Winning Video Poker - The Easy Way

Although an online slot machine game, Video Poker is different as you can affect the odds by the way you play and if you play correctly winning at video poker is easy.

There are 4 cardinal rules to follow to end up winning at video poker longer term.

The Game basics

The game of video poker is essentially simple, and is based on the well-known poker rules. However in Video Poker you are playing against the machine only and not other players.

As in real poker, the Video Poker Slot will deal five cards on the screen. You can keep the 5 cards or ask for 5 new ones.

To keep the cards you want you just press a "hold" button under the card in question.

At this point, you then press the "play" button and play begins, with replacement of some or all the cards you did not wish to keep.

As this is the final hand, it is simple to see who won, you or the machine.

So the secrets of winning at video poker are built around the choices you can make.

4 tips to win at Video poker

The four choices you have to make are here.

1. Put the Odds in your favor before you begin.

Although a slot game, Video poker is still based upon the classic 52 card deck and thus there are mathematically 2,598,960 possible combinations.

Also, as Video Poker is also a computer program it will simulate (as much as possible) the actual probabilities of playing real poker.

As the casino understands the fixed possibilities, they adjust the payout tables, and always to the house's advantage, but it varies and with strategy you can gain an edge.

Generally, the payouts on most of the Video Poker machines will be the same, except for the "big" hands; the flush, full house or royal flush..

So, the first way to win at video poker is to play the highest paying machines. The odds here are more in your favor.

As a good example, on a Jacks-or Better machine, see the comparison for payout with strategy.

9 for a full house 6 for a flush 99.5%

8 for a full house 5 for a flush 97.4%

7 for a full house 5 for a flush 96.3% etc

For your knowledge a "9 / 6 machine shows royal flush about once every 40,000 hands, while the "8 / 5" one are about every 45,000 hands.

Find the machine with the best payout and this will greatly enhance your chances of winning at video poker.

2. Always Play Maximum Coins!

Betting five coins gives all winning hands a paid out by the factor of five; except for the royal flush.

This is a kind of "bait" to entice you to play five coins.

The secret here is that if a player plays less than maximum coins they will never win a Royal Flush and never end up longer term winning at video poker

3. Play a Long Time. There are no Short-Term Results

The mathematics is simple.

On the 9 / 6 machine the odds are 1:40,000 of hitting a Royal Flush.

This is no less than the equivalent of about 100 hours of play.

The secret here is that you must hit a Royal Flush at Video Poker to win at video poker.

So you must be ready to play for the long run, short term results can vary so don't get frustrated, its increasing your bankroll longer term your interested in.

If you are winning some good hands along the way, you will only add to your stake.

4. You can't win at Video Poker by casual play!

Patience and perseverance is required. Staying power however means you can win at video poker in the end, if you play correctly with strategy.

The strategies to win at video poker vary from game to game but there are pre printed cards on the net for you to use before the strategy is committed to memory.

No Haphazard Play Use Strategy Only.

The only way to increase your chances of winning at Video Poker is to

1. Play with strategy.

2. Be patent and be prepared to play for a long time

3. Play maximum coins on high paying machines only

4. Concentrate - Don't hurry your play the machine is no hurry so make sure you take your time and don't make errors

Winning at Video poker is easy when you know how!

Winning at Video poker slots is easy; it's the only slot game where you can get an edge. Another advantage is the fact that games are fun and offer an exciting visual experience.

Follow the tips above and you can win at video poker and have a lot of fun along the way - good luck!

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Winning Online Poker - 5 Tips To Start Winning!

A winning poker player will always enter the game with a good poker strategy every time. Most amateur players who think that poker is based on luck always find themselves walking away with less cash. So what should you start learning to become a better online poker player? Other than the technical aspects of the game, below are 5 good poker tips that will definitely help you win more online poker tournaments.

Poker Tip #1 - Take down notes while you play

One good strategy to use while playing online poker is to take down notes. There are several things you will want to make note of. For example, you can track the list of hands that any player shows down. By keeping track of such information, you might be able to see the same players again, thus it is helpful to keep track of what hands they show down and their kind of betting patterns.

Poker Tip #2 - Start by playing off smaller tournaments

If you are looking to gain experience in online poker, it is a good idea to start by playing in smaller tournaments first. There are many reasons why you would do this. Firstly, you can receive a lot of experience while playing with very little money. Another reason is that you'll be able gain more confidence as you dominate the lower level tournaments.

Poker Tip #3 - Schedule your online tournament play

Scheduling your tournaments is a good idea, since there can be so many tournaments online at the same time. You should always leave your schedule open to give yourself enough time to finish your tournaments rather than having to constantly watch the clock.

Poker Tip #4 - Don't play while your mind is somewhere else

You should avoid playing poker while there is something weighing on your mind. Poker is a game that requires your full concentration, so that you can deal with the mental calculations of probabilities in your head, while you try to decipher your opponents' psychology. You will only be able to play your best poker when your mind is entirely focused on the game.

Poker Tip #5 - Only put in cash that you can afford to lose

Many players make the mistake of trying to recoup their earlier losses by trying to chase cards and playing inferior hands. Like all other forms of gambling or investing, increasing your stakes to chase losses is a sure way to lose. Learn to have the discipline to walk away when you realize that you start making bad decisions. Having cash in your account is always better than losing it all to rash decisions, and lets you live to fight another day.

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How a Winning Poker Player Can Start With No Money at All

Online poker offers opportunity, risk and reward all rolled into one illusive combination. I started playing online poker because I love being on the Internet surfing around but did not really know what to do once I got online. Bored with reading articles, visiting websites about soccer or news I decided to play some online games. One of my friends was playing cards online, and it looked like fun.

So I had a go, and instantly there was just something enjoyable about the game. I am the type of character where I judge myself based on the very best. If I run 100 meters, I want to know how far from 10 seconds I am. If I play soccer I want to know whether or not I could play against the best. This has kept me striving for the top in many areas of life, and poker was (and is) no different. Once I started watching T.V and learned to play properly, I was hooked.

I quickly discovered that poker is basically about the battle for money. We use chips, which are more fun than the paper cash to handle and possibly less daunting, and cards are the mechanism where we mentally oppose one another for the cash reward. This is true of cash games and to some extent tournaments. Poker can be viewed as the most simple form of combat, the person with the most at the end of the battle is the winner. But poker is not limited to people who have money and the rest must watch. There are no barriers to entry to this potentially lucrative market.

One of my passions is starting something from very little and building up, in business and in life. There is as much satisfaction in the journey than in the crossing the finish line in my opinion so it is only natural I looked for ways that anyone can enjoy playing poker no matter whether they have cash to spare or not. I see online poker as a legitimate way of building something out of absolutely nothing. In short, the American Dream, the ultimate challenge in many different ways.

Annette_15 is a female Internet poker player famous for her amazing results, aggressive play, and being the first female to win a World Series of Poker Main Event when she won the WSOP Europe main event a couple of years ago. Her story is amazing because she asked her mother when she was 14 years old for her mothers credit card to deposit $50 into online poker so she could play for real money. Her mother refused her request. Undeterred, Annette played free roll tournaments until she got a few dollars by finishing high in the tournaments. She then built her bankroll over time with good results and careful bankroll management to the massive bankroll she enjoys today. Poker is littered with stories like this. The only thing you need is a good poker game, and plenty of discipline and you can have a story like Annette_15. But how do you do it?

You need to have a good poker game, if you cannot win you will never move up the poker ladder. I would consider using a poker training website to brush up on your skills. But to be honest if you are playing plenty of holdem, reading books and talking with friends and participating in forums that effort will result in you having an advantage over the random fish that just play because they feel like it. Free information abounds online so make full use of it. Note that there are less and less bad poker players online, so you really have to put some effort into learning how to play good quality poker. Long gone are the days where a decent game reaps big rewards. You really must play well to win, and there is no greater power than learning and information.

Start with the free roll tournaments. You are probably going to find there are thousands of players in these tournaments because it's free to play. Do not panic. Because there is nothing to lose the players will play as such so if you are careful and play good poker you will build a stack and work your way through the mass of players who commit poker suicide because win or lose they lose nothing. You have an immediate advantage because you are playing for a reason.

You strategy is important, do not bluff! Players will not make great folds in a free roll tournament. When you have a hand play a straight forward style of poker. When you make your hand, get your chips in. Only trap check in situations where you believe your opponents will definitely shove all-in. Then you call and double up. Once in a while you may be behind in this situation and go out, but that's poker. When you finish in the top 3 a few times you will have a bankroll of around $10 that you can begin to consider playing $1 Sit and Go tournaments. Playing good poker here will increase your bankroll quickly. Again do not worry you only have ten buy-ins because you can try the free rolls again if necessary. You can play without fear because you did not deposit your own money.

Working your way up the limits is hard work but these are key skills to your successful poker career. You will probably find you must play a lot of free rolls before you win anything. You are learning excellent patience and discipline in continuing to play these tournaments, two skills more important than chip shuffling! Do things right with your money and your card skills will do the rest. So your check list is as follows: 1. Get learning to play great poker. 2. Play the free rolls and get some dollars. 3. Use good bankroll management and use what you learned in step one to get yourself on the ladder to success. As always, see you at the tables.

If you enjoyed this poker article you will definitely enjoy visiting Mals Poker Website.

http://www.itsawinner.co.uk is the online home of Mal Clarke, and one of the best online poker blogs on the Internet with poker room reviews, hand analysis and links to the best poker videos.

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Online Poker Tips - Winning Tips For Your Online Poker

Online poker has become increasingly popular nowadays. More people are going online to play poker rather than going to a casino. In the past, people always went to the casino and play. Today, you can play poker in the comfort of your room as long as you have a computer and internet connection.

Online poker is very different from traditional poker. When playing poker online, you can't see the facial expression of the players around you and this will prevent you from knowing whether they are using bluffs. Online poker also has many advantages when compared to traditional poker. You do not need to travel to casinos to play poker. You can play it inside your bedroom and at anytime you want.

Now, let me share with you a few tips to help you win in online poker:

As I mentioned earlier on, you cannot observe the body language and facial expression of your opponents in online poker. Don't worry. There are still some tells that will give you clues about the quality of your opponent hands. One example is to look at how long your opponents take to play their cards. When a player has a good card, he or she will play it fast and aggressive.

Next, make sure that you read the tutorials or other kinds of courses that are offered by online poker rooms. Usually, those poker rooms have forums that you can join to interact with other poker enthusiast. Participate in their discussions and try to make some friends there. By doing this, you can gain new insights about the game.

Once you have a basic understanding about online poker, play it often if you want to be good at it. Some poker rooms allow you to play with free credits. This is a great opportunity for you to practice and get used to playing poker online.

Another thing you should take note is that online poker has different rules from casino poker. So before you play with real money online, make sure you understand the rules and regulations of the poker room completely first.

Lastly, you should look at a few websites first before deciding to join a particular poker room. Different poker rooms offer different sign-up bonuses and freebies. So make sure that you do a thorough research first before deciding on one to join.

Good luck with playing poker online. Remember, read their tutorials and play the game often in order to become a better poker player online.

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The 90-10 No Limit Holdem Rule to Poker Winning Success

In 1906 Italian economist, sociologist and philosopher Vilfredo Pareto observed that 80% of Italian property was owned by 20% of the population. This was later generalized into the "80/20 Rule" or the Pareto Principle. Most people have heard of the 80/20 rule. 80% of sales in a company are made by 20% of the salespeople. 80% your results are created by 20% of your time. There are a whole host of 80/20 rules that float around. Knowing this principle is only useful if you can apply it intelligently and consistently to a situation. When applied to the situation of No Limit Ring Poker (I'll specifically be referring to Hold-em, although I'm sure it applies to other games) the rule becomes much more pointed. Once you learn this poker principle you should allow it have a great impact on how you play.

With all due respect to Mr. Pareto, he never played NL Ring Holdem, so we are going to call this rule "Winning Legal Online Poker's 90/10 NL Ring Rule". First let me tell you that this rule is real, and it's statistically accurate. If you believe that AA is statistically more advantageous to play than 72, then you need to put this rule in the same part of your poker brain. Ponder it and find new ways to make it work for you.

Here's Winning Legal Online Poker's 90/10 NL Ring Rule:

90% of the MONEY you win playing NL Ring is won with the top 10% of poker hands... AND (for most tight/aggressive poker players) 90% of the money you LOSE playing NL Ring is lost to the top 10% of poker hands.

The first part of this rule is absolutely true for almost any NL Ring poker player. The 2nd part is only true if you aren't a fish. Also, the 2nd part of the rule is a good way to monitor your play. If you are losing most of your money to hands like Top Pair Top Kicker (TPTK) or worse, then you really need to focus on learning how to play NL Ring Poker better. If you already read the book "Winning Legal Online Poker" then you will have already noticed that your sessions are pretty consistent. You win good money when your strong hands hold up. You lose some money when your strong hands keep running into better hands. But you win TONS of money when you have have top 10% hands hold up. And you lose a buyin plus when your really good hands run into top 10% hands.

Winning Legal Online Poker doesn't change the 90/10 rule. It's a rule, and as such it IS REALITY. However, the rule doesn't state that you will lose 90% of the money you WIN to top 10% hands. It states that 90% of the money you lose is lost to top 10% hands. That may seem like word play, but it means you can reduce your losses, and thus increase your poker profits by managing your game with the 90/10 rule. Winning Legal Online Poker teaches you how to spot the top 10% hands and lose less $$$ to them, although as a % of money lost you'll still find that 90% of your lost money will go to top 10% hands - EVEN WHEN YOU FOLD BEFORE THE RIVER.

There are plenty of instances where you fold AA or TPTK or even a better hand to a made flush or straight. You may have invested quite a bit of money into the pot, but you lost that money to a top 10% hand. Winning Legal Online Poker is devised to help you spot those instances when your good hands are beat by a top 10% hand and lose less money. Now the other part of the rule is that you will win 90% of your money with top 10% hands.

You see this happen all the time. You flop a set against a big pocket pair. You make a full house against a flush. You turn a straight against 2 pair. Of course there are times when the other person simply over values his hand and gives you chips. But you're double-ups are generally these top 10% hands. This rule doesn't mean that your top 10% hands ALWAYS make big money. In order to make big money with a top 10% hand Winning Legal Online Poker's "Contested Pot Rule" (which is discussed in another article) must also be in effect. But there's no doubt that your big wins come from these big hands. So how does this apply to your game? It's pretty simple.

If 90% of your wins come from big hands and 90% of your losses are to other big hands, then you need to play the # of hands required to get more of the first while avoiding giving too much money to the 2nd. This is where the term "nut hunting" comes from. A lot of quality players are just playing for nut hands. That doesn't mean they don't play value hands for value, however. But you need to understand the Winning Legal Online Poker 90/10 rule and the Winning Legal Online Poker Contested Pot Rule as you play NL Ring poker.

If you are putting "extraordinary" amounts of money behind "ordinary" hands you are going to be a victim of the 90/10 rule. Each hand has a certain value. It has "card" value, but it also has MONEY value. Pocket tens preflop are not that great. You can make money with them, but you won't make great money with them. You should play them for the value that they have, and not over-value them. As the hand plays their value may drop precariously (as overcards hit). However, if overcards DON'T hit then they still just have a certain maximum value, because you will generally get very limited action. If your TT remains the best hand on the board then no one else will want to put much money in the pot. The pot will be small. It will be a TT POT!! However, if you notice the pot going well beyond a TT pot, then you have to understand that your competition probably has better than a TT hand (even if the board doesn't show it). This is how you can observe the 90/10 rule in action.

Preflop AA is a top 10% hand. It's the best hand!! If you can get all your money and all someone else's money in the pot preflop when you have AA then the 90/10 rule is working for you. However, once the flop hits AA drops off the top 10% list, and you must be aware of that. On ANY flop the best hand is at least a set of the top card flopped. So, with a flop of 269, the best possible hand is a set of 9's. And any set is a top 10% hand at this point. As the hand plays out the AA becomes a weaker and weaker hand. You should continue playing it like TPTK at least, but you also must be aware of the value that you are giving your AA as the hand unfolds. You may be seriously over valuing your AA. If you raised it preflop and bet it on the flop, then on the turn, and you get raised, what does that say? First you're starting to see a pot that is more valuable than your AA and 2nd you have just walked into a "Contested Pot" scenario. If you get into a raise/reraise situation and all you have is pocket AA, then you are most probably going to be on the losing end of the 90/10 rule. Disciplined players know how to fold. Winning players know that keeping their winnings is more important that "going down" with AA, just because it WAS the best hand preflop. All AA is is TPTK, until someone prove otherwise by getting a better hand.

Another way to look at this is when you are playing "drawing odds". You may start with a suited connector or a small to mid pocket pair. These are not top 10% hands, but they have the potential of becoming top 10% hands. When they do, hopefully your competition will over value his hand and contest the pot with you. The "Contested Pot Rule" will then go into effect in your favor and you will make lots of money.

Another ramification of the 90/10 rule is that the rest of the hands you play in a typical session (good, bad or indifferent) are just background noise. They are just "keeping up with the blinds". You may use them to create a table image to set up your top 10% hands or you may just fold, fold, fold. You can bluff and steal small pots. You can c-bet and take small pots. You may stick around with draws and lose small pots or play small pots that you turn out losing or winning.

But the reality is 90% of the money you win is made off top 10% hands and vice verse.

Think about this rule. Find ways to apply it to your game. Review the "Contested Pot Rule" also. If you don't have a consistently winning NL Ring game then take the Winning Legal Online Poker Challenge to learn the skills and gain the vision to play quality winning poker. Will the 90/10 rule turn you into a "nut hunter"? Maybe! There are thousands of winning "nut hunters" online every day. There are many thousand more players who hate nut hunters. Many quality, winning players hate nut hunters. However, even quality, experienced, winning online players fall within the 90/10 rule. They may proclaim that they don't. They may hate the idea that all their "moves" and "action", their "reads" and sophisticated play is really just background noise. But for most players that's all it is - Background Noise, Keeping up with the Blinds. If they analyzed their play they would find that the 90/10 rule applies to them too. The 90/10 rule is very consistent for No Limit Ring play. If you play MTT's or Sit-n-Go's then who knows? I haven't analyzed the rule against them. They have their own dynamic. But if you play NL Ring Holdem, then make sure you understand and think about this rule as you play.

Summary:

90% of the money you win is won with the top 10% of hands.

The top 10% changes as the hand unfolds. AA is a top 10% hand preflop, by the river it may be a bad pocket pair.

90% of the money you lose is lost to top 10% hands. Find ways to spot them earlier in the hand.

Most of your other hands and action is just background noise. You need to play them to keep up with the blinds and maintain a reasonable table image, but understand that they are just a small part of your winnings/losings.

If you find that you lose most of your money to non-top 10% hands then you need to take the at least read, understand and apply the Winning Legal Online Poker book (and associated chart) and get your game right!!

Anthony Okrongly is a professional online poker player, trainer and author of numerous underground poker books, insider guides and rapid poker improvement systems. His methods are at times as controversial as they are effective for both beginners and experienced players alike. You can find his books and articles on http://www.legalonlinepokerchallenge.com/

Become A Better Poker Player With Winning Online Poker Strategies

If you are an internet gaming enthusiast, chances are that, at some point or another, you have already tried online poker. The strategy behind online poker is much like the strategy behind any other poker game, in person or through the web interface--the only thing that actually changes is that an actual 'poker face' is not needed.

In online poker, strategy is important. Knowing when to go all in and the odds of you clearing the pot are the first steps in gaining a good poker strategy and having a consistent online poker strategy is the best way to keep yourself on the winning side more often than not.

If you are looking to get into online poker, knowing how to play poker is the first step but not everything. Online gambling is a whole different ball of wax than any other type of gambling that a person could do. When the lights, the drinks, and the people are not fazing you it is possible to come up with a whole new kind of focus and it can actually boost a person's chances of winning if they don't do well in the traditional poker setting.

If you are looking for a bit of extra help, there are online poker strategy guides all over the web if you know how to look. Strategy guides are available on the web for just about any type of poker a person could think of to want to play, with tips and extra hints on how to play the game and maybe even win while you're at it.

You don't have to be a card shark to learn the ins and outs of online poker. Strategy is key and sticking to your strategy is half the battle. Many of the web based strategy guides can help you to learn new hints and tips for the game even if you call yourself an old pro at poker. Keep in mind that when it comes to poker somebody you are playing with is always going to be better than you or at least on your level as far as skill goes, so no matter how talented you think you are there is always room for improvement.

So, what are you waiting for? If online poker is something you want to try, online poker strategy guides are all over the web and can really help you get started on your path to online poker success. Don't think you will always win, especially when you are just starting out with the strategies you have picked up along the way, and remember to have fun and gamble sanely. After all, nothing kills your online poker strategy more than losing all of your money in your very first game.

Have fun with your online poker strategy and try to win some money, but don't put in more than you can afford. Remember that online casinos feed off of your lack of knowledge about poker, but with the appropriate strategy, you don't have to let them.

Learn how to play poker the way the professionals do and start winning more online poker tournaments with winning online poker tips that the pro poker players don't want you to know by visiting http://www.winningonlinepokertips.com/. A poker site designed to improve your Texas Hold'em playing ability.

Winning at Online Poker

Wouldn't be great if there was a way to learn how to win at online poker. Imagine the lifestyle of actually making a living by playing what seems to be a computer game which you can play in your bath robe or underwear.

Believe it or not thousands are actually earning a living by winning at online poker and so can you.

if you watch ESPN, then you've seen the growth of online poker especially Texas Holdem. The surge and growth of poker in general is attributed by an unknown player named Chris Moneymaker surprising the world when this unknown rookie won the biggest and most coveted poker tournament in the world by wining the 2003 World Series of Poker and pocketing the grand prize of 2.5 million dollars.

Thousands of would be Chris Moneymakers have turned to online poker ever since in the hopes of being the next big winner. One of the major reasons for the popularity is ordinary people just like Chris transform their life week after week on television by winning one of that weeks many televised poker events and became one of a growing list of poker millionaires.

One of the key differences between poker and popular professional sports like football, tennis or golf, is regardless of how much skill you may have, you can't just show up and expect to compete with the pros of that sport even if you are quite skilled. But in poker anyone willing and able to put the entry fee has an opportunity to sit shoulder to shoulder with the top pros seen on tv everyday.

Online poker rooms are a great place to hone your poker skills and test your abilities and luck in a live real situation against other real people. Online poker rooms can also help you locate live poker playing strategies by watching other skilled players from all around the world who play online.

It's a good idea to Watch a table you're interested in playing at for a while and get a feel for the skill of the players before you take a seat. The higher the table staked the more likely it is that you will face better skilled players so you have to play smart and at table stakes that fit your skill level and comfort.

One very important tip in playing poker is to do your homework. This may also mean you may want to invest in a book or two and read up on the basics of the game and theories behind betting strategies Before playing for real money.

Try to choose an online poker website which offers attractive deposit bonuses which they'll offer to a new customer at the time you first sign up. Practically every poker room will offer some type of deposit bonus to get you to choose them as your poker site. You can usually expect bonuses that average between twenty five and fifty dollars in some case as high as a hundred dollars.

Decide on your risk threshold and never risk more than you can afford to comfortably lose. Remember as I already mentioned you can benefit simply by observing other players at the poker table you want to play at. If you're kind of new at online poker start by playing at the free tables where you can still play real players who like you are in practice mode.

To start your online poker experience, you'll be required to download, install and setup the your online poker account including the name which will be displayed to other players at the table.

Playing poker has clearly become so easy since you can play day or night from the comfort of your own home. All you'll need is a high speed Internet connection and you're ready to start playing.

Find more information about winning at online poker visit [http://www.PokerTopia.com] a popular site loaded with valuable information and tips about wining at online poker.

Your Chances of Winning Using Your Poker Deposit Bonus

One of the most commonly asked questions in poker forums is at what your chances of winning a game of poker with the money you earn as the 'deposit bonus' are.

The arrangement which makes the poker deposit bonus a possibility is usually stated such that for every amount of money you deposit into your poker playing account, the 'house' (the company running the poker playing room or website) matches it with a certain percentage of it, which is added into your poker playing account so you can play poker with it.

The idea is such that if, for instance, you deposit 100 dollars into your online poker account, the 'house' matches it with say another 10 dollars (which is the poker deposit bonus here), so that you end up with 110 dollars in your poker account for the purpose of playing the poker, in spite of your having only actually deposited 100 dollars into it.

Most poker playing rooms that offer a poker deposit bonuses usually do it through poker bonus codes, usually with different codes for the different categories of members yielding different amounts of money in poker deposit bonuses.

So now that you have the poker deposit bonus in your online poker account, what are your chances of winning using that amount that the 'house' effectively gives you for free?

Well, different people have different views as to what your chances of winning a poker game using the money that you get from the 'house' as a poker deposit bonus are - with those who are suspicious about 'gambling houses generosity' holding the skeptic view that you have no chance of winning playing with the money that you get as a poker deposit bonus, because in their view, the house can't be 'so generous' as to go about just dishing money to people. There are, of course, those who hold the more open-minded view that you do indeed have a chance of winning using the money that the 'house' gives you for free in the form of a poker deposit bonus. So which of these two is the true position?

To understand what the true position regarding the question as to what your chances of winning a game of poker using the money that the house puts into your poker account for free in the form of a poker deposit account, we only need to look at what the experiences of people have been before - where going through the stories of many people who have been playing online poker for long enough, it emerges that the chances of winning a game of poker using the money that the 'house' puts into your poker playing account in the form of a poker deposit bonus are just as high as the chances of winning using the money that you take directly out of your pocket; because although the bonus money is indeed given for free by 'the house,' the very same 'house' has no way of 'differentiating' the money that you directly deposited into your poker account from the money that they give you for free as a poker deposit bonus once it gets into your account. So, you can go ahead and play confidently and as well as you can with the whole amount of money in your poker account, the direct deposit and the deposit bonus alike, because your chances of winning while playing with the bonus are just as high as your chances of winning when playing with the direct deposit.

Did you know you can get free poker sign up bonuses at few select casinos? Some casinos offer flat sign up poker bonuses to its players.

Poker Winning Strategy - Top 5 Secrets to Win Online Poker

Some people think that winning poker is based on luck and chance, but this far from the truth. If good poker strategy is not involved in playing poker, why would the same professional players consistently rise to the top and cash in almost every time? It is important to go into a poker game with the right poker strategy in mind. If you keep in mind the 5 tips below while you are playing, you will immediately be able to improve your winning chances in online poker.

Poker Winning Strategy #1: Learn to read the flop

Online poker moves at a much faster pace, and you need to be able to quickly scan the flop and determine the best possible hand. Learning to determine what are the possible combinations, and who may have hit or miss the flop altogether is a good poker strategy to have. It is highly recommended that you sit out a few rounds at a new table session to try and get a feel for the style of playing at the table.

Poker Winning Strategy #2: Concentrate strong starting hands and table position

Many online poker players are very loose and get involved in too many pots and seeing too many flops with weak starting hands. One good poker strategy is to tighten up and wait for the right cards so that you can felt someone. You can possibly play marginal hands in a late position while there is no action in front of you.

Poker Winning Strategy #3: Adapt to the speed of online poker

Online poker is obviously faster than real-life poker, and it is a good strategy to learnt to adjust to the faster pace. If you wait too long while the action is on you, your hand will automatically be folded and play will continue.

Poker Winning Strategy #4: Avoid playing loosely online

Being a tighter and more disciplined player is a proven poker strategy that will make you a better player and take down more pots. Many super-loose players online try to see too many pots, and by tightening your play, you will take down those pots.

Poker Winning Strategy #5: Look for tells

The final poker strategy is to learn to look for tells. There is a lot of information you can take note of about online players, in order to make the more correct decisions against them. For example, if you flop a pair and the table checks all around quickly, the players might be using the auto-check button thus signifying weakness. When a player takes a while to think before bringing his hand for a raise, learn to take note of that hand at the showdown. That way you can predict what he might have when he thinks for while before coming in for a raise again. You should also try to behave as unpredictable as possible while playing online poker.

Did you find this information useful? David Gardner is a professional poker player, and has a passion for playing poker for cash. As of today, he has identified several legitimate poker strategy guides, making him near $500 a day. Visit his website at http://www.review-best.com/poker/strategyguides.htm where he exposes the online poker strategy guide scams and identifies the best poker strategy guides on the web. For a limited time only, get a FREE poker strategy e-course at http://www.review-best.com/poker/strategyguides.htm filled with powerful poker tactics!

Winning Online Poker - The Truth

Online poker was forever thrust into the limelight when amateur Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 World Series of Poker main event, beating 838 other players to scoop the $2.5 million first prize. After entering for only $40 through winning a series of smaller Satellite tournaments for his seat at the main event, he cleared the path for poker players all around the world to chase the dream and life-changing winnings that a win in the biggest live poker tournament in the world can bring. Sponsorships with major poker websites, celebrity and cold hard cash lured many players to chase the Texas hold em dream.

The poker phenomenon instantly kicked into gear after the 2003 World Series of Poker. Late Night Poker showcased British talent, while the World Poker Tour emerged as the 'seasonal' version of the World Series, offering legitimate tournaments with a high cash buy-in to entice players into chasing that elusive big win. Opportunities for playing poker at every level suddenly became accessible to everyone.

As a natural continuation, professional players started to cash in on peoples thirst for knowledge of poker and created many strategy books teaching players the skills for them to 'make a living' online. Many people are now quitting their jobs to become a full-time online poker player. The BBC in the UK, have profiled more than one person who does just that, including young university students and even some single parents.

Both the good and bad thing about online poker is that there are so many players. Entering a tournament with twenty entrants is tricky enough, how about one of the $100 + $9 entries which are run daily in various poker rooms that have in excess of 1,500 entries? Even the best players struggle to continually cash in these events, but of course there is big money to the winners which keeps everyone coming back for more. The next tournament just may be the one that changes your life.

The big question is, can a new player make a living online? The answer is yes, but certain factors must be taken into account. Firstly there is the strategy part of the game which links to the players overall emotional make-up. Professionals talk about making good decisions. When the rent money is being staked does the player always make these good decisions? Will you call the all-in if you are on a marginal hand but have what you think is a good read?

There is the factor that a professional poker player does not contribute a great deal to society whilst they earn their living. Some people get terribly effected by this. There is also the social aspect, anyone who thrives on conversation may get pretty lonely playing in front of a computer all day at home. Winning poker means folding a lot of hands, are you patient enough to keep folding, day after day? To win you simply have to have this patience. The standard of online poker also improves everyday. You will notice good play everyday in your poker contests. It has never been more important to practise and study the basics, and advanced strategy. You always need to be working out pot odds, chip stacks, implied odds and looking for tells, because you can bet that your opponent is doing just that to you.

There is a large collection of poker DVDs, tutorial websites claiming to make you into a winning player. The truth is that there is are a lot of new players who gamble, especially in the lower stakes games that really do not know what they are doing. I use Poker Academy for practising, but nothing beats the real thing, as long as you always learn from every hand and be your own worst critic. The new player must be honest with themselves. Anyone can say they are good at poker, and most people do believe they are world series of poker bracelet contenders when few would realistically have what it takes to win one. Just because you know how to play means nothing. Learn to read people for live play and play the person as well as the cards. When playing online look for the long-term correct decisions to send you in the right direction. Think about the game, and learn each type of flop and be able to analyse and categorise each position you find yourself in. Eating, sleeping and breathing poker will not hurt either!

In summary, be realistic in your goals. Don't try and make a million from cash games unless you are playing within your bankroll. As with anything else, paying your dues and taking your time to prove you are a winning player before really going for the gold is very important. I wish you luck. Finally, blog about your efforts, this helps you to keep good records and entertain whilst doing it. Read other poker players blogs too, they are often very helpful in opening your eyes to something that you may not have considered.

If you enjoyed this poker article you will definitely enjoy visiting Mals Poker Website.

http://www.itsawinner.co.uk is the online home of Mal Clarke, and one of the best online poker blogs on the Internet with poker room reviews, hand analysis and links to the best poker videos.

Follow Mal on twitter by visiting http://www.twitter.com/mal255

Winning Real Money with Poker

Gone are the days when you have to find a gambling den in some murky dark corner of street to get engaged with your passionate past time or recreation or sports (as some may call it). Now you don't need to move out of your sofa to indulge in the gambling. All you need is jut a descent Internet connection a sportive mind and lots of time. The number of Online Poker rooms is growing tremendously. At this moment there are about 100 or so Internet Poker Rooms as per world's largest Poker Reviews website.

Play and win money

Poker game is real, Money is real and do does the winnings. As in any sports (yes I call it more of a sports/game of skill than game of chance) winners gets the real money and not to mention the limelight.

How to choose the best Poker Room

Every professional player has his/her own favourite poker room to which they are hooked but for new comers it could be a difficult task to find out which one can give them best chance to win money. This is the place where websites such as Poker Reviews come handy. Poker Reviews website offers more than hundreds of Editor and users reviews which can be very useful in deciding the poker room of your taste.

For USA Players

With ban on online gambling USA players are forced to do nothing except curse government. However there are a plenty of Poker Rooms which welcome USA players. A List of such Poker Rooms can be found on Poker Review Website.

Payment and Withdrawal Options

These days almost all of the poker rooms have plenty of methods to deposit and withdraw money without any difficulties so payment options should not be a deterrent for determined poker players.

Poker Games

Each and every Poker room has its own uniqueness in offering Poker Games. In most poker rooms Holdem, Texas Holdem and Omaha games are popular and most of these poker rooms offer Limit, No Limit and Pot Limit variants of these popular games.

Poker Bonus

Most of the poker rooms offer excellent joining bonus, free rolls, free plays and the promotional offers. Most of these require you to deposit a certain amount of money and they will be doubled up or offered some % of deposit money to a limit for you which you can use to play the game.

Poker Tournaments

Some of the biog Poker websites also feature their own Poker Tournaments online otherwise WPT and other international tournaments are always there to keep adrenaline rushing.

Innovation and Creativity

Gambling companies are leaving no stone unturned to bring innovative and creative ideas for online games. Some of companies have taken initiative to offer a true real like virtual Gaming room with player avatars; music and video to bring life into otherwise dull 2D poker rooms.

A comprehensive list of online poker rooms, and poker reviews can be found on one of the world's best websites.

Poker Reviews

Poker Blog

Poker Reviews Blog

Fold Your Way to Winning Online Poker

It turns out that the #1 cause of losing in poker is simply not folding. Therefore; the first, most basic, skill in poker is folding. If you said, "no duh, yea I know that" then go let's see if you do. The purpose of this article is to begin to teach you how to be nothing more than a winning poker player. What's a "winning poker player"? It's a player who can make a profit consistently.

Any idiot can win at poker (for a short while), but that's not the same as being a "winning poker player". At the end of the week the "winning poker player" has made money. At the end of the month they have made money. The difference is that a "winning poker player" doesn't crash and burn. This article teaches the key skill of folding.

Folding is the most overlooked skill by the majority of players. They can't fold. They won't fold. They find reasons to play when they should be finding reasons to fold. They think and then re-think, they try to read minds. They play pure position plays and think they can steal pots after the flop with any two cards. They think folding will make them look weak in the eyes of their opponents. It deflates their ego. They think they are poker geniuses. They are actually action junkies. These guys are going to be your new best friends, because they are going to make your mortgage payments for you.

The main reason people don't fold is because they want to play. They see each poker "session" as a thing that has a start and a finish. If they are going to play for only one hour then they want to play some hands during that hour. YOU, on the other hand, are going to understand that your poker career is One Big Never Ending Poker Session. If you sit down to play for an hour and you don't have any situations, cards and scenarios where you should play, then you won't play. You will fold for an hour, turn off the computer and know you did your job!! If you want to play a game for fun, play Monopoly. If you want to play winning poker then it's time to get a pen.

Get a pen and a pad of paper. On the top write "I ALWAYS FOLD..." then write the following. You have to write this out. Reading it is pointless. If you really want to burn it into your brain then you can write the list twice. As you write each hand THINK about it.

If you decide you aren't going to ALWAYS fold some particular hand then you better have a fantastic reason why, and you better be able to create a strategy for playing that hand in about 15 different scenarios. Otherwise, just convince yourself that you will always fold it for the next couple months - while you're becoming a winning player. Then, if you want, you can add it back into your starting hands with purpose and with a plan of action for the hand.

I always fold T8.

I always fold J8.

Now keep writing "I always fold" for the rest of this list. It's not every hand in poker, but it's enough for what we're doing right now. 's' means Suited, 'x' means "any numeric card". So KQs means "King Queen Suited" and Ax means "Ace plus any numeric card".

Write "I always fold" for each of the following combination:

Q9, A9, 74s, J7s, 85s 96s, K9, 54, 65, 76, 87, 32s, 42s, 43s, 53s, Q8s, T7s, Kxs, 64s, 98, t9, j9, 75s, j8s, k9s, 54s, QT, KT, 86s, AT, 65S, Axs, 97s 76s, JT, T8s, Q9s, 87, KTs, J9s, 98s, QTs, T9s, ATs, JTs

That's your list of unplayable cards. UNPLAYABLE, any position, any situation, the only time you will be playing these cards is if you post the big blind and check into a hand with them. Otherwise you're folding. You are folding on the small blind, you are folding on the button, you are folding with multiple limpers, raised pots, unraised pots, etc.

Before we continue though, I must state something that SHOULD be glaringly obvious to you, but might not be. When you check into a flop from the big blind with one of your "I fold" hands, it's extremely important that you do not get drawn into playing your cards unless you really strike it lucky on the flop. Let's say that you hold 83 as the big blind and it comes round to you unraised, so you check and get to see the flop for no extra cash, "free" if you like. The flop comes 864. You have top pair! You are DONE with this hand. Fold it. Don't bet it. Don't call with it. Just let it go.

In these instances your hand is no good. You are probably beaten already. If you aren't beaten already, it's highly likely you will be before the hand is finished. Very occasionally you will flop a monster - with your 83 big blind you could see a flop of 883, K33, or even 888 as some examples. It does happen - but these will be in the minority, and remembering this will keep you out of a whole lot of trouble. Just because you got to see the flop for free doesn't mean it won't cost you dearly if you play your mediocre flopped hand above its real value. We will cover this more in detail when we talk about playing the blinds.

Did you find that you said, "No way, I'm not folding this in 'whatever' situation"? How about TJ or ATs? There is an excellent chance that the list of hands you are always going to fold preflop is more than you can accept. That's OK! Just stop reading. This system of making consistent profits playing poker can be... in a word... boring. The fact that it works consistently is really secondary. Action junkies and people who play poker to prove how "smart" they are will have serious issues with the remainder of this article.

Finding more and more hands to play, and more reasons to play them make good players bad, bad players worse, and sucky players out of everyone. Please, for the love of all that is pure and holy understand this one thing. All the books you read and all the advice you got from people who read those books are based on the same antiquated concept of playing ONE table LIVE. That means that you are physically sitting at a table and only one table since there's only one of you. The cards are being shuffled; you're seeing maybe 35 hands per hour - if not less. You are playing the maximum stakes for your bankroll, because that's what you should do if you are single table, live playing.

The winning system in this article was created for a modern, multi-table, online style of play. Instead of playing one table at $2/$4, you're playing 4 tables of $.5/$1. Instead of seeing 35 hands per hour or less, you're seeing about 200 hands per hour. Instead of playing "whatever table is available" you are selecting only the best tables for playing your game, tables with huge pots and tons of passive preflop callers. Do you see what I'm saying?

The hands that you think you want to play preflop might be right for some other situation. But we're talking about a game where you can sit and play 4-5 tables at a time for hours on end and make money. This is a game that's designed for the 21st century online poker reality. Yes, it is still possible to play poker online for profits from the U.S.!

Now, for whatever hands you have reservations about... Like ATs... write 25 times. "I always fold" and the hand. Each hand 25 times. Each time reminding yourself that you are creating a new game, a disciplined game, a money making game that will bring you hundreds of thousands of dollars over your poker career, a game that's going to make you into a poker monster.

Done? If you didn't do this exercise and you think you're ready to go to the next section, then do me a favor. Go to the bathroom, remove the roll of toilet paper, and place a print-out of this article on the spool. You might as well put it to use, because you're not using it to learn how to play winning online poker. Do the damn exercise before you move on, please. It'll only take an hour, unless you're writing with your feet.

If you learn how to fold and you stop falling in love with every two cards you see, then you will be ahead of most online poker players. It's good to be an optimist! It's good to see potential in the future. However, when you do that with too many starting hands in poker then you end up slowly losing whatever money you actually won with your good hands. See, becoming a consistent winning poker player isn't just about winning with good hands - any idiot can win with a good hand. Becoming a consistent winning online poker player is also about HOLDING ONTO your MONEY! You cannot hold onto your money when you play too many starting hands in poker.

I'm not saying that you cannot win hands with the cards that are in the "I always fold" list. You can! However, I'm trying to help you create a laser-focused game that will consistently make a profit with lower risk of leaking away you wins. You don't have to play so few hands. But if you aren't going to try this system then why read the article at all? Poker is fun! All types of poker. This is a very tight style. Try it! See what happens.

If you fold all these hands, then what hands can you play? All pocket pairs, AK, AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ, and QJ. THAT'S IT! 19 preflop hands! How can you win by playing only these 19 hands preflop? If you play them correctly then it's pretty much impossible to lose!!

Anthony Okrongly is a professional online poker player, trainer and author of numerous underground poker books, insider guides and rapid poker improvement systems. His methods are at times as controversial as they are effective for both beginners and experienced players alike. You can find his books and articles on http://www.legalonlinepokerchallenge.com.

Online Poker - The Number 1 Secret To Winning

Dozens of poker strategy articles and books are available to help players win poker tournaments online. However, practically all of these strategic advices fail to clearly explain the number 1 online poker secret and how any player possessing this knowledge can easily win without learning complex and advanced poker strategy.

While many of these poker strategy books and articles will rehash and regurgitate the same old poker theory and techniques, a player who is truly ambitious will delve deeper into the online poker world to find the number 1 online poker secret to winning. That secret is found inside the online poker site itself. As a poker player who wants to profit more often, you should spend a little effort and time learning how the software works and why you may get a poker bad beat so often.

Although, using advanced poker strategies such as trapping and position are always a good play in the real world of poker, it most often does not work well in the online realm. The reasoning behind this problem is two-fold. The software and the players.

The software

Using a complex formula (also known as poker algorithms) the pokersite is able to control many of the aspects of the game including your poker hands. As such, if you are finding that you sit through literally dozens of poker hands without ever getting a decent starting hand, this may be cause for alarm and require you to take some sort of desperate action.

While many players will bemoan the fact that online poker is rigged, and although there is some truth to that notion, you are not powerless to stop this problem while playing online. An approach to learning how the software and poker algorithms work is a first step to success in online poker.

The Players

In addition to the software, you are also playing against a lot of poker players who have no real concept of the game. In other words, No Limit Texas Holdem is the easiest game to play, however, if one does not understand the skills and advanced poker strategies, they will likely make bad plays which ultimately could result in giving or getting a bad beat.

For example, if you flop the nut straight, and you check raise a player to trap him, and then he goes all in with a flush draw, eventually hitting his draw and crippling you, is that a bad play on his part or yours? Most likely if the player interpreted your check raise as a bluff or a sign of weakness because he does not understand checking the nuts, then it is likely not that players fault as much as it could have been prevented by YOU being more aggressive and abandoning the idea to use advanced poker strategies against players who do not understand them.

The number one online poker secret to winning simply can be condensed into you learning how to play against inexperienced players and realizing that the computer generated code of the poker sites are not always true to life or random. Take the time to educate yourself on both of these concepts to improve your game and become a winning player.

Paul Westin is a professional poker player on several online poker sites and a former software engineer for a gaming company. His latest research reveals the inner workings of the online poker sites and how the software programs used on the poker sites affect the outcomes of your play. Visit http://www.caligonia.com/poker/ for more information on beating online poker sites.

The Most Important Winning Poker Book - Your Journal

Why Have a Poker Journal?

Poker is a long-term game. It's really not that different from investing, except you can't have someone else do it for you. You have to make the money yourself. But you wouldn't invest without having a plan, keeping records, tracking results, analyzing new opportunities, and exploring new options. Right? The same is true of poker. Bad players (fish) never record anything. They never track anything. They don't make decisions today based on historic realities. They don't know the difference between playing the site they are on (or the table) and the other sites in the poker world. They just sit down, blind in, and start playing. Fish don't play poker for the long-term. They play for the Right Now! This hand! This moment! This session! If they win they are thrilled. If they lose they are depressed. They are... in a word... VICTIMS!

You strive to be more than that, obviously. However, many players who strive to be more miss out on the Most Powerful Tool poker has to offer - HISTORICAL REALITY. Historical reality is what HAPPENED. How it happened. Why it happened. Because, guess what... It'll happen again!

If you don't keep records then you can't learn as quickly as you should from your mistakes. Maybe you won't learn from them at all. Maybe you'll learn for a while and then forget about it again. Your poker journal is how you tap the most powerful poker tool that exists.

If you don't keep records then you miss out on the Most Powerful Tool poker has to offer - YOUR BRAINPOWER. Your brainpower is what is going to take you into the future. It's what's going to set the path for your future success or failure. Because... As a man thinketh... so is he! The Bible: Proverbs

You spend hours staring at a computer screen, playing hands, making reads, learning lessons (good and bad). You read articles and books, talk to other poker players, and observe others who are more skilled than you. Where does all this information go? It can't just go in your head. Your head is a horrible record keeper. It's manipulated by emotions, it has tons of non-poker work to do, and it tends to fail you at the worst times in poker. So, instead of relying on your head, rely on your poker journal. A poker journal never forgets. You should review it often. And the fact that you have recorded things, will prompt you to expand them and think about them more.

The how's and why's of keeping a poker journal.

Hopefully I've convinced you that a poker journal will really add value and results to your poker game. In essence the HOW is simple. Just start doing it! But, here are some things I've done for years with my poker journal. Hopefully you can use some of them.

While you can keep a poker journal electronically on your computer, I don't recommend it. And while any old spiral notebook will do, I would encourage you to get something more substantial. Your next time out, take a shopping trip for a journal. About electronic journals, think of it this way; how many computer files can you find from 3 years ago? Not many. How many pictures do you have from your childhood? Probably quite a few. Physical things are permanent, electronic files are easily lost, forgotten or damaged. So go for the physical thing.

I use a refillable leather journal cover I bought at Barnes and Noble. Here's why. Leather is good! It gives your thoughts importance and heft. Leather is permanent and comforting. When you write in this journal it draws you to become better. It's also refillable and it has a place to keep a couple pens. All of this is important for me because I need my journal to be ready to go and hold up to my lifestyle. I go through about 1 refill every 9 months or so and I obviously keep the old journals for reference. I carry my journal with me almost all the time, and I make notes in it often.

So, what do you write in your journal?

Write down whatever comes to mind. I use my journal for personal notes and goals as well as poker goals - to me they are one in the same; because, poker makes many aspects of my life possible and my life affects my poker. I start every journal with my life goals and concepts that help me succeed at whatever I'm doing. That way I know exactly where to go to get my mind right if I start to waver.

After that I just write whatever I think is important as it comes to mind. These include things like:

- Starting Hand Charts

- Poker Session, SnG, and MTT notes

- Poker ideas I read in books, magazines and online

- Summaries of what I think helps me accomplish my poker and life goals

- Personal Improvement concepts and notes

- Repetitive Sentences - This one is important.

Poker has a great ability to tie us up in knots when we have bad sessions or make mistakes. The best way to work out the negative energy that gets built up in times like this is to write a sentence 50-100 times. That helps me work out the negative emotions and refocus my efforts. Randomly opening my journal I see a couple pages of "I will follow my rules 100% when I play." That's from a few sessions of breaking my own good advice and playing like a fool.

So those are some ideas of what you could keep. I have notes about what poker articles I need to write, time management actions, and even questions I use to approach life in a positive way. It's all good!! Because the act of writing focuses the mind, it makes permanent many things that you would lose if you tried to remember them in your head; it clarifies; and it gives you something to look back on and see your achievements.

If you're interested in seeing inside my journal, here's a sample. Many of these things don't seem poker related, but they set the foundations for my poker success.

LIFE GOALS:

1. Time, Flexibility, Independence - I am an independent human being who has 100% control of my time and actions without financial restrictions or pressures.

2. Discipline, Desire, Control - I have the discipline and desire to control my own time and activities in a way that brings well-rounded fullness for me and for my family.

3. A Transforming Force - I am a positive force to transform those around me for a better and happier life.

4. Kaizen - I will improve and grow in large or small meaningful and positive ways in some aspect of my life every day until the day I die.

"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make our world" The Buddha

"Things do not change. We change." Henry David Thoreau

Problem Solving Questions: (from Anthony Robbins)

1. What is great about this problem?

2. What is not perfect yet?

3. What am I willing to DO to make it the way I want it?

4. What am I willing to no longer do to make it the way I want it?

5. How can I enjoy the process WHILE I do what is necessary to make it the way I want it?

Those are just some snippets from my poker journal. Those don't say "poker", but for me they are vital to continued poker success. Many of my journal entries are the basis for chapters in this book, because they have turned into full articles on the topic in question.

Conclusion

I hope you're convinced that a poker journal will infuse power, focus, and long-term vision into your poker life. Any fish can post a blind and play a hand. Many players have longer term results without a journal. But giving your ideas, thoughts, frustrations, and observations a DESTINATION will create an entirely new level of calm and balance for your game.

Anthony Okrongly is a professional online poker player, trainer and author of numerous underground poker books, insider guides and rapid poker improvement systems. His methods are at times as controversial as they are effective for both beginners and experienced players alike. You can find his books and articles on http://www.legalonlinepokerchallenge.com

Why Do I Lose At Poker? 5 Tips That Will Turn You Into A Winning Online Poker Player!

There is far more to online poker than deciding which cards to play. This article is for people asking the question Why Do I Lose At Poker? The good news is that asking this question is the first step on the road to becoming a winning player! Below are 5 areas that every poker player should consider in their efforts to become a winning player.

Why Do I Lose At Poker? Tip #1: The Importance of Bankroll Management

Every online poker player experiences winning and losing sessions. What differentiates the long term winners is good bankroll management. The natural variance of poker play means that you are likely to hit 'downswings' of several buy-ins for the game you play. If you are playing with a large percentage of your bankroll in a single game then just one downswing could wipe out your entire bankroll.

Winning online poker players ensure that they only have a small percentage of their bankroll at risk in any one game. Good rules of thumb are 5% (1/20th) for cash games and 2% (1/50th for tournaments). To some this may seem overly conservative - but players who manage their poker bankroll well are statistically less likely to go broke!

Why Do I Lose At Poker? Tip #2: The Importance of Site and Table Selection

Not all online poker sites are equal in terms of the skill level of the opponents you will face. Some sites are the home of many internet poker professionals who each play many tables at once - meaning that you are likely to be playing against a high ratio of winning players compared to average or losing players. Read poker room reviews and ask questions on poker forums - no matter what your current skill level there is a right poker site for you out there somewhere.

Table selection is also an important aspect of explaining why people lose at poker. Winning players routinely take the time to select the tables with the weakest opponents, this in turn translates directly into poker profits. Before you sit at the first available table ask yourself whether waiting just 5 minutes might result in finding a more profitable spot.

Why Do I Lose At Poker? Tip #3: Psychological Factors

Losing poker players often exhibit some of the following characteristics:

- Playing when tired, unwell or even drunk.

- Tilting, either through anger or frustration.

- Playing while watching TV, Surfing the Net or chatting on IM.

- Playing too many tables, especially with different games simultaneously.

- Playing when you 'know you will lose'.

To become a winning poker player you need to be focused, disciplined and mentally fresh - after all winning online poker is all about making correct decisions. Next time you sit down to play when tired (for example) ask yourself whether you are in the best frame of mind to win. If the answer is no then find something else to do and come back to the poker tables fresh - your results will improve dramatically.

Why Do I Lose At Poker? Tip #4: Bonuses and Incentives

Many online poker rooms offer bonuses and incentives for their players. Winning players make sure that they optimise their share of these offers. Simple tips include signing up for more than one poker room to take advantage of more bonus offers and ensuring that your VIP club level is as high as possible. While bonuses will not make you a winning poker player on their own they go a long way to protecting you from downswings and building up your online poker bankroll.

Why Do I Lose At Poker? Tip #5: Never Stop Learning!

This is the single most important tip for anyone asking why they lose at poker. The online game is a dynamic environment - the amount of quality training material available means that the average skill level of opponents is increasing all the time. If you stop studying the game you are liable to be left behind very quickly indeed. Winning players look for 'leaks' in their own play as well as learning poker strategy. Make sure you dedicate some time to this area, you will see the results as your bankroll grows.

GL at the tables, Mark

Mark Holland is an online poker pro, Poker Blogger, and writer for high-quality poker websites.

For great strategy tips to boost your poker profits today visit SNG Planet - you'll find fantastic Online Poker Strategy Tips and Articles right there!

Winning Poker Lessons From Warren Buffett

Dear Poker Player,

Warren Buffett is one smart dude. And RICH.

He's the second richest man in the WORLD... right behind

Bill Gates. Forbes estimates that his net worth is $40

BILLION.

(How's THAT for a bankroll?)

What's interesting about Buffett is that he made his fortune

over a LONGGG period of time... by consistently beating the

stock market year after year after year.

He wasn't one of those "overnight" dot-com billionaires.

He wasn't "lucky" to be in the right place at the right

time.

He didn't "invent" some new technology that changed the

world.

Nope... all he did was invest and "pick winners" over and

over. Since taking control of Berkshire 40 years ago,

Buffett has delivered a compound annual return of 22%.

AND JUST BY DOING THAT, he became the 2nd richest man alive.

OK-- so why am I rambling on about 75-year old man who's

good at investing?

The reason is because I've realized that there are DOZENS of

important parallels between the STOCK MARKET and POKER.

Here are just a few:

* The stock market is often considered "gambling", due to

its unpredictable nature... just as POKER is often

considered gambling, even though it's a SKILL game.

* The stock market has a heavy emphasis on odds and

mathematics... just like poker.

* The stock market is predominately a male-driven

industry... just like poker.

* The stock market has PLENTY of up's and down's, and

"streaks"... just like poker.

* And so on.

Of course, these are "surface" similarities.

Now think about the PSYCHOLOGY of poker and the stock

market... and how they're often EXACTLY THE SAME:

* In the stock market, everyone dreams of buying that one

MIRACLE STOCK that will go from $2 to $200 and make them

rich...

In poker, everyone has their "pipe dream" of winning a huge

million-dollar tournament on ESPN.

* When a stock tanks, most investors FREAK OUT and

immediately make several bad investment decisions in a row.

It's usually THESE decisions that hurt them the most.

In poker, this is known as "tilt". Bad beats cause some

damage... but it's usually the decisions you make AFTER the

bad beats that cause you to lose the game.

* Believe it or not, most stock investors come out on the

LOSING END over time... even though the market has

historically gone UP year after year.

Most poker players end up losing over time also, despite all

the "fish" out there to prey on.

* And so on.

OK, so you get the idea.

Lately I've been reading a lot of books about the stock

market... and especially about Warren Buffett. (Hell, I need

somewhere to invest all these poker winnings!)

Anyway, here's what's REALLY interesting:

Warren Buffett's INVESTMENT APPROACH is almost identical to

the POKER STRATEGY I use every day.

And it's the SAME approach used by top poker pros to

consistently win tournaments and ring games...

Interesting, huh?

Of course, it makes sense when you think about it.

If poker and investing are similar, then the guys who beat

the STOCK MARKET probably use the same techniques as the

guys who win at POKER.

And who better to learn poker from than the "KING" of the

stock market... and the 2nd richest man in the world?

*** WARREN BUFFETT'S WINNING APPROACH ***

Warren Buffett operates on PRINCIPLES. He doesn't get caught

up in "hype" or emotion.

Below are the five MOST IMPORTANT principles that he follows... and how they relate to your poker game.

PRINCIPLE 1: PATIENCE IS KEY.

Patience, patience, patience!

It's the number one mistake that causes most poker players

to lose... and it's one of the "secrets" to Buffett's 22%

annual returns.

Warren Buffett does not make an investment unless he is

absolutely 100% confident that it will make him money.

That means he PASSES UP a lot of great investment

opportunities.

Warren Buffett has said "no" to stocks that ended up

increasing by 10,000%!

But more importantly... he's passed up all those other

stocks that LOOKED GOOD, but PLUMMETED later.

The problem is, us human beings are addicted to ACTION and

MOVEMENT and EXCITEMENT. We don't want to just sit around

and WAIT.

But that's EXACTLY what Buffett does...

He waits.

And waits.

And waits.

He KNOWS that sooner or later, a GREAT opportunity will come

up... and then he'll jump on it.

It's the same way with poker.

You've GOT to be patient. We all want to "get in there" and

make strong bets... bluff out opponents... and take down

lots of pots. We want ACTION.

BUT THAT'S NOT HOW YOU DO IT.

You've got to sit back... be patient... and WAIT.

Wait for good cards.

Wait for the PERFECT time to bust the manic at the table.

Wait for the PERFECT time to steal the blinds.

Wait for the PERFECT time to bluff out an opponent.

Wait for the PERFECT time to go all-in.

And then when you DO make a move...

PRINCIPLE 2: MAINTAIN A "LOW TURNOVER" PORTFOLIO OF JUST A

FEW STOCKS.

Buffett insists on keeping 10-20% turnover with his

portfolio. This means he generally holds onto a stock for

5-10 years... AT LEAST.

This is obviously OPPOSITE of how most investors do it. Most

investors are checking the tickers every HOUR-- watching for

the slightest indication of movement or news.

More importantly... Buffett only invests in a FEW STOCKS AT

A TIME.

Now THIS is crucial, because it goes against everything

you've ever learned.

Growing up, you probably heard this advice a lot:

"Never put all your eggs in one basket."

Right?

Well, Warren Buffett does the OPPOSITE.

He puts all his eggs in one basket... but... he chooses that

basket VERY CAREFULLY!

You see, Buffett believes that if you've done your homework

and you're confident in your decision, there's NO NEED to

"diversify".

In fact, he believes this is the ONLY REAL WAY to get rich

in the stock market. Because if you buy LOTS of stocks, some

are doomed to go down... and that will hurt your gains.

Now think how this relates to poker.

In poker, most players risk money on LOTS of pots, and try

to get the best odds for each one... maybe 55%, 60%, and the

OCCASIONAL 70% or higher.

What PROFESSIONAL poker players do is only play those

OCCASIONAL pots with the best odds.

BUT, they risk more chips when they do it...

So instead of risking 20% of your chip stack five times...

you want to risk 90% of your chip stack ONE time. But you

choose that time VERY CAREFULLY!

For instance, let's say the "average" poker player enters

three pots where he feels the odds are in his favor.

The three pots go like this:

1.) He risks 1000 in chips with 60% odds.

2.) He risks 1000 in chips with 50% odds.

3.) He risks 1000 in chips with 60% odds.

Now... MATHEMATICALLY speaking... there are EIGHT different

ways these scenarios can go. They are as follows (a win is

designated with "W" and a loss with "L"):

1.) W-W-W

2.) W-W-L

3.) W-L-W

4.) W-L-L

5.) L-W-W

6.) L-W-L

7.) L-L-W

8.) L-L-L

If he wins all three, he ends up with 3000 chips in profit.

If he wins two but loses one, he ends up with just 1000

chips in profit.

If he LOSES two but wins one, he ends up with 1000 chips in

losses.

And he if loses all three, he loses 3000 chips total.

Get it?

Now let me share with you the PERCENTAGES of the above

scenarios.

Watch out, this may surprise you.

If you were to play three pots as described above and risk

1000 chips for each one, and do this exercise 100 times,

here's what would happen:

18% of the time you'd win 3,000 chips total.

42% of the time you'd win 1,000 chips total.

32% of the time you'd lose 1,000 chips total.

8% of the time you'd lose 3,000 chips total.

Your "net average" would be to PROFIT 400 CHIPS.

OK... that's the "normal" approach.

Now let's look at the WARREN BUFFETT approach.

Let's say you entered just ONE pot and risked 3000 chips

(instead of 1000) with 70% odds in your favor.

Now watch what happens:

70% of the time you'd win 3,000 chips total.

30% of the time you'd lose 3,000 chips total.

Your "net average" would be to PROFIT 1200 CHIPS.

That's TRIPLE the results over time!

The key is to get BETTER ODDS and RISK MORE.

I better interject here that I do NOT recommend being one of

those players who just sits back, waits for the "nuts", and

then goes all-in.

Not even close.

In fact, if you've read my newsletters you know that I'm a

very aggressive player who loves to push action.

The KEY is that I BUILD THIS IMAGE through techniques based

on feeler bets, positioning, and sensing weakness.

AND WHEN THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITY COMES ALONG, I RISK AS MANY

CHIPS AS I CAN!

I know that when the odds are heavily in my favor, it's time

to put my eggs in one basket and go for it...

PRINCIPLE 3: THE STOCK MARKET IS NOT ALWAYS RATIONAL OR

"EFFICIENT".

There's a popular stock market concept called, "Efficient

Market Theory" (EMT).

Most of the world's leading business schools teach this

widely-accepted concept.

However...

Warren Buffett says that the EMT is a bunch of hogwash!

He's actually gone on record saying that part of him LOVES

the fact that business schools teach this theory: It makes

things easier on him because his competition doesn't know

what they're doing!

Now... I'm not going to argue whether the theory is right or

wrong. It doesn't matter for our discussion here.

What I find intriguing is what Buffett believes IS true

about the stock market...

You see, the EMT basically says that the stock market is

"efficient" in its pricing... and that most buy/sell

behavior is "rational".

Buffett disagrees. He is CONSTANTLY scouting for

opportunities where he thinks the market is acting in an

IRRATIONAL manner... and then he jumps on the chance to buy

an under-priced stock.

In other words, a core part of his investment philosophy is

that the stock market is NOT efficient... and that there's

always room to grow your "bankroll" when others act

irrationally.

It's the same with poker.

When you're playing Texas Holdem, you want to spot the

"sucker" at the table... the guy who is making IRRATIONAL

decisions.

This doesn't only apply to amateurs, either. Even PROS have

"irrational" habits, tells, and "tilt" behavior.

Your OPPONENTS will open up millions of "profit

opportunities" for you... if you just watch closely.

And that brings us to the next principle:

PRINCIPLE 4: FOCUS ON THE VALUE OF THE BUSINESS, NOT THE

PRICE OF THE STOCK.

This one has almost a direct translation to poker:

FOCUS ON THE PLAYERS, NOT THE CARDS.

You're not playing poker against the house... you're playing

against your opponents.

With the stock market, everyone is always looking at the

PRICE of a stock to determine if it's worth buying or

selling.

Buffett actually doesn't even look at the price until LAST.

What he looks at is the VALUE OF THE BUSINESS.

He only invests in top-notch businesses that meet specific

conditions. He wants a business with strong growth prospects

LONG TERM, good management, and stable numbers.

Once he finds a business that meets these criteria, THEN he

looks at the price.

When the cards come out, what's the first thing you're

thinking about? What are you looking at?

You should be thinking about your OPPONENTS... the

POSITIONING at the table... the BETTING HABITS you've picked

up in the last few hands... and your opponents' FACES as

they look at their cards.

THEN when the action comes to you and it's YOUR TURN, you

should peek to see what you're holding.

Opponents first, cards second.

PRINCIPLE 5: DEMAND A MARGIN OF SAFETY FOR EVERY PURCHASE.

Warren Buffett is actually a very "conservative" investor,

as are most poker professionals. He'll only buy stocks that

he feels are practically "guaranteed" to go up.

You should demand a "margin of safety" on every hand you

play. This is actually much easier than it sounds.

Some of your tactics should include:

* Avoiding heads-up situations with players who have more

chips, and instead favoring those with fewer chips. (That

way if you go all-in and lose, you can still be in the

game.)

* Buying pots and bluffing when you have good positioning.

(That way you can get a read on your opponent and escape if

things go bad.)

* Only "chasing" draws when the pot odds are CONSIDERABLY in

your favor. (That way you end up way ahead over time.)

* And so on.

*** PLAY POKER LIKE WARREN BUFFETT ***

Perhaps the MOST IMPORTANT lesson I've learned from Warren

Buffett is to NEVER FEAR doing the "unpopular" thing.

His career PROVES that "going against the grain" is often

the BEST choice.

He doesn't live by what others do... he operates on GUIDING

PRINCIPLES that "win" over time.

Whether it's ways to leverage table positioning, tactics for

defeating common opponent styles, techniques for "stealing

the button", or figuring out the right times to bluff...

...You've got to first learn the POKER PRINCIPLES. And then

you need the GUTS to stick to them.

So where do you learn these principles?

The best place to start is by joining my free Poker Tips

email newsletter. It's jam-packed with Texas Holem tactics

and secrets that you can INSTANTLY use to increase your

winnings.

Join now, and your first issue will include this free

report:

"Avoid These Costly Mistakes When Playing Texas Holdem"

Inside you'll learn the 10 most dangerous mistakes most

poker players make... and HOW YOU CAN AVOID THEM.

Talk to you soon.

Your New Friend,

Roy Rounder

Roy Rounder is a professional poker player and author of "No Limit Holdem Secrets"-- a 229-page guide to poker strategy and techniques.

Sign up for Roy's free poker tips newsletter here: http://www.RoyRounder.com