The most common problem with new players is that they want to play too many hands, forever hoping that the card they need will turn up. Make no mistake: the odds are against them. Instead, the best strategy is to play only those hands that have a chance of winning from the start. Keep an eye on the stats for a table before sitting down. Tables with high-flop player percentages are the ones where more players are staying in to see if their cards will improve with the flop. High percentages here are a good sign that there are a lot of new players at the table.

A low average pot size means that many of the players are folding to bets on the flop; this can be good or bad. You can probably get away with betting on a relatively weak hand, scaring off many of the players. The downside, though, is that the players with genuinely good hands will stay in. Pay close attention to the Turn (or Fourth Street) and River (Fifth Street) bettors in this case.

The opposite of this are the tables with a low flop percentage, meaning the players are tight and playing only the hands that are smart bets. This is a good place to try to scare away players by betting pre-flop, and take the antes and blinds. However, if they do stay in and play out the hand, because of their tight playing style, you can be pretty sure that they’ve got a great hand.

Tables you should avoid are those with high pre-flop percentages and large average pot sizes: these are tables where the players stay in a long time, raise wildly and generally cannot be bluffed. It’s tough to make hands work at tables like these, even with good hands, without a bit of luck you will still end up losing.

Should I play Sit and Go, Tournament or Cash Game?

I suppose it would be too easy to answer, “It depends.”
And yet, it depends. It depends on many factors, which we’ll discuss in the following paragraphs:

1. How much Poker time you have:

- Less than one hour: A SnG turbo or cash game

- 1 hour: This is the standard duration of a Sit and Go. You will go through all the phases of a tournament at high speed, the first rounds being useful for calmly increasing your stack. The turbo tournaments – at noon or at midnight – usually last about an hour as well, due to the rapid increase in blinds.

- Many hours: if time is not a deciding factor, all choices remain open to you.

- Undetermined: The cash game is the best choice if you have pressing obligations, like a better half.

2. Your temperament:

- You are patient, attentive, and you are in control of your emotions in the event of a hard hit: you have the profile of a 10-player cash game participant. Wait for good hands, trap your opponents, and collect their rakes.

- You like competition, the valuable rewards, and the pressure: you have the profile of a tournament player. The essence of poker is competition, but tournaments are the most gratifying form available. In fact, your victories at cash games will always be silent, whereas it’s always a pleasure to take a tournament having beaten 100, 200 or even 1000 players.

- You need action, to see many hands and to play your opponents as much as your cards: you have the profile of a short-handed player. Whether it’s a cash game or a tournament, you need to play poker with as few players as possible around the table in order to satisfy your rhythm.

3. Your budget or bankroll

According to your means, and above all your ability to deal with bad patches. Actually, it’s easier to control ones losses and to be on tilt at a tournament or SnG than at a cash game table. At a cash game table, you will probably end up losing one or more rakes and that can cost you a lot of money quickly. At a SnG or tournament table, it’s easier to control one’s losses. By the same token, though, the cash game tends to be more lucrative for a good player.

4. Your previous experience

You may have discovered poker through television, an ad, or more likely through a friend who gave you the poker bug. Hence, you get into the habit of playing the same way you began. My advice is to test all three types of poker, because they provide sufficiently different experiences in terms of diverse and complementary sensations.

Enjoying SnGs, tournaments, or cash games depends on a complex chemistry within the player, which responds differently depending on many factors.
Try each type for at least a few hours in order to find out where you’ll be most comfortable. Don’t limit yourself to one type of game without having tried the others at least once, or you may miss out on the type of poker you’re best at.

5. Our advice for choosing a Poekr table

You’ll hear some players swear by tournaments. Others will play 8 SnGs at the same time and make a living off it. But most players win at cash games. To me, the cash game is real poker, the kind that will make you improve your game in every aspect and will help you to discover the subtlety of this magnificent game.

We therefore advise you to divide your poker time up in the following manner:

60% for cash games

20% for SnGs

20% for tournaments

Keep in mind that the most important is to keep the game fun so that poker remains a passion – one that may bring in a little money now and then, but above all a passion.

The most straightforward explanation of how to calculate pot odds is to compare the total number of unknown cards to how many outs you have, and then do some simple division.

For example, if you are four to a nut flush on the turn of a Texas Hold 'em game, there are 46 unknown cards, (52 minus your 2 pocket cards and 4 on the board). Of those 46 cards, 9 are the same suit as your flush draw. So 37 cards will not help you, while 9 will give you the nut flush hand.

Your odds are : 37/9, or more simply, 4.1 to 1 odds against making your draw.

A tight poker player will only call a bet in this case, if there is already 4x that amount already in the pot. So if you were playing a game of €1/€2 limit, then there would need to be at least €10 already in the pot to justify your calling that €2.50 bet to see the river.

How about those inside straight draws that are so tempting to hang onto? You have 4 outs, with 46 unknown cards on the turn. 42 cards are no help, 4 make you the winner. 42/4 = 10.5! You would need over 10 times the amount of your call to be in the pot already, to justify this decision.

Thankfully, there are several short cuts that have been devised to make a quick judgment for pot odds.

(Total Outs x 2) + 2

One of the easiest methods I have found is to take your total outs, multiply times 2, and then add 2.

This is roughly a percentage chance of making your hand.

Using one of our examples above, your nut flush draw has 9 outs. 9x2 = 18. Add 2, for a total of 20. You have roughly a 20% chance to make your hand. Your call should be no more than 20% of what is already in the pot. This method is quick and decently effective, though certain calculations will be a bit off. Please note that this method does not take into consideration the fact that you may have more than one card remaining to come, it simply estimates your chance of hitting your “out” on your next card.

Essentially, online poker is the best way to learn the game and practice. Many people who play in a casino have fairly unrefined skills and have difficulty winning, simply due to their lack of experience.

Some of them have begun playing poker online in an attempt to develop their skills. Online, they were able to play thousands of hands in a shorter space of time. This is because online poker is faster than casino poker. Within six months, their games improved immensely and some have managed to obtain consistent cash game results and the occasional tournament victory.

But online poker is not simply a tool for improving your casino game. Many players around the world make a living playing online poker. Others do not play for a living, but are consistent winner nonetheless.

Unlike a many casino poker rooms, online poker is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Further, there are a various forms of poker available through online poker, such as hold'em, omaha and Omaha hi/lo . There are also various betting limits available through all the various forms of poker. You can play anything from 50cent-ante game of Omaha through to a $40 game of Texas Hold’em. So it doesn’t matter whether you have $50 or $5000 to play online poker with. It caters for all tastes and bankrolls.

Online poker can be played it in the convenience of your own home. There is no need to get dressed and drive off to the casino, find a car park and put your name at the end of a long waiting list. You can play online poker in your bedroom, dressed in a bathrobe and you’re usually seated into a game straight away. Even if you have to be put on a waiting list for a game, the wait is very brief compared to casino poker.

Most of all, online poker is great practice and experience. You can fit in 60-70 hands per hour on online poker. Most casinos run at about 25-30 hands per hour. Because there are low limits available, you can experiment with different styles and strategies at minimal expense. Furthermore, online poker also offers tournaments 24 hours a day. Since success in tournament poker requires a great deal of experience, you can practice and refine your tournament strategy, again, at minimal expense.

SnGs are mini tournaments of 10, 6, or 2 players. In the space of an hour, one can experience all the major phases of a tournament as well as the stress of victory. Unlike other kinds of tournaments, however, SnGs only reward those who place first, second or third and the winner gets 50% of the profits.

SnGs can be a great way to guarantee regular growth of one’s bankroll by strictly limiting one’s risks. In fact, most players, especially where the lowest-value SnGs are concerned, play without any strategy and count on luck to help them win.

Ah, luck… how I would love to be able to count on luck. Instead, I always put my faith in strategy, reflection and knowledge. If the second option is of interest to you, read the following advice carefully.

1) Learning the Sit and Go rhythm.

In 95% of SnGs, there are three major phases that you’ll recognize easily:

• The beginning of an SnG, the disappearance of gamblers: From the first hand to the elimination of half of the players. In the case of an SnG with 10 players, this is when the number of players drops to 5
• The middle of an SnG, the triumph of courage over fear. From half the players to in the money.
• The en of an SnG, being a winning player. From in the money until the final victory. You’ll sometimes find variations in terms of when these phases begin. Simply learn to recognize them in order to be able to apply the following advice.
  
  

  2) The first phase: Gamblers’ glory and giving up

  Description : the blinds are pretty small compared to the number of chips, the number of players is large and eliminations happen quickly. Certain hands seem very badly played. Paradoxically, this is the moment when bad players seem to dominate the game, taking part in many hands. This is also the moment when most of those players will disappear.
  
  
  How should one play?

   
•  Put a high price on your premium hands (AA KK QQ AK etc.). Since many players are willing to pay for your good hands, why deprive yourself? Raise strongly before the flop, re-raise if someone preceded you, the goal being to put all the chips in the pot before the flop in order to avoid any unpleasant surprises post-flop. 
•  Take advantage of the passivity (the lack of raises) that characterizes these SnGs, and take part in all hands with potential like small pairs and suited connectors. The goal here is to make a set with the little pairs and either two pair or a straight or flush with the suited connectors.
  
  
•  Be extremely selective with your starting hands and play within the strict minimum, especially in the case of raises. Work on your image and save your chips for later.
  
  
•  Bluff very little or not at all. You will often find someone to pay for your good hands, and you will find even more often someone who will pay for your bluff, even one that is perfectly prepared. Play the rule, which is that the cards are the surest way to stay well positioned in SnGs.
  
  

•  Identify your opponents’ styles: normally, you’ll play very few hands. Take advantage of this and study your opponents. Even more than in cash games, those who play the most hands will be likely to give you the most chips. Identify the pathological gamblers, the compulsive bluffers and those with their bankroll under lock and key. 
  
  3) Middle of the game: the triumph of courage over fear.

Description : The blinds represent a growing percentage of the players’ stacks. The remaining players are tightening their games progressively and playing fewer and fewer hands. Most of the hands don’t see the flop and going to the showdown could mean the game. Bluffing is omnipresent among the players.

4) The end of an SnG, being a winning player.

Description : 3 players are left. The blinds are very high compared to the number of chips held by players. The goal is to place either first or second among the 10 SnG player, because these are the places that will reward your time and your investment. But be realistic. Once players are in the money, the blinds are so high that the end of the tournament becomes a “crapshoot” (to cite Harrington), which is to say a lottery.

5) Patience, patience, patience… Aggression!!!

In an upcoming article, we’ll come back to the size of blinds compared to your pile of chips. For the moment, simply retain the importance of patience in the beginning of an SnG, and to wait for the right opportunity to attack your opponents by using your carefully constructed image.

1)Always have sufficient bankroll!

GSN's High stakes poker is proud to present the $500,000 minimum buy-in!

There is 5 million dollars in both casino chips and in cash on this higly agressive table featuring: Jamie Gold, Doyle Brunson, David Benyamine, Antonio Esfandiari, Gie Lauberte, Sammy Farha, Patrik Antonius, Barry Greenstein!

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The Worst bad beat ever! A Royal Flush vs Quad Aces!

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Yesterday, the staff at PokerNews presented us with more information on the Brian Townsend multi-accounting controversy, including a one-on-one interview between the lovely Gloria Balding and Mr. Townsend. In the interview he talks about why he multi-accounted, and the corrective measures that have been taken. Nice job PokerNews, but what annoys me about this interview is Townsend’s disingenuous and vague response to how his multi-accounting on FTP and PS were discovered.

As the interview begins, Mr. Townsend explains that he was basically running bad in his usual 200/400 games and wanted to move down to lower stakes like 25/50 in order to break even and eventually work back to high stakes levels again. According to Townsend, moving down under his real name would be embarrassing, so he made the decision to create new accounts under aliases like, “Stellarnebula” on FTP.

When asked about “coming forward” on the multi-accounting, Townsend replied:

“Well, I can't really say that I came forward on my own, um, the reason why it came out was I stopped using the account about two or three months ago, um, and then Full Tilt found out a few months afterwards and they were going to, um, take away my Red Pro status for six months, so it was going to become public, and that is why, you know, I actually did come forward, um, but I had stopped using the account, you know, probably two or three months prior to them, ah, coming forward with the ban.”

Spoken like a true politician giving shaky testimony on Capitol Hill.

So how did you get caught, Brian? What’s the true reason behind why you “came forward” and publicly admitted you were cheating and lying?

His peers and those who grind at mid to high-level stakes discovered it rather easily and began to call him out publicly on it.

Eventually someone dropped a dime on Townsend and as soon as that happened he had a huge problem dumped in his lap. Personal embarrassment aside, from a business perspective it would look bad when the star player at one of poker’s foremost online training sites softens up and turns into a low-level grinder. This certainly would not bode well for the pedigree of any training site, would it?

One keen observation came from a regular at Two Plus Two who said, “…why did Brian multiaccount? A couple reasons. First to simply gain an edge on his opponents in order to make more money. But why cheat at 25/50 when he used to play much higher? The answer to that leads to the second reason: Ego. Brian lost a lot of money once variance frowned on him. He could no longer handle the swings in nosebleed games where it is questionable if he had an edge. It doesn't look good for Cardrunners when their figurehead is now grinding and struggling at lower stakes…”

The last word from Brian Townsend was, “What I did was against the rules and I have been fairly punished.” Oh really? When you took advantage of lesser skilled players and beat them out of their stacks with an edge unknown to them, did you feel good? Have you considered paying them back? Was it really a level playing field and are you proud of yourself? Just wondering.

I’ll leave you to make your own judgment call on this one.

Surely after all that’s happened in the world of politics lately, Mr. Townsend should be keenly aware of what happens when you try to put lipstick on a pig…

One of the terms sure to start an energetic discussion among online poker players is 'multi-accounting'. In a blog most he made last week, poker player Brian Townsend, who is also known by his famous screenname “sbrugby”, told the world that he indeed has used two accounts at two of the largest online poker rooms, Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars.

Brian Townsend & Multi-accounting Video

Townsend has been known for playing on Poker Stars as “aba20″ but also played under the account “Makersmark66″ which he used in lower stakes games. On Full Tilt Townsend has the screenname of “Brian Townsend” but he also played as “stellarnebula.”

Townsend also announced that he will donate $25,000 to charity as part of his apology. In his apology he finished with the following statement: “I hope that people can not only look to me for poker education but also for the way to live their lives. I made a mistake and am willing to take responsibility for it. I am willing to stand up and face the music. I apologize to the entire online community. I will never participate in this type of activity in the future. This post should act as a full admission of my guilt, and I sincerely apologize to anyone that I’ve wronged.”

Full Tilt Poker responded quickly to Townsend’s post, suspending Townsend from his status as a “red pro” for a period of six months. Poker Stars has yet to comment on the matter.

Hi there, it's me again. I am about to enter Chili poker's Sit & Go Challenge this month! My task is to play 40 Sit & Go's This month! I will Be playing in the copper category:$.10 - $1 Sit & Go's. I will be posting my results as soon as i finish each one!

#1  Sit & Go: 10 players: finished 3rd= $2

#2 Sit & Go: 10 Players: finished 1st= $5

#3 Sit & Go: 10 players: finished 7th= $0

#4 Sit & Go: 6 players: finished 3rd= $0

#5 Sit & Go: 10 players: finished 8th= $0

#6 Sit & Go: 10 players: finished 4th= $0

#7 Sit & Go: 10 players:finished 9th= $0

#8 Sit & Go: 6 Players: finished 2nd=$1.80

#9 Sit & Go: 10 players: finished 4th= $0

#10 Sit & Go: 10 players: finished 6th= $0 (Sorry.. A4 Suited)

#11 Sit & Go: 10 players: finished 4th= $0

#12 Sit & Go: 10 players: finished 7th= $0

#13 Sit & Go: 10 players: finished 8th= $0

Kicker, kicker, kicker..... It's usually the problem that i fear most! I mean i've lost more than once because i flop a set and someone's sitting there with a better kicker. The same with top pair, if you don't have a decent kicker don't bother calling at all because you'll only be looking for trouble!

So this is my tip: You are sitting with A5, if they're suited you can afford calling not big raises hoping to flop the nut flush. If they're not it's best if you don't call at all! You will be throwing good money away for what nothing.

Liz Lieu will be hitting the green again this year, with her heart set on another few final table results during the upcoming Australasia Poker Season. Macau will definitely be a hot spot for poker players in the next week or so with pros heading that way for the Asian Poker Tour and the Asian Pacific Poker Tour drawing in plenty of players as well.

Liz Lieu is set to headline poker blog sites all around the web when playing for Gold this year at both the APT & APPT 2008. Last year Chilipoker very own Liz Lieu made it to the final table at both the Macau Main Event & High Roller Event.

"It's great for Poker in Asia that there's major tournaments like this in Macau, Seoul, Singapore and Manila" said Liz. "It's attracting all the top players in the sport from Australasia and from all around the world, it's letting the players know that poker is here to stay, and that anybody can win millions of dollars just from mastering the game."

Let us all take a moment to wish Liz lots of peace and love while she visits her homeland Saigon in Vietnam and all the luck in the world when she gets to Macau. YES! All you Diva fans can catch up on all latest gossip at at the Official Poker Diva Blog Spot, Spicy Poker News, Netvibes or even at Liz Lieu's Poker Listings Blog...

About Chilipoker.com
Chilipoker.com has become a leading Online Poker & Lifestyle site. Chilipoker.com is available in 5 different languages, all providing professional and friendly support. The poker room has at your disposal 5 different poker variants to choose from. Texas Hold'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud and 5 Card Stud offering $12.5M in monthly guaranteed and almost $10,000 worth in monthly freerolls.

Also, Chilipoker.com possesses the brand ShareTheChili.com which is a Poker Affiliate Program that you can easily sign up to online. Chilipoker provides a poker affiliate interface which has the marketing tools you need to start offering your clients all the exclusive features and promotions from the moment of your sign up.

This is a movie about the sickest poker hand I've ever seen which was dealt in the WSOP 2008 Main Event.  Quad Aces vs a Royal Flush.  The commentator says the odds of this happening is 1 in 2.7 billion.  To add to the awesomeness Ray Romano (the guy from Everybody Loves Raymond and Ice Age) is sitting at the table.

It' can't get much better than this folks.

Part 1 of the silly hand between Sam Farha and Jamie Gold.

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and.............

Part 2!

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I am writing this post to let others how to get Moneybookers set-up, why and how should a Moneybookers account be used for i-gaming transactions. Since, I live in Malta i-Gaming companies registered here Malta (and there are so many) are not allowed to process payment to locals. The legal loophole is to use a payement processing system outside of Malta such as Moneybookers, you can then easily deposit and withdraw cash on your favorite online poker room.

Firstly, all you need to set-up a Moneybookers account is an email address and password, upon registration and before you can make payments or withdrawals you will have to verify your credit card.

One of the reasons I like Moneybookers so much, is because verification is such a quick and easy process. Here are the steps needed:

Step 1: After you have created a Moneybookers account, click on add card and the system will charge your credit card an undisclosed amount ranging from a random number from €1.01 to €2.99.

Step 2: Next, call up your credit card company to find out how much was charged to your credit card.

Step 3: Write down the amount charged.

Step 4: Verify your account by entering the last two digits of the amount charged into the Moneybookers verification page.

Step 5: Fund your Moneybookers account with your credit card.

Step 6: Your are now ready to make your first deposit.

Step 7: Log into your favorite poker room, click on deposit then on Moneybookers and proceed with your deposit.

Why use payment processing for i-gaming transactions?
Managing your bankroll could never be easier as all your transactions can be found in the history section of your account which can be accessed at any time. This data can be exported to an excel file if you want to have a digital copy of your Moneybookers transactions.

Furthermore, All your personal and financial information is kept safe when with Moneybookers and withdrawing money is just as easy (it goes straight into your credit card after a few days and a small charge).

MyPokerAcademy.com Announces Next Event:

Sunset Sunday Special @ Chilipoker.com

This Sunday 7th September, will be hosting a $10 Buyin Tournament exclusively to all its members. Collect VIP Points + We have added an extra $100 to the prizepool.

Looking to collect more Poker Academy VIP points?
Every week leading up to the Poker Showdown we plan to host a special event with our favorite poker rooms. Alternating each week we will sponser a freeroll tournament and then a tourney with a small buy-in fee. It's simple, if you do well in one of our tournaments you get cash and VIP points.

Visit the Sunset Sunday Special Page for all the details.

Get ready for an action packed, high profile event!

For the past few months I have been lucky enough to have deal with poker on a daily basis, and the more I point my binoculars at Poker the more I learn about myself and the game I really love.

Every day is really special in it's own way and I always try to take as much from winning as much as I do from losing. Sometimes the best lessons are hidden and one has to really look for a glimpse of enlightment. Most of the time the best lessons come from external sources. What I love the most is learning from my friends.

Since the launch tournament last Sunday, I have watched my friends play Multi Table Tournaments online and I have taken more from watching him play then any series of hands combined. He is playing like a pro.

The tournament of choice for this session was the $2.5Million Super Satillite Tournament on our favorite poker room Chilipoker.com!

His plan worked without fail and thanks to a quad 5's right before the break he is now in the top 10 players of this tournament.

Time for an add-on he says and after the break he started to play smart, selective, agressive poker while trying to make it to the final two tables. This plan also worked perfectly untle a hand put him on the rail, "AW NO!", he said "Do really have to grind it out again?".

With only 25 left and 19 seats he managed to double up after a few hands with an amazing A to 5 Straight Flush Hearts. Nice hand.

21 players left and it was time for an AK all in. Flop was 22J and the guy had a J, turn 2, river 2 saves the day. WOW what a hand. He really did win a seat! First prize at the 2.5 Million Mega Mega Prizepool tournament is $500,000.

Yes, the poker gods are shinning on you now.

Thanks for showing me how.

Good luck in everything you do!

XEOflex

That's right boys and girls - this weekend we're staging our biggest ever guaranteed prize tournament!! The hype over the past few weeks on Chilipoker.com has defnatly been the $2,500,000 Mega Mega Prizepool. Two and a half million dollars is up for grabs online this 7th September.

That's right boys and girls - this weekend we're staging our biggest ever guaranteed prize tournament!! The hype over the past few weeks on Chilipoker.com has defnatly been the $2,500,000 Mega Mega Prizepool. Two and a half million dollars is up for grabs online this 7th September.


How do I qualify for this event?

We have structured the qualification for Mega Mega Prizepool to suit all types of lifestyles and you can easily choose you initial investment from one of the three structured satellites all available NOW at Chilipoker.com.

You can play in the Main Event by paying the $1,500+$80 buy-in directly or by playing in the satellites we have been running since the 11th of June 2008.

The $1,500+$80 Main Event will take place on September 7th meaning that you only have a few more days to get your chance to become a millionaire, start with as little as $2.75!

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