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...

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...

Has this ever happened to you? You�re sitting at a good game, either 5 handed or 10 handed. Countless hands go by and yet, you can�t take down a single pot? This astounds you because the probability of this happening are just so remote that it starts to frustrate you. 10 hands go by, 20 hands and you still seem to be holding ice cold cards while many of your opponents are just snatching pot after pot without even making it to the showdown. This inaction makes you start to wonder what the heck everyone is holding. Is it a conspiracy against you? Not likely. Does everyone have you beat every hand? Even less likely. more about raising...

Ah, yes-the Texas hold �em explosion. Seven years ago, when I first started playing, the Texas hold �em community was comprised almost entirely of the collection of retirees who haunted the local 1-4-8-8 games, a sprinkling of mild mannered pros who played for a living, and a healthy percentage of truly degenerate gamblers who would now and then stagger into the card room after a blistering run at the craps table. There were no internet games. There were no Jay-Cee charity tournaments. And there was certainly no poker on television. Although the games were typically full you didn�t hear much about poker away from the casino, and whenever you left the card room you got the feeling that you were probably at least a par five away from anyone who knew that �Big Slick� didn�t refer to the Valdez oil spill. more about Texas Hold 'Em poker...

So, you�ve been playing online for a while now and you feel comfortable in your game. So comfortable that you want to make the move to playing at your local card room. Many people are intimidated on their first visit to a public card room. Knowing what to expect and some simple rules of etiquette will help the first-time visitor relax and have a good time. After all, playing live is a completely different experience than playing online. In this space, I�d like to get into some of those differences and how you should behave. This will be a multi part series. Part 1 deals with the initial experience when you first walk in.

Any cardroom with more than a few tables will have a sign-up desk or board for the various games being played. Usually someone will be standing here to take your name if a seat is not immediately available. This person can explain what games are offered, the betting limits, special house rules and so on. This is the moment of your first decision: which game and for what stakes? more about playing live...

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...

As with golf, betting on NASCAR used to be almost exclusively on who would win the overall event. However, wagering on the odds to win has become a distant second to wagering on which of two competitors will have the better head-to-head results. Books typically offer match-ups based on drivers (and their cars and teams, of course) of similar skill, and will offer anywhere from a dozen to 50 match-ups on a race.

Picking the winner of a race is difficult, but the payoff is high. For example, Mark Martin might be 25/1 to win the entire race, and hitting that would be a nice payoff, but remember there are 42 other drivers in the race! more about betting on NASCAR...

So you have decided to start betting online - or maybe you just want to find a new trustworthy sportsbook - what do you need to look out for?

Well I am in a position to speak from some experience - I did at one time hold accounts with about sixty bookmakers in Europe, UK, Australia and offshore - the latter catering mainly to the US market. I have had at least three online sportsbooks go broke on me - luckily my losses were kept to a few thousand dollars - that may sound a lot but it could have been a lot worse. more about choosing a sportsbook...