in.)There is an opportunity here to train the other
players and setthemup.
For instance, if the board shows Q/Q/6 and you come out betting,
mostpeoplewillfigureyouforafourofakind.
Tightplayerswontwanttodrawinthissituationandfold.Iftheyc
all,youshouldfigurethemforafourofakind,pocketpairandofc
ourse,thepossibilityofQueens.
A raise should easily make you realize know they have it (or are
outplayingyou),whichinanycaseshouldbeaneasyfold.

The turn is very difficult to play after someone has called your
bluff.
You will have to assess it on a casebycase situation.

Anothertough decision. If you feel the other person is drawing
or has aweaker kicker on his four, then you will want to bet and
hope hefolds. If it took him a medium amount of time to call
your flop,hes probably got a four of a kind, because hes trying
to make adecisiononifyouhaveaqueenornot.
If ittookhimalongtime,youcanexpecthimtohavepocketpair
(again, has to think about if you have queens or not) or he
hasQueensandhewantstosuckyouin.Ifyoudoendupbettingth
eturnanddontgetre
raised,youprettymuchhavetocheckdownthe river as you can
no longer get him out by then obviously.
Whileonthesubjectoftrips,Ihavetosaythatitsbettertobluffon
smaller trip threats. For example: 2/2/J vs J/J/2. Someone is
farmorelikelytobeholdingaJackasopposedtoa2,simplybecaus
eaveragestrong players will rarely hold a 2 except for A2s,
K2s,Q2s.IntheSBorBB,thisisagoodbluffasotherswillbemore
aptto believe you are holding a 2. If you bluffed on the button,
mostpeoplewillputyouontheJackfortheverysamereasoningab
ove.
So in short, bluffs high trips in late position. Bluff the turn

ifneeded,
butalmostnevertheriverbecausebythentheyllusuallycall.
Now that bluffing has somewhat been covered, realize that

otherplayerswillalsotrytomakemoves(beaggressive)inthesele
vels.Youll tend to see midpairs betting out, or flush draws
bet outeven. This makes it a perfect time to trap people
yourself if youhold a strong hand. Top pairs will usually be
reluctant to slow

play in these levels, as they dont want anyone drawing on
them.So if the board doesnt have any kind of possible
straight/flushthreat that can develop, you may just check/call
the flop thencheckraise the turn. Itll help your image if you
win, as otherswont be able to bet all over you later in the
game, which isimportant.
In late position, if the board is nonthreatening, you may
evencheck it down to give others a free card and hope someone
pairsontheturn.Beingcheckraisedontheturnafterchecksonthe
flopis a really scary scenario for most players. Ideas of two
pair andtrips usually develop in this situation, as
many peopleautomatically
dontevenbegintothinkofsomeonecheckingoverpairontheflop
.
When you are shortstacked and make a play, players are

moreapt to call you down on your slow play. They will view
yourplayasadesperationmoveandarefarlesslikelytobelieve
you.
Therestofthegeneralstrategyfortheselevelsistojustplaytight,
makeafewmoveswhenyoucan,butotherwisehunkerdownand
takecover.
LevelFourandUp
Nowcomesthefunpart!
Nowthatthelimitis200/400(blinds100/200),youneedtochangeg
ears very fast. Half, if not more of the table should be gone
nowandmorewillfollowquickly.Inashorthandedgame,semi
stronghands become strong and strong hands become monsters.
A9sforexample, a playable hand with 10 people becomes very
playablewith 4 people. K9o, weak in a 10person game, is very
playablewith 4 people. The same rules of poker in regard to
position still

applythough!Theearlieryouplay,thestrongeryourhandsneedst
obe.Thelateryouplay,thelessstrongitneedstobe,asyoudont
needtoworryaboutitbeingraised.
However,youshouldbetheonedoingtheraising!
At this point in the game, you do NOT want to go to

showdownwith your opponent and should be happy with
winning the
pot.Blindstealingbecomescriticalatthispoint,becauseeachsetof
SBand BB is worth so much. Strong hands need to be raised
andweak hands need to be folded quickly. You need to be
able toswitchquicklybetweenaggressiveandnon
aggressivebetting.Bethe aggressor. Bet the flop when it comes
down if you raised preflop.
Remember, its not about what you have, but what your
opponentdoesnthave!
You hold AQ and the flop comes KT7. Youre in last position,
buttheBB,whobetpre
flop,comesoutandimmediatelybetsout400on the flop. Do you
call? Its a very tough decision because youhave to try to figure
out what he has. If hes got Kings, youre allbut dead as you
have a gutshot or overpair Ace draw. Even if hehas nothing, is
this maniac going to bet 400 on the turn and thenanother 400 on
the river? Are you willing to pay 1200 to see thisdown?
You dont want to be in this position! You want to be the one

puttingOTHERStothisdecision!
In the above scenario, you may have held A9o and raised
thecaller. When the flop came, you bet out your high card ace
scaryas it is. Guess what? He ends up folding and you won
with theweaker hand. That is why taking the charge is vital at
the later

levels, because it turns info a mind game instead of a card
game.Allhehastodoisthinkyouarestrongeristhatheistoowea
kandyouvealreadywon.Itdoesntmatterwhatyouhold.
Youllfindinthelowerbuy
intourniesthatthesolid,tightplayersmake it to the later levels,
but most of them will hesitate and foldtheir way into oblivion
to the crazy better. You need to out
aggressivethemaniacsatthispointinthetournament.Sure,when
youreaggressiveandincharge,atsomepointsomeonewillmake
a move against you, whether it be a raise, checkraise, trap
ortheyre stealing back against you. Dont be overly aggressive
andraiselikeamaniaconeverythingthatcomesyourway.Youca
nnotsimplyraiseyourwayoutofeverysituation.
Just remember that while tight players can make moves

againstyou, as long as you can make more moves against them,
you willwin. And when you are the aggressor, you WILL
make
moremovesagainsttightplayers.Thatsbecauseyoualwayshave
moreinfothanyouropponent.Whentheyraiseintoyou,youkno
wtheyhave something. When you bet into them, they arent
sure whatyouhave.
Eventually, even they will trap themselves when you DO

havesomethingandtheybetaweakerkickerorpairintoyoursand
youcancomerightbackatthem.
Iknowsomeoneoutthereissaying:Yeah,thisisgreatandall,but
what about when the tight player is on to you and just re
raiseseverything you have? I can almost guarantee you that it
does nothappen at the lower levels. Once it has become a
mental game,poor/average players are no longer thinking very
logically,
butwithemotions.Theywillbescaredandinmostcasesdonotha
vethe courage to stand up and challenge you with blanks in
theirguns. If they do indeed just go on tilt and hit bet/raise for
every


hand they have, you just need grit it and play right back at
them.Reraise strong hands preflop, call with weak hands.
Re
raisepairsaggressively,callwithA/Khigh,foldlowhighcards.
Make more money when you win. Lose less money
whenyoulose.
InsiderTip
Youneedtobeabletotakeofflikearocketandstoponadimeinte
rmsofyourbetting.Betheaggressor.Bettheflopwhenitcomesdo
wn if you raised preflop. Remember, its not about what
youhave,butwhatyouropponentdoesnthave!
Imaginethis:YouholdAQandtheflopcomesKT7.
Youre in last position, but the BB, who bet preflop, comes out and
immediatelybetsout400ontheflop.
Doyoucall?
Its a very tough decision because you have to try to figure

outwhat he has. If hes got Kings, youre all but dead as you
have agutshot or overpair Ace draw. Even if he has nothing,
is this

maniac going to bet 400 on the turn and then another 400 on the
river?Areyouwillingtopay1200toseethisdown?
You dont want to be in this position! You want to be the

oneputting OTHERS to this decision! In the above scenario, you
mayhave held A9o and raised the caller. When the flop came,
you betout your high card ace scary as it is. Guess what? He
ends
upfoldingandyouwonwiththeweakerhand.Thatiswhytakingt
hechargeisvitalatthelaterlevels,becauseitturnsinfoamindgam
einsteadofacardgame.Allhehastodoisthinkyouarestrongeris
thatheistooweakandyouvealreadywon.Itdoesntmatterwhat
you hold.
Youllfindinthelowerbuy
intourniesthatthesolid,tightplayersmake it to the later levels,
but most of them will hesitate and foldtheir way into oblivion to
the crazy better. To give you an idea
ofwhatyourgoalsshouldbeinthetournament,youshouldanalyz
ethefollowing:
Janehasbeenatightplayerforthefirsthalfanhour.Shehastaken
a few pots and folded most of her hands. Now the that limits
areup, the three other players have noticed Jane raise preflop
nearlyhalf the hands shes in. Knowing shes a tight player,
a fewhesitantly call her raises. It doesnt slow her down. Most
of
thetimeheropponentsfoldandJaneendsuptakingdownmostof
thepots. Finally, Fred, another tight player, gets his pair of aces,
andwhen Jane preflop raises, Fred reraises her immediately.
Janefolds and Fred takes the pot. The next hand, Jane comes out
andaggressively preflop raises. Fred, not believing any of it,
comesbackandreraises.Janere
raiseshimrightback.Fredhesitatesandthenfoldshishand.
ThemoralofthestorythereisthatyouwanttobeJane.

Sure, when youre aggressive and in charge, at some
pointsomeone will make a move against you, whether it be a
raise,checkraise, or theyre stealing back against you. Dont be
overlyaggressive and raise like a maniac on everything that
comes
yourway.Youcannotsimplyraiseyourwayoutofeverysituation.
Justrememberthatwhiletightplayerscanmakemovesagainstyo
u,aslong as you can make more moves against them, you will
win.And when you are the aggressor, you WILL make more
movesagainst tight players. Thats because you always have
more infothan your opponent. When they raise into you, you
know theyhave something. When you bet into them, they
arent sure whatyou have. Eventually, even they will trap
themselves when youDO have something and they bet a
weaker kicker or pair
intoyoursandyoucancomerightbackatthem.
Iknowsomeoneoutthereissaying:Yeah,thisisgreatandall,but
what about when the tight player is on to you and just re
raiseseverything you have? I can almost guarantee you that it
does nothappen at the lower levels. Once it has become a
mental game,poor/average players are no longer thinking very
logically,
butwithemotions.Theywillbescaredandinmostcasesdonotha
vethe courage to stand up and duke it with you on garbage. If
theydoindeedjustgoontiltandhitbet/raiseforeveryhandtheyh
ave,you just need to take a deep breath and play right back at
them.Reraise strong hands preflop, call with weak hands.
Re
raisepairsaggressively,callwithA/Khigh,foldlowhighcards.
Make more money when you win. Lose less money when you
lose.
PokerHandNumberofCombinationsProbability

HOW TO PICK AN ONLINE CASINO

AND A BREIF HISTORY OF
ONLINE POKER
Online gambling is increasing at a staggering rate

worldwide.Total revenues for online gambling worldwide in
2003 were anestimated$5Billion
over4.3%ofallworldwideecommerce.
The worlds first virtual online casino, Internet Casinos,
Inc.commencedoperationonAugust18,1995with18differentcasi
nogames and is now publicly traded on NASDAQ. Most of
theseonlinegamblingcompaniesarelocatedoutsideoftheU.S.toa
voidgovernment prosecution. ICI operates out of the Turks
andCayucos Islands and WagerNet is based in Belize. Site users
caneither send cash through one of the companies offering
securepayment systems for the Internet or open an offshore
account, arequirement for Americans to use ICIs site. A number
of foreigngovernments have entered the business of online
casinos holdingtheir sites out to people worldwide. For instance,
the governmentof Liechtenstein is operating an online
international lottery in sixdifferent languages, including Chinese.
According to Rolling Good

Times Online gambling magazine, there are over 1300 gambling
relatedsitesonthenetandmoreareupandrunningeveryday.
The economics of the industry are amazing. While it may cost
upto $300 million to build a new bricks and mortar resort
casino,most virtual casinos can be developed for between $12
millionandwillemployonly10
20peopleasopposedtothousandsforatraditionalcasino.Theind
ustryaveragesaboutatwenty
five(25%)profitmargin,versusthetypicalU.S.casino,whichrange
sbetweeneight percent (8%) to sixteen (16%) of each dollar
wagered.Interactive Gaming & Communications International
handled $48million dollars in its first year of operations and
has made astaggeringprofiteversince.
In sum, an estimated twenty million people are currently on
linewith a projected 160 million online by the year 2020. The
majoronlinecasinosregisterover7,000,000visitspermonth.
According to surveys conducted by the US government,
themajority of gamblers, 83%, play online, however, only a
third ofthat group plays for real money. In other words,
the majorattraction for online players are casinos that offer free
games. Inall, 28% of those who gamble do so online for
real
money.Accordingtoarecentstudy73%percentofthosewhoplay
forrealmoneybothonlineandofflinelostmoneyinthepastmonth
,while
80% of landbasedonly players lost money. Online
gamblers,however, lose more money per game. Those who
gamble for realmoney both online and offline lost in the past
month more thandouble what those who gamble exclusively off
line lost. Further,therearemorethanfour
timesmorehighrollers(percentagewise)among the online
players than there are among landbasedonlyplayers.

If youre wondering how safe your money is at an online
casino,there are a number of things to consider. Over the past
few yearsthere have been a number of cases of winners at
online pokercasinos being denied payment. Remember, as
online gambling isnot allowed in the U.S., you have no legal
recourse to recoverfunds. Our advice is to stay with well
established online casinoswith an extensive track record and a
reputation for paying outwinners. We list ten of the largest, best
known in this section. Allhave excellent track records, use
wellestablished software todeliver the gaming experience and
offer a wide range of tables toselectfrom.
You will be tempted sometimes by very generous offers of
largeplayer bonuses from online casinos youve never heard of.
Thinkabout it if you started a new casino in a very crowded
market,how would you get the attention of potential new
players?
Oursuggestionistoavoidthesecasinos.Whatgoodwoulditdoto
win
$10,000 and then find you can never claim the money? There
arenumerous systems being promoted that suggest you can
usethese bonuses to multiply your winnings even play for
free.Thats nonsense. Bonuses, if they are based on the
number ofhands, will be returned to the house through the
rake. Pick yourcasino based on play quality and the volume
of table options.Thatstherealkeytowinning.
Ioftengetquestionsabouthowfaircertaincasinosare.Oneauthor
has written a book claiming that there are dealing errors in
onelarge casino that give players in the know a decided
advantage.This writer does not understand the technology
behind the
carddealingprocessatreputableonlinecasinos.Electronicgameso
falltypes use random
numbergenerator(RNG)softwarealgorithmtodetermine card
outcome, the RNG algorithm is called into play

hundreds of times per second. The RNG has approximately
16,000,000,000,000,000,000 possible outcomes and, depending
ofcourse on the type of game, there will be billions and billions
ofoutcomesthatmapintoanysetofcards.Thisensuresthatallga
meoutcomes are completely random. There are no hiccups in
theprocess you can use to beat the virtual dealer. The
science ofrandom number generation is well established and
impossible tobeat.
Hereareanumberoffactorsyoucanusetochoosethebestonline
pokerroom.
SecurityandPrivacy
You want as much reassurance that your credit info is safe,
youridentity and contact info wont be sold and that game
conditionsare as safe and as fair as possible(e.g. that the
software isntvulnerable to manipulation; players arent
colluding because asystem of checks is in place; etc.). Secure
servers are a necessity.Sites should elaborate on the encryption
system that they use.
Allgoodsitesshouldaddresstheaboveissuestoyoursatisfaction.
Dotheydiscussissuesliketheircard
shufflingalgorithm?Also,whatkind of RNG(random number
generator) do they use? The bestones increase the level of
unpredictability in the cards beingplayed. What other
safeguards do they have in place to preventgamerigging,
collusion, hacker intrusions, etc.? You
shouldalwaysreadasitesprivacypolicy,includingthesmallprint
.
Action
Howmanyplayerslogontothegames?Canyougetactioninthep
oker game of your choice anytime, day or night? Do they
havediverse offerings with enough players to keep tables
full? Thelarger the pool, the more action youll see in both game
play and

cashwinnings.Wevisitthesitesatdifferenttimestoseewhattheo
verall action is like as well as the variety of players in all
gamesoffered.
Gameplay
If your money and personal info are secure but the ease of
gameplay and visuals suck, then chances are youre not going to
comeback. We look at the variety of poker games offered and
keep aclose eye on how well a site creates a good poker
environ
ment.Howeasyisittoplay?Conversewithotherplayers(ormute
them,ifyouwish)?Arethegraphicsandsoundsfun?Interesting?
CanIplayevenifmysystemdoesntsupporttheabsolutelylatestg
raphics, etc.?Is all the information needed to play easyto
accessand clearly stated? Some sites definitely have more
appealinggameplaythanothers.
Connectivity
How often does the game crash due to server issues at the
onlinepoker rooms end? How bad are the delays in transfer
of info?What about disconnections? Are they repeated?
Anything
thatdisruptsgameplayonaregularbasisisgoingtobeanannoya
nceandamajorproblem(attheworstifthestakesarehighandyo
ureon a streak). We realize problems can occur at the players
end
(with their computer and their particular ISP) but theres
nodenying some sites are more reliable and offer
lessdowntimeandothersuchirritationsthanothers.
Cashouts
How much money have players won at their poker games?
Howeasy is it to cash out your winnings?Do they credit your
creditcard? What charges are applied? How long does it take to
receive

winnings?Youshouldnthavetobearocketscientisttofigureout
how to cash out what youve won and whether extra
charges,delays, etc. are worth it. Or have the patience of a saint.
And welike features such as email confirmations of the
withdrawaltransactionsverifyingrequest,dates,andamounts.
FreePlay
Testing out poker game play, environment, percentage, etc.
helpsto familiarize yourself with what to do in the event of
servercrashes, how well youve understood the written rules of
play atthe particular online poker room, and the mixed quality
of otherplayersyoumayencounter.
This is an important feature of any good poker site
playingfirst for free although we recognize that people
play verydifferentlywhentheyvegotrealmoneyontheline.
Some sites make it easier than others to identify how to get in
onthe free play action without submitting heaps of
personalinformationinadvance.
OtherFeatures
Some sites will let you choose a character image which
becomesidentifiedwithyou.Otherswilltrackyourgameplaystati
sticsforyou.Someprovidenochargesforcertainkindsofcashout
s.Sometrack the top players. Some allow you to betatest new
games orpoker tournaments in development. Others offer
good pokerresources in terms of celebrity columns, advice,
links, etc. We likeboth access to quality information thats
useful to us in playingpokeraswellasconvenience.

Onlinecasinosofferplayersbonusincentivestocomeplayattheirc
asinos.Theseareknowascasinobonuses,casinopromotion,freec
hip offers, and although there are several other terms used
todescribethefreemoneygiventoplayersbythecasinosthebotto
mline is that its free money. Outlined below are a few
descriptionsofthedifferenttypesofbonusesofferedbyonlinecasi
nos.
NoDepositCasinoBonuses
This type of bonus is offered to players just for trying
anddownloading and trying the casinos software out. In general
thistypeofcasinobonusisintherangeof$10and$22.
OnlineCasinoMatchBonuses
Withacasinomatchbonusthecasinogivesplayersadditionalcash
to play at the casino upon making a first deposit. If a
playerdeposits$50ina100%matchbonussituationtheplayerwo
uldgetanadditional$50toplaywithatthecasino.
AlternativeBankingBonuses
Since online gambling transactions made by players
mayencounter some rejections by credit card companies many
casinoshave resorted to alternative payment solutions. These
includeNETeller, FirePay, PrePaidATM and others. Some
casinos offerplayers additional bonuses on top of their
existing no depositbonuses and match bonuses for deposits
made through thesealternativebankingmethods.
PokiBotPoker
There are no money games at this site, only free Texas Holdem
Poker. Theres no download, just sign in and play. Youll play

Holdem poker with artificially intelligent programs robots
thatlearn. The robots are tough players. Your icon will be a fish.
Youoweittoyourselftospendsometimeplayingthesebots.Itsa
veryinterestinggameofTexasHoldemPoker.Youcanlearnalotf
romabot.
The websites listed here invite players to try their poker
gamesabsolutely free. If you want to play poker online for
money, youshouldbesureitislegaltodosofromyourlocation.
Takeadvantageofthefreepokeratthesesitesandpractice,
practice,practice!
TheBettingRulesforPotLimitTexasHoldem
Minimum eligible raise: The raise amount must be at least
asmuch as the previous bet or raise in the same round. As
anexample, if the first player to act bets $100 then the second
playermustraiseaminimumof$100(totalbetof$200).
Maximumeligibleraise:Thesizeofthepot:Thesizeofthepotisd
efinedasthetotaloftheactivePot(whichcanbeeitherthemainpo
t or the side pot depending on whether anyone has gone all
in) plus all bets on the table plus the amount the active
playermustfirstcallbeforeraising.
Asanexample,iftheactivepotis$200andthefirstplayertoactin
theroundbets$150andthenextplayercalls$150,thethirdplayer
hasamaximumeligibletotalbetof$800.The$800totalismadeup
ofthe$150calland$650raise.
The $650 max raise portion is equal to the pot of $200 + first
players$150+secondplayers$150+hisowncallof$150.

PotLimit and NoLimit Games will be raked according to the
chartbelow:
WHICHCASINODOYOUTRUST?
You cant go wrong if you select a poker site that has been
inbusinessforseveralyears,usesestablishedandaccreditedgami
ngsoftware interfaces and has a record of paying big winners
in atimely manner. We are not affiliated with any casino or
group
ofcasinosbutbeingobjectivecanbedifficult.Therearethousands
ofcasinoswithmewonesopeningeveryday.Greatplayerinterfac
esarearealattractionforplayersbutintheend,ifthecasinodoes
ntoffer a multitude of tables and traffic and doesnt pay off
betsquickly,whatsthepoint?
Here is a list of casinos that have been in business for several

yearsandarerecognizedwidelyasbeingfairandprofessional.
PartyPoker
PartyPokerisnowtheworldslargestonlinepokerroom.Wehave
seenover40,000playersonlineplayingrecentlyandthenumberis
growing every day. The daily average of real money players
isaround10,000.Partyispresentedbythesamepeoplethatbrough
tyou CardPlayer Cruises, including Mike Sexton. They have a
bigmulti
tabletournamenteveryyearcalledthePartyPokerMillion.
Therakeatthissiteisstockstandard
5percentcappedat$3formediumlimitgames.Forlowerlimitga
mes,amaxof$1for$1/$2games and 50 cents for $0.5/$1 games
is taken out of the pot. Onhigh limit games Party Poker offers
good value with
significantlylessthan5percenttakenoutofeachpot.Onefeature
missingthatwe would like to see is the % preflop. The site
does present the

averagepotforthelast20hands.TheCustomerServiceatthissite
isfirstclassandveryprofessional.Clickhereforwww.partypoker.com
ParadisePoker
Billed accurately as the Worlds Premier Online Card
room,Paradise offers the standard variety of games, including
severaltournaments.Thesitefeatureslotsofactioneverydayofth
eweek.Paradise has an excellent game interface with little
extras thatmake things interesting. If you are concerned
about securityandcredibility,Paradise posts cardshuffling
reviews by Price waterhouse Coopers (the worlds largest
professional servicesfirm)ontheirsite. Click here for
www.paradisepoker.com
UltimateBet
UltimateBetfeaturesupto7500playersplayingduringpeaktimes,
about 4000 structured games. Percentage preflops can be
foundabove45%onregularoccasions,whichleadstogoodaverag
epots.The games at Ultimate Bet can be quite profitable to the
skilledplayer,particularlyingameswith$2/$5and$1/$3limits.Ult
imateBet has the backing of a number of big players
including: PhilHellmuth,AnnieDuke,andRussHamilton.
PlanetPoker
Planet Poker is one of the oldest online poker establishments

(1998) and is endorsed by Mike Caro, a leading
pokerauthority.PlanetPokerisamediumtolargepokersiteinter
msoftraffic (he site can have up to 500 people online at peak
times).ThereisnevertroublegettingagameinyourlimitinHolde
m.Therakeis5%cappedat$3,buttheactualraketakenforvariou
slimitsand pots sizes varies due to rounding but is quite fair.
Recent

software upgrades have made Planet Poker software much faster,
morereliableandmorepleasanttotheeyethanitusetobe.
JackpotPalaceCasino
Jackpot Palace Casino uses software designed by Boss Media,
theleading Internet casino software developer and provider.
BossMedia started in spring 1997, since then the company has
grownconsiderably,andbytheendof2003,theGrouphadjustov
er120employees. The companys head office is in Vxj, in
southernSweden.
InterCasinoPoker
InterCasinohasbeenoperatingsince1996andhasbeenvotedBest
OnlineCasino2001and2002byTop20CasinosandBestCasino2003.b
y Gambling Online Magazine. InterCasino has some of the
highestlimitsonthenet.Playerscanplayrealmoneygamesfor$10
0/$200inanyofthecurrencies.Forthesmallerlimitplayers$1/$2g
amesarethesmallestthatcustomerscanplay.
Rakepercentagesaretoughtodiscern
about25centsonevery$5until the pot reaches $60, which is not
particularly attractive.
Thesitegenerallyhasfrombetween100to500playersplayingand
thisnumber is likely to grow as the site becomes better known.
Gameplayisexcellentandthegraphicsaretop
notch.Thissiteisoneofthe few sites that has voice options.
Note: probably the fastestgamesonthenet.Click here for
www.intercasinopoker.com
OmniCasino
Oneofthebestcasinosonthenet.LicensedsinceNovember,1997
in Curacao and audited by Pricewaterhouse. Gambling Online

magazinevotedOmniCasinoasTopCasino2003HonorableMention
andBestRewardsandQuickestPayoutsthreeyearsinarowfrom
200123. They also won Casino Player MagazinesBest Payout
/E
CashProgrambyreadersthemselves.OneofthebestfeaturesofO
mniCasinoistheirCOMPProgram
undeniablythebestCOMPPrograminthebusiness.Itwasvoted
BestRewardsProgramfor
2003bythereadersofGamblingOnlineMagazine.
PokerRoom
PokerRoom.comisoneofthefewsitesthatdoesntrequireyouto
download their software. They use JAVA technology so you
cangetplayingrightaway.Thesoftwarerunsverysmoothlyaltho
ughJAVA style software does not have the gloss of its
downloadablecounterpart.ExtrafeaturesthatPokerRoomofferin
cludeexpectedvalue statistics, whereby you can type in a
starting hand and
thesoftwarecalculatesthehistoricalexpectedvalueofthathandov
er6 million real time playing hands. The top 50 all time
winnersaregivenatthewebsitesoyoucanavoidgettinginagam
ewiththeseplayers. Percentage preflop games of above 40% are
easy to find.The site can have upwards 100 to 800 real money
players online.Tendstohavemanyloosegames. Click here for
www.pokerroom.com
EmpirePoker
Another feature that is missing from this site is the % pre
flop.However, the site does present the average pot for the
last 20hands, which is useful. Typically the games are first
class
here,withjuicyaveragepotsforalllimits.Forexampleitiscommo
ntosee average pots for $3/$6 games over $40 and for $5/10
gamesover$70.TheCustomerServiceatthissiteisfirstclassandv
ery

POCKETCARDWINNINGODDS

How To Think Like A

Winning Poker Player

S
ocrates once said that the unexamined life is not
worthliving. So lets give some thought and examination
to howwe as card players process information and
respond to
decisionmaking pressures. These are important areas to
considerasweworktoimproveourpokersuccess
andbemoresuccessfulinlifegenerally.
There is a science around the study of body language and

humancommunicationcalledNeuro
LingusiticProgramming(NLP).NLPis both an interesting and
valuable area of study to
understand.WhatNLPhasshownisthatifwecanmirroranother
personwhohas achieved success in a certain area, we can
dramatically speedup our ability to learn the same skills. In a
nutshell, if we
actexactlylikeasuccessfulpokerplayer,move,sit,walk,talk,lear
ntoadoptthesamethinkingstyles
wecanleapaheadinlearning.Apro may have spent 20 years
learning the secrets of the game but

bymirroringtheirbehaviorandthought,wecanlearntobecome
aproinamuchshorterperiodoftime.
NowyoureprobablyprettyskepticalofthiswholeapproachandI
dont blame you. Youve been taught in school that you need
tostudy for years and slowly work your way towards expertise
togain what we would call expert knowledge. But if you saw
theexamples of this process at work, as I have over the years,
youwould have a whole new understanding of how to propel
yourabilitiestoanamazingnewlevelinamatterofdays.
For the sake of this chapter, I am

goingtokeepthissimple.Thereare dozens of books written on
NLP and we are not going to
beabletocoverallofthatgroundhere.Letsjusttakeaquicklook
athow great poker players think and try to understand how to
bemorelikethem.
Pros step into the poker game with confidence. They have such
awealth of playing experience that they can make tough
bettingdecisions in a very timely manner. That means that they
give theodds proper consideration, keep appraised of the other
players,and make their play. This is the persona you need to
adopt whenyouplay.
Tobeasharkyouneedtoactthepart.
Sit up straight like a professional. Clean the area around

yourcomputerdeskandstayorganized.Prepare.Haveanynoteta
kingmaterialhandy.Planyourgameplayonatightschedule.Start
ataprecise time; review the casinos and tables for a pre
determinedperiodoftimebeforeyouplay.Beobservant.Startplay
whenyouare certain you have the right table in your sites.
Watch the otherplayers carefully and make notes. Never be
sloppy about yourplayingtime.

Remember, you are a shark, play at the pace of a shark.

Youscullthrough the water, your eyes alert. You make
thoughtful andpurposeful moves. You appraise your
environment. Occasionally,when the time is right and your
prey is unprepared, you strikeaggressively and purposefully.
You raise and reraise. You
pushoutweakerplayers.Yougainrespectfromallofthosearound
you.Youropponentsknowonlyonethingaboutyou
thatyouhaveasignificantstackinfrontofyouandyouseemtok
noweveryonescardsbeforetheyareshown.
You are never rattled even by a string of bad beats. They

meannothing in the big picture to you. You play to win over
the longhaul. Small bad breaks have no consequence for
you. If youbecome tired or youre just not happy with the
table, you leave.And then after exactly one hour, you finish
playing regardless
ofyourstatusandtakeabreak.Youthencarefullypolishyournote
sregarding how you played and what you have learned
andrecordyourwinsandlosses.Thatsoneofyoursecretweapons
.
You must keep detailed financial records. A business cannot

besuccessful without detailed financials and neither can you.
Youmust know exactly how much you have won or loss every
timeyou play. Be precise. If you won $102.50, then make that
youranswer if anyone asks. Or maybe you lost $45.75. Get in the
habitofbeingexacting.Thatsthekeytotightplay.
I started playing weekly Poker games with a group of

friendsabout 10 years ago. I always enjoyed poker but never
had theopportunity to play more than a few times a year. I
enjoyed thegroup we played with, the food was good and
it was greatentertainment for the price. When I lost I always
justified themoneyaspartoftheentertainmentcost.

I was a typical weekend poker player. I had a few drinks,
neverreally studied the rules in too much detail and was
never
tooworriedaboutthelosses.Whatwas$50or$100amongfriends?
Of course I never knew exactly how well I did although I had
asensethatIwaslosingmorethanmostoftheotherplayers.Iwrot
ethisofftothesuperiorplayingabilityofafewoftheotherguys.
Then I read an
articleonedayaboutgamblers.Thestudyshowedthat weekend
players always remembered and talked about theirwinnings
butrarelyfocusedordiscussedwhentheylost.
Ialwayshadasensethatwastrue.Butwhy?
Its called selective reasoning. Your brain is focusing on a

fewpositive experiences, which reinforces continued playing.
Andblanks out on the negatives. Not a very reasonable
approach toreallearning.
Thats why they say that people who keep track, stay on the
track.
People who track their expenses in detail typically spend less

moneyandsavemore.
Peoplewhotracktheirwinningsandlossesonthestockmarketin
detail on a daily basis make more intelligent decisions and
endtheirtradingdaysandmonthswithbiggerwins.
Peoplewhotrackcaloriesandfatwhileonadietlosemoreweight.
Themoredetailedthetracking,thegreaterthesuccessofthediet.
How successful do you want to be at cards? If you want to make

moneythenstarttrackingyourefforts,yourwins,yourlosses.

Prosknowexactlyhowmuchtheywonatagiventableandthey
knowexactlyhowmuchtheylost.
Asignofapro?HowmuchdidyouwinonWednesdaynight,you
ask?$128.Notoverahundred.Oraboutahundred.Theyknowto
thepenny.Sameiftheylose.Theywilltellyoutheywereup$545b
utfinishedupthenightdown$62.
YouneedtosoundlikeaProtobeapro.
WhatdoesaProlooklike,soundlike,talklike,playlike?
A Pro plays the game with intention. They focus. They dont
playPoker online while watching TV or eating or
having aconversation.
A Pro talks about the game with clarity. Knows exactly what
youwon or lost or says nothing at all. Lack of clarity is a very
badhabit for success in anything. Sloppy language means a
sloppyapproach. Its not cool to be sloppy about technique or
practice inanyfieldofendeavour.
AProtakesnotesduringplayandspendstimefollowingthegame
to evaluate mistakes, to understand the game better, the
reviewwhattheyhavelearned.Takeclearandconciseanduseable
notes.
A Pro studies the game, knows all the odds and the rules.
Theypractice using Poker software simulations. They play the
gamewith intention. And the review their play following the
game bykeeping detailed notes on wins, losses, and the
things theyvelearned.
Whats the secret to being a great golfer? Study, practice, play,

evaluate.

Whats the secret to being a great musician? Study, practice, and

play.Evaluate.
Whatsthesecrettobeingasuccessfuldaytrader?Study,practice,
playthemarket,evaluate.
Seeapatternhere?
Whydoesthisprocesswork?
I met a Sales person years ago that was one of the best in the
business.Ispentthedaywithhertoseehowsheworked.
First,shespenthalfanhourpreparingtomeetthecustomer.Mosts
ales people no, all the sale people I had ever known
justgrabbed their sales kit and charged in. Then she practiced
herpresentation on one of her staff. Most people thought she
was alittleunbalanced.Practiceyourpresentationbeforehand?
Thenshewentinandmetwiththecustomer.
Finally, when we got back in the car, instead of driving off

tolunch, she thought about the meeting and made notes
regardingwhatshecouldhavedonebetter.
Shewascoachingherself.Thinkaboutit.Shewasdoingwhatyou
wouldhireacoachtodo.
Why do most people need executive coaches, mentors,

managersand trainers? Because it increases their productivity.
Its a
proventechnique.Wehavehundredsofyearsofdataonthissubjec
t.
SoCoachYourself.

Ifyouwanttodosomethingwell,thenbeyourowncoach.
Do you see the value of this kind of thinking? It puts you in
thezone. Poker is a game of mental toughness. There are a
hundredfactors that can come into play to rattle you, make you
mad, takeaway your confidence, push you to tilt. Pros dont
tilt. They areabove the concerns of each hand. Focusing on how
you want toplay the game for a few minutes before each
game can help toimprove your game significantly. Athletes use
this process everyday to visualize their event, their performance
and the endresult.They are not wishing their way to a great
performance, they aresimply preparing their body and their
mind to perform at
peakefficiencyinexactlythewaytheyhaveseenthebestresults.
Beforeagamecloseyoureyesforafewminutesandrelax.Breathe
deeply
andslowlythreetimes.Visualizeyourstackandthetable.See
yourself acting calmly, intentionally. See the cards in front
ofyou.Seeyourselfdealtanuthand.Staycalm.Breathedeepagain
.Play at the same pace you would if the cards were garbage.
Keepanevenpaceofplay.
A great example of the opposite of positive visualization is

thekind of thinking we often see in players at bricks and
mortargambling casinos. I spoke to one manager in a casino
who saidmost players said the same thing about their plans for
playing.
Ibrought$100tolose,andthatswhenIllquit.Hesaidherarel
yheard,Ivebrought$100dollarsandImgoingtowin.
You are casino fodder before you ever get started with
thatlosing approach. If you surrender to the card gods even
beforeyoustarttoplay,yourplayingstylewillbeaffectedandy
ouwillhavetheoutcomeyoupreparedyourbrainfor.Tolose.

Prepare yourself to win. Visualize your success at the table.
Thismeansmorethanjustwinningbecausesometimesthecardsw
ontcooperate. Thats not important though because you are
seeingthe big picture. Youre improving everyday. Your game is
gettingbetter by the hour and you are winning more often.
You aredefinitelyfeelingmoreconfidentatthetableaswell.
And you thought playing online Texas Holdem poker was fun
before?ToquoteAlJolsenYouaintseennothinyet.
A.J.Mills2005
Bestofluckatthevirtualpokertables.

TEXAS HOLDEM ONLINE POKER DICTIONARY
3BetThefirstreraise(putting3betsin).
AbsoluteNutsThebestpossiblehand,basedontheboardcards.
Sometimessimplycalledthenuts.
Actiontheamountofmoneywageredbyaplayerduringaplaying
session.Inpoker,theplacingofmoneyintothepot.
Activeonewhoisstillinthepot.
AllBlue(orAllPink)Aflush.
AllInTopushallofyourremainingchipsintothepot.
Anchor
theplayersittinginthelastpositionatapokertablebeforethedealer.Thi
sisthepersonwhomakesthefinaldecision,therebyanchoringthegame.
Ante
atermusuallyusedinpokertorefertothefirstmoneywageredonahan
d,ortheminimumamountthateachplayerisrequiredtoputintothepot
beforeanewhandcanbegin.
AmericanAirlinesApairofAces.
Angling
Takingactionortalkingwhenitisnotyourturninordertomisleadyour
opponent.Someconsiderthistobecheating,othersconsiderthesetacticst
obeapartofthegame.
AnimalNicknameforaplayerthatisloose
aggressive.Animalsareinvolvedintoomanyhandsandwillalmostal
waysbetandraisewhengiventheopportunity,oftenwithgarbagehan
ds.Alsoknownasamaniac.

BabyAlowrankedcard(usually2through5).
BackIntoTomakeahandthatisdifferentthanthehandyouwere
originallytryingfor.
BackdoorAnunfinishedhandthatrequireshelpfromboththeturnand
riverinordertowin.Alsoknownasarunnerrunnerhand.
BackdoorFlushes:Evenworsethenthegutshotisthebackdoorflush.
Thisiswhenyouneedtwoperfectcardsofthesamesuittocomplete
yourhand.
BadBeat
Tohaveahandthatistheclearmathematicalfavouritelosetoaheavyu
nderdog(especiallyifthathandshouldnothavebeeninvolvedinthepot
).
Bankrollthetotalamountofmoneyaplayerhasforagamingsession.
BBAnabbreviationforBigBlind.
BellyBusterAdrawtofillaninsidestraight,akaagutshot.
Betawagerorgamble
BettingLimitstheminimumandmaximumthatcanbewageredonone
bet.
BigBlindThepositiontwototheleftofthebutton,whoisforcedtopay
afullsmallbetpriortotheholecardsbeingdealtinHoldem.
BigChickInTexasHoldem,anAceandaQueen(suitedorunsuited)as
yourholecards.
BigSlickAnopenerofAKsuited

BlindBetabetthatcertainpokerplayersarerequiredtomakeasaresult
oftheirbettingposition.
Bluffinpoker,playersbluffwhenraisingaweakhandinthehopeof
drivingoutplayerswithastrongerhand.
Bumptoraise
BurnCardanycardplacedinthediscardrackwithoutbeingentered
intoplay.Afterthedeckisshuffledandcut,onecardisburned.
B&MBrickandMortar;areallifecasino(asopposedtoanonline
casino).
BigSlickInTexasHoldem,anAceandaKing(suitedorunsuited)as
yourholecards.
BlankAcardthatappearsuseless.Alsoknownasarag.
BoardThecommunitycards.
BoatFullhouse.
BonusWhoring
Belongingtoseveralonlinepokersitesandalwaystakingadvantage
ofeachdepositbonusoffered.Seewww.BonusWhores.comforupda
tedinfo.
Bounty
Arewardgiveninatournamenttosomeonewhomeetscertaincriteria.
SomeexamplesofthesecriteriafromZootournamentsare:knockingace
rtainpersonoutofthetournament,winningwithacertainhand,andfini
shingthetournamentisacertainposition.
BRAnabbreviationforbankroll.
BroadwayAnacehighstraight.

Bubble
Finishingatournamentinthespotnearestthemoney.Example:Ina60
persontournament,ifthetop8spotspay,finishing9thwouldbefinishin
gonthebubble.
BulletsApairofAces.
BumpItToraise.
BustOutToloseyourbuyin.
ButtonThediskthatrepresentsthedealerinagivenhand.
BuyInTheamountofmoneythatisnecessarytoplayaparticulargame,
ortheamountofmoneythatyoutoplayagame.
BuytheButton
Bettingorraisinginordertomakeanyplayersbetweenyouandthebutt
onfold.Ifsuccessful,youarenowlasttoactonanysubsequentroundsof
betting.
BuythePotTobluffbetorraiseinordertowinthepot.
Chipstokensusedatgamingtablesinlieuofcash.
ChopToreturntheblindstotheplayerswhopostedthemandmoveon
tothenexthandifnobodycallstheblind.
ChoppingtheBlinds
When2playersagreetotakebacktheirblindbetsifthereisnoactionah
eadofthem.Notethatonceyouagreetochoptheblindswithyourneigh
bour,youareexpectedtoalwayschoptheblindswiththem.
Chumbaitthatisusedtoattracthungrysharksandsendthemintoa
feedingfrenzy.Dontbechum.
Coldaplayeronalosingstreak.

ColdCallTocallmorethanonebetatatime.Notethatthisisnotthe
sameascallingabet,thencallingasubsequentraisesinceyouarecalling
2singlebets.
CompleteHandapokerhandthatisdefinedbyallfivecards.Thatisa
straight,flush,straightflush,orafullhouse.
Cutthedealerdividesthedeckofcardsintotwopartsandtheninverts
themaftertheyhavebeenshuffled.
ColorDownExchangingchipsforthoseofalowerdenomination.
ColorUpExchangingchipsforthoseofahigherdenomination.
ComeHandAdrawinghand.Example:Anopenendedstraightisa
comehand.
CompletetheBetWhenthesmallblindchoosestocallbyputtinginthe
chipsnecessary
ConnectorsConsecutivesuitedorunsuitedcardsthatassistinmakinga
straight..
Counterfeit
Whenyourhandlosesvaluebecauseaboardcardduplicatesitoraboar
dcardgivesothersasimilarhand.Example:YouholdA
4andtheboardisA74.Youhave2pair,whichisnowaheadofA
K.Theturnisa7.Yourhandhasjustbeencounterfeited,sinceyour2
pairisnolongerasvaluableasitwaspriortotheturn.
CowboysApairofKings.
Cripple(anopponentTowinacriticalhandinatournament,leaving
youropponentveryshortstacked.

CrippletheDeckYourhandcontainsmostorallofthebeneficialcards
thatcouldbeusedinconjunctionwiththeboard.
CryingCallTocallwithnocardstocome,whileexpectingtolose.
CutoffThepersontotherightofthebutton.
Dark
Takingaction,suchascheckingorbetting,withoutseeingyourholec
ards.Thisisalsousedwhenthepersonwhoisfirsttoacttakesaction
priortothenextboardcardbeingrevealed.
DeadMoneyMoneythathasbeenputinthepotbypeoplewhoareno
longerincontentiontowinthepot.
Dealeracasinoemployeewhodealsthevariousgames.
DropBoxonagamingtable,theboxthatservesasarepositoryforcash,
markers,andchips.
DominatedHand
Ahandthatcontains3orfeweroutsagainstanotherhand.Example:AKd
ominatesAQ,sinceAQneedsoneoftheremaining3Queensinthedeckin
ordertobeatAK.IbelievethistermiscreditedtoAbdulJalib.
DoubleUpInnolimit,winningaheadsuppotwhenyouhavegoneall
in(thus,doublingyourchiptotal).
DucksApairofTwos.
DumpTofoldahand.
Edgethecasinosadvantageovertheplayerinanygame.Alsoknownas
houseedge.
EMPAnabbreviationforEarlyMiddlePosition.

EPAnabbreviationforEarlyPosition.
EPcoldCalledUTGsraise.
FaceCardstheking,queenorjackofeachsuite.
FamilyPotApotinwhichmanyplayersareinvolvedinthehand.
FastUsedtodescribeplayingahandaggressively
FishApoorpokerplayer,relativetotheircompetition.
FlashToshowoneormoreofyourcards,usuallywhenitisnot
required.
FlatCallTocalloneormorebetswithoutraising,whenyouarequite
surethatyouhavethebesthand.Seealsosmoothcall.
FloorShortenedformofFloorPerson;acasinoemployeewhohelpsto
seatplayersandmakesrulesdecisionswhenadisputearises.
Flushahandconsistingoffivecardsofonesuit.
Foldwhenaplayerdeclinesabetanddropsoutofthehand.
FourOfAKindfourcardsofthesamerank.Alsoknownasquads.
FullHouseahandconsistingofathreeofakindandapair
ForcedBetAmandatorybet.
FPS
FancyPlaySyndrome.Playingtrickywhenyouprobablyshouldhave
playedstraight
forward.[personalnote:IthinkthisshouldalsostandforF#ckingPoor
Strategy]

FreeCardPlay
Bettingorraisinginlatepositionontheflopinthehopesthattheotherpl
ayerswillchecktoyouontheturn,giveyoutheoptionofseeingtheriver
cardforfree.
FreeRideAroundinwhichnoonebets.
FreeRoll
Havingalockonhalfthepot,butalsohavingachancetowinthewhole
pot.Example:PlayerXholdsKsQc,andplayerYholdsKd
QdandtheflopcomesKc7d
4d.Bothplayersaretiedforthehighhand,butPlayerYisfreerollingbec
ausehecouldwintheentirepotifadiamondcomes.
FreezeOuttournamentthatonlyendswhenonepersonhaswonallof
thetournamentchips.
GrannyMaenicknameforhavingQs5sasyourholecards.Thisis
creditedtolongtime2+2forumposterGrannyMae.
Gutshots:Agutshotisastraightdrawwhereonlyonecardmakesyour
hand.
GutshotStraightAstraightthatrequiresaninsidecardtocomplete.
AlsoknownasaBellyBuster.
HandHistoryRecordsofgamesplayedatonlinesitesthatshowallof
HitWhentheflopcardsarehelpfultoyourhand.
HLAnabbreviationforHighlimit.
HoldUpWhenahandthatisleadingmanagestowinthepotat
showdown.
HoleYouruniquecardsthatarehiddenfromeveryoneelse.Alsoknown
aspocket.

HooksApairofJacks.
ImageTheperceptionthatotherpeoplehaveofyourplayingstyle.
InsideStraight
Astraightthatrequiresaninsidecardtocomplete,asopposedtoano
penendedstraight.Alsoknownasabellybusterorgutshot.
JamLotsofaction,especiallyraising.
KickerAcardusedasatie
breakerwhen2handarenearlyidentical.Forexample,if2handscontaina
pairofTens,thehandthathasthehighestcardinadditiontothepairofT
enswouldwin.Thiscardiscalledthekicker.Thus,apairofTenswithan
AcekickerbeatsapairofTenswithaQueenkicker.
Kill(orKillGame)Ahandthatisplayedfordoublestakesbasedonthe
previoushandmeetingcertaincriteria.
KillButtonAbuttonthatisplacedinfrontoftheplayerwhois
responsibleforakillgame.
KnuckleTocheck(asinknockingonthetable).
KojakHavingaKingandaJackasyourholecards.
LAGAnabbreviationforLooseAggressive.
LayDownTofoldahand.
LimpInToentertheroundbycallingabet,ratherthanraising.
LongOddsAlowprobabilityofacertainthinghappening.
MaverickstartinghandofQJ.

ManiacNicknameforaplayerthatisloose
aggressive.Maniacsareinvolvedintoomanyhandsandwillalmostal
waysbetandraisewhengiventheopportunity,oftenwithgarbagehan
ds.Alsoknownasananimal.
MarryTobecometooattachedtoahand,usuallyseeingashowdown
whenitwasclearthatyoushouldhavefoldedearlier.
MLAnabbreviationforMiddlelimit.
MonsterAsuperiorhandthatisunlikelytolose.
NLAnabbreviationforNolimit.
NutThebestpossibletypeofhand,suchasnutflushornutstraight;
thisisnotnecessarilytheabsolutenuts.
NutsThebestpossiblehand,basedontheboardcards.Sometimescalled
theabsolutenuts.
OffsuitCardsthatarenotofthesamesuit.
OpenRaiseRaisingasthefirstoneinthepotpreflop(ratherthansimply
callingthebet).
OptionThechoicegiventotheplayerinthebigblind,allowingthemto
callorraise.
OrbitOnecompleterotationaroundthetable.
OutkickedTolosetoanotherhandwithabetterkickerthanyours.
OutrunTobeatahandthatyouwerelosingtoonanearlierstreet.
OutsCardsremaininginthedeckthatwillhelpyourhandwinapot.

OvercallCallingabetafteratleastoneotherpersonhasalreadycalled.
OvercardApocketcardthatishigherthanthehighestboardcard.
OverpairApocketpairthatishigherthanthehighestboardcard.
PaintAnothertermforafacecard.
Passtonotbet,tofold.
PayOffTocallariverbetwhentheprioractionleadsyoutobelievethat
youarebeat,butthepotisbigenoughtomakethecallreasonable.
PeelOneOffDecidingtoseetheturnorriverwhentheoddsdontquite
justifyacall.
PFAnabbreviationforpreflop.
PocketYouruniquecardsthatarehiddenfromeveryoneelse.Also
knownashole.
PocketRocketsAnothertermfor2acesasyourholecards.
PopTobetorraise.
Post
Topaytheblind(s)whennotinthebigblindposition,oftendonewhen
firstsittingatatableorwhenyousatoutandmissedyourturntopayth
eblinds.
PosterSomeonewhopostedduringthecurrenthand.
Pottheamountofmoneythataccumulatesinthemiddleofthetableas
eachplayerantes,bets,andraises.Thepotgoestothewinnerofthehand.
PrestoHoldingapairof5sasyourholecardsinTexasHoldem.

Puckbutton.
Push(ahand)Toplayahandaggressively.
PutTosuspectthatsomeonehasacertainhand.
QuadsFourofakind.
RagAcardthatappearsuseless.Alsoknownasablank.
RaggedAboardcontainingcardsthatdontappearhelpful.
RailbirdGameobservers.Railbirdsshouldnotcommentongameplay.
RainbowAboardthatcontainsalldifferentsuits,makingitimpossible
foraflushonthenextcard.
Raiseaplayerraisesbymatchingthepreviousbetandthenbetting
more,toincreasethestakeforremainingplayers.
Rake
themoneythatthecasinochargesforeachhandofpoker.Itisusually
apercentage(5
10%)orflatfeethatistakenfromthepotaftereachroundofbetting.
RainbowThreeoffourcardsofdifferentsuits
Ranktheworthofasetofcards.
RingGameAgamethatisplayedforactualstakes,asopposedtoa
tournamentgame.Alsoknownasalivegame.
Rivered
Losingahandontheriver,whileyouwereaheadandtheclearfavoriteo
ntheturn.Canalsobeusedtodescribeahandbeingmadeusingtherive
rcard.

Rock
Atightplayerwhoisnormallyonlyinvolvedinhandsinwhichhe/sheis
theheavyfavoritetowin.Arockwillgenerallyonlybetorraisewithtop
notchhands.
RockGardenAgamecomprisedofmanyrocks.
RocketsAnothertermfor2acesasyourholecards.
ROIAnabbreviationforReturnonInvestment.
RounderAprofessionalpokerplayer.
RoundersAmoviereleasedin1998thatportraysMattDamonand
EdwardNortonaspokerplayers.
RoyalFlushanacehighstraightflush;thebestpossiblehand.
RunnerRunnerAcomehandthatrequireshelpfromboththeturnand
riverinordertowin.Alsoknownasabackdoorhand.
RunningBadLosingforaperiodoftime.
SandbagAnothertermforslowplaying.
SBAnabbreviationforsmallblind.
ScareCard
Aboardcardthatcaneasilyturnawinninghandintoalosinghand.
TheclassicscarecardexampleiswhenyouholdKKandboardflopsa
nAce.
ScoopWinninganentirepot,usually(butnotnecessarily)byhavinga
handthatisboththehighandlowhandinasplitgame.
ScootingGivingsomeoneasmallamountofchipswhenyouwinapot.
Alsocalledhorsing.

SellaHand
Playingaverystronghandweaklyinordertodisguiseyourstrengthand
keepotherplayersfromfolding.Alsoknownasslowplaying.
SemiBluff
AtermcoinedbyDavidSklansky.Tobetorraisewithmorecardstocom
ewhenyoubelieveyourhandiscurrentlybeaten,buthasafairchanceof
improvingintothebesthand.
SessionAperiodoftimespentplayinginapokergame,normally
measuredinhours.
SetThreeofakindwhenyouholdapairinyourhandandathirdshows
ontheboard.
ShortStackArelativelysmallamountofchips(ascomparedtotheother
playersatthetable).Alsousedtoidentifytheplayerwho
SidePotTheextrapotthatiscreatedwhensomeonegoesall
in.Thepersonwhowentall
inisonlyeligibleforthemainpot,notthesidepot(s).
Singletonacardthatistheonlyoneofitsrank.
SlowDownTostopplayingahandasaggressivelyasitwasplayedon
earlierstreets.
SlowPlay
Playingaverystronghandweaklyinordertodisguiseyourstrengthan
dkeepotherplayersfromfolding.Alsoknownassandbagging.
SmallBet
Inalimitgame,thesmallerofthetwobetsinthebettingstructure.Ther
efore,ina10/20game,each$10betisconsideredasmallbet.

SmallBlind
Thepositiononetotheleftofthebutton,whoisforcedtopayafraction
(usually1/2or2/3)ofasmallbetpriortotheholecardsbeingdealtinH
oldem.
SmoothCallTocalloneormorebetswithoutraising,whenyouare
quitesurethatyouhavethebesthand.Seealsoflatcall.
SNGAnabbreviationforaSitandGotournament,asopposedtoa
scheduledtournament.
SpikeForthenextboardcardtobeaspecificrankthatyouneedtohelp
yourhand.
SplashTossingyourchipsintothepot,ratherthanplacingthemonthe
tableinfrontofyourcards.Splashingthepotisfrownedupon.
SpreadForacasinoorpokerroomtoofferacertainpokergame.
StackTheamountofmoneyyoucurrentlyhaveatthetable.
Stealtowinthepotbybluffing.
StealtheBlindsPreflopopenbettingfromthecutofforbuttoninthe
hopesthateveryonefollowingyouwillfold.
SteamingPlayingrecklessly,usuallyasaresultofabadbeat(realor
perceived).Alsoknownastiltortilting.
Straightinpoker,ahandconsistingoffivecardsofconsecutiveranks.
StraightFlushahandconsistingoffivecardsofconsecutiveranksofthe
samesuit.
Straddle
Anoptionalraisebythepersontotheimmediateleftofthebigblind,decl
aredbeforethecardsaredealt.Alsoknownasalivestraddle,becauseth
atsamepersonthenhastheoptiontoreraise.

StringBet
Araisethatisnotdoneinonesinglemotion(thisisnotallowedinanyca
sino,tomyknowledge).Thepurposeofstringbettingistocallabet,quic
klygaugeyouropponentsreactions,thendecidethatyoudliketoraisei
nstead
StuckLosing,ofteninregardstoacertainamountofchips.
SuckOut
Towinahandwithahandthatwasaheavyunderdog.Thisimpliestha
tthewinnershouldnothavebeeninthehand,andwasveryluckytowi
nthepot.
SweatObservingallorpartofasessionthatoneplayerisinvolvedin,
withtheirconsent.
TAAnabbreviationforTightAggressive.
TableCoachThetableknowitallwholikestotelleveryonehowheor
sheshouldbeplayingtheircards.
TapOutLosingallofyourmoney.
Tells
Atellinpokeriswhenyoupickuponthebehaviourofanotherplayer
thatgivesyouastrongsenseofthestrengthorweaknessoftheirhand.
ThreeBetThefirstreraise(putting3betsin).
ThreeOfAKindthreecardsofthesamerank.
ThripsThreeofakind.
ThrowingaPartyWhenseverallooseoramateurplayersaremaking
significantmonetarycontributionstothepot.
TiltPlayingrecklessly,usuallyasaresultofabadbeat(realor
perceived).Alsoknownassteaming.

TrapWhenoneplayeriscaughtbetween2(ormore)bettors/raisers,
andisunlikelytowinthepot.
TwoPairahandconsistingoftwosetsofpairsandasingleton.
UndertheGunThefirstplayertoactinagivenroundofbetting.
UnderdogAhandthatisunlikelytowinthepot.
UnderpairApocketpairthatislowerthanthelowestboardcard.
ValueBet
Abetinwhichyouwishforyouropponent(s)tocall.Thiscouldbebeca
useyouhavethebestorhandorbecauseyouhaveenoughoutsinorder
makethisbetprofitableinthelongrun.
WalkingSticksApairofsevens.
WheelA5highstraight,alsoknownasabicycle.
WiredPairHoldingapairinthehole.
Whaleahighroller.
WPTAnabbreviationfortheWorldPokerTour.

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Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professional'S Guide 2005 (C) Ajmills PDF

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A.J.

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 3

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Secondly, we present the Food Chain Theory, a new systemof

Of the three dynamics, we start with the intel section

Whats Intel? typical military speak for field intelligence

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 6

The Food Chain Theory of Poker condenses dozens ofschools of

In many areas of this book we deal with the latest in research on

The best way to visualize contingency is to imagine a fork in

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 7

So how does a better player gain advantage if they dont have

Thats the essence of a shark. Skilled. Aggressive. Knows the

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 9

Texas Holdem Poker has become the fastest grow

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 10

My uncle says there are two major differences between casual

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 11

WHY IS ONLINE POKER SO DIFFERENT?

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FOR THOSE OF YOU

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 15

This book is about how to get out of the fish category as

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 16

CardShark, our research team, has gone through millions of

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 17

A real expert, a SHARK, can make $100,000 or more per year

Imagine what we could learn about this game if we created a

Here is the simplest form of the results of this research based on

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 18

Player Type If you are a beginner, you are fish.

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I you are a FISH, never bet on anything but the top

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 22

TT on the other hand drops dramatically in power with fewer

You are now in the land of the mediumsuited connectors

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 23

One, you need to be more aggressive before the flop on a wider

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 24

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 25

Based on using the Shark play list you would on average,

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Now the $3differenceisnotmuch.Youmightdecidetogotothe

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So that sounds good. Except there is a partial straight on the

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It is very likely that someone at the table is 1 or 2 cards from a

Clearly, you need threeofakind to stay in the game. Another

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 32

There are 17 cards dealt (based on 3 down and 7 players with 2

Playing Texas Holdem Online - The Professionals Guide 33

WHAT WOULD YOU DO AT THIS POINT IF YOU

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