Welcome to the world of Poker. ----- Purpose of this blog.

The purpose of this blog is two fold. First and foremost, we are here to teach you the basics of the most popular games. This blog is for the newbie, so we will start with the rules and basic game play. We will also cover enough strategy and tips to keep you from losing a bundle. That is, if you practice and apply the strategy.

If you are new to this game, do NOT start out at the high stake tables. Please start at the low stakes, and practice. Don't be in a hurry to get rich off of this, because if you are, you won't. Like any skill, it takes a lot of time, practice, and study.

Winning at Poker is a skill. If you want to rely on luck, you might as well toss twenty dollar bills out your window while you are driving. Let me know if you are planning on doing this, so I can drive behind you. Yes, you can be naturally adept at certain skills, but even with natural aptitude, talented people study and practice and take lessons. Most gifted musicians took lessons for years. Brilliant wood carvers learn from other masters. Athletes are driven by their coaches. You can't expect to win with out learning from the masters.

When I was a teenagers (the 70's), we used to play penny-ante poker in the basements of each others houses for fun. I would almost always walk away the winner; 20 or 30 bucks. But when I started playing at casinos and online, I lost hundreds before I started winning. Basement poker is a lot different than playing against people you don’t know, many of whom have practiced this a lot more than you and can look at a hand or the behavior of the other people at the table, and know with reasonable certainty what the other players have, and whether they should fold, stay, raise or bluff.

As I said, this blog is twofold. My second purpose is to promote my favorite online poker house, Full Tilt. I have tried quite a few online houses, and I like them the best. They have an excellent table structure, a wide range of available games and options. They also have more educational information for YOU, the player, than any other house. They actually want to help you learn to play well, which I have not seen at any other house. For that alone, they earn my respect and loyalty.

When you play poker online, you are not playing against the house. You are not playing against computers. You are playing against other humans. The house takes a small percentage out of the larger pots. They don't take any out of the little dinky pots where everyone folds. The small percentage they take is called the "rake." The rake is how they make their money, and it truly is a small percentage.

So why shouldn't the houses encourage you to learn to play well? The more good poker players they have, the more people playing poker, the more rake they get. They have nothing to lose by educating you, and everything to gain. That is why I am surprised that other houses do not offer the quality education that Full Tilt offers, which is one of the reasons I am here promoting them.