Feb 21 2008

What is Tilt Poker – About Tilt Poker and Nasty Poker Tilts

Poker players most often refer to tilt as the state of emotional frustration. At these moments even good players can do mistakes, just because their "mind went crazy" for a while. Many players being on tilt start to act more aggressively and - naturally - do stupid mistakes.

Usually poker tilts happen right after some very drastic things at the poker table. For example, someone bluffed a person with a very funny hand. The bluffed one needs to compensate this mistake with proving himself/herself to be corageous and starts acting in a more aggressive and risky manner. Surely poker is about risk – risk is part of this game – but risk must be triggered by mind and intuition, NOT by emotions.

The rule of a thumb with poker tilts is to say a simple brain-clearing phrase "I do not need to prove anything. I am here to play and win" – or something like this. This phrase must eradicate childish emotions and get you back to the beauty of the game; with its risk, bluffs, psychological and mind tricks. Don’t forget that putting you on tilt may be someone’s tactics. Are you a fish to gulp the bait?

Recently tilt poker is quite often mentioned when talking about Full Tilt Poker – very popular online poker room. Full tilt here might be standing for the emotional elevation that makes every member to feel very special about playing there. The place of real risk and emotions.

Of course, this has more of a business approach to name a poker room like this. Perhaps, many are missing the atmosphere of emotional tornado when playing online.

We recommend you to be reasonable and before choosing your favorite online poker room read about Online Poker Rooms Ratings and Online Poker Rooms FAQ and Online Poker Strategy Tips.

Feb 15 2008

Online Poker Rooms Freerolls – Best Tour to Tournaments Tips

When it comes to freerolls (especially massive MTT ones) you’ll probably hear many of the “wiseguys” proclaim that there is no value in them whatsoever. Remember though, that things in poker as never as simple as they seem at first glance.

Freerolls are usually offered by poker rooms to players who sign up and possibly deposit at their site, or as a reward for those who generate outstanding amounts of rake. Such freerolls do not present a large competition, and they offer their participants excellent value: a huge prize-pool for zilch investment.

Other poker rooms use their freerolls to draw in new players and to generally become popular with the poker-playing public. Such freerolls draw massive traffic, their rewards are small so basically they do not present any sort of value for an established poker player who’s already generating money at the cash or paid-entry tournament tables. If you happen to be one of those players, do not play in massive MTT freerolls such as these. Speaking from real experience, it is possible to state that even if you do reach the final table out of 2,000 players, (which is not a simple feat in itself) you’ll only be making about $5/hour, which is quite abysmal.
 
On the other hand, as the saying goes: one man’s garbage is another man’s treasure. For players who cannot afford to deposit money in order to start a poker bankroll, or just do not want to, such freerolls can represent a priceless opportunity. As poker professional, Chris Ferguson proved it, it is possible these days to start a prolific poker career out of nothing by joining the right poker room and jump-starting a bankroll by playing in such massive freerolls. While the odds are very much against any individual player (regardless of their skill level) truly good players will sooner or later manage to catch a few money positions and get a skeleton of a bankroll together.
 
How do you go about achieving this? Well it’s not that difficult actually: you just have to be prepared that you’ll take many bad beats on your way. As the tournament starts, the action is usually pretty frantic. This is absolutely contrary to the principles of any sort of healthy poker strategy. If you have ever studied poker, you probably know that one of its basic principles stipulates that the smaller the blinds (or antes) are, the tighter you should play. The bigger the blinds, the looser you may get. This is explained by the pot odds, but it is not an original idea which should give us a credit for it. Still, the beginning stages of any massive MTT are very chaotic with people going all-in left and right, without any regards to pot odds, effective odds or anything of the sort. Stay well clear of temptation and wait for a truly good hand to punish that loose cannon at your table. Let this person bully you around, and look for that good hand. Not only will revenge be that much sweeter, you’ll give your stack a huge boost as well. As the game progresses, try to come out of your shell and look to create and exploit positive EV situations whenever you can. When nearing the bubble, you might want to tighten up a bit again, just to make sure you reach the money, and then come out firing on all cylinders. Once you’re in the money, a couple of places further up or down the ranking won’t make a big difference in these freerolls, so get down dirty and loosen up, all the more so because soon the blinds will impose a looser game-style anyway.
 
Once you take down your micro-bankroll, make sure you do not let it all go to waste at the cash tables. Play in paid-entry STTs with them. Remember, at this stage you’ll be disadvantaged by a multitude of factors: you won’t enjoy a rakeback deal – which is a huge setback, you’ll be under bankrolled at just about any limit, and you’ll feel the stress of fighting to hold on to your last nickel. Busting out at this stage is a probability, so you need to be on the lookout for that EV+ like never before.

Feb 14 2008

Online Poker Room Rating – Keys to Building Rooms Reviews

Every reasonable online poker player has to be able to rate and evaluate poker rooms, otherwise, he or she will lose a lot of value – much more than he would realize at first glance.

Let’s cut right to the chase though: the most important factor when evaluating a poker room should always be the quality of the competition there. While in one poker room you may struggle on to break even at the end of the day, in another, you may thrive and have a great time while making money. It all depends on the kind of players you’re faced with, but this is an altogether more complicated matter. Within the same poker room, proper table selection can help you get reasonable competition, while the lack of it can leave you exposed to players too good for your skill-level. On the whole though, there are poker rooms in which it is much easier to find a weak-tight or a way too loose table than in others. Such poker rooms are – for instance – ones that are associated with online casinos and sportsbooks. Gamblers seldom make good poker players, and because such poker rooms draw a large part of their traffic straight off their roulette tables, chances are you’ll find many gamblers at the tables.
 
The second most important factor is the bonus the room offers. Do not let your judgment be blinded by greed when choosing a bonus. The amount advertised is not as significant as the percentage match on your deposit and the rake requirements for unlocking it. Yes, indeed you do have to unlock your bonus regardless of what poker room you sign up to. It is not free money, but it is still pretty useful, because the time you spend unlocking your bonus is time spent playing with reduced rake. Learning to evaluate bonus offers is a science of its own. The percentage match on the bonus is the first thing you should consider about it. Getting 100% or 200% is just not the same. The maximum limit – though important – is less relevant.
 
The bonus redemption requirement is probably the most important aspect of bonus evaluation. Some poker rooms require more rake than others/bonus dollar. When it comes to bonus redemption, the way the poker-room calculates bonuses becomes extremely important too. If you are a loose aggressive player, contributed rake is what you’re looking for, because the last thing you want to do is unlock bonuses for others. If you’re a rock, dealt rake gives you an advantage. Sit back, do your regular thing and let others unlock your bonus for you.

Some poker rooms only transfer unlocked bonuses in one lump sum. Other poker rooms transfer the bonus in many smaller installments. If you have a deadline on the validity of your bonus, make sure the room you join gives it to you in smaller chunks. The one lump sum deal is usually meant to make it more difficult for you to unlock your bonus within the deadline because – mind you – if you do not manage to unlock the entire sum by the deadline, you lose all your bonus, including the part that you may already have unlocked.
 
If you are looking for further value in a poker room, seek out one that gives you some sort of loyalty bonus. Many poker rooms give such bonuses occasionally, but there is one setup that makes sure you get extra value in direct proportion with the rake you generate all the time, as long as you play at the respective room. This setup is called rakeback and it is one of the biggest edges online poker will grant any player. Depending on the deal that you strike, you can get anything between 27-135% of the rake you generate at the room back at the end of the month.

One would think that such a deal is not easy to overlook. Well, one would be woefully wrong to assume that. Few people know rakeback, and that means you will enjoy a permanent edge over those who know not of rakeback, provided you take the time to sign up for such a deal.

Tip from www.FreeOnlinePokerInfo.com – see also how you can learn poker with online poker rooms.

Feb 10 2008

Gambler Anonymous Chat Rooms – Help for Gamblers with Problems

Gambler Anonymous Chat Rooms – How to Get Help

Gambling can be fun, can be interesting, can be exciting. But some people can get into gambling addiction problem – and this is serious. Surely it is better to prevent the disaster, but the team of FreeOnlinePokerInfo.com is standing on the grounds of doing that not via prohibiting gambling. Some may say – "Sure guys, you run a blog about poker and gambling, how can you be for prohibiting?"

This statement makes sense. But we run this blog because governments all over the world (maybe, with the exception of some countries) have "excused" gambling and made it legal, having asked for high taxes in return. It is very difficult to fight against big money, even for the governments of top countries. Money is money – it finds the path to any Cabinet, Parliament, Office or Senate. If you can change the world, we will be the first to support you and help you.

That is why our duty – together with showing how to increase the chances to make your gambling successful – is to provide help to those who have come into problems with gambling.

Gambling Addiction Tip #1.

Gamblers who got gambling addiction are like kids. They will never agree they have problems. And they really care about not showing that to others, even when they have doubts about their addiction.

That is why, first of all, make sure you preserve maximum anonymity.

Gambling Addiction Tip #2.

Establish a contact for them with the people who are in the same situation. This is pure psychology. People with the same problems talk the same language as they are passing through the same experience. Plus, it is easier for one to admit that he/she has gambling addiction when there are other people having the same problem.

Gamblers Anonymous Chat Rooms is the ideal combination of the factors mentioned above:

That is why if you feel you have problems – search for Gamblers Anonymous Chat Rooms to find the one that fits you. If your friend or family member has problems with gambling – join yourself and ask for help.

You can comment on the problem published in this post. Also please give a feedback about Teenage Computer Gambling.

Feb 7 2008

Free Online Poker Tips – Stuff to Know

Free online poker can come in a variety of forms: play money tables, different types of freerolls, free poker bankrolls.

Playing for free these days doesn’t mean you have to be stuck on the play money tables. Regardless of that though, let’s see what benefits play-money tables can provide you as far as learning goes, and whether they have any sort of value in them at all. As a training tool, play money tables are valuable for utter beginners, those who never really had anything to do with any form of online poker. Play money tables can teach these guys how to use the interface, as well as the rules and basic mechanics of the game. As a more advanced learning tool though, play money action fails miserably. It is not going to teach you a single thing strategy-wise, and instead of making it clear for you what this game is all about, it only confuses you. Do not spend any more time than absolutely necessary on play money tables, not only are they not going to provide any advanced guidance, they’re going to make your subsequent development as a poker player more difficult.
 
Is there any financial value in them? In 99,9% of the cases there is none whatsoever. That’s just one more reason for you to move on to real money as soon as you can. You need to know however, that some online poker rooms will give you FPPs (frequent player points) for play-money action (usually about 1FPP/hour of play). These FPPs are just like real money, they can be used to purchase merchandize from the site in question, they can be used for buy-ins and they can even be cashed out. In this respect, play money action does provide some financial benefits, but nothing to write home about.

Freerolls are an altogether different matter. Freerolls are usually large-scale MTTs with hundreds and thousands of players taking part in them, which do not require any sort of buy-ins. Some freerolls require passwords, tickets, or special invitations, but there are freerolls which are completely free, and anyone with an account at the poker room offering them (it doesn’t even have to be a real money account), can access them. Even though the competition present at such freerolls will be overwhelming most of the time, and thus will take away a lot of the value, for a good MTT player, these tourneys will still provide a good source of bankroll-building cash. In a recent experiment at a renowned online poker room, professional player Chris Ferguson proved that it was entirely possible to start a bankroll playing freerolls, and to eventually build it up taking part in paid online events. 
 
Another way to enjoy free online poker for real money is offered by the free bankrolls some sites give their new players. While these bankrolls are not much more than $10-50, which you won’t even be able to cash out until you’ve fulfilled the rake requirements, they still provide a great and cost free start for a skilled poker player. Take the money given to you, and start playing in small-buy-in STTs.

STTs have several advantages over MTTs and thus they provide much more value for a player getting by on a very limited bankroll. Forget the cash tables until you have at least multiplied your initial stack ten-fold. MTTs will suck your bankroll dry, because they take rake on every single hand played. In a STT, you only pay a tournament entry fee, which is a set amount of money (usually about 10% of the buy-in), regardless of how many hands it’ll take you to make money in them.
 
Free bankroll accounts usually come without the benefits of a sturdy rakeback deal, so you’ll have to live with the fact that you’re exposed on that level. Cashing out and moving to a different poker room on a different rakeback account is always an option though. Always make sure you take advantage of edges like rakeback and good sign-up bonuses. Poker is after all, a game of small edges put to work time and time again.

Feb 6 2008

Teenage Computer Gambling – Things to Consider

Teenage Computer Gambling – the Civilized Way is Possible

Gambling is serious – because it’s a game, because it’s for money, and because it can transform into addiction. Due to this teenage computer gambling is an issue which needs special attention.

But let’s be frank - it is impossible to prevent kids from gambling nowadays. With access to the Internet even a kid can register for free account and play. No one would be able to track if the player is 35 or 15 years old. As closing the Internet is not an option :) then it’s better to take care of the trend is a civilized way.

Perhaps of the best options here – in teenage computer gambling – would be online gambling rooms (like online poker rooms, for example) where a teenager can play and not lose the money. This brings skill, experience and joy from the game with professional adults. And at the same time – no risk to lose money.

Ok, but how can you handle gambling addiction?

Professional online poker rooms have direct shortcuts to the communities that help people who get into addiction to fight this addiction. Surely, not all online poker rooms have these links. But this is another vote for professional services and for doing it the civilized way.

What online poker rooms are you talking about?

Well, if you would like to read more details about the new trend of the Internet gambling, please read about online poker rooms, online poker room FAQ, and tips about online poker casinos.

Feb 4 2008

Amateur Poker Leagues – The Game in Your Hood

Amateur Poker Leagues – What’s In It?

This is a definitely great idea – to make the Big Game come to your hood. Well, maybe there are not so many poker stars in your hood ;) But who cares! The most important is the excitement and joy of the game. And the game is held like a real tournament. That is why if you have enough poker fans in your hood and want to have a marvelous time – amateur poker leagues are the best choice.

Amateur Poker Leagues are usually very open to running a tournament in your place. Basically you are choosing between:

In both cases you can be sure that this type of game is no longer accepted as "just another dull game". Even if your friend pub owner hosts the game, but you submit the results to the league – and this makes the players feel very special.

And now imagine that the games is organized by the *big guys* – adrenaline is pumping up like crazy. Now you see what stands behind it – the real big game spirit in your hood – the true poker heaven.

More good poker tips: How to Play on the Online Poker Tournament, Ideal Poker Strategy – Things to Have Inside, Online Poker Rooms FAQ.