Free Poker Tournaments - Building Pots With Big Hands

De CidesaWiki

It is a common misconception that by playing your hand slower you will win more games. Sometimes this may be true, but in many cases it isn't, especially when you have a big hand. I see slow playing happen so much more often than necessary when I am playing both live and free poker tournaments online but I believe that playing a more simple tactic works more effectively.

It is absolutely dangerous to slow play big hands for many the reasons-not the least of which gets outdrawn by your opponents. However , there is another even more important reason why slow playing is a bad idea. Slow playing is oftentimes less profitable than playing your hand fast.

Better Betting

If you want to build a big pot with a big hand such as a set, you have to be betting. You'll need to raise pre-flop, bet on the flop, bet on the turn, and fire your last bullet on the river. In other words, you want to gradually get all-in.

You may think you'll scare away opponents with continuous betting, but this defintely won't be the case if they hold a reasonably strong hand. Big pots happen when a big hand runs into a straight bigger hand. If your opponent folds before you get all of your chips at the center, it simply wasn't designed to be.

What you don't want to do is scare your opponents away with ridiculously large bets or raises. No one will call you if you bet $800 into an $80 pot. Nobody will call you if you raise it up to $1000 after an opening bet of $40. You want to keep your bets and raises small.

Recommended is to give this approach a chance when playing free online poker and free poker tournaments. This way you can gain experience in this kind of play without losing a real income.

You must persuade your fellow players that they have a good enough hand to carry on playing in order that they don't fold.

Keep your fellow players pot committed. Avoid betting big and announcing to the dining table that you have the very best hand.

There's also a downside never to betting and just checking. Obviously, you will get outdrawn on. That's a common concern.

Nevertheless , checking also fails to build up the pot. You may sooner or later get your opponent to bet at you, but you he or she may just check behind-and thus, you will be losing some profit from winning one less bet.

Exceptions to the rule

There will be occasions if it is best to slow play. For instance , it's a smart move to slow play when you flop a royal flush, a straight flush, quads, a full house, the nut flush, or the nut straight. Those have become strong hands. There's little chance to you'll be beat. You want to give your opponent every chance possible to bet his second best hand.

You may even consider slow playing against a characteristically loose and aggressive player. Their first instinct is to bet when players check. You can make the most of that aggression.

Yet, typically, you do want to bet out or raise. You want to build big pots slowly by betting every chance that you will get. As I say practice playing free poker games and free poker tournaments sites where you could get a feel for what will work and what wont. That way when you enter into a higher stakes cash situation you'll play it right and hopefully scoop it up!