How to Win at Good Old Texas Hold -- Poker Advice for Beginners Who Play Free Poker Online

First, a little disclaimer -- This hub does not endorse gambling. It is about playing free online poker for amusement.

Now that the fancy language is out of the way, let's enjoy this hub on good old Texas Hold -- poker. Advice follows.

The Key Thing to Understand -- Free Poker Is Not Really Poker.

It's really that simple.  When you play free poker online, you are not playing poker, but a different game. 

Real poker, is mostly a game of skill, despite what some alleged moralists might tell you.  Free online poker has a much higher chance variable, because nobody has anything to lose -- which means most of its participants play with reckless abandon. 

That said, playing free poker online can be very fun.  Just be sure to understand that your opponents do not play it the way they play their regular Texas Hold poker games -- so apply a strategy adapted to that fact.

This section is strictly for beginners learning to play what's widely called the Cadillac of poker. The game is very easy to learn -- but torturous to master.

In free online poker, you'll likely be playing what's called "no limit", so let's focus on that version of Texas Hold poker. It all starts with blind bets.

The two players left of the dealer put in the small blind and big blind -- these are "forced bets", which encourage action -- which is amusing, since we're talking about free poker, so there will be no lack of action. Don't worry too much now about the blind bets. The free poker site's software will automatically handle those for you.

With the blinds settled, each player at the table is dealt two face-down cards -- your starting hand. Hopefully, you'll get two cards that have a lot "in common", like a high pair -- very pretty (and strong) cards for starters.

A round of betting ensues. The details of this round of betting are easy to understand once you're actually playing on a free poker site.

Next, the site will deal the flop -- the first three cards of the board. These are shared -- or community -- cards, which means everybody at the table gets to play them -- very fun! Hopefully, you'll find the flop helps your hand significantly.

Another betting round follows, and then we see the turn -- a fourth card on the board. The turn is followed by another betting round.

Remember, you always have the option in betting rounds to check, bet/call, raise, or fold. As I indicated before, your free online poker site will make this easy-peazy to understand.

Next, comes the river. This is the last board card. May it always treat you right! (It won't, alas. That's poker!)

There is a final betting round, and all the players who stayed in the hand to the end showdown their cards. The best hand wins -- the free poker site you choose will have a chart explaining hand ranking.

Those are the rules, but you'll find free poker very different.

In a word, tight -- that's how you should play. Online free poker is not played "right" by most players, so you need to play tight.

Here's the deal. In free no limit Texas Hold poker online, you will notice most players betting all their chips -- going all-in -- before the flop is even dealt. That's because free poker is poker without consequences.

Most of your opponents don't care about playing well. They're just having fun. This is fine, and you may feel tempted to join them in their frivolity.

If you want to benefit from your opponents' recklessness, play tight. In other words, fold almost all your hands, except the statistically best starting cards.

Why? You'll be forced to go all-in by your opponents' play anyway. You might as well go all-in with the best.

What are the best -- the only -- hands to play?

AA (Ace-Ace), KK, QQ, and AK of the same suit.  Fold everything else.

In the adjoining video, you'll see me winning $25,000 at free poker. The clip is almost 10 minutes long, and I made some good and bad plays, but if you do watch until the end, you will see me win.

I am a long-time poker player, with even higher ambitions -- and I love to play all sorts of games. And yes, I know I have called the game "Texas hold poker" a number of times in this hub. People astute in long tail keywords will have some insight into the reason I did that -- which is not to say that I necessarily made the right decision there.  ;)

But this isn't about me. The main reason I wrote this hub was for you, the beginner at free poker. I hope this helps, and I would love your comments.