April, 2010 | Tips4Poker

Archive for April, 2010

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Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

If you’re a veteran to the online poker world, you know picking a poker room can be a little intimidating at first. After a while, you’ve figured out where most of the big games and tournamnets are held and who has the toughest players as well as the fish. With so many rooms to choose from finding the BEST poker room is really up to the players preference.

Picking a room is broken down in a few important aspects.

1. You want a room with enough players so you can always find a game.
2. You want to make sure the online poker room provider is secure and honest and has excellent customer support.
3. You may want to play in a US friendly room or stick with rooms like PartyPoker if you don’t live in the US.
4. Make sure you take advantage of the first deposit bonus these rooms offer.
5. Learn as much as you can about the game, because in the long run knowledge is power.

Full Tilt Poker – 100% up to $600 Sign Up Bonus!

When online poker really started to kick in, it was FullTilt that decided to use Poker Pros as a source of power. Many years later they are one of the best poker rooms online. With over 100,000 players online daily, you will have no trouble finding a no limit Texas Hold’em game or tournament of your choice.

With an exclusive bonus offer by Tips4Poker we find FullTilt.net to be one of your first choices when it comes to selection time. You may even get to play against some of the best Poker pros in the world. Check out our FullTiltPoker.net review for more details.

PokerStars.com – 100% up to $600 Sign Up Bonus!

PokerStars has a solid reputation for being reliable, good software and the best games on the Internet. In addition to being a good poker room, it’s made several WSOP champions. Both Raymer and Moneymaker started out here when online poker began it’s launch. So what does that tell us? It must have some sort of incredible luck drawn to it!

Overall Pokerstars is worth playing on. The Tournaments are pretty live and it was the first place I actually profited from online and truely made me believe in online poker. For more information on PokerStars.net please check out our latest review.

Party Poker – 100% up to $500 Sign Up Bonus!

Hands down Party Poker was the original room that launched and made it big in the early 2000’s. Unfortunately due to US Govt. tactics, Poker Party closed it’s doors to US players. By puling out of the USA market they definitely took a step back, but still rule the European markets.

Where PartyPoker.com goes from here is unknown, but as long as the online poker market still thrives so will PartyPoker.com Through acquisitions, Party will keep expanding as well. Check out our full PartyPoker.net review now.

Ultimate Bet – 100% up to $1100 Sign Up Bonus!

With a lot of players trying out new sites all the time people tend to come back to Ultimate Bet for their software and game play. Recently merging with AbsolutePoker.com to form the Cereus Poker Network, UB.com still stands as one of the market leaders.

Still in the US market, UltimateBet allows you to go up against poker pros such as Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke. I love how they try to make Annie Duke all sexy like, which is just a horrible idea. She is better staying behind her computer screen if you ask me. To hear more about UltimateBet.net and begin winning some cash.

BodogPoker – 100% up to $1100 Sign Up Bonus!

For a small poker room Bodog.com holds a powerful punch on the poker market. Their games are not huge, but the one thing that keeps people around is the huge overlay they have on their Sunday $100k. This is one of our favorite tournaments of the week due to the free money Bodog adds or should I say has to make up for the guarantee.

You’re not going to find the dozens of poker pros that FullTilt or PokerStars has, but you may run into Evelyn Ng. She is a prized possesion when it comes to poker babes. A must see when you get a chance. For a more extensive review click Bodog.net review.

Absolute Poker – 100% up to $1100 Sign Up Bonus!

Like UB.com, AbsolutePoker.com came on the scene when things were just getting started. Since joining with UB to form the Cereus poker network, AP has continued to make a strong name for themselves. Like most rooms they’ve had a few issues, but now they are poised to grow much bigger and they do accept US players.

With an exclusive bonus of up to $1100, you can get started playing and earning right away. AP does have some poker pros on it’s payroll including the lovely Lacey Jones who is pretty sweet poker hottie. Read more in our AbsolutePoker.net review.

Sportsbook – 100% up to $650 Sign Up Bonus!

With the expnasion of the Merge Network, Sportsbook.com is becoming a strong player in the Internet poker world. With several great sites playing up against each other, the competition is spread versus one big room like FullTilt or PokerStar. Besides the bonuses there are a lot of great things to say about Sportsbook.com.

Of course they are known for their sports book, they do offer a wide variety of poker games and tournaments. Come see our latest SportsBook.com review and see our exclusive promo codes.

Titan Poker – 100% up to $500 Sign Up Bonus!

The thing about www.TitanPoker.com is their great bonuses and wonderful software. They’ve been around a long time. They don’t accept players from the US, but for the thousand’s of poker players outside the US, Titan is a viable option for you.

TitanPoker.com does offer a lot of different options since they use the Playtech Casino Software. Being a casino room as well as a solid poker room, www.titanpoker.com is not far behind the big beast that is PartyPoker.com. Read our full TitanPoker.com review here.

Pacific Poker – 100% up to $500 Sign Up Bonus!

PacificPoker.com stands on it’s own two feet for their great name branding. 888.com owns the rights to PacificPoker and back in the day, this was a top five room. Since the loss of US players, Pacific falls way back in the list. However, you can still find some good games with some weak competition at 888poker.com.

There really isn’t much to PacificPoker.net, but if you are looking for a change they may be the place for you. Please read our latest PacificPoker.com review.

Cake Poker – 110% up to $600 Sign Up Bonus!

One of the fastest growing networks online, CakePoker.com is striving to be the biggest and the best. Accepting US players, offering great bonuses, and Cake Poker Rakeback is the reason they round out the Top 10.

With great guarantee tournaments being offered daily, CakePoker.com should hold some market share. Click here to see our full CakePoker.com review and get a little more information about their bonuses.

If you are still looking for poker websites that may get your game going, then look no further. There are plenty of rooms with plenty of action. Make sure you do your due diligence and it will pay in the long run. There is some fine print when it comes to bonus codes, so pay attention when you make your deposit. You also may want to get some second opinions from the viewers in our poker forums. Everyone has their own opinion, but it may help you decide on what you’re looking for.

Tags: poker site review
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Understanding Chat Lingo in Online Poker

Thursday, April 15th, 2010

No matter where you play poker online, you should have the option to chat with others at your table, or with people that are observing your table. A lot of times that simple box might seem like it’s in a foreign language though as people use chat speak in there to congratulate one another or, more commonly, to tell each other off. If you don’t know what’s going on with the chats at your table, think look at some of these terms for quick reference.

nh: Nice hand. A lot of people don’t use this enough. If you see someone on your tale with a great hand and a legitimate betting style, throw an “nh” their way. You may also see vnh, which just means very nice hand.

nb: Nice bet. This is usually used to tell someone that they played a hand well and made a bet that caused the opponent to really think about their own hand. This can also be used sarcastically though, so be careful and read the context.

np: Nice play. This again is used to congratulate someone on a well played hand, often the result of either a good bluff or a good trap.

gg: Good game. This is used to tell someone goodbye when they get knocked out of a tournament, assuming that the person actually did play a good game. If the person made stupid calls, stupid bets, or stupid raises, he or she will likely not receive any “gg’s”.

os: off suit. If a person says they have A10 os, that means that they have an Ace and a ten in their hand and the cards are not of the same suit. This could be any combination of cards.

donkey: This is a universal poker term for a really crappy player. Other versions of this include donk, fish, and some unpleasant words that are best left out of this article. If you are called a donkey or any derivative of that term, take it as an offense.

These chat terms may come in handy especially at rooms like UB.net and Absolutepoker.net where the players are more out there.

Tags: all in chat, chat in poker, note taking, player notes
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PokerStars.net Shines for Jason Mercier

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

The $25,000 PokerStars.net Nohegan Sun High Roller Bounty Shootout ended with a bang for Jason Mercier. 35 players were entered into this event with such a huge buy-in in this $450,000 first place prize event. The Bounty hunter with the most bounties ends up with the $450,000 and of course owns the title.

In event with such importance on chip stacks, Luis Vazques came to the final table short handed against other players including Jason Mercier, Sam Stein, Matt Glanz, Shawn Buchanan, and Faraz Jaka. All player new what was at stake to take down the huge cash prize.

With 7 bounties on the Jason Mercier actually walked home with $450,000 for his efforts. Not a bad day if you ask me. The rest of the players had some nice payouts as well.

Tags: NAPT tournament results
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How to Know You’re Pot Committed

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Have you ever had a hand where you knew you had nothing but you already had enough chips out there to call? This is called being “pot committed”, and a lot of times if you follow through with that, it pays off. Below are a few different scenarios where it’s better just to call and see what happens.

Someone Goes All-In
If you already have a big blind in the pot and a low stack on your table goes all-in, you’re usually already pot committed. That means that no matter what two cards you have you have to call the guy’s all-in with the possibility of knocking him out. Bet thing to do is to see what you would be getting out of a possible win. If the amount of money that you have to put out is half or less than half of the pot that is already out there, you should probably call. The exception to that would be if you are a low stack yourself and would be risking your own tournament with stupid cards.

You Face a Small Bet
If a person bets a really small amount into a really huge pot, you usually have to call. Folding will just indicate that you were bluffing the whole time and didn’t have anything. If that’s true, then you have to determine if the other person was bluffing as well. Either way, you should probably put up the chips just to see what happens.

You Have a Ton of Chips Invested
If you’ve already invested a very large portion of your chip stack into a pot, then you probably have to follow through. You of course can fold to preserve your stack, but if you have put in half of your money into one pot, the other half will likely need to follow.

Things will always progress in Internet Poker, but sticking to odds may be your best bet sometimes.

Tags: pot committed, pot odds
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Know Your Poker Overlays

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

No matter which poker room you play in there will be plenty of times when you find a Guaranteed tournament that is ripe for the taking. What this means is, on top of the buy-ins from all the players there will be cash the Poker room has to put up to meet the guarantee. In other words, there are not enough players in the tournament to meet the amount everyone is expecting. Especially in the smaller rooms, you will find these all the time. The amount of free money will vary of course, but when you do find one, it is such an advantage.

If you have a poker tournament that has a $10,000 cash prize pool GUARANTEE with the Buy-in set at $50, you will need at least 200 players to meet the guarantee. Say only 175 players make it in the tournament, by the time late registration is over. That leaves 25 players already eliminated from the tournament, before you even start. This adds $1250 to the prize pool. This is fantastic for players who play in a lot of tournaments. This gives you better odds of not only making it into the money, but actually winning a good percentage more cash.

Listed below are a couple of poker tournaments that were hosted at UB.com, in which there were some nice overlays. Obviously finding these games takes some research, but you will find them soon after you start playing on a daily basis.

Notice in the $15K tournament there are only 178 players enrolled. With a $60 buy-in you need 250 players to get to the $15,000. This tournament was 72 players short and $4,320 was added by UB to fill the Guarantee. What a great overlay this was for the players in this one.In this $2.5K guarantee poker tournament you can see that there were only 78 entrants. With a $25 buy-in you need 100 players to meet the number. This put us ahead of 22 players in guaranteed cash which is $550 added by UB.com to meet the match.

Tags: added to the prize pool tournaments, poker overlays, tournament overlays
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Texas Hold’em Betting

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

Standard Bets for Poker Beginners

If you’re new to the poker world or just wanting to make your bets a little more consistent, there are some standard amounts that you can consider. Sure, bets change from hand to hand, but for the most part, you can learn some of these basic values and apply them to your game so you look a bit less like a donkey. Overbetting and underbetting are both signs of someone who doesn’t know the game. Follow the tips below so you don’t look like that person.

Pre-Flop Raises
If you are going to raise before the flop, three times big blind is the standard. That means that if the big blind is 20, you would raise it to 60. If someone has already raised, the standard is to raise it three times their raise, so the 60 would be raised to 180. This may lead to an all in eventually, but go through the raising first.

Value Bets
If you want to just make a bet to see what the other person has, you need to at least make it the same as the bet you had the previous round. For instance, if you didn’t catch the flop at all and you bet three times blind the round before, you would bet that same amount again just to see if the other person re-raises you or folds. If the person does re-raise you, then you can get out of the hand but still leave knowing you were the aggressor.

Half or Two Thirds Pot
Most of the time a bet in a hand will be half or two thirds the size of the pot, depending of course on the size of the pot and the circumstances of the hand. Nevertheless, you’ll look like a donkey if you bet a really small amount into a really huge pot, so at least bet one third of it. If not, then don’t bet at all. See what the other person says and then respond accordingly.

Tags: betting on streets, poker bets, value betting the pot
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How to Make Money Playing Poker Satellites

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010

A satellite in poker is a tournament that gets you into another tournament. This allows you to get into a high dollar entry for a low dollar amount if you are able to play correctly. What a lot of people don’t know though is if you play satellite tournaments online, you don’t actually have to play the tournament you get into. Instead, you can unregister for the tournament and get the buy in amount back to you in tournament dollars. You can use that money for other tournaments, or you can convert it for a small fee and get real money from it. With the right strategies in mind, you can actually make a lot of money playing online poker this way.

The key to the satellite system is to go into satellites that have good odds. You can calculate that by dividing the entry fee that you would win by the entry fee you have to pay. If you pay $5 to get into a tournament and win a $25 entry from it, there is a one in five chance that you will make money. Most of the time you can find satellites in the 1:3 or 1:4 range, which are pretty good to get into. There are those that are 1:7 in beyond, but they aren’t worth the efforts at times. Sure the payouts are higher, but you have to beat out more people to get to them. If you want minimal risks, go for good odds.

Once you get down to the “bubble boy” in the satellite, or the person right before the money, just try to wait it out as best you can. With these tournaments, getting first isn’t important. As long as you make it into the paid places, you’ve won. Just keep looking for tournaments at the best online poker sites with good odds and then play your best. The rest is money in the virtual bank.

Tags: full tilt satellites, online poker satellites, Poker Satellites
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Hold ‘Em Indicator Review

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

There is a ton of software out there nowadays that’s made just to help online poker players out. Some of it works and some of it doesn’t. the Hold ‘Em Indicator just happens to be a product that works, and by using it, you could make your internet poker playing experience a lot better. Let’s take a little look at what all this indicator might do for you…

The Hold ‘Em Indicator is a fantastic tool to use if you play internet poker because it will show you cast amounts of information about the players on your table and the hands you are playing. You can track people’s playing stats so you can learn their style of play, and you can actually start that while you are a normal observer on the table. You don’t have to spend a dime to gather information, and then when you get ready to play, you’ll already have the stats laid out in front of you.

Click Here to get your FREE Download of Hold’em Indicator

With the Hold ‘Em Indicator, you can see your odds for making certain moves with a hand, as well as the pot odds required for you to make a certain call. You can figure out what your chances are of winning a hand, and then you can make your decisions accordingly. This makes a good bluff feel a whole lot sweeter. You can also see other player’s mucked cards right after they muck them so you can figure out how opponent play certain hands. While you can do the same with the last hand history feature in a room, it’s sill convenient to have it instantly displayed.

The indicator will tell you your opponents’ betting styles so you can see where the good and bad players are on the table. The bad ones you can obviously take advantage of, and the good ones you can respect or avoid. The software assesses the players and categorizes them for you. This is the lazy man’s solution to playing online poker.

There are a few different interfaces for the indicator. You can use the mini mode for quick reference and then expand when you want full player details. Everything seems simple to navigate through, so you can use it without getting a headache afterward. Overall, the Hold ‘Em Indicator is a great poker software to utilize when you’re in a poker room, so you might want to look in getting this for yourself.

Tags: free holdem indicator, holde'em indicator, pot odds calculator, torunament indicator
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