The idea of private poker is not a new concept; on the contrary it has been around since the dawn of time- well since poker started anyway!! The main obstacle most enthusiasts of the private game face is finding a suitable time that doesn’t affect work or home life.

With the huge growth of online poker and free poker online most sites are now offering the ability for players to make their own private, passworded games they can play with friends and while not quite the same as the traditional poker night most of us are use to it can still be a great alternative, you can choose the stakes you want to play for and depending on the site also choose your starting chips and blinds.

Texas Hold-em is the accepted king of online poker play, however a recent trend suggests that Omaha is making a massive come back offering many private games.

The majority of internet games only have a small opportunity to join so its good practice to be organised and invite all of the players well in advance. Not all sites have the option of slotted start times so shop about first.

Another good tip on the organisational front is to find how easy the game is to find and access once you have set it up. Some of the bigger sites make this extremely difficult- once you have found a site you can use and find, be sure to spread the word.

Remember, being online is not the same as playing in someone’s home, others online have the ability to see your game and all poker sites have bans on crude, abusive or offensive language so keep it clean.

After locating a site that offers the type of game and the features you want, you will find both money and free poker sites that do all you need to do is schedule a time that your friends can be online, make the game and begin playing.

In this free poker article we discuss how to play with big pairs like AA, KK, QQ and JJ

With the best hand, AA it is very important to look for big raise or re-raise if someone raises before you. It is a mistake in strategy with AA to just call a raise because you are missing the opportunity to get more money into the pot with the best hand and more important thing is that you are giving players with weaker hands the opportunity to improve their hands 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.

Once the flop has passed it’s a good idea to go for a large raise not allowing your opponents the chance to call flushes, straights or drawing hands for minimal chips. Try and remember there is the chance that one of the opposing players has made a better “flop” and you may no longer have the best cards. The chances are you should still be the front runner and let the pot grow unless you’re positive someone else now holds the better cards.

When playing hands like KK, QQ and JJ you should raise before the flop. Someone would have maybe A and something lower but it is very rare to come up against a better hand before the flop when holding either of these hands, so raising will reduce the number of players who want to see a flop. Key thing is to limit the number of players who you are up against with either of these hands because the opponents can easily make a better hand than you hitting an Ace on flop to make bigger pair.

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!

Not giving away your hands is the key to getting the most out of your money or chips in free online poker.

Moving all in on the river or pre-flop is only the right move when it’s really your only option, for example, Short stacked. In poker you need to think to yourself what would I do if I was in the same situation I am putting them in? When do call an all in pre-flop or on the river?

I’m expecting that you would say when you believe you had better cards. If you’re going to get called on an all in on a pre flop or river then your cards should at least be an Ace / Queen pre flop and a good pair with a high kicker on the river.

Think before you act:
Why gamble your normal wager if you place a player on a flush draw and they haven’t hit on the river? Gamble on something he could potentially call on even after missing.

Rather than go all in with the top boys I would suggest if you’re that way inclined, to gamble just over the pot with your made hands.

The more you blag the higher chances you will get called- the majority of opponents will blag with over bets rather than all ins.

By letting your opponents see one or two of your poorer hands works leaps and bounds too. If fore say you managed to get your opponents to lay down with a middle of 6’s even though this was the top cards in the game- it will illustrate to everyone you are willing to gamble with less than flawless cards.

Hopefully my tips will help you get the best out of your hands when you are playing free online poker…. good luck and I really hope to see you at the poker tables very soon!!

Have you ever wondered if you were behind with the best hand when playing free poker online? Is it even possible?

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.

Times like this will arise when you are holding a pair of great cards, but your opponent is holding better cards, for example, you may be holding a J Q and your opponent has an A K.

Now depending on situation and chip stacks odds are these hands that would be playing a big pot? You may find yourself playing in a tournament in the early stages and you have a generous chip stack and find that your opponent has a hand which is better than yours, or at least as good. This is a time that you will be wise to fold, there is no point in losing out on the whole tournament.

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.

This is where you will put in a small bet to get the feel of what the others are holding. Your opponent raises you big. Even though A’s are technically the best cards in poker, you don’t necessarily hold the best hands, and it may be time to fold.

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!.

It doesn’t matter what type of poker you are playing, pay or free poker. Hold’em is played in this way: Each player gets two cards, face down. Like any other game, you ante at the start and the first betting interval comes after the first two down cards are dealt. The play rotates to the left of the dealer. On this opening round, a player must stay or get out (fold).

Next, three cards are dealt face up in the center. This is called the flop, and these are community cards to be used by all players in making their “hands”, along with the two they have already got in their hand. You make a second wager after the flop. This time, a player can pass, because a pot has already been started.

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).

We’re not accusing anybody of being a cheater: Burning the top card is just a traditional thing in professional and in many amateur games.

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 have been playing poker, both pay and free poker online, for nearly a decade, which to me is quite a long time. During those years I have come across many discussions on whether poker is really a game of skill or luck, hopefully this article will shed some light on the situation.

Being a skilled player is always going to get you a little further when playing poker than an inexperienced player. Skilled players understand the basics of poker, such as patterns, odds and they usually have a plan. However, no matter how skilled a player is, they are always need to account for the actions of other players and the way the cards play out on the table.

The conclusion I have come to, is that it takes both skill and luck to win at poker.

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.

Many individuals feel that they take more bad beats online as opposed to live play. This mathematically can be attributed to the number of hands both seen, and played. As well, there is a tile factor involved when one feels that they are being pushed too hard, or perhaps have suffered a bad beat.

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.

This is a game of two equals, luck and skill, neither in my opinion more important than the other, however the successful poker player knows how to manage both aspects of the game, learns skill playing free poker online before moving into money games and uses skill, in effect, tweak luck and so sustain consistency in winning.

I spend more time playing free poker online now than casinos, but a few years ago I was on a boozy weekend in Vegas and in my drunken state managed to pull of a poker win and pocket myself $1,000 winnings! I admit, it was pure luck that night as I wasn’t exactly playing at my sober best. Anyhow, after collecting my winnings and feeling rather pleased with myself I realised I had a tiny problem… what to do with my winnings as I didn’t want to walk around with it and I hadn’t taken a safety deposit box at my hotel. I hold a box at another hotel all year round for when I pop to Vegas in the hope of winning some money and this was my only option.

So, having realised I was too drunk, I decided to take the walk to deposit my money safely until I was sober enough to look after it properly. This sort of problem wouldn’t be an issue nowadays as Vegas is much more commercial, but in those days there were many people who you wouldn’t want to meet on a dark street with that sort of money in your pocket.

I thought I was ok, until I left the hotel and made my way on the street. It was the early hours of the morning and the streets were naked and very very dark. Realising that I didn’t have a lot of choice but to walk the one block to the other hotel I just pulled myself together and started to make my way to the Four Queens.

This was the point that I was wishing I was playing free poker online rather than being out in the streets like a crazy man!

Just as I approached the corner, two big, tough-looking guys came around the corner. Both were carrying beer bottles and appeared to be very drunk and looking for trouble. As soon as they saw me, I knew what was coming. I was sure that they were on the prowl for a handout or, with no one else around, maybe something worse.

As I kept walking, they approached me as if they were going to block what was left of the sidewalk.

As they approached me, one of the men asked if I had got a couple of dollars they could have.

Not about to inform them of my win, I had to come up with something pretty quick before being beaten to a pulp, so, I took a chance and drunkenly squared up to them shouting ‘Don’t **** with me… I have just lost $25 in there!!!’. The two guys didn’t know what to do and actually looked quite bemused as they parted for me to walk through them.

A few steps later, I turned and loudly shouted another expletive at them. It was a great spur-of-the-moment bluff. Oh, I could have said, “I don’t have any money,” or given a dozen other excuses, but I don’t think that any of them would have worked quite as well as what I did. The bottom line was that these fellows wanted no part of a guy who could be that angry about losing 25 bucks.

It really was the best bluff I had ever pulled and if I hadn’t then I wouldn’t be playing any type of poker now whether free poker or pay poker. So, if you are one of those two guys reading my story… oh well… better luck next time chaps!