Playing Poker Online For The First Time

With the exposure that poker has received from television and print media in the last few years, thousands of new players are playing online every day. However, if it weren’t for a few things holding some players back, there would be many more new players. A few of the things that are causing fear and/or apprehension are the safety of your hard-earned money at an online room and exactly how to set up accounts not only at a poker room but also to fund the account. These are what this article is about, so if you want to play poker online but haven’t started, read this short tutorial and you’ll be started in no time. The first question I am often asked is about the safety of a player’s money online. Drawing from my personal experience, I have been playing online for about ten years and have never had a poker site cheat me or steal the first cent. One of the reasons for this is I have followed these rules, which I recommend to you. When I started, I only played at the larger rooms online. (There are over 250 rooms so even restricting yourself to the top 30 or 40 rooms is safe and gives you plenty of options.) My reasoning was that the rooms with the most players must have players that were receiving cash outs in a timely manner. Also, the larger the room, the more they had to lose by cheating players. The way poker is designed, rooms will make more money by being honest than by stealing from players who will never come back. I also read reviews about the different sites in order to become comfortable with my choice of a site, then downloaded the free software and practiced at the play money tables before depositing. The next question is the best way to get money in and out of an online poker site. Here are a few simple and safe steps to get started. 1. Find a poker room you would like to try on this site and download the free software. 2. Open a checking or savings account with a local bank. (You probably already have one, but some players open a separate account for poker.) 3. Go to www.neteller.com or www.firepay.com and open a free account and link it to the bank account from step 2. I have used Neteller and their service is safe, fast and free. You can transfer money from your bank to Neteller and then into any online poker room for free. Then any money you take out of a poker room will go back to Neteller and then back to your bank if you so choose. By using this method, you don’t have to worry about the safety of a credit card online and most rooms don’t use credit cards anyway. 4. Set up an account at the poker room from step 1. Usually you will click on “register” or “cashier”. You will enter a screen name and password as well as some other information. 5. Either practice at a play money table or make your first deposit and jump into the live action. Good luck! Poker Resources Featured Poker Rooms: Absolute Poker Full Tilt Poker UltimateBet PokerStars Learn to Play Poker Profitably the right way: Sit N Go Pro Outstanding Poker About the Author: Wes Young runs a poker web site at http://www.pokermonger.comRead more articles by: Wes Young Article Source: www.iSnare.com where you can find information about poker strategy, poker room reviews and unique poker articles. He also publishes a weekly poker column. For information visit thepokercolumn.com

The 10 Worst Poker Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

When playing poker, many players are prone to making the same fatal mistakes. Below, I have attempted to outline these problems in the hopes that the reader may identify any negative tendencies in their game and make the necessary changes. Mistake 1 - Playing Short-Handed with Little Experience - First of all, short-handed play requires more skill. You don’t have the luxury of simply being patient, which forces you to play weaker hands. You’ll be playing more hands per game, and this will put you at a distinct disadvantage when competing against more experienced players. Beginning players also may not have the bankroll needed to weather the high fluctuations of such a game. These fluctuations can lead players to go on tilt, which is always a huge mistake. Playing short-handed requires a whole different mindset. Start by playing in regular games and gain experience. Only then should you start branching out into the deeper water of short-handed games. Mistake 2 - Bluffing Too Much - Bluffing an opponent is a great feeling, but if you do it too much you’re bound to get called. Betting with a weak hand is a surefire way to decrease your chip total. Be careful and don’t get too cute. Feel free to bluff, but do it in moderation. Mistake 3 - Playing Position Wrong - You want to play as many hands as possible from a late position, and these are hands that you’ll want to play aggressively. Going later allows you to see what your opponents are doing. If you’re in the early position, you want to play fewer hands. Mistake 4 - Getting Too Emotional - When players get too emotional, they are bound to make mistakes. At all times, try and remain detached from the game. Stay calm. Bet with your brains, not with your heart. Mistake 5 - Focusing Too Much on the Cards - Play the player, not the cards. Learn the tendencies of your opponents and try to make sure that few hands ever make it to the final card. Instead, you want to use the knowledge of your opponent to force them to fold long before then. Mistake 6 - Thinking You’re the Best - Despite what you think, you are not the best player out there. In any given game, anyone has a chance to beat anyone else. There’s only so much you can do about this. What you can do is realize that you’re going to lose a lot of the time. Practice, however, will ensure that you lose far less than those around you. Mistake 7 - Not Asking for Help - Whether you learn by watching others or asking for advice, you must get help from time to time to improve. And, of course, there’s simply no substitute for actual game experience. Mistake 8 - Playing the Wrong Stakes - The difference between a $5 and $10 game can be huge. It’s always important to play in a game with stakes which you can afford. The higher the stakes, the higher the level of competition. Start small and slowly move up as your skills and bankroll improve. Mistake 9 - Being Predictable - Be aware of your betting patterns. Mix things up. Remember, while you’re studying your opponents, they are studying you. Mistake 10 - Not Knowing When to Quit - Knowing when to quit, either after a big win or big loss, is absolutely vital to poker success. Being hardheaded will only get you deeper in the hole or ensure that your winning streak comes to an eventual halt. Get out while you’re ahead (or at least while you’re not too far behind). Poker Resources Featured Poker Room: Full Tilt Poker Learn to Play Poker Profitably the right way: Sit N Go Pro Outstanding Poker The Best Place to Talk About Gambling Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shane_Rivers

I'm Back

After taking a year off to clear my head I'm excited to be back in the exciting world of poker. For those that have missed The Modern Grinder I apologize but circumstances demanded the time off. Rest assured I come back healthier, stronger and even more determined to dominate Texas Hold'em poker online and off. Stick with me and I will help you do the same! In the coming weeks and months you can look forward to more great tips improving your game, building your bank roll and becoming a profitable poker player.

Online Gambling Regulations Continue to be Debated

The Treasury Department delayed the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act last week. Due to a letter from some lawmakers requesting the delay. Additionally, lawmakers will begin discussing Congressman Barney Frank's proposed legislation that would overturn the Act. Frank said that the delay will help "undo this ill-advised law." The Act was passed by Congress back in 2006 hidden as part of a "Safe Ports" bill. The UIGA makes it "a crime for financial institutions to process transactions that are used to place bets online." The delay will last until June 2010. Poker Resources Featured Poker Rooms: Absolute Poker Full Tilt Poker Ultimate Bet PokerStars Learn to Play Poker Profitably the right way: Sit N Go Pro Outstanding Poker

Moderng Grinder Moves on to Step 2

In a previous post I told you about the Absolute Poker Steps tournaments in which you can earn and $17,500 tournament package for as little as a 10 cent entry! Well I decided to show you how it's done! So today I played my first Steps tournament and won an an entry into Step Two. Stay posted for my progress or even better give Steps a try yourself at Absolute Poker

Bluffing: Phil Ivey vs Paul Jackson

Bluffing is an important part of poker and very few truly know how to do bluff correctly. Poker players usually fall into one of two categories when it comes to bluffing. The first type just plays the cards and very rarely bluffs. The second type thinks bluffing is a magic bullet and bluffs WAY too much. Neither of these strategies work long term you have learn to play your opponents as much as the cards. Your bank roll won't last forever if you are waiting to flop the nuts nor will it last if you piss it away with mindless bluffs. This video is good example of pro level bluffing. Poker Resources Featured Poker Rooms: Absolute Poker Full Tilt Poker UltimateBet PokerStars Learn to Play Poker Profitably the right way: Sit N Go Pro Outstanding Poker

Turn Ten Cents into a $10,000 Poker Tournament Entry

Dream of playing in a big buy-in live tournament? Try Steps at Absolute poker where you can for as little as a dime earn your way into winning a $15,000+ prize package that includes entry into a major wsop or wpt event. What is an Absolute Poker STEP tournament? Here's how AB describes it: "A STEP tournament is a type of Sit-n-Go that allows you to win your seat in major land-based events for a significantly low buy-in. Absolute Poker offers 10 STEP tournaments, with the final STEP featuring the big prize. Players advance from one STEP to the next by finishing first in a STEP. Players who don't finish first or second but still rank high enough will be invited to replay the STEP. How does it work? Each STEP tournament series consists of 10 STEPS, or 10 individual Sit-n-Go tournaments. The buy-in for the first STEP is $0.10. As the STEPS advance, the buy-ins increase. How do I move through each STEP? First two winners of STEP 1 advances to STEP 2 without having to buy in. The first two winners of STEP 2 advances to STEP 3, and so on. This goes on until STEP 10 where the winner secures the final land-based tournament package. What's this about trying again? If you don't finish first in a STEP, it's not necessarily game over. STEP tournaments give players the opportunity to replay a STEP, depending on how they finish in a tournament. That means as long as you can finish high enough, you can still hang on to fight another day and conquer your way to the next STEP. Can I enter a STEP tournament at any STEP? Yes. However, you'll have to buy directly in with cash. The only way to secure your spot in a STEP tournament for free is by advancing from a previous STEP." Sound good to me. In fact the Modern Grinder is going to climb the STEPS! Stay tuned for my progress in advancing in the Absolute Poker Steps Tournament. Why not play along you should go to Absolute Poker right now and try beat me up the steps. As a special bonus to MG subscribers (you have subscribed using the form in the upper right of this page, right?) I'm going to include a special sit n go strategy report to help you win more in sit and goes and climb the steps. Click here to check out Absolute Poker

Getting Back Into The Game After A Bad Run

Every poker player experiences a bad run in their career; play poker long enough and you will experience several. Any poker player that tells you otherwise either is lying to you or just hasn't been playing the game long enough. What separates the pros from the wannabes is the will continue knowing that with time the cards will heat up and your skills will only improve. Sometimes it's not the natural ebb and flow of luck. Sometimes you are dealt some decent hands and still can't win. Sometimes you are beating yourself. Sometimes life interferes with poker. Sometimes powering through and forcing yourself to endure loss after loss isn't the answer. Sometimes you just need to take a break. This is what I experienced over the last few months and why the Modern Grinder has been awal. When you are overwhelmed in life you become your own worst enemy at the poker table and you will not win no matter what you try. The only solution is to take a break and take care of what needs to be tended to. Come back clear headed and secure in knowing that life outside of the poker room is well managed. That's what I did and I'm back at the poker tables tearing it up having won 3 out 4 of my first sit and go tournaments (placing third third in the one I didn't win). Don't to be afraid to take a break from poker when you need to. In the long run it will make you a more well rounded, happier and much more dangerous to your opponents. Poker Resources Featured Poker Rooms: Absolute Poker Full Tilt Poker UltimateBet PokerStars Learn to Play Poker Profitably the right way: Sit N Go Pro Outstanding Poker

"People would be surprised to know how much I learned about prayer from playing poker" – Mary Austin

My Poker System is Hard Work

I’m often how I make money playing poker and if there is a "poker system" that I use to profit every time I play at the tables. My answer which inevitably disappoints is that "my system is hard work and decication." This is because they are looking for an easy way to make money not the hard work takes work to win at online poker. If you find a poker system that promises you to win money at online poker without trying, they are either over-promising or flat out lying to you. It’s been said that “Poker is a hard way to make easy money.” No matter what you do in life, getting people to part with their money requires effort. You either have to trade your time in at work for money, sell something valuable or work hard to become better than your opponents at the poker tables. There are no shortcuts. The effort required to learn poker is a different type of effort than what it takes to dig ditches or sit in a cubicle all day. You are learning to make a living playing a game after all. The freedom and sense of self determination that is shared by professional poker players and entrepreneurs alike more than makes up for the long hours and frustration that it takes to either build a business or a professional poker career. There will be times of drudgery when you will feel like giving up; but the satisfaction of building something out of nothing can’t be measured against anything in the nine to five straight world. Think about how hard professional athletes work. They work as hard as anyone else in the world but do you think they hate that work? No way! It's freedom! Putting in that hard work is rewarding when you are the direct beneficiary of that hard work. That's what makes playing poker for money so rewarding. Yes, it can be hard work and yes, there will be ups and downs along the way but it's all done in the name of making your own way in the world. Poker Resources Featured Poker Rooms: Absolute Poker Full Tilt Poker UltimateBet PokerStars Learn to Play Poker Profitably the right way: Sit N Go Pro Outstanding Poker

Over the next few weeks the Modern Grinder Staff will be reviewing and updating all of our 180+ articles. We are doing this for two reasons. First, as always the Modern Grinder strives to provide the absolute best poker content on the web and we want to make sure that every article is up to our standards. Second, we will are preparing for a future update that will make it even easier to find what you are looking for. What this means to those of you that have subscribed is that as articles get republished you may receive duplicate articles. This is temporary and will only happen as we do the updates so feel free to ignore them. But then again it never hurts to revisit useful information. As always we wish you the best of luck at the tables.

Poker Stars Review (Update)

PokerStars has long been one of the Modern Grinder's favorite poker sites and continues to improve with new features and a solid track record of reliability and excellent customer service. If you are a tournament poker player who aspires to one day win a WSOP bracelet then Poker Stars is the place to play as the have the most and the best deep-stack tournaments with structures that closely mimic that of major big buy in poker events. In fact if you are a tournament player a PokerStars account offers the best return of investment in both the quality of practice and in potential profits. If it's been awhile since you've played on PokerStars then you'll be pleasantly surprised by clean intuitive interface. It's very easy to find the exact game you are looking for in the lobby. The game interface is much more attractive the old client and again it's intuitive and easy to use. More reasons to play at PokerStars? They are the world's largest poker site They accept players from all over the world Free to download and play Award winning 24/7 support Fully licensed and regulated Some of the best software and game selection Secure deposits, fast cashouts For a more in depth review Click here to check our our oiginal Review, or go to PokerStars now and sign up free accout or Deposit $50, get $50 free! If you join now.