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Ok so not truly a poker tool! - but just a piece of shameless self promotion !!!!

We now have our own widget tool which you can use to add to your blogs, your website, your google reader - you name it you can do it.

Not only is this a piece of outstanding web 2.0 technology!! - but it also means you can get upto date information there and then from us at haveaflutter - so put your feet up and let us to the hard work!!!!

We are putting new sites live on the haveaflutter network over the coming weeks covering other gaming niches like bingo, casinos and sports betting and each will have their own widget as they go live so stay tuned and don’t forget - go get your widget code!!

Odds & Probabilities

One often quoted poker statistic goes as follows…

* 2,2 will beat A,K 53% of the time,
* but 10,Js will beat 2,2 over 50% of the time.

So 10,J is a better hand then A,K ? Of course not,

* A,K is a 63% favourite against 10,J.

The above statistics are very interesting, and can certainly convince your opponents that you a complete bore, but are they of any use? How can you take advantage of this information? The easy answer is you can’t. In this case, I will quite happily commit my whole stack with A,K before the flop in NLH tournaments, but would have to be under extreme pressure to do it with 2,2 or 10,J. The reasons for this are simple. If you should get called, and you have to win the hand to stay in the tournament, what might your opponent have?

- If you have 2,2, then you are never going to be a big favourite against any possible hand unless it has a 2 in it. (You are very lucky if your opponent has A,2, and then you are only 1/2 favourite). If he has any two over cards, you are in some sort of coin flip. If he has an over pair, you are a 4/1 underdog.
- If you have 10,J , then you are probably in almost as much trouble. You will not have been called by any hand that you are a significant favourite against. If you have been called by a big pair, or A,J, A,10, then you need a miracle. The best you can hope for, is a coin flip against a lower pair.
- With A,K there are only two possible dominators : You will need a miracle against American Airlines, and you are a 2/1 dog against K,K. All the other pairs are coin flips. With this hand though, there is an upside. If you are an aggressive player, or you are playing against some loose callers, you may get called by many hands that you dominate: A,Q, A,J, A,10, K,Q.

Remember though, when moving your chip stack in with any of these three hands, the best result is that your opponents fold. Then you win 100% of the time!

One often published poker statistic is that:

- It is 16-1 that you will be dealt a poker pair (go to the back of the classroom if you assumed it was 12-1), and
- It is 220-1 that you will be dealt any specific pair, such as Aces. (I know it can often feel like it is a lot longer odds than that!)

So when you are holding any indiscriminate hand (such as Kings, or 7,2) it is 220-1 that any one of your opponents has Aces. Heads up, it is 220-1. In a six handed WPT final in Paris, it is 220-1 divided by 5 opponents: 44-1. Not an unlucky coup at all! Again, although this probability may be interesting for those of us with dull lives, its usefulness is debatable. It will be a rainy day on the moon before I pass kings pre-flop. (Super-satellites excepted of course!)

A more useful statistic is that K,K is only a 2-1 favourite against A,K. The warning signs are there. An even much more useful statistic is an Ace will flop 23% of the time.

So, if you get cute with pre-flop Kings, the flop will kill your action almost a quarter of the time. The major dangers of slow playing Kings though, are:

- An opponent with a pocket pair is about 15/2 to flop a set (or quads.)
- Fortunately an opponent with two odd cards is almost 40-1 to flop 2 pair. They may also have straight and/or flush possibilities though.

If your opponent flops a set on a low broken flop, he may well bust you! Early in NLH tournaments especially, you can make a little from pocket Kings, but quiet easily lose your whole stack.

The biggest crime though, is pocket Queens. I often see top players smooth call a pre-flop raise with this hand. I don’t know if they are trying to outplay their opponents on the flop, or are just scared of pocket Kings or Aces. Personally, I think this is suicidal or at least a criminal waste of a good hand. I will always re-raise and try and get my whole stack in the middle before the flop.

As discussed earlier, the odds on pocket Kings or Aces being out there are variable depending on the number of dealt hands. The odds will be at least 12-1 on a full table though.
Again this article has already outlined the dangers of a small pair out-flopping you.

More importantly though, the probabilities that an Ace or a King will flop is 43% of the time.

An Ace or a King on the flop obviously kills your action, prevents you from winning a much bigger pot, and often leads to you losing a medium sized one.

It’s often best to keep the game simple. Just stick the whole stack in, and cross your fingers…

learn to win at Texas Holdem (with Daniel Negreanu)

Daniel Negreanu gives us a bit of strategy on holdem. Very good lesson for seasoned poker players.

This is a great video and one of a series which I will be publishing over the next few days - something not only for seasoned players but beginners alike.

How freeroll poker tournaments work

A Freeroll is an online poker tournament, which does not cost you anything to play, but more often than not a heavy prize pool is associated with it. The room that hosts poker is also responsible for sponsoring the Freeroll and putting real money, gifts or merchandise into the prize pool. They are a very useful tool for promoting online poker sites. Many poker rooms host several small Freerolls, while others host only few but with big prizes.

Many sites offer them for new players – in the first month of them joining the site – and also many sites also offer them to players who play regularly at their site – qualification and eligibility is most often through the player accumulating enough poker points (William Hill and Cryptologic rooms do this via their MPP scheme, and Mansion have recently started offering this as well).

Poker players of all abilities have a good chance of winning some serious money through Freeroll tournaments. All you have to do is play the game you love! A lot of effort and time goes into arranging the Freeroll. In case not many players join, the remaining part of the guaranteed prize pool is left with the organizer as ‘cover’. When many players join in, the organizer has strong chances of becoming a winner as well as a loser. Poorly subscribed freeroll tournaments can be a very expensive affair!!!!

Clearly players are the biggest winners of poker freerolls. There is hardly anything to lose in poker freerolls and in order to take advantage each player just needs to register and then try their luck in the tournament, in most cases they are operated as a MTT (Multi Table Tournament) meaning their could be a field of more than 10 players playing – as the tournament is played then players are automatically moved around the tables at certain points as other players are beaten and drop out - until finally all that remains are the players at the final table.

Some rooms are now using them as a major promotional tool using newspapers to promote them – William Hill have done this very successfully to encourage new players to join with passwords being printed in the newspapers in order to enable players to register.

The main question that arises is-how to approach a Freeroll and what are the strategies required for success? Anything can be expected in the initial stages of a tournament. The best thing is to sit back and play, to get a feel of your table. Never hesitate in pushing in your chips with big hands (but be careful as always). Since you are into this without any cost, don’t be afraid in showing aggression of the good sort, but make sure it is selective aggression and not blind betting. When the money position approaches, many players get scared to play all but premium hands. As a player you can advantage of this situation, steal blinds and build up your stack. If you are able to do this well, you will get a lot of chips once money is easy to reach and also stand a good chance to win the main prize.

The most important thing is to enjoy yourself – there are plenty of them out there – so why not check out some of our site reviews and see for yourself – all of the rooms we review offer a good range of freeroll options!

Wass Online

Wass online is a very interesting new site and I promise a full review will follow. However in the meantime Wass Online offer a huge and massive poker and casino community which is completely free to join.

Every month they offer a huge range of poker freerolls and also casino bonuses so they are well worth a look - and of course because it is free then it won’t cost you a penny!! - obviously

So as I said I promise a full review will follow but for now get yourselves along there and check it out - oh yeah and they give you a blog so you can have a good old chat about your own trials and tribulations in the world of poker

You can check Wass Online out here

Slowplay - Poker Strategy

The technique of Slowplaying is used at the poker tables to extract more chips out of your opponents. This video shows the circumstances necessary for safely Slowplaying a hand at the poker table

VC Poker Student Championships

Student poker’s richest and most popular tournament returns for its 4th year.

Now with $75,000 in guraranteed prizes, this tournament is now bigger and better than ever, ending in a grand final in Prague at the Spearmint Casino - with a very very naughty after tournament party as well!

Here is what is on offer in this years competition:

The 2007/08 VC Student Poker Championship

* $75,000 in guaranteed prizes (the biggest student tournament by a mile!)
* $25,000 in cash prizes guaranteed in our monthly finals
* 20 live qualifier tournaments at universities across Europe
* Exclusive Freeroll qualifiers including a private $10,000 Freeroll event

So if you are a student and want to get your hands on the prizes or maybe one one of the ‘prizes’ in Prague then get yourself along to VCPoker.

You can check out our review of VCPoker here
Or just go straight on over to the VCPoker Championships

In our opinion this is one of the best tournaments around for students from one of the best names in the business

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