All about Online Classified

I have been playing “proper” serious money and fun money free poker for most of my life but mainly free poker for the last four years. At first it was easy but as time went on I found it harder to win as I got caught up in the world known as the “Easy Play Trap”.

The trap is where you get into the habit of playing every single hand in the belief that it is the only way to win. You post and play every hand praying the flop with give you a hand. The problem with it is that you lose more and even worse anyone with any skill learns how you play really easily which makes things even worse. The problem is most common I find on free texas holdem poker sites where, due to the very low or even no risk nature of the poker games it is easy not to be bothered. OK, if all you want is some fun free texas holdem poker play it’s no problem (though I would say that getting whipped frequently takes the fun away!) , but if you have any sort of ambition to improve and win proper money later, even go pro, then this is a fatal trap to get stuck in.

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

“SMART” poker means as follows:

Singles – A – K – Q – J

Married – AK – AQ – AJ – A10

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

Rare – AA – KK – QQ – JJ

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

Singles are best used cards from the same suite.

Playing singles with low off suites is generally risky because some times it is the kicker that means a win. Watch the flops to check out how the cards are falling as if there are more small off suites hitting with a single you might want to try.

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

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

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

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

Now the important bit, how to learn to play “SMART”: If you are new to poker or are stuck in the trap, get yourself over to a free poker tournament site and practice loads. Be serious about your game and don’t get distracted by all the Easy Play Trap people you’ll come across. The, once you are confident and showing consistent bankroll growth you can move on and up.

I remember when I first started playing free poker and there were so many terms that I didn’t understand, it was like a whole different language.

This guide is to help decipher some of the more complex terms and hopefully introduce you to some new ones in hopes that they will help not only improve your game but can make poker more enjoyable.

We all know some of the terms like , flop, turn , river, check, raise and so forth but there are even some terms for those that are foreign to some players. Such as…

4th street – aka the turn

5th street – also more commonly called the River

But that is not the limit of the terms you can keep in mind while you’re contemplating your next moves. Keep these in mind when you are watching the bets come around to you.

Plays tight – generally means that a player does not play lots of hands

Plays loose – the opposite to playing tight, and the player tends to play lots of hands

Plays “ATC”- they play anything “ATC”= any two cards”.

On tilt- means that a player is being erratic with their bets usually from losing a tough hand earlier.

Now that you have an idea on pre-flop situations now let take a look at board activity terms.

Over pair – When you have a better pair in your hand than the board.

Top pair – means that you have paired the highest card on the board with one in your hand. Next down is middle pair and bottom pair respectively.

If you manage to survive the flop but have 4th and 5th St. left to endure. Then you have three more terms to keep in mind as you go.

Outs – the amount of cards that can give you a winning hand.

Drawing dead- this basically means that you have no chance of winning a hand. Some players if they are drawing dead may bluff or go on tilt at the last second to try and steal the pot.

Having the “nuts”- Having the nuts means you have the best possible hand available from the cards on the board and in your hand.

Some tricks on betting

Granted, in all free poker play and pay poker, everyone can bet, check, and raise but even those three options can lead to some interesting possibilities.

Even terms like check and raise can lead to some pretty interesting scenarios and put players in a frenzy.

One example is to check-raise. That term means to check when the bet comes to you but then raise if a bet comes up. This tactic can hide the strength of your hand and can lure a player into losing a lot chips if he is not careful on how he plays it.

Value bet – Is a bet that is not a large bet but is considered small enough to call. Some players may call a value bet in hopes of gauging a player’s game play or to see their hand.

Semi-bluff bet – Is similar to a bluff bet but is enough of a bet to make a player think very carefully about what their next move is.

[b]Pot odds -[b] This term I would say is the most useful term to keep in mind. Pot odds is the ratio of your chips in the pot versus the whole pot. For example if you have $1500 in a $6000 pot your pot odds would be 4:1. Keep this in mind if you are in a tight hand and not sure if you should risk more or not.

Pot committed – Term meaning that a player has a majority of their chips in the pot. This is a very useful term as it can decide to back off on a hand or force them all in if you have the nuts.

These terms can all be used in free poker games as well as other poker situations, but if it’s at your table that you see and hear them, then you will know what is going on and that vital knowledge can give you the edge on your next game and hopefully put more chips on your side of the table.