Journey to became a Poker Pro

"I kind of struggle against amateur players. Sometimes they don't know what they're doing themselves, so it is kind of hard to figure out their plan of action in a hand.

Playing ABC [poker] is something you need to focus on when you're in a field where there are a ton of satellite qualifiers. You can't play too tricky against them, because you will out-level yourself, and that is not good. When you are playing against good players, you both know exactly what each other is thinking, and then you can try and take it to the next level. Against a lot of these guys, you just have to play straightforwardly, which is something I struggle with at times. "
— Praz Bansi

please find a complete list of poker video tutorials, ideal for beginners an advanced players. Find the list below and enjoy.

Lesson 1: The All - in

"I think that reading is good to teach you the basic rules, but the rest you need to learn by playing. Playing will teach you everything, because it is one thing knowing what to do, but it's another to apply it. Everyone knows that you need to play good cards, but it is not always easy to apply that knowledge. That's why there are a lot of people who know great poker theory but they're not necessarily great poker players. It takes a different skill set to sit at the table and fire off a big bluff when your gut tells you to, or to make a big call when your gut tells you to, or to keep your composure when you lose a big pot. None of that is taught in theory. Those are things that can't be quantified on paper."
— Daniel Alaei

But I’ve Invested So Much Already…So?

There is a very common mistake people make at the poker table and it’s thinking the money they’ve already invested in a pot matters in their decision making on later streets. You’ll hear something like, “Well I’ve already put in so much. I have to call now.” This couldn’t be further from the truth and flawed thinking like this will only cost you even more money.

The reason this is wrong is because once the money goes into the pot, it no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the pot. The decisions you make from this point on should only have to do with the odds concerning the amount it will cost you to call your opponent’s bet in relation to the pot and the odds to make your hand (assuming you didn’t make it already).

Here’s an example. Let’s say you and your opponent are the only two in the pot and you’ve each put in $200 by the time the betting is completed on the flop. There’s $400 and you have an open ended straight draw, no flush possibilities out there. The turn is a blank and your opponent bets $200 making the pot $600 total. You’re looking at your hand and think you still have a pretty good draw. You’ve already put $200 in so far and how can you just let it go like that with a decent draw? So you call. The river is another blank, your opponent bets, and you have to fold. You have now unnecessarily lost an extra $200. “How so?” you might ask. Well, let’s go back and look at your decision on the turn. If you have an open ended straight draw that means you have 8 outs and, as we learned in Pot Odds the Rule of 4 and Betting, with one card to come you are about 16% or just over 5-1 to make your hand. It was going to cost you $200 to win $600 which is only 3-1. You were not getting the right odds to call and mathematically you will lose money making this call in the long run.

The same goes if you make a bet and you get raised. Don’t factor in the money you’ve just bet in your decision. As soon as you push that bet into the middle, whether there’s action or not, it’s not yours anymore. You can’t pull it back unless everyone folds. Once there’s a call or a raise it’s gone too. If you started a hand with $500, bet $40 and got raised, you now only have $460 to use when considering your next move.

So remember, when it comes time to decide on whether to continue in the hand or not, base it on your reads and use the math involved at that moment and not how much you’ve already invested. You’ll save a lot more money in the end

Freeroll poker tournaments offer poker players the chance to win hundreds, even thousands of dollars, while not risking a dime of their own bankroll. Not only are they usually exciting Texas Hold'em tournament style events, they represent one of the best ways to build a beginner's poker bankroll.

Possibly the most interesting advantage of freerolls is the fact that you can practice different tournament theories and strategies without the overwhelming pressure of finishing in the money to recoup your buy in. Fred Parker (fparker1) has set about testing many different theories in freeroll tournaments and has been gracious enough to chronicle his experiences in our poker forums. We have organized these articles so that any poker player who desires to place in the money in these wild online freeroll tournaments on a more consistent basis, can benefit from Fred's strategies. If you put Fred's theories to use, please share your successes, failures and suggestions in our poker strategy forums.

While practically every online poker room offers some type of freeroll tournament, some of the best freeroll opportunities can be found at Royal Vegas Poker. There are four $1000 freerolls every day between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. EST., and a $200 freeroll at 7 a.m. for those early bird poker players.

Freeroll Strategy - 'The First 90 Minutes'

Study Fred's clear presentation of starting hands and how to play them pre and post flop to start building your tournament chip stack in the early stages of the tournament.

Freeroll Strategy - 'The Last Hour'

Change gears and begin to play a “raise or fold” strategy that will help you survive to the final few tables where “in the money” means a significant portion of the prize pool. Again, the reader will find a very clear and concise explanation of how to change styles, proper hand selection and how to play those hands on the flop and beyond.

Freeroll Strategy - 'The Final Table'

Chip stack size and aggressive play are major keys to final table strategy. Fred's revealing articles on how to win freeroll and low buyin multi table online poker tournaments conclude by breaking down a strategy based on the size of your stack and the number of players, and includes a working method of beating an opponent heads up.

It is surprising that some players confuse the most simple rules of texas holdem or confuse with older poker rules. here is video for basic texas holdem