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.

If are a free poker online player, you may have asked yourself if it is possible to be behind if you are holding the best hand.

To answer your question. Yes, it is possible to feel the need to fold the best hand occasionally.

Depending on the situation, whether pre or post flop, you may find yourself in a position where you need to fold your great hand.

Some of these situations might be like if you hold a pocket pair and your opponent has two over cards, for example, you might have jacks or queens and your opponent might have ace queen or ace king.

Now depending on situation and chip stacks odds are these hands that would be playing a big pot? If it is early in a tournament or close to a bubble and you have a good stack but your opponent has you covered or equalled then this might be a time to fold the better hand. No reason to risk your tournament life on a race when it isn't recommended or needed.

Another situation that might occur could be in a post flop situation. Say you hold ace hearts and ace of clubs. Your opponent holds seven of diamonds and eight of diamonds. Flop comes out five, six, and two with two diamonds.

Now you make a small feeler bet but your opponent re raises you big. Although your aces are the best hand mathematically you are an underdog and might want to fold them depending on situation and chip counts.

Players who are prepared to fold a decent hand can have much more success, especially in tournament situations. You will often see players regretting not folding, but at the same time, you must also need to be prepared to call if you think necessary.

Successful poker is not about big wins and losses but how many times you put your money in good. Practice by playing free poker online to get your base skills honed and then go for it!.

By reading this article you will gain an essential understanding of the basics on how to play Texas Holdem, whether you're playing pay or free poker. Like all variants of poker, individuals compete for combined money or chips (known as the pot). The rotation of the game is always to the dealers left. At the start of the game each gambler receives 2cards, placed with the suit down so the gambler can not see their hand. This is your first chance to have a flutter and during this first period each participant gets the chance to continue or walk away.

The following play involves an additional 3 community cards being dealt out by the dealer in the middle of the table face up- also known as the "flop". These cards are an essential part of the players "hand" and will be used alongside the original 2 cards in hand. After the flop the next round of betting takes place, although there is now an opportunity to "pass" due to the pot previously commencing.

Then two more cards are dealt face up in the center, one at a time, with a betting interval after each card.

In the games in which I play, we always burn (discard) the top cards at the start of every turn–you burn one and turn one. This is a precaution, and the main reason for it is that burning or discarding that top card eliminates cheating about ninety percent of the time (marked cards won't work for a cheater when the top card is burned).

Not that for one moment I'm suggesting that this element exists in all games; it does on the other hand remain a custom (throwing away the top card) in which most expert and novices become a custom too.

Depending on the game your involved in will determine if there is a cap to the money which be won. However Holdem is an appealing game due to the amount of opportunities you will be presented with to have something to draw at.

If you are new to Hold'em then have a go at playing free poker online where its totally free and you wont lose any of your own cash.

I started playing poker years ago and have penned my fair share of articles about poker over those years. But, one thing I have learned is that it doesn't matter how many free poker articles I read, they wont make me a poker winner… its getting on the tables and making the hints and tips you get a reality. Most players will read the articles and then shy away when it comes to the tables because they don't want to look like a fool by making a wrong move.

By keeping a constant eye on the tables and playing poker regularly is the best way of staying ahead of your opponents. Making poker moves away from your comfort zone, such as bluffing and blind stealing is something I would recommend you continue over time to prove to yourself that they do pay off. Trying these moves a few times a week just won't cut it, you'll lose 2 or 3 times and just give up on that major part of poker all together.

Many poker players say that if you cant see the donk at the table, then you are it. Similarly, if every other player at the table looks like a donk, then it may well be that you don't actually know how to play poker. Some may be offended by that, but by winning is what determines who the best players are not what hand they had pre flop.

Don't put to much emphasis on what you lost with or how you lost a single hand. It is what happens in the long run that means the most. Keep at it, play the free poker games as much as you can then try to move up to money games, if it doesn't work out don't despair. Go back to a free poker site game and do it again… and again.

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.

It doesn't matter how you like to play your poker, whether it is online free poker or in a casino, there are lots of different ways you can play. Some players are conservative players and some play aggressively and then you have others who like to play a little of each.

This first paragraph is for all the aggressive players out there who probably play on tilt 90% of the time. This is a good way to get chips fast but also a great way to lose chips fast. The more you are aggressive the more risk you have of losing a lot of your chip stacks. It's good and bad, be careful you don't go broke.

Conservative is another way of playing. It's a good style, you usually take down the pots that you are in and you usually make it far in small tournaments. If you are playing in a cash game this is a really good way of playing, you only go in on something good like a pair or something like that but hardly ever bluff.

Now to be a complete poker player the best way to play is a little bit of both. If you play this way then no one knows what you have and no one can ever be for sure what you have. Playing like this will ensure that other players cannot read your game play, giving you the advantage. Hopefully you will be playing against players who like to just stick to one way of playing their poker.

If you are new to poker then the first thing you will need to learn is how to play. My best advice would be to hit some low stakes or even free poker tables so you avoid risking lots of money.

On the same note, if you have only ever played one style of poker, then its worth experimenting by playing the other style to see how well you do.

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

At first poker, even free poker, seemed to me that it seemed to be a first class way of losing money, until that is, my first ten player tourney at a live table where my king ten suited blew my opponents weak ace clean out of the water with tens full of kings.

To my amazement I won the tournament and it gave me a real boost to continue playing. Years on, I am still playing poker and even though I have lost quite a lot of games, I also win quite a lot too and am never really out of pocket.

I now see poker as a bit of a habit too which is easily maintained due to the many enjoyable poker sites I have listed on my desktop I do love the game and am constantly learning new approaches and ways to develop my game it's a constant learning experience.

I do believe that online gaming is much different to live table play which I think is better as you get to feel your enemy and be there literally. I have found that the rule book to playing poker is simply the basics and to play with venom at your own pace with whatever two cards your dealt and are comfortable with.

I think is the best possible way, although a little killer poker from time to time is necessary to enable you to experience the thrill and excitement of true poker.

I do find that online poker is also pretty good, in that you can quite often find lots of new players who are looking to make a bit of cash that you can take out quite easily.

I like to play tight mostly and watch the cards unfold on the flop, as you can imagine I do a lot of folding but since I lost a bit I now play a bit loose if I can and it makes a difference to my bankroll but depletes my bankroll management. I never tire of playing poker, wherever I am playing. The more I play and learn, the more enjoyment I get out of it. My best advice to new players is to try out playing free poker online before hitting any casinos and losing a wad of your own money.