No-Limit Texas Holdem
 

 Strategy – An Introduction To Playing Suited Connectors. 

Suited connectors are Texas Holdem starting hands which are close (usually adjacent) in rank and of the same suit.
These hands can hit well disguised straights or flushes and potentially win a big pot.
In the hands of experienced players, suited connectors can be very profitable hands.
However many beginners make errors with these type of hands in both cash games and online poker tournaments which can be costly.
This article introduces the play of suited connectors for beginning players – both before and after the flop.
We start by looking at the different types of suited connectors and explaining how and when they can be profitably played before the flop.
Next we look at post-flop play including situations where you hit a draw as well as a made hand.

Much of the value of suited connectors comes from the ability to make straights in both directions.
Connected cards from 4-5 up to J-10 are those with this ability.
Suited connectors can also have gaps – for example 6-8 of hearts is considered a suited connector.
With a gap there is always a ‘key card’ required for a straight – significantly reducing the chances of flopping a monster hand compared to the no-gap suited connectors.

Suited connectors will not hit very often – for example you will only flop a straight or a flush less than once every 50 tries (though strong draws to these hands are more common and 2-pair hands can also be strong).
This means that, to be profitable, you need to see a flop for only a small percentage of your total stack, and to ensure that both you and your opponents have enough chips to make a big payoff possible those times you do hit your hand.

Limping in late position behind other limpers is a common scenario in which you will play suited connectors.
Calling a small raise with them will often result in a bigger payoff those times you hit, but caution is advised to ensure that there will not be a re-raise behind you that means you need to fold your hand before the flop.
On the flop you will either have a strong hand (2-pair+ / straight or flush), a draw or pair / draw combination or hand missed altogether.
Strong hands should be played positively, since the type of flop which helps your hand will not look threatening to many opponents.

If an opponent has an over pair – for example kings – on a ragged flop which has given you a straight then they are likely to pay off your bets.
Flopping a low flush will mean that opponents with a single ace (or possibly king) of that suit are likely to stick around.
Make sure that you charge them dearly to draw out to a higher flush – with a vulnerable hand you should not be looking to slow-play.
Drawing hands require slightly more complex reasoning.
An open-ended low straight will give you 8 outs on the turn and river to make your hand, a flush draw will leave you with 9 outs to the probable best hand.

However the most important factors in playing draws are your position and the tendencies of your opponents.
From last position you will need to decide whether to take a free card to make your hand or whether to bet out as a semi-bluff.

While these decisions become easier as you gain experience, positive aggressive play with drawing hands will help to disguise the same plays when you already hold a monster hand.
To summarize, cards close in rank and of the same suit – known as suited connectors – can be played profitably in no-limit Texas Holdem Poker Games under the right circumstances.
The ideal time to play them is when it is cheap (as a proportion of your stack) to see a flop or if you close the betting where there has been a raise.
After the flop positive and aggressive play is ideal when you hit a strong hand.
Remember to use the best poker reload bonus codes when you play online poker games

There are few aspects in poker more satisfying than beating another poker player in a heads up game. 
It is just the two of you battling it out to take each others money and show who is the better poker player. 
Players such as Daniel Negreanu have taken heads up play to another level by challenging all comers to high stakes poker in the game of their choice. 
He has played against and beaten many of the top players in their best games for stakes ranging from $100,000 to a half million dollars.  
Many other players have made a lot of many heads up, and by honing your skills and developing the right strategy you can make a lot of money as well.

One of the big differences between deep stacked heads up poker play and many full ring cash games or short format sit and go tournaments is that in the heads up play, post flop play is essential. 
In heads up play pre-flop aggression is the norm, it is how a poker player handles himself after the cards come that determines if he will win or lose a lot of money.
A good site to practise your heads up skills is at Ultimatebet.com
Use the ub referral code: bpbc when you sign up to receive a $1100 welcome bonus.

Preflop Aggressive Play

When you play heads up poker you need to be much more aggressive pre-flop than in a normal game. 
Your objective is to put pressure on your opponent so that you can force him to make mistakes.
Hands that may have been junk to you in a full ring game now become raising hands. 
They average poker hand in a two player game is Jack-7 offsuit.  
What that means is that against any random hand, Jack-7 offsuit will take down the pot 50% of the time.  
Anything better than Jack-7 is an above average hand, and if often worth raising with, or playing against a raise.  
Some hands that play well in full ring online poker games are a recipe for losing a lot of money heads up. 
Small connectors, even suited connectors, and to a lesser extent small pairs, derive most of their value in a ring game from their ability to get paid off in a big way when they hit, even if that is infrequently.  
In a heads up game you will often be pressured out of the pot before those hands can catch their draw, and when they do hit there are less players to pay them off. 
In a heads up game, strong hands include medium or better pairs, and just about any paint card. 
Any ace, K9 or better, Q10 or better can all be played aggressively.

A key objective of heads up play is to win as many small pots as you can without a showdown. 
When you watch tournament poker on television, such as in NBC’s heads up playoff’s, the small pots don’t usually get air time. 
However much of the time the person who take a chip lead, or wins the game, is the poker player who takes down small pot after small pot.  
If your opponent is playing tight and hoping to take a lot of chips from you when he has a big hand against your big hand, do as much damage to him as you can one chip at a time.  
By the time his dream hand comes he could be outstacked, so even if he doubles through you it isn’t devastating.

You need to be hyper aware of position during heads up play. 
Unlike normal rings games where you could have position on some of your opponents, and be out of position on others, in heads up play you either have the position or you don’t. 
So while you need to be very aggressive when you play online poker when you have the button, you need to slow down greatly when you are out of position. 
Out of position you shouldn’t defend all your hands. 
You should focus on the ones that you can play strongly. 
Many hands, such as strong aces, two paint cards, pairs or suited connectors deserve for you to re-raise, or even four bet with them. 

Betting and Trapping On The Flop

On the flop you must continue being aggressive, be prepared to fire out continuation bets and have them called, or even raised by an opponent who may have a weak hand. 
If you have a hand you believe in you should be willing to raise and reraise with it. 
Hands such as top pair, good kicker or better are often worth defending with all your stack. 
Work hard to try and identify the range of possible hands that your opponent could have taken to the flop given the likely aggressive preflop play. 
As the aggressor in a hand when you play poker online you need to be able to bet more than one time even with a hand that missed the flop.
You don’t want to get caught in hand after hand where you raise preflop, get called, fire a continuation bet on the flop, get called, and then check fold the turn.
Since many opponents will be willing to call a bet on the flop, be prepared to bet the turn as well as the river.

If you are not the aggressor in a hand, but are instead being raised into you should employ techniques in order to try and punish your opponent when they misplay their hand. 
If your opponent has been firing bets off on the flop every time they have raised preflop, then play some of your stronger hands less aggresively and try to trap your opponent with them. 
If the other player has been aggressive on the flop, but has been playing weak tight on the turn and the river, then you should call more bets more often on the early streets with the intention of pushing him out of the pot in the later streets.

Turn & River Play

On the turn, if you have a hand you believe is stronger than your opponents you should be prepared to go all the way with it. 
The turn is where many poker players become more catious when they need to keep their aggression high. 
Aggression will force out many hands that were chasing on the flop or floating a call with the intention of trying to bluff you out later in the hand. 
Of course aggression on the turn is most effective if you are willing to follow it up on the river as well.  
On the river you should attempt to occasionally modify your play at times by trapping and check raising your opponents in order to keep them from playing against you too often.  
It is important to remember that on hands that make it to the river, the player who has position will take down more than his share of the pots.

If you can keep self discipline and be aggressive and creative you can become a winning heads up player. 
If you can find the right poker site which offers online heads up play like Full Tilt Poker does you can make a lot of money against players who have not adapted their normal game to the new arena. 
Additionally, playing heads up will be great practice for you when you make the final table and are playing for the big money.
Use the bonus code: playthepros600 when you join full tilt, and get up to $600 free!

Rules of Omaha Hi-Lo

Omaha Hi-Lo is a poker game that has increased in popularity lately for those who play online poker, but since it is quite different from Texas Hold’em many players still fail to understand the game and its strategy.
The main difference between the games is that in Omaha players have four hole cards instead of two in Hold’em, and the Hi-Lo split is the other differing factor.
This article will teach you the ins and outs of Omaha Hi Lo (also known as Omaha 8 or better) so you can play it at your local casino or online poker site.

The Deal

The game begins with the dealer shuffling the cards, and the posting of the blinds.
The player directly to the left of the dealer posts the small blind, and the player two seats to the left of the dealer posts the big blind.
These are forced bets that are there to ensure preflop action.
After the blinds are posted, each player receives four cards face down.

Preflop Action

Preflop action begins with the player directly to the left of the big blind. He/she can either call the big blind, fold, or raise the big blind by placing double the amount of chips in the pot.
Action continues clockwise around the table.
Each player can either call the previous bet, fold, or raise.
If there are three raises made the raising is usually capped.
Preflop betting ends when every player has either folded or has the correct amount of money in the pot.

The Flop

The flop is three community cards that are placed face up in the center of the table, and since they are community cards they really influence each players poker strategy.
After the flop is dealt out, betting begins in a clockwise fashion starting with the first player who is still in the hand to the left of the dealer.
The player can either check (meaning they don’t place a bet) or bet, and each player after them can either check, call a previous bet, make a bet, fold, or raise a previous bet.
Once each player has either folded or called the highest bet, action continues to the turn.

The Turn

The turn is another face up card that is dealt out in the middle of the table. Like in the last round, action begins to the left of the dealer and continues clockwise around the table.
The betting is exactly the same as what occurred on the flop.

The River

The river is the final community card, and is dealt face up on the middle of the table.
Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, action continues clockwise until every player has either folded or called the highest bet.
If at least two players are left at the end of the hand, there is a showdown, and the best hand wins the pot.

The Showdown
 

The showdown in Omaha Hi-Lo is more complicated than in Hold’em because the hand rankings are different.
Basically, the total pot is split evenly into two pots: the High pot and the Low pot.
The best High hand will win the high pot.
A high hand is the same hand rankings you’re used to in poker: Straight Flush is the best, then Four of a Kind, then a Full House, then a Flush, then a Straight, then Three of a Kind, then Two Pair, then a Pair, and finally a High Card.
 

Now, the Low pot is where things get more complicated.
There isn’t always a low hand, because you have to have at least an 8-low to qualify.
What this means is that you need five cards in your hand that are below 8 and are not paired.
So, an 8-7-6-5-4-3 is the minimum hand you’d need to make a qualifying Low hand. If you are the only player who has a qualifying low, you’ll win the low half of the pot. However, if there are multiple hands that qualify for the low, the player with the best Low will win the pot.
 

To rank Low hands, you examine each hands highest card.
Whoever’s is lower has the better hand.
If they’re the same, you look at each hands second highest card, and whoever’s is lower has the better hand.
If those are the same, you’ll move down to the third card, then the fourth card, then the fifth card.
 

For example, if the two Low hands were 8-7-6-4-3 and 8-7-6-5-4 you’d start by looking at the highest card, and since both high cards are 8 you’d move on to the next highest card.
Since both of those are 7, you’d move to the third card, and since both of those are 6, you’d move to the fourth card. Now, since the first hand has a 4 as the fourth highest card, and the second hand has a 5 as the fourth highest card, the first hand would be the better low.

In the case of two players having the same Low hand, they’d split the Low end of the pot, in essence each getting ¼ of the total pot.

These are the full rules of Omaha Hi-Lo, and will get you up and playing. 
I hope you enjoyed this poker strategy lesson. 
Good luck at the tables playing online poker games!

Playing AK and playing it right

Big slick is one of the more popular hands in Texas hold’em.
Professionals love it because they know it works and beginners hate it because they don’t understand why they lose with such a “good hand”.
There is a lot more to playing AK in online poker games than most players realize.
The hand is very versatile, it is fairly powerful unimproved, a great hand for pairing up and it’s a good drawing hand as well.
With that in mind, today we will cover some various strategies for this great hand.

Play AK aggressively

Many players feel that because they need an ace or a king on the flop to make AK worthwhile, that checking or calling is the proper move pre-flop.
This is silly.
Ed Miller (2004) states one very important point in regards to pre flop play with AK.
Although you need certain cards to improve your hand, so does everyone else. The high rank of your hand makes it naturally stronger than most other holdings thus giving you that much more of a chance at taking down the pot. Do not call with AK pre flop, raise! Re-raising should be a common tactic as well.

AK plays best with less

AK can lose some of its value in big multi-way pots if you miss the flop.
The best situation for AK to work is when you have been able to narrow the field down to just two or three players.
The reason for this is because even if the flop doesn’t hit, sometimes you’ll still have the best hand.
AK is easier to lay down in large multi-way pots if the flop doesn’t come your way.
Remember, don’t just stick with AK because some book told you it’s one of the best hands in the game, stick with it because the opposition and the cards on the board indicate that you have a good chance at winning the pot.

Playing AK in tight, aggressive games

My first suggestion if you play online poker in a tight and aggressive game is to get up and find another table.
This however, is not always possible, so it is better to be prepared for these inevitable situations.
Playing AK from early position in a tight aggressive game can get tricky.
Many times you might end up getting re-raised if you open the betting.
You need to analyze the situation:

• Are the aggressive players good or just players who like to play by pushing a lot of chips?
  Many times these players are raising with hands that your AK will dominate.
  Two strategies come to mind, either re-raise and make them pay or lay low and crush them with your superior kicker once a favorable board comes.

• Excellent players play excellent hands, if you’re getting taken to the top constantly, watch out for KK or AA, these hands are superior and your fighting an uphill battle.

On a final note, if your game is loose or passive or just plain juicy like a lot of low limit games are at many pokersites, make sure you are charging premium price for your bad competition to make their hands.
Many players are raising and calling with just plain junk, you won’t win every time, but make them pay dearly for awful play.

• $30 Lobby Bonus
• $75 Ground Floor Bonus
• $200 Getting Ahead Bonus
• $500 Going Places Bonus
• $1,000 Lift to the Top
• $2,000 Top Floor Bonus

Tower poker reload bonus codes will be posted in the reload bonus codes section.

Enjoy all of the benefits and
rewards of a Players Club
member the moment
you deposit into
your account!

Enjoy a slew
of rewards and
benefits that you
deserve! For your
hard work at the tables
Tower poker offer unique rewards
and up to 40% Valueback!
Take advantage of: Exclusive
$1000.00 Freerolls, Points Shop,
Special Promotions, Level specific
promotions, deals, and much more!

Combine Tower pokers insight into what players really want with their ability to exceed expectations and you’ve got the most amazing spread of special promotions on the net. 
Towerpoker.com are continually adding new perks and adjusting existing ones to ensure the promotions are as exciting and versatile as the people who use them.
All of the promotions have been designed to suit different types and styles of players, so there’s something for everyone.
Seen a cool promotion elsewhere or have a good idea? Feel free to contact towerpoker.com - They listen!