The basis of this free poker article is to talk through the strategy of paying with the big pairs: Ace / Ace, King / King, Queen / Queen, and Jack / Jack

If you're lucky enough to have the best cards, a pair of Aces, its paramount you try and find a large raise or re -raise if a player raised before you. With a pair of Aces you must not call a raise as potentially you're loosing the chance to get more money into the pot and probably more significantly allowing opponents with poorer cards get better cards on the flop.

Your goal is to force others to fold or to think you are bluffing with one big card or two big cards and call your big raise. It is important when playing with AA not to slow play with small raise so you won't allow your opponents to improve on the flop and maybe on future streets and also you will thin out number of opponents.

After the flop you should do big raise not giving anyone chance to call for any straights, flushes or drawing hands for small amount of chips. However, there is always possibility that one of your opponents has made a better flop and so you should be aware of the fact that you may no longer hold the best hand. But in spite of this, you will normally still be ahead and so you should continue to build the pot unless you are quite sure that you are no longer ahead.

Raising before the "flop" with cards such as King / King, Queen / Queen or Jack / Jack is a good idea. Imagine if a player has an Ace with a lower card, the odds are on your side that you will face better cards than this before "the flop". By raising will lower the amount of players who want to see "the flop"- you want to cap the amount of players who your playing against with either of these card duo's as the opposition can effortless end up with better cards by receiving an Ace on the "flop".

There are 2 scenarios which the "flop" creates- you will either turn overcards or you won't. When there's no overcards on the flop you should carry on raising. The 2nd scenario when overcards are on the table is a lot harder to play. I recommend to raise a three or four times a large blind and then consider your options after the opposing player responds to the raise. If they call be careful and bide your time as you don't have the highest chance of taking the money in any more scenarios. If the pot keeps getting larger you must be ready to let the hand go.

Although it's not an exact science playing with big pairs if you go for right raises before flops you have a better chance of taking the money. One thing to think about though is the possibility that the opposing players could have better cards than you; especially if they're playing strongly, gambling and raising too.

I look forward to seeing you at the free poker tables soon!

In this article, I would like to try and give some insight into the age old battle of is poker a game of skill or luck. I have personally been a money and free poker online player for some 7 years. I have made some nice cash at times but I have also busted several bankrolls.

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

I believe in conclusion it is best to assume that poker is a combination of both skill and luck.

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

This is something that wont be easy to get out of. This is more common in online poker as opposed to playing in a casino, due to the fact that more hands are dealt when playing poker online. Online poker is played at a quicker pace and making choices must me made at speed.

A lot of players calculate that they take more bad beats when playing internet poker rather than in a casino. This could be down to the fact that more hands can be played when playing online as it goes so much faster than if you are sitting at a table with players in the flesh, but this can also be because a player feels they are being pushed too hard online.

When playing online players can play more irrational and play hands that they normally wouldn't play to try to get back money that they have lost.

An experienced player will more than likely notice the tendencies of opposing players, and exploit these factors to their gain. To the loosing player the loss seems coincidental and becomes another defeat in their mindset based on luck. The truth of the matter is this is not the case, and the loss is due to the flaws in their technique due to lack of experience.

I believe poker is made up of two primary skills both considered on par to each other: knowledge and fortune. To become a successful poker player one must understand how to engage both of these techniques before taking a seat at a money table. The key to building these fundamental attributes is experience, and the best way to build experience without loosing a pocketful of money in the process is by playing free poker online games.

There are many types of players you will find in real world, paid and free online poker. I will write about the main ones, how to recognise them and adjust your poker game to play against them.

Rocks - players who play very few pots and like to fold.
This type of poker player is one who tend to only play strong hands. They will avoid playing any weak hands and will fold these. If they stay in the hand and don't fold then its best that you fold as they very likely have a better hand than yourself. However they are very good opponents to steal the blinds from

TAGs - tight before the flop and aggressive after the flop.
This is considered by many the most profitable style of play. I agree and these kind of players are best avoided but you wont find many of them on free online poker or low stakes games because it takes quite a lot of discipline and practice.

Maniacs - crazy players who play very aggressively.
This type of player is one who tends to bet and raise a lot and wont check. They are difficult players to play against, but if they are after you and you have a strong hand.

Calling Stations playing poker
A style of play that is usually not profitable.
It has been proven by pros that it's better to bet and raise then check and fold.
Against these players you should not try to bluff them because they will often call with poor hands. However you should bet when you have a good hand because they will call with trash hands pretty often. If they bet then you should very often fold because they rarely bet so they must have something strong.

So, now you know the main types of playing styles, its time to use them in poker and free online poker. Look carefully at your opponents and match them up to each style of play and then use these tips to your advantage to help you win.

We often talk of strategies, against whom people we have to play, which tournament we have to play … but the most important thing is where we have to play poker games and tournaments and do we play paid or free online poker.

If you want to play real life opponents in the flesh, then my preference is to play people I know rather than hitting a casino. Casino's get a large chunk of the pot which leaves less for the players, plus, I know that people I am playing against wont cheat.

Internet online poker is another option, and my option of choice. There is an infinite number of players and many choices of poker room.

I will divide rooms between free and paid, not including those that play purely for fun and are 100% non profit. We want to win some money after all!

Here are some things to check to make sure the room is good:

The payment: the vast majority of these rooms have quality certificates and security certificates. Be sure your choice does. Read the small print too to understand what is involved with deposit and how and what is involved in withdrawing money.

Are the games played enough for you to win? In real money games the room must run a rake and take a small part of the pot. Tournaments take a commission and there is a minimum number of participants to do them profitable. Does the room have enough members playing at once in the games and tourneys you want tom play to make it worthwhile? You should be able to see this easily by keeping an eye on their poker games software where numbers of players are shown.

Most sites will offer an attractive sign up bonus. Obviously this is paid with money from other players and there will be many conditions for the use and withdrawal of money . Make sure you read and fully understand this. Some rooms are better than others. Do not forget that the bank always wins but some do it more nastily than others!.

I've found that Titan Poker is one of the best paid rooms for European players. They also have an extra deal with NoPayPOKER.com for a handy free money start up. Literally you can join free and get $25 US real to play with; no strings apart from you have to play with it there. Go join NoPayPOKER.com to find this offer.

If poker is a whole new world to you, then I would advise that you start by playing on free online poker sites, such as NoPayPOKER, where they get their money from advertising and not from players. Only go for sites which are 100% free and do not ask for any initial payment up front.

The only problem in these rooms is an acceptable limit of withdraw the money, which is entirely logical for the costs of proceeding that involves a payment. That's the price you pay I guess.

Having spent time on over 30 online poker sites, I fully believe that NoPayPOKER.com is the free online poker tournaments site to play at, and Titan Poker if you want to play cash games.

The term "donk" is often heard on poker tables and free poker tables around the world. The technical definition of a donk is "a bad player who makes blatantly bad poker plays and a weak player". Donk is a shortened term for donkey. Traditionally, donk is a term that has a negative connotation to describe sub par playing techniques. However, in some poker circles some people wear the title of donk proudly. Does the term donk describe a player with a different style of play that is becoming more acceptable in poker?

Now that we have defined the traditional negative paradigm of donk, let's explore a new emerging view of being a donk.

The term donk is often used on poker tables when someone with inferior cards wins a big pot. If someone calls a big preflop raise with small connectors or suited cards to catch a flush or a straight, is this poor play? Or, can this simply been seen as an opportunist? Although statisticians confirm that playing superior cards in poker will yield greater profits, the donk often confirms that playing inferior cards can result in surprising profits.

The creed of donks is that every hand should be viewed as an opportunistic adventure. Donks often call large preflop raises with low cards hoping the board will result in low cards to produce a winning hand. After all, why should paint cards get all the respect? Donks consider themselves entrepreneurs in the world of poker by employing every hole card dealt to them with equal opportunity to be put into play. Basically, donks are hopeless optimists believing that every hand will result in a win and the more hands played the greater the odds of winning.

So what differentiates a donk player from a winning donk player, since donks will play every hand fast and loose? Good donks know how to evaluate and assess whether the flop will provide an opportunity to win. If the flop is favourable and offers a glimmer of hope, a chase will ensue. If the flop doesn't provide any hope, a wise donk will fold. A wise donk isn't simply a poor player, but someone who finds opportunity in playing a wide variety of cards.

Whatever type of player you are playing against, its worth checking out free poker sites to see if you can improve your game and find a way to beat them.

If you are interested in making some extra money by playing poker then here are a few tips on where to start. I'm not saying you'll win that much or anything at all to be honest but if you would like to give it a try here is how to do it. Most people when starting out in poker are starting with no money, so the first thing to do is to find a free online poker site where you don't have to stump up any of your own cash, and play some freerolls.

My first tip would be to avoid the huge sites where the freerolls can take as many twenty thousand players at one time. Mind you the prize at the end of the road is always something huge, your odds of getting it are far from it. Place top 1% to win a ticket to this, for a shot at that. After placement in top 1% two or even 3 times in a row is how you make money.

Hitting the big tables is where many players fail. Search for a site which is smaller and doesn't have more than 200 people in the freerolls. You may not win a trip to Vegas but this will start you on your way. Winning anywhere from 10c to $5 or $10 is not uncommon and a few placements like this is all you need to be on your way. Now you have made the first steps and have a some money to play with, the trick is to know how to manage your bankroll to avoid losing everything you have won so far in a single game.

The common way to do this is said to be using 1/20th of your bankroll for NL cash games. You want to have at least 300 big blinds in limit cash games so if the big blind is 5c you should have at least $15 before you sit. If you prefer SnG tournaments with 6-10 people you should use only 1/40th of your bankroll and about 1/100th for large tournaments.

The reason for playing with so little of your bankroll is because it doesn't matter who you are we all go on hot and cold streaks. By managing your bankroll correctly you will be able to take a beat and still have some chips left to continue betting without being down and out. If you have your own cash to play with then your bankroll can be restocked at any given time, so these rules really don't apply to you unless you want to put yourself on a budget. When I started playing, I found that free online poker were the way forward and I managed to get some cash behind me to occasionally take my play to real cash games.

So, you want to be a good poker player, well the first tip when playing free online poker is that you need to have patience, and a lot of it. I have played for 20 hands and folded every single one before a decent hand appears. Its all about waiting.

Most players tend to go all in if they have an A and another card. This is a mistake. Of course 2 Aces are nice but I'd rather bet small and play on nine people's money than all in and maybe you'll get one taker. Wait until after the flop to bet. Make sure a possible straight or flush won't beat you. It's worth the wait.

Don't bet on future cards you hope you'll get. For example you have 4 cards to a straight and someone goes all in. Just fold. Odds are not in your favour to bet.

Of course you can't read a poker face on line, but you can learn from the way they will bet over the course of the game. I see a lot of people bet $400 on opening bet and then go all in after flop. These people generally have nothing.

Then along comes the aggressive player. There will always be one of these at the table, they have more money and bet high every hand. Its worth just letting them get on with it and not letting it get to you. The right hand will come for you.

If you are a gambler, make sure your down cards will make a straight, or you have a pair. Never bet 2/9, 2/8, K/3 for example. All you have here is a luck bet.

I have found that playing free online poker games to perfect my play is the way to start playing poker, there are many sites that you can play at and not pay a penny but still win real cash.

Poker is all about patience and only a little bit of luck. If you are patient in every game and tournament that you play then you wont go far wrong. Next time you are on the free online poker sites try it out.