Why You Should Play Heads Up Texas Holdem

There is no better way to poker than by participating in a good game of one on one. The game can be as exciting as the adrenaline rushes you find in tournaments but your odds of winning are much better.

If you are new to the game, or a seasoned professional who hasn’t paid much attention to “heads up, there are some great advantages to participating in this version of Texas Hold’em:

1. You can get a quick poker fix if you are short of time.

2. If you find you are having trouble in deciding how to play certain hands you can test them out in a one-on-one situation.

3. If you are having trouble beating the table in a usual multi-player environment, try and beat one person then work your way up.

4. Playing against a single opponent will give you a personal tutorial in how to “read” other poker players.

5. A good poker player will be able to boost their bank roll in a heads up situation.

6. If you are not comfortable with the poker room’s software you can practice in a low limit heads up game.

Whatever your reasons, heads up poker may be the poker game you need to help you achieve more confidence, more skillful play and add to your bankroll quickly if you have the ability to play effectively.

In heads up, watch out for the very loose players who are usually poker novices. They will move all in quickly and try to bluff their way into an easy win. Take your time and think about the best possible hand your opponent could be holding.

You only have one person to beat, so if you can do it, move all-in with all of the confidence in the world and boost your bankroll!

David Walker runs free bets and UK poker websites. A free email course: "Seven Days to Better Betting" is available at both of these websites.

Eight Ways To Spot A Poker Bluff

There are probably more than eight ways to spot a player who is a consistent bluff in the game of online poker but the easiest to spot tells used with some frequency are described in this article.

1. The person bluffing thinks he can uses the “chat option” to his advantage. Keep a close eye on chatty players and what they are doing. Do they raise pots and chat away about not catching any cards only to showdown with an A-Q suited?

2. If a player raises before the flop, it shows for instance 3-3-9 and they quickly re-raise again, you may be up against a bluff all the way to the river. Before you call, be sure you feel confident you can take the pot with what you are holding.

3. If someone clicks their “sit-me out” button back “in” and jumps in suddenly as the cards are being dealt , then quickly calls or raises, the chances are they have run out of patience and are not playing a killer hand.

4. When a player with the lowest stack on the table goes all-in with absolutely nothing you can see as a relevant threat, you may have someone bluffing a pot with a “now or never” viewpoint.

5. The player that bets on the flop and then checks on the turn needs to put his money where his mouth is. If you have a good hand, force them to bet.

6. If you are playing against someone who is an extremely loose player and won’t let one hand slip by without a bet, who does he think he’s fooling? One player doesn’t get that many good starting hands.

7. You will know to watch for a bluff if you pay close attention to what he or she shows at the end of the hand. If the player raised before the flop only to show a 4-5 off suit at the end of the hand, they are almost dangerous. Act accordingly so that there is no next time for that foolishness.

8. They play every hand too quickly to put any intelligent thought into what their hand is capable of. The chances are they hardly ever do and bluff most hands they hold.

In conclusion, try to eliminate bluffers out of the game as quickly as possible as a good strong bluff can become a winning hand on the river. Ensure they don’t make it that far!

David Walker runs free bets and UK poker websites. A free email course: "Seven Days to Better Betting" is available at both of these websites.

Next-Gen Poker Room to Offer Online Poker Chip Tricks

When you take a seat at a poker table, there's nothing more intimidating than a grizzled looking gambling veteran staring you down through mirrored shades while doing weird and wonderful things with the poker chips in front of him. It says - no make that shouts - "don't mess with me".

If you're in any doubt as to the role chip tricks play in developing table image, just watch any episode of the World Poker Tour or World Series of Poker, where you'll see every player constantly play with their chips, regardless of whether they're a poker pro or internet qualifier.

And as in so many walks of life, what people see on TV they replicate in real life. Play in any home game or at any casino these days and you can't help but notice players riffling, rolling and flipping their chips during and between hands.

Making poker chip tricks work online

"Every poker player, regardless of experience, loves chip tricks" says Leon Walters, Chief Operating Officer of PKR.com. Walters goes on to explain that "PKR's key challenge was to get these tricks into the game so that the animation works within a three-dimensional environment".

And how they work. Players at PKR will be able to perform a wide-range of chip tricks including chip shuffling, knuckle rolls, chip spreads and chip balances. What's more, PKR's team of artists and animators are working on new chip trick additions so that the range of poker chip tricks offered are ever-expanding. As Walter's says, "If you can do it in real life, you'll be able to do it in the game."

Making the poker chip tricks relevant to the game

"One thing we didn't want to do was just include poker chip tricks in the game for the sake of it" continues Walters. "So we tried to replicate the role that poker chip tricks play in real life and import it into our virtual environment."

PKR's innovative solution has been to apply a loyalty point value to chip tricks, with complex tricks carrying a greater loyalty point tariff than simpler ones. As Walter's explains, "Just in real life, the more you play poker the more chip tricks you can perform. By having to 'learn' how to perform chip tricks, we've managed to combine the fun of performing them with the serious idea of why players value them."

Simon Prodger is the VP of Marketing for Crunchy Frog Ltd, the software development company behind next-generation poker room, http://www.pkr.com/.

Next-Gen Poker Room to Offer Online Poker Chip Tricks

When you take a seat at a poker table, there's nothing more intimidating than a grizzled looking gambling veteran staring you down through mirrored shades while doing weird and wonderful things with the poker chips in front of him. It says - no make that shouts - "don't mess with me".

If you're in any doubt as to the role chip tricks play in developing table image, just watch any episode of the World Poker Tour or World Series of Poker, where you'll see every player constantly play with their chips, regardless of whether they're a poker pro or internet qualifier.

And as in so many walks of life, what people see on TV they replicate in real life. Play in any home game or at any casino these days and you can't help but notice players riffling, rolling and flipping their chips during and between hands.

Making poker chip tricks work online

"Every poker player, regardless of experience, loves chip tricks" says Leon Walters, Chief Operating Officer of PKR.com. Walters goes on to explain that "PKR's key challenge was to get these tricks into the game so that the animation works within a three-dimensional environment".

And how they work. Players at PKR will be able to perform a wide-range of chip tricks including chip shuffling, knuckle rolls, chip spreads and chip balances. What's more, PKR's team of artists and animators are working on new chip trick additions so that the range of poker chip tricks offered are ever-expanding. As Walter's says, "If you can do it in real life, you'll be able to do it in the game."

Making the poker chip tricks relevant to the game

"One thing we didn't want to do was just include poker chip tricks in the game for the sake of it" continues Walters. "So we tried to replicate the role that poker chip tricks play in real life and import it into our virtual environment."

PKR's innovative solution has been to apply a loyalty point value to chip tricks, with complex tricks carrying a greater loyalty point tariff than simpler ones. As Walter's explains, "Just in real life, the more you play poker the more chip tricks you can perform. By having to 'learn' how to perform chip tricks, we've managed to combine the fun of performing them with the serious idea of why players value them."

Simon Prodger is the VP of Marketing for Crunchy Frog Ltd, the software development company behind next-generation poker room, http://www.pkr.com/.

Tilt and Other Poker Terms

There are some poker terms often used by pundits, in articles and by players at the table which you may find helpful to learn. Here they are, tilt and all!

BIG BLIND The largest of the two required (called “forced”) bets, twice the size of the posted “small” blind.

BOARD Area where five “community” cards are placed for all players to use to make a hand.

BULLY An aggressive tactic used by the strongest player with the most chips to force another player’s hand.

BUTTON The round “button” or disc that shows which player plays last.

BUY-IN The amount of money you have to “put up” in order to play in a tournament.

EARLY POSITION First two or three seats located to the left of the big blind.

FIRST POSITION First player on the left of the big blind.

FLOP The first three cards dealt to the community, dealt face up.

LATE POSITION One or two seats to the right of the button.

MIDDLE POSITION Players 4th-7th player positions after the big blind.

(THE) NUTS The best possible hand showing with what is on the board.

RAISE Betting larger than the previous bet.

RERAISE Making another bet after the pot has already been raised.

RAKE What the House Charges to operate the game.

REBUY In tournaments, if it is a re-buy event, you can re-buy chips when you run out.

RIVER The final community card dealt.

SHOWDOWN Cards are turned over on the river by the players left in the game.

TURN the fourth community card dealt.

And the one everyone needs to know – TILT. After a few bad hands some people play too aggressively or too “loose” and usually end up losing their chips.

Use these terms to improve your poker game and understand what the other players are talking about, but try to stay calm and avoid the dreaded tilt!

David Walker runs free bets and UK poker websites. A free email course: "Seven Days to Better Betting" is available at both of these websites.