99 Poker Tips

Recently, there hasn’t been many good places to play online poker for American players.

Most of the online poker sites have left the market since April. A few have come and gone, but not many have offered much in the way of easy deposits.

You can still play poker online for fun at most of the best poker sites. But, playing poker for fun just isn’t the same. Everyone bluffs because there isn’t any actual recourse for busting out. People play differently when there is money on the line.

That means there hasn’t been an easy option for Americans like there was when PokerStars and Full Tilt were around. Most of the casual online poker players have stopped playing in the US.

However, if you are looking for an easy poker site like you remember playing at, let me suggest that you give Carbon Poker a try. They have recently made the move to start accepting US poker players. I recently signed up and started to play for the first time in several months, which felt really good to do again.

Carbon Poker wants to attract both the casual and the serious online poker players. For those who play a lot, you can get up to 35% daily cashback. There are lots of players online and you won’t have a problem finding a table or small tournament to enter.

Carbon’s software is supported on both PCs and Macs. All you need to do is go to the download page and select the download for your device. Then you will need to create a free account in order to get started.

In order to play for real, you will need to put funds into your account. Carbon poker is known for having fast deposits and quick withdrawals. If you like free money, make sure you check out the bonus offered below.

You can also claim a $600 bonus when you are making your first deposit! All you have to do is use the Bonus Code: PNRBONUS when you make your deposit. The bonus is released to you a little bit at a time as you accumulate poker points through playing the poker ring games and tournaments. To learn more, take a look at this Carbon Poker review.

Carbon Poker Games

Carbon Poker has a lot of options for poker players. Of course there is a full line of Texas Hold’em games and tournaments. But there is also a lot of other poker games to choose between including Omaha, Stud and Draw poker games.

You can play in Tournaments, Sit N Gos, and Cash ring games.

There is also a Bad Beat Jackpot that is currently over $300,000. This jackpot can only be won if you lose with quad 7′s or better. You must use both hole cards when you are beaten to qualify.

Did you know that you can also play casino games at Carbon Poker? Well you can! If you get bored with poker, you can play casino games like blackjack, roulette, video poker and Caribbean Stud.

Tip #14 – Playing the river in Texas Holdem

The river is the moment of truth. Your hand will not improve anymore, neither will any of your opponents. Whether you are a poker beginner or a seasoned pro, you will only have a couple of moves that you can make at this point of the hand.

How should this affect your river strategy? Obviously it means that missed draws should be folded to a bet. But it also means that there is no reason to try and drive out opponents with your made hands. Therefore, you should not always bet when you think you have a winning hand.

For example, if you have a top pair against a single opponent, and you suspect that your opponent just have missed a draw. Now if you are right about his draw and bet, then your opponent will fold since he doesn’t have anything. Then you will gain nothing by the bet. On the other hand, if you are wrong and your opponent has a better hand than you, he might raise, in which case you lose an extra bet.

The only ways to gain equity on a river bet is if you:

• Bluff your opponent, making her fold a hand that is better than yours. Be careful with bluffing missed draws when its obvious you have nothing. You have been warned.
• Make your opponent call with a hand that is worse than yours. This is known as value betting the river.

Therefore you should only bet out if you think your opponent will call with a second best hand, or fold a better hand than yours. In other cases, you would be better off checking and calling.

When you decide whether you should call your opponents bet you have to take the following factors into the consideration:

• The pot size
• The strength of your hand
• The cards on the board
• The number of opponents

If the pot is large you should call more often, since it might be expensive to mistakenly fold the winning hand. You shouldn’t fold a hand that has reasonable chance to win if the pot is fairly large. If the pot is ten times as big as the bet you invest you only have to win 10% of the time for the call to be profitable.

Of course you still have to be able to drop your hand if you are obviously beat. The scarier the cards on the board and the more opponents you are up against, the more likely it is that you are beat. If three players have called before you and the board looks dangerous you should probably drop your top pair if the pot isn’t very large.

Strategies for Playing the River

So some things you should think about on the river in Texas holdem is don’t automatically bet just because you think you have the best hand. The bet is only profitable if the opponent calls with a worse hand, or drops a winner. If it is likely they are on a missed draw then they obviously can’t call so consider inducing a bluff. This can obviously vary whether you are playing a single garage tournament or whether you can bust out and play another game with your sit and go strategy.

On the river, always evaluate the strength of your hand in relation to the cards on the board and the number of opponents before you call. For example, if you have a straight on a flush board, and the flush got there on the river, play it cautiously, you may not have the best hand. In saying that, you can still value bet the river if you think worse will call, but fold to a raise, you are always beat.

If the pot is large you can sometimes call a river bet even if its probable you are beat. For example, if the pot is ten times as big as the bet you call, you only have to win ten percent of the time to make a profit. You are getting good pot odds to call. Don’t let this be a leak in your game though. Value bets are always small because they want a call. If your gut is telling you that you are beat, then just fold even if you are getting good pot odds.

The great thing about getting to the river in Texas holdem is you get to pay attention to what cards the other players have in showdown. It can give you useful information about their style of play.

Tip #13 – Playing the turn in Texas Hold’em

It takes experience to handle all the possible situations that you will encounter at the turn in Texas holdem, and this is something that you will improve while playing. However, if you remember the advice given here it will give you a good start.

As for the flop, to call a bet on the turn card you usually need a decent made hand or a strong draw. Keep playing your strong hand aggressively by betting and raising if you think you are ahead, especially if the river card could hurt you. You want the opponents pay as much as possible for their draws or inferior hands.

Some draws that you called with on the flop because they were profitable, should now be folded to a bet, since the bet you need to call is usually twice as big as on the flop in No Limit Holdem.

It is therefore necessary to reevaluate the odds to see if your draw is profitable. Also, the turn card may make your draw less profitable since it may have improved your opponent’s hand.

For example, if there comes a third card in the same suit, your straight draw is more or less useless, since an opponent could have a made flush, and anyone with a card in the same suit will beat the straight if the fourth suited card comes one the river.

Strategies on the Turn

Weak draws should usually be folded against a bet on the turn. You should almost always fold your marginal hands if someone raises before you on the turn. A raise here usually means that your opponent have at least the highest pair with a good kicker, or probably better. Most players are hesitant to raise on the turn without strong hands, so be careful. Re-raises should only be called with very strong hands.

What is to be considered as a very strong hand of course depends on what possible hands your opponents may have. A two pair is usually good but with four consecutive cards on the board its useless if its not a giant pot that justifies a draw to a full house. Most beginning players call too many raises on the turn, and such mistakes may cause them to lose everything they earn by playing correctly. It’s better to fold if you think that you are beat than to call a lot of raises on the turn and regret it when you lose a big pot.

Of course you could call a raise on the turn from very aggressive opponents than from those who rarely raise. Be careful against tricky players who only check and call on the flop, and raise on the turn. They have probably either been slowplaying a strong hand or hit a draw, this is typically a very strong line.

As a general rule of thumb, when you are playing the turn in Texas holdem:

• Keep playing your made hands aggressively if you think you are ahead and the river card might hurt you. Be careful however if someone raises or re-raises you.
  
  
• Always re-evaluate the odds if you are on a draw. Take into account the changed bet size and pot size as well as your opponents possible hands. If the pot odds are greater then the chances of making the best hand you should make the call.
  
  
• A raise or check raise on the turn usually indicates a very strong hand. You should usually fold your marginal hands against raises. As always, take into account the possible holdings of your opponents when you evaluate your hand strength.
  
  

Do you want to find all of the latest news in the world of poker? Then check out the daily blog at our friends at National Poker Directory.

Tip #12 – Playing online poker in the United States

All my tips in the past have been about how you should be playing poking against your opponent. In this case, the opponent is going to be played by the role of the ambiguous federal laws in the United States against “Internet Gambling”

This is not to say that online poker is legal where you live. This article is my resource to my faithful followers in the United States that like playing online poker and would like to continue playing poker online for real money.

The Federal Government considers internet gambling to be any wager or bet placed on a “game of chance”. For years, online poker websites that allowed poker players from the United States considered online poker a “game of skill” and therefore it didn’t pertain to the 2006 UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) law.

However, the shutdown of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker were not due to USA customers playing poker online. These companies were hit hard because of the way that these companies went about getting player deposits into their accounts. By intentionally mislabeling the transactions, the US Department of Justice was able to seek bank fraud and money laundering charges on the higher-ups at these companies.

Where is it Not OK to Play Poker in the USA?

Here are a list of States in America that have an issue with their citizens gambling online (online poker is included): Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington State, Wisconsin.

Of the states that I just listed above, most of these do not have specific laws punishing players that choose to wager. Here are some exceptions to that rule:

Illinois – The act of gambling online is a misdemeanor offense. You may or may not be allowed to sign up and play at a given gambling site.

Kentucky – Has made numerous attempts to ban the IP address of online gambling sites. There is a very strong possibility that a Kentucky resident will not be able to play at any online gambling site.

Louisiana – Louisiana has a law in place stating that it is a felony to gamble online.

Missouri – Heavily against any form of online gambling but currently not a crime.

Washington State – Washington has a law that states it is a felony to play online poker for real money in the US.

Then, there are the cases where the state already allows and regulates casinos and has a conflict of interest against the online gambling sites that operate outside of the United States. This would include Nevada (Las Vegas), New Jersey (Atlantic City) as well as some of the other states on the list.

Where can I still Play Poker Online?

With all of the confusion after the events on “Black Friday”, a lot of the online poker rooms are sparsely populated. The more popular poker networks may only have 1000 real money players or less. Some of the sites listed below have only had a couple hundred players online.

If you used to play at either PokerStars or Full Tilt Poker, there are still a few options left for playing poker online. One of the places that still accepts players from the US is PlayersOnly, which uses the PlayAces software. You can read more about PlayersOnly here.

One of the most popular online poker sites in the wake of Friday’s events is Carbon Poker. Carbon Poker offers a $600 sign up bonus and still accepts poker players from the United States. You can read more about Carbon Poker here.

Another site that is still open for business is Cake Poker. Read this review of Cake Poker for more information about this site.

One more option to consider is Bodog Poker. I also did a review on Bodog’s poker room which you can read here.

You can also take a look at Doyle’s Room. They are part of the Yatahay Poker Network and the site is named after poker great Doyle Brunson. I have a poker review about Doyle’s Room here.

Would you like to try a great online poker room that has become very popular? Then give PKR Poker a try. This post is for the poker players from the UK and Europe, as players from the United States cannot play at PKR Poker. Here is the PKR.com download if you would like to install and play poker online at PKR.

PKR poker is the first and best of the 3D online poker sites. You can choose through many different avatars and sit down at one of the hundreds of tables. There are no shortage of varieties of poker games or tournaments here.

PKR Poker uses 3D Poker Software which is one of my favourites. You can get many different views around the table. Take a look at some of the screenshots here. You can zoom in on your hand or get an overhead view of the poker table. To find out more, take a look at this 3D Poker review.

How to get rakeback from PKR Poker

If you want to get back some of the money that you invest in poker, just sign up at PKR Poker through our rakeback program and receive 30% of your generated rake. If you are already a member of PKR Poker, don’t continue with the following steps. Instead, give us an e-mail and we’ll figure something out for your case.

If you would like to participate in the PKR rakeback program, please follow the link to over to pkrrakeback.org and they will help you get set up. Sign up and you can get 30% rakeback. Just use the bonus codes that are provided when you sign up.

** 30% rakeback means that at the end of the month, you will receive 30% of the charges back for raked games and tournament entry fees **

Remember not to use the Refer a Friend program that PKR Poker offers, or you will not be able to receive any rakeback whatsoever.

Once you successfully register for an account, you will receive 30% of the rake that you have generated during the course of a month until the 10th of the next month.

You generate rake by playing for real money, either in cash games or in tournaments. Apart from the rakeback, PKR Poker also offers a 100% bonus for your first deposit of up to $800 when you sign up.

If you would rather get a bonus from PKR instead of the rakeback, you should check out this Bonus Code for PKR instead.

PKR Poker offers a number of different poker variations, such as Limit Hold ‘em (with $0.25/$0.50 to $10/$20 limits), No Limit Hold ‘em (where the blinds go from $0.05/$0.10 to $10/$20), or Omaha. You can choose to play either in Sit n Go’s or in Tournaments, for limits appropiate to your level – from $1 limits to $250, you can go wherever you want.

PKR Poker accepts Neteller, Maestro, Visa, Delta, Switch, Click2Pay, check, Solo, Moneybookers or Visa Electron for depositing and withdrawing money to and from your account.

Tip #11 – Playing the flop in Texas Hold ‘em

The flop is the defining moment in Texas Holdem.   When the flop has come, you must either have a good hand that is likely to win as it is, or a hand that is likely to improve to a winner.  Usually you need at least a top pair with a good kicker, or a strong draw, like a flush draw (FD) or open ended straight draw (OESD) to keep playing against many opponents. Against two or one opponents you may want to bet out with only middle pair or bottom pair, since there is a decent chance that all your opponents have missed the flop totally.

If you miss the flop, you should almost always fold. This is sometimes hard for beginning players to get. Since you have been told how important your starting hand is you may be reluctant to drop your hand when it doesn’t improve on the flop. Starting hands like AK can get you into a lot of trouble when they miss the flop.

If the flop gives you a strong hand however, you should almost always bet and raise strongly and make your opponents pay for their possible draws.

When you don’t have a made hand but a hand that may improve at the turn, your odds to hit the draw compared to the relation between the bet you face and the pot size decides whether you should call.

If you are not sure that you will win even if you hit, the pot must be a lot larger to justify a call. There are many situations where a draw becomes unprofitable to call. For instance, your opponent may be betting with a weaker holding that may not necessarily pay you off even if you hit your draw, so you are not getting the implied odds to call.

Mastering flop strategy, or any other part of the game for that matter, takes experience, but hopefully you have now learned a few important lessons that will greatly improve your game.   Even if you are playing with free money or used the best UB referral code you still want to play your best on the flop.  Important things to keep in mind when playing the flop:

• Drop your hand if you don’t either have a holding with a good chance to win as it is, or a hand that is likely to improve to a winner. It doesn’t matter how pretty the hand looked before the flop.

• Almost always play your made hands aggressively on the flop by betting and raising with them! You want the other players either to fold or to pay as much as possible for their draw.

• When you try to make a draw, make sure that you take into account the other players possible holdings. You don’t want to draw to a loser!

Tip #10 – Thinking equity in poker

In online poker games, there are many underlying reasons as to why you need to think about equity before you play a poker hand. One of those reasons comes when you attempt to steal or place pressure on the blinds by raising from position.

Every time that you open raise from the cut-off seat or the hijack then it is in your interests to have the people to your left believe you. This means that if you open raise with 100% of your range from position then this kind of low sophistication raising can really only succeed against very weak players. Better players will simply not stand for this and will play back at you.

But what is worse is that when your range is as transparent as this then your opponents will massively expand their three betting ranges and be correct to do so. In order to get away with as many blind steals as possible then it is important that your opponents believe you. In order to achieve this situation then you need to cultivate the image that you are not raising all the time.

The next objective is to raise with hands that have equity if your initial raise is called. So it is clearly far better to raise with a hand like J-9s than 8-4o simply because the former has far better equity based on its post flop hand making potential.

Don’t Be Too Aggressive

You do not need to c-bet every flop either. Raising from position and c-betting are well known poker concepts and are so well known that it is often correct play to try and take advantage of aggressive play than to be aggressive yourself.

I often find it is better to three bet a raiser with J-10s when I have position than be three bet when I have the same hand by a player that has position on me. This is exactly my point when I say that it can be better to exploit aggression than to be the initial aggressor yourself and this can especially be the case in today’s far more aggressive online poker games.

So in order to get away with your stealing and re-stealing then you need to do this with hands that have some equity when your opponent calls you. If your opponent raises with A-Q and you three bet with J-10c and the flop comes 8c-4c-2d then you could easily bet that flop if checked to or raise or call if your opponent bets.

Having hands with equity allows you to escape from situations post flop by having fold equity. In this situation then even if you ended up in an all-in situation then you would still have the equity of a nine out flush draw in your favour plus your overcard outs.

It is always better to think about equity whenever you play a poker hand both before, during and even after the session as post session analysis will prove to be a major part of your advancement as a poker player.

This tip can be used in conjunction with this important tip about classifying your opponents. You should also check out this article on how to spot and exploit weaknesses from other poker players.