Here's a blow by blow or maybe hand by hand account of a recent free poker tournament of mine, I hope it gives you some guidance on how to think and play in such situations.

The game was ten of thirty one paid- decent odds of three to one so my decision is to play smooth and take a back seat as the games commences. A few of the cards I used at the start were fifty two suited in the small blind & K9 off with six to one pot odds. AJ off I fall pitiless- the odds are purely the difference between the cost to call to the size of the pot e.g. one hundred dollars to see six hundred dollars would be six to one.

I have built up around a grand playing the K9 forcefully with Q9Q flop and hitting a free ace on the river with an ace / jack. I find myself saying the same old thing time and time again: you have to gamble in the uncertain plays if no one else has or you will end up with nothing else to go on.

I gamble with three times my bet with a King / King and have one caller- the flop happens at five, eight, ten, and he bets so I blag his J10 for another grand. The generalisation of slow play is when you're holding unstoppable cards; however the game here is far too tight.

Some hands I've limped in with are A2 suited, A3 suited, AJ off, and 88 because of implied odds. Implied odds are basically how much money the other player has and knowing you can bust someone with the right hands calling $5 with junk may not seem as bad if you can win his 50k doing so.

Some hands that I have passed on now that the blinds are higher and pot odds are getting slimmer are K10 suited, J10 suited and Q8 suited and the Q8 turned out to be a bad fold. About 1 hour 30 minutes in and I still have the 2k I made early plus another $560 with random small pots.

It's too early to go flat out so I fold an ace / queen as I can smooth play to the final table. Being able to fold a decent hand has taken a lot of time, practice and control before the bubble- like all things- time helps master this habit. The bubble means the last person to leave the game before pay out. I finally finish in sixth place and I'm pleased with this- if you can regularly find yourself in these positions you can earn a wage. The idea is to start small, play free poker tournament sites and climb the ladder as you become more experienced.