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Winning at Online Poker

My first suggestion is to test out the free tables.  There is not a lot of competition on them and they are a good

place to learn the speed of the game and the overall basic play of the site.  Once you are familiar with the site

and the navigation you are ready to begin playing for real money. There are many different types of tables to play

here along with types of games.  PartyPoker offers No Limit Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo and 7 Card Stud. 

We will focus on No Limit or Pot Limit Texas Holdem.  There are many different types of tables also to play. 

You can play tournaments or real money tables.  Tournements are good when you are begining because you can

only lose your entrance fee.  They start at $5 a tournament and you can play for an hour.  Those usually have

10 players so you get good experience.  There are also multi table tournaments.  Those have more than 10

people , usually 100 to 1000 players.  The entrance fee is similar, starting at $10 going up to $1000, but you can

win a lot more money.  However, if looking to make money, I would stay away from these.  They are hard to place

in the money and also take a real long time to play.  They can be fun to play if you have the time and are interested

in learning, but they wont make you the big money unless you happen to get lucky and win or place in the top few

positions.  While Texas Holdem is based on skill, there is a LOT of luck involved.  Especially in large tournaments. 

You can be the best player in the wolrd, and that doesn't guarantee you a top spot if you get unlucky on a draw. 

We are going to focus on Real Money tables.  This is where you can make the most money if you play

conservatively and are patient.  The best tables to play are the $25 No limit or Pot limit tables. 

The Regular limit tables keep you from making the big win, which is where you will make you money. 

Also, try to avoid larger than a $25 table.  They have tables up to $200, but the better players play on the $50

and up tables.  You will make your money off of the less experienced players on the low limit players. 

Everyone these days is learning to play Holdem and there are a lot of inexperienced players out there and this is

where they start to play.  

The name of the game is conservative.  You will not make money bluffing people.  You will not make money

playing 3-8 offsuit in the long run.  Sure, you might make a quick few dollars here and there, but remember,

you are playing for the long run.  What you want to do is play only the best 10 to 15 hands.  Pretty much,

if your lowest card is a 9 or a 10, then you want to play it, as long as the blinds are not raised.  When you have

one of the top 3 hands (AA, AK or KK) we suggest raising slightly.  Most of our wins come from getting say KK

on the flop, raising to $1.50 and then someone re raising to $3 or $4 dollars.  They feel their hand is strong but

odds are, its not as good as yours.  Then you go on top of his raise and bet $10 or $15.  That will either take him

out or get him to go all in.  You will make your money on the big wins.  You might lose 40 hands in a row and

only be down $5, when you get a pair of Kings and you can double you money on one hand. 

Slow Play

Most people bet big when they have a good hand.  A trick I use sometimes is to slow play a good hand. 

Say you are on the blind and you have 5-9 and the flop is 5-7-5.  You have 3 of a kind and probably the best

hand.  I usually check in this position.  People might think you have nothing and bet to try to bluff you out or they

might have a 7 and think they have the best hand out there.  There always is the possibility someone will catch

something later on and pick up a flush or straight to beat you, but in the long run, this will win.

Don't chase

If you have something decent, like A-Q and the flop is J-J-10, I do not suggest chasing this,looking for a King. 

When you are looking for one card, this will not get you money in the long run.  The odds are about 9% of hitting

this.  That means 91% of the time you will lose.  If no one bets, you can place a small bluff to possibly knock

people out, but small is the key word.  If someone bets strong, then fold.  There will be many more hands. 

Don't get suckered into betting with A-K, even if you have nothing.

Study your Opponents

Another thing we suggest is to watch the players you are playing against.  Do they bet high off the flop and you

later find out they have nothing.  Do they only bet once every 15 hands, showing they only play the best hands? 

You can learn a lot from watching how your opponents bet.  When someone takes a long time, they usually don't

have the best hand.  If you just bet something and they are real slow in calling but then eventually do call, then

the next time, you raise your bet.  They probably are chasing something.  If a player bets a lot real quickly,

get out.  They probably are not bluffing.  The bluffing I have seen has players taking a while to bet, then thinking

they will bluff and then eventually bluffing.  That isn't always the case, but in the long run, it is.

Watch the big stack when he bets.  When someone wins a big hand and they get a lot of money in their account,

they get cocky.  They will more likely try to place a larger bet to bluff because they have the money.  Never try

 to bluff the big stack.  They will almost always call.  

Pay attention also to the little stack.  If someone is down to $3 or 4 left on the table, the will go all in when they

get a real good hand.  They will probably fold all their marginal hands, just trying to double or triple up. 

Multiple Tables

We suggest also playing 2 or 3 tables at once.  One table can get real slow if you are only playing the top hands. 

You might only play 1 in 10 hands, so if you play 2 or 3 tables at once, you can double your profit potential. 

however, do not do this if it is too confusing to you.  This will take some time to work up to but the rewards can

be great when you do this.

Final Words

Finally, we'd like to say, good luck and stay conservative in your play.  When you are the little blind, we suggest

almost always calling the $.25.  If there is a raise though, drop.  Poker is a game of ups and downs.     

Some days you will lose.  But remember, you are playing for the long run.  Stay conservative, never chase

anything and stay within your limits and we guarantee this approach WILL make you money.

 

The Second Round of Texas Hold em:

 
After the flop and in each subsequent betting round, the first active player left of the
button is first to act. The second betting round also limits the value of bets and raises to
the lower limit of the stake structure. So in a $10/$20 value of each bet is $10 for the
second round. When we say the bets are limited to $10, it refers to: a Bet (single bet) of
the value of $10, so when a user places "BET" then it is $10, "RAISE" would be $20 ­
includes one additional bet and a call on the previous bet placed by a player. Bets can
be placed, by playing any of the following options ­ Bet, Call and Raise. These options
are available to each player depending on the action taken by the previous player. The
first player placing the bet would get the Bet option (the player left to the Button).
Other players will get the Call and Raise options only.
After this the fourth community card is dealt out ­ this is known as the Turn.
 

The Third Round of Texas Hold em:

The third betting round starts again with the player left to the button, and bets and
raises are limited to the upper limit of the stake structure ($10/$20 game, $20 would be
the upper stake). When we say the bets are limited to $20, it refers to: a Bet (single bet)
of the value of $20, so when a user places "BET" then it is $20, "RAISE" would be
$40 ­ includes one additional bet and a call on the previous bet placed by a player.
Bets can be placed by playing any of the following options ­ Bet, Call and Raise.
Combinations of these options are available to the player depending on the action
taken by the previous player. The first player placing the bet would get the Bet option
(the player left to the Button).
After this the fifth community card is dealt out ­ this is known as the River.
 

The Fourth Round of Texas Hold em:

 
The fourth (and final) betting round starts again with the player left to the button, and
bets and raises are limited to the upper limit of the stake structure ($10/$20 game, $20
would be the upper stake). When we say the bets are limited to $20, it refers to: a Bet
(single bet) of the value of $20, so when a user places "BET" then it is $20, "RAISE"
would be $40 ­ includes one additional bet and a call on the previous bet placed by a
player. Bets can be placed by playing any of the following options ­ Bet, Call and
Raise. Combinations of these options are available to the player depending on the
action taken by the previous player. The first player placing the bet would get the Bet
ption (the player left to the Button).
Some standard rules
A maximum of four bets, which includes one bet, and three raises are usually allowed
for each betting round per player. The term cap is used to describe the final raise in a
round since betting is then capped and no one can make another raise. Once capped,
players will have the option of calling or folding only. Folding can be done at any
stage of the game. The player from then on would not be considered as part of the
game. He/she would not have any rights over any pots created on the table.
Apart from the fold option, a player could also get the option of "Check", in which the
player can pass his/her turn without placing a bet. This option would not always be
available to the player, and depends on the actions taken by the previous player in the
hand. The player HAS TO equal the amount of bet placed by any other players for each
round in the hand.
Poker is typically played "table stakes", meaning only the chips in play at the
beginning of each hand may be used throughout the hand. This means that the player
cannot get additional funds from the cashier while he is in the midst of a game. The
table stakes rule has an application called the "All-In" rule, which states that a player
cannot be forced to forfeit a hand because the player does not have enough chips to call
a bet.
 
 
Exceptions to the value of betting in each round:
A player who does not have enough chips to call a bet is declared All-In. The player is
eligible for the portion of the pot to the point of his final wager. All further action
involving other players takes place in a "side pot", which is unavailable to the player
who has already gone All-In. When a player goes All-in, the pot currently at the center
of the table, which has contributions from him/her as well, is treated as the main pot,
over which the All-in player has rights. After the player goes all-in, all the new bets are
placed in a side pot, over which only the contributing players have rights. The All-in
player does not have any rights over the side pot. The side pot is then given to the next
winning combination.
After the final round of betting, it's time for ­ Showdown. This refers to the action of
deciding who the winner of the pot is. Five cards of the total of hole and community
cards are to be used for deciding on the winning hands. A combination of the following
may be used -
q
q
q
Both hole cards and three community cards
 
On the final round of betting, the player who bets first (or checks first if no one else
bets) is required to show their cards first at the showdown. If they have the best hand,
the remaining players may/may not show their cards as they wish. The aggressors'
hand is only turned over first if he was the last to initiate action on the river.
If two or more hands are the same ranking, the winner is the one having the higher
cards. For example, a Flush with an Ace high beats a Flush with a King high. If the
poker hands remain tied, then the highest card not being held in common (the kicker)
determines the winner. The suit order of the cards is not taken into account while
deciding on the winning cards. Should poker hands be absolutely identical in ranking,
the rule of poker pot distribution will be split evenly between the two or more winning
players.
The game play remains same for both No-Limit and Pot-Limit Texas Hold'em game
with a few exceptions to the rules mentioned above:
In Limit Texas Hold'em Poker a maximum of four bets is allowed per player during
any betting round. This includes a (1) bet, (2) raise, (3) re-raise, and (4) cap, but in No-
Limit Texas Holdem and Pot-Limit Texas Hold'em there is no limit to the number of
raises that a player can make. The only criteria being that you cannot raise yourself,
(i.e. if a player bets during a betting round, then that player would have to be raised by
another player in order for him/her to be able to re-raise). If all the other players in the
hand only call or fold, the player would not get an option to raise, because the last raise
was done by him/her.
 

Betting Structure for No-Limit Texas Hold'em Poker

 
Minimum raise: The raise amount must be at least as much as the
previous bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the first
player to act bets $100 then the second player must raise a minimum
of $100 (total bet of $200).
Maximum eligible raise: The size of your stack (your chips on the
table) .
The Betting Rules for Pot-Limit Texas Hold'em Poker
Minimum eligible raise: The raise amount must be at least as much
as the previous bet or raise in the same round. As an example, if the
first player to act bets $100 then the second player must raise a
minimum of $100 (total bet of $200).
Maximum eligible raise: The size of the pot: The size of the pot is
defined as the total of the active Pot (which can be either the main pot
or the side pot depending on whether anyone has gone "all-in") plus
all bets on the table plus the amount the active player must first call
before raising.

As an example, if the active pot is $200 and the first player to act in the round bets
$150 and the next player calls $150, the third player has a maximum eligible total bet
of $800. The $800 total is made up of the $150 call and $650 raise. The $650 max raise
portion is equal to the pot of $200 + first player's $150 + second player's $150 + his
own call of $150.

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