May 2005 Poker News

May 24th, 2005
A Little Bit Of HEAT!

Online Poker & Gambling sites are beginning to feel the wrath of federal regulations prohibiting the direct advertisement of their establishments. Esquire magazine was recently sent a letter from the Justice Dept. regarding the 8-page feature from Bodog poker room.

Hopefully, this blows over because Esquire is an excellent magazine with a great little poker feature this month!

Anyhow, the problem is that if the feds are going after advertising. It might be an indication that they are starting to catch wind of the legalities of online gaming.

Meanwhile – let’s play some cards shall we? Check out this great poker tip about how to play heads up! Read some poker news about new poker video games, poker cable TV channel, and a judges ruling on poker games!

Bad News is our FORUMS are STILL temporarily out of service. We will let you know just as soon as they are back in action!
Today’s Poker News:
* World Championship Poker 2: Featuring Howard Lederer E3 2005 Impressions [Xbox PlayStation 2] – GameSpot – 2 hours, 6 minutes ago – We see if Crave’s poker sequel has the nuts, straight from the E3 2005 show floor.
* AskMen.com’s Poker Channel – AskMen – May 23 8:14 PM – Identifying and avoiding online poker cheats. If there is a game to be contested, you can bet there is someone out there who is trying to circumvent the system. It is no different in online poker.
* Judge lays cards on table, forbids poker – The Herald-Sun – May 23 9:39 PM – The expert witnesses came from Las Vegas, the Bahamas and Florida to testify that poker is chiefly a game of skill.
Poker Quick Link’s:
* Brandi Williams (pic)
* Daniel Negreanu’s Blog (link)
* Poker Cartoon Of The Day (link)
* Poker Forum (link)

Poker Tip of The Day:

Guidelines on playing against one opponent when a pair flops.
Tip # 24 – (from CardPlayer By: Barry Schulman) Anytime that a pair hits the board, it reduces the possibility that the flop has hit your opponent’s hand. The reason for this is simple. Having two cards of the same rank on the board takes away one of his opportunities to make a pair. Because the flop is less likely than normal to have been of aid, this is a good opportunity to play aggressively and seize control of the pot.

You Are First to Act

When you are first to act, you should bet if you have any pair (whether in your hand or from the board), as well as a big ace such as A-Q. Typically, these hands are the best hand at this point, but they are vulnerable, so don’t give your opponent a free chance to catch up. It is important not to be afraid that the pair on the board hit your opponent’s hand. Although you will occasionally run into trips (particularly when the pair is a high card such as A-A, which contains cards your opponent is more likely to play), you should not allow fear to sway you into checking.

In fact, if you sense that your opponent is likely to be in the pot with a weak hand — that is, something other than a pocket pair or big ace — it is correct to bet the flop when a pair hits regardless of your hand. The reason for this is that the flop is unlikely to have helped your opponent. In all likelihood, he will fold to a bet, fearing the possibility that you are the one holding three of a kind.

Opponent Is First

When your opponent is first to act and bets into you, call with any pair or big ace. There is just too good a chance that your opponent is trying to pick up this pot with a bet, and you do have a hand that can win without further improvement. If you fold a hand such as 8-8 when the board comes K-K-4 and your opponent bets into you, you are playing far too weakly. There is a very good chance your 8-8 is the best hand here. You won’t win every time, but if you always fold in this situation, you are throwing a lot of winners into the muck.

If you hold an overpair to the board and your opponent bets, you should generally raise your hand for value. When you bet or raise “for value,” this means you want your opponent to put more money into the pot because you probably hold the best hand. Your hand isn’t a lock, but is most likely good.

You Flop Trips

Now, what should you do on those rare occasions when you are fortunate enough to flop trips? First of all, it’s important not to get overly excited. Spilling your drink all over the table after the flop comes down is not a good way of encouraging your opponent to play along with you.

In general, you should tend to play your trips aggressively right from the flop onward. Most players expect their opponents to slow-play when they flop a big hand, so your bet may be interpreted as a sign of weakness rather than a showing of strength. This might lead to your getting unmerited action on the hand, particularly if you are up against a very aggressive player. By playing your trips fast (that is, aggressively, not slow-playing), you are taking advantage of your opponent’s aggressive tendencies by turning them against him.

Conversely, you might need to check your trips on the flop against very tight opponents to suck any more bets from them. They are unlikely to call a bet on the flop, so you might check one time hoping the turn either makes them a pair, or induces a bluff. However, it is dangerous to give free cards when the turn can bring your opponent a miracle. So, it is best to check when fewer draws are present on the flop. For example, checking a hand like A-8 when the flop is 8-8-2 rainbow is fairly safe. It’s probably not a good idea to check A-8 when the flop is 8-8-9 with a flush draw, however, as too many potential hands can either outdraw you on the turn, or at least develop quality draws.

May 23rd, 2005

Mondays SUCK

It’s true, Mondays Suck! We won’t lie to you we here at Tips4Poker feel your pain. Which is why we will do our best to make your Monday a lot better.

Just imagine monkeys! Yes, monkeys… Now, imagine monkeys playing poker. Still following us? Well, if your not here are a ridiculous amount of images showing monkeys playing poker. Thus proving our point that Poker and Monkeys go hand in hand.

Good news is we’ve got some great tips for you on how to play a rainbow flop.

Bad News is our FORUMS are temporarily out of service. We will let you know ASAP when they are back in action. Shouldn’t be more than a day. Our apologies.

Check out the new t-shirt design for Tips4Poker.com then solve some poker trivia in the forum to win one!

Today’s Poker News:
* Poker will bankroll a semester of college – Houston Chronicle – 2 hours, 30 minutes ago – Soon thousands of poker players around the world will be competing in a massive virtual Texas Hold ‘Em tournament with a controversial jackpot: a college scholarship.
* Riders’ Poker Run scheduled for today – The Reporter – May 22 8:36 AM – North County Riders M/C invites all motorcyclists to participate today in its ninth annual Poker Run. Sign-ups will be at the Vacaville Harley-Davidson dealership from 9 to 11 a.m. Cost is $20 per person.
* Daniel Negreanu Introduces the Wynn Poker Room – pPlayer.com – May 22 8:40 AM – Filed under: Casinos & Card Rooms , Professionals Last night Daniel had a cocktail party at Wynn Las Vegas to introduce the new poker room. I got there late but went to the poker room to see if there would be some overflow. Sure enough, he was there, in a sharp black suit, smiling, patient, and friendly as every time I’ve seen him. This time I introduced myself formally, as it was hurried at
Poker Quick Link’s:
* Poker Monkey #1 (pic)
* Poker Monkey #2 (pic)
* Eerily Similair Poker Monkey #3 (pic)
* May Not Be a Poker Monkey – But Damn Close (pic)
* When Searching For Poker Monkey Pics, this came up (pic)
* Monkey Poker Chip (pic)
* Daniel Negreanu’s Blog (link)
* Poker Cartoon Of The Day (link)
* Poker Forum (link)

Poker Tip of The Day:
Guidelines on playing a flop of K-Q-3 rainbow.

Tip # 22 – (from CardPlayer By: Barry Schulman) This advice applies to any situation in which the flop contains two face cards and one small card, without a flush draw.

Unlike the previous example, this flop is likely to have hit your opponent in some way, either by pairing him or by giving him a straight draw. As a result, you don’t need to feel the same obligation to bet when it’s checked to you as in the A-9-3 scenario. It is still okay to bet with a very marginal hand (A-T, for example), but you should have some outs to fall back on.

Against one opponent, it is correct to bet with a pair of queens or better, as well as T-J (open-end straight draw). If he is first to act and bets, call with Q-T or better. Also, raise with K-J or better. This is not a good board in which to slow-play a big hand such as Q-Q, since there are several straight draws present. You don’t want to give an opponent the correct price (free) to draw with his J-9 or A-T, so make sure to bet your set here.

If there are several players in the pot, you need to increase both your betting and calling standards. Now, it is likely that someone is holding at least a king, so hands like Q-T have very little value when faced with calling a bet. Tend to fold this hand against several players. You should still be raising with K-J or better, however, partly due to the hand’s value, and partly to give it some protection.

May 21st, 2005

This Sh*t is Bananas

Play Poker, I must! If you’ve seen the new Star Wars you know what we’re talking about. What a great movie. Anyhow, back to poker…

Poker – its a great mysterious thing. It can help cure diseases, be a motive for murder and bring celebrities together. All this and more in today’s poker news.

Daniel Negreanu updated his Blog today with some interesting information on “What a Crazy Week” he had.

Check out the new t-shirt design for Tips4Poker.com then solve some poker trivia in the forum to win one!

Play online @ NoblePoker offering 100% Bonus Up to $500. (4Raked Hands / Dollar)

Best New Poker Room of 2005 @ Click Here To DOWNLOAD Bodog POKER

Today’s Poker News:

* Poker player breaks character before jury begins deliberations in murder trial – Court TV Online – May 20 11:08 AM – For a man who made his living as a professional poker player, Greg Chao broke a cardinal rule of gambling Thursday: Don’t lose your cool.
* Poker run funds disease research – WALB News 10 – May 20 11:56 AM – Valdosta – South Georgians are hopping on their Harleys to help fight a deadly disease. Ambling Company is sponsoring its first annual Poker Run for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Saturday. Registration for the ride starts at noon and Charley O’Corley’s and the last bike pulls out at 1:30.
* Charity drops potentially illegal poker event – Houston Chronicle – May 20 10:38 AM – Despite proceeds expected to near $300,000, Houston police and the District Attorney’s Office said a planned no-limit Texas Hold’em poker tournament to raise money for the Komen Breast Cancer Foundation would probably be considered illegal.
* Stars Expected for Celebrity Poker Tournament – Rolling Good Times – May 20 9:58 AM – HOLLYWOOD, California – (PRESS RELEASE) — Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars are expected to go all in for Hollywood Poker’s World Series of Poker (WSOP) Celebrity Shootout Tournament

Poker Quick Link’s:
* Claymation Poker (pic)
* Interesting Poker Art (pic)
* Daniel Negreanu’s Blog (link)
* Poker Cartoon Of The Day (link)
* Poker Forum (link)

Poker Tip of The Day:
When one player has raised, and it has been folded around to you, you should stick to the raise-or-fold philosophy.

Tip # 8 – (from CardPlayer By: Barry Schulman) Following this advice will keep you out of trouble. Many hold’em hands seem like they should be worth seeing the flop, but when you look at the situation objectively, you see that these hands just get you into trouble.

For example, suppose a player has raised from early position, and you have A-J. At first glance, this seems like a good hand. After all, you have two high cards including an ace. However, when you consider the range of hands the raiser is likely to hold, your A-J doesn’t seem so mighty. (The assumption here is that the raiser only raises with decent hands.) It is very important to think about what sorts of hands your various opponents are capable of raising with, and from what positions.

When you think this way, you see that getting involved in a raised pot (when the raiser is a typical player from early position) with A-J is not a profitable strategy. In all likelihood, the raiser is holding one of two hands: a medium or high pair, or two high cards including an ace. If it’s the first possibility, his pair is probably in the range of aces down to eights. So, if you have A-J, you are in decent shape against eights, nines, or tens. However, you are a sizable underdog against jacks, queens, or kings, and a monster underdog should you be unlucky enough to run into two aces. That is, more than half the pair hands he is likely to have put you at a severe disadvantage. Against two big cards with an ace, you are approximately a 5-to-2 underdog if they are A-K or A-Q. You are a favorite against A-T, but many opponents won’t raise with this hand. If your opponent is almost certain to have either a pair or ace-something here — and that “something” is almost sure to be a high card — he’ll have a hand with an ace in it more than half the time. Thus, overall, you’re likely to be severely behind something over three-fourths of the time. So, although your A-J looks like a good enough hand (particularly if you’ve spent the better part of the last hour looking at 9-2 and 8-4), if you play it here you’re asking for trouble. So, fold your hand and wait for a better situation.

With a hand that figures to be the best, it is good to reraise and make things tough on the players yet to act. Against one early-position raiser, if you stick to a general philosophy of reraising with J-J or better or with A-K, and folding all other hands, you will tend to get involved mostly in situations in which you are holding the better hand. And, if you consistently start with the best hand, you should do just fine in the game.
However, when the pot is opened by a raise from a late position player, the situation changes considerably. It is helpful to possess some knowledge of your opponents’ playing styles here. Some players feel that “any two will do” when the hand has been folded around to them in late position. So they raise, attempting either to steal the blinds or play against them with position. When confronted with a player like this, you must expand the range of hands with which you are willing to go to battle. Otherwise, you will be folding the best hand too often.

Although you don’t want to loosen up too much, when confronted with a late-position raise, it is frequently correct to reraise with hands such as A-T offsuit or 77. The reason for this is that your opponent may be holding an even weaker hand, such as K-T, A-x*, or 4-4. By reraising, you accomplish two things. First, you knock out the other players (unless they either have very good hands or are extremely stubborn), enabling you to play the probable best hand in position against one opponent. Second, a reraise allows you to take the lead in the pot. Frequently, the flop will be of no benefit to either of you, and your follow-up bet on the flop will convince your opponent to fold (partially due to the strength you represent by reraising before the flop).

May 19th, 2005
Free Deck Of Cards, Seriously!

Guess what? It’s your lucky day – because, we’ve got a way for you to get yourself a fancy deck of cards. Absolute VODKA is offering a free deck of cards for anyone who signs up for the ABSOLUTE ACCESS page and clicks the “swag” area and requests an awesome deck of cards. These cards are great they are absolutely free including s&h, and have a drink recipe on each suit.

Tips For Poker Private Tournament @ Noble Poker tomorrow afternoon. Be sure to sign-up for this $100 added tournie!

For an awesome poker tip by Barry Schulman regarding tight aggressive playing style check out this article.
Today’s Poker News:

* Poker T-shirt maker fights Wal-Mart – CNN Money – May 18 2:11 PM – A small company that makes poker T-shirts has declared a ‘ban’ on Wal-Mart.
* Luck of the draw Poker tournament catching on in local pool hall – Arkcity.net – May 18 2:17 PM – Out of 30 poker players, the final table was reduced down to two: me and Jack Palmer. As a beginning poker player, I thought I had the poker game in the bag. However, Palmer showed a slight aggravation when tournament organizer Alex Torres stopped play and simplified the chips.
* Eagle Games Reports Poker Schedule for 2005 – Rolling Good Times – May 18 12:28 PM – PLAINFIELD, Illinois — (PRESS RELEASE) – The WSOP(R), Celebrity Poker Showdown(R), DD Poker 2006 and Annie Duke, Eagle Games and Donohoe Digital today announced the summer schedule for their best selling DD Tournament Poker franchise.
* Repeat: WPT Legends of Poker – pPlayer.com – May 18 3:59 PM – Filed under: Television Tonight’s World Poker Tour is another repeat, this time of the Bicycle Casino’s Legends of Poker that originally aired in early March. The event took place in August of 2004 and it features a memorable performance by perhaps the greatest of all-time, Doyle Brunson. Others at the final table: Joe Awada, Tom Lee, Lee Watkinson, Grant Helling, and Pete Lawson. A fresh
* Gentleman’s Poker – pPlayer.com – May 18 3:07 PM – Filed under: Magazines You know where I always look first for great poker lessons? Esquire Magazine . Ok, no I don’t, but I’m sure somebody will really enjoy reading all about how “poker is like sex” and “winning increases libido” and yadda yadda. What I’m more interested in is Esquire’s ” Search for the Best-Dressed Real Man in America.” Now that’s an area where Esquire really has some
* Shuffle Up & Deal Launches Mobile Poker Game – Rolling Good Times – May 18 9:44 AM – LOS ANGELES – (PRESS RELEASE) — MFORMA Group, Inc., the leading global publisher and distributor of mobile entertainment, has brought the excitement of WORLD POKER TOUR(TM) (WPT) into the wireless arena, creating a new way to enjoy the high-stakes, high-energy brand of exciting poker revolutionized by the television series.

Poker Quick Link’s:
* Claymation Poker (pic)
* Interesting Poker Art (pic)
* Daniel Negreanu’s Blog (link)
* Poker Cartoon Of The Day (link)
* Poker Forum (link)

Poker Tip of The Day:
A tight-aggressive playing style gets the money in hold’em.

Tip # 1 – (from CardPlayer By: Barry Schulman) Adopting a tight-aggressive playing style is a winning strategy in all forms of poker. You would have a hard time finding a poker game in which this is not the case. To play a winning game of hold’em, you should (and must) adopt this style of play.

How do we define “tight-aggressive”?

Tight means entering fewer pots than most of your opponents. Being selective by playing only quality starting hands is the key here. “Quality starting hands” is a relative term — sometimes hands that are good in one situation are quite weak in another, and vice versa. As this book progresses, you will learn to read situations and how your read influences which hands are playable, and which are not.

Aggressive means that when you do decide to enter a pot, you play the hand for all it’s worth. You place an emphasis on betting, raising, and check-raising. Checking and calling just does not get the job done most of the time. There are some situations in which this is the correct play (and the text will identify these situations for you), but they are the exception. By the way, an aggressive approach does not mean that once you decide to play a hand, you jam your foot on the gas pedal and don’t ease up until the pot has been played out. Like most things in life, hold’em requires discretion, and that will come from experience.

Aggressive means that when you do decide to enter a pot, you play the hand for all it’s worth. You place an emphasis on betting, raising, and check-raising. Checking and calling just does not get the job done most of the time. There are some situations in which this is the correct play (and the text will identify these situations for you), but they are the exception. By the way, an aggressive approach does not mean that once you decide to play a hand, you jam your foot on the gas pedal and don’t ease up until the pot has been played out. Like most things in life, hold’em requires discretion, and that will come from experience.

How the World Poker Tour Has Affected Poker Play

Tne by-product of the recent popularity of the World Poker Tour (WPT) is that a whole new breed of poker player has been created. If you watch the show with your goal being to learn how to be a world-class poker player, you may be in for a rude awakening when you go to play. The problems with using the show as a learning device for live game limit hold’em are numerous. Right away, realize that you are watching a different poker game. It may look the same; after all, the players are dealt two cards, and there are blinds, flops, turns, and rivers. That is where the similarities end, though. What you are witnessing is the end of a no-limit tournament, in which the blinds are high, the game is shorthanded, and the program has been edited to showcase the more interesting hands. This book talks about limit hold’em, which plays completely differently from the no-limit game. Also, when you play in a brick-and-mortar cardroom or online, unless you are in a tournament, the blinds are not large compared to your stack size. You are probably in a nine- or ten-handed game. And you see all of the hands dealt, not just those that some producer thinks might turn out to be interesting.

Loose-aggressive play seems to be a winning style on the WPT. The successful players are in there dancing around with hands that you toss into the muck without a second thought. And the thing is, they are correct (most of the time) to play these hands, and you are correct to throw them away. The reason for this is that we are dealing with totally different circumstances.

As a newer player who has not yet developed a good understanding of the game, you may think it self-evident to emulate the style of play you witness on television. After all, if T-2 is good enough for a world-class player, it should be good enough for you. So, as a new “television era” player, you may enter the game playing an extremely loose-aggressive style, and believe that to be a winning strategy. In reality, what you are doing is playing final table no-limit short-handed poker in a full limit hold’em game. You will not win playing like this, unless your opponents are all doing the same (only doing it worse).

The Tight-Aggressive Edge

So, how exactly does a tight-aggressive approach give you an edge over your opponents? If you have played much low-limit hold’em, you have probably found the games typically to be loose (with four or more opponents seeing the flop on average), and for many hands to go to the showdown. This means that to win you must show the best hand most of the time, as bluffing is difficult in these games (one more down side to being a TV student).

The tight part of tight-aggressive means that you play fewer hands than your average opponent. Thus, it stands to reason that the quality of your starting cards is typically higher than those of other players, which in turn means that a higher percentage of the hands you play reach the showdown as the best hand. Since bluffing is typically not a viable option in loose low-limit games, playing hands that often end up at the river as the best hand is obviously a desirable strategy. This book teaches you which hands are worth playing and which are not, based on the situation.

By playing good cards aggressively, you win the maximum amount from your winning hands. If your opponents wish to stay in the pot against you with inferior cards, you should charge them as much as possible to do so. An added benefit of aggressive play (and a key one) is that you will win some pots that your more passive playing opponents do not, by inducing opponents to fold hands that ultimately would have won the pot. You can’t win these “default pots” by checking and calling.

May 17th, 2005

Poker Player BEATEN with Belt!

Just when you thought that poker couldn’t possibly get any more “nuts”. Then we come across this poker news article in which an 18year-old tournament player was beaten with a belt after winning a tournament!

Check out our Poker Babe of the day Brandi Williams host of the Ultimate Poker Challenge on Fox!

Speaking of Tournaments – yesterday we observed a FINAL TABLE WSOP Tournament @ Bodog which had only 33 participants. We have pushed Bodog before but, you really really must check this place out. Competition is few and far behind.

If your following the possible PARTYGAMING IPO check out this recent update.

Today’s Poker News:
* Report: Poker Game Winner Beaten With Belt – WDIV ClickOnDetroit.com via Yahoo! News – May 16 11:36 AM – An 18-year-old man was reportedly beaten with a belt after winning a poker game on Sunday night.
* RYAN BAKKEN COLUMN: Poker pays off for East Grand Forks farmer – Grand Forks Herald – 4 minutes ago – Two months after getting married in Mexico in January, Renae and George Cariveau held a local wedding reception. Playing in a poker tournament, George already was 30 minutes late for the reception when his cell phone rang. Renae must have been furious, huh?
* 3 Factors Keep Poker Games Legal – NBC 4 Columbus – May 16 8:14 PM – Poker in Central Ohio continues to grow in popularity. NBC 4’s John Ivanic shows how to make sure your poker games stay legal.

Poker Quick Link’s:
* Brandi Williams 1 (pic)
* Brandi Williams 2 (pic)
* Brandi Williams Miss USA (pic)
* Brandi Williams Photo Gallery (link)
* I’ve Heard Of Dog’s Playing Poker but WTF is This? (pic)
* Daniel Negreanu’s Blog (link)
* Poker Cartoon Of The Day (link)
* Poker Forum (link)

Poker Tip of The Day:
Going on tilt will destroy your bankroll..
Tip # 50 – (from CardPlayer By: Barry Schulman) This tip is here for encouragement, although the wording may not appear to be uplifting. Tilt is a poker player’s enemy when it happens to him, and friend when it happens to other players in the game. You can use tilt to your advantage by not falling victim to it, even though your opponents do.

What is tilt? Quite simply, tilt occurs when a run of bad luck causes a player to make irrational decisions in a poker game, letting emotion guide him instead of reason. Tilt can be instigated by the turn of a single unfortunate card, or as the culmination of a two-week streak of bad luck. Each player has a different “tilting point,” and it is important to recognize your own.

Unfortunately, it is often extremely difficult to admit to yourself when enough is enough. If you insist on staying in a game after you have reached your tilting point, you are likely to “tilt off” a significant number of chips to your undeserving opponents. Any player who is able to admit to himself when he is emotionally unfit to play further, perhaps due to some bad luck in the game, and is strong enough to stand up and leave, is way ahead of the competition.

A true understanding of the nature of poker is one of the best ways to avoid going on tilt. You should realize that this game has an incredible amount of short-term luck, allowing less skilled or even poor players to win improbably for extended periods of time. Don’t be discouraged by this, though; rather, realize that this is the lure for the weaker players. If the best players always won, there wouldn’t be any poker games. The losers would take up War or some other game in which they had a fighting chance.

Every poker player at one time or another endures a seemingly endless bad streak in which his A-A or K-K never seems to hold up, his A-K is consistently greeted with a flop of 7-8-9, and his J-J is pummeled by a flop of A-K-5. What you must realize when this is happening to you is that you are not alone. This is simply part of the inevitable statistical deviations in the game. It will happen to you just as surely as it happens to everyone else at one time or another. By the way, it is generally not recommended to share your pain with your neighbors in a poker game. Although they may pretend to lend a sympathetic ear, they aren’t really listening. They are simply waiting for a pause into which they might insert their own tales of woe.

You must remember that poker is a long-run proposition. It is of key importance that you play correctly in all situations, even on days when nothing is going right. If you give in and start “playing like them,” you will just lose more money. Regardless of how well you play, though, you will have some losing days. It should be your goal to walk away from these losing sessions saying to yourself, “I lost $100 today, but any other player would have lost $300.”

Striving for perfect play, rather than perfect results, should ultimately help you to avoid going on tilt. If you can come to terms with the fact that occasionally someone will hit a 40-to-1 draw on you, you will be better equipped to handle the swings of the game. Focus on what you can control, and you will maintain the emotional balance necessary to beat the game. And, if you feel that balance slipping away, quit the game for the day, week, or month — until you have regained your composure.

May 16th, 2005
Better Than Paris Hilton’s Sex Tape!

Well obviously we know how to get your attention. But, honestly Paris Hilton isn’t even that hot. Shana Hiatt now there is a hottie. Which is why she is a Poker Babe and also featured in our Poker Quick Links Section today.

Here at Tips For Poker we strive to make your Mondays better than any other website ever could. Which is why we not only post Shana Hiatt Pics, but we also include some quality strategy and tips by Mr. Barry Schulman himself.

And, if you weren’t impressed by that you should check out Bodog poker which offers the best in WSOP tournaments. I can’t reiterate it enough – THIS PLACE CANNOT FILL A WSOP Tourney. IT truly is your easiest shot into the WSOP – plus they hook you up with free party passes to the Palms Casino Party!

Today’s Poker News:
* (AFX UK Focus) 2005-05-16 08:23 GMT: Gaming VC in deal with Boss Media to launch online poker product – Interactive Investor – 6 minutes ago – LONDON (AFX) – Gaming VC Holdings SA has signed an agreement with Boss Media AB in which Boss Media will provide a poker platform for Casino Club, Gaming VC’s online casino.
* Poker DVD Pair is Better than Pocket Aces – [Press Release] PR Web – 17 minutes ago – Picked as the best quality DVD to hit the poker and magic community! [PRWEB May 16, 2005]
* He wrote the book on how to win at poker’ s elf-taught player from Mercer Island says anyone can learn the game – King County Journal – May 15 3:35 AM – When Barton Gratt set out to write about poker, he went about it like the scientist and medical professional he is, performing extensive research and experimentation.
* Poker periodicals: How to hold them – South Bend Tribune – May 15 7:44 AM – WASHINGTON — Daniel Negreanu won $4 million in poker tournaments in 2004, and Card Player magazine named him Player of the Year. All In, another poker magazine, said Negreanu “might just be the hottest poker player in the world.”

Poker Quick Link’s:
* OMG Shana Hiatt your SOOO Hott (pic)
* Shana Hiatt 2 (pic)
* Shana Hiatt 3 (pic)
* Shana Hiatt 4 (pic)
* Funny Poker Rankings Pic (pic)
* Schulmans Yip-Yappin’ n Card Tricks (link)
* Negreanu’s Blog (link)
* Poker Cartoon Of The Day (link)
* Poker Forum (link)

Poker Tip of The Day:
Raise or fold when you are first to enter a pot.
Tip # 4 – (from CardPlayer By: Barry Schulman) This tip refers to those situations in which no one has yet called or raised when the action gets to you.

Since tight-aggressive poker is winning poker, you should fold your inferior hands. Don’t call trying to hit a lucky flop. Not only is it tough to get a nice flop when you are holding rags (substandard cards), but if you initiate the action by calling, this is often seen as an invitation for other players to call behind you. Now, you must play an inferior hand while out of position. This is not a winning proposition.

When you do have a good hand, you should open the pot with a raise. In addition to putting pressure on the players yet to act and the blinds, your raise allows you to take the lead in the pot. Even if you miss the flop completely, a bet on the flop, coupled with the strength you demonstrated with your initial raise, may be enough to win the pot.

Generally, it is advisable to open the pot only if you feel your hand is likely to be the best. This means that hands such as 8-7 suited, while playable in some cases, should not be played when you are first in. This hand is not strong enough to merit a raise, and calling when first in is not in your repertoire. If you are unsure of whether your hand is worthy of a raise, a good guideline for playing before the flop is that whenever you are in doubt, you should fold. You will be dealt plenty of hands with which you can forge ahead aggressively.

May 14th, 2005
S is for Saturday, T is for Tournaments!

If there’s one day out of the week you find yourself having enough time to actually site down and play a full tournament without interruption – its Saturday. That’s why Saturday is officially Tournaments day!

Do you often struggle about what tournaments/limits to play at? Check out Barry Schulman’s tip about when to move up!

And, if you need some inspiration for your poker tournament. Check out Poker Babe, Joopy’s newly updated pictorial featuring some quality shots from her trip to England.

PAIR OF 10’s took the LONGEST ever World Series of Poker yesterday. Read about it here along with the rest of Poker news.

Check out our awesome poker quick link section – featuring Poker Art today.

Today’s Poker News:
* Next up in the poker craze? It’s in your hand. – Boston Globe – 1 hour, 51 minutes ago – Tired of high cell phone bills? Maybe you can win some of that money back. Now you can whip out your cell phone and dial into a new service that lets people around the world play poker against one another, for real money.
* Rose could be fined for wearing poker logo – Centre Daily Times – 1 hour, 31 minutes ago – PHILADELPHIA — An advertising logo worn by Afleet Alex jockey Jeremy Rose during the Kentucky Derby for an online poker site could land him a fine. One problem with the logo: Churchill Downs has a business relationship with a competing online site.
* Pair of 10s Wins Longest World Series of Poker Final – Rolling Good Times – May 13 11:43 AM – NEVADA – As reported by the Tahoe Daily Tribune: “In the longest final table in circuit history, the World Series of Poker wrapped up at 3:15 a.m. Thursday at Harveys Casino Resort with the top prize of $542,360 going to a 39-year-old property investor who had a pair of 10s.

Poker Quick Link’s:
* Quality Poker Art (pic)
* Poker Art 2 (pic)
* Poker Art 3 (pic)
* Poker Art 4 (pic)
* Poker As a Puzzle? (pic)
* Joopys Poker Update (link)
* Poker Cartoon Of The Day (link)
* Poker Forum (link)

Poker Tip of The Day:
When to move up.
Tip # 52 – (from CardPlayer By: Barry Schulman) If you have experienced success (or at least gained experience) at hold’em at one limit, you will probably consider playing in a bigger game at some point. This is particularly true if you have been successful, as the possibility of winning significantly more money at a higher limit is a strong incentive to step up.

Before you do so, however, you must make sure you are adequately bankrolled for the move. This is not a concern if your bankroll is renewable, but if you fear going broke, you should adhere to certain guidelines. In general, assuming you are a winning player, many experts recommend a bankroll of approximately 300 big bets to remove the risk of going broke.

The better you play compared to your opponents and the smaller the game, the less strict that figure need be. In general, though, for a $2-$4 hold’em game, you should have a bankroll between $600 and $1000 to “weather the storms.” Someone with equivalent skills ought to have a bankroll of $12,000 for a $20-$40 game. And for a $50-$100 game, $30,000 to $50,000. And “bankroll” here means money set aside specifically for poker. It does not include the “rent money” or your savings.

Simply having the bankroll to move up does not mean that it is necessarily in your best financial interest to do so. It is probably best not to increase limits until you have become a consistent winner at your current level. One incentive you might choose to provide for yourself is to force yourself to win at your current level the required bankroll for the next highest limit. When you have increased your bankroll to the necessary level, you can step up.

May 11th, 2005

It’s WSOP Wednesday

Do you have your set to the WSOP yet? You don’t? Shame on you! You could be the HERO of your local card room – the talk of the city or your office. One schmuck at my office is lucky enough to have won (2) seats already! Where did he win them?

Well, we’ve tried telling you guys…. Bodog is your easiest way in. This site is so new they can’t even get 40 players to play in their FINAL WSOP tournies which are every day! That’s right – you against 40 people is all it takes to get into the WSOP. Of course that’s with a direct buy-in of $250, but the good news is they have satellites starting at $1.

Just download the software and see just how FEW people are in there tournaments.

Game spot destroyed Chris Moneymakers new video game in a battering review of World Poker Championship. What’s wrong with this guy? First a horrible book, now this? Give it up!!

Tips For Poker’s Favorite College Grad Paul sends his love from Evansville, IN:

Congratulations Paul and any other Tips For Poker College grads out there!

It’s time for another Tips For Poker Private Poker Tournament. With $100 added, and only a $5 entry fee – be sure to join-up and share in the fun!

Today’s Poker News:

* Sordid tale of poker losses, loans and murder unfolds in Vegas courtroom – Court TV Online – May 10 9:52 AM – A Canadian man brutally killed a fellow countryman and avid gambler in his Las Vegas hotel room and then only hours later went across the street to play poker with the dead man’s bankroll, prosecutors alleged during opening statements at the murder trial of Greg Chao on Thursday.
* Poker for the Sheer Fun of Playing the Game – Rolling Good Times – 2 hours, 48 minutes ago – Poker and playing for money are as inseparable as coffee and a donut to a majority of people. But for Shawn Riley, president, CEO and CFO of the Amateur Poker League (APL) with headquarters in Wichita, Kansas, poker and playing for fun is the jackpot combination.
* Chris Moneymaker’s World Poker Championship Review [PC] – GameSpot – May 10 4:26 PM – Stick to the free, online poker wherever you can get it, and leave Chris Moneymaker’s World Poker Championship on the shelf.
* World Famous Poker Website – Tips for Poker Makes Its Debut On eBay – [Press Release] PR Web via Yahoo! News – May 10 5:00 AM – (PRWEB) May 10, 2005 — If you known anything about popular culture your well aware of the Poker boom that has occurred in the past two years. Financial analysts are projecting continued exponential growth for the poker industry. And, if you”re a dot com genius, webmaster or just a smart investor now”s your chance to cash in on the fun.

Poker Quick Link’s:
* Astronomy Picture Of The Day – The Sombrero Galaxy (pic)
* Joopys Poker Update (link)
* Poker Cartoon Of The Day (link)
* Poker Forum (link)

Poker Tip of The Day:

Guidelines on playing a multiway pot when two face cards flop.
Tip # 26 – (from CardPlayer By: Barry Schulman) Again, we assume that four or more players are in the hand. For this example, the flop is K-Q-3 of three different suits.

If no one has bet yet, bet if you have a king or better, as this is probably the best hand. You can call a bet with a queen and a decent kicker. Your kicker should be a 10 or higher, as it is capable of developing a straight draw in addition to making two pair. However, if the bettor is a very tight player who bets only strong hands, it’s probably safe to assume that your queen is not the best hand. Thus, it should be folded.

When facing a bet, raise with A-K or better virtually every time. Sometimes it is correct to raise with lesser hands, though, when doing so will help protect your hand. For example, in a five-way pot, if the first three players check, the fourth bets, and you are next with K-T, you should definitely raise. This makes it difficult for players with hands like A-J to call behind you. A-J poses some danger to your K-T here, as it can catch one of three aces or one of three tens. If a 10 comes, you are likely to lose several bets, as it makes you two pair. Players drawing with six outs are often correct to pay one small bet to draw. Your raise takes this play away from them, and makes it a mistake for them to continue with the hand.

If you hold J-T, for an open-ended straight draw, you should call. There is no point in raising with this hand, as all you will do is knock out the other players behind you. Since you are drawing to the nuts, and won’t win the pot unless you make your hand, it doesn’t really affect your chances of winning whether there are two or 20 players in the pot. It is good to keep everyone in, so that they can pay you off those times that you do make your hand. This is one situation in which checking and calling is the correct play most of the time. The main exception is when you think a bet might induce everyone else to fold, but in a multiway pot with two face cards on the board, someone almost certainly has a pair with which to call you down*.

May 10th, 2005
Good Job Paul !

Tips For Poker Reader & Recent College Grad – Paul Britt recently walked the line. Why is this so interesting? Because, he did so advertising our site! You see – we bid on Paul’s Graduation Cap on eBay as a unique way to advertise Tips For Poker website. And, this is what Paul wore on his head yesterday as he walked the line:

Congratulations Paul and any other Tips For Poker College grads out there! We’ll have more pictures of his graduation posted soon – in a special advertising section.

It’s time for another Tips For Poker Private Poker Tournament. With $100 added, and only a $5 entry fee – be sure to join-up and share in the fun!

Looking to get into the WSOP? Check out Bodog ; only (32) TOTAL entrants in their daily WSOP seat give away contest yesterday. You REALLY have an insanely good chance of making it to the WSOP through Bodog! As little as $1 gets you in.

Other than that, Happy mothers day!

Today’s Poker News:
* Sordid tale of poker losses, loans and murder unfolds in Vegas courtroom – CourtTV via Yahoo! News – May 09 1:57 PM – LAS VEGAS (Court TV) — A Canadian man brutally killed a fellow countryman and avid gambler in his Las Vegas hotel room and then only hours later went across the street to play poker with the dead man’s bankroll, prosecutors alleged during opening statements at the murder trial of Greg Chao on Thursday.
* Poker run a worthy event – The Border Mail – May 09 5:13 PM – Thousands of dollars have been raised on the run over the past nine years for Legacy. The Poker Run involved almost 300 motorbikes and raised more than $5000.
* Felony charges dropped for home poker game – KRQE Albuquerque – May 08 11:47 PM – HOBBS, N.M. — The host of a poker game raided in February for allegedly being high stakes will spend no time in jail. Dennis Barcuch, 38, of Hobbs has pleaded no contest to gambling — a petty misdemeanor.

Poker Quick Link’s:
* Russian Casino Girls (pic)
* Poker Sloozie (pic)
* Poker Cartoon Of The Day (link)
* Poker Forum (link)

Poker Tip of The Day:
When a player in front of you has already bet, raise if you think you have the best hand.

Tip # 18 – (from CardPlayer By: Barry Schulman) One of the inevitable side effects of playing hold’em is having to listen to your opponents whine about how unlucky they got in the last hand, the hand before that, and the hand last month when some caught two consecutive flush cards to outdraw their set. What you won’t hear is how their demise could have been avoided with one simple action: a raise on the flop! So often it happens that a player calls a bet with a fairly strong hand on the flop, which in turn convinces other players to call as well. Had he raised, the player holding the best hand on the flop might have induced his opponents either to fold or make a very expensive call, both of which are positive results for the raiser.

Make It Tough on Opponents

When you hold the best hand, play it aggressively. Tip 17 encouraged you to bet whenever you feel you have the best hand, and this Tip encourages you to raise when the player to your right has bet, if you feel you have the best hand. Again, you need not be certain your hand is good to make raising correct.

You want to make it difficult for players behind you to remain in the pot. Raising serves to protect your hand; that is, it becomes very expensive for opponents to stay in the hand with you, and they will likely fold. This generally increases your chances of winning the pot, and that is a good thing.

Don’t Give Them Odds to Call
Suppose you have K-Q and the flop comes K-9-5. You flopped top pair. If the player to your right bets and you are next (with a few players yet to act), you must raise here. Yes, it is possible you are behind. The bettor could have A-K or 9-9, for instance. However, most likely you have him beat at this point. The problem with just calling is the players behind you. If you call, they will probably call as well with hands like Q-J or A-9. Raising here relates to the concept of pot odds. You don’t want to call and give your opponents a favorable price to overcall in an attempt to draw out on you. Rather, raise and take away the value of their hands. They may choose to call anyway, but you have done your part. They are throwing money away if they call — throwing it away to you. Don’t give your opponents the proper pot odds to draw out on you.

Build a Pot
Another reason to raise a bet to your right when you feel you have the best hand is to build a bigger pot. There is nothing wrong with getting more chips to the center when you have the lead. Aggressive play will enable you to win the maximum with your good hands.

Don’t Slow-Play
Some players choose just to call on the flop when they have a big hand such as a set or a straight. They want to wait for the “expensive” rounds to bet their hand. Slow-playing* can cause problems, however. First, doing this will occasionally cost you the pot. By just calling, you may allow an opponent to see a cheap turn card that produces a miracle** straight, or helps him develop a good draw. Then, when you do later decide to put some chips into the pot, you may find to your dismay that you are the one who has been trapped.

A second reason not to slow-play is that players in lower-limit hold’em games typically call anyway. Why play deceptively when you don’t have to? Slow-playing is generally done in an attempt to gain later action on a hand you feel you won’t be able to get any action on if you play it aggressively right away. However, you rarely run into this problem in the games we’re talking about, so go ahead and raise if someone bets.

May 6th, 2005

Friday = Poker Day

Well you finally did it. You grinded out the whole week. And, if your a college student your no doubt in peril of the upcoming finals. Good luck with that. However, for the time being you don’t have to worry about it.

Why? Because, its Friday of course! The best day of the week.

Well, Tips For Poker is proud to announce another Private Poker Tournament. With $100 added, and only a $5 entry fee – be sure to join-up and share in the fun!

Looking to get into the WSOP? Check out Bodog ; only (48) TOTAL entrants in their daily WSOP seat give away contest yesterday. You REALLY have an insanely good chance of making it to the WSOP through Bodog!

Today’s Poker New’s:
* Trial set for loan shark accused of killing fellow poker player – CourtTV via Yahoo! News – May 05 10:13 AM – LAS VEGAS (Court TV) — The trial of a small-time loan shark and professional poker player accused of brutally slaying a fellow gambler for his bankroll, then leaving the body in a hotel stairwell, is set to begin Thursday.
* Wordking Poker Hands-On [Mobile] – GameSpot – May 05 2:51 PM – We get esoteric with Wordking Poker and bring you our hands-on impressions of the game.
* 17 Tech students guilty in poker ring – New River Current – May 05 10:02 PM – Another wave of Virginia Tech students was convicted and fined Thursday for involvement in an illegal poker ring that university officials hope was an isolated incident rather than a sign that the college gambling explosion has come to Blacksburg.

Poker Quick Link’s:
* Russian Casino Girls (pic)
* Poker Sloozie (pic)
* Poker Cartoon Of The Day (link)
* Poker Forums (link)

Poker Tip of The Day:
Usually raise when you hold the best hand and it is bet to you.
Tip # 30 – (from CardPlayer By: Barry Schulman) When you hold the best hand and someone else has bet, you are giving your opponents a free card if you merely call. There is little difference between checking the best hand if no one has yet bet, and calling with it once someone has wagered. So, once again, you must focus both on extracting the maximum from your opponents, and on how potentially catastrophic granting a free card might be.
As a general policy, you should raise a bettor whenever you hold a fragile hand that nevertheless figures to be the best at this point, especially if other players remain to act in the hand. For example, you hold J-J and the board is 4-6-9-T. Raise if someone bets and you are next, for two reasons.
* You don’t want to give players holding overcards or other draws a cheap shot at the pot.
* You are very likely getting more money into the pot with the best hand, which is a good thing.
The time to just call a bet with the best hand is when you want other players to call behind you. This happens when your opponents are drawing dead* or very close to it. Only a few big hands deserve to be played in this fashion — nut flushes, full houses, and four of a kind. And, you should smooth call** only when you feel this action will create a larger pot than a raise would, because you fear that your opponents will run for the hills when faced with calling a raise. If they are willing to call a raise on the turn, then by all means accommodate them.

May 4th, 2005
Godzilla’s In The World Series Of Poker

With a recent visit to the local card room. Tips For Poker discovered the who’s who in our town. Basically if you were going to the WSOP you were a local card room hero. This is also where we learned that Godzilla will likely be making an appearance….

Think you don’t have what it takes to hack it in the WSOP? Nonsense, just check out todays poker news for inspiration. Another Joe Schmoe made millionaire overnight in Vegas, blind woman is crowned poker champion and people play hold’em under water!

All Joking Aside… In May, Bodog is guaranteeing a seat to the WSOP everyday in may!

FullTilt is giving away over $10 million dollars worth of WSOP promotions.

If your looking for an interesting read check out Negreanu’s new Blog. Talking about his tournament and love-life stresses.

Today’s Poker News:

* Poker tourist plans to retire after shock $1.7m win in Vegas – Independent – May 03 6:35 PM – After 25 years running a company that makes drying equipment for the pharmaceutical industry, Paul Maxfield reckoned he had earned two weeks of fun on the Las Vegas poker tables.
* 4/30/05 Texas Hold’em Underwater Poker – KCBD-TV – May 03 5:34 PM – The Caprock Dive Club held it’s 2nd Annual Texas Hold’em Underwater Poker Tournament. The tourney was held at the Texas Tech Aquatic Center and benefits the Coral Reef Alliance; which helps save coral reefs around the world.
* Blind Woman Crowned Poker Champ – pPlayer.com – May 03 8:06 PM – Filed under: Casinos & Card Rooms Big congrats to Deborah Crumley for winning the title of the first Humboldt County Poker Champion! According to an AP report, Deborah is legally blind in both eyes. I don’t want to be insensitive, but how does she play? Can she see a little bit like the way I used to cheat against my brother playing pin the tail on the donkey, strainging my eyes to see
Poker Quick Link’s:
* One Heck Of A Poker Party In San Diego (pic)
* Even Godzilla Plays… (pic)
* Poker Cartoon Of The Day (link)
* Poker Forum (link)

Poker Tip of The Day:
Guidelines on playing multiway pots when a flush or straight draw is present.

Tip # 28 – (from CardPlayer By: Barry Schulman) The presence of some draws on the board somewhat complicates the reading of hands. When no legitimate draws are present, bets and raises signify made hands. With two to a straight or flush on the board, however, bets and raises occasionally are come bets, in which a player is pushing a drawing hand rather than a made one.

As in the examples given in the previous tips, you should bet if you hold top pair or an overpair to the board, both to help protect your hand and for value. If there is a bet to you, you should raise with top pair-top kicker or better. Just calling with top pair-lesser kicker is often best, unless a raise might narrow the field. You should have a good idea whether a raise will accomplish this objective based on your position relative to the bettor. If the bettor is to your immediate right, your raise forces all the other players in the pot to call double bets. However, if a player bets and several opponents have already called, all raising accomplishes is to build a bigger pot. You need a very strong hand to do this.

One hand you can raise with in this case is the nut flush draw. You have close to a 40 percent chance of completing your flush by the river, and if several players are “trapped” between the original bettor and you, you don’t mind building a larger pot with a quality draw such as this. A side benefit of raising here is that the other players are likely to check to the raiser (you, in this case) on the turn. This way, if the turn card does not provide improvement, you can check as well. So, you save half a big bet those times the turn card doesn’t help your hand, but you gain several small bets when it does.

For the most part, call with quality draws to flushes and open-ended straights. You won’t win the pot unless you hit the draw, and you don’t want to raise out any of your opponents. You gain nothing by narrowing the field down to you and the best hand. Your chances of winning the pot are virtually the same, but you won’t win as much money when you do.

There is one notable exception to this, however. Sometimes it is good to raise with a drawing hand when simply making a pair might win the pot for you. Here is an example:

It is a five-way pot, and the first player bets. Although you won’t raise out anyone holding a better flush draw, and your queen high is surely not the best hand right now, a raise might be the right play for another reason. Suppose your raise causes a player holding A-J or K-Q to fold. Now, you might win the pot not only if you make a flush, but also if you make a pair. In this case, you have created extra outs for yourself. However, don’t take this idea overboard. It is best to make this play with two cards in the T-Q range, as they are most likely to be in kicker trouble* should they pair up. That is, you want to drive anyone out of the pot who will have a higher kicker than yours if he pairs.

May 2nd, 2005
Let’s Go to The WSOP

f you don’t already have a seat, lets go over the easiest ways to get one…
In May, Bodog is guaranteeing a seat to the WSOP everyday!

All poker players will have 31 guaranteed chances with Bodog.com to win a seat to the WSOP in the month of May.

It doesn’t matter how many people play in the qualifying tournaments, a minimum of one person will win each day.

Each winner becomes a member of Team Bodog and receives the $12,500 prize package of airfare, hotel accommodations for their duration, Team Bodog gear, and a ticket to the hottest party of the year at Rain Nightclub in the Palms Hotel and Casino on July 6th.

For more information please visit: Bodog

Another quality option for getting your butt into gear and into the WSOP is FullTilt who is offering $10 million dollars worth of WSOP promotions.

If your looking for an interesting read check out Negreanu’s new Blog. Talking about his tournament and love-life stresses.

Today’s Poker News:

* Poker Parenting: You gotta know when to hold ’em… – Blogging Baby – 1 hour, 11 minutes ago – Professional trainer and speaker Mark Borowski gets a lot of requests to speak on the topic “Big Slick Daddy: Poker Strategies for Parenting Success.” He believes whether you are a professional player or just someone caught up in the recent poker craze, you can take your poker skills and turn them into parenting skills in four ways. First, he compares parenting to Texas Hold ‘Em . ”None of
* Poker: A winning hand for charity? – May 1, 2005 – The Mail Tribune – May 01 7:42 AM – Poker: A winning hand for charity? The popularity of Texas Hold ’Em poker could mean jackpots for Jackson County nonprofit groups following the Oregon Legislature’s approval this week of an expanded gambling law.
* NY Times on poker – pPlayer.com – May 01 8:39 AM – Filed under: Business of Poker The NY Times is running a poker article in their Sunday edition today, titled, “Everything You Need for a Poker Party, Save a Winning Hand.” Nothing groundbreaking here, but it’s a nice little Sunday read. It’s a general piece that touches on the business behind the boom, including the many attempts by WPT to cash in on licensing. One interesting product that

Poker Quick Link’s:
* Joopy – Has Ben Updated (pic)
* Poker Cartoon Of The Day (link)
* Poker Forums (link)

Poker Tip of The Day:
With most of the cards out, and the bet size doubled, you frequently fold on the turn.
Tip # 27 – (from CardPlayer By: Barry Schulman) In hold’em, you use five of seven cards to make the best possible poker hand. By the time you have seen the turn card, you know six of those seven cards, so you have a good idea of how the hand is shaping up. This is also the point at which the stakes double. As a result, the turn is not the time to chase, because you have only one card left, and it has become much more expensive to remain in the hand.

Therefore, you should fold on the turn unless one of the following three conditions is met:

* You are holding the probable best hand. If this is the case, you should usually raise if another player bets, or bet if no one has bet yet.
* You are drawing to the best hand. As always, you need to weigh the pot odds to determine if your continued involvement in the pot is justified. Generally, you are getting the right price to draw to a flush or open-ended straight. Also, if another player has obviously made a flush or straight, you can probably continue with a set (as you have 10 cards to improve). However, hands such as inside straight draws (four outs) or two pair when someone has a flush (four outs) should be folded, unless the pot offers appropriate odds to stay in the hand. In very large pots, you might call a bet with middle pair if you are convinced that hitting either the pair or your kicker will be enough of an improvement to win the pot. You have five outs in this case, and are at times getting enough of an overlay from the pot to make a call the correct play.

* You have been given a free card (that is, no one has bet on this round). Obviously, you are happy when everyone checks on the turn if you have a longshot draw such as an inside straight possibility or a pocket pair that needs to hit a set to win. Occasionally this free card allows you to win a large pot that you shouldn’t be entitled to. The lesson here is that when you are on the flip side of things, don’t give your opponents “free” chances to outdraw you.