What a player calls themselves and how they choose to write their name can give you some indication into their playing style. The first thing you should look out for is whether the player’s screen name is written in lowercase or uppercase. On the internet words written in uppercase are generally seen as words that are being shouted so expect someone who displays their name this way to be an aggressive player.

Also, keep an eye out for aliases that use numbers in place of words, for example “1ra1seUf0ld.” This mixture of letters and numbers usually indicates the player is a tricky or creative player as they have attempted to disguise a standard name by adding extra characters.

You should pay particular attention to any name that ends in numbers which could be interpreted as a date such as “Bob1950″ or “Tony09″. One could assume the first name is a male player called Bob who was born in 1950. If this is the case then one could also assume he will play relatively tight-passive game as this is how most people played poker around the time of his birth. The second name could be a player who has been playing since 2009 so could be relatively inexperienced and will have been brought up watching poker on television so should be quite loose and aggressive.

Finally, names that copy phrases or sayings from popular forums are usually an indicator of a solid, thinking player who is aware of strategy. Terms like “HU4Rollz” and “BingBlangBlaow” are popular phrases used on various forums so the player using them for their name is either a member of a forum or has friends who are. Either way he or she is more likely to be a good player who is willing to learn about the game.

As with everything in poker name-based tells are completely player dependent and you must be aware that some players will go to great lengths to be deceptive, including creating a user name that portrays them as weaker than they actually are.

Thanks in part to the rise in popularity of mixed games such as H.O.R.S.E. Razz (the R in H.O.R.S.E) is now more commonly spread by online poker rooms and as a result new players are trying out this fun, yet sometimes frustrating, game.

One of the most common mistakes made by new and experienced players alike is slowplaying a good starting hand. Since the best possible hand, or nuts, is 5-4-3-2-A, players often decide to slowplay a starting hand such as A-2-3 in order to try and win a large pot. This is wrong for a number of reasons, including the fact they are just begging to be outdrawn over the next four streets of action with the majority of the deck still to be dealt. The only time it would be correct to slowplay would be if you had the nuts and nobody else was showing a card lower than a six.

Impatience is another flaw many Razz players possess, especially as it is quite common to fold a large percentage of your starting hands. In Razz you have to post an ante regardless of if you want to continue with your hand or not and this can become very frustrating if you see your chip stack dwindling while you are receiving unplayable cards. However, sitting tight and waiting is much better than playing sub-standard hands and potentially losing even more money.

The biggest mistake any Razz player can make, regardless of their skill level, is failing to follow correct bankroll management. The game itself is naturally high in variance and there will be periods of time where you are simply paying the antes or bring-in bets and then folding your hand. In order to be able to outlast these barren spells you should make sure you sit at the table with at least 50 big bets and have at least 500 big bets in your overall bankroll. This means to sit at a table with $1/$2 blinds you should sit down with at least $100 (and be prepared to re-buy) and if you plan on staying at these stakes you should have around $1,000 at your disposal.

To a beginner, Razz hands can be as confusing as the Omaha poker rules are to those used to playing Hold’em.

However, if you stick with it you’ll find Razz makes a nice change from the more commonly found forms of the game.

That might seem like the more familiar low-ball game in 7-card stud, but this low-card game has at least one additional guideline that is crucial to success. The lowest hand in the game is actually a straight! Yes, A, 2, 3, 4, 5 is the best hand possible. In games such as 2-to-7 lowball, for example, a player cannot have a straight. The best hand is 2, 3, 4, 5, 7. In the same manner, a flush is not a “good” hand unless it contains the five lowest cards among all the hands still in at the end.

Players getting involved in Razz Poker should make sure they understand the betting limits and requirements, just as they would any other form of poker. In most cases, there will be three bets per round, as in 7-card stud.

Players get two cards face down and one card face up, just like the other forms of seven-card poker. The player with the highest up card must bring in, which is essentially no different than other stud games. However, in some stud competition, low card brings in, but this is announced before a card is dealt.

At this point a second card is dealt face up and another round of betting takes place. Remember that low hands are best, so reading the other cards requires you to look at opponents’ low cards as your competition. In the mid-point of the game, low hand showing brings in and bets must match the high limit. Tip: Make sure you know about this detail and use it properly during play. This applies to the four cards that each player is dealt face up.

The final card is dealt face down, giving each player three cards others cannot see. In Razz, as in other stud games, a huge part of successful play is reading the other up cards. You should pay particular attention not only to what other low cards an opponent has but also which cards in other hands match your cards. The key here is that your odds of making a good low hand are better if you can’t see any of your cards in those other hands.

That’s the game of Razz in a nutshell. Of course, there are strategies and decisions that will give you a better chance to win. Like 7-card stud and other stud games, for instance, you may not want to stay in unless you have three “premium” cards in the first four.

Ladbrokes Poker Room Details: Country of Origin : Gibraltar License : Gibraltar Year of Foundation : 2004 Software : Microgaming Size : NA Audited By : PWC Language : English Accepts USA Players : NA Bonus : 100% Up to $500

Available Games	:	Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud, 5 Card Stud, 5 Card Draw
Deposit Methods	:	Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7 Card Stud, 5 Card Stud, 5 Card Draw
Withdrawal Methods	:	VISA, MasterCard, PayPal, Wire Transfer, Check
E-mail Support	:	care@ladbrokespoker.com
Telephone Support	:	UK: 0800 032 1133 or International: 00 350 200 43003

Ladbrokes Poker offers its players a great playing experience with a wide range of limits at cash games, a plethora of tournaments along with some interesting promotions for its regular player community. It boasts of a high amount of traffic because of the huge variety of games including casino games, it has to offer. Tournaments take place every fifteen minutes and some of them have high stakes being played that allow players to make good profits. Players do not have to wait for games to begin as they are well timed and fast to proceed. As Ladbrokes is a world renowned name among bookmakers, it is a perfectly safe and reliable website to play your favorite game of poker.

Software

Ladbrokes Poker earlier had their own patented software but is now a part of the MicroGaming network. After having shifted to the MicroGaming software, it has received a tremendous boost to its website. The software offers great graphics and a simple to navigate menu that gives access to all the necessary information. It offers some exclusive features such as a detailed hand history, winning hand histories, timer and important table statistics for example flop percentages, average pot size etc. All the essential statistics that are required by players are readily available from the lobby.

Also available is an organizer calendar that helps you list all the events that you look forward to. A chat facility allows you to interact with players at the table. You can choose from a selection of three different tables sizes, these are the large table size, medium and the mini mode versions. The games are fast and you can encounter up to 120 games being played within the hour. The fast and reliable software is available in a downloadable as well as a browser version.

Games

Ladbrokes Poker offers poker games that include Texas Holdem Poker, Omaha, Omaha High, Omaha Low, 7 Card Stud, 5 Card Stud and 5 Card Draw. There are various limit ranges available with loose games being played at the shorthanded and the turbo tables. As for tournaments, there is a lot to choose from with tournaments being the hot favorite; players can find a whole heap of them at Ladbrokes.

Traffic can go up to 8,000 players playing at the cash tables as well as the tournaments during peak hours. The most traffic at cash games can be seen at the medium stake limit of Texas Holdem. Like most of other poker sites, US players are not allowed to wager at Ladbrokes Poker due to their laws that restrict them from doing so.

At Ladbrokes Poker, players have the privilege of playing casino games too. Without having to change to an online casino, players can choose to play some exciting casino games from the poker website. Some of the casino games include Blackjack, Roulette, slot games, video poker and several other games.

Bonus

New players who sign up at Ladbrokes Poker are offered a 100% sign up bonus of up to $500. However, they have to wager for this bonus amount by playing enough tournaments and raked hands for which they earn Player Points. These points have to be thirty times the bonus amount to get the free bonus offer.

Promotions

Ladbrokes Poker has plenty of promotional offers that include free roll tournaments, bad beat jackpots, guaranteed tournaments and the leader board program. These tournaments give the players an opportunity to make some fast cash. New promotions are introduced all the time, making them more attractive each time. More than $1,000,000 is given out in cash prizes each month.

Players are offered Player Points for every raked hand and tournaments that they play. The points can be redeemed for the sign up bonus or for buy-ins to satellite tournaments. This makes games more exciting because of the rewards attached to them.

Basic Details Country of Origin : Gibraltar License : Gibraltar Year of Foundation : 2002 Software : 888 Size :   Audited By : PWC Language : English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Polish, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Czech, Lithuanian, Latvian, Russian, Estonian Accepts USA Players : No Bonus : $400

Available Games	:	Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Low, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi-Low
Deposit Methods	:	Visa, Masters Credit Card and Debit Cards, Solo, Maestro, Moneybookers, Paypal, Paypoint, NETeller, Ukash, ClickandBuy, Bank Transfer, EntroPay, Cheque, Wire Transfer, ACTeCASH, Laser, PAY & PLAY Card, Deposit by Phone
Withdrawal Methods	:	Visa & Masters Credit Cards, Solo, NETeller, ClickandBuy, Moneybookers, Wire Transfer, ukash, paySafeCards
E-mail Support	:	support@pacificpoker.com
Telephone Support	:	USA: 1-800-350-43703, UK: 0800-032-4228

Pacific Poker Review

Pacific Poker is a part of the 888.com network, which is also the creator of Casino-on-net, one of the largest casino gaming sites available online. It offers players all the standard online casino games that are offered at Poker gaming sites and some wonderful bonuses to avail themselves of. The website has had some recent modifications that have perked up the appearance of the earlier dull looking lobby and unstable software.

If you are looking for soft game play, Pacific Poker is the site for you as games here can tend to be very exciting and can also earn you some great profits. It is an equally entertaining poker playing site for both the experienced player as well as the novice.

Software:

The Pacific Poker software has certainly improved after the update. It now has better graphics, is clearer and much more stable and upgrading of these factors has led to an increasing amount of traffic to the website. Players have begun to appreciate its new look and as it offers more features now, it has become popular with the poker playing community. The addition of new 3-D avatars have improved graphics to a great extent and the menus are now customizable allowing you to set them as per your requirement.

You can watch a graphical representation of the hands played, which helps you improve your gaming strategies. Special hot keys are available for fold, check and raise. The software is easy to use and the menus are simple to navigate. A non-downloadable version of the software is also available that allows Linux and Mac players to enjoy Pacific Poker too.

A multi-table playing option is also available that permits players to play at multiple tables simultaneously without any distraction. This new inclusion has led to some heated competition at the poker tables. You can even view the flop percentages and the average pot size that helps you determine which games you would like to play.

Games offered on Pacific Poker:

You will find all the regular poker games on the website, namely Texas Holdem in Limit, No Limit and Pot Limit versions, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo in Pot Limit and Fixed Limit, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo also in Pot Limit and Fixed Limit and Five Card Stud.

The most popular games played at Pacific Poker are those of Texas Holdem. Wagers for Fixed Limit Texas Holdem can begin as low as $0.05/$0.10 and can go as high as $30/$60 while No Limit and Pot limit bets can start from $0.05/$0.10 and go up to $3/$6. Games are loose and therefore easy and profitable.

Apart from table games there are various multi table and sit and go tournaments to be played as well, with lucrative weekly tournaments carrying huge cash prizes. Players can also switch over from one website to the other on the 888.com network, giving players a wider choice of entertainment.

Rakes:

Rakes are exceptionally higher than most of the other poker websites. Instead of the standard 5% up to $3 rake, they charge $4 for stakes starting at $3/$6 and upwards. Similarly the pot is capped at $2.50 in place of the normal $2 cap that is applied by other poker rooms.

Bonuses and Promotions:

Players at Pacific Poker are entitled to a welcome bonus of 100% of up to $400 when they sign up for a new account. However you have to wager enough to be able to avail yourself of this bonus. Also available are weekly freeroll tournaments and guaranteed tournaments with up to $100,000 as cash rewards. You can collect comp points with every game played, which can then be cashed or used to play more games.

Traffic:

Peak hour traffic can go up to 9000 players simultaneously playing live games and tournaments. As is common at all poker playing sites, Pacific Poker too has a greater number of players attempting only tournaments.

Customer Support:

Customer Support is available via email and telephone and though they are prompt to answer basic queries, it is rather difficult to get a quick response for major problems.

Modes of Payment:

You can make deposits via credit cards, NETeller, PaySafeCard, Wire Transfers, Citadel, Cheque, Prepaid ATM, FirePay and Bank Transfer.

Withdrawals can be made through Credit/Debit cards, Prepaid ATM, NETeller, Wire Transfer, Bank Transfer and FirePay.

Basic Details Country of Origin : United Kingdom License : Malta Year of Foundation : 2005 Software : Boss Media Language : English Bonus : 100% Upto £100

Available Games	:	Texas Holdem, Omaha, Blackjack, Five Card Draw, Siki, MTT,STT and Stud
Deposit Methods	:	Visa, Delta, Mastercard, Neteller, Solo, Switch, Paysafecard, Bank Transfer, Click2Pay, Bank Draft and Check
Withdrawal Methods	:	Visa, Switch, Neteller, Delta, Bank Transfer, Solo, Click2Pay, Bank Draft

Virgin Poker Review

Virgin Poker is yet another successful venture of the vast Virgin Empire of Sir Richard Branson, an eminent business tycoon. Although launched only in 2005, Virgin Poker has established itself as one of the leading providers of online poker. It offers the standard poker games but the promotions available here take the cake. As is common with everything that is Virgin, the magnificent extravagance is clearly visible in the fantastic promotions that are offered to the Virgin Poker players. It is a great place for those looking for fun as well as to making some good money. Whether you are a new comer to the game or a well-experienced player, you will always find games of your choice at Virgin Poker.

Software:

The downloadable software from Boss Media is quick to install and consists of a convenient to use interface. The lobby gives access to all the required data and the game filter allows you to find the games of your choice with complete ease. The tables are clear-cut and the cards are available in a four-color deck making it easy to distinguish them. Unlike the other poker rooms that use the common green color that is distinctive of poker rooms, Virgin Poker stands out with its patent red color.

The table can be adjusted according to your preference while all other required data such as flop percentages, player statistics, player notes etc are available from the lobby. There are no distracting avatars and the screen is kept simple so as to enable better game play.

Poker School:

Virgin Poker also provides video tutorials that can help new comers understand the game and learn its strategies. Also available are articles contributed by experienced players that can be of great help to new players as well as skilled players. There is also a blog that helps players interact with each other while some useful tips can also be found here. The live poker school is accessible at all times, helping players learn the tactics of the games.

Games:

The games available at Virgin Poker include the all time favorite Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha High, Omaha Low, 5-Card Stud, 7-Card Stud, 5-Card Draw and Blackjack. There are all kinds of players at the tables making the games loose and easy with a good deal of money to be played for. Also there are several limits starting as low as 5c/10c and going up to $500/$1000, making it convenient for both low budget as well as high staking players to play limits of their choice.

Also available are a variety of tournaments that include multi-table tournaments, sit and go tournaments, live satellite tournaments, guaranteed tournaments and jackpots with fixed buy-ins and assured prizes. Tournaments move fast and therefore there are several events held every day.

Rake:

The rake is at par with the standard industry rake of 5% of the total pot with the maximum limit not exceeding $3.

Traffic:

Traffic during normal hours is generally about 2,000 players but during peak hours it can go up considerably high taking the numbers to about 3,000 players playing at cash tables and a whooping 13,000 players playing tournaments.

Bonus:

New players can get a generous welcome bonus of 100% of up to £100 when they sign up for an account at Virgin Poker. This bonus is released in increments of £10 and you have 180 days to wager for this bonus.

Promotions:

Players can take part in the daily $50 free rolls and win their way through to live poker events such as the European Poker Tour or the Asian Poker Classic. They can also collect V-Points with every raked hand and tournament that they play and the points can be redeemed for some fabulous rewards that are worth considering. These include flying miles, cash exchange or entries to live events.

Deposit/Withdrawal Options:

Deposit methods include VISA, MasterCard, NETeller, Switch, Delta, Solo, Bank Transfers, Click2Pay, Paysafecard, Moneta, Bank Draft and Checks

Withdrawal options include VISA, NETeller, Delta, Bank Transfers, Switch, Moneta, Bank Draft, Click2Pay and Solo.

Customer Support:

Support is available via email, telephone and live chat services.

Overall Virgin Poker is a marvelous poker room offering exciting games and a variety of promotions that attract a lot of traffic to its site. Players from USA are not allowed to play here, giving the poker room a more European approach. It is no wonder that the games are soft here making it easy to win them. Once you visit the site, you will surely be glad you came here because Virgin Poker holds a lot of attractions in terms of bonuses and promotions.

Everything about the structure and betting is identical to 7 Card Stud, except the value of the hand that you are looking for. The only change is that instead of the low card having the forced bet on the first up card, the high card (Aces are low unless stipulated, so the King is the high card) will initiate the opening bet.

The key to this game, as it is in regular stud, is to get established early and not chase down a losing hand. You are going to have to use your memory skills to both realize the possibility of your hand hitting and to also be able to rate the strength of your opponents hands. This is not a game where you can sit back and listen to your music and stargaze, you need to pay attention to every card at every time.

The game starts with 2 down cards and one up card. With lowest hand winning, you are looking to start off with 3 cards to a low of 7 or under. The only way you can even consider playing without 3 low cards is if you are looking down and see A2 as two out of your three. At this point, you can pay to see the 4th card, but you are going to have to fold immediately if that card does not peel off on the next round.

It is not very often that you will see a raise before 4th street unless someone is exploiting position or is looking down at A23. If you have that, by all means hammer the pot and reduce your competition. 4th street is going to be the tell tale card though as if you manage to hit another low card, you now have 3 cards to fill in your low hand. This is why it is so important to watch what the other players have.

Let’s say that you are dealt A23 to start the hand off. On board you see (1)A, (2)3’s, (1)4 , (1)6 and (1)7. This is actually fairly good news for you as far as exposed cards go because of the 16 cards that you can fill your hand with, only 3 of them are dead. When 4th street comes out, the totals are now (2)A, (2)2’s, (2)3’s, (2)4’s, (1)5, (1)6 and (1)7. Let’s also assume that you were dealt a five, which would mean that there are now only (2)5’s left live in the deck.

This is a situation where you would start to raise down through the river if anyone else is betting. At this point, you only need one more card to hit your low and out of the 12 cards that will improve your hand, there are still 8 of them left alive. For an 8 handed game, the dealer will hold 16 cards (I have already eliminated burn cards from the count) in his hand that can hit the board. Out of those 16 cards, half of them will improve your hand. You can assume that one or two of them are in other people’s hands, but regardless, you have a huge percentage to hit your hand.

Also, when you are looking at the other hands that are going to need help, you can obviously eliminate all the cards that you are holding that will improve their hands. Now this is a dream situation, but you get the general idea of how important it is to be able to crunch the numbers and recall what everyone is dealt. As players fold, you must be able to remember what cards they took to the much in order to be able to compute the advantage over your opponents.

This is a great game to learn online as most of the tables that are active are micro-limit tables so you won’t be putting very much at risk. However, as H.O.R.S.E. continues to rise in popularity, you will have a huge edge on anyone that is playing the game if you can hone your Razz skills. We are going to have some more in depth articles about Razz coming up, but this will get you started in what is one of the more enjoyable and interesting games of poker being played today.

The game of Razz is actually very similar to seven-card stud, in fact some places in the world refer to Razz as seven-card stud low. Razz is played using antes and limit betting. The format of the game is almost exactly the same as seven-card stud, where players all post an ante before receiving their first cards. This means, if you join a .25/.50 Razz room online, you are going to have to post a .05 ante at the beginning of each hand in order to receive cards. Each player will then receive two face down cards and one face up card. The player with the highest showing card, Aces are low, then has to “bring in” which is a bet of double the ante. So in this particular game, if one player has showing a K, they would bring-in for .10. All other players can either call the bring in, raise to .25 or fold. The first two rounds the limit bet would be .25, with all remaining rounds allowing .50 bets. Players can also raise bets by the limit allowed in each round.

So we have posted our ante’s received the first round of cards and called the bring in. Now each player receives another face up card and another betting round commences. Players can still only bet .25. After the betting is complete, players receive another face up card before betting again. Players can now bet the large limit of .50. This sequence of betting continues after each player receives a card. There are 7 rounds of betting in total, pre cards:1st round, 2nd round(3 cards), 3rd round(1 card), 4th round(1 card), 5th round(1 card), 6th round(1 card) and then the final betting round after all cards are out, 7th round.

One important thing to remember in Razz is that there is no dealer button or pre-determined position before a hand. Position for the hand shifts during the hand, with the High card acting first after the cards have been dealt. Position then shifts again, when the 4th card is dealt, with the first to act being the player with the lowest visible card. This player remains first to act throughout the entirety of the hand.

OK, now we know how the betting patterns work in Razz, let’s look at hand rank and how we actually win. As we know the lowest hand wins the pot. In Razz, straights and flushes have no merit on the hand, so it doesn’t matter if you have 5-4-3-2-A all spades, you don’t have a straight flush, you have the nuts in Razz. Although flushes and straights don’t count, pairs do count against you. Therefore if you have 9-9-A-K-K-4-2, your best Razz hand is A-2-4-9-9. You are most likely not going to win that hand.

Finally we have an understanding of this intriguing game called Razz. Now how do we proceed, do we just go out and hope we get bad cards, which in turn are good? Join me tomorrow as we get into our strategy for crushing Razz games, both live and online.

If you mention that you play poker to the average person on the street, they will almost always assume you mean Texas Hold’em. Tournament Texas Hold’em was accepted as “the poker game” when the poker boom hit the United States in 2003, after Chris Moneymakers historic World Series of Poker Main Event victory. Millions of college students, middle aged men and women, and retirees began playing the game which was made famous through ESPN’s coverage.

Many people inside the game of poker only play Texas Hold’em and many of these people do not even understand the other forms of poker that are our there. I recently hosted my weekly home poker game and decided to make it a dealer’s choice game. I selected Omaha Hi/Lo, Razz, and 7 card stud as my dealer’s choice games and had to explain the rules and concepts of the games numerous times. A few of my friends, who are quite talented Texas Hold’em players, were not big fans of these new games, as they did not fully understand the strategies to excel at the new games and could not be bothered to apply themselves. A few of the other players at the game, loved the new additions. They liked the added action created in Omaha, as well as the new information and betting rounds created in Stud and Razz.

There are so many different and unique caveats of each game, that it creates new and different challenges amongst each game. I, like many, first learned how to play Texas hold’em competitively. I got into Razz by playing online and reading books such as Super System. At the time I first got into these other games, I was a bit burnt out on Texas hold’em. That’s what really turned me onto playing Razz competitively. Learning the nuisances Razz and different strategies involved with the game brought back my passion for playing poker. I became a student of the game again, studying and learning everything I could about the game. In the end, I became much better at Razz, but these strategies and new thought processes also helped me in my Texas hold’em game as well.

Some sites do not offer every form of poker or have as high as volume of games in these different games that they do in Texas hold’em. However, most of the large sites and many medium sized sites have many game types. Paddy Power Poker, Virgin Poker, and Ladbrokes Poker all offer games in Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Omaha Hi Lo, Razz, 7 Card Stud and 7 Card Stud H/L. Just like Texas Hold’em, these sites offer micro stakes, .01/.02, low stakes, $1/2, medium stakes, $10/$20, and large stakes, $50/$100 and above. I would suggest starting at very low stakes if you are just learning the game of Razz. It can be very confusing at first and you don’t want to blow your whole bankroll before you even understand the game.

Throughout the next few weeks, I will take you on a journey through the game of Razz. I will not only give you a better understanding of the game, but I will teach you some proven winning strategies for this form of poker and the various opportunities involved with Razz.

There are some situations that can lend themselves to a player defending their bring-in in a Razz game. First, what is your door card? In most cases, you do not want to defend your bring in with a card higher than ten. Some players will defend with a jack but you are severely handicapping yourself. You are also telegraphing your play in most cases if you follow the next step in determining if you should defend your bring-in.

What are your hole cards? In order for me to defend my bring-in with a high door card, I want A-2 or A-3. I may defend with A-4, but if I do, I want a non-pairing wheel card as my 4th street card. Note that when you defend your bring-in with a big card showing, most players will have a good idea of what your hole cards are. Expect your opponent to jam you.

Next, how many of your cards are still live? If you were paying attention, you should know how many of your needed wheel cards are out. I also keep track of cards under eight when I count my outs.

The last thing to consider in defending your bring in is what type of opponent you are facing. Are they a tight player or one that will try to steal from you? Don’t defend against a really tight player as they are likely to actually have picked up a hand.

Once you decide to defend your bring-in, each street becomes important to determine whether you stay in the hand. When you start with a large door card and two small cards, you want to either improve or have your opponent catch bad. If I catch a bad card on fourth, I will likely abandon the hand to a bet. Of course, if my opponent catches bad, I may bet into him. In this case, when I say they catch bad, they have caught a card higher than my door card. Now they are drawing worse.

In the event you catch good, you need to evaluate the type of hand that they are drawing to. If they catch a low card, what are they potentially drawing to? At this point, it is a matter of what your read is on them at to whether you want to continue in the hand.

Fifth Street is the crucial card. At this point you need to have 4 cards to a decent hand or you need to get out. Of course, if your opponent catches bad, this will help your decision, but you want to have four cards to a hand that will “outdraw.” What your opponent is representing.

As you can see, a big part of defending your bring-in bet depends on your ability to put your opponent on a hand. If you do not feel comfortable in doing so, then go ahead and take the safe way out and fold your hand.