Poker Run
Free Online Poker Games Guide To The What Poker Cards To Play From Which Poker Table Seat
In this free online poker games lesson we are looking at one of the areas of poker that most players want to learn about most. What pocket cards to play, from what table position.
Fact – To win good money in lower stakes poker you don’t need to be a professional. Free poker and low stakes games get a constant flow of over-optimistic players many of whom quickly lose all their money. They lose their money to players lying in wait who have a solid grasp of core poker skills.
True, now and again one of these bad players will beat good players playing an insane hand like 4,7 unsuited but remember, this is the exception not the rule, it’s luck to them or to us, the extreme end of the probability curve. Overall, statistics prove that when you play only certain pocket cards from certain table positions you win over the long term.
Pocket cards – Quick definition
The 2 cards you start the game with that only you see.
The Evidence
UCLA (the University of Chicago) mainframe computers played over 2 trillion hands of 10 handed Texas Hold Em poker games assessing all 2,652 possible combinations of two pocket cards (52 x 51 = 2,652). The results showed that certain pocket cards have a Negative Expected Value (-EV) i.e., they lose long term and others win long term with a Positive Expected Value (+EV)
However, before we can get into what pockets have +EV you need to know about the affect of Table Position.
The importance of Poker Table position
Early, Middle, Late are the 3 areas on a poker table. Which area you are seated in has a great effect on whether the pockets you have are +EV or -EV.
1) Early Positions are Small Blind, Big Blind and Under the Gun (UTG), UTG is the player on the left of the Big Blind.
2) The Middle Table Positions come next. Go from left of UTG and are simply Middle 1, 2, 3 and 4.
3) Last, are the Late Table positions: Late 1, Late 2, and the Dealer Button.
It’s a good idea to think of them as 2 character codes: SB, BB, UG, M1, M2, M3, M4, L1, L2, DB.
The thing to know is that pockets become playable or not depending on where you are sat.
Early Position. The pockets with Positive EV are:
AA
KK
QQ
AK suited
AQ suited
AK unsuited
Low pockets: 22 through to 99
All other pockets in Early are -EV, fold.
Middle Position: M1, M2, M3, and M4
The pockets with Positive EV are:
The same as early, plus:
AJ suited
AT suited
JJ
TT
AQ unsuited
AJ unsuited
AT unsuited
And any 2 suited paint cards (picture cards; any combination of K, Q, J, and T).
Every other possible pocket in Middle position has a Negative EV.
Late Position
The pockets with Positive EV are:
The same as early and middle, plus:
A5 suited
A4 suited
A3 suited
A2 suited
A9 suited
Any unsuited picture cards.
All others are negative, fold them
Other factors
All of the playable pockets by table position apart from AA and KK should only be used when the cost to see the flop does not exceed 3 times the big blind. Low pocket pairs; 22 though to 99 have some important blind cost rules but they need a lesson in their own right so look out for that later (not complex, don”t worry!).
To remember the playable pockets make a reference card to keep by your PC. It simply needs 3 sections. Early, middle and late position with the playable pockets in each zone plus cost rules for low pockets.
So create your free online poker games reference card now and start practicing hard on some free online poker games at NoPayPOKER.com!
Miami Boat Show Poker Run 2007