Remember a few years ago when you gambled with a few friends in your basement or living room for pennies and nickels? Maybe drank a few beers and smoked old stogies. If you wanted anything more serious it meant taking a trip to a casino, spending time in hotels or motels. You could spend a fortune before placing your first bet.

Now imagine this. You’re sitting at home; your family has retired for the night and your bored to death with the same old TV programs. What can you do for a little entertainment? It’s too late to invite your friends over; they’d tell you to stick it some place where the sun don’t shine.

What if there was a place you could go, play as long as you wanted and place all the bets you want with the mere press of a button? No! Its not Fantasy Island, it’s the computer sitting in your den. That’s right, flip a switch, log in, play to your hearts content, and never have to leave home. How cool is that?

If you’ve ever done any gambling you know for a fact that it’s a risky business, it’s a lot easier to lose than it is to win. Ever played the horses? How many times did you pick the winner? Of course there are ways to increase your odds of winning such as making place bets, but no matter how you bet the odds are against you. If you are a compulsive gamble let me give you some advice before continuing. Don’t Even Think About Betting. You will lose your shirt along with everything else you own. You are a bookies or a casinos dream come true. When you arrive they start drooling. You couldn’t knock the smile off their face with a ten-foot pole.

Internet gambling makes it even easier, you don’t need cash, a credit card give you full access to games like Poker, Blackjack, Slots, and craps. It doesn’t even feel like real money until you receive your next statement. Then you realize just how much trouble your in.

Online gambling is fine entertainment for the person who can control their urges, who know when to quit. The guy or girl who can set their limits and quit when that limit is met, be it winnings or losses. Under these circumstances it can be a whole lot of fun. Decide which type you are before you start. Compulsive, turn off the computer and watch TV. If you can control your urges. Go ahead and have some fun.

I’m a gambling man and my game of choice is Poker. The suspense of the game and the thrill I get when catching that winning hand keeps bringing me back for more. If you have gambling in your blood visit my blog and choose your game:

I, myself, never did try Jed’s system because my career was going extremely well and the online poker bug had not yet bitten me, but I did spend a lot of time with him in those days. Over the next few years, I was able to observe how everything played out in his life.

At first, Jed’s life was like a walk through fairy-tale land. He was playing online poker every day, and his bankroll was growing at a phenomenal rate.

During the next few years, Jed was not shy about spending his newly acquired cash. He bought the home he always wanted, a 4-bedroom showcase on an acre and a half near a lake. He bought not one Jaguar, but two. He persuaded the woman he loved to marry him, and he threw an extravagant wedding. (I was there.) During the early days of their marriage, Jed and his wife took vacations to places like Thailand and Bali. He even bought his brother a plot of land on which to build his own house. Jed was a picture of success. It seemed as if the heavens had opened up and showered good fortune on him. And there was no end in sight to this dream life he was living.

Jump ahead four years. Trouble first became apparent in the fall of 2005. Jed still had money coming in from his online efforts, but the excitement had left him. He still had his beautiful home, even more beautiful than before, since he had twice remodeled. He still had his beautiful wife, now pregnant with their second child. And he still had his two Jags. On the surface, everything seemed super. But Jed was not the same man he used to be.

I knew Jed well, so I could see what many others could not: He was miserable. How could this be, you might ask? With all the money and excitement in his life, as well as all the satisfaction of beating online poker, how could he be unhappy? Well, I’ll tell you how. I had many long talks with Jed, long into the nights during those days. In my opinion, what had taken its toll on him was simply the devastating nature of cheating itself. What I was witnessing was the inevitable result of a life based on (and dependent on) defrauding others.

One thing that all human beings need in order to find peace and contentment is self-esteem. There are no exceptions. Every one of us requires at least some sense of self-worth. Jed had lost his. He felt worthless. He felt he was contributing zilch to the betterment of society. And indeed, his assessment was correct.

In the early days, Jed was able to mentally handle the thought that he was a cheater. The immediate rewards of his lifestyle were so new and so overwhelming that he was able to justify his actions. Money and the admiration of others made it possible for him to tweak his mind in such a way that he ignored his inner feelings of self-loathing. If he needed to secretly be a low-life cheater in order to obtain all the wonderful assets he was enjoying, then so be it.

But as time went on, the deep-seated realization of what he was doing and the type of person he had become finally caught up with Jed. He could no longer fight off the cold hard fact that he was morally bankrupt. Regardless of the beautiful trappings with which he had surrounded himself, the undeniable truth at the core of his being was that he was nothing more than a lousy cheater. And that recognition, over time, had a devastating effect on Jed’s peace of mind.

At one point, Jed confided in me that he wanted to stop his cheating ways. But he could not. He was stuck. The money was too good, the lifestyle too easy. He found himself trapped in a situation he had created for himself.

So, you may wonder, how is Jed today? Not good. He is getting divorced, suffering from depression and struggling with his sanity. I won’t share with you all the gory details of exactly how his life degenerated during the past two years, but I will tell you that he was recently committed to a mental facility. The Jaguars are gone. The beautiful house sits empty. And Jed is miserable.

I wish I saw a bright future for Jed, who is fundamentally an intelligent and kindhearted guy, but quite honestly, I don’t. They say that a person has to hit rock bottom before he or she can turn things around and climb back to a meaningful life. Jed has certainly bottomed out, so maybe he will yet pull his act together. We’ll see.

I tell you this story not to cry a sad tune for Jed. I tell you so you will know that there are always two sides to every situation. And there are different ways to evaluate any potential behavior you might be considering. Sure, making a fast buck is alluring. If you can haul in money by cheating, the benefits seem to outweigh the disadvantages, at least in the sort term. Many people feel that if they can get rich cheating and then later need to deal with some mental conflict as a result, that’s actually a pretty good trade-off. They will just handle those negative feelings when they come up.

Big mistake. Cheating is not a good trade-off. Cheating may seem attractive, but don’t be fooled. Hiding behind all the glamor and all the glory is a life of quiet discontent.

People find happiness by achieving. A purposeful life comes from doing things that contribute in some way to society. What has a poker cheater contributed? Nothing. What has a poker cheater achieved? Nothing. Worse than that, he has taken a portion of other people’s livelihood by unfair means. The cheater has not even learned to play poker well. He can never receive fame or accolades for his playing skill, since all he knows how to do is cheat. He can never succeed at high-profile tournaments, because his cheating skills proffer him nothing when they cannot be used. Cheating is never admirable. A cheater is, at his core, a sad case of frustration and unfulfilled dreams.

Yes, you can cheat at bodogpoker. (There are ways, even today, to accomplish this.) And yes, you can make money at the expense of well-meaning individuals. Although the rewards are inviting, do not be roped in. Like Satan’s apple, it is a trick. You are wise to resist the temptation. The price you pay for cheating is always a cost that will eventually come due. A life of misery and low self-esteem is inevitable. As one who has witnessed his good friend go down that ill-fated path, I urge you not to fall for the false promises of cheating.

In a sense, me writing this article is ironic. In recent years, I have perfected a particular way to cheat at online poker, and I am now making the system available to those who want it. (I believe in freedom of speech, and I believe in people’s right to information.) And yet, while I am making this cheating information available, I am simultaneously discouraging you from using it. Weird, huh?

The message of this article, if there is one, is simply this: do not cheat. In the long run, cheating is not worth the anguish it brings. Nothing beats the satisfaction of playing poker well and winning fair and square — not a beautiful home, not an expensive automobile, nothing. You pay a dear price when you cheat. The devil must exact his due. And he will, one day.

Poker is a magnificent game. Whether online or in-person, it is the most perfect expression of competition ever devised. I implore you to play within the confines of the rules. Play the game as it was intended to be played, fairly. Play with honor and dignity. Appreciate the precious game of poker for the incredible blessing that it is. Love it, do not defile it.

Timmor L. White is the founder and president of Online Poker Systems and the OPS Group. With a background in Internet technology, he is active in the study and reporting of online-poker playing strategies.

Learn how to shuffle poker chips like a pros. Watch this video!

People who have a familiarity with poker would consider Texas Hold’em strange at first. Most people would only be familiar with the Stud and Draw variations of poker mainly because of its portrayal in popular culture. Stud games deal hands that are a combination of cards that are known only to the holder and cards that are open for everyone to see. Cards are dealt and bets placed with the player the sole person who knows of his hand and other making guesses based on the partial knowledge provided by the exposed cards. Draw games, on the other hand, have no exposed cards. Only the betting patterns of the players and the number of cards drawn to improve their hand would give other players information about each other’s hands.

Texas Hold’em, on the other hand, is another variant called a flop game. Flop games draw elements from both stud and draw games. Like draw games, the cards dealt to players are only known to them. Like stud games, the hands are improved using exposed cards. The unique feature of this type of game at FullTilt.com though is that the exposed cards belong to everyone. The concept of community cards in completing a poker hand is the unique characteristic of flop games that distinguish it from stud and draw games. There are other flop game variants like Omaha, Omaha Eight, and Pineapple. But Texas Hold’em is by far the most intricate and most challenging to play.

Texas Hold’Em is actually fast gaining popularity in gaming rooms and card circles all over the world. Texas Hold’Em enjoys some distinctive advantages over other poker variations:

• More players can join a game. Seven-Card Stud, another popular poker variation, can only support up to seven players while in Texas Hold’em the deck can support up to 23 players. Although in practice, cardrooms seat up to 10 players at a Hold’em table.
• More hands per hour are dealt in a Hold’em game because fewer cards are needed to deal from the deck. In a 10-player game, no more than 25 cards will be dealt. Getting a fast dealer would also mean that it could be possible to play as many as 40 hands every hour.
• All the exposed cards in a Texas Hold’em are left on the table. A player does not need to remember the cards contained in previously folded cards.
• One of the unique features of Texas Hold’em is the use of shared cards in making up a hand. Because most of your cards are basically everybody else’s there is no great differences in the strength of the winning and losing hands.

Texas Hold’em is becoming a favorite among poker players of all skill levels because of the complexity, excitement and aggressive nature of the game. Mastering the game is both a source of enjoyment and an achievement for both recreational and serious players.

But it is also important to learn basic strategies that will help ensure that you can hold your own in any game even if you are playing with more experienced players.

Before really getting into any basic strategies in playing Texas Hold’em, you should remember two things: the two cards that you are holding are the only cards that will set you apart from your opponents, and; all the other cards are community cards, which you share with the other players. A good player must be able to discern the importance of the community cards (which are all faced up) to your opponents’ hands as well as your hand. Be especially observant about the possible straight or flush opportunities your opponents may form with the community cards.

Card evaluation

When looking at the two cards dealt to you make sure that you are not revealing anything with either your facial reaction or any mannerisms. These “tells” would reveal to your opponents if you have a good or bad hand. So be as emotionless as possible.

Knowing a good hand

A good hand on FullTiltPoker.com would in part depend on how many players are in the game because the odds are affected. But as a general rule you should consider folding before the flop if you get a two non-pair cards that are below 10. More conservative players will consider folding if just one of the cards is less than 10. More aggressive players, on the other hand, will stay in the game if they get an 8 and 9 of the same suit (the reason for this is that this hand gives you the possibility of forming a straight or a flush).

If the big blind (which is what a forced bet is called, and designed to make sure that there is always a pot in every hand) is quite low, it could be a good idea to pay in just so you can see the flop even if you don’t really have a strong hand. But don’t go overboard or you may just find yourself with very depleted funds before you know it.

Do not be impatient if you do get bad hands. Patience is part of the skills that Texas Hold’em players must learn. Just wait until you get a good hand as this will come to you eventually.
The Flop

Do not be afraid to fold, if after seeing the flop you cannot form a good hand. It is better to take some minor losses than to commit the rookie mistake of playing a bad hand just because you are already in the midst of the game.

The Turn and the River

The fourth and fifth community cards, called the Turn and the River, give you two more opportunities to either get out of the pot before you lose more money. Alternatively, it can also be a chance to increase your winnings.

The best advice at this point is to be cautious. Do not get committed into going too far into the pot with a weak hand.

In a casino, you don’t just walk up to a table and sit down. When you enter the poker room, you must sign in at the desk. You tell the host what game you are interested in playing. If there is an opening, you will be seated immediately. If the table is full, they will take your initials and call you when there is an opening. Some casinos have a large board where they will write your name or initials or they will write your name on a list. Either way you will be called when it is your turn.

When your name is called, the Poker room host will show you to your table. In some rooms, the host will ask you how much you would like to buy in for and get you your chips when you are seated. At other casinos, you will purchase the chips from the dealer when you sit down. You are allowed to bring chips from other games. All games have a minimum buy-in which for most low limit games is usually around $30.

Table Stakes
In casino poker, you play for table stakes. This means that you play with the chips that you have on the table. You’re not allowed to go into your pocket for more money in the middle of a hand. If you run out of chips, you announce that you are “All IN” and you will only be eligible for the money in that pot up to that point. Any additional bets made by others will be put in a side pot. You will not be eligible for this pot even if you have the best hand.

Once in the game you want to observe proper table etiquette and be careful not to make any of the common beginner mistakes. Here are a few of the common mistakes made by new players when they sit down to play casino poker for the first time.

1) Betting Out of Turn
You must wait until the player to your right acts. If you bet out of turn this could give an unfair advantage to a player that did not act yet. If you raise out of turn a player that might had called could fold. Or if you fold out of turn, you are giving an advantage to the player on your left who now knows you won’t raise.

2) Making a String Bet
If you are going to raise you should announce “raise” when it is your turn. If you don’t announce a raise, you must put the bet and the raise in at the same time. If you put in the bet and then go back to your stack for the raise, you can be called for a “string bet” which is not allowed and your raise will not be honored.

3) Not knowing what the bet is.
You have to know what the bet is when it is your turn. You must pay attention to amount of the bet made by the first active player. Then you must be aware if the bet was raised.

4) Folding instead of checking.
Sometimes if the player does not like the next card dealt he will immediately fold when it is his turn. If you are first to act you can check. If everyone else checks, you get to see the next card for free. The same is true if everyone checks before it is your turn, you should also check instead of folding your cards. The free card may just make your hand.

5) Throwing chips into the pot.
Place your bet in front of you. This way the dealer sees that your bet is correct. He will scoop them into the pot. You don’t throw them into the pot like you would at home.

6) Not protecting your cards.
It is up to the players to protect their cards at all times. Place your hands or a chip on top of your cards. If another player’s cards mix with yours when they throw in their cards your hand will be declared dead. You will see some players bring a special weight or “Lucky Charm” to place over their pocket cards. It doesn’t matter what you use as long as it is not so large as to interfere with the play of the game

7) Throwing a winning hand into the muck. (Discards)
The cards speak for themselves. Don’t immediately throw in your cards if someone calls out a better hand. The dealer will declare the winner of the hand. Sometimes you may have a better hand than you thought you had. There is also the possibility that the player calling his winning hand has misread his own hand. Let the dealer declare the winner before mucking (throwing way) your hand

Losing control of your emotions.
Keep your emotions in check. The table is not the place for foul language of temper tantrums. It will not be tolerated. Besides it makes you look foolish. Veteran players as well as newcomers make this mistake. It is one that should not be made by anyone!

9) Playing Too Many Hands
Many players crave the action. They feel that if they are not involved in the hand they aren’t really playing the game. Successful players play fewer hands. It takes patience and discipline to wait until you have a proper starting hand. If you can practice these traits, you will be on your way to becoming a winning player.

10) Playing Too Long.
Playing winning poker takes concentration. You must be aware of the game and people around you. If you play too long, you may get tired or even bored. This can cause you to make mistakes or play marginal hands. If you start to get tired, leave the game.

Playing Texas Hold’em Poker heads up against a single opponent requires a completely different strategy than playing at a full table. Many players I have talked to tell me that they have the most difficulty adjusting to playing heads up play and are not very successful when put in that situation. The reason for this is that they are used to playing a very tight game. In a heads up situation you can’t play tight and expect to win.

When you are playing heads up you can’t afford to wait. Many times it comes down to who can steal the most blinds. Therefore you must loosen up and call more or you will go broke. Queen Seven is called the computer hand because computer simulations show this hand is will win 51.77 percent heads up against a random hand. So with this hand or any hand higher than this one you are almost forced to play. A small pair or even a single Ace or King can be a big favorite in heads up play.

Be the Aggressor

A player in the small blind can win by raising with every hand if the player in the big blind keeps folding to a raise. For example: The blinds are $50 and $100 which means there is $150 in the pot. The player on the button is the small blind and must act first before the flop. He raises by putting in an additional $150 bet. If you as the big blind fold, then the small blind has risked $150 to win $150. If you fold half the time the small blind will show a profit. He still will almost certainly profit in these situations since he will not only steal your blind, but will also sometimes win when you call as well.

If you only call in the big blind with a third of the hands that you are dealt. Then the small blind can raise every time and if you call, he can fold if you bet on the flop unless he flops a good hand. When this is the case, he’s going to win $150 two out of three times, plus he’s going to win more sometimes. He’s going to lose the $150 less than one out of three times.

If you find yourself against a player using this strategy you will need to counter it by calling more or raising him. You have to let him know that it could cost him more than $150 if he raises you every time.

Analyze Your Opponent

You need to judge your opponents. Poker at PokerStars.net is a game about making judgments. You need to test the waters by doing the raising and being the aggressor. If you find yourself in a game with a passive player you now know how to beat him. If on the other hand your opponent is also aggressive you will have to use some discretion and very your play. If your opponent is very aggressive you will be able to trap him when you have a good hand. If you check he will more than likely bet and you beat him when he bluffs.

Act First

Playing heads up poker is a lot like playing chicken. This means you will need to bluff more before the flop and sometimes fire away after the flop with nothing. With just two players there will be many times when the flop doesn’t hit either player. Many times it is the person that acts first who will win the pot. Just remember that occasionally your opponent will have a legitimate. Although you don’t want to be bluffed out of a pot on FullTiltPoker.net you will sometimes have to give it up to save your self from elimination.

Chip Stacks

The size of your chip stack makes a big difference in how you play. If you have a big stack you can be much more aggressive as you opponent might be inclined to fold more often waiting for a big hand. While this may work there will be a time when they are forced to make a stand. Although you want to keep the pressure on you also don’t want to double up your opponent too often or you will soon find yourself with the short stack. You have to use selective aggression.

Beware the Limper

Limping in at bodoglive, means to simply call the big blind when a player is in the small blind. Players limp in from the small blind for two reasons. They are either trying to see the flop cheaply or they are trying to trap an aggressive opponent who they hope will raise from the big blind. If you have a big hand in the small blind and know your opponent will raise then you can limp in and try for a check raise. If you know the big blind will always raise if you limp in from the small blind then you must raise first. Your objective in heads up play is to try and extract the most money from your opponent. To do this you will have to mix up your play to keep your opponent guessing.

Practice

Becoming a proficient heads up player requires practice. You can practice at one of the online poker sites, like Full Tilt Poker and PokerStar.net. Get together with a friend for some free practice or enter the small sit and go tournaments to hone your skills.

Until Next time remember: Luck comes and goes…Knowledge Stays Forever.

When you gamble online, position in the hand is marked by a dealer button, placed in front of a player to denote the theoretical dealer. The player on the button gets to act last in all betting rounds which provides him/her an advantage over the opponents. The button moves clockwise to the next active player after each hand is completed.

In a brick or mortar set-up, as opposed to playing poker on FullTilt.net, Texas Hold’em is a form of poker that is generally played with at most 10 opponents at a table. Each player is dealt 2 cards known as their “hole cards” and 5 cards are placed on the table designated as “community cards”. All players share the 5 cards on the table and try to make the best 5 card poker hand using any combination of their cards and the community cards. A player has the option to use all, one or none of their cards to make the best hand possible. The person with the best hand at the end of the round takes the pot.

Winning poker hands are ranked from highest to the lowest which consists of the Royal Flush, Straight Flush, 4 of a Kind, Full House, Flush, Straight, 3 of a Kind, 2 Pairs, 1 Pair and High Card. In case of a tie, the holder of the next-highest card wins. If two players have the same combination of cards such as two straights, the player with the highest ranking card wins. If two players have exactly the same cards in different suits, they divide the winnings as suits have no rank in poker home games.

The dealer button in the actual scenario is a white puck that is moved clockwise to the next player after each hand. As it represents where the dealer would be, this is where the deal begins. The cards will be dealt starting with the player to the immediate left and going around the circle twice giving one card at each pass.

There are two players called “the blinds” who must post a certain amount of money before anyone is given cards. The player to the immediate left of the dealer is known as the “small blind”, while the player to the left of the small blind is known as the “big blind”. This forces at least 2 players to be in the pot and will guarantee action on every hand. The amount of money which these players must post will depend on the type of Hold’ em game. In a $5 to $10 No Limit Hold’ em game, the $5 refers to how much the small blind pays and the $10 refers to how much the big blind pay. The big blind is usually double the small blind.

After the players receive two cards, a round of betting will occur. The 3 cards known as the “flop” will be placed face-up on the table. This will be followed by another round of betting and then 1 more card known as the “turn card” or “4th Street” will be placed face up on the table. Another round of betting follows after which, the 5th and last card known as the “river card” is placed face up on the table. One final round of betting occurs before the remaining players reveal their hands.

Since the blinds are considered to be bets, the first person to act before the flop would be the person to the left of the big blind. This person must put in at least the big blind if he/she wishes to play. The action goes around the circle until the bets are finished. When the game comes down to 2 players left, it is called heads up play. The blind position reverses putting the small blind on the dealer button and the big blind on the role of the other player. This is to prevent giving the dealer an overly unfair advantage preflop and postflop.

Some games have an additional factor — a large secondary jackpot that hits much more often than royal flushes. If you’re playing basic Jacks or Better, the 125-credit payoff for five credits wagered isn’t going to get the juices flowing. But what if those quads or worth 250 credits? Or 800? Or 1,200? Or 2,000? All for hands that come up much more often than royals. Makes a difference, doesn’t it?

Double Bonus Poker, for instance, gives you 250 credits for five wagered on four of a kind, 5s through Kings — and the quads come up about once per 622 hands, giving the player reasonable hope in any session. It has even larger payoffs on four 2s, 3s or 4s (400 coins, about once per 1,900 hands) and four Aces (800 coins, once per 5,000 hands). Double Double Bonus Poker, one of the most popular games around, kicks it up a notch with a 2,000-coin jackpot — half the royal flush payoff — on four Aces accompanied by a 2, 3 or 4. That comes up about once every 16,000 hands, 2.5 times as often as a royal.
One favorite game of mine is Super Aces. The secondary jackpot here is 2,000 coins on four Aces, with no low-card kicker needed. For a quarter player, that’s a $500 payoff on a hand that occurs about once per 4,200 hands — nearly 10 times as often as a royal flush.

The full-pay version returns 99.8 percent with expert play and has the following pay table per coin bet: royal flush, 250 (rises to 4,000 coins for a five-coin bet); straight flush, 250; four Aces, 400; four 2s, 3s or 4s, 80; four 5s through Kings, 50; full house, 8; flush, 5; straight, 4; three of a kind, 3; two pair, 1; pair of Jacks or better, 1. If full houses pay only 7-for-1, Super Aces returns 98.7 percent with expert play; drop that full house payback to 6-for-1 and the overall return drops to 97.7 percent.

Strategy requires a few adjustments to account for that big payoff on Aces. Let’s try a few sample hands in full-pay Super Aces.

Ace of hearts, Ace of clubs, 2 of clubs, 3 of clubs, 4 of clubs: In most video poker games, we’ll break up a pair of Aces to hold four parts of a straight flush. That’s even true in Double Double Bonus Poker, with its 2,000-coin jackpot on four Aces with a low card. Not so in Super Aces, where any four-Ace hand nets that big payoff. Here, holding the pair of Aces brings an average return of 12.03 coins per five coins wagered, while holding the four-card straight flush brings an expected return of 11.06 coins.

Ace of diamonds, Jack of clubs, 10 of clubs, 7 of clubs, 2 of hearts: There are four viable choices here–the lone Ace, Ace-Jack, the three-card double-inside straight flush, Jack-10-7 and the two-card royal, Jack-10. We’ll choose differently according to which game and which pay table we’re playing. In Super Aces, the lone Ace is the best choice, with an expected average return of 2.52 coins per five wagered, compared with 2.30 on Jack-10-7.

Ace of clubs, King of diamonds, Queen of hearts, 5 of spades, 2 of spades: With an eye on possible straights, we’ll often keep King-Queen or Ace-King-Queen in other video poker games. Super Aces and Double Double Bonus Poker have something in common in that the Aces are valuable enough that with this start, we keep just the Ace. In Super Aces, the expected return on the Aces is 2.45 coins. The next best option in this game is either Ace-King or Ace-Queen, at an expected return of 2.24 coins. Those plays at least give us a shot at a miracle draw for the other three Aces. And the Aces are what this game is all about.