Free Online Poker Guide To Why You Must Know How To Play Outs

This free poker online guide comes from an experience I has in a Sit n Go event I played in a few months ago.

One of the players was duped, but so was I even though I wasn't in the hand. There is a simple lesson that comes out which is, firstly, you must learn when to fold and second, as related to folding, learn to recognize all the outs available in the hand - or else!

Here's how and why:

BLINDS 30/60

A has As-Jd, calls 60
B has ??-??, calls 60
Big blind and small blind joins (Pot 210)

FLOP: 8c-4c-As

Here A believes that his Ace is strong, so he continues his aggression:

Big blind and small blind check-fold
A bets 300
B calls 300

Because A fired out more than the pot, B is now getting less than 2-to-1 on a call, (1.7-1) which is the right price to call for a Straight or a Flush draw with two cards to come. The bet from A is enough to force an incomplete hand out. However, since B seems to be a weak player who chases draws, he decided to call.

TURN: 8c-4c-As-5c

The Five of Clubs came, and A, at this point, still has a strong hand, but has weakened. His Pair of Aces is good against what he believes should be a stray Flush draw. If he makes B continue, however, he might not be able to play his Pair. So A continues battering:

A bets 500
B calls 500

RIVER: 8c-4c-As-5c-7d

A Diamond came! Not a four-Flush. Of course A believes his Aces are good already, except if his opponent had A-K. So A tries a check-trap

A checks
B bets 1250
A calls all-in 1250

B reveals 8d-6d, wins the pot

How in the world did B have the Straight? When A saw 3 Clubs, he figured B had, maybe , 1 Pair and 1 Club that could make a made Flush later on. It didn't, so A thought B's all-in was because of the value of the small Pair B already had. He believed it will be only 8-x or less, so A called with what he thought was the best hand. Not so!

The board was dangerous, but A miscalculated the danger. By focusing too much on the Flush, he didn't realize that the Board was one card off a Straight (only a 6 is needed to topple him), and when only three Clubs came, he was lifted his fright of the Flush, but it made him recklessly disregard all other potential hands. His check was correct, but if he's to have folded a fold would be better after that check.

And I, too, was duped. I thought B had a busted Flush, too. When B pushed A all-in, I, too, thought he was doing it with a pair and a busted Flush draw. It was with a Straight.

So what free poker lessons can be taken from this hand?

One is to know when to fold. If the board is one card off a Straight or Flush or any other big made hand, and a big bet is in front of you (which you reasonably believe is not a bluff), you should, more often than not, fold.

Two is to know which cards can crush you. All of them, not just some.

For A, during the Flop and the Turn, he realized that only Clubs can crush him. On the river, as there are only three Clubs (if B had the flush made, he would have moved all-in on the Turn, and A could have folded), A thinks he?s safe. He focused on the Clubs too much; he forgot the 6.

Of course it's easy with hindsight and analysis, being aware of factors like all the available outs is a tough one if you're new to poker (hell even if you've got some time tucked away) so for that reason it's best to practice and play poker online for free a lot at http://www.NoPayPOKER.com before you go off to places like Feltstars and PartyPoker or live games and start throwing real money about. Even when you do progress I advise you to come back and play free poker online regularly in order to de-stress, make errors without loss and practice new ideas.