Let’s remember how this whole thing started. Why I have a job writing articles like this one and why you are reading them. Why there is a row of colorful banners to your right, each of them offering an excellent cash bonus for signing up for an online poker account. Why last July, 6,494 souls — hardened professionals and wide-eyed rookies alike — put up $10,000 apiece for a simultaneous shot at a vast fortune and a piece of poker history. It all started with a 28-year-old guy named Chris Moneymaker, who parlayed a $39 investment into $2.5 million, global fame, and a far different lifestyle than the one he was living in the hills of Tennessee.

Is it really too cliché to say that you could be the next Moneymaker? It sounds like a line straight out of a PokerStars commercial, and maybe it is. But is the idea really so far-fetched? A Connecticut lawyer, an Aussie chiropractor, a former Hollywood agent, a Southern California family man, a Danish rounder, and a college student from Michigan have all won the World Series of Poker Main Event since Moneymaker’s victory threw the doors open to online satellites for poker’s “Big Dance.”

There are more routes to a Main Event seat than ever this year and in this edition of Bankroll Builders, we’re throwing open our atlas and sharing a few choice shortcuts. Even if you have only $100 to spend on winning your seat, there are still plenty of ways to get there.

Where can I find online WSOP satellites?

Most of the major U.S.-facing sites have already started running satellites. Full Tilt Poker has by far the largest variety of low buy-in options, although Cake Poker, PokerStars and UB are also running “Step” systems that start as low as $1.

How much do I need?

If you’re taking a sit-n-go or “Steps” route, you will need 30-50 buy-ins for the first level you plan on playing. If you have $100, go with something like Full Tilt’s $3.30 “Step 1” sit-n-goes. With $200 you could try PokerStars’ Step 1 tournaments at $7.50 apiece. With anything less than $100, start at the $1 level.

Here’s the good news about step satellites. They pay a huge percentage of the field, meaning that you’re likely to get at least something back for your troubles. A two-table Step 2 tournament on Full Tilt pays eight places — five move on to Step 3, one retries Step 2, and the other two earn Step 1 tickets. A nine-handed $25 + $1 Step 3 Super Turbo pays eight places — two move on to Step 4, two retry Step 3, two are knocked down to Step 2 and two go back to Step 1.

If I win a seat, can I keep the money instead of playing the Main Event?

Absolutely. And since you’re reading an article called “Bankroll Builders,” you might want to consider it. Upon winning a WSOP package, the “travel” part of the award (usually $2,000-$2,500) is immediately credited to your online poker account, while the $10,000 buy-in follows a few weeks later. You are free to do whatever you want with that money — cash it out, wire it to the Rio, use it to play FTOPS events, pay off your MasterCard, anything your heart desires. Some savvy players take that $10,000 to the WSOP, but instead of spending it all on the Main Event, they’ll spread their risk over several tournaments. That $10,000 could by you in to three $1,000 NLHE events, one $2,000 NLHE event, ten $225 single-table satellites and five $545 Venetian Deepstack events.

I can only come to Vegas for one weekend and I want to play one of those $1,500 NLHE donkaments, are there online satellites for these events?

There sure are. Only thing is, there are far fewer of them running than there are for the Main Event. Your best bets for preliminary event satellites are on Cake Poker, where they are running step satellites culminating in a $2,500 package, and on Full Tilt Poker, where they run thrice-daily MTT satellites for $2,000 “Bracelet Race” packages.

In Part 2, we’ll delve into some basic strategy and offer up some insider tips on how to find the softest satellites. Stay tuned.

1. High-low split: the highest and lowest hands split the pot. Generally there is a qualifier for the low hand. For example, the low hand must have 5 cards with ranks of 8 or less. In most high-low games the usual rank of poker hands is observed, so that an unsuited broken straight (7-5-4-3-2) wins low (see Morehead, Official Rules of Card Games). In a variant, based on Lowball, where only the low hand wins, a straight or a flush does not matter for a low hand. So the best low hand is 5-4-3-2-A, suited or not.
2. Lowball: The lowest hand wins the pot. There are different rules about whether or not aces count as low, and the effects of straights and flushes. The most common variants areRazz and 2-7 Triple Draw
3. Players can pass cards to each other. An example of this would be Anaconda.
4. ‘Kill game’. When a fixed limit game is played and a player wins two pots in a row, the stakes are doubled. In some split-pot games (e.g., Omaha), a player winning both halves of the pot may also cause a kill. In some variants of Lowball, a player may choose to kill by placing a double bet after seeing his first two cards.
5. Wild cards are added. This can range from simply making deuces wild to the wild 7-stud variant of baseball.
6. A twist round in which players can buy another card from the deck. If a player does not like the purchased card, the player can purchase another one by adding money to the pot. This is sometimes called a “Tittle.”
7. A stripped deck may be used. Poker was first played with only 20 cards. In the spirit of poker history, players will sometimes only play with a stripped deck. A popular poker game in Spain is played with cards 8-A. It is played similar to hold’em, except that one card is dealt at a time and a player must use both hole cards.
8. The double flip variant (also known as doomsday and the jaws of victory) was introduced in pub/club games throughout Europe in recent years and was devised to keep inactive (‘busted out’) players in the mix, and therefore, in the pub or club. If players are heads-up (i.e. there are only 2 players left) in a tournament, and both players have the same ranked pocket pairs (e.g. both players have KK, or both players have 33 etc.) and if on the same hands, one of the players is all-in and called (or calls with his/her entire stack), then the double flip situation occurs. All players that were previously present on the table (and subsequent ‘busted out’) will be given a share of the pot (determined at the start of the game – usually the pot will just be split between the inactive players who are still present and the player who was all-in, with the chip-leading receiving no part of the pot; the unlucky heads-up players [the chances of both players having the same ranked pair is 1 in 20,825] receive nothing in this situation). Play then continues as per normal. The rule is common practice now in all pub/club games throughout Europe and is becoming more popular in North America.

Lex Veldhuis has quite a reputation at the poker table, especially after an episode of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event aired with Veldhuis pulling off ballsy bluff after ballsy bluff. On Day 1B of the 2010 European Poker Tour Grand Final, his image came into play on a bluff attempt.

Veldhuis talks about the hand and touches on a few concepts: turning your hand into a bluff and table image.

Blinds: 100-200
Hand: Veldhuis raises to 525 from the cutoff with . The villain calls from the button, and the big blind calls as well.

I knew he was an internet player and he seemed really solid. He hadn’t played that many hands. I kind of perceived him as straight forward and tight-aggressive.

What do you think of his range when he flats your raise on the button?

I thought he had some connected cards or low pairs. I didn’t really put him on any strong hands. Especially with the way I play, he would probably get some value with a reraise.

Hand: The flop comes . The big blind checks, and Veldhuis bets 1,100. The villain called and the big blind folded.

I wouldn’t normally always continuation bet it, but since the button and big blind called, I felt comfortable barreling. When I got called by the button, I was pretty much done with the hand. He could have queen-ten, queen-jack, king-jack, kind of combinations pretty often, and I didn’t think he was going to fold those.

Hand: The turn is a nine. The board now reads . Veldhuis bet 2,800, and the villain called.

Now I’m going to go for value. After he called, I think he has like queen-jack, queen-ten, ace-jack, king-jack, jack-ten type stuff. I don’t think he has like ten-nine or jack-nine because I think he would raise that on the flop because it’s kind of a scary board, especially against a guy who’s going to barrel.

Hand: The river is an eight. The board now reads . Veldhuis checks. The villain bets 6,000, and Veldhuis reraises all-in for 24,000. The villain tanked and then called with king-queen.

When I checked, I figured anything he was going to check behind with, I’m going to win against. He bet 6,000, and I pretty much put him on a straight here. Also, thinking that it’s a €10,000 tournament, I shoved 24,000 total. My reasoning for that was that it’s a spot that you hardly ever see people bluffing. I turned my nine into a bluff. If I didn’t have my nine as a blocker, I wouldn’t do it, but there are so many illogical combinations that he could have to have a full house that could call me. I put him on a straight and tried to push him off it. I like my play, but I don’t think it’s good if I do it. I think it’s a good bluff line against my opponent, but not by me. I do think he folds queen-jack, even though king-queen and queen-jack are kind of the same, he’d be chopping if I shoved with king-queen. I’m never shoving with just a naked queen. So he either chops against king-queen or loses to a boat. I don’t think a big percentage of the time I’m bluffing, but I guess it’s my image. I have to take that more into consideration.

Did he or the table get to see your cards?

No, I said, “You’re good,” and didn’t have to show which is a big advantage because otherwise they would know that I could turn hands into bluffs. After that hand I pretty much went into lockdown because no one was going to give me credit. If I would have won that hand, I would have had sick momentum, but I just had to adjust.

How much do you the think the ESPN episode affects your image?

Well, in online tournaments, I’m a pretty big nit. In cash games, I play pretty tight-aggressive with spew tendencies, I guess. So, I think the stuff on TV helped. Well, or didn’t help [laugh]. I think that after playing at the table for awhile, they are going to perceive me as aggressive anyway, so I don’t need the ESPN episodes for that. I guess I just have to keep adjusting, and I should have just folded the river.

What advice would you give to players who have trouble changing an image they’ve developed?

I think if you have a developed image, the problem is not so much what you should do to change it. It’s more so how to use it. If people start saying, “Oh you three-bet. You have aces,” some people get offended, but you should just think, “I can start doing that with jack-ten or any two cards if people think that.” If people keep saying, “Lex never has anything,” then I know not to bluff that person. You can always adjust to your advantage. I don’t think it’s a problem to have a developed image; you just have to deal with it.

Can you explain exactly what it means to turn a hand into a bluff and why it can be a good play?

Turning a hand into a bluff is when you have a hand that could very well be good at showdown, but you play it in a way that you can fold out slightly better hands. That’s important because people trick themselves into thinking they have showdown value. If you have a hand like nine-eight on a queen-jack-X-X-eight board and someone calls you twice, there’s a good chance they have a jack or a queen. You might think you have showdown value, but they might have a slightly better pair that you can get them to fold by turning your hand into a bluff.

The following is a hand he played while three-handed in Event No. 34, a $1,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament.

Players and Stack Sizes:

Jonas Klausen – 3.685 million – Button
James Taylor – 2.45 million – Small Blind
Eric Baldwin – 3.345 million – Big Blind

Blinds and Antes:

30,000-60,000 with a 5,000 ante

First off, what was the dynamic between you and the other opponents, and what did you think of Taylor, prior to this hand?

Both opponents were good, aggressive players. Three-handed, you have to get the chips from somewhere, and my plan was to apply pressure to Taylor. Klaussen had position on me for two out of three of the hands, and I think he was even more aggressive than Taylor.

Preflop: Klausen fold and Taylor raises to 180,000. Baldwin calls with ace-five. The pot is now 375,000.

So when Taylor raised into you from the small blind, can you explain your thought process with the hand you had, that led you to just call preflop?

He had been opening a fair amount from the small blind, so it’s a bit weak to fold an ace. I felt like if I reraised, there was a decent chance Taylor would four-bet all-in, possibly getting me to fold the best hand. Thus, I decided to call and play a pot fairly deep stacked in position.

Flop: The flop comes . Taylor bets 235,000, and Baldwin calls. The pot is now 845,000.

Did you expect him to almost always continuation bet this type of board?

Yes. If he missed, this is a good board to continuation bet. If he has a pocket pair, he’s happy to take down the pot while he likely has the best hand and avoid a bad turn card. This leaves me in a similar spot to where I was preflop. Since he’s betting so often here, it’s pretty weak to just give up with an ace. If I give up here, what was I calling for preflop? To connect big with the flop with ace-five?

The stacks were such that if I raised, I left the door open for him to make the all-in reraise. He’s definitely capable of making this play as a bluff, so I just called. It also looks more likely that I have a nine by just calling.

Turn: The turn is the and the board now reads . Taylor bets 425,000. Baldwin goes all-in, and Taylor folds for his last 1.6 million in chips.

Why did you decide to make this play?

On the turn I picked up a gutshot wheel draw. Unless Taylor had pocket twos, pocket aces, or a 9, I had seven outs if I was behind and called. I felt like I could effectively represent a 9, pocket twos, or a big pair myself, and get him to fold a lot of hands. I also thought it was very possible he was firing a second barrel as a bluff. Unfortunately, he might have been bluffing with a better Ace, and by just calling I would give him the opportunity to bluff all-in on the river.

I elected to be the one getting the fold equity and make the raise all-in. I hadn’t made any huge plays at the final table and had shown down good hands. This led me to believe there was a good chance I could get Taylor to lay down a hand as big as a middle pair.

You mentioned the gut-shot outs you picked up in case you were called. Do you think players make the mistake of bluffing with no pot equity if called? And would you have still made the move anyway on another blank card?

Having some pot equity if called makes the situation tons more profitable. However, there are some spots where it is so likely your opponent will fold that you don’t need any pot equity for the bluff to be profitable. It’s important to ask, “What hands could he call me with if I bluff here?” Then, look at the likelihood of him or her holding those hands based on their previous actions. I’m not 100 percent sure if I would have made the same play if another blank had hit the turn. Picking up those four outs definitely made it a lot easier to make the play. After what seemed like an eternity, Taylor folded what he later swore to be pocket queens.

It’s the dream of every poker player, amateur and professional alike: win the WSOP Main event, etch your name in poker history, and become a multi-millionaire almost overnight.

In 2003 Chris Moneymaker did it. In 2004 Greg Raymer did it. Even better, both got their seats into the Main Event by winning a low buy-in satellite.

In fact, at $39 it cost Moneymaker more money in cab fare getting from his hotel to the tournament and back than he paid for his $10k seat.

Not only have satellites become more common since then but you can find them on almost any poker site, for almost any amount of money.

With the start of the 41st edition of the World Series of Poker approaching we’re in prime time WSOP satellite season. Chances to win an all-expenses paid shot at the biggest prize in poker are everywhere you turn – including PokerListings, with over $200k in exclusive packages now available for our 2010 VIP Champion Camp.

These are a few tips to help you get yours.

“Winner Takes All” Satellites

The majority of satellites for the WSOP Main Event are set up as multi-table tournaments, but require a slightly different approach than for your standard cash MTT.

Typically, the smaller buy-in WSOP satellites are structured “Winner Takes All” events. When it comes to an event of this sort the Ricky Bobby maxim rings true: “If you’re not first, you’re last.”

In other words, you’re playing to win.

In most cash MTTs you can have a really decent day financially simply by making the final table. Even getting close can be enough to make your efforts worthwhile.

In a Winner Takes All satellite, making the final table is only the first hurdle. After that, you still need to beat every player at the table for the win. Second place is no better than last. Regardless of your playing style, you’re playing these tournaments to win, nothing else.

Upon reaching the final table, the style of play typically becomes push or fold. And if you didn’t come in with a big chip stack, you’re going to need some serious help from lady luck to take it down.

Your only goal in this kind of tournament is to collect as many chips as you can before that point.

Aside from catching some cards, very aggressive play is your best bet. You want to be willing to take coin-flips much earlier than you would in a standard cash MTT.

If you’re no better off finishing in 2^nd than you are in 22^nd, it makes more sense to take a coinflip earlier, when you have more chips, rather than waiting until your stack dwindles, flipping simply to stay alive.

If you’re willing to take a flip before any of your opponents, your aggression will win you pots when they fold. And by winning a flip early, you’ll have enough chips to lean on the other players at the table and take the next flip against a shorter stack without having to risk your tournament life.

This style of play may not be optimal for cash MTTs, as there are less-aggressive styles that may still give you a decent shot at winning and a very good chance at making the money.

A simple example of the difference between playing a standard MTT and a Winner Takes All MTT is playing against other big stacks.

Say you’re second in chips with a large field left. In a standard MTT It’s almost never correct to get into a large pot against the chip leader at this point in the event.

Why put your tournament life on the line when you stand a decent chance at going deep by simply playing against the smaller stacks, minimizing your risks?

In an all-or-nothing satellite, this is the exact scenario you’re looking for.

Letting a player amass a huge chip stack is a big threat to you. If you make it to heads up, you’re ultimately going to have to overcome that chip advantage.

Taking them on in the earlier stages will ideally make you “that guy” with the huge stack, and give you a legitimate advantage at the final table.

Playing for Multiple Packages

In a multiple-package tournament, winning is irrelevant. You’re playing to get past the bubble.

It makes no difference to you if you have one chip or one million chips when the bubble bursts. As long as you’re still in it, you win a package.

In these events you’re simply looking to stay alive. Collect enough chips to make the bubble, and you’ve as good as won.

In fact, when the bubble draws near, it’s common for the chip leaders to refuse to play any hand – including aces, choosing to coast on their large stack into an assured win, rather than take any risk.

On the other hand, when the bubble draws near, the majority of the field will tighten up, hoping to avoid confrontation until they make it through.

If your stack is not large enough to coast through the bubble, you need to take this opportunity to pick up as many chips as you can. When the other players are looking to fold, you should be looking to steal, as often as you can get away with.

Being the chip leader in a tournament like this is nice but unnecessary. Your goal is to keep an eye on the bubble and make estimates as to what size of stack is needed to make it through. As long as you have any chips in play when the bubble has burst, you have won.

Simply put, if you’re above your legitimate estimate, it doesn’t make sense to take large gambles for chips.

Final Suggestions

Small-ball poker is much more common in multiple-package tournaments than in Winner Takes All ones.

Although it’s possible to win a package without ever being involved in a huge pot, chances are you’re going to need to come out on top of multiple coin flips just to keep yourself in enough chips to make it.

Choose your spots wisely, and try to be the aggressor, rather than the caller. Being the aggressor will at least give you a chance to win through your opponent folding. But in the end you’re most likely going to have to win a flip or two: good luck.

Freerolls

PokerListings offers multiple free poker tournaments awarding WSOP Main Event packages. Fields are typically small and per-player value is high.

Packages typically run around $12,500 and include flights, hotel accommodation, the $10k Main Event buy-in and some spending money. In addition to the standard packages, PokerListings is set to offer the 2010 WSOP experience of a lifetime with the PokerListings Champion Camp.

Heading to Vegas for the weekend? Looking to try your hand at the game you’ve seen so often on TV? Have no clue where to start? Here’s your 10 minute Texas Hold’em crash course.

Every couple months or so I’ll have someone come up to me and tell me that they’re going to Vegas for a couple days and they always ask me the same thing, “What kind of poker tips can you give me?”

That question led to this article. So if you are going to give poker a shot, read this article first and your chances of success will improve greatly.

Editor’s Note: This article assumes that you at least understand how to play the game of Texas Hold’em. If you’re unsure of the rules and the way the game plays out proceed to the Texas Hold’em Rules
Is Poker Gambling?

The short answer is yes; the long answer is no, with a but.

Poker is gambling insofar as you can’t control which cards you get, which cards your opponent will get or which cards will come on the flop. But you can control when you put money into the pot.

By only putting money into the pot when the situation is favorable to you and folding when the situation is unfavorable you can win money in the long run playing poker.

You may still lose in the short term, because of those uncontrollable elements, but if you regularly make better descisions than the majority of your opponents you will make money.
The 30 Second Strategy Rundown

Texas Hold’em is a game about hand strength. Only the best hand wins at showdown.

You want to plan to have the best hand at showdown before you put a single penny in the pot.

It all begins when you’re dealt your two hole cards.

You want to play only the best possible hands before the flop because they make the best hands after the flop.

Generally you want to be playing around 18-20% of your hands at a full nine-handed poker table. It doesn’t seem like many hands, and it isn’t, but it’s the best way to show a profit.

Hold’em is often just as much about the hands you fold as the hands you play.

If you play too many hands you simply won’t be able to profit because you’ll be throwing away too much money with weak hands to make it back with your good hands.

So play tight. Tight is right.

Your opponents

The Texas Hold’em games you find in the casino are generally very loose. Many players at the casino play 30% of hands or more.

When your opponents play weak hands before the flop they make weak hands after the flop.

Weak hands are second-best hands and your opponent’s second-best hands are going to make you money!
Hand Strength

Remember your goal. You want to have the best hand by the time all five community cards are out and the betting has finished.

There is no clear-cut answer as to what hand is good enough to take to showdown. It always depends. But by playing tight you will ensure that you’ll make more best hands and less second-best hands

During each hand you have to take into account the cards that are on the board and the possibilities that they offer. Think about what type of opponent you’re playing against and how the hand has played out.

Poker is a game of information. Be a sponge; soak up as much as you can and use it to your advantage.
Pre-flop

Before you even see a flop you want to think about what hands you can make with the two cards you’ve been dealt.

Your goal is to make top pair after the flop with a very good kicker or better, or a hand that has a reasonable expectation of making a big hand (straight, flush, etc) on a later street.

Check out the hands below to see what you should consider playable before the flop.

Monsters: AA,KK,QQ,JJ

These hands are already huge hands, a single pair is often the best hand at showdown and these will often make an overpair to the board.

These hands are all extremely profitable and you should raise them whenever you are dealt them. With AA-KK and even QQ you can and should re-raise.

Top pair hands: AK-AJ, KQ

These hands, when they hit the flop, make top pair with a good kicker.

Kickers are very important in texas holdem poker because two players will often flop the same pair and it comes down to the kicker to break the tie.

When you have one pair your kicker is almost always going to play. For example, on a A♦ 3♠ 4♠ 7♦ 3♥ board, A♠ Q♠ will beat A♥ T♥ because the winning hand of A♠ A♦ Q♠ 7♦ 4♠ is better than A♥ A♦ T♥ 7♦ 4♠.

When you play tight you’re going to be winning the battle of the kickers and your loose opponents will be paying you off with worse kickers.

With top-pair hands you can play if there is a raise in front of you by just calling and seeing the flop. If nobody has raised in front you should raise these hands for value before the flop.

Suited Connectors: QJs-89s

At the casino many players play any two suited cards.

It’s one of the biggest mistakes new players make and they bleed money seeing flops with worthless hands.

Concentrate your efforts on suited connectors because they can flop both straight and flush draws. When they’re suited and connected it doubles the likelihood that they will see a flop they like.

Being suited or connected on its own is not enough to see a flop. They have to be both.

Suited connectors are profitable because they win big pots when they make straights or flushes.

Though they make big pot hands they should often be folded to a raise unless the raise is very small. These hands do very well when you can get in cheap. Look to flop a draw or get out.

Pocket Pairs: TT-22

These pocket pairs are not monsters.

Often with small and medium pocket pairs the flop will bring at least one overcard to your pair. When you are holding 6♦ 6♠ and the board comes J♦ K♣ 3♠ your hand is practically worthless.

The bulk of the value from pocket pairs come from when they flop a set (three of a kind).

Three of a kind is a big hand in Texas Hold’em and when you flop a set you should look to get all-in as fast as possible.

That said, small pocket pairs benefit from cheap flops as well. If you can see a multi-way pot against a small raise that’s fine too but your main goal is a cheap flop. If you don’t hit your set you’re best off folding.

Ace-X suited: A9s-A2s

These are the only weak aces you should ever play.

The reason why AXs hands are playable and other ace-rags are not is because they are suited and can make the nut flush.

If you make the ace-high flush you’re going to win your opponents entire stack if he has a smaller flush.

That said, many players get into trouble when they flop a pair of aces, only to be beaten by someone with a pair of aces and a better kicker.

Remember your goal. You want to take a cheap shot at flopping a flush draw. You don’t want to get involved with a pair of aces and a weak kicker.

A-Xs hands should not be played against a raise unless it’s very small and there are many players. Cheap flops are the key.

Everything else:

All other hands should be avoided like the plague. It will just be too difficult to turn a profit playing any more than the outlined hands. Over time as you get better at poker you can gradually add more hands, but when you’re learning you want to keep things simple.

Good hands before the flop means good hands after the flop. Good hands after the flop mean easier decisions for you.

Keep it simple stupid.
Post-flop

The Flop

As soon as the flop comes out evaluate your hand. Look at the board, look at what hands are possible and how your hand stacks up.

Remember: you want to make top pair or better or have a reasonable chance at a big hand.

If you have a pair that’s smaller than top pair and there’s a bet, get out of the way and fold.
The final board
Reading the board is important. Look what hands are available and see where your hand stacks up.

If you have top pair with a good kicker, call or bet yourself.

Entire chapters of poker strategy books are dedicated to playing on the flop so we’re going to continue keeping it simple here.

Examine how the hand has played out and remember, top pair is a good hand but if multiple people are raising it may not be good enough.

If you have better than top pair, two pair or a set for example, you should often raise to get value from worse hands.

A note on draws: A draw is when you can either make a straight or a flush on the next card. Draws are big hands because straights and flushes are almost always good enough to win at showdown.

All draws are not considered equal. For example 5♦ 6♦ on a 7♥ 3♥ A♦ board only has four outs – the four 4s – and the draw is weaker still because the 4♥ may also give someone a flush. When you need the middle card to make your straight it’s known as a gutshot.

The better straight draw is known as an open-ender. For example: 8♠ 9♠ on a 6♥ 7♠ J♦ board. In this example there are twice as many outs as a gutshot.

Open-enders are much stronger than gutshots. Gutshots should seldom be taken past the flop unless you get a free look or the betting is extremely small.

Flush draws have nine outs and are very strong. You generally can call one bet on the flop and if you miss on the turn you should abandon hope unless the betting is small.

The Turn

Usually by the time it gets to the turn there are only 2-3 players left. When a player makes it to the turn he generally has at least some piece of the board.

If you have the lead in the hand and the turn changes nothing you should often keep betting.

If the turn completes the flush or the straight draw you should often tread carefully. If you bet and get raised it’s often best to just fold.

The River

The last street, the river, is usually contested heads-up. Use the information your opponent has given you throughout the hand to figure out whether you should bet or you should call a bet.

Each play your opponent makes tells you a little bit more about his hand.

If he raises before the flop, then bets the flop and the turn and now bets again on the river, he usually has a big hand.

Conversely if he raises before the flop, bets into you on the flop, checks the turn and checks the river, he’s usually going to be weak.

Again there are thousands of different variables and going through all of them is impossible. Use critical thinking to figure out what your opponent may have and act accordingly.
The money
If you make better decisions than your opponents. You’ll win money.

Position

Position is one of the most important factors in Texas Hold’em. Position refers to your position in relation to the dealer button, which identifies which player acts last during the hand.

Acting last is a huge advantage in poker because you have more information. When you act last you know if your opponent wanted to check or bet. You get to see everyone’s actions before you decide what to do.

Nobody can see the next card or showdown until you say. You are in complete control.

Because of that when you’re in position you can play more hands than you normally would because you will have the inherent advantage of position.
Poker’s a long term game

Though poker is a game that you can beat in the long term, it’s still gambling to some degree. You make decisions and then random cards come out. You control when you put money in but you don’t control the deck.

It’s that element of luck that makes the game interesting but it’s also that element of luck that can make the game extremely frustrating.

You can make every decision right the entire night and still lose the session. Hell you can make every right decision all week and still lose. Conversely you can see some idiot in seat 10 play every hand and win a ton. It’s the nature of the game.

It’s what keeps the fish interested. so embrace it. Look at each situation individually and make the best possible decision.  If you do that every time you will be a successful poker player in the long term. Try to downplay the importance of short-term results.

Amit Makhija played Event #16, a $5,000 no-limit hold’em event that started yesterday and by dinner break had one of the biggest chip stacks in the field due in large part to a hero call. He took a break from the tournament to discuss the hand with PokerNews.

Fill us in on how you’d been playing up to this point?

I had been playing on the tight side. I had just won a coin flip and was up to 26,000 to start the hand. I was feeling good. I was playing tight, but every pot I played seemed to be a big pot.

Tell us about the hand.

So the opponent in this hand had not been opening very often, he’d been pretty tight, but when he did open, he had a lot of suited hands in his range. There were just game-flow times that he was looking to steal that I thought were fairly obvious. He also had a tell I picked up on when I saw him show down a couple pretty bad hands. He was tight, but he definitely had some spew in him. Also, my read on him was that he wasn’t capable of value-betting extremely thin.

So he raised to 900 with the blinds at 150-300. I flatted in position with pocket threes. The flop comes , two clubs. He hesitantly fired 1,500. He looked pretty nervous and bobbled the 500 chip when he was putting it in. I decided to look him up and called.

If you thought he was weak, did you think about raising since your hand is pretty vulnerable?

I think a raise is definitely a viable option on the flop, and I thought about it, but against him, I thought it’d be better to call. I thought he had nothing, and I thought he might bluff off a little more. Against someone who I think is capable of value-betting thin on multiple streets, I might raise there. Against him, though, it’s either a good hand or just complete air. He was checking his mid-pair type hands, and so I think it’s more valuable to call. It’s almost like a trapping situation. I decided to peel one off and reevaluate.

The turn was a jack, bringing a backdoor flush draw with two hearts on the board now. I think he has both flush draws in his range for sure, and I just still stuck with my read that he didn’t have much and that he wasn’t capable of value-betting thin, so I called. I thought he’d bet an ace-king or king-queen hand like this, but I think on the river,he’d check to me with those hands if a brick came and try to get me to bluff off.

On the turn, I don’t really think about raising because I don’t think he’s folding any part of his value range to me. If I’m going to raise this hand, it’s going to be on the flop. It’s too expensive to do it on the turn. It just would have been awkward with stacks.

So when the river came a complete brick, an off-suit five or something, he shoved for 15,000, which was most of my chips. It was definitely bigger than a pot-size bet, and he just looked really uncomfortable. My read on the flop was that he was weak, and I just can’t imagine a hand he’s doing this with for value unless he rivered a set or something, but I don’t think he’d ever play a low pair that way. I just thought that most of his range was draws. I took a long time to think about it, and talked to him a bit, which seemed to make him uncomfortable too. I usually don’t make a lot of hero calls, but everything was just telling me to call. I was pretty sure he didn’t have anything, but I was worried he could be bluffing with a better hand than mine. I ended up looking him up, and he said, “Nice call,” and flipped over nine-eight of hearts.

So because this opponent was not capable of value-betting a lot of hands here, you could make this call?

Right. If it was someone who was good, like a cash-game player whose ranges are balanced and can recognize that my range is extra weak in this spot, and could value-bet big here with a king or even second pair, I have to fold. Against this specific player who doesn’t value-bet thinly, his range is super polarized. That, along with my read on his demeanor led me to make this call.

Brett Richey is an accomplished cash-game player who frequents the live tournament circuit and was recently featured at the televised final table of the $25,000 North American Poker Tour High Roller Bounty Shootout on ESPN. With such a high buy-in, the field of players was stacked, to say the least. Richey talked to PokerNews about this week’s concept: adjusting against thinking players.

What are some of the big adjustments you generally make against good, thinking players?

Nothing in particular, but I try to stay a step ahead and figure out what their weaknesses are. I put myself in their minds and think about what they are trying to accomplish, not just in this particular hand, but overall in poker. Versus weaker players, I play a lot more straightforward, and I will play hands in a way that a good player would say, “OMG, that’s so obvious.” So really, I just try to mix it up against good players. I think sometimes guys get too creative and out of line going to war with good players. If I’m at a table in a tournament with mostly weaker players, I’m going to stay out of a good player’s way and play pretty straightforward against him because it makes no sense to get into a huge ego, five-betting war with a good player when there are idiots waiting to dump their chips. I save the higher volatility plays for cash games or a tougher tournament table.

Do you feel like that happens a lot? Good players banging heads because of ego when they don’t have to?

I think it depends. I think some good players play a really aggressive game, and they don’t adjust as much to their opposition. I generally want to play post flop with deeper stacks versus weaker players, but there are so many different styles that can have success. It’s hard for me to say it’s wrong for someone to five-bet another good player with air when they’re surrounded by idiots.

Against a table full of good players, what higher volatile plays are you talking about that you’d be happier making?

Certainly three- and four-betting light, and also calling off my chips in more marginal spots. I wouldn’t want to take a flip if I have decent chips and a table full of donks, but if everyone’s tough, I am more likely to just go with a hand and roll the dice. I don’t know, I don’t really have a defined strategy, I just kind of sit down and make decisions on the spot.

When you say you try to stay out of a good player’s way when at a table with some good and a lot of bad players, what kinds of specific things are you doing differently?

I’ll do less re-stealing. I won’t defend my blind with marginal hands versus a good player and call less in position with some hands versus a good player that I would call against the weaker players. Basically, I’m trying to reduce my variance because I know the good player isn’t going to give much away, and I want to stay as low variance as I can so that I can save my chips for confrontations with weaker players where hopefully, I’ll have a bigger edge.

In the NAPT High Roller Bounty Shootout, you were at two tables full of good players. Can you think of any hands that the concept of adjusting to thinking players applies?

Hand #1

OK, so it was at my first table. We all started with 25,000, so there was 175,000 total in play. We were three-handed at this point. I had one bounty so far, which was Andrew Robl. John Hennigan, Alex Kamberis, and Daniel Negreanu were already out. Scott Seiver had won six bounties in the morning, so if I wanted a shot at the $100,000 for most bounties, I needed to knock out both final two guys which were Phil Galfond and Lee Markholt.

So the blinds were 800-1600. It was my button, Lee was in the small blind and Phil in the big blind. Lee had about 50,000 and Phil had 35,400. I had about 90,000 and raised to 4,600 with ace-deuce offsuit. Lee folded and Phil shipped it in. I tanked and ended up calling, but it was a tough decision. He had pocket sevens and I rivered the three-out ace. But, he had been shipping it in about once every other orbit. I know he’s good enough to realize that he has just enough chips to make me fold, and I’m like 54% against some hands like king-queen and suited connected type stuff. Plus, he is really good, so I don’t mind taking a shot at knocking him out.

If I lose, I’m still tied for chip lead. I also had the extra bounty consideration ($5,000 plus a stronger shot at the $100,000 prize). I probably wouldn’t have called if he wasn’t a top player or if there were no bounties. I always have three outs minimum, which isn’t a horrible spot. So it was sort of a weird situation where I just decided to gamble for the double whammy of knocking out a tough opponent and giving myself a shot to collect some bounties. Phil and Lee were probably the two people I least wanted to see in the final three with me also, so I didn’t mind gambling.

Hand #2

We were six- or seven-handed at the final table. I opened from middle position with queen-ten offsuit. Scott Seiver defended his big blind. Honestly, I have no idea what the blinds or stacks were, but I was deep-ish, somewhere in the 50 to 100 big blinds range. The flop comes king-queen-three. He checked and I checked behind.

Sometimes I bet, but I just felt like checking and seeing what happened on the turn, which was a six. It brought a flush draw. He checked again, and I decided to bet. I had been playing too many tournaments against weaker, straightforward players, and in this spot, once they check the turn, it means I have the best hand. So of course I’m pretty sure I have the best hand, so I bet. Scott check-raises me, and I hate life. I start talking about how I can’t bet there, and I fold because the way I played my hand, I can almost never have better than second pair.

Scott is certainly good enough to pick up on that and raise me with any hand because it’s so hard for me to call, so once I bet, I honestly should probably call. It’s a move I like against weaker players where I might pick up a bet with air on the turn or trick them into calling with bottom pair or something. But, against a player like Scott, I need to either bet the flop, or check the turn. I lost what I’m supposed to lose, in that if I bet the flop I would fold to a raise or check turn behind and evaluate river. I left myself way too open against a smart player. He told me later he had aces though so that was nice, but it still was too risky. He could’ve had any hand, and I have to fold or call off all my chips.

For professional tournament pros, the lower buy-in large-field no-limit hold’em tournaments can be quite the minefield, but to win, you must adjust. Vanessa Rousso talked to PokerNews about a hand in which she employed a modified strategy when playing Day 1A of Event 3 at the 2010 World Series of Poker, a $1,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event that attracted 4,345 players.

What were the blinds when the hand took place, and what is your general preflop strategy in these events?

The blinds were 75-150. At this point in the tournament, when there are no antes, I have a pretty loose preflop range as long as I have an above average chip stack and I’m in position, especially in a low buy-in like this. The reason is that since I have such a significant skill edge against most of the other players at the table, I want to play a lot of hands. So, I’m a little more experimental with the hands I’m willing to call a raise with than I would normally be. I’m adjusting for the fact that (a) the blinds are still relatively low, so it’s not that expensive, and (b) I have an above-average chip stack in a very weak field.

So in this hand, a very tight, readable player raised in middle position. A player called to my right, and it came to me on the button with ace-four of hearts. I called and the big blind called. We went four ways to flop. The flop came ten-high, all hearts, so I flopped the nuts. The big blind lead and the very tight player who was the preflop raiser, raised a strong, big amount. At that point, the raise was about seven percent of his chip stack. I did the math and realized that if he put in a pot-sized bet in on the turn, I could probably get his whole stack.

What kind of hand are you putting him on at this point?

I figured that for him to make such a strong bet, he had to have a set or an overpair. Obviously it’s impossible that he has aces with the ace of hearts because I have it. He might be drawing dead to runner-runner with an overpair, but I really thought he had a much stronger hand with his bet. The player to my right folded, and I just flat called his raise. I wanted to make sure the board didn’t pair on the turn.

This is something I do to reduce variance. A lot of the time, I’ll make my moves on the turn, rather than on the flop with strong hands in large fields like this because in order to survive a very large field, you’re going to have to survive a lot of situations where you’re a 70 percent favorite. The thing is, even if you are a 70 percent favorite, three out of ten times you’re going to get sucked out on. Even though you’re a fairly large favorite with those 60-40’s or 70-30’s, you can actually cut your variance in half by getting your money in on the turn. That’s why I didn’t raise on the flop. I decided to go for variance reduction.

What about the concept of “protecting your hand”? Is that an overused term, and can you explain why that doesn’t apply here?

Here’s the key, my analysis was that either I have this guy drawing dead, or he’s drawing to the board pairing. Based on his bet though, I didn’t think he was going to fold. I wanted to see the turn first, and reevaluate after I see what he does and whether or not the board paired. Against a tough field, maybe you should take more risks and try to protect your hand, but against a weak field like in a $1,000 buy-in, I think it’s more important to use variance reduction and keep pots small. I don’t try to play very big pots unless I’m getting my money in with a very low likelihood of getting sucked out on. Also, I had too many chips to really reraise there. If he reraises and I shove, we’re playing a big all-in where he’s drawing 40 percent live to the board pairing or to quads. Instead of getting it in as a 60 percent favorite, I’d rather wait until the turn and be an 80 percent favorite. That’s my philosophy.

So what happened on the turn?

The turn was a complete blank. Here’s another point where I think there’s something to learn. It should have been very obvious, based on the action of me flat calling a bet and a raise, that I either flopped a flush or was drawing to the nut flush. At this point, those are the only two possible hands I could realistically have. He bet pot into me on the turn, and I raised all-in. He instantly called. Now, he could have folded after I went all-in and had a survivable chip stack, or he could have checked the turn instead of betting and committing himself. If he checked, he could have check-called a pot-size bet from me, seen the river, and either made a big laydown or at least felt the situation out. Playing the hand the way he did, he forced himself to get it all-in. Once I raise him all-in, there’s no possible way I’m bluffing. I wouldn’t do that with the naked ace of hearts, so on the turn, it should be obvious I have a flush.

Now, he had a set of tens, which is a hard hand to get away from because he’s still drawing 20 percent live on the turn, but he could have employed a more risk-averse strategy by check calling the turn. I don’t think he necessarily had to go broke on that hand. I mean, it worked out great for me, though [laughs]. So I think that’s the lesson. Even when you have a set on a coordinated board like that, when there were multiple players preflop, you have to suspect you’re hand is no good. There’s a 75 percent chance they have the flush and a 25 percent chance they’re drawing at the flush. In that spot, why not check? If a heart comes on the river, and you let the ace of hearts get there, that’s only going to happen a great minority of the time, but you save yourself the 75 percent of the time when you’re beat.

Although Baccarat is a game of luck with player betting on Banco, Punto or Tie, there are always a few things to take care of, in order to play the game smartly. Baccarat Tips tell you the best way to avoid making any silly mistakes, while playing Baccarat.

• It is advisable that you play free online baccarat before trying hand at real-money game of baccarat in a virtual
• Since baccarat is more like blackjack, where cards drawn decide the course of the game, it is better to play with less card decks to increase the winning probabilities.
• Do not avoid betting on Banco just because it costs 5% of tax.
• When you are sure of your game and skills, betting on Punto would earn you higher winnings because of higher house edge.
• Try to avoid betting on ‘Tie’, as the chances of both banker and player getting same cards are rare.
• Since Baccarat is all about luck factor, do not waste time on making strategy or believing that any one of the three betting areas has a better chance of coming.
• Make sure you quit on time and avoid losing all your game money on your first day of Baccarat.
• Betting is the only thing that is in hand of a player, so bet with care. Don’t bet more than you can afford to.