If you are new to Texas Hold'em you can learn the mechanics of the game while playing online. Watching and participating in a game will make you comfortable with the procedures and protocol of the game.

Discipline
Discipline is one of the most important traits you will need to be a winning player. You can practice discipline by adopting a real game approach to your online session.

Reading the Board
Learning to read the board is another skill that can be practiced when you play online. You will have plenty of opportunity to do this, as the play online is much faster than it is in a live game.

Paying Attention
You should be watching the other players' starting hands at the showdown to see what hands they are playing. This is something you should be doing in live games. Get in the habit of doing it every time you play online. It will help you develop your attention to the game. You should be able to determine who is playing tight or loose by the hands they are showing at the end.

Practicing online can be like any other endeavor. You get out of it what you put into it. If you treat these free games as if you were playing with real money, then you can learn from them. If you decided to just play any two cards to the river, you are defeating the purpose. You are also wasting your time and running the risk of developing bad habits.

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A philosopher once said, "nothing ventured—nothing gained." In business we often hear that there are no rewards without risk. Athletic trainers say, "No pain, no gain!"
The statements above are often echoed when the subject of playing online live poker for free cyber chips is discussed. There is an ongoing debate about whether practicing at many of the free Internet poker sites has any value to a player learning the game.

The biggest complaint about the free Internet games is that the players are not risking any money. The free play poker sites give each player a certain amount of money to play with. Some sites will replenish a player's bankroll as soon as he goes broke, while others will make him wait a day before being granted more money. Either way, since a player has no fear of ever going broke, he will often play with an "any two-card" mentality for starting hands. Once in a hand they will play "No Fold'em Hold'em" and call each hand to the river.

I agree that many of the players in the free games are bad players, and it can lead to the deterioration of your game if you start emulating the other bad players. Players have a tendency to lower their standards when they are playing for fun. If a new player sees this going on, he may adopt a similar playing style, which will be fatal once he sits down in a live game. However, I do believe that there is something to be gained from practicing online.

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It is always easier to learn something new if you have someone you can ask for advice or someone to share ideas with. I sought out my friend and co-worker Jack when I made the decision to learn how to play casino poker. Jack is an excellent Seven-Card Stud player, who has over six years experience playing winning poker. I asked him some questions about playing in the casino and poker in general. I told him I had decided to learn how to play Texas Hold'em. He said that he had just started learning the game himself. He wanted to expand his horizons and have another game to play when the waiting list for stud got too long. The timing was perfect, as now we both would have someone to discuss the game and strategies with.

I attribute part of my early success with the game to the discussions that we had. I learned that some of the situations I encountered at the table were not unique, as Jack had similar experiences as he was learning the game. This is one of the advantages to having someone you can talk with honestly about the game.

In the poker room you will meet many different people. If possible you should try to strike up a friendship with other players. Since you already have something in common, it will probably not be too difficult. Some will only be looking out for themselves and will be trying to get an angle on any player they may eventually be playing against. However, many of them are nice people who you will become friendly with if you become a regular at your local cardroom. If you can cultivate a friendship with someone you trust and can share ideas with you, you will both benefit. Some friendships will develop under strange circumstances.

During my first tournament win at Foxwoods, the match was down to me and three other players. The gentleman I knocked out in fourth position before winning the match was a player named John. He was a true gentleman and was the first to congratulate me after the match was over. We began talking and I explained that I had been learning to play the game and writing about my experiences for my About.com Web site over the last few months. I gave him my card and he e-mailed me the next day to compliment me on my poker articles.
We met at the tournament the next week and, after it was over, John and his son, Dan, and I held an extensive conversation about Texas Hold'em. It was easy to tell that we were both serious about improving our games. We started sharing strategies and had discussions about the game via e-mail. A few months later at the WPO held at Foxwoods, John introduced me to a few of his friends, one of whom is a professional poker player.

Over the next year I met several more players as John had started a little e-mail group. We participate almost daily in discussions about the game through e-mails and ICQ chat. We all became close friends even though some of us did not meet face to face until months after our group had formed. None of us were hesitant about sharing our strategies with each other and we all benefited from our combined knowledge.

Networking is a word that is sometimes used for developing professional contacts that can be beneficial to all parties involved. When you try to establish friendships in the cardroom, you are in essence "networking." In the poker world, the biggest network of players is the Rec. Gambling Poker Newsgroup on the Internet. Thousands of players share ideas daily via e-mail and network amongst themselves. In a way, our little group could be considered a smaller private network of dedicated poker players. That's the way it started but it soon became a group of trusted friends who have all helped each other to improve.
It just goes to show you how friendships can develop under strange circumstances. John was a gracious loser and our conversation when he congratulated me after the tournament turned into a winning situation for both of us. Don't hesitate to talk with other
players or congratulate a winner. You may just make a friend or two who can help you improve your game.

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I entered the tournament on Saturday June 17, 2000. There were 78 players with 74 re-buys. The total tournament chips in play, $152,000.

I started the tournament and won a small hand in level one. When we started level two, I made a re-buy giving me another $1,000 in chips. I had awful luck. I raised with pocket Jacks only to get beaten by Kings. The next hand I had pocket 7s and lost that one. I also raised with pocket Queens and had those beaten. At the end of level two, I had only $700 left. I thought I would be lucky to make it to the first break.

I did nothing in level three, but came back with a big hand before the break. I had $2,175 in chips at the break. I was moved to two different tables after the first break, I held my own in levels 5 and 6 and 7. My last move was to table one where I had $8,000 right before the second break. At the second break there were 12 players left. Nine would make it to the final table. The blinds were $1,000 and $1,500.1 stole the small blind. Two players were knocked out the next hand and the final table was set. We drew numbers for seats. I drew the five seat. I had $9,000 starting the final table. I was number seven out of nine for chip position. The chip leader was a woman who had stacks of $1,000 chips. I honestly thought she had a lock on the number one spot. I remember thinking I would play tight and hope the two players with fewer chips would get out before me. A funny thing happened.

One of the players with fewer chips was named Phil. He had $3,000 and drew the number one seat making him the small blind. He had to post $1,500. He folded the first hand and I did the same. The next hand I looked at my cards and found Pocket Rockets staring at me. I thought to myself, this is it. I'm either going out with a blaze of glory, or taking it to the bank. The player under the gun called all in and I raised. Everyone folded to Phil who went all in. The small blind called and John the big blind re-raised me. I capped it all in. The flop was Ah-7c-8c. The Turn was Jack of hearts. The river brought a Ten of hearts. John turned over pocket Kings. I had three Aces to take the side pot. Phil turned K-Q of hearts for a Royal Flush. He won the smaller original pot and got a free Foxwoods jacket for having a Royal Flush. I was lucky that Phil was all in otherwise I would have been eliminated. This was the turning point of the game for me.

I got a few powerful hands in a row. I played them aggressively and started hitting the flops. As the blinds went up the players all became more cautious. I was accumulating chips and started to get more aggressive. As I did I was winning more hands. I was in the zone, because all of a sudden I remember someone saying, "Looks like a new chip leader. I looked down at my stack of $1,000 chips and realized it was I. One player made another comment about me grabbing all the chips. I smiled and said I must be a "Chip Magnet." That moniker stuck with me the rest of the match. Being the chip leader wields a certain amount of power. I was able to take a lot of hands by bullying my way with raises. I did use a certain tactic. I made sure that I would occasionally show my big winning hand after everyone folded. This way they were never sure if I was bluffing or had the power to back up the bets. Now I was able to coast a little and let a few other players knock each other out. When we started the final round I was hoping to be able to outlast a few of the players to gain more of the prize money. By the time we got down to four, I had only one thing on my mind: winning! At this point I did not care about the prize money I did not want any deals cut. I wanted to be able to walk away with the win.

We were finally down to three players. I had six or seven times more chips as the woman who was the original chip leader when we started the final table. Dale, the number three player, was a little behind her and asked her if she wanted to chop the money for second and third. She said no way. She eventually lost to him. Now
there were the two of us. Dale asked me if I wanted to make a deal— I said, "No thank you." I had him by a substantial lead and I had to see this through. We battled back and forth but the cards were holding out for me. The blinds were $5,000 and $10,000.
On the final hand I posted the small blind and Dale posted the $10,000 big blind, leaving him with $4,000. I was dealt pocket 8s. I called and he raised all in, and the dealer dealt the final cards. 4-4-2-T.

He flipped over an Ace and 6 and said, "You better be able to beat this." I turned over my pocket 8s. I extended my hand and said, "Nice match." He shook it and congratulated me on my win. It's hard to describe my feelings at the end. The adrenaline rush and excitement of my first tournament win will stay with me for a long time. It is definitely one of the most memorable experiences I have had in the casinos.
I have the utmost respect for all the players who competed in the tournament. I did not see one incident of poor sportsmanship. I also have a great deal of respect for the staff and dealers at Foxwoods. They run a first-class tournament.
I took the next week off to fly to Las Vegas for vacation. I returned two weeks later and repeated my first-place finish. Two first place finishes in a row added to my desire to play more tournaments. Since then, I have made many more final table appearances, and have had many more tournament wins.

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After playing in my first tournament, I knew I could be competitive. I decided to play in more of these. I felt that my play was solid; I had made it past the first break, and further than many of the other players who had entered the tournament. I picked up a book about tournament play and began searching for information about winning low-limit tournaments.

During my first tournament I played very tight. I was just trying to get the feel for the game and thought my best chance for lasting was to play only the best hands. After doing some reading, I discovered that I had inadvertently stumbled upon the correct strategy for playing the early rounds of a tournament.

In low-limit tournaments, there are many players who are out to have a good time for a fixed minimum expense. In the opening rounds of the tournament, many of these players will play with the any two-card mentality because the betting limits are low and they have a lot of chips. You will also find many of the maniacs who will raise with any hand hoping to get lucky in the early rounds. As the betting levels escalate, they continue to play in this fashion and soon find themselves out of chips.

The proper strategy for these early rounds is to play tight while everyone else is playing very loose. By limiting myself to the premium starting hands, I was doing just that. It is what enabled me to make it through to the higher rounds. Since I was not playing many hands, it also gave me time to study the other players at the table. I was able to determine who was playing solid hands and who was not. This information would help in the later rounds.

During my second and third tournaments, I was able to make it past the second break, but not much further. I went back and did some more reading and I tried to analyze my game to determine what I was doing wrong. I discovered two problems. I was continuing to play too tight during the later rounds. I was also not playing as aggressively as I should have. I was limping in with hands that I should have been raising with. As the limits get higher in the middle rounds, players become very tight. A raise will narrow the field or even win outright, as players become more cautious.

I made some adjustments to my play and, during the fifth tournament that I played, I made it to my first final table. I finished ninth but was "in the money." I was paid $45 for ninth place less my $30 entry fee giving me a profit of $15 for the match.
The money, however, did not really matter to me. I am a competitive person by nature and the feeling of accomplishment that I experienced meant more to me than any money involved. I felt that I was making a significant improvement in my game. This was confirmed a month later when I accomplished the goal I had set after the first match.

I have adopted the following strategy for the early rounds of the tournament. It is tight and aggressive and has worked in getting me into the later rounds after many of the other players have busted out. Here are the hands I play in raised and unraised situations, (s) denotes suited cards.

Early Position
Raise and reraise with: A-A, K-K, A-Ks Play: Q-Q, A-Qs, K-Qs, A-K
Raise with these hands or call one raise in a raised pot. Middle Position
J-J, T-T, 9-9, 8-8, A-Js, A-Ts, K-Js, Q-Js, A-Q, K-Q
Raise if the hand has not been raised. Fold if pot was raised.

Late Position
Call: A-Xs, K-Ts, Q-Ts, A-J, A-T, K-J, Any Pair, and Suited connectors—with four or more players. If raised, fold.
During the later rounds of the tournament you will need to shift gears and loosen up a little. Space does not permit going into the complete tournament strategy. There are several good tournament books for those wishing to learn more. Using this strategy for the early rounds will get you started on your way to solid tournament play.

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After entering the low-limit tournament it was time to put it all together. I was ready to play my first live game in the cardroom.

I chose to play my first session at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. It is a little smaller and more intimate than the larger Foxwoods where I had played in the tournament. I had previously done a little railbirding there and liked the cardroom.

The Mohegan Sun has a sign up desk. When you enter the poker room you must sign in and tell the host what game you are interested in playing. If there is an immediate opening, you will be seated immediately. If the table is full, they will take your initials and call you when there is an opening. They don't have a board for the names. I chose the $3 / $6 Hold'em game and was told there was an opening. Before sitting down I purchased my chips at the counter to take to the table with me.

The minimum buy-in for the $3/$6 game is $30.This is not very many chips if the betting gets aggressive. The last thing I wanted to do was be short of chips when I had a good hand. I chose to buy-in for $100 which is about 15 times the largest bet.
At the Mohegan Sun, when you first sit down at the table, you must post a bet equal to the big blind if you wish to play immediately. If not, you wait until it is your turn to be the big blind and enter the game then. I chose not to enter right away. By waiting it gave me a few hands to watch the other players and see how they were playing. Had I not gotten a seat right away, I would have watched the action from the rail while I was on the waiting list.

Once in the game, I was cautious to observe proper table etiquette and was careful not to make any of the common beginner mistakes that would give me away as a novice. I had decided on my game plan before I ever sat down at the table. I would play a tight game using mostly the early position starting hands that could be played from any position. I chose to limit my first session to an hour and a half to make sure I practiced discipline and maintained my concentration.

As I sat down at the table and waited for my turn to be the big blind I watched the other players. After participating in the tournament I felt comfortable enough with the table protocol and was not intimidated by the other players. The first 20 minutes at the table all I did was fold hand after hand. In between I just kept my eyes open and my mouth shut. Finally, I was rewarded with a suited Ace-Queen. I bet and was called by three other players. The flop was A-7-4 and I bet and was called again. The turn brought a King and I had one player call me all the way to the river. He turned his cards showing a King in the hole giving me my first win with a pair of Aces. I have to admit to a little adrenaline rush as I scooped my first pot. I was feeling pretty good but, a few hands later, my over-exuberance cost me some money as I chased everyone out of a pot early.
I had K-Q suited and the flop was K-Q-Q. I was second to act with a full house and instead of slow playing by calling the bet that was made before me, I raised immediately. This caused everyone, except the original bettor, to fold. He checked on the turn and then folded when I bet. If I had not been so impatient, and just called, I probably could have kept a couple players in the hand and collected a little more on the end.

I played a tight game and won a couple more pots during the game. I was ahead when I made my second and more costly mistake. I was the big blind with J-8. There were five callers. The flop was J-8-7 all different suits. This is known as a "rainbow." I had two pair and bet. I was called around and the turn brought a 9. I bet and all the players folded except one who raised me. I was only looking at my two pair and called the raise without hesitation. The river was a 3 and I checked. He bet and I called again. I was not paying as much attention to the board as I should have. He turned over his Q-T suit-
ed giving him a straight and leaving me wondering why I did not notice the straight possibility especially when I was raised on the turn. It was my mistake and put a little dent in my stack of chips.

After a few more hands my hour and a half was up. I collected my chips and headed for the cage. I cashed out with a $10 profit. I was a winner in my first game. I also learned a couple lessons that would stick with me.
What I discovered during my first game was that most of the players in a low-limit game are just average people. In fact, after watching some of the starting hands that were played, I would guess that a couple of them had never read a book or magazine article about Hold'em. I honestly felt that the training I had done up to this first match had proven to be a great asset for me. It was time well spent as I now felt comfortable with my play, and knew I had the ability to be competitive. I also knew that I had much more to learn but this would come in time. This first game showed me that if you can apply the discipline to wait for the proper starting hands, you will have a solid foundation to help you succeed at this game.

As I drove home from the casino I spent some time reflecting on the game and evaluating my play. I was looking forward to my next session. I was also looking forward to my next low-limit tournament.

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Before I started learning about casino poker, whenever I heard the words "Poker Tournament," I immediately thought of the World Series of Poker. The WSOP final event has a $10,000 entry fee. I was under the impression that all poker tournaments were played only for high stakes by professional players. I was wrong about that. There are tournaments held all over the country that are designed to attract players by offering a variety of entry fees. Whether it is low limit or high stakes you're looking for, you can probably find a tournament near you.

Foxwoods holds different tournaments six days a week. The Saturday morning event is a Limit Hold'em tournament. The cost of the tournament is $20. This consists of a $15 buy-in and a $5 entry fee. Players receive $1,000 in tournament chips. There is also one optional re-buy if you go broke, or you can just add it onto your existing chips. The $10 re-buy will get you another $1,000 in tournament chips. The re-buy must be made during the first two rounds of play. Most players looking to make it to the finals take advantage of this option. The prize pool contains 100 percent of all money from the buy-ins and re-buys. As an added bonus Foxwoods credits your player's club account with $10 in comp, which can be used for merchandise, shows, or food.

Tournament structures can vary in the amount of the buy-ins, number of levels played, and the amount of time to play each level. All tournaments have one thing in common. You are trying to win all either of them off, so I called. The turn was a Jack. I bet and Player 3 called and Player 5 raised. I figured he had three Jacks and I re-raised him. Both called me. The River was a 6. I bet and both called me. I turned my three Kings. Player 3 had A-K in the hole for a pair of Kings with an Ace kicker. Player 5 turned over his pair of Jacks, my guess was correct. At this point I felt a rush. I scooped a big pot and it felt great. By the time the break came I had one other small win. I had only participated in about nine hands including the times I was in the blinds.

Good tight play had gotten me to the first break. By this time I had settled down and was comfortable with the procedures and protocol of the game. Any nervousness or apprehension had long given way to the pure excitement of the competition. I had $1,900 in chips to start level five. I also noticed that there were only six tables left out of the 11 that started the tournament. I had made it past many of the other players. Unfortunately, I didn't make it much farther that day. As the blinds increased, the quality of my hands decreased. After I was knocked out I made the following observations:
The tournament was a great learning experience. You don't have to be an expert to compete. Most players are friendly.

I have the confidence to be a competitive player. It was a lot of fun!
The "tournament bug" had bitten me and I planned to enter more of these in the months ahead. I set a personal goal to make it to the final table before year's end. My next step was to play in my first live game.

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