One of the players was duped, but so was I even though I wasn’t in the hand. There is a simple lesson that comes out which is, firstly, you must learn when to fold and second, as related to folding, learn to recognize all the outs available in the hand – or else!

Here’s why and how:

BLINDS 30/60

A has As-Jd, calls 60
B has ??-??, calls 60
Big blind and small blind joins (Pot 210)

FLOP: 8c-4c-As

Here A believes that his Ace is strong, so he continues his aggression:

Big blind and small blind check-fold
A bets 300
B calls 300

Since A put out more than the pot, B now has less than 2-to-1 on a call, (1.7-1) and that is a good price with which to call for a Straight or a Flush draw with 2 cards still to come. A’s bet is just enough to drive out an incomplete hand. But because B is a bad player who will chase down draws, he calls.

TURN: 8c-4c-As-5c

The Five of Clubs came, and A, at this point, still has a strong hand, but has weakened. His Pair of Aces is good against what he believes should be a stray Flush draw. If he makes B continue, however, he might not be able to play his Pair. So A continues battering:

A bets 500
B calls 500

RIVER: 8c-4c-As-5c-7d

A Diamond came! Not a four-Flush. Of course A believes his Aces are good already, except if his opponent had A-K. So A tries a check-trap

A checks
B bets 1250
A calls all-in 1250

B reveals 8d-6d, wins the pot

How in the world did B have the Straight? When A saw three Clubs, he thought his opponent had, say, one Pair and one Clover which could materialize into a made Flush later. Not so, so A figured B’s move all-in was due to the value of the small pair B had already. He reckoned it could only be 8-x or weaker and so called with what he figured was the top hand. It wasn’t.

True the board was risky, but A did not realize just how much danger there was. By focusing too much on the Flush, he didn’t realize that the Board was one card off a Straight (only a 6 is needed to topple him), and when only three Clubs came, he was lifted his fright of the Flush, but it made him recklessly disregard all other potential hands. His check was correct, but if he had been aware of the danger then a fold would have been best at this point.

And I, too, was duped. I thought B had a busted Flush, too. When B pushed A all-in, I, too, thought he was doing it with a pair and a busted Flush draw. It was with a Straight.

So what free poker lessons can be taken from this hand?

To know when to fold clearly! If the board is one card off a Straight or Flush or any other big made hand, and a big bet is in front of you (which you reasonably believe is not a bluff), you should, more often than not, fold.

Two is to know which cards can crush you. All of them, not just some.

For A, during the Flop and the Turn, he realized that only Clubs can crush him. On the river, since there are only three Clubs (if B had the flush made, he would have moved all-in on the Turn, and A could have folded), A thinks he?s safe. He focused on the Clubs too much; he forgot the 6.

Of course it’s easy with hindsight and analysis, being aware of factors like all the available outs is a tough one if you’re new to poker (hell even if you’ve got some time tucked away) so for that reason it’s best to practice and play poker online free a lot at http://www.NoPayPOKER.com before you go off to places like Feltstars and PartyPoker or live games and start throwing real money about. Even when you do progress I advise you to come back and play free poker online regularly in order to de-stress, make errors without loss and practice new ideas.

Unluckily the reality is that to ensure success in poker this is a key area of the game that you have to master, especially if you have any aspirations to play live money games.

The biggest problem is that the formula for doing odds is pretty complex and to do it in your head on the fly under pressure you do need to be pretty hot at math.

As an example:

Suppose you have 8-7 and the Flop comes 5-6-A. You want to figure the probability on hitting your Straight later.

If you use a rigorous mathematical solution, you will construct this monster:

The cards which will help you are the Four and the Nine. There are eight of them still remaining in the deck. The odds of your getting them later is P (1-P)Q, where P is the probability of hitting your hand on the Turn, and Q is the probability you will hit at the river. It is P (1-P)Q since (1-P)Q is the probability that you’ll hit at the river if you do not finish the hand on the Turn.

Now here’s the values for P and Q.

- P = 8 cards still on the deck that will help you divided by 52-5 = 47 remaining cards = 8/47.
- Q = 8 cards still on the deck that will help you, as you didn’t complete on the Turn divided by 52-6 (since there are six cards already out, your hole cards and the Board) = 8/46.

The complete answer is 8/47 (1 – 8/47)(8/46) = .170 (.829)(.174) = .170 .144 = .314 = 31%. There is a 31% chance of hitting your Straight later.

Ouch, that’s fun and beyond a lot of us! However, in a table you usually do not have a calculator (and even if you do you still need to know what to input into it .

And many poker players just understand the outs, but not really much of basic probability theory. How’s this? An out by the way is any unseen card that, if drawn, will help your hand win chances.

Here then is a much simpler, easy way to work out odds

Let’s try an approximation formula:

- You divide 8 by 50, because 47 is near to 50, and get 16.

- Double it again and you get .32.

- It’s a reliable estimate.

- After all, poker players, in games, don’t require exact solutions; they need only a hint as to where they’re standing.

- In this case “about 32%” is an efficient enough answer.

So, in the Flop, here’s the approximation:

- Get the number of your outs, then multiply it by 4, then affix a percent sign.

- This is a reliable approximation percentage of your hitting the hand.

- During the Turn, if you still have outs, multiply it by 2, then affix a percent sign.

- Preflop, when you decide to push all-in, you usually do not need to do this as you will rely mainly on pure hand strength.

The best way by far to perfect your odds skills is to play poker online free at http://www.NoPayPOKER.com, there you can get it wrong a hundred times and never lose money! Yes, you can always use odds calculators and many are available for online poker but if you want to play live you need to learn to do it the hard way, so get learning if you have any ambition to move beyond free poker online and win serious cash!

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?

Hopefully your answer was when you think you have a better hand. If your all in on the river or pre-flop then your most likely going to get called with hands no worse then AQ pre-flop and at least top 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!!

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 didn’t think much of it until I hit the street. I then realized how dark it was, and with the street all torn up, there were no cars and virtually no people, either. Furthermore, there was a light mist falling. I was tired and thought, “Oh, what the hell. It’s only across the street – less than a block away.” So, I started my short walk.

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.

When they got within a few feet of me, one of the guys asked, “Hey, you got a couple of dollars?”

Now, I guess if I were an honest person, I would have said, “Well, yes. As a matter a fact, I just won a big poker tournament and have about $1,000 in my pocket. Will $2 be enough?” But instead, I stopped and said in a very loud and forceful voice, “Hey, don’t – - – - with me! I just lost $25 in there!” They both looked at me and parted like pussycats as I walked right past 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 had to be the best bluff of my life, because I am here today retelling the story. If that bluff hadn’t worked, well I’d be lucky to be even playing free poker let alone big money!