Unless you are already a student of pot odds, or read the trategy here on best poker site you may be unaware that that the odds of seeing two or more cards in the flop (of the suit that you have been dealt) are just over 25/1 – to catch all three is 125/1. Furthermore, if you are not holding the top rank, what chances of a further card of the same suit catching on the turn or river and blowing your winning hand out? A relatively paltry 8/1.

Knowing what chances you have of making a winning hand can be of great value to a player when looking at the options in front of her/him. Now that you are aware of the odds of achieving the flush from the flop, and the risk of seeing it getting beaten, you know you have to try to see each card as economically as possible until such time as you are certain that you have the unbeatable hand. If it came to the river and you were still waiting for your fifth card, your chances of winning are around 4/1*. Yet if there are only two of you remaining in the betting, do you want to call a large raise, effectively taking even money on a 4/1 chance?

* The odds really are 4/1 and not 3/1 as many players suppose. The reason for this is that you know four of the six cards you can already see are suited and therefore there are nine (say) hearts left in the 46 cards you have not yet seen – odds of slightly over 4/1 ([46/9]-1).

Your betting, indeed your participation in the hand, is largely going to depend on what other options you have with your hand. For example Ah Kh would suggest that your opening bet should be quite significant, however Ts 5s should be avoided unless you are in late position with very little coming in to you. Post flop, you may have other options available to you. The top pair, possibility of a straight – maybe even a set. The outcome of the flop will determine the level of your betting in later rounds, but an equally important consideration is the other players and your position amongst them.

If you find yourself on a fairly tight table and you start betting with volume, the players around you may choose to fold rather than get involved – particularly if you are located in late position. This could reduce the amount of money that you win or save you from getting caught if the cards fall against you. If you are situated early, and you have a short stacked aggressive player behind you, it may be to your advantage to check through, see what action they take and follow on from there.

Ultimately, realising the odds of you getting the cards you need to make your hand, and betting accordingly, are key elements to successful online poker.

After a while most players will settle down into a particular game type and stake value. If you take (for example) NL Hold´em at $0.50/$1, which is probably one of the most popular levels of the game, half the ring table players will prefer to play short handed, whereas the other half will prefer to play full table. There will be others who just play STTs and more who just enter the site to play tournaments.

There are those who will play in the evening, those who can only play during the day and those who are on the other side of the planet from you – and probably sleeping right now. So, all of a sudden, you are down to playing with just a core number of several thousand and, if you chose to play full table, there are eight of them already sitting with you. As you play more and more frequently, those eight (or some of them at least) will be on the same table as you, possibly every day. The quieter the poker site, the more relevance you can see in this.

The best way to use your notes facility is to have a summary at the top of your notes page which characterises the type of opponent that your player is, and below more comprehensive details such as the dates that you played (pretty important for comparing standards of play over a period of time), the stake levels that you are playing at and any patterns that you notice in the way s/he plays.

You should try to make your notes as comprehensive as possible, recording suspected “slow” play, a fondness for continuation betting or any aggressive tendencies – also how they react to certain circumstances and at different stages of the betting. This information will be useful to you in the future, and over a period of time you will develop a significant library of facts and figures about your opposition.

No matter how painstaking the physical act of making notes may be, the more comprehensive you make them, the more effective they become. Being able to refer back to your notes during a game is an advantage that you have over all the players who overlook this facility, so the more importance you place in note taking, the more you will be rewarded.

The obstacles that are in the way are the other fifteen or twenty thousand players with the same goal in mind, who will be entering the qualifiers at the basement level and making it exceedingly difficult to get through to the next stages. The answer is to fast-track your path to the higher levels by paying the higher entrance fee – after all, if you consider yourself to be good enough to be playing at Las Vegas, you should be capable of winning the $50 or so needed to enter at a later stage of the series, and you should be able to do it in the time that you would have spent fighting off twenty thousand other hopefuls!

Now comes the hard bit, as the web site that you choose to play your qualifier on may only have one package available, or you could choose to take on a bigger field on a site offering multiple packages. There are pros and cons with whichever route you choose, and there are a number of other considerations to take into account before you get involved with this satellite series or any other.

Winner Takes All Qualifiers.

These are the satellites that only offer one place up to the next stage or final. They are most commonly found on the smaller poker web sites, or those on the networks with a lower volume of traffic. In “Winner Takes All” you have to take the approach that if you do not win – you lose. Whereas normally reaching the final table in a tournament would guarantee you something, with WTA you might as well come last as second. Therefore, expect to see ultra-aggressive play throughout the game, as the initial aim is to get to the final table with the largest chip stack and, from there, control the betting.

The correct way to play these games is to abandon your opening hand criteria and make massive bets whenever possible against short-stacked players. At times, it is like being on the play chip tables when you first started playing poker online, but if it gets you to where you need to be, it is an acceptable strategy.

Multiple Package Qualifiers

The aim in these tournaments is to get to the bubble and stay there until the end. In complete contrast to the WTA games, as the bubble approaches towards the end of the game, you will witness some of the slowest, tightest poker ever seen. Players have been known to muck AA because they do not want to risk the damage a loss would do to their chip stack and those chips going to somebody else.

If you find yourself on a tight table, where none of the players are willing to contest any of the pots, it is a good opportunity to steal a few blinds and ensure that you remain firmly within the bubble until you reach the position where you are certain you are safe.

Because of the nature of WTA Qualifiers, many players tend to avoid them, and this could be your opportunity to take advantage of a weak field, and win your way to the WSOP Main Event.

The way to distinguish a bulldog from a naturally aggressive player is by the way he arrives at the table. The bulldog will only play in ring games where he can introduce the maximum funds allowable and use that mighty stack of chips as an intimidatory tool against his opponents. He raises pre-flop on every hand irrespective of the quality of his hole cards, and will also use the chat facility for insults and comments on other peoples play. It is worth noting that bulldogs tend to bet large amounts quickly when they hold little, and bet smaller amounts, with more deliberation, when they are trying to draw more players into the pot rather than scare them away. If you are conscious of this characteristic, you can react to his betting accordingly.

Once the bulldog has seen the flop, one of two things will happen. He will continue to bet outrageously when he has nothing or, if he has caught a hand on the flop, will take his time and reduce the size of his bet. The reverse is true if he had good hole cards and blew out on the flop.

Winding up a bulldog poker player is easy and if done to maximum effect will put him on tilt. Whenever possible, match his pre-flop blinds when he is at his most macho, and fold to his bets aimed at entrapment. This will frustrate him and lead to more outrageous bets for you take advantage of. Eventually he will get the picture that you are onto him, but by then, the power of the mighty chip stack will have gone, and your bulldog is now a whimpering mutt.

We do not advocate that you go out looking for bulldogs to tame, because some may get lucky and give you a nasty bite in your wallet. We also mentioned above that bulldogs are not the smartest of animals, so you can assume that once they have licked their battered pride, they will be doing it all over again. However, if you do find yourself up against one, don´t be alarmed – he could just be your best friend.

“Double or Nothing” games are invariably played ultra-tight at the start. Players are very cautious about committing too much too early, and often you find that it is a very slow game to begin with, until the higher blind levels are reached. You may even find a number of players sitting out during the early stages of a game, but this can be counterproductive and is not recommended as you may miss some very good hands and opportunities. It also allows other players in good position to steal your blinds, and when you do join the game, you are handicapped by a lower chip stack.

The most successful way approach these games, is to play even tighter than you feel is necessary and get into a good position by stealing a few blinds, winning a few small hands and knowing when to fold – particularly if players close to elimination start to risk all when they have nothing to lose. As tempting as it may be to speed up the conclusion to the game, you should not match their bets without a very good hand, as losing at this time will weaken your position and strengthen theirs. Your focus does not need to be on winning, just remaining in the top half of players, and if you are a fair poker player, you should be able to do that provided you apply a little discipline. If you have worked your way into a good position early on in the game, you should not find yourself needing to take chances late on, and assure yourself of one of the top five places.

The basis of success in any ultra-tight game is to play only the very best hands, and this means that you should not be involved very much in a “DoN” game, allowing you to play several tables at once, win small amounts frequently and generate a larger amount of rakeback.

Double or Nothing Sit ´n´ Gos are still relatively new and therefore there are many players trying them out who are unfamiliar with an ultra-tight table. If you find these players within your game, you should take advantage of their inexperience to guide yourself into a “safe” position at their expense. Players who perform consistently well in DoNs also succeed in Multi-Table Tournaments and, if you relish further challenges of this nature, you may want to consider the latest 6 handed variant of the game – Triple or Nothing!