Poker online freeroll tournaments are a huge way to leverage a player's way into major tournaments and to win big money at no cost to the player. Casinos and poker rooms offer them to reward active players and to recruit new ones. Generally by playing a number of hands using real money, invitations are extended to play in tournaments at no risk. Players are also sometimes given points based on their play that can be redeemed for cash entries to the tournament of their choice.

It is always a good idea for players to review the poker room or casino's policy for gaining free entries to these tournaments. Sometimes by playing 50 to 100 hands, you can meet the requirements or standards for being given a freeroll. Or by being one of the top ranked real money players for the month, you can receive an invitation. On occasion one can be given an entry simply for being a member who plays with real money. The rewards for entering such tournaments can be huge such as receiving a seat to the World Series of Poker, World Poker Tour or other major tournaments where the entry fees range from $10,000 to $25,000. Others reward top finishers with real money cash and/or satellite entry to other cash prize tournaments. more about online freerolls...

In the game of Hold'em there are plenty of times you will need a card to show itself on the flop, turn, or the river. For instance, you may need to know the odds of catching that club on the river for the flush, or flopping the third 8 to go with the two in your hand. In order to compute the odds of finding the card you need on the board, you will need to know two things. The first is how many 'Outs' you have.

'Outs' are simply the number of cards that can 'make' your hand. If you are looking for that flush on the river, there are 9 cards that can help you. (13 clubs in the deck - 4 clubs in your hand or on the board = 9 clubs remaining).

The second thing to know is the number of unseen cards. Since two cards are in your hand, and four are on the board, there are 46 card remaining. (52-2=50 followed by 50-4=46). more about pot odds...

Good Hold'em players can 'Read the Board', and they know what hands might be lurking out there at the table ready to show themselves and take the pot. They also know what hands can not be possible, and so they know not to worry defending against them.

How can you tell what hands are possible, and what ones are not? Here are some simple guidelines to get you started. more about poker skills...

The first thing a Holdem player should learn is which cards are worth playing, and which should be folded. Many beginning players stay in a hand with cards that have little or no future, and it ends up showing in there chip count.

Remember that no two cards alone can be unbeatable, and once the flop falls things that once looked good may no longer be worth pursuing. Still, to give yourself the best chance to succeed, play only the premium hands.

• Large Pairs - Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks. Even pairs of tens and nines and eights are high quality starting hands. Play them.
• Aces with suited High Cards - When you get an Ace with a K,Q,J, or even a ten, many good things can happen.

Are you ever at the river when you think you may have the best hand but are unsure about betting? A great player once said, "Bet only if a worse hand will call or a better hand will fold." As is the case with many poker decisions, deciding whether or not to bet depends on what you have, the texture of the board, and the betting action. For this discussion on when and when not to bet the river, I will use several examples of actual played hands.

Many players simply do not maximize their hands and leave open pots out there by failing to place a good bet on the river. Often times, your opponents will fold, sometimes better hands than yours simply because they think they are beaten. Are you on of those players, or do you value bet the river? Let’s take a closer look at some examples. more about betting on the river...

How do your money management skills stack up? Take the following short quiz and find out:

1. After a short-term winning period, are you quick to raise your bet amounts for the following week?
2. After a short-term losing period, do you then lower the amount of your plays?
3. Do you (or have you ever) put all of your action on one game?
4. Do you ever find yourself chasing your losses?

If you answered “yes” to any or all of those questions, you may want to consider breaking a bad habit (or two). more about bad betting habits...

What is a teaser exactly?

A teaser is a combination of two or more football/basketball spreads/totals where you get a better line on each pick in exchange for a lower payout. There is an incredible number of variations in how teasers are offered (we'll discuss why later) but generally you can tease your football lines 6, 6.5, or 7-points and your basketball lines 4, 4.5, or 5-points.

For example if you like the Eagles -8 and the Chargers +2 but aren't sure the Eagles will win by a touchdown or the Chargers will keep it close you could tease both these picks. If you teased 7-points you would have a 2-team teaser with Eagles -1 and the Chargers +9. I think you can clearly see that making Philadelphia only have to win by 2 to cover (instead of 9) makes this bet easier to win. Also, the Chargers can now lose by 7 and still cover. The tradeoff is the payout is only 10/13 (this varies from book-to-book but will serve for our examples today) instead of 13/5 as a parlay would be. If you risked $65, the teaser pays $50 but the same two picks in a parlay would pay $169. You must decide if the greatly improved chance of winning is worth a 2/3 reduction in payout. more about teasers...

The single biggest difference between land-based books and Internet books is that there are no face-to-face transactions over the Internet. That difference is manifested in a variety of ways. First, with internet-based books there are no line-ups. Vegas books can process maybe 20-30 clients at a time, while Internet books can process thousands simultaneously. (Note: I know Vegas is now allowing some Internet betting from within the state, but based on people I talked to there, it has yet to take off.) And because there is no need to have people on hand to personally process every bet means that the Internet books have much lower costs per wager and they can pass this type of savings on in the form of deposit bonuses or reduced juice to bettors. more about sportsbook differences...