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Since 2003, FTR’s goal has been to build a friendly online community where people love to discuss poker. Our timeless poker strategy articles will help you take the next step in becoming a winning poker player.

Welcome to Flop Turn River!

It’s our mission to turn you into a winning poker player. Over the years, we’ve been adding timeless strategy articles to help you learn poker. We’ve also done the research across hundreds of online sites to recommend only the best places to play poker. And finally, we offer a free and friendly forum where you can discuss poker with thousands of other poker players.

Learn Poker

If you’re new to the game of poker, this is where you should start. Our poker strategy articles will give you enough knowledge to build a solid foundation. Poker is easy to learn, but difficult to master, and with our tools, your studies will make a significant positive change to your game, and of course, your bankroll.

Play Poker

There are hundreds of online poker websites. It can all seem very overwhelming. Where can you find the best bonuses? Which sites have the most players? Which rooms offer a mobile app? We’ve gone through them all and offer only the best of the best. Our 20+ years of experience will save you a lot of time.

Discuss Poker

The FTR poker forum opened for registration in 2003. Since then, we’ve had over 130,000 members sign up to discuss poker with over 1.2 million posts. Don’t worry if you’re completely new, we pride ourselves on being kind to all players as we know that everyone was once a noob. Join today and take your game to the next level.

Featured Poker Strategy Articles

Our curated collection of the best strategy articles from top FTR members!

Michael1123’s Multi-Table Tournament Strategy

Michael1123’s multi-table tournament strategy, emphasizing the importance of position, hand selection, and adjusting to various stages of a poker tournament

SnG Key Strategies

There are a lot of strategic concepts involved in proper Sit and Go play. By learning how to wield your stack as a weapon, playing appropriately tight and developing proper preflop ranges, you’ll be well on your way to beating the games. You’ll also need to consider what other players are doing.

How, Why and When to Double Barrel in No-Limit Hold’em

In this week’s column, we look at tons of different ideas that govern how, when and why to double barrel on the turn in no-limit hold’em games.

Poker Hands

Find out the Ranking of Texas Holdem Poker Hands & the Order of each, from Royal Flush down to High Card, then take our hand ranking quiz!

Tactics vs. Strategy (Part 1): The Study of Tactics in Poker

The study of tactical play in poker is about figuring out which plays are likely to work well against certain player types and against the field as a whole.

How to Decide Which Hands to 3-Bet for Value Pre-Flop

If you want to learn about how to 3-bet for value before you see the flop, you’ve found the right article. This will teach you how to 3-bet and when it’s appropriate to do so. You’ll also learn about your 3-betting range, calling range, folding range and why they are critical to your success.

Latest Poker Strategy Articles

Learn from fellow FTR members!

soupie’s Win MTT Poker 08 – Bankroll Management

soupie’s Win MTT Poker 08 – Bankroll Management

As any poker player does, you will suffer your share of bad beats in tournaments. It's important to have a proper bankroll management strategy and sufficient emotional fortitude to survive to see the long-term rewards of your superior play. Always evaluate your draws carefully.
Planning Your Moves in Limit Hold’em

Planning Your Moves in Limit Hold’em

In Limit Hold'em, you'll be seeing more showdowns than you would in No Limit poker. This means that you should carefully consider your ranges preflop by judging your hand's showdown value when deciding whether or not to fold, cold-call, open-raise, or three-bet.
3 Extremely Useful Methods to Recognizing a Read

3 Extremely Useful Methods to Recognizing a Read

practical exercises to help poker players better recognize their opponents' tells, such as hosting a running commentary in your head during a hand, observing players' actions and body language after you fold, and watching how players socialize to understand their expressive body parts
Razz Rules

Razz Rules

Razz is a form of poker very similar to 7 Card Stud. The difference is that you're playing for low instead of high. A "wheel" consists of A2345 and is the best possible hand. Straights and flushes don't count against your low hand here.
While Waiting Poker Tells

While Waiting Poker Tells

insights into reading opponents' body language and actions when it's your turn to act in a poker game, covering topics like identifying potential openers, raisers, and bluffers, as well as understanding subtle cues that can indicate a player's intentions
Playing the Small Blind in an MTT Part 2

Playing the Small Blind in an MTT Part 2

the strategy of playing the small blind in multi-table tournaments, focusing on the considerations when dealing with very short stacks, the importance of fold equity, and the factors that influence the decision to push all-in, especially when the stack is around five times the big blind
Before Moving to $3/6

Before Moving to $3/6

several strategic poker plays that players should be familiar with before advancing to higher stakes, emphasizing the importance of understanding and effectively utilizing these plays to maximize profitability and outmaneuver opponents in various game situations
SnG Key Strategies

SnG Key Strategies

There are a lot of strategic concepts involved in proper Sit and Go play. By learning how to wield your stack as a weapon, playing appropriately tight and developing proper preflop ranges, you'll be well on your way to beating the games. You'll also need to consider what other players are doing.
Player Types

Player Types

various strategies and post-flop tendencies of different poker players, classifying them based on their actions such as "call, fold, raise," and offering insights on how to exploit each player type's weaknesses and tendencies for optimal gameplay
Babysitting Blunders: How Not to Treat New Players

Babysitting Blunders: How Not to Treat New Players

During my time at the tables, I've had a chance to observe an extensive amount of human behavior. Thanks to the growing popularity of the game, I'm seeing more and more diverse personalities sported by players operating on a variety of skill levels. But with the ever-expanding pool of competitors, I find many of my brothers and sisters who've been around for a while are forgetting some of the cardinal rules of the game. I'm talking, specifically, about the treatment of new players at the tables. It happens both at live events and when surfing through the online card rooms. There are veterans (and even more who think themselves to be veterans) who, by carrying themselves in a certain fashion, do themselves a disservice and consequently reduce their own level of play.
chardrian’s Analysis of a $26 Freezeout

chardrian’s Analysis of a $26 Freezeout

Sometimes, it's valuable to go over your completed poker tournaments with a hand-history viewer to analyze spots that you are unsure about and identify errors in play. You can use a replayer that automatically cuts out hands that you folded preflop so that you can focus on the important hands.
[FTR Quick Tip 009] Isolating Limpers

[FTR Quick Tip 009] Isolating Limpers

the importance of using selective aggression and position to exploit players who frequently limp at the poker table, suggesting that players should not only raise with their strongest hands but also widen their ranges to capitalize on the mistakes of limpers in no limit Texas Hold'em cash games
7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Rules

7 Card Stud Hi/Lo Rules

7 Card Stud Hi/Lo is an exciting variant on normal 7 Card Stud play. In this split-pot format, players can win the high half of the pot, the low half of the pot or scoop the entire pot. Beware of getting quartered though! It can be costly.
Brick and Mortar/Live Poker Strategy

Brick and Mortar/Live Poker Strategy

prepares online poker players for the transition to live, brick-and-mortar games, emphasizing the differences in player behavior, pace, and strategy, while also offering tips on how to adapt and succeed in this different environment

Poker Charts & Poker Odds Articles

Understand poker math.

Calculating Pot Odds in Texas Holdem

Calculating Pot Odds in Texas Holdem

Pot odds are something that every poker player must become familiar with. You need to learn how to use the size of the pot, the size of the bet facing you and the number of outs you have to determine if you can profitably call. After you've mastered pot odds, move on to implied odds.
Calculating Pot Odds in Texas Holdem

Texas Hold’em Flop Odds

mathematical aspects of Texas Hold'em poker, emphasizing the importance of understanding flop odds, particularly when holding a pair, and provides formulas to calculate the likelihood of an overcard appearing on the flop

Poker Editorials About Whatever

Just for fun!

What is FTR?

Online since 2003!

Hi, I’m Tyler and welcome to FTR! If you’re new to FTR, this is what we’re all about in a nutshell – to help the average Joe become a winning, profitable Texas Holdem poker player and to provide an active, friendly, and intelligent online poker community.

Flop Turn River.com has been around since 2003, when I started to seriously learn and play online Texas Holdem. My real education began in 2003 (even though I had played poker and holdem casually for many years), studying poker books, reading whatever online materials I could find, and eventually, joining and playing at an online poker room. My online poker adventure would begin on an impulse late one Saturday evening, after seeing a random Paradise Poker commercial on TV. I opened an account, deposited some money, and began to play Texas Holdem online for the first time. It was absolute thrilling! At Paradise Poker, I started playing the $.50-$1.00 Limit Texas Holdem poker game.

As a brand new player to the online poker world, I was a pretty easy target. A “fish” you could say. A student of Sklansky’s books, my poker education started and developed in the low stakes Limit Texas Holdem ring game where I eventually developed into a break-even player …after dropping a bankroll of $700.

But then I began experimenting with other variations of Texas Hold’em. I moved from the low stakes Limit Texas Holdem ring game to Limit Texas Holdem tournaments at Paradise Poker. I played $10 Limit Sit-n-Go Tournaments (10 player tournaments), and started having a lot more fun playing Texas Holdem, but was still just a break-even poker player, even in this form of Texas Hold’em.

I then switched from Limit Sit-n-Go’s to the No Limit Sit-n-Go Tournaments, where I enjoyed greater success, graduating to a slightly winning poker player. I started to develop a No Limit Texas Holdem strategy that was working for me. I moved my game to UltimateBet (remember these assholes?!), to take advantage of the new user bonus, and here I finally migrated my poker game to the No-Limit Texas Holdem ring game variation. I practiced my no limit texas holdem strategies at UltimateBet’s low stakes $.10-$.25 tables, while earning some free bonus dollars.

While figuring out No Limit Texas Holdem was the game for me and developing that strategy, I also learned that earning free money through initial deposit bonuses offered by the poker rooms was an easy way to pad my beginner’s bankroll. I would take my game to Party Poker, followed by Empire Poker, then ACR Poker, and would eventually join every other major online poker room in existence, taking advantage of new player bonus dollars wherever possible.

I also put in a lot of hours earning the big bonus at Bovada, where I worked off the $600 welcome bonus grinding out low stakes no limit Texas Holdem. The poker bonuses helped me stay afloat during this early period of playing.

Anyway, I would find my greatest success, and profits, playing this form of Texas Hold’em – No Limit ring games. Needless to say, by the latter end of 2003, I was a consistently profitable online Texas Holdem poker player, more than recouping my initial losses, and I’ve been tacking on poker profits ever since. I’ve been a profitable online poker player since September of 2003, and had a stretch of 18 profitable months in a row. These days I’ll play any No Limit Holdem table with buy-in’s up to about $1,000, and when playing online I prefer to multi-table four tables at a time.

Becoming a winning poker player, in my opinion, was not that difficult. It took some time, it took the right variation of Holdem poker that I was most competent, and over a $700 bankroll in my case, but at the end of the learning experience, I developed a No Limit Texas Holdem strategy that would prove to give back so much more. Eric helped me publish the little poker knowledge I had to share with other players, and so begain our little online Texas Holdem strategy website. Solid and useful no limit holdem strategies and discussions were hard to come by back then, so we delivered our own, and if you’re a losing poker player, the strategies on this website will undoubtedly help you.

FTR has become so much more than my personal no limit Texas Holdem strategy site since then – FTR is now a strategy and discussion site for all forms of Texas Holdem. In fact, FTR is anything and everything about poker. Strategies, tips, advice, and tactics were the foundations of FTR, but you can find good reads on a wide range of other poker subjects – especially in the depths of our very active and exciting Poker Forum.

First off, if you are new to FlopTurnRiver.com, be sure to visit our Beginner Poker section to help get you acquainted with FTR, Texas Hold’em, and poker in general. Then browse around our articles, study are Poker Strategy essays, become a part of our friendly Poker Community. And then play some poker. Nothing beats experience when it comes to developing your poker game. Visit our Poker Room Reviews, utilize our great poker bonus codes. Drop by our Poker Forums and let us know your progress – we are always willing to talk shop and help players out. The members here range from beginner players brand new to poker all the way up to seasoned professionals, so no matter what level you’re at, you can feel right at home.

Online poker is a profitable pastime. And so much fun!

Our goal is to help expedite your holdem strategy development by offering our strategies and advice…for free. All it takes is the right learning materials, the right feedback, and accumulating experience by playing hands and hands of poker. Now go study, play some poker, and make some money. Thanks for visiting FTR, and we’ll see you at the tables!

– Tyler “Tatonka” D.