I have a lot of experience playing no limit holdem over the past 6 years. I have managed to win quite a lot of money from playing both free online poker and also pay poker games. And, I have lost it all plenty of times by playing very aggressive poker. I am a pretty aggressive player most of the time so I have had some major upswings and some major downswings over the years.

Lately I have changed my poker play which have started to up my winnings. My new style of play is all about ‘aggressive hugger’, a style of play that I have named. Hopefully this article will explain my new ‘aggressive hugger’ strategy.

I believe that the key to winning majority of the time is to play conservative, also known as a tight player. There are loads of poker players who do not understand the game all that well and by playing conservatively (being a tight player) should enable you to win more money from those players.

When I talk about playing conservative I mean only calling a raise pre-flop with the top 10-15 starting hands. A better time to play a hand with the top 15-20 hands would be if there was no raise pre-flop at the time, otherwise you should mostly be playing the top 10-15 starting hands.

Winning consistently you shouldn’t really chase straight draws very often especially for medium to large bets. When you are playing low stakes or free online poker tournament games you shouldn’t be trying to steal the blinds even if you are the button, also known as the dealer position.

The reasoning for this is when you are playing a low stakes or play money game most of the time the players just call with anything decent or even very bad hands a lot of times. When you are playing for lows stakes or on free poker sites then winning a lot of times isn’t as important to the players as if they were playing for high stakes.

Poker is all about position. The position in poker is the place you are playing from. So, there is the dealer position, the big blind position and the first position after dealt cards. What position your in will tell u how you should play the hands your dealt sometimes and who will be first to act pre-flop and after the flop, position is when it will be your turn. Conservative players pay careful attention to position when playing poker. It is a critical element in their style of play.

Following the traditional, conservative strategies mentioned above explains the “hugger” part of my newly coined phrase. In the poker world, a “hugger” is referred to someone who plays very tight conservative poker. In order to bring in second word “aggressive”, I will explain how that is incorporated into my new found strategy.

Aggressive style of play usually entails large pre-flop raises with good cards and aggressive continuation bets. If an aggressive player has a rubbish hand, they will not let on that they are not in a strong position. An aggressive player usually believes and portrays that he/she has the best hand.

So the combined elements of a conservative or “hugger” and the aggressive style of play are combined to form the “hugger/ aggressive’ strategy. Observing a conservative style by playing premium hands in an aggressive manner is my new adopted strategy. While holding premium hole cards, I will then play them in an aggressive manner by raising large pre-flop bets in accordance with position techniques while utilizing aggressive betting strategies.

Give it a go, try being an aggressive hugger on free online poker sites and low stakes and as long as you’re an OK player I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how well it works.

By: Nick Moseley

About the Author:

Many players will complain that online poker delivers constant bad beats, and that potentially the game is rigged. Although it is apparent that internet poker has a larger number of bad beats than in live play; the reality is that with a little tweaking in your game you can stop bleeding chips from the constant bad beats.

First, you must understand that internet poker games are operated entirely from a computer program and lacks the true mathematical integrity of a live game. When pokersites are using RNG (Random Number Generators) that utilize constant shuffle techniques and secondary algorithms to determine winners, this largely impacts the real statistics of the game.

Secondly, it is necessary to raise your standard of hands that you will play, since a large majority of players online are amateur and less experienced. It is that type of player in conjunction with the flawed programming that actually is the root of constant bad beats in online poker.

Skeptics will claim that poker online is fair and that the cards are truly random. However in a recent independent study conducted by several professional poker players, 1,000,000 online poker hands were analyzed and the results were far different than true statistics. In fact, the river card in this analysis made an overwhelming number of flush and straight hands.

While in live play a flush has a probability of 3.0255%, and a straight at 4.6194%, the analysis revealed a straight was made 8.8561% of the time and flushes 7.5646%. That is nearly double the actual rate at which either of these hands statistically would be made in a live game.

Although that alone may not warrant enough evidence to emphatically state that online poker is rigged, however, the fact that it does occur should send a signal to online poker players to change their style when playing online.

In other words, if a straight or flush is twice as likely to occur online than it does live, how could you possibly believe your online game should be the same as your live game? Definitely, an adjustment is required if you intend to play online and stop constant bad beats from robbing you of your bankroll.

The adjustment you need is to recognize some of the patterns used by the online poker software that will cause many of the constant bad beats. Once you can visually see the patterns of the online poker sites, you will have a better understanding of when to be aggressive and when to lay down your hand.

By: Paul Westin

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Are You Using These? Are They Being Used Against You?

Let’s have a closer look at online poker tells in online games like Texas Holdem. These online tells differ quite a bit from traditional ones, as we’ll soon see. If you don’t know about these particular poker secrets and you play online poker, then you’re at a significant disadvantage vs. your competition. Chances are, experienced online players have been using these against you for quite some time without you ever even knowing it…

What is a “tell”? A traditional poker tell is any habit, behavior, or physical reaction that gives other players more information about your hand. In offline poker, a shaking, nervous hand is often an indication of a player with a strong hand. Another common poker tell would be looking down at my chips when I first see my pocket cards or the flop – a sign that I’m thinking about betting and have a good hand, so I’m seeing how many chips I have to work with.

Several of the poker tells listed here are useful for both online and offline poker. However, since we lack the ability to read opponents physical expressions and reactions when playing online, the number and type online poker tells actually available to us are much more limited, and so the ones we do have available become that much more important to be aware of and recognize.

Caro’s Book of Poker Tells is the classic treatise on the subject. Most of the poker tells that work in offline games rely upon physical observations of how a player reacts or behaves, so these kinds of tells don’t help online since we can’t observe the player physically. So when playing online, there are other telltale signals that we can watch for that give us an edge.

According to a recent survey, the top three online poker tells are:

* Quickness to respond, reported by 76% of respondents – a very fast check can indicate a weak hand, quick bets on the turn or river can often indicate a strong hand.

* Slowness to respond, reported by 73% of respondents – a pause followed by a check can often indicate weakness, while a delay followed by a raise often indicates strength.

* Automatic play, reported by 68% of respondents – a lazy approach to the auto buttons lets a player slip into a set pattern of play. Any breaks in this pattern are clear tells.

So, what can we actually use as online tells?

Using Check Boxes to Gain Information

Online poker rooms offer the use of check boxes for actions such as “Fold”, “Check/Fold”, “Raise”, or “Raise Any”, etc. While convenient for those of us who lack the patience to focus on the game for extended periods of time, the use of checkboxes can be very damaging to your overall winnings. You can determine when a player has used a check box, because their action comes immediately after the player before them acts. You can use this knowledge to your advantage if a player consistently uses checkboxes.

When a player has pre-selected “Check” or “Check/Fold”, it should be obvious that he doesn’t have a strong hand that he cares much about, and is likely on a draw or just waiting to fold, so you can determine the player likely has no hand or a weak hand. If their hand is immediately folded after the prior player acts, you know they are using checkboxes and can begin watching this more closely. When they don’t use a checkbox, then they’re taking more time to consider how to play a better hand…

Similarly, a player who uses the “Call Any” check box is likely to be on a draw and not yet made a good enough hand to bet or raise with, but is definitely not ready to fold at this point.

Poker tells are not 100% accurate, yet they often provide us with enough additional information to help us confirm what we may already suspect. Over time you can get a sense for how these players use checkboxes and begin to draw conclusions about your opponents hand strength and mode of operation as a result.

If you detect that someone is on a draw, for example, you can often bet or raise the pot a bit and push them right out, since it’d be too expensive to continue with their draw without free cards or calling minimum bets.

The fact that a player feels so strongly about a hand (good or bad) to make a decision before even seeing the how other players will bet or act is a poker tell about this person’s inexperience with online play and often about their hand strength.

If you use checkboxes, be highly self-aware of how they’ll be perceived by the other players and use them to your advantage. If you have a good hand that you’re wanting to slow-play, use a check-box to quickly “Check” or “Call” with, feigning weakness. If you have a weaker hand, are on a draw, avoid using the checkbox altogether and act like you’re really thinking about how to play that hand.

If you’re bluffing, make a raise quickly and confidently (using a checkbox, if applicable), to signal confidence in your hand. Of course, it’s always best to mix things up a bit so players can’t predict your actions. The idea is to keep opponents guessing or throw them off in the wrong direction so you can profit from their mistake – that’s how winners operate, through carefully orchestrated deception and mixing things up constantly.

Speed of Play

Online poker rooms limt the amount of time each player has to take action. Often, the speed at which a player responds can be a good poker tell. Generally, a quick bet is a sign of weakness. A delayed bet or action can be a sign of strength since the player is spending time calculating how best to play what is perceived to be a good or strong hand, how much to bet, etc.

Keep an eye on how much time it takes players to make their decision and take action and remember it at the end of a hand. Then, when you get a chance to see their cards in a showdown, verify what kinds of hands they act on slowly and what kinds of hands they act quickly upon. Speed of play is the most common and easiest online poker tell to spot.

The instant call after you bet: Most players who call your bet immediately have a weak calling hand. These players want you to believe they have a stronger hand and hope that you will not bet into them again.

The delayed check: Most players who take longer than normal before checking to you do not want you to bet. They are attempting to display strength because they want to see the next card for free.

The delayed bet: When an opponent thinks for a long time and then bets, they will usually be holding a strong hand.

The instant bet/raise on the river: The player who utilizes this move will usually be holding a very strong hand, often times it’ll be trips. By raising or betting so quickly, they are trying to make you think they are bluffing. This move can also be used on the turn and generally, though not as frequently, denotes strength.

The bet into on the turn: When a player has checked and called on the flop and then bets into you on the turn, it can indicate weakness or that they’ve made their hand. This type of bet often means that they picked up their draw or that they are semi-bluffing with a draw they picked up on the flop. Strongly consider raising if you have a decent hand.

What about your online play style? Do you exhibit these kinds of online poker tell play behaviors and patterns? If so, be aware of it and deliberately mix things up so that you’re decision-making processes aren’t so easy to spot and lock onto, or simply take a similar amount of time for each action you make, preventing people from drawing any kind of conclusions at all based upon timing.

Opponents Starting Hand Fold-to-Flop Ratio

Keep an eye on whether or not a player folds a lot of garbage starting hands (a ‘tight’ player) or is playing at just about every pot that comes along – a ‘loose’ player. This information can be used to help determine the strength of a players overall game. If the players folds most of the time, beware since this player is pretty tight or solid and only plays good hands.

If the opponent plays most every hand, then you can probably take advantage of this and win if you play good cards consistently against such a player. These kinds of loose players like to gamble, and sometimes they’ll get lucky and pick up some cards. It’s best to just remain patient and wait for your opportunity. You’re better off just playing the odds and good hands in order to take advantage of this player’s aggressive, loose style when you land a good, solid hand.

Chatting

Just like in offline games, the “chattiness” of a player can be used as a tell. Generally, a player who is highly chatty that suddenly goes quiet is now busy thinking about playing some good cards, figuring out how best to play the hand.

Alternatively, a player who suddently becomes antagonistic may be bluffing and hoping this demonstration of exhuberance will add to the strength of his bluff and cause you to fold. When you recognize a tell, generally do the opposite of what you think the player is trying to cause you to do.

Self-Awareness

It’s important for you to remain aware of your play style and table image at all times. It’s best to keep everyone off balance by mixing things up. Become suddenly aggressive and play looser (and risk the minimum amount you can, usually early in the game before blinds go up if it’s a tournament), then become tight again. Keep everyone guessing.

Being aware of how you use check-boxes, the timing of your decision-making and action-taking, and controlling your play style deliberately instead of going into “auto-pilot” repeatitive mode will help you avoid providing others with the advantages of the tells discussed here.

I hope these insights into online poker tells have been helpful. Keep them in mind as you play in your next online game or tournament.

Until next time – - – Good luck!

Rick

By: Rick Braddy

About the Author:

What are Sit N Go Tournaments?

If you are not familiar with Sit and Go poker tournaments, they are simply a 9 or 10 person table where each player starts with the same amount of chips. When you lose all your chips you are out of the tournament. Online single table sit and go’s usually take about 35 minutes to an hour.

How do you win at Sit N Go Online Poker Tournaments?

The most important thing to remember when playing in an song is patience. The strategy I am about to give you works very well but requires you to be patient.

The first stage of winning is Hand Selection. Believe it or not, deciding weather or not to play your two starting cards is the most important decision you make. When the game begins and there are 9 or 10 players at the table, you should only be playing big hands or hands that can hit big.

These hands are: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010, and 99. If you get dealt any pocket pair lower than 9s only play them if you can get in for the price of the blinds. You can also play AK, and an Ace with anything suited (this is so that if you hit your flush you will usually have the best hand and no one will see it coming.)

Now, as I am sure you already noticed, this means you won’t be playing that many hands. This is where the patience is needed. You have to be disciplined and only play these hands, playing other hands at this stage of the game can get you in trouble. Don’t worry if you are not the chip leader, or even if u are in last place because your opponents chip stacks will change very rapidly (mainly because they are disciplined like you and play every hand they are dealt). When you do get dealt a hand that is playable, you should be betting big before the flop (with the exception of Ace blank suited). In a regular poker game most players would realize that you have not played many hands and are all of a sudden betting big, but with online poker most players are not even paying attention to there opponents. Many players are playing more than one game at a time and many players are watching TV or eating dinner as they play. This means that even though you have been playing tight you will still probably see some action, and if you don’t then you take in the blinds, and any won pot is a good pot.

When the table is down to 6-7 players, you can play a few other hand but should still be maintaining a very tight image. You should still only be playing very good hands but you can now also add suited connectors (i.e. 9c10c) to your small list of playable hands. You want to still be betting strong before the flop with all the hands you are playing. Your goal should be to limit your opponents to one or two, any more and you lose control of the hand, giving luck the control. Your main goal at this point should be just to make it down to 5 players with a little more than you started with, or even with what you started with. If you can do this than you are in a very good position to win the tournament.

TO GET THE NEXT STEPS TO WINNING SIT N GO’S READ PART II!

By: Tony Mitchell

About the Author:

If you play poker then you’ve probably had poker nights with your friends, where you and the gang sit around the dinner table and pretend you’re professional card sharks, playing for high stakes. But suppose you think your poker stills are good enough to compete with real professional poker players? Well, then you log on to the Poker Stars web-site and set up an account in order to try your playing expertise.

Pocker Stars is the world’s largest online poker site, where you can play ten varieties of the game, including Texas Hold’Em, Five Card Draw and Omaha. You can hone your skills at the free play-only site before logging in to the main site, where you play for real money. Pocker Stars hosts weekly tournaments, which attract thousands of online players and are open to everybody as long as they can afford the buy-in. Pocker Stars also hosts the World Championship of Online Poker, the largest online poker competition on the planet.

But before you set your sights that high, you need to develop a strategy. What is the best strategy for winning at online poker?

One problem with playing online poker is that you can’t see your opponents’ faces. Poker is as much about bluffing as it is who has the best hand and thus, being able to read the other players’ expressions and body language is a vital part of a winning strategy. But you can’t do this in an online game, so you have to rely on other clues, or “tells”, as to how strong or weak your opponent’s hand is. One way you can do this is to use “betting tells” or reading how your opponent bets.

There are three types of such tells: how long your opponent takes to make his bet, how much he bets, and his use of the ‘in-turn’ box (used by players playing more than one game at a time). For example, if he pauses before he makes his bet, he may possess a weak hand. If you play with particular opponents long enough, you can detect patterns in their tells that you can exploit.

The most significant of these tells is said to be the use of the ‘in-turn’ box. There are three boxes he can pick: the check box, the check/fold box or the check/call box. Which of these boxes he uses reveals information about him which you can exploit. Your opponent also reveals information through his insta-bets and insta-raises when he is not in the blinds (forced bets placed in the pot to begin bidding).

Of course, experienced players are aware of this and will try to manipulate you by giving false tells, so you should also be wary. Study each player’s style carefully and eventually idiosyncrasies in their playing styles will emerge that will alert you if an opponent is trying to trick you.

Learning how to read tells online may be one of the most important tools in your strategy box apart from mastering pot odds. Perfecting the skill of reading tells is a big step towards guaranteeing that you will do well in online poker games and tournaments like those on the Pocker Stars site.

By: Matthew Donaldson

About the Author:

There are many variations of poker that you can choose from. Whatever variation you choose, you are assured of the excitement, thrill, and fun that any poker game can give you whether you play the game traditionally or online. One of the variations of poker that most people enjoy is the Texas Hold Em Poker where players normally play against each other for the pot money that is comprised of all the contributions from the players on the poker table. In the Texas Hold Em Poker game, the cards are not controlled by the players and therefore each and every player is focused on how to control the pot money with their hands.

You have to implement good Texas Hold ‘em poker strategies to guarantee your take of the pot money. Although there are cases where there will be two winners in a game and share the pot money between them, you may want to avoid this scenario. Of course, you would want your every opponent to fold so you can take the pot money all by yourself.

In order to win in this game, you have got to have good cards to play with and corresponding Texas Hold ‘em poker strategies to implement. The one who has the best cards and the most effective Texas Hold ‘em poker strategies is often the person who comes out victorious in the game.

Since you do not have control over the cards, it is therefore prudent to concentrate on implementing the best and most effective Texas Hold ‘em poker strategies. Most of the pros and the veterans suggest that in this kind of poker game, it is helpful to become a tight player. This means you will have to be aggressive if you intend to win the game. Taking it from professionals is a good idea, yet, of course, you also need to consider a lot of other things that will go hand in hand with the strategy.

You also have to consider your position in the poker table. You have to calculate your moves and find the perfect timing and there are occasions where playing it tightly or with fewer hands may just be to your disadvantage. You have to be able to determine when the time is right to play it tight or loose. Another key factor to winning in this kind of poker game is the gainful experience you have. Texas Hold ‘em poker is not just about luck or good hands. The game requires skill and effective Texas Hold ‘em poker strategies. With your skill and strategies, you must be able to crush your opponents.

Therefore, you must be able to acquire mastery of the game. Remember, Texas Hold ‘em poker is considered to be one of the best poker games there is that a world championship is attached to it. In order to master the game, you need to practice a lot. You can do that by practicing with free online poker games and if you have some cash you can afford to spare, then you can practice with minimal cash bets.

You have to make the most of your combined skill and Texas Hold ‘em poker strategies to enjoy and ensure your winning streaks!

By: Sean Moranse

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