Nevada residents could be able to play online poker by the end of the year.

According to Nevada Gaming Control Board Chairman Mark Lipparelli, Nevada is about 30 to 60 days away from issuing their first license to an online gaming provider. Once that happens, residents can expect online poker to go live within six to eight months.

Based on this timeframe, the first licenses should be issued sometime in either June or July and the first games should kick off sometime in December or in January 2012. The reason that the sites will take so long to go online is because regulatory will review the technology of online gaming sites to determine if they truly meet the minimum standards for online sites in the state.

The downside to this delay is that it may give a couple of states time to catch up and maybe even surpass Nevada in getting games online. One state that looks to be on the fast track to getting online poker legalized is Illinois.

Back in March, Illinois put their lottery services online. This was just a short three months after the US Department of Justice determined that the Wire Act only applied to sports betting.

Now lawmakers are looking to add an amendment to House Bill 4148 in order to allow the state lottery to offer online gaming, including online poker. Should this amendment pass, the state would just need to develop a client to put their games online.

Since the games would be offered through the lottery exclusively, should Illinois pass this bill quickly, the state could offer online poker in half the expect time of Nevada. This would be a devastating blow to a state that has been pushing the envelope in regards to state online poker legalization.

However, it almost doesn’t matter whether Illinois or Nevada is first to get their sites online as both will still remain intrastate for the time being. Lawmakers are still hopeful for a federal solution that would allow for intrastate poker, but in the meantime they will proceed with the intrastate option.

California, Delaware, and New Jersey are among the other states looking into the option of intrastate online gaming and poker. None are expected to surpass Nevada or Illinois in getting games online first, but should those states pass their bill that would mean that 10% of the US would be able to offer online poker. While it is still a small percentage, it is better than the options available just one year ago.

Related posts:

1. Online Poker Legalization in the U.S. Not Likely to Come Soon
2. Iowa and Utah Online Poker and Gambling Bills Make Progress
3. Hawaii Says Aloha to Online Poker

Pay Attention to Door Cards

Whenever you read basic Seven Card Stud tips you will usually see a general reference to watching door cards and by and large you are doing this in regards to counting your live outs or anticipating the outs of your opponent.

However, paying attention to door cards is important for other reasons as well. For example, you need to pay attention to what cards are after you when you decide to play a hand out of position. If you try to come in with a split pair of tens and have a king and an ace ahead of your, you might be looking at a completion or a raise depending on what action you take.

Also, when a player comes into a hand, they will usually be starting with a pair that matches their door card. When they pair their door card, they will often have three of a kind. At worst they will have two pair and unless you have a hand, it is time to get out.

Stay Away from Naked Draws

Too often you will see Stud players draw with what are known as naked draws, or draws that have no real backup. For example, a starting hand like 5-6-7 unsuited is a total naked draw as it has no real strength for a player to back into a hand. If you catch a pair of sevens, it isn’t going to be that strong. Even sevens-up will not be in great shape a good percentage of the time.

When drawing, you want some type of backup which usually means draws with high cards like 9-10-J, 10-J-Q, three suited cards that include a high card or an ace, etc. This way, you can back into a big pair or two pair and actually have a reasonable chance to win.

Steal More Often Against Tight Players

While this sounds like a basic tip, in Stud High you will see a lot of players that will play a very tight game. As such, you will look for opportunities where you can steal against them. When you are in position with an overcard to their door card, you should look to complete against them and represent a big pair. This may even work out of position depending on what players acting after you are showing. If they play back at you or flat call, be careful on fourth street as they may have a big pair in the hole.

Next week, we will give you some tips on Stud 8 or Better, a game that is often one of the more difficult games to master in the 8-Game mix.

Related posts:

1. Seven Card Stud Starting Hands
2. Seven Card Stud Tips for Beginners
3. Using Up Cards to Evaluate Starting Hands In Seven Card Stud Poker

Strong board play is important in Razz poker.

Razz is essentially Seven Card Stud played for low. Straights and flushes do not count against you as in lowball, meaning that the lowest hand in the game is five high or a wheel. Below are a few tips to help you stay ahead of the curve during Razz rounds.

Relative Board Strength Better than Hand Strength After Third Street

When playing Razz poker, strong starting hand selection is important. Beyond that, you need to be able to play strong boards well in order to be successful. When you are showing a better board, meaning the upcards in your hand, than the other players, you need to play these aggressively.

For example, if you are showing a 6-2 on fourth street vs a 5-10, then it is time to bet into the player. Your pocket cards are almost irrelevant at this point as the best your opponent is drawing to is a ten. Should they catch another bad cards, they certainly cannot continue and many will abandon such a hand on fourth street.

You can also use this to your advantage with weak starting hands. If you have a strong up card, such as an ace or deuce, sometimes you can take a card off and hope that you catch good and your opponent catches a bad card in order to run a bluff. Strong board play will win you many pots in Razz.

Evaluate Hands on Each Street and Adjust

You need to constantly keep in mind what your opponent is likely drawing to in this game. In our above example on fourth street, your opponent is drawing to a ten. If they happen to call your bet, then they likely have good hole cards. Should they catch a seven on fifth, chances are they not have a made ten with a redraw to a seven.

Keeping mindful of your opponents likely hands can also alert you to boardlocking situations where your opponent cannot outdraw you regardless of what they have. Let’s say for example that your opponent catches an 8 on fifth street and a seven on 6th.. The best they have is an 8-7 low with a draw to a seven. If you catch an 8 on fifth and 4 on sixth and have A-3 in the hole, you have 6-4-3-2-A. Now matter what they catch, they cannot outdraw you and you can raise at will.

Keep in mind that starting off with a three card eight or lower is just part of the story. You need strong board play in order to be successful at this game. Next week, we will go over some basic strategy for Seven Card Stud high. See you then.

Related posts:

1. Razz Strategies
2. Eight Game Strategy Part I – Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball
3. Eight Game Strategy – Limit Hold’em Tips

Daniel Negreanu is known to use a dark check on the flop to gain information.

Confusion and Deception

Position is power in poker. When you are out of position, you have to act first. When you check your hand before the flop is dealt you are slightly changing that. While you are still acting first, you are acting before cards are presented. Therefore your decision is not dependent on the cards.

Your opponent will not know if you have hit a hand and are checking for deception, or have missed and are checking to try and get a free turn card. They will then have to bet or check. If they bet, you could call, fold, or raise. It is almost as if you have regained position in the hand.

When to Check Dark

You must remember that you are still out of position. Checking dark is not something you should do all of the time. Too often you will see a dangerous flop and your check gives your opponent a free card. Suppose you have a pair of Jacks and check dark. The flop comes 6c7cTd. That is a flop you do not want to give a free card on.

People check dark for two reasons. They think that there hand is extremely strong, or they are set mining. If you have Aces or Kings, sometimes you might check dark. Though if you do this all of the time it is exploitable.

The best situation is to check dark with a small pocket pair. Since you will often want to checkraise flops when you hit a set, and will not likely lead out when you miss, a dark check is a good idea.

If you do decide to use a dark check in your games, remember to never do it with the same hands. Even the worst player will remember someone who only checks in the dark with small pocket pairs, or large pairs. You should make sure you have some different hands in your range. You might add suited Broadway cards into the mix, to go along with your pocket pairs.

Related posts:

1. Best Times to Check Raise

Poker is not a 9 to 5 job.

Poker Is Not a 9 to 5 Job

Poker is not a game where you can play the same hours every day and expect to stay profitable long term. Poker is all about finding when the juicy games are and then being able to take advantage of those games.

This means that many times you will be playing in the evenings, and sometimes late into the night. It also means that most of your weekends will be spent trying to make your monthly nut at the poker table. Those who turn pro that don’t have spouses or girlfriends that understand this quickly have relationship problems tied to their play.

Are You Prepared for Downswings?

The most common mistake made by pros is not having money socked away to take care of life expenses for the eventual downswing. It is recommended that you have enough money saved away to cover six months worth of living expenses. This is separate from your bankroll and should not be used to play poker with.

The problem is that many players either don’t put away this money, or they use it for their bankroll. They then find themselves either borrowing money to pay bills, being forced to move into a smaller or temporary home, or even worse, having to find a job.

Stay Consistent

You cannot approach being a poker pro the same as you do as a recreational player. You have to be consistent and have some type of plan in order to grow your bankroll and pay your life expenses.

You cannot play a couple days a week and expect to consistently expect to be both a winning player and keep up expenses. It just isn’t feasible. You have to put in the time and hours like any other job in order to be successful.

Turning pro is not easy and contrary to popular belief, poker is not an easy profession for top level players. It is a job that requires dedication like any other job in order to be successful. Many players that turn pro are not able to remain so for very long. Those that do still have times where they are broke or worse. The trick is finding the balance where you are not so far in the red where you have to give up the game for good.

Related posts:

1. Understanding Way Behind In Poker

Chase less and scoop more in Omaha Hi-Lo

Stop Chasing Non-Nuts

A point that cannot be stressed enough in this game is that you should stay away from chasing down non-nut hands. The most common mistake mad is someone chasing down a hand that is the second nuts such as a 2nd nut low with A-3 or second nut high. Often, this will result in you getting scooped.

The only time where it is acceptable to chase a non-nut hand would be if you flop a nut draw or nut hand for high and a second nut draw for low or vice versa.

Don’t Slow Down With The High Nuts

Too often you will see a player bet out on the flop and turn when they have either flopped the nuts or a low had not hit and then when the low gets there on the river, they slow down. This is a big mistake because it is not an absolute guarantee that someone made a low on the river.

In addition, if you have the nuts for high you will at worst get your money back for your river bet. Seldom do you see the high pot split in Omaha Hi-Lo. One the other hand, should you.

Play More High Only Hands Against Multiple Limpers

In Omaha Hi-Lo, when there are a lot of limpers the chances most of the low cards being out increases greatly. When these situations happen, playing a high hand can result in a scooped pot for you.

The downside to this is that if the flop comes with less than two low cards, you are only going to get action should someone have connected with the flop. In most cases, you will throw out a bet and get a call. When you flop the nuts or a strong hand and someone chases you down with a second best hand or hoping to back into a low, you will scoop the pot a high percentage of the time.

Remember that you want to put yourself in as many scoop situations in this game as possible in order to be successful. This requires a tighter style than most like to play, but with the rotation nature of the game, you can afford to play tighter.

Next week we will move to the first of the three stud based games in the 8-Game mix when we review strategy for Razz.

Related posts:

1. Strategy – Omaha 8
2. Eight Game Strategy – Limit Hold’em Tips
3. Eight Game Strategy Part I – Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball

On April 26th at approximately 11:20 AM pacific time, the Two Plus Two Forums were closed as a result of a hacker who has displayed the ability to access e-mail addresses and encrypted passwords. He also indicated the ability to decrypt passwords.

While it is unclear the extent of data to which he gained access, e-mail addresses and passwords on the Two Plus Two forums should be considered compromised. If you have used your 2+2 password on any other site, you are advised to change it.

For your security, we are closing the forums until the breach is patched. Upon reopening the forums you will be forced to change your password – it is counterproductive to do so now.
We hope to be back up as soon as possible.

At the moment, the identity of the hacker has not been made public, however most agree that it would be a good idea to update your passwords on other sites should you use your 2+2 password anywhere else.

According to some reports, it appears that the hacker was using a brute force type of hacking to try and discover passwords. A brute force attack involves using programs to try millions of variations of common and typical passwords to gain access to accounts. If that is indeed the case, users who have strong passwords should be in good shape. For maximum security, one should chance their password.

As a general rule, when you create internet passwords, it is not wise to use the same one for multiple sites and it is also a good idea to make it as strong as possible. Ways of doing this is making a password that has a mixture of letters, numbers, and special characters and at least one letter capitalized. Also, avoid using passwords such as “password”, “letmein”, “12345″, and others.

This is the first significant breach of user account information in the site’s history and chances are that the site will be back up soon. To find out more on the situation, bookmark 2+2′s website.

No related posts.

Speculate Less

The first thing that a person taking up Limit Hold’em needs to understand is that speculating in this game does not pay off the same as it can in NL Hold’em.  Since you are limited in both the amount and the number of raises you can make on each street, you will never make enough money in a hand to make speculating with hands like suited connectors profitable long term.  As such, you need to be playing a much tighter strategy than you would in a NL game.

Draw More Often

Since you will many time have the right price to draw at a hand, you should look to draw more often in Limit Hold’em than you would in NL.  Since you will at most be facing one bet on the flop or turn, drawing is usually a correct play, especially if you have other outs besides your draw like an ace, etc.

Call Down More With Second Best or Based on Pot Odds on the River

One of the biggest mistakes that many beginning Limit Hold’em players make is not calling down second or even third best hands on the river.  Since you will almost always have pot odds to make the call on the river, you should call that last bet with any type of hand.  Even if you think you are beat, you have pot odds and should call.  The obvious exception is when you have such a good read on your opponent you know that they hit a hand better than yours at the river.

When playing limit Hold’em, you want to stick to a tighter strategy than you would in NL, especially if you are a beginning Limit player.  Also, Limit Hold’em will be the game where even the best players will have the least edge based on the fact that many players cut their teeth on Limit Hold’em.  Playing a tighter style will keep you out of trouble in the Limit Hold’em rounds.

Next week, we will coverOmaha8 or better.  See you then and good luck at the tables.

Related posts:

1. Eight Game Strategy Part I – Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball
2. Eight Game Strategy – Omaha Hi-Lo
3. Raising for a Free Card in Limit Holdem

Just because they are friendly and smile, that doesn't mean that they are a good mentor.

Are They Really that Good?

First and foremost, you need to evaluate if the person you want to mentor you is indeed as good you or even they claim they are. Are they showing a pattern of success over the long term or are they a player who has had a few big scores but gets them after long dry periods.

Next, are they good in all aspects of the game or are they just good in one area. Not every player is great in both cash games and tournaments and nowadays there are many more tournament specialists than ever before. I would never think about having Phil Hellmuth coach me in cash games, but I would love to pick his brains on tournaments.

Do They Have Bad Habits or Leaks?

Research your mentor and find out if they have some habits outside of the game that may come back to haunt you or make people doubt your personal credibility. Are they a heavy gambler outside of poker? Do they throw away a lot of money at blackjack, craps, or roulette?

Does your potential mentor have a drug or alcohol problem? Do they have a criminal past or worse? While people should be judged on their own merits, you will be judged by the company you keep so be mindful of their extra-poker activities.

Did They Approach You?

If someone is offering to show you the ropes in a game or poker, always be suspicious as to the rub. By this, I mean to evaluate the person and see what their angle is. Are they offering to help you with your game to set you up to borrow money later? Maybe they are trying to boost their own ego or show off to others. Worse still are those that try and do you a favor in return for you “doing them a favor” which can involve anything from lending money to performing illegal acts.

I personally got luck in my early poker career and was introduced to an older gentleman that offered to tutor me in a couple of games just for the sake of helping me. In reality there was an angle for him, but his angle was passing on knowledge to someone that could use it. He was older and winding down his career and gave me a lot of knowledge in certain games and how things were in the poker world.

With that said, I have seen others taken advantage of by “mentors” and been swindled out of money, coerced to conduct illegal activities, or they had their reputation damaged based on association.
When considering a mentor, employ a “let the buy beware” mentality and err to the side of caution. Good luck to you at the tables.

Related posts:

1. Choosing the Right Hands to Play

This is a great one card drawing hand.

Two or One Card Draws

While you will see many players taking part in nearly every hand before the first draw, you are going to want to stick with hands that require just one or two cards to complete the hand.

Three and four card sevens and eights are what you are going to be looking for and in case of a four card seven or eight, you will likely want to throw in a raise.

When drawing, you want to be careful drawing to an open ended hand like 7-6-5-4 as you lose eight outs immediately due to straights.

Push Made Hands

When you make your hands in this game prior to the third draw, you need to bet them. The only exception would be if you drew to the wheel (7-5-4-3-2) at which case you want them to catch up or bluff into you.

One huge mistake that some players make is that they choose not to push a somewhat weaker made hand like a made nine or ten because they are afraid of losing bets when someone draws out on them. Playing this timidly will allow players to suck out a higher percentage of the time than normal.

Call Bets At the End with Made Hands

Quite often you will see a player drawing one card lead out after that draw trying to represent a made hand. Since the final draw is a great bluffing opportunity, do not be afraid to look up another player with a weaker hand like a made nine or even a made ten.

You will find that a solid percentage of the time the player that led out after drawing one did so with a jack or worse in his hand, or on a pure bluff.

Next week, we will take a brief look at the next game in the Eight Game rotation, Limit Hold’em.

Related posts:

1. Rules for Triple Draw 2-7 Lowball Poker
2. Evaluating Opponent Hands Based on Drawing in Five Card Draw
3. Eight Game Strategy – Limit Hold’em Tips