There is no shortage of places that you can play poker for free. Virtually all online casinos offer free play as a way for people to learn how to play the game. In addition there are sites that have been set up specifically to allow for free play. Just because you are playing for free however does not mean that you cannot win real money. There are lots of sites that offer cash prizes for free tournaments. If you are going to play online poker for free you are going to have to put some thought into where you are going to play.

The first thing that you will have to think about when you are comparing free poker rooms is why you are looking for a place to play for free. If you are playing because you want to learn how to play before you start risking real money you are going to want to find a site that offers instruction so that you can actually improve your skills. There are lots of sites like this so you should not have a problem finding one.

The other main reason that people play free online poker is because they are interested in winning prizes but do not want to risk any money. This is especially popular with American players since they are not allowed to play at real poker sites. Some sites hold tournaments that can actually offer thousands of dollars in prizes. The big thing that you are going to want to look at is what kind of prizes are available to be won. That being said the sites with the best prizes will also have the most players and therefore the longest odds. You will therefore also want to consider how many other players there are on the site.

One last consideration when you are choosing a free online poker site is the types of games that they offer. The vast majority of online poker is hold’em so you will have no trouble finding these games. If on the other hand you want to learn a different variant things are going to be more complicated. This is unfortunate because hold’em is not really the best option for players who are just learning. You will actually better off playing pot limit Omaha. You can find sites that offer these other variants but you will have to look for them.

When you say that a poker player is committed, you  look at the pot odds based on your remaining stack more than the odds of you winning the hand. So you do not compare the size of the pot to your opponent’s bet but it is better to see the pot size in relation to what you still have.

We will understand this thru an example. Let us say you and another player starts the game with $200 each. You are approaching the turn and you already have a pot of $300 which mean both players have $50 left on the stack.

When you got a top pair , you are considered pot committed and it is logical that you do not fold on the turn or  the river. The pot odds compared to the rest of your stack is 7-1 while you have a better 7-1 chance of raking in the pot.

In this scenario, you are pot committed with the pot odds greater than the chances of winning the hand. Simply put, this says that you will be losing more money on the long term if you fold your hand.

Remember that the more chips you put into the pot from your stack, the more chances you become pot committed. You just cannot fold once you have put in a good amount of money into the pot.

In short, when you are pot committed, do not fold but always call.

How to properly use your knowledge of the term pot committed:

• If you are not ready to go all in for the cards that you have, do not build a sizable pot.
• Do not throw more money away using “pot committed” as an excuse. Do not think that you are already pot committed when you have thrown in a lot of chips to the center.
• It is not a matter of sixth sense when it comes to pot odds, but more of poker math should be used.
• Know the range of your opponents and read them well to know your chances of winning.

Poker as a Marathon

You might have lost some amount in one night but you have to look at the bright side and see what’s left for the rest of the month or for the rest of the year. It can be mentally soothing to think this way when you dropped a big chunk of cash.

Re-Analyze the records

If you monitor how much you spend and lose in poker, then re-trace and re-analyze how you game is. Hopefully the records will tell you that you are still a winning poker player. Check how you are doing over the months and how bad you are doing over some time.

Losing is not forever

Optimism is key when dealing with a really bad beat. Although it is really heavy in the chest when you lose, you have to get that feeling out of your system. You need to have the right mindset. Wins will come again no matter what.

Rest

It is the most common advice that you can get anywhere. Nothing we can do but agree. Don’t play poker for a day or two, or maybe a week just to get the thoughts of losing streaks out of your head. Mingle with friends, spend time with your family, and once your head is clear go back to play poker.

Spice up things a bit

You can try some new poker games to change things a bit. If you are the hold ‘em guy 90% of the time and play sit n gos for around 10%, then switch it up and play all sit and gos.

Let it all out

Anybody on a losing streak will be very frustrated. It is normal. You need to let the stress all out. Whether you will take a deep breath or scream your lungs out, it is up to you.

Laugh

Drop every negativity that you have and laugh the losing streak off. It will be a better world and it will be a better game next time you play poker.

There are basically two reasons why you use a free card. One is when you want to save some money if you are caught on a draw. Two, when you need to get some more money from the other players on the table.

A free card is somehow a mix of the semi-bluff and a check raise.

You use the free card so you can save money by preventing another player to bet in to you on the turn. This saves you chips rather than making a bet for the flop and another one upon the turn to see what the river will reveal.

The free card play is ideal if you are:

• Heads up against someone on the table. It might be tricky if you are against more opponents.
• The first to act
• Holding strong cards on the draw

Let’s say you got an suited A-6(Diamond) and the flop gives you Jack of Clubs and Q-5(diamond). During this play, you have one card to go for a flush and heads up against another player. You will also be the first one to act. This kind of situation is ideal to use a free card. You can check so the other player will either bet or also check behind you. In case the other player does not check, then you should re-raise and pressure him on your next move.

The check-raise hides the real strength of your cards from your opponent, if it’s not a genius like Kathy Liebert obviously. Re-raising will again force the opponent to think that you have a stronger hand. That is pure aggression that will win you the game.

“I was gonna buy in for 500 but I don’t need to much against you donkeys!”

from: High Stakes Poker Season 6 Ep 9.

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Click here to view the embedded video.

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One of the first things that you need to remember is that you do not want to play above your bankroll.  I can tell you from experience that it will not only make your hole deeper but you will lose a heck of a lot more money, which is not good.  Next, do not become too emotional at the table.  That is something that many beginner poker players do not realize that happens.

Finally – not using the pot odds is something that many people as beginners do not know.  If you hands needs some improvement, the concept of the pot odds can really help you!

It has to be said that keeping your poker face on is not easy – it is actually one of the most difficult things for a person to be doing.  Honest, I think that learning how to bluff in the first place is actually really hard for someone who has no idea how to do it.  Well, bluffing is all part of the game and it is almost a useless trait unless you are in the high-stakes games … because there is more money on the line.

In the game of poker, there are a few things that you need to be able to do and bluffing is definitely one of them. If you are playing in some of the higher-stakes games and you are looking to cash in, you are going to have to let a person read you and let them read what you want them to read – that is where you bluff comes into play.

Bluffing is very important and if you are not a big fan of bluffing, I can promise you are not going to do all that good in poker.