You should always keep an eye on the table. Moreover, you should observe actions of your opponents and analyze as much as possible. It is all about information in Texas Holdem poker. The more information you have the bigger your chances to win. And everything what is going on at the Texas Holdem table is a source of potentially valuable information. You will use collected information to build your own Texas Holdem strategy and make decisions.

Maximum use of simple decisions

During most hands you won’t have to think much how to play. If you follow one of the first advices (play fewer hands), you already know that you should play only around 15% hands. And it means that you do not see the flop in 85% times. 15% hands you are going to play will be extremely simple.

Just few hands might require your analytical skills. And maybe one or two times in the whole Texas Holdem poker session you will have to make extremely difficult decisions. But you have to be ready for this big call. And you will need to have as much information as possible. I am talking about the Information you were collecting during the Texas Hodem session.

What kind of information?

Basically, you should focus on everything. Every single action of your opponents has to be memorized and analyzed. This information will be a useful hint for you. Just think about your opponent’s recent actions and try to read him.

If you are playing offline Texas Holdem poker focus on behavior of your opponents. Do not miss them saying something. Try to be a part of the Texas Holdem hand even if you have folded already. Memorize every unconventional action of your opponents. Do your opponents tend to compete for big pots? Are they afraid of defeat ? Do they bluff in No-Limit Texas Holdem poker ? Observe and observe once again!

Of course it is impossible to stay focused during 4-5 hours. But anyway try to memorize the most important things. The more information you get the more data you have to analyze and memorize. And you will obviously have good chance to make a right decision when it is needed.

Difficult decisions

When you face a difficult situation and need to make an important decision you should quickly dig in your memory all information about your opponents and the style they use in Texas Holdem poker.

Even small fact is a piece of puzzle. The more pieces you have, the easier it will be to see the whole picture. Information gives you power in Texas Holdem poker. Remember about it! Stay focused, put all your thoughts not related to Texas Holdem poker aside and be the part of the game. Very soon you will understand how important it is to stay focused and gather the information. All Texas Holdem pros do it.

Bankroll is the amount of money you wish to use to play Texas Holdem poker. This money is a kind of poker money. You are going to use it only for poker.

Your attitude to poker money

Most people are really tied to money. They care about money so much that they become addicted. They just cannot stop thinking about the money. And their worries do not let them play No-Limit Texas Holdem poker successfully. That’s true.

Poker bankroll has to be separated from your money. You should not mix your poker money with real money. And if you start to lose playing Texas Holdem poker you should not regret thinking about the stuff you could buy using these funds.

Money you’ve lost or won playing Texas Holdem poker is just poker money. That’s it! And you should be ready to heavy defeats. Always remember that you not can win every single hand or tournament. You will definitely lose money sometimes in Texas Holdem poker. Therefore your Texas Holdem poker loses must not influence your financial stability in real life.

Texas Holdem poker with a fear of losing money

One of the most common reasons of defeats in Texas Holdem poker is the fear of losing money. If you are afraid of losing money your chances to win are extremely small. You just cannot play No-Limit Texas Holdem poker well. It is very important to be confident. You have to able to put all your chips on the centre of the table when it is needed. If your opponents see your doubts and lack of confidence you become a perfect target. And there is another big disadvantage. You won’t be able to bluff effectively or make a brave call in Texas Holdem poker.

Losing all money

You should have a solid bankroll to make sure you won’t lose all your money. Regardless of your skills you will lose sometimes. Once again, simply you cannot win every single Texas Holdem poker session. Even Texas Holdem poker pros faced huge defeats .

If your bankroll is not big enough to stand huge loses you will be out of the game. And it means that your balance will be negative. When you start to lose money you should switch to games with lower limits. This Texas Holdem strategy gives you a chance to play as many times as you wish. But what should you do if you continue losing after the switch? Probably, it is a good idea to have a break. You need a rest, anyway you can come back to play Texas Holdem poker later.

Bankroll: big thumb rule

There is the important bankroll rule which is known as big thumb rule. According to the big thumb rule you should not use more than 5% of your bankroll in a cash-game.

If we are talking about tournaments your bankroll has to be as big as 100 buy-in’s. Therefore if you prefer $5+0.5 tournaments your bankroll has to be at least $550. This approach will save you from losing all your money (of course if you are skilled Texas Holdem poker player).

Basically, there are 4 main ways to take control over a Texas Holdem hand:

1) Be in position. If nobody showed aggression before you, it is easy to take a control when you are in position. Position really makes a difference in Texas Holdem poker. Always remember about it .

2) Be aggressive. Who is considered aggressive? A Texas Holdem player who raises or re-raises. And aggressor always controls a hand. Of course he can lose control if opponents start to be aggressive as well.

3) Bread fear. It is very important to bread fear in Texas Holdem poker. If your opponents see a potential hazard in you, you can easily take control over a hand. Even if your opponent is an aggressor you can still bread fear. And you will capture the initiative by making him afraid of you.

4) Gather information. A Texas Holdem player who has got comprehensive information about his opponents can control the situation regardless of style of play of his opponents. Your opponents can be extremely afraid of you. You can be really aggressive all the time but anyway you are going to lose if your opponent has collected nuts. The most important thing in Texas Holdem poker is information. It is your goal to know more about your opponents than they know about you. The more you know about them, the more control you have got. It is the ABC of Texas Holdem poker

Importance of tricks

Another ABC of Texas Holdem poker is that your chances depend on control over the situation. But at the other hand it won’t be possible to win much if everyone at the table is afraid of playing against you. In most cases your opponents will just fold their cards and you will have to be satisfied with small pots or just stolen blinds.

The real profit comes in Texas Holdem poker when you deceive your opponents. It is very important to make them think that they control the situation, not you.

If your opponent believes that he has got control over the situation he has no fear anymore. It means that he will try to make you put more chips in the pot. But it is a delusion! Indeed he is entrapped already and you just have to let him pay you as much as possible. This is your perfect chance to hit the jack pot in Texas Holdem poker!

Texas Holdem poker can be really easy for you. You just have to stick to right Texas Holdem strategy and let the others pay you. There are many inexperienced players who dream about big winnings. But in reality they do not know much about ABC’s of Texas Holdem poker and it is extremely easy to outclass them. Just let them think that they are going to win a huge pot and wait. Nothing else is required.

But real Texas Holdem poker is totally different. You won’t probably see bluffing players often. And of course you won’t see royal-flush beating straight-flush as it can be shown in movies.

There are several types of bluffs in Texas Holdem poker

•  quick bluff

•  semi-bluff

•  pure bluff

Quick bluff

Most bluffs in Texas Holdem poker are quick bluffs. Quick bluff is a small bet. A Texas Holdem player uses quick bluff to win a small pot. The risk is extremely small, but the potential winning is tiny either.

Example: You are in position. Three opponents check . The flop just brought K-K-7. Nobody raised before the flop. And it does not look like anyone is interested in the pot and ready to battle for it. So, there are just two possible situations:

•  One of your rivals holds a king and is using slow play

•  Nobody has got a king and all Texas Holdem players are ready to fold if you put pressure on them

Therefore bluff would be useful in this case. And if you do have neither king nor 7 you should try to finish this Texas Holdem hand before the showdown.

Semi-bluff

Let’s say you raised before the flop having pocket AK hearts. Two opponents called your bet. The flop brings J♥ 9♠ 5♥ . You do not have any pairs. But at the same time there are flush-draw and high cards. First player checks, second one places a bet with the size of ¾ of the pot. In this situation you can use Texas Holdem poker semi-bluff. At the one hand you can lose cause at the moment your cards do not make a difference. At the other hand, you can still win this completing flush or getting A or K. Your pocket cards have got potential value and you should use it. Therefore your raise would be a Texas Holdem poker semi-bluff. Semi-bluff I a very important tool of Texas Holdem poker. But you should not use it too often. Remember that it is very important to be unpredictable.

Pure bluff

Probably the best example of pure bluff was shown in the clash between Brad Booth and Phil Ivey (the 3 rd season of High Stakes Poker). Brad had tiny chance to outclass Ivey. His pocket cards didn’t have a real value and 99.9 % of poker players would fold the cards. But Brad has decided to bluff and it worked! You can see pure bluffs in Hollywood movies with poker scenes. But in the real game pure bluff usually leads to a huge defeat. If you want to use this Texas Holdem poker trick effectively you have to be able to read your opponent. You have to understand perfectly everything what is going on at the table. This trick is only for Texas Holdem poker pros.

If you want to stop losing money playing Texas Holdem poker you should stop using pure bluffs. At the same time do not apply quick bluffs and semi-bluffs too often. The best option for beginners is to play ABC Texas Holdem poker. Raise when you have best pair and fold if the situation is dangerous for your stack.

Tell us please about the period from July to November. Of course, you were thinking much about the upcoming game at the final table. So, were your hopes realized?

Well, I hoped to increase my stake in the very beginning. And I was going to play more hands in position. But unfortunately it was not possible. Most of the time I had to use 3bet. And it seemed like I was just balancing. And several times the situation was really dangerous. But I was lucky.

Were you surprised how much did it take to eliminate players from the table?

Actually I was shocked. 8 competitors were playing approximately 10 hours! I expected that it might take much time, but not so much.

Did you watch ESPN translations to get ready to the final of WSOP and learn more about tactic of your opponents?

Yes, I did. But they cut out too many hands. I just knew for sure that the day was going to be long. I also knew that my opponents will adjust to the final. Some of them hired coaches, others, like Phil Ivey, changed Texas Holdem style and started to play tighter. Therefore I adjusted to my opponents only at the final table, but I didn’t try to predict style of each opponent.

And what’s about “Phil Ivey Factor”? Did you feel the pressure because best Texas Holdem player was sitting next to you and competing with you for gold bracelet? Did you take into account Ivey during building your own strategy?

Not really. He didn’t have many chips . He was limited by small stake. I considered Ivey as a regular competitor. I have already faced many great online Texas Holdem players who had huge experience. Maybe Phil Ivey is the best player in the world, but a game with short stake is totally different.

No doubts you and Darvin Moon who could not become WSOP champion, played really well at the final table. What can you say to those who think that you captured the gold bracelet only because of the luck?

Yes, everything went well, we didn’t have bad-beats. And I successfully bluffed several times using 4bet. Actually I hoped that ESPN will show my bluff. It would be beneficial for my image If I decide to play more tight in the future. When you play many hands, range of suitable cards becomes wider. I am not against calls and I am not afraid of being all-in if fold-equity is attractive. The example is pocket deuces of Antoine Saout. There were three of us and I started the game. I expected Saout to place 3bet but he was thinking much to call or not when he had A-K. Saout is a dangerous Texas Holdem opponent. He can start a game with J-2 of a different suit. Therefore I thought that he will try to steal the pot with help of 3bet. I had relatively strong cards. So, in my opinion Saout had to fold all small cards like 2,3,4,5 etc. Basically, eights are as weak as deuces. And when he showed his 88 against my AK after several hands, the situation was almost the same… So, I am not going to say that the luck
didn’t help me. Of course, I was lucky and I have to thank the Fortune. But at the same time I am pleased with my own performance.

1. Frequent use of continuation bet

Big tournament consists of hundreds hands. And of course it is impossible to play all the hands. You have to fold sometimes. In many cases the flop does not bring needed cards and you have several ways in such situations. One option is to fold. Another option is continuation bet. Continuation bet is an effective tool but the risk is very high. And if your bluff doesn’t work you are going to lose many chips. And one more important thing. Size of your bets and raises should not be too huge. What do I mean saying huge ? 2/3 of pot is huge . Keep your stake . Do not waste chips using contbet too often.

2. Outclassing strong pocket cards before the flop

Let’s have a look at the example. You are in position with AK. A guy with big stake raises by the size of 4 big blinds. You take a small pause and say that you are all-in. He calls your re-raise and shows QQ. And in several seconds you have to leave the table. So, do you believe me now that such behavior is th mistake. And the big mistake. There should not be any rush ! You should better have a look at the flop.

But there is a question how to behave in this situation? I think re-raise is the best option. If your opponent calls you will see the flop and will have the advantage of the last word. And if the opponent says all-in, you should definitely fold. And of course you should not be all-in before the flop with J-J! Your chances in this case are pretty small. Do not forget that Texas Holdem poker is the game which requires thinking and skills. It is not a Russian roulette.

3. Using the same strategy all the time

In the beginning of a tournament it is fine to call a raise having 6-7 of the same suit. But when the limits are high such strategy is too expensive. Basically you have to understand that new conditions of the game do not let you use the same strategy. You should be more selective when blinds become more expensive. Try to call raises only when you have strong cards. Even low pocket pairs (4-4, 3-3 etc.) are not suitable for calls when limits are high.

4. Lack of aggression against blinds

The further you go into the tournament the more aggressive you should behave. Tight Texas Holdem style is ideal for the beginning. But then you should try to steal blinds. Just remember that if you are too passive you will lose your chips instantly.

5. Calls with drawing hands

This mistake is very common . Many players are ready to chase a flush or a straight until the very end. They are not afraid of calling raises and even re-raises. But this approach is too expensive. Of course sometimes it works generating good profits. But remember to calculate your odds. If you want to complete straight and need just one card your chances are extremely small (roughly, 22 %). And if we are talking about flush and the flop brings you two cards of the same suit like your pocket cards your chances are still small. Roughly, around 37 %. And of course such odds are too small to chase the pot.

Therefore just remember the typical mistakes and avoid them. Winning in Texas Holdem is not so difficult if you use sophisticated approach.

Obviously, it is not so difficult to finish in the top half. But don’t forget that the rake makes your life more difficult. This invisible opponent can make you lose money in the long run. Usually rake is 8-10 % depending on poker room you are playing at. So, let’s say you want to participate in 100 S&G Double or Nothing tournaments with $10+1 buy in. You will have to spend $1 100 in this case. And if you win in 55% of tournaments, you will earn just $100. So , it means that the ROI is approximately 9 %. Your chances to win are 50/50. Therefore you have to win 60 % of tournaments. So, now it doesn’t look as easy as you thought. But don’t give up! Keep in mind that success in poker depends on skills and knowledge. Just use your qualities to win.

I think that Double or Nothing Texas Holdem tournaments are perfect if you wish to practice and improve your play. Double or Nothing is suitable for usage of your theoretical knowledge. You should use the strategy which is described in poker books. Every chip is precious in Double or Nothing therefore you should play very tight. Take into account that blinds go up pretty fast and ante becomes really expensive in 10-15 minutes.

Play only best pocket cards during first hands. Saying best pocket cards I mean the high pairs from 99 to AA and combinations like A-Q). If you have such cards you should play aggressively . But this Texas Holdem strategy should not be used if you have low pairs or connectors. Your chance with such cards is a position. If you are in position and have got a chance to get a new card for free or really cheap – use it! Use opportunities to collect monster combination.

It is great if you double your stake in the very beginning of the game. In such case you have practically won already. But even if you could not do it, don’t give up! Just remember to steal blinds when limits are high.

The average size of winning stake is 3 000 chips. But of course you should take into account amount of chips of your opponents. If one of them has got 8 000 chips, 1 750 chips will be enough for other four players.

You will improve your skills during learning how to win Sit&Go Double or Nothing Texas Holdem tournaments. You should use academic approach (play in position, steal blinds, observe your opponents actions) to win Double or Nothing tournaments,

I think that Double or Nothing tournaments are the perfect beginning for those who want to become a pro of Sit&Go Texas Holdem poker tournaments.

Advices for Texas Holdem poker beginners are very simple. And most beginners think that they should follow such advices without a doubt. But some of the advices are really controversial and dubious. For example, Texas Holdem pros say that you should play only when you are in good conditions and mood. But if you play in a good mood it is difficult to evaluate the opponents, your success and the current game flow. It is much better to play Texas Holdem when you are in normal working mood or even in a small depression. This condition is called “depressive realism”.

People in a good mood do not take a careful look at every small detail. They tend to play predictable. They do not mention changes, they do not think much about their decisions. Good mood motivates people to play without thinking. On the contrary people in a bad mood tend to evaluate things objectively. Upset person is a kind of bore Texas Holdem player and this type of player is the worst rival. He takes a serious look at every aspect of the game, thinks about details, memorizes and analyzes them.

Australian psychologists from New South Wales University say that bad mood forces a person to be more concentrated. Such people at the same time are quite good in memorization. The psychologists analyzed specifics of decisions by people who were in different conditions and mood. The conclusions of Australian psychologists can be applied to Texas Holdem poker. A player with “depressive realism” doesn’t overestimate skills of his opponents. “Depressive realism” will help to read bluff. According to the researches a person with a “depressive realism” makes hasty decisions quite rare. And he doesn’t depend on prejudice. Psychologists asked experimental people to explain why they made one or another decision. And people who were in a bad mood explained all their decisions by strong arguments unlike experimental people who were in a good mood. People with a low spirit were really critical to people around.

Probably you have heard that people play Texas Holdem poker the same way they behave in the real life. This statement is proved by the following fact. Decision mechanism is always the same! Thereby we can make a conclusion that bad mood can help to win in Texas Holdem poker.

At the same time bad mood can harm. You might easily lose if you think all the time about your problems. And I experienced it in my career. And there is another disadvantage if you are in a bad mood. Every defeat makes your mood even worse and can ruin your day. So, the main thing is to abstract away from your problems when you are playing Texas Holdem poker. All your problems should be latent. Probably this is the best approach to poker if we take into account researches of Australian psychologists.

Bad beats are quite common in Texas Holdem poker. And they are extremely painful. Sometimes bad beat is a real disaster which can lead to elimination from a tournament. In such cases we usually say that the reason of defeat is the bad luck. But it is not an absolutely correct statement. Probably some information is missed . And I am going to prove it. I bet that our poor Texas Holdem player made a huge mistake – gave his opponent free card or very cheap card.

So, what does it mean to make a gift of free card? It means that a Texas Holdem player doesn’t place bet or raise when he has got strongest cards. Of course sometimes it is almost impossible to evaluate strength of your cards, especially if you have weak pair like 88. But you still have to place bets in such cases. Presenting free cards to your opponents is a mortal sin of Texas Holdem poker. Giving cheap card is a mistake as well. You should not place small bets if you have got best cards at the moment. Your opponent with a drawing hand can easily call your bet and receive needed card.

Why it is a mistake?

Texas Holdem poker hand is a series of bets. Obviously, it is right to place bets when you are a favorite. But what’s about the size of bets? According to the theory of No-Limit Texas Holdem poker such bets have to be expensive for your opponents. In such cases you will definitely get benefits:

•  Your opponent might fold

•  Your opponent might tie himself to the pot without good chances for success.

How to avoid the mistake of giving free card?

Very often beginners do not place reasonable bets when they get good cards from the flop. Of course sometimes it is wise to establish traps for your opponents. In such cases you should not raise. It would be better to use check-raise approach. And your opponent will get caught in your trap. But if you want to use this Texas Holdem strategy you have to be absolutely sure that your opponent won’t outclass you with help of any extra cards.

Most Texas Holdem experts advice to attack if you have strong cards. It will help you to protect your cards from possible drawing hands. You should always remember that even three of a kind can be easily outclassed. There are many various drawing hands and it is a mistake to let the others complete drawing hands without paying for it.

Keep in min one important rule of No-Limit Texas Holdem poker. Do not use slow play if there are at least two cards of the same suit on the table! It is very dangerous.

The main reason to place big bets when you have strong cards is to increase the size of a pot. Of course it is a pity to lose huge pot because of the bad luck. But if you place small bets or don’t raise at all you won’t be able to win much. And it is very likely that you won’t win anything at all! Therefore place bets if you are favorite at the moment. Try to pull as many chips as possible from your opponents.

Bluff is another tool of preventing free cards or cheap cards. For example if the flop brings Q92 and you have got AK you can place a bet with the size of 3-4 blinds. Your bet will push out players with drawing hands and lower pairs.

I will give you some ideas when you should not raise. Let’s make it clear, if you face at least two out of these three cases, do NOT raise! You should better call.

You have got strong cards, but

1) You think that raise will be a clear sign for your opponents. In this case they will fold their cards immediately. Therefore you won’t win many chips.

2) You believe that one of your opponents has better combination. Of course you analyzed cards on the table and behavior of your opponents to make this conclusion. And if you raise in this situation you can tie yourself to the pot and it will lead to extremely bad consequences up to losing all your chips.

3) You and your opponents are leaders at the tournament. You have got much more chips than the other players. And if you start to compete with your rival and lose, it will eliminate you from the tournament. Therefore you should try to avoid such a big risk.

I want to mention that there is a risk of not raising because you let your opponents check next card without adding money to the pot. But at the same time if you do not have strong cards it will balance your loses. So, you won’t have to pay for check of the next card either.

Factors number 1 and 2 are crucial. Remember about these factors when you think to raise or not. You should try to predict what kind of cards you can beat with your hand and who can call your raise. If there are more negative than positive factors you should better call. Slow play has got its own benefits. Besides you can build a strong image of skilled and accurate Texas Holdem player with slow play strategy. And such image is very useful if you want to steal blinds with bluff, for example.

Flat-call

Flat-call is a wise idea in some cases. For example, your flat-call can give a confidence to opponents and somebody might start to bluff with weak cards or raise with low pair. Of course, you can easily stop him by re-raise at the turn. Making traps for your opponents is a very sophisticated Texas Holdem approach. And you should definitely use this effective tool. I advice Texas Holdem players to combine accurate strategy (flat-calls) with aggressive one (raise). Such approach to Texas Holdem doesn’t let your opponents to check upcoming cards without paying for it. Therefore use your advantage, make your opponents pay and start winning!

The time your opponents spend to make decisions is a very important hint for you. Always keep in mind this factor when you are playing online Texas Holdem. The time your opponent spends to make a decision can help you to predict his cards. There is a clear correlation between cards and the time which is spent to make a decision. And some Texas Holdem players can be easily read because of this.

One of the classic examples is immediate call at the flop. Such call usually shows that the player has got weak pair or a draw. Moreover, immediate 4bet before the flop is a sign of bluff or weak all-in cards, like AK or QQ. Immediate 4bet is very common when a game just starts and limits are small. When Texas Holdem players bluff they usually try to finish the hand as fast as possible. In contrast to such situations players with strong cards take their time and are not hurry up with the decisions. And the size of raise would be as big as 2/3 of the pot.

If you want to master ability to read signs that are shown by the time which your opponents spend to make decisions, first of all switch off animation. Animation doesn’t let you to check how much time your Texas Holdem opponents spend to make decisions. Let’s say that you have not switched off the animation. You call pre-flop bet of your opponent and he has to make the next decision. Three cards from the flop appear slowly one by one and if your opponent has switched off animation he will see cards much earlier than you. And it means that he will have more time to make a decision. At the same time you will be waiting for the appearing cards. Then your opponent places a bet. You think that it took him 5 seconds, but he had maybe 10 seconds. Basically, the animation makes reading opponents more complicated.

You should not rely on your observations of statistics of your opponents. You just need to focus on the time your opponents spend to make decisions. Just analyze their current actions. Of course I am not saying that knowing and keeping in mind some statistical information about your opponents is useless. You should definitely know Texas Holdem style of your opponents. At least, if they are aggressive or tight players. But still remember about the importance of the time factor I described above. It can be really helpful.

So, today I am going to give you an idea how to participate in Sit&Go tournaments with success. And first of all let me introduce your possible rivals.

All your opponents can be divided into these categories:

1) ESPN-style players with aggressive strategy. Most beginners watched ME WSOP on the TV. And now they think that they are masters of Texas Holdem poker who can smash everybody. They try to copy style of world stars. And they think that if Daniel Negreanu raised with 10-9 once they should do the same. Therefore ESPN-style players are very aggressive. They are ready to be all-in with connectors like AK or weak pairs like 8-8. Their strategy is totally wrong and it is not surprising that they are the first contenders to be eliminated as soon as possible.

2) Chasers. They usually play Pot-Limit or Fix-Limit poker and they have not adjusted to No-Limit Texas Holdem yet. Therefore they cannot evaluate their pot odds realistically. If a chaser has got drawing hand he calls all bets hoping that he will catch needed card. They just forget that there are no limits now. They become tied to the pot and put all their chips on the centre of the table. Sometimes these strategy works and chasers hit the jackpot. But at the same time they can easily lose all their chips. Chasing the cards is not a proper Texas Holdem strategy. And chasers usually leave poker table pretty fast.

3) Tight-poker fans. They are direct opposite of ESPN-style players. Many players are very accurate, they set special requirements for pocket cards. For example, they never play without a pocket pair. Tight-poker fans can wait 15-20 hands. So, they wait and lose blinds. Their stake vanishes. But at the one moment tight-poker player finally gets KK, bingo! Tight-poker fan is over the moon and he starts to pool chips from his opponents. The flop brings 2-3-8. One of the opponents places bet and tight-poker player calls. The turn brings J. Tight-poker fan places bet, his opponent calls. The river brings ace and the opponent places a bet. After several raises and re-raises both player are all-in. And tight-poker fan loses all his chips because his opponent has got 4-5. So, some people would say that in this case our player lost because of the bad luck. Yes, of course the luck played an important role. But I reckon that the reason was a wrong Texas Holdem style. Tight-poker fan waited so much his KK and he just could not evaluate his odds and fold.

4) Bubble-boy. Such players prefer tight style. They are very good at the beginning of tournaments. They are always somewhere on the top. But when the Texas Holdem poker tournament comes to the end and possibility to win money is really high they start to panic. In such situations they are trying to be careful, therefore they never raise or all-in. But such accurate strategy is useless at the final stages of tournaments. Bubble-boy tries to snatch at the third profitable place. Therefore he just misses many good chances to steal blinds or even win several thousand chips of his opponents. A bubble-boy doesn’t have big chances to win a tournament. But it is very possible that he will finish in top3.

5) Weak heads-up. Such type of Texas Holdem poker players is not common. He was playing really well during the whole tournament and now he has got 15 000 chips. The stake of his opponent is only 3 000 chips. But in several minutes the opponent holds 17 000 chips and weak heads-up only 2 000. What ‘ s happened ? Bad luck ? I bet no, it is just a lack of heads-up skills.

6) Real pro. Basically, it is just a very experienced and strong Texas Holdem player. He is not satisfied with second or third place. He captures the lead in the very beginning and doesn’t give a chance to his opponents. It is extremely difficult to outclass him. So, hopefully you won’t face him.

It is not so easy to recognize TAGfish. They do not lose all the time. Sometimes the luck helps them to win and they just break the bank. But if you check their recent results you will notice that they lose much more than win.

TAGfishes rely on the luck. If they win something it happens just because of the luck, not their skills. Actually, they do not have skills at all! Texas Holdem poker is the game of clever people therefore you have got better chances to win than TAGfishes. And you are not a TAGfish, are you?

If you are not sure about it just check this out. I want to show you several typical signs of a TAGfish. Analyze them carefully and be objective in judging yourself

1) You always think about cards of your opponents and don’t care about your own

Every experienced Texas Holdem player knows that analyzing potential cards of opponents is crucial. But at the same time experienced Texas Holdem players don’t forget about their own cards. And it is totally impossible to win if you cannot evaluate strength of your cards.

2) You do not use Texas Holdem skills that you acquired

Many TAGfishes tend to learn. They like to read articles about Texas Holdem. They watch studying videos quite often. But at the same time they do not use their skills properly. They just do not want to apply all the things they learned. TAGfishes are not ready to fold despite the situation is not suitable to call or raise. And they KNOW that they are acting against rules of a successful Texas Holdem player. But still they do not apply their knowledge.

3) You do not evaluate your odds realistically

TAGfish thinks that he can win every single hand. And if a TAGfish has got pocket pair he raises all the time. It doesn’t matter if cards on the table change the situation dramatically. TAGfish doesn’t fold if he has drawing hands. Such Texas Holdem player relies on the luck and caution of his opponents. At the same time TAGfish tends to understate odds of his opponents. He just cannot accept real state of things.

4) You start to have problems after the flop

TAGfishes are strong pre-flop Texas Holdem players. They raise quite often and make their opponents nervous. At the same time they force opponents with weak cards to fold. But all their problems come after the flop. They raised once already and they become tied to the pot. Therefore they do not want to fold their cards. And they almost never fold top-pair even if there are 4 cards of the same suit on the table. TAGfishes do not remember one of the main rules of Texas Holdem poker – the real game starts after the flop.

5) You do not have a clear plan for the game

TAGfishes do not like to act under the pressure. When they see that things do not go their way they start to be nervous and understand that they are going to lose. But the reason of such problems is not a bad luck. It just happened because TAGfishes do not have a clear Texas Holdem plan. For example, they started to raise with J10 and the flop didn’t bring neither J nor 10. But TAGfish raised despite of the not suitable cards. And then one of the opponents re-raised. So, what to do now then? It is absolutely clear that it was wrong to play with J10. And why did a TAGfish start to play? Just because he doesn’t follow right Texas Holdem strategy and doesn’t have a plan for the game.

So, from now on you know typical signs of a TAGfish. Analyze your Texas Holdem style, get rid of mistakes and never become a TAGfish.

Define your Texas Holdem style before choosing tables. You have to be aware of your own skills, strengths and weaknesses. Having such information will help you to choose suitable table. For example, if you are tight player you should look for loose table, because you know that your raises will be called. Even when you have monster cards there is a good chance of facing bluffing opponents. At the other hand, if you are a loose-style player who tend to raise quite often, you should look for tight table. In this case your opponents will fold if you play aggressively.

But there is a problem. How can you define if players at the certain tables are weak or strong? It is not as difficult as you might think. You should focus on statistics of % players/flop, average size of pots, hands/hour.

Let’s take as the example No-Limit Texas Holdem 6 max

If you are a tight-aggressive player you would prefer to be at the table where you can place big bets having AA, KK, QQ , AK etc . And of course you want your opponents to call your bets. 6-max tables with player/flop %55-65 are ideal for you. But it is not easy to find such table with high limits. And you should avoid playing at tables with player/flop %35-40 because there will be too many tight opponents and playing against them hopeless.

Now let’s move to the next indicator – average pot size. You should look for tables with huge pots because size of a pot is always related to size of stakes. And I think that the size of your stake should be equal to the stakes of your opponents. But it can be a problem because there are min and max buy-in limits. Therefore you cannot use as much money as some of your rivals who have won already. I advice you to check several tables with the same buy-in size and number of players. Then compare average pot size.

For Pot-Limit or Fix-Limit Texas Holdem poker best tables are with %50 players/flop. And the players should have stakes equal to max buy-in size. For example, if max buy-in is $100, look for a table with $80-$120 stakes. In this case you will have a chance to be all-in with $100.

Now it is time to analyze percentage of hands played per hour (h/hr). Many beginners think that it is good if this figure is high. They say that pace of the game is high and they can start to win in a minute and will make much money soon. This statement seems to be reasonable. But if you analyze it more carefully you will find out many disadvantages. If the players are able to finish hands very fast it means that they make decisions immediately. Therefore you can make a conclusion that your rivals are skilled Texas Holdem players who do not need much time to think. On the opposite side, you can join 6-max No-Limit Texas Holdem table with 60% players/flop and 150 hands/hour. But I bet this table is full of maniacs and the game will start only after the flop.

And now it is time to make the conclusion. I advice you to keep an eye on your opponents. There is a feature of adding players to the list of your friends available at many online Texas Holdem poker rooms. Do not add there only your friends. I believe that you should also place there weak rivals. They should be your friends! And as soon as you see your “friend” playing Texas Holdem somewhere just join the table!

First of all let’s make clear – position is crucial in Texas Holdem. The best position is when you have got a final word (that is you are with a dealer button, or player who is sitting to the left from you folded his cards). It is called to be in position.

The worst positions are blinds because after the first round of betting all other players will have their words after you. Therefore you won’t have an advantage of a final word.

Regardless of your Texas Holdem skills, situation or cards, being in position gives you much important information. You can analyze actions of your opponents, build your strategy and influence the game by your last word.

What do you think is the most important in Texas Holdem? I say that it is information. If you have enough information about your opponents in most cases you can beat them.

4 reasons to play when you are in position:

1. You have got more information when your opponents while you are in position.

2. Being in position gives you unique chance to bluff. And in such cases bluff is affordable, because you have a final word.

3. Position gives you an opportunity to make effective value bets.

4. Being in position allows you to control the size of a pot.

If I have not convinced you yet let’s have a look at the real example. Probably you have heard about “Durrrr Challenge”. It is a heads-up tournament arranged by Tom durrrr Dwan. Dwan bet $1.5 million against $500 000 of his rival promised to beat him on the distance of 50 000 hands. The first opponent of Tom is a Finnish pro Patrick Antonius. These two players are probably best ones in online Texas Holdem. Many experts believe that they are on the same level of skills. And as I said position is crucial and I will prove it. Tom Dwan and his rival already played thousands of hands. And if you just check statistics of their hands you can see that their results depend on position. Dwan won most of chips when he was in position. Patrick Antonius did the same. Is it just a coincidence ? I do not think so . So, it is quite obvious that success in playing eve against the same opponent depends on a position first of all. Position is a crucial factor.

Therefore if one player could be in position all the time he would not have serious competition! Such lucky person would be a champion all the time. And it doesn’t matter if you play online Texas Holdem or participate in a tournament at a casino, play in position! You should try to make your profits while you are in position. Don’t forget about the importance of position at the table.

Every hand you play when you are not in position is a potential disaster. And it is not an exaggeration. Daniel Skolovy says that playing not in position is a something like searching for a way in a cave without a flashlight. You never know what you are going to see round the corner.

If you wish to use this Texas Holdem poker tool effectively you need to analyze some information about your opponents:

Strength of the cards. Obviously, if your opponents consider their cards strong enough, they will call your bet.

Their thoughts about your cards. If your opponent thinks that you have the strongest cards, he/she most likely won’t put money in the pot. But at the same time if your opponents are almost sure that you have best cards, you still can make them put money in the pot. Just place a small bet and most opponents will call.

Their readiness to fold. Some Texas Holdem poker players do not tend to fold good cards at all. In most cases such opponents are ready to call value bet if they have good pocket cards. At the same they do not care about the concrete situation and they call having pocket AA without thinking about cards on the table.

There are many players with opposite Texas Holdem style. They are extremely careful and fold at every dangerous situation. And it is not an easy task to make them put money in a pot. Therefore the best strategy in such cases is to place small bets trying to make them put at least something.

How many chips they are ready to use to call your bet . Most Texas Holdem players set certain limits. For example, they set limit on calls. For some of them it is an absolute value. For others it’s a certain percentage of a stake. Half of the stake of a player is the most common limit.

You posses information. And how to use it then?

Effective use of value bets seems to be an easy task. Especially if you have answers to the questions you saw above. But even if you know your opponents and can predict their actions it is difficult to make right decision about the size of value bets. Predicting the best size of value bet is crucial.

Most experts say that value bets should not be too big. Even small value bets will bring you profits in a long run. But if you place big bets all the time your opponents will fold. Therefore you won’t be able to win much.

Example:

Let’s say, your opponent is ready to call $50 bet. If you place $40, you will lose $10 and it just 20 % of the bet. But if your bet is $60 your opponent will fold. Thereby you will lose $50!

Unearned money is lost money. You need to remember this Texas Holdem rule. And inefficient use of value bets will generate losses. Even when you win money taking pot you have to analyze your actions and if you made a mistake it is important to avoid such blunders in the future.

So, once again, proper use of value bets is very important in Texas Holdem. You can earn money without this tool. But you will never be able to break the big bank without value bets.

For sure there will be many unskillful players who are ready to give you their money. You just need to know how to play properly No-Limit Texas Holdem with blinds $1/$2. Believe me, it is not so difficult to start winning money. Just spend more time to read useful articles and apply your knowledge to the practice.

The Game

As I said this type of poker is the most popular. Minimal buy-in is $40 and maximal buy-in is $200. $1/$2 blinds are the smallest in Texas Holdem poker you can play at casinos. Therefore it is a low risk affordable game.

Your typical opponent

During playing No-Limit Texas Holdem you will meet different opponents: 60-years old accurate players, beginners, maniacs, aggressive rivals and youngsters with sunglasses thinking that they are cool and look very professional. Some of your opponents will be very skilful, but most will be just beginners without proper Texas Holdem poker skills. They will depend only on their own cards without assessing the concrete situation. Such simple thinking guarantees you winnings.

They won’t notice that you fold dozens of hands and now you place a big bet. They can think this way “I have got pocket jacks, so, I can re-raise any bet!”. Such Texas Holdem players are your main victim. And they are the source of your profits. They have got two weaknesses. First if that they call too often before the flop. And the second is that they do not want to fold and you can bring them to the very end of a hand. Poker pros call such opponents fishes.

Beginners complain very often that it is impossible to win much playing against fishes because they only call and do not raise as often as aggressive players. But this statement doesn’t make a sense! It is totally wrong. Players who call often are ATM machines of poker! They are willing to give their money to anybody who is patient enough. Patience is the key to success. Never forget this rule!

Your ideal strategy for No-Limit Texas Holdem with $1/$2 blinds

Play tight, wait for the best pocket pair or very strong cards and place a bet! So, as you can see I do not advice you anything supernatural. It is just an ABC’s of poker! Wait for best cards and play, do not loose concentration and profits will come to you. Weak players won’t surprise you with their decisions. They call in most cases . Therefore just let them do their job. Do not bluff too often. As I said your opponents tend to call therefore bluff is not an effective tool. You should better focus on using value bets when you have good pocket cards.

When you play tight before the flop it helps you to make decisions after the flop. Play good cards before the flop and you will have the same strong cards after the flop and it will be extremely simple to finish the hand with positive results. That ‘ s all ! Avoid playing weak cards. You will have to face difficult moments after the flop if you have started with weak cards. And it will affect your confidence. Once again, just be patient!

Your goal is to have best pair with a strong kicker or good drawing hand at the flop. You should not repeat actions of your opponents. Follow tight Texas Holdem poker style and focus on playing hands. It is better not to play so often but to win every time you play. So, quality is more important than quantity.

No-Limit Texas Holdem with blinds $1/$2: a few words about the cards you should have to win

Last time I told you about No-Limit Texas Holdem with blinds $1/$2. You might remember that this type of poker is the most popular one. You can find it almost in all casinos. Therefore it is very useful to learn how to play No-Limit Texas Holdem with blinds $1/$2 effectively.

Previously I gave you some information about the game and described the most suitable strategy. So, now we will continue our conversation about No-Limit Texas Holdem. I will tell you what cards you need to have to play with blinds $1/$2

Strong pocket pairs (AA – TT)

These hands are ready to use! One strong hand is enough to win in most cases. Therefore if you decide to play this hand you should start to raise. But be careful if somebody raised before you. Your opponent might have better cards than you. At the same time if you hold pocket aces, kings, queens of jacks you should re-raise your opponents. At least before the flop. Of course, pocket aces do not guarantee you win. Therefore always analyze possible combinations of your opponents.

And if the flop brings you third card and you have three of a kind you should definitely place bets. Your typical opponent will call your bet and his mistakes will allow you to win money.

Good cards with potential value (A-K – A-J, K-Q)

Good cards with a potential value can easily transform into a top pair with a strong kicker. And when you play against a typical opponent, strong kicker can make a difference.

For example, if you have got KQ and the flop brings you King you can start to raise all the time. Let’s say, if your opponent has got K9 he will call your bets. So, you won’t have any difficult decisions, just play your game and wait until the kicker earns you money.

Experts advice to raise before the flop if you have good cards with potential value. But this statement can be applied only to situations when nobody raised before you. And of course you have better chances to outclass just one opponent than several of them. Keep in mind this simple mathematics.

Speculative hands

Speculative hands do not bring win without help from the flop, turn or river. It is very rare that high card ace or king can win a hand. But at the same time if the luck plays on your side and you receive help from the flop, turn or river you can win a good pot. And of course, ideally speculative hands transform into three of a kind, straight, full-house or flush. If you are lucky enough to build such combination you are ready to bet all your money. And you do not really have to care about the actions of your opponent.

Such cards are called speculative because they need to be strengthened. These cards separately do not have a value. Ideally you want to see the flop without paying for it when you have speculative hands. Speculative hands can bring you positive results if you are the last person to play at the table. Therefore if there are many opponents after you try to avoid adding much money to the pot.

Many beginners often make a big mistake when they have pocket aces. As soon as they see their pocket aces they want to be all-in. But such approach is not the best one you can use in Texas Holdem.

It doesn’t matter if you play Texas Holdem online, in casino or somewhere else, your constant goal is to win as much chips as possible. And if you belong to the group of poker players who want to be all-in with AA, KK, QQ and JJ you miss an opportunity to build a big pot and win it! At the same time you should remember that even pocket aces do not guarantee you a win in Texas Holdem.

So, let’s now analyze everything properly. If you have got pocket aces you should raise before the flop. A few of your opponents call. It means that most likely they have got pairs or strong connectors like AK or AQ. You have got pocket aces, so it is very unlikely that somebody has got another ace. Therefore I say that your opponents have got pairs or they are just maniacs with aggressive style. Pocket aces give you confidence and you just have to wait. At the best your opponents call or even re-raise. If you are in a late position you should definitely re-raise. It is a very reasonable decision because you want to minimize the amount of the opponents before the flop. You should eliminate several your opponents. If you cannot do it be ready to loose. If there are many rivals, your chances to win go down because even crappy cards can become strongest after the flop.

Here is the example of a strong play with pocket aces. One Texas Holdem player participated in a tournament. At the one of the latest stages of the tournament he received aces. His first opponent raised and five others called. In such situation a call can lead to a unpleasant consequences. Therefore this guy decided to raise and was all-in. Two of his opponents called. One of them had AK and another one had J10. In several seconds our hero grabbed chips of his opponents.

Now I wish to underline his decision to re-raise. This guy understood that he needs to get rid of several opponents and he did it perfectly. Well done!

If you play Limit Texas Holdem use of pocket aces is more difficult. Basically, you cannot eliminate your opponents by huge bets. Therefore your chance to win with pocket aces is not as high as it is in No-Limit Texas Holdem. Of course, strategy of use of pocket aces is the same: you want your opponents to call and even re-raise. Keep an eye on your opponents. It is extremely difficult to fold pocket aces. But you should have a strong will. You should understand that your opponents can beat pocket aces with many combinations.

Texas Holdem beginners think that they play poker well. But when it comes to use of pocket aces they make mistakes. They are all-in before the flop with pocket aces and this decision doesn’t allow maximizing profits.

So, once again, pocket aces are the great advantage. But you should know how to use this advantage properly. Therefore don’t let game take its course. Do your best to earn as many chips as possible.

But mastering such simple skills is not enough if you wish to become professional Texas Holdem player. There are many tricks in Texas Holdem and you should learn how to use them. Without it your chances to win big pots are extremely low.

And one of the most important skills in Texas Holdem is an ability to read cards of your opponents. So, how to do it? Basically, you need to analyze the hand and actions of your opponent. First of all, try to compose a range of cards which your opponent can possibly have. Knowing the range of cards will help you to evaluate your chances to win the hand.

Actually, it is very difficult to master skills of reading cards of your opponents. In contrast to other Texas Holdem tricks reading of opponents cards can not be done with help of a universal strategy. So, there is NO strategy you can rely on to read cards of your opponents.

You will face different poker players with unique Texas Holdem styles. And it won’t be easy to read their cards. Of course, after participating in hundreds of games you will have an important experience. And this experience helps to read cards better. But what should you do if you are just a beginner in Texas Holdem?

Well, I advise to start with observations. Keep an eye on your opponents. Be patient and concentrated. You will have to analyze all actions of your opponents. What is important to learn about your opponents? – Everything! But first of all how often they play, how often they raise and place bets etc. But of course it is almost impossible to observe actions of all opponents. Therefore you should concentrate your attention on several. For example on two sitting to the left from you.

So, if your opponent doesn’t play hands often and now he raises it means that he has got strong cards. At least in most cases. Accurate Texas Holdem players are ready to wait and wait for strong cards. They want to minimize risks and you should remember about it. And on the contrary, if a player uses aggressive style with attributes of a maniac, you should not be feared by his raises. Again, at least in most cases.

As I said it is crucial to be able to read cards of your opponents. At the same it is also important to be unpredictable and not to let your opponents read your cards. Therefore stick to your image. Try to play certain percentage of hands during a session. If you play extremely rare don’t be surprised if your opponents fold after your raise. They expect you to play only strong cards and they have all the reasons to be afraid of you. Therefore play variously and don’t be predictable.

Another important thing is your emotions. Do not let them to take control over you. When you expect the river to bring you needed card and it doesn’t happen, don’t show it! Don’t be upset, your opponents will read your emotions on your face. Try not to speak much when you play Texas Holdem. Experienced opponents are able to analyze your voice and speeches and it will help them to read your cards.

3. Do not use the same strategy when blinds go up

In the very beginning of a tournament you can easily call $80 bet having pocket 6♣ 7♣. And such call is reasonable because it is possible to catch needed cards on the flop. But when blinds go up such tactic becomes too expensive. And I can say the same about weak pocket pairs like 44, 33 etc. Of course, you hope to collect three of a kind and expect to get third 4 from the flop. But the possibility to get needed card in this case is only 1 to 8. Let’s evaluate your chances in such cases. If you have to call $2400 8 times you will lose 7 times. So, it will mean that you will have to give away 16 800 chips. And if you want to keep your stake in Texas Holdem tournament you will have to win at least 16 900 chips when you get three of a kind from the flop. So, as you can see it is reasonable to avoid such situations and keep 16 800 chips instead of hoping on the good luck.

4. Do not underestimate to win blinds of your opponents

The further you go at a Texas Holdem tournament, the more aggressive you should play. Tight play is very useful, but only on first stages. But as soon as your stake becomes not reliable enough you should start using aggressive strategy.

Your hand: K♠ 10♥

Position: cut-off

Blinds: $300/$600

Stake: $10 000

All players before you have folded. You have got average cards, they can bring you win but you need strengthening. Definitely, such cards are suitable for attempts of stealing blinds. Raise to 1 500 and watch your opponents. If a person sitting on a dealer-button folds and big blind calls you will have at least better position. And if you are lucky simple continuation bet can earn you 1 800 chips (your opponents fold).

Such aggressive strategy is worthwhile. You should remember that waiting for monster cards is very expensive in Texas Holdem tournaments. In our case you will lose 900 chips after every round. And of course such expenses are not good for your stake.

5. Do not chase a draw without reliable oods

This situation is very common. A player collects drawing hand at the flop and needs just a one card to complete the draw. Excitement and desire to win big pot force the player to risk. He continues the hand and adds chips to the pot and finally looses everything.

Your hand: A♥ J♥

The flop: 5♥ 9♥ Q♦

Your stake: $11 000

Pot: $2 500

Opponent (stake = 5 000) places $1900 bet. Is it reasonable to call? No, because the odds to win the hand are not big enough. In this example the chance to get a needed card is 35 %. But experts say that odds should not be lower than 43 %. Only in such cases you should continue Texas Holdem game.

Moreover, your opponent is tied to the pot and it is very unlikely that he will fold. Let’s say he will be all-in. Then you call and the river and the turn do not give you needed card. So, you will lose 5 000 chips and it will be very painful. Basically, the game is not worth the candle.

You should fold and wait for suitable moment. When I say suitable I mean affordable. Do not invest too much money on risky hands. Many Texas Holdem players make this mistake and realize it when it is too late.

The goal of this article was to tell you how to maximize chances to win a tournament. Of course, as you know, there is no guaranteed winning Texas Holdem strategy and the luck plays an important role. But the luck should not be crucial. Therefore I advice you not to be all-in too often. You cannot win every single coin-flip and you will definitely loose at least once. But this defeat can be decisive. That’s why you should not let the luck to define winner.

1. Do not call raises before the flop too often

Texas Holdem tournament consists of hundreds of hands. And you will definitely have to make difficult decisions related to bets. Mistakes with continuation bets are very painful. Therefore you should use two rules to avoid such mistakes:

•  Do not place continuation bets all the time

•  do not place very expensive continuation bets

I advice to use continuation bets only in cases when you are sure that your opponent is going to fold or when you have a perfect draw with a big value. Looses induced by continuation bets can be extremely huge. Many Texas Holdem players are not afraid of placing big bets. They prefer aggressive style. The size of the bet can be 2/3 of the pot or even bigger. And this is a dangerous game . You should understand it . Placing expensive continuation bets can be punished really hard if one of your opponents has collected good cards. Therefore I advice to place small bets. In such cases you can win at least something. Let’s have a look at the example.

Your hand: A♥ K♥
The flop: 7♥ 2♥ J♦

And there is only one opponent.

So, as you can see, the flop brought you good cards. At the same time you do not have a completed combination yet. Now you have a drawing hand with a potential value. Therefore if you raise you will have good chances to complete your drawing hand and win the big pot. Therefore continuation bet is suitable in this situation

Your hand: K♥ Q♣
The flop: Q♠ 8♠ 8♣

There are three opponents

Use of continuation bets is a mistake in this case. First of all, you play against three opponents and it is very possible that at least one of them has got ace, or even pocket pair. Possibility of folding by all the opponents is extremely small. Therefore you should try to save your chips and avoid continuation bets.

2. Do not hope too much on strong pocket cards

You have got final word at the hand with pocket AK. Your opponent with a big stake raise by the size of four blinds. After several minutes of thinking you decide to be all-in. Your opponent calls your bet and shows QQ. And after several seconds you have to leave the table. Such situations are very common in Texas Holdem poker especially at the earliest stages of different tournaments. Experienced Texas Holdem players prefer to have a look at the flop before putting all the chips on the centre of the table if they have high card ace.

Instead of being all-in with such cards it would be wiser to call big bet or even re-raise. If your opponent bets $100 just re-raise it to $400. Maybe your opponent will fold cards and you will get the money. Anyway if you use this Texas Holdem strategy you will be able to check the flop and if it hasn’t brought you any useful cards you can just fold. In the worst case you will still have some chips.

I wish to advice the same if you have got pocket jacks. Most poker players are ready to be all-in with such cards. They expect most of their opponents to fold before the flop. But if somebody calls, the flop can change everything. And don’t forget that your jacks can be outclassed by pocket queens, kings or aces. So, your chances are not as good as you might think. So, once again, first of all check the flop and build your strategy then. This is Texas Holdem poker, not a Russian roulette. Therefore don’t rely only on luck. Always use advantage of your skills!

Rule N 1: If you want to use free cards make sure your opponents are suitable for such strategy. You should not depend on free cards if your opponents prefer to play aggressively placing bets all the time. You will just start to loose your money because weak cards do not bring benefits in such games.

Rule N 2: you should not invest much money in weak cards. Your opponents will read your strategy and you will become predictable. If you want to play maniac style, show it to your opponents! But be careful, do not start to make foolish decisions. The aim of a maniac is to force your opponents to fold. But if your rivals do not fold you should adjust your strategy.

Rule N 3 is the most important one. Use tight play at the flop. Even if you use maniac style, raise before the flop. Just build your public image and show weak cards only in case if the pot is small to make your opponents believe that you play the fool at the table.

3 styles (images)

There are three main images of Texas Holdem poker player. I am going to tell you about the styles. First of all you should understand that it is important to force your opponents make mistakes based on the perception of you. You try to force an opponent to fold top pair, because you played very careful before and the opponent believe you are very conservative in Texas Holdem poker. Or you want your opponent to call when you have full house. And your opponent calls because you have built a reputation of a maniac and he doesn’t believe you thinking about bluff.

Maniac
Tight – accurate and careful player
Crazy (unpredictable)

You can apply any of these styles. But I strongly advice you to learn every style and learn how to use it perfectly.

Which style to choose?

Choose style of play depending on your opponents. Play carefully with accurate and careful opponents. If you have aggressive opponents, be aggressive either.

It might sound weird because most experts do not agree with this point of view, bit it is true. But remember that we are talking about your public image, not your playing style!

The reason I advice you to play carefully against accurate rivals is that in most cases they will fold strong cards. And you will have a chance to steal blinds or bluff, but this strategy will work until your opponents think that you play carefully.

The reason I advice you to play aggressively against careless players is that you should make them consider you a weak Texas Holdem player. In most cases you won’t have to do anything to make your opponents pay you if you have, for example, pocket aces. They will just raise all the time and you just have to call. If your opponents fold when you have good cards try to show them silly things. Raise and re-raise several times having bad cards. Show them your poor skills and they will give you the money.

Unpredictable style suits opponents who know your strategy and able to read you. Unpredictable style is the only one tool you should use playing against constant opponents. In most cases unpredictable players win. It is just impossible to divine their cards and behavior.

Good Texas Holdem poker players know that the game requires patience. The main rule of poker says: if you play with big blinds you will lose your money, but if you do not have a patience you will be eliminated even faster.

Professional poker players are very patient

I doubt that you can meet professional poker player without patience. Impatient players can win only because of luck. But really good players know that rises and falls are not so important as patience. Poker players face rises and falls even more often than stock exchange traders. Reward always comes to patient players who can stay calm and be consecutive.

Learning all rules and tricks of Texas Holdem poker is not an easy task. You might spend months and years to become a real pro. But if you are consecutive and use right strategy you will notice progress and will be able to start to win.

Be ready to face streaks of bad luck, it is difficult but you have to be tough. Don’t be too downhearted if you lose your stake in several hours. And if you lose every single time maybe the reason is lack of patience?

There are 2 types of impatient game:

•  Frequent betting with weak cards

•  Playing too many hands

Frequent betting with weak cards

Even if you play only with good cards you can experience lack of patience. You can give away much having valueless cards. For example, you have pocket kings and you place a bet. Three of your opponents call. The flop brings an ace and you raise again. Your opponents call and you start to realize that at least one of them might have another ace and your kings are valueless. Good Texas Holdem players know that it is better to fold in such cases. But impatient ones just ignore ace and continue to place bets thinking that they have the best cards.

When you have AK don’t think that win is guaranteed. And if the flop doesn’t bring anything valuable don’t become mad, you will have your chance to win in the future. Just remember, patience is crucial.

Playing hands too often

Another coming mistake is playing too many hands. Playing online Texas Holdem is not easy. After 6-8 hours sitting at the computer you become tired. And it leads to the lack of concentration. Players cannot focus on the situation and start to lose hand by hand. It is much easier to click “call” instead of thinking about consequences of this decision. A tired person doesn’t want to fold and start to play almost every single hand. In conclusion I wish to give you advice – play Texas Holdem when you really want to do it and have enough energy to be focused. Players start to rely on luck when they do not have enough concentration and patience and this is a huge mistake. Therefore you should be able to leave the table or casino as soon as you noticed first signs of tiredness.

It is very important to be unpredictable playing Texas Holdem poker. Unpredictable opponent is extremely difficult to play with. If you always check having weak cards and place bets or raise having strong cards, experienced Texas Holdem players will get to the core of your strategy pretty fast. And it will be more difficult to win them.

Free card

When you play a hand from the last position and you have a final word you can raise at the flop even if you have drawing hand. In most cases such strategy forces opponents to check on the turn. Thus you will have a chance to see one more card without adding money to a pot. The another thing you can do is to raise if the flop brought you needed cards. Such Texas Holdem strategy allows you to keep money and see more cards. Anyway you can fold on the river and save your stake if the situation becomes dangerous and might lead to heavy losses.

But of course it is not that simple. If your opponent raises at the flop you might loose your money being beaten by the rival. So, be careful but do not forget to use “free card” rule. This Texas Holdem trick is very effective.

Check-Raise

If you have good cards it does not mean that you should place bet / raise. Try to check, maybe your opponent will raise. In this case your re-raise will be unexpected. Such strategy is very effective to swindle out of the money of your opponent. For example, if you have pocket A-Q and the flop brings A-Q-6 do not raise. Try to check, several your opponents make the same and the last one raises. In this case you re-raise and make him pay.

Generally you let players with drawing hands continue the game and at one moment just make the hand too expensive. And of course it will be tough for them to make a decision.

Semi-bluff

Semi-bluff is a Texas Holdem trick when you place a bet or raise not having strongest cards at the moment but there is a possibility to build up winning hand. Even if your opponent re-raises your bet you still have a chance to get needed card and outplay your rival.

The Slow-Play

You have got a valuable hand . And it might be wise to use the slow-play Texas Holdem trick. It means that you check or call until the turn and the river. The main goal of the slow play is to decoy opponents into the trap increasing your chances to win more money. It should be mentioned that the slow – play strategy might be really harmful. It happens if your opponents use free cards and receive needed cards. Many players use the slow – play too often and just suffer a defeat even when they had perfect chance to win. They just needed to place bet in time and force opponents to fold.

You SHOULD NOT use slow-play if:

1. Free card can bring your opponents strong card and your combination won’t be best anymore.

2. There are too many players taking part in the hand

3. Pot is big enough already

When you decide to jump from small-stakes game to a big-stakes game Texas Holdem poker becomes a dangerous business with unpredictable results. The luck becomes crucial and you can not depend so much on your own skills. It won’t be possible anymore to use your old Texas Holdem strategies. Your ability to be patient and wait for good cards will not be enough. And unlucky streaks will be very painful. Therefore you will be depending on cards. And you will start to win if the luck brings you excellent cards. But the luck is not reliable at all.

When you play with affordable blinds the luck is not crucial. Your skills can easily compensate shortage of luck. You can afford to avoid difficult decisions playing Texas Holdem poker with affordable blinds. Sudden defeat will not shutter your composure and you will be able to get back in business winning your money.

So, it is better to switch to the next level only when you played several months and won big pots. Don’t forget that you will face strong opponents playing Texas Holdem with high blinds. Of course, your potential winning will be higher as well but you should be ready to extremely difficult hands.

Therefore, you should be always confident in your bankroll. It has to be big enough allowing you to use your winning strategy without any limitations. In this case you will be able to focus on the game, not on your bankroll.

If you are not patient enough there is one rule you should always remember. This rule will help you to generate profits playing Texas Holdem poker with big stakes. It is called “to disappear from the scene of the crime”. For example, you have got $500 and play at the table with $5-10 blinds. So, as soon as you double your stake leave the table! And it doesn’t matter how successful you are. Even if you can continue beating your opponents just leave!

Many people cannot leave a table if they have won some money already and think that it’s possible to earn money. And this is a common problem. Many players do not stop at the right time and finally leave a game without any money. And if you have lost certain amount of money I would advise use to switch to a table with lower stakes. You will feel more comfortable.

I saw many people who lost all their money trying to become rich too fast. You should understand that each time you play Texas Holdem with too expensive blinds a game becomes dependent on luck. And you just start to risk all your money. So, once again, play with blinds you can afford. And you will not regret!

Playing only these cards is not that easy. It requires you to be disciplined, you have to be ready to skip most hands and wait for your chance. Use this strategy for beginners, it gives good results. And you will have much time to observe your rivals and collect more information about them and their playing styles.

I would like to show you one table. Here you can see what cards you should play and when (correlation between position and cards you should play). This table is suitable if you play against average Texas Holdem players, not “maniacs”. Here is the list of pocket cards you HAVE to have to start the game if nobody raised before you.

Pocket cards you should have to start playing if nobody raised before you

(o=of the same suit)

Advice to play before the flop

•  In most cases you should raise when you have best pairs (AA-QQ) or strong connectors (AK-AQ). Your aggressive strategy will force opponents with weak cards and worst pairs to pay to continue the game until the flop. Do not forget, if the flop bring them good cards they can outclass you. But many newcomers do not understand it and fold too often.

•  Only play best pocket cards (have a look at the table). You will have to pay for your games with weak / average cards in No-Limit Texas Holdem.

•  Raise by 70 – 100 % if you bluff (approximately 3 big blinds). And raise by 4-6 big blinds if you wish to steal big blind from an opponent.

•  Be careful with accurate players. Respect them and adjust your strategy. For example, you should fold having AQ if your opponent raised before the flop and you have noticed him playing very rarely.

•  If your opponents are not that good you should try to play with weak and average cards.

•  Place bets and re-raise if you have AA-QQ. And it doesn’t matter which position you occupy at the table.

•  Most other pocket cards are weak. But at the same time you can re-raise to protect your blind.

•  Sometimes you should change strategy. Don’t be afraid to call or raise with weak average cards. Make yourself unpredictable.

There are many different ways to play good cards. Many experts say that it is effective to play “monster cards” slowly trying to hide them from the opponents. Others believe that it is better to place bets from the very beginning. But I say that you should not use the same strategy all the time. Texas Holdem is a situational game. And Texas Holdem strategy depends on a situation and behavior of rivals. Just always remember that you opponent has to be tied to his stake. Therefore it will be extremely difficult for him/her to fold. In such cases it will be very easy for you to take all his/her money at the river. And your “monster cards” will be played correctly with best possible result.

When you should use slow play?

The best situation to use slow play is when you face aggressive opponent and you have a final word. It is extremely pleasant if your aggressive opponent places bet by bet and you just have to call having AA. Thereby your opponent “feeds your monster”.

So, this is the only one case when I use slow play. I call bets at the flop and re-raise at the turn. And if my opponent has got best pair he becomes tied to his stake because he has already put much money in the pot. My next step is to be all-In at the river. It has to be a final effort to take away the money.

Turn is the best time to make your opponent tied to a stake. If your opponent raises at the turn just double or triple his bet. In most cases your opponent will continue playing because the game becomes too expensive to fold.

When to place bets

I really like to play with “monster cards“against strong players because I always know if they have good cards or not. If strong opponent calls it means in most cases that he/she has got the highest pair from the flop. And it also makes it possible to tie him to the pot. Then I will try to tie him to the pot at the river and take all the money at the river. But there is an exception. You should be careful if there are drawing hands with possible high value. If such drawing hands can beat you, be careful. In such cases I advise you to force your opponents to be all-in at the turn. Some of your opponents will fold and it will minimize chances to complete drawing hands.

There is an example. I have got around $600 and my opponent’s stake is almost of the same size. I have got 5-5 and the flop brings K-2-5. I place 48 $, the opponent calls. In most cases it means that he has got A-K or K with something else. Now it is the time to tie him to the pot. I bet $120 at the turn. If my opponent raises I will be all-in. And if he didn’t raise and just checked I would be all-in at the river. So, this was just an example how to make your monster cards work.

An experienced Texas Holdem poker player knows when to quit. And you should be aware of your abilities. You should also feel unlucky streaks and be able to avoid them. It is very important to stop when poker becomes destructive for your bankroll. The most important rule is not to leave the table when everything is going perfectly. You should not set limits for winnings or losses per day. Setting such limits is not a wise idea.

If you are lucky and just smash opponents one by one do not stop playing Texas Holdem poker. Success in poker depends on the confidence. When you win you feel confidence. And such condition allows you to play more aggressive forcing opponents to make mistakes and become nervous. And of course it means that you will be able to win even more.

Sometimes you should not quit a game even if you have lost big part of the stake. You can play really well but for some reasons without success. Maybe it happens because of the bad luck. But if you follow winning strategy your efforts will be compensated.

Strong Texas Holdem players can lose several thousand dollars during several hours but will compensate everything in a long run. They know that the Texas Holdem strategy they follow is effective and it will bring positive results. Generally, if they set a limit for loses per day they would never climb back winning big stakes.

But of course you should know when it is better to stop playing. I say that if you lost a large % of your money and your bankroll is in danger you should stop. Your bankroll has to be big enough to allow you to suffer several defeats. You cannot always win, you will definitely suffer defeats therefore size of bankroll is very important. Your bankroll has to allow you to play and not to think about money. Just make sure that you play well and you will be able to win money in the long run.

There are difficult situations when you start to loose concentration and start to Play Texas Holdem inadequately. It might happen because of chain of defeats. In such cases inexperienced player is not able to make logical decisions and resist his opponents properly. If you face such situation it is better to take a break. Yes, it is not easy to stop and there is always a desire to win back, but you have to learn to stop playing Texas Holdem poker instantly. It is crucial to stop if you cannot resist stress induced by defeats. It’s also wise to stop playing if you are tired and do not feel well. According to researches, people pass exams better if they are well-rested and full up. This statement can be applied to Texas Holdem poker too. I have noticed that if I am tired I play hands more often (even if my pocket cards are not strong enough). And I make weird decisions. Unfortunately I realize it afterwards.

Therefore if you want to become successful poker player you should care about your physical conditions and spirit. It is crucial to be able to focus on a game. So, don’t forget to make small breaks. You will have enough time to play!

Your friends defeat you playing Texas Holdem poker at home. You lose your first few bucks you transferred to your online wallet. Moreover, you just do not understand why it happens and you waste your money so fast! Maybe you are just unlucky? Or you make mistakes playing Texas Holdem? I would say that you just do not know one simple rule. Knowing this rule can change everything!

Don’t think that you are worse than other Texas Holdem players. It is wrong. And you do not have to be poker expert to start winning. Indeed, knowing even some basic principles of poker is very beneficial. Having such knowledge can lead to fast winnings and improving your results. And the first thing you should do to become a successful Texas Holdem player is to understand how to stop losing.

And the advice number one is to play fewer hands.

There are 169 different pocket hands in Texas Holdem. And only five of them are counted as “the highest category”:

•  AA

•  KK

•  QQ

•  AK (of the same suit)

•  JJ

It doesn’t matter where you sit at the table, you should always play having such pocket cards. But this statement is correct only in cases when nobody raised before you. If you face an opponent raising, play only AA or KK. Therefore you should understand that you have to fold quite often in Texas Holdem. But the better pocket cards you have the fewer difficult decisions you make.

Of course, there is no guaranteed winning Texas Holdem strategy. You have to evaluate current situation and make a decision depending on the situation at the table. But once again, basically there are just several pocket cards you should play. At the same time if nobody raised before you it is quite possible to win even with weak cards. Anyway your pocket cards must have potential value.

And if anyone raises you need to evaluate your pocket cards once again and continue playing with strong ones. You must be sure that your cards can bring you win and won’t be beaten. For example you should never call having KQ if someone raised because AA, KK, QQ, AK and AQ would be stronger than your cards. If you a beginner in Texas Holdem poker it would be wise to play only if you have one of the best 15 pocket cards.

And remember: the more you play Texas Holdem, the better you become. You will improve your skills and it will allow you to play more often, even when you have relatively weak pocket cards.

But as I said, in the very beginning don’t make things difficult. Just play with strongest cards and minimize risk of losing money.

Best 15 pocket cards in Texas Holdem:

•  AA

•  KK

•  QQ

•  AK (of the same suit)

•  JJ

•  1010

•  AQ (of the same suit)

•  AJ (of the same suit)

•  AK (of the same suit)

•  KQ (of the same suit)

•  A10 (of the same suit)

•  KJ (of the same suit)

•  AQ (of the same suit)

•  99

•  JQ (of the same suit)

Poker Ego

Everybody likes to win, it is a fair statement. And most beginners want to start winning instantly. Sometimes they start to have a poker ego. Therefore poker ego becomes one of the main reasons of defeats. Of course everyone wants to leave Texas Holdem poker table taking money home. And this desire start to generate a dangerous rule: ”I will not let any other player beat me”. And poker ego cannot stand folding making it almost impossible to fold at all. Especially if an opponent uses bluff.

Generally, people tend to overestimate their abilities and skills. You can add evidence of this just looking at drivers. Every single driver thinks that he steers a steering wheel perfectly. And every driver occupies left line of the road thinking that he drivers faster than others. Project this thinking to Texas Holdem poker and you will see that most players don’t consider their selves beginners after several games. Moreover if a Texas Holdem player has read a few books he calls himself a poker specialist. And if a person thinks this way it brings destructive false pride. As I said, nobody wants to lose. And Texas Holdem players with poker ego don’t like to think that they are being outclassed. Finally a player will believe that his opponent tries to outwit him using bluff and placing big bets. Which means that a poker ego will force a player to call all the time.

Unwillingness to give away bank

When Phil Hellmuth plays Texas Holdem poker, Phil Hellmuth folds even good cards with big pots. It is very difficult to fold when you see a big pot. It is true that newcomers loose their minds seeing dozens of chips. They just don’t fold at all if there are many chips in pot. And good pocket cards become a burden to newcomers.

George McKeever clearly showed a difference between Texas Holdem pro and a newcomer at ME WSOP 1999. He put 90 % of his chips and folded at the river shocking fans. Most pundits blamed George saying that he had to finish the hand because he placed almost all his chips.

But McKeever stormed out the accusations. He said that it is stupid to finish a hand if you are going to lose. Despite this disaster, George made a superb comeback creating new stake and finished 7th. And he proved that he was right.

Therefore, size of pot is not important at all if you cannot win the hand. It doesn’t matter how strong your cards look. There are many situations when it would be better to fold and wait for more suitable situation to put your money in a pot. So, just don’t forget to fold and avoid painful defeats.

1) Playing too many hands before flop

This is the most common and big mistake of beginners. They play too many hands before the flop. You should remember that it does not make sense to play every single hand. It is crucial to start the game only having strong cards (one of 15 best pocket cards combinations). According to the statistics, experienced Texas Holdem players do not fold before the flop in 19-24 % cases. And they fold in all other cases (75-81 % of hands).

2) Late folding

This mistake adds troubles. As I said, most absolute beginners play hands too often. They cannot also stop at the right time. Beginners take hands too far even if the cards do not have a value. Many players do not stop until they reach the river. They think that any pair or flush draw will bring them win. But it is wrong . You should continue only having top-pair or very strong flush draw.

3) Intuitive playing not depending on cards or situation

Many beginners play hands because they just feel like making right decision. It is wrong as well. You should always depend on the game theory. Poker is a mathematical game and decisions should be made according to calculations. That’s why experienced gamers play only best hands. They do not have their own “special lucky hands” and do not let feelings move analysis aside. So, you play a hand only in case if it can give positive results and make money. And there is one more important issue related to emotions.

4) Lack of control over emotions

Texas Holdem poker can be very stressful. And if you face losing streak you might let your emotions manipulate you. Such situation leads to bad decisions and you will regret about it. It is very important to be able to make right decisions playing Texas Holdem. Therefore you must have clear fame of mind.

5) Short-term thinking and strategy

Many poker players start to blame their selves after losing a hand even if they followed right strategy. They might think that it is too dangerous to play pocket aces because an opponent had flush last time and grabbed the pot. But it is wrong. You should always remember that following right strategy will definitely bring results in the long term. You cannot avoid defeats. It happens because luck plays an important role in poker. And the luck can play on your opponents’ side even if they are not good in Texas Holdem. Just don’t worry and wait, you will compensate all your loses in the long-term if you don’t make five typical mistakes of Texas Holdem poker beginners.

If you think that ability to bluff is enough to win poker games you do not have a chance to be successful. You can be good in bluffing but it is also important to know when to bluff. So, first of all take care about timing. When beginners try to use bluff they make a simple mistake. They bluff too often and opponents start to bite their tactics through. And as soon as strategy can be read, you chances to win go down dramatically.

Basically, bluff should be made in proper time and situation. Don’t try to show off in front of your opponents. Bluff is an important decision and without understanding of the concrete situation bluff is condemned to the failure. If you decide to place a bet holding weak cards, you should try to predict behavior of your opponent. And you definitely MUST believe that he has worse cards than you. If you do not believe in it your bluff would not be convincing.

If you start to notice that your opponents do not believe your bluff it means that you do it too often. But if they can not catch you bluffing just continue sticking to your gun and increase your stake.

The best time to bluff is after several hours of careful players. Especially if you have a reputation of a prudent player. You can build such reputation winning several hands and showing your cards (really strong ones like AA, KK). You should try to start bluffing playing against very careful players and those who fold high cards. Never bluff against maniacs !! It is hopeless . You will be wiped off the table like a flash. It is wise to let them place big bets and taking pot showing your straight against a pair.

Keep in mind that bluff is effective in No-Limit games only. Don’t try to use bluff in Pot-Limit or Blind-Limit Texas Holdem. There are just so many bets and players in limit games that bluff becomes pointless. One of your opponents will definitely collect strong combination at the river or turn and you will have to pay for your unsuccessful bluff.

As I mentioned, bluff is a wonderful Texas Holdem poker tool. And mastering of this tool is a requirement for a person who wants to become strong and winning player. But just don’t use it thoughtless. Don’t move all your chips to the middle of the table at every single hand. Be brave enough, bluff at the right time and your Texas Holdem strategy will generate excellent results.

Deni “Ansky” Stern says no-limit Texas Holdem requires concentration and high attention from players. And one of the most difficult things in Texas Holdem game is not to be scared to call. It is crucial to be able to make a “brave call”. Deni talks about situations when a player has card high ace or king, or just one weak pair, like deuces and is not sure to call or not.

“Brave call” does not depend on the strength of your cards. You should only think about your opponent style of play, cards on the table and your own actions. Deni Stern says that Texas Holdem poker is a situational game and any decision depends on a concrete situation.

For example, sometimes your opponent plays aggressively and tries to make an impression that he has good cards. At the same time he doesn’t call at all with high card king or ace. Or he folds with two pairs making simple mistakes. It is crucial to understand circumstances, read the game and be able to divine your opponent’s intentions.

Let’s have a look at the example

Game – No-Limit Holdem. Blinds 200-400. Situation: I – 230 207, opponent – 88 295.

My opponent was inconstant and was playing kind of chaotic. At the same time I noticed that he is a strong player and I cannot outclass him carelessly. So, I had to think all the time and it was not an easy game.

My opponent raised 1200 on pre-flop. I re-raised 4800 having A – 10 ♣ in my hands. My opponent called and the pot reached 9 600. The flop brought 8-4 ♠ and 5 ♣. I raised 7 000 and my opponent had to call. There were 23 600 in the pot. I decided to bet, but it looked dangerous because I only had high card ace. The turn brought 7 ♦ and it was not pleasant news for me. Therefore I decided to check. My opponent did the same. Actually my situation was not good at all. I didn’t have a possibility to bluff because my opponent could have either two pairs or 6. And my opponent could understand that it is very unlikely that I have 6 because I did re-raise on pre-flop. Only a wicked player would re-raise on pre-flop having 6.

7 ♥ came on the river and I checked as well as my opponent. I was glad with this card. It meant that if I had had better cards than my opponent, I still held it with 7 ♥ cause the river didn’t change the situation. For example, if my opponent had flush draw he didn’t collect a needed card.

My opponent bet 8400. It was not a big bet in scales of the size of pot (24 000). And I had to think about my next step. First of all I tried to analyze why my opponent made such bet. If he bet only 1/3 of the pot it means one of the followings:

•  He was not sure about his decision and decided to place a small amount of chips. And in case if he looses he would not lose everything.

•  He was bluffing because he knows that I might have better cards but I am not sure about it. And if I have high card ace I would not call because his 4,5,6,7 or 8 will definitely give him win.

Therefore I decided to call and opened my A-10. My opponent had J-2 and I shoveled in the pot.

So, let’s analyze why I called? First of all my actions were based on concrete situation at the table. Of course, my opponent could bet with better cards and in this case I would lose the game. And of course I make mistakes as other people and sometimes my calls lead to defeats in Texas Holdem.

But it is very important to understand the easy rule of Texas Holdem poker. If my opponent places a bet as in our example, my chance to win the hand is 4 to 1. Therefore even if I lose one hand I won’t be too downhearted. Anyway I need to win every fifth hand to keep my stake positive.

The main conclusion of this lesson is that you should be concentrated all the time. And you should definitely understand why you are going to call or fold. If you can do it you, will be able to call properly. And brave call will become a part of your Texas Holdem strategy.

It is not so easy to define a maniac. You should not mix up a maniac with an adequate aggressive style player. If an aggressive player is having lucky evening with good cards he looks like a maniac because he raises all the time. Another typical mistake is to mix up a maniac with an adequate player who is trying to use his advantage in size of a stake. Such players try to put pressure on their careful opponents but it is a part of Texas Holdem strategy. So, as I said, it is important to define your opponent first of all.

How can you define a maniac? Well, a maniac acts without a reason. He makes illogical decisions and he does not depend on his cards, cards on the table or his opponent’s actions. A maniac is logical only in one desire to play all hands and put pressure on opponents placing chaotic bets.

Many people think that it is not a difficult task to beat a maniac. They say if he does not follow basic rules of the game he does not have chances to win. But it is a delusion. Amateurs who never faced poker maniacs before loose their stake pretty fast and they just start to blame the luck. It sounds strange, but a maniac has got a big advantage. His playing style cannot be read and analyzed and this fact makes it difficult to play Texas Holdem against him. It is very difficult to measure chances to beat maniac in a concrete hand.

When you play against a maniac it is very important to stay calm. Many amateurs start to loose confidence and it leads to a nervous atmosphere; they just can not concentrate on the game. And it would give an extra benefit to a maniac.

If you are sure that you are facing a maniac, remember several rules:

•  A maniac uses “No-Logic” style

•  It is almost impossible to prognosticate his cards

•  A maniac’s main purpose is to play and raise as many times as possible forcing his opponent to fold. A maniac does not tend to play off hands.

Remembering these simple things you should understand that standard poker rules are not effective if you play Texas Holdem against a maniac. He is not going to fold therefore you should not rely on bluff. You should also understand that your pocket cards do not guarantee a win. Flop, river and turn can completely change situation. Therefore it is extremely dangerous to play against a maniac hoping for help from flop. The same statement can be applied to flush draw. A maniac would not fold anyway!

As I said, a maniac plays with any cards. Therefore top pair does not guarantee win either. It is possible that your opponent will beat you with two pairs. He might start to play with weak cards like 3-8. And flop, turn or river would make him a winner. In this case you would just have to guess why your opponent called or raised before flop having such crappy cards and you could not win with A-K. The answer is simple – he is a maniac! No logical actions!

So, how to outclass a maniac? As I said, stay cool, be confident and wait for your chance. You might fold many times loosing a big part of your stake. But you will easily compensate your expenditures as soon as you have very strong cards. Therefore the main advice for a Texas Holdem player who faces a maniac is to be careful making a decision to call or not. So, touch and go with very strong cards, do not get nervous folding. You will definitely compensate everything and make your opponent pay several times more than you did. Do not try to play out every single hand, thing about the quality, not about the quantity and you will eliminate a maniac shoveling up his stake.

To explain this in a simpler way you will want to play more hands in the late position than what you play in the early position. The moment you adopt this strategy, you will start making more money on a long time period. In case you are wondering why is this happening, the answer is very easy. It’s because once you will be situated in a late position you will get the chance to have a lot more information that you can use in the game compared to an early position. You get to see exactly who folds and who raises and also you can see exactly how much are your opponents raising so that you will know exactly how much it could cost you to play that certain hand. In case you are going to play in an early position you will not get any of this information and the decisions you take are not based on facts. This means that we could say that you are going to play blindly in case you do not have any information about that hand.

Playing in a late position is definitely going to be more profitable for you in a long run. Here we are going to present you with three reasons why this strategy is going to improve your play. First of all you no longer fold some of the winning hands in the early position that you probably will not fold once you are situated in the late position. The second thing is that the moment you have a winning hand in a late position you will definitely going to be able to make some money out of it, compared to what you would win with the same hand in an early position. And the 3 rd reason why this strategy is going to improve your game is that once you have a losing hand in a late position you will definitely manage to lose less than you would with the same hand in an early position.

In order to get a better idea about how things work we are going to give you an example so that you better understand how you have to play in order to be successful with this online poker strategy. In case you get pocket jacks and you are in the middle position, the next thing you have to do is raise the bet 4 times the amount of the big blind. After that the button calls and you will see a flop with the following community cards: Q 7 2. The next thing you have to do is to continue with the betting (2/3 of the size of the current pot). You opponent will most likely call on you. A not so important card will come on the turn and here you are probably wondering what you could do?

Since you do not have a position over your opponent you are currently in a pretty difficult situation. In case you are going to check and your opponent will bet or call you, you could end up losing a pretty large amount of money on the river. If you will fold your cards, you could fold one of the best hand you’ve got. Even if in the good situation if you are going to make a call and on the river you and your opponent will check and you manage in the end to win the hand you are going to make far less than you would have made if you were the last one to act. This is not the way your online poker play should look like since you will have all your profits minimized and the losses maximized or you could even end up being bluffed out of a pot.

In case you have a poor position at the table you will get a very big disadvantage that you will get to fold hands as strong as AQ before the flop. In case you will use this strategy you will have your opponents to act behind you, this way they could easily pick up a hand that has you dominated like A-K, AA, KK or QQ. Even if your hand is the best at the table you are not going to make much money out of this with your position or you could even end up losing some of the largest pots at the table.

Things will get different the moment you will be in a late position. This position is going to allow you to play as many hands as possible since you will be the player that will act last on all the betting rounds from that game and this is going to be a really huge advantage for you. And in case everybody at the table is going to fold on the button, one wise strategy is to raise no matter what your cards are.

The following is a list of key tricks applicable in tough games:

The first thing you need to do in a tough Texas Holdem game is to protect your blinds. Defending blinds is very important, because the rest of players will raise with position more just to steal the blinds you post. They mustn’t have premium hands for that, but though they are raising more, you have to defend more. Blind play is the first adjustment you’ll make joining a tough table and trying to figure out how to hit the pot. However, protecting your blinds alone won’t win you the pot alone. Moreover, it can actually make the situation even more difficult, if used alone. Your opponents will raise your blinds, trying to force you play poor hands that you wouldn’t really like to play, while they have an advantage over you, because of their position at the table. That’s how instead of waiting for good starting hand you are forced to play poor hands. There is a method to counter this strategy, defending your blinds some, considering the potential weakness of your position at the table and applying the same tactics against your opponents. All you need to do is raise more hands in later positions drawing out good players and forcing them to play poor hands too. Remember that in Texas Holdem, as well as in the other poker games, your position plays a significant role in success.

What makes a Texas Holdem game tough, is the smaller edge over your opponents, so in order to win a tougher game, you have to exploit these small edges. As we have already discussed, you can’t just fold poor hands and wait for good starting hands to raise, because such hands won’t come around frequently enough to dominate the table in the long run. Your allies in this situation are your position and aggressive play. Duly combined, they are extremely hard to defeat. For example, if you have an Ace and 8, one position from the dealer’s button and all your opponents, except a player to the right fold and this player raises, then you can conclude that though this player was raising many hands at this spot, it is likely that your Ace and 8 are at least on average as good as he might be raising with. All you need to do is to three bet him, because it is now very difficult for him to play against you. In fact you force him to flop a hand and your opponent has absolutely no idea about your pocket cards. Your Ace and 8 appear to be better than any King hands, Queen hands and sometimes even pocket pairs, since in this situation your chances of hitting an Ace at the flop are pretty good and even if you won’t flop anything good, you turn your opponent’s logical thinking against himself by betting. Even for a skilled player, it’s rather uncomfortable and mentally difficult to play well with nothing good postflop against your re-raise. And in case if you completely miss the flop and your opponent seems to be showing interest, you’ll be able to get out of it with a minimal loss, since you have a better position.

Again, in Texas Holdem, your position is a very significant aspect of the game, so you must start placing more emphasis on your position at the table. Occupying a seat in the first half of the table and middle positions, you should keep playing a regular solid Texas Holdem Poker. In late positions you need to value your hands, on how your cards might fair against the blind bets. With a hand like an Ace and 8, you’ll feel difficulties playing against a large field, but playing against a couple of random hands it figures to be ahead. Playing Limit Texas Holdem, don’t hesitate to three-bet preflop more often than you do it in other Texas Holdem games. You do not need to be sure that your hand is the strongest one to three-bet. You wouldn’t want use three-betting only if you think that you can (and want) attract more money into the pot preflop. Also, it has some other juicy advantages. The extra bets you make, set you up well for the rest of the hand, because it makes harder for the players, who post blinds to call, you bust down the initial raiser and at the same time you ensure you have the button. You must also understand that if you take such style of play too fair, it will be a big hole in your game, while the key to success is balance between several strategies applied depending on the current situation at the table. The biggest part of the given Texas Holdem strategy depends on your skillful play in any position. Play tightly – don’t waste your attention for too many hands and especially the poor ones – you’ll get busted after all. You must create an image of a solid player in order to make your opponents fear your raises, because if you won’t – the rest of players will never respect your raises. Raise poor hands sparingly and only when you feel that other players have poor hands too. One more advantage of this style of play is that when you finally hit a premium hand – you’ll get a lot of action.

Note that specifically, these tips refer to Texas Holdem poker, but they are also applicable in some other poker games and are directed towards novice and upstanding players.

First of all you must play just good starting hands. Foolishness and loose play are only allowable in home and play money games, where even weak and worthless hands usually see the showdown. Real money Texas Holdem games require you to perfectly know good starting hands, worthy enough to see the flop. Don’t hesitate to fold weak hands. You’ll just waste your money, because even if one weak hand out of a hundred wins the pot, it’s rather an exception than a rule. So, the strong hands to hit the pot with preflop are: a pair of Aces of any suite, a pair of Kings of any suite, a pair of Queens of any suit, Ace and King of any suite, a pair of Jacks of any suite, Ace and Queen of any suite and a pair of 10 of any suite. Worthy hands to call with are Ace and Jack of any suite, King and Queen of any suite, a pair of 9 of any suite, a pair of 8 of any suite, a pair of 7 of any suit, Ace and 7 of the same suite. Keep in mind that these hands are worthy to call just a couple of times. The rest of the hands must be folded preflop. In case if you notice your opponents forcing weak hands to the showdown, then you can easily defeat them by tightening up until hitting a good starting hand. This set of good starting hand refers to Texas Holdem Poker and may vary in other poker games.

Avoid playing to loose and tighten up against loose players. Remember that even if your opponents play more hands, in the long run, disciplined and tight players are always more successful than super-loose players that play even weak hands. Keep track of wins and losses and you will see that tight players always earn more than even the luckiest loose players.

You must learn to quickly read the flop and make reasonable decisions, earlier than you will have to press the button in order to stay in the pot. You know that online Texas Holdem is much faster than its live counterpart, thus you must get accustomed to the faster pace of the game and learn to analyze the flop and make decisions much faster than in a casino. Flop analysis is a very important aspect of the game, but usually you have just up to ten seconds to decide whether to fold, call or bet. During these 10 seconds you must find answers for two questions. Are there any cards to form a strong hand in combination with your pocket cards and what are your odds of hitting a good hand during next betting rounds? Some poker pros recommend sitting out a couple of hands and keep an eye on the game. If the game seems too fast for you – find another table.

Choosing to play Texas Holdem online, you need to adjust to some specific features of online poker rooms before throwing your chips onto the table. Even if you have some experience of playing poker in casinos or at home, there are still a lot of things for you to learn. Despite being two branches of the same game, with identical rules and game process (number and sequence of betting rounds), live and online Texas Holdem have some important differences, which can appear to have decisive meaning at the table. Moreover, certain features and aspects of the game may vary even room to room. What you need is to get used to online poker room software and learn to benefit from each feature provided by the poker room. For instance, most online poker rooms provide players with the detailed statistics of each game and each hand you play, thus helping you to analyze your games, spot mistakes and weak points to correct them in the future and thus improve your play. If you’re a beginner – start with play money games, or low limit real money games and take enough time to learn new room’s software before getting involved in tight and aggressive action.

Take notes and keep track of every game you play, unless an online poker room, where you play provides all necessary data in statistics. And even if it does, you still need to take notes about your opponents, their strategies and tricks, etc. Write down each mistake you make and then try to analyze and understand your week points in order to avoid some pitiful mistakes in the future. All Texas Holdem pros diarize their games and benefit from these notes. It doesn’t matter whether you use paper diary, or any software application matching your needs – the point is to keep track of all mistakes and good conclusions, which helps improving your play.

Texas Holdem is not a “luck game”. If you rely on luck, then it might be better to consider some “luck games”, such as roulette, slot machines, etc. Texas Holdem is a highly intellectual game, where smart and inventive players earn more than even the luckiest ones and one of most important aspects of all intellectual games is an ability to evaluate your opponents and bluff. Of course both evaluation and bluffing are way more effective in live games, but you mustn’t underestimate the importance of these things in online poker games too. For instance, if one of your opponents checks or rises right after the previous player, you can conclude that he either has a strong hand, or uses auto check-boxes, which is a sign of non-professionalism – you will determine this at the showdown, or when such player folds. Keep an eye of your opponents and try to notice some changes in their behavior when they have weak or strong hands and in a couple of games you will be able to “read” them. And you can use the same “behavior signals” to bluff and trick your opponents too. For example, you’ll definitely look uncertain making long delays before making your move and vice versa.

If you are a beginner or even an upstanding player, you must consider low-limit Texas Holdem games, especially when entering new online poker rooms. Remember that you won’t meet loose and weak players in tight and aggressive no-limit games, or games with rather high limits. Try to find loose and juicy tables, where other players are either weaker than you, or match your current skill level. Upgrade to tighter tables just when you feel skillful enough to face stronger opponents and always make sure you have a sufficient bankroll to play at least 150 hands, when you take your seat at the table. Do not hesitate to move back if you fail to earn at a tighter table. It is better to spend another month improving your skills than lose your entire bankroll and regret about your imprudence in a play money room.

Texas Holdem is a very serious game that supposes discipline and self-control. You must keep to a strict schedule without forgetting that you live in a real world, where you have your job, your family and your leisure time. Dedicate special “poker hours” and don’t play in any other time, unless you participate in some really worthy tournament, which falls out of your schedule. It is a fact that tired players cannot concentrate on the game and often lose even worthy hands. That’s because it is very hard to succeed, when you are sleepy, or if your brain is stuffed with some unaccomplished tasks. As an upstanding Texas Holdem player, I could afford just an hour a day, but it didn’t make serious impediment on my steady way to success. I felt more comfortable playing my favorite game after a walk or a dinner with my family than when I tried to play after the midnight or at work. On the other side, you mustn’t get involved in any side activities during your “poker hours”, when somebody or something can possibly interrupt you.

Texas Holdem requires concentration and attentiveness – that’s why you must feel comfortable during the game. Make sure that everything’s ready before you login to your online poker room account. Clean your computer desk of all unnecessary things and get ready to dive into the world of Texas Holdem without leaving anything that may interrupt you during the game. If you are usually playing at home, choose the coziest place and the coziest chair you have and don’t forget to prepare as much drinks and snacks as you may want during the game. Your goal is to create ideally comfortable atmosphere, which will help you to stay concentrated throughout the game.

One of the most important qualities of a Texas Holdem pro is an ability to keep to your bankroll. You must learn to stop, when you have to stop and don’t treat Texas Holdem too seriously until online poker becomes your primary income. First of all, don’t even think of depositing money you cannot afford to lose and don’t waste a monthly bankroll during a couple of days, even if you expect to win. Split your monthly bankroll in equal amounts according to your playing schedule and strictly keep to this plan. Don’t even think of depositing your “scary money” – the money you need for life, even if you feel confident about your luck, or somebody is trying to assure you of success. Luck and misfortune always go together and you cannot predict when they come, so you mustn’t do things, which may result in a bitter and unpleasant situation.

In the end of this article, I would like to give you some useful Texas Holdem tips provided by poker pros and collected across the web:

One of the most popular tips suggested by Texas Holdem pros is to quickly and aggressively play high pairs and other good starting hands before the flop, which will contribute more money into the early pot and force weak and crappy hands to fold.

WSOP and WPT winners of the last year suggest avoid drawing to the low end, or both ends of a straight. That means that if you get 7, 8 and 9 at the flop, you wouldn’t want to play neither J and 10, nor 6 and 5, or 10 and 6.

Perry Friedman, a Full Tilt Texas Holdem pro, advices not to play unrelated medium and low value cards, which appear to be worthless in the majority of cases. This tip concerns suited cards, which cannot flop a straight, including both ends of a 9 and 5, which fall into this non-effective category too.

David Sklansky, the author of the “Holdem Poker” book, suggests playing low pairs cautiously. This concerns any pairs from 66 down to 22. Low pairs are only worthy in the late positions. If you see that nobody seems to have strong hands at the Turn and River, you may risk taking the pot with your low pair.

I suggest playing tightly and aggressively when you get a two-way draw after the flop. It’s a worthy decision if you can make a flush, straight, or trips out of your hand and you usually bet or raise after this.

The seventh, or as it’s usually called the “lucky tip” is betting an Ace or a pair of high over-cards after a worthless flop, when the entire flop is unrelated cards of medium and low value. Note that it’s better to fold if one of your opponents raises at such a worthless flop.

Keep an eye on the flops of 6, 7 and 8 sort, because they can make out a straight, which will overcome a high pair and some other worthy hands.

It is very important to know all possible combinations of Texas Holdem hands in order to quickly and easily determine what hands you can form using your pocket cards and community cards dealt onto the table. This is important because you might be short in decision time and some players even forfeit good opportunities by missing to notice a card, necessary to form a strong hand.

One of the most important details of a successful Texas Holdem strategy is evaluation of your opponents and bluffing. You must learn to bluff and you must learn to determine when your opponents are bluffing, trying to trick you, force you to raise or fold, etc. First of all, try to evaluate the habits of your opponents. For example, if a person is usually chatty during the game and then he suddenly becomes silent, this might suggest that he’s finally got a strong hand and tries to squeeze each cent out of his luck. And at the same time you must learn not to be predictable to. You mustn’t change you behavior whenever you hit a strong hand, or when anything else happens. You must look confident in any situation, because your emotions may help your opponents to win, just as evaluation of your opponents can help you to easily defeat them even with a weak hand.

Vary your strategy to confuse your opponents. Keeping to the same strategy, even to a good one, for an extended period of time will allow your opponents to resist your tricks and finally win the pot.

These Texas Holdem tips were collected and reviewed by Ronald Norris, the threefold winner of Maryland Poker Championship.

More Texas Holdem tips:

General Texas Holdem Tips
Texas Holdem tips for beginners made easy
Tips on how to play Texas Holdem
How to Play the Blind in Texas Holdem
Know Your True Holdem poker Style
Taking player notes – key of success in Texas Holdem
Why Cash Games are better than Online Poker Tournaments?
Texas Holdem Strategies for Pot Limit Vs No Limit
Winning Tough Games
Winning Tips for HORSE Tournaments
Should you be active early in a Texas Holdem tournament?
Texas Holdem Bluffing Tips
Turbo Multi Table Tournament Tips
Aggressive image – key of success in Texas Holdem?
Poker Tips: Bankroll Management
Moving from online Holdem to offline Holdem
Do you find placing bad beats as a bad decision?
Bluffing Techniques against Solid Holdem Players
Heads up Holdem Tips
How to Build and Keep a Solid Bankroll
How to build a great bankroll out of poker and make it grow?
Tips on how to become a successful Texas Holdem player
Sit-N-Go Poker Tournament Tips
Texas Holdem tips to become a tight player
Heads up Texas Holdem Strategies
How to manipulate your Sit and Go opponents
Improving your Texas Holdem game
Heads Up Texas Holdem Tips: Blinds and High cards
6 Simple tips for Texas Holdem

In Texas Holdem, a player’s position is a very important aspect of the game, which is frequently underestimated by novice players and always employed by the pros. Term “position” refers to the strategic consequences of a player’s position at the table, which is divided into three general zones: early, middle and late positions.

A player occupying a seat in the early position needs a stronger hand to raise or bet, than those, sitting in late positions, because if there are five players yet to act behind a player sitting in early position, there is a bigger chance that one of the subsequent players will have a stronger hand than if there were just a couple of players to act. Generally, a late position is an advantage, because a player can see how his earlier opponents act, which provides him with important information regarding their cards, while they have no idea about his hand. Position is one of the most vital key aspects of Texas Holdem. That’s why you need to understand the importance of this element and learn to benefit from your position at the table. In Texas Holdem, the importance of a player’s position goes far beyond ring games. In poker tournaments, where each player has a limited amount of chips, intelligent players use this commonly held knowledge as an advantage, because a raise with any couple of cards can steal the blinds, if done against passive opponents in the right time.

When to raise?

In Texas Holdem Poker, raising, unlike calling, has a potential extra way to win, because your opponents may fold and from a strategic perspective, an opening bet can be considered a raise.

The following is a list of general reasons for raising given by winning poker pros:

• You raise, when you have a strong hand and want to attract more money into the pot – raising to increase pot value.

• You raise, when you have a very strong hand and want to drive out your opponents, who, in other case, can improve their hands during next betting rounds.

• You raise, if you have a poor, or a drawing hand and want to mislead your opponents. A player that has a stronger hand may fold, misled by your raise.

• You raise, if you have a drawing hand and want to get a free card, because your opponent may check you during the next betting round, giving you a chance to get a free card and thus improve your current hand.

• You raise, if you have an uncertain hand and want to check the potential strength of your opponents, if you are called. You can use opening bets in later betting rounds in order to evaluate your opponents’ hands by being raised or called by them. Sometimes this can immediately win you the pot, because your opponents may fold.

• You raise, if you thing you have the second best hand and try to drive out worse players, who can improve their hands during next betting round, which can increase the expected value of your hand, giving you a better probability of success, if you will improve your hand during next betting rounds.

• You raise, if the previous player with a drawing hand bets before you, in order to make opponents behind you fold, even if they have better hands. This method is frequently referred to as “isolation play”.

When to call?

Winning Texas Holdem pros benefit from each action done during the game. No action must be done just to be done. Texas Holdem is a highly intellectual game, where, just like in chess, each move is filled with both obvious and hidden sense.
The following is a list of reasons to call a bet or raise.

• You call, if you have a drawing hand and want to see more cards in order to receive the correct pot odds.

• You call, when you have adequate pot odds to call, but lose equity on chips, contributed by you to the pot.

• You call, if you want to avoid a re-raise, because calling disables the raiser the option of re-raising.

• You call, if you have a very strong hand and want to conceal your power in early betting rounds in order to attract more money into the pot in later betting rounds.

• You call, if you want to manipulate pot odds by offering the players yet to act behind you more favorable pot odds, so they will also call. This technique, called smooth calling, may encourage other players in later positions to overcall, thus contributing to the pot. In Limit Texas Holdem, building the pot in early betting rounds can induce other players to call future bets during subsequent betting rounds, because of the better pot odds they’ll receive.

• You call, if you want to set up a bluff on one of later betting rounds.

Gap concept in Texas Holdem

In Texas Holdem strategy, the gap concept states that you need a better hand to act against a player who had already opened the betting or raised, than you’d need if you’d open the betting yourself. That means that the gap concept reflects behavior of the majority of players, who prefer to avoid open confrontations with their opponents that already displayed strength. Proceeding from this, the gap concept states that calling only has just a single way to win – by holding the strongest cards, while opening may also result in an immediate victory in case if other players fold.

Sandwich effect in Texas Holdem

The sandwich effect is related to the gap concept and states that you need a stronger hand in order to stay in the pot, if there are one or more opponents yet to act behind you. Staying in early positions, you will have no idea about how many opponents behind you will be involved in the pot (and how many fold), or whether you will have to call re-raises, so therefore you cannot calculate your actual pot odds. That’s why you need a strong hand as a compensation for such an uncertain situation.

Choosing between loose and tight play

Basically, the style of play in Texas Holdem poker is divided in two groups: tight and loose play. Loose players are usually playing more hands tending to act even with weak starting hands and tight players usually play few hands tending to act just with good starting hands.
The following is a list of statements referring to loose games, while their inverses are true for tight games.

• Bluffing has lesser effectiveness in loose games, because loose players tend to continue playing even with poor starting hands, not to fold.

• Requirements to continue playing with drawing hands are lower, because the majority of loose players may also be playing with poor hands.

• Drawing to incomplete hands, like straights and flushes, is more valuable, because draws are often getting more favorable pot odds and a better hand is frequently required in order to win in multi-way pots.

Aggressive and passive play in Texas Holdem strategy

In Texas Holdem, the term “passive play” refers to calling and checking, while the “aggressive play” refers to raising and betting. Aggressive play is considered stronger than passive, unless passive play is used to trick your opponents, because it induces your opponents to make mistakes and because of the bluff value of raises and bets.

Hand reading and tells in Texas Holdem poker

Hand reading refers to intelligent guesses about your opponents’ cards based on given actions in the pot. In fact, “hand reading” is a wrong term in its direct meaning, because even winning Texas Holdem pros can rarely predict exact cards of their opponents. Instead of this, they rather try to narrow the probabilities down to a certain range of hands based on the previous actions of their opponents. The term ” tell” refers to a number of detectable behavioral or demeanor changes of your opponents, which give clues about their cards. Intelligent guesses about your opponents’ hands can help you avoid mistakes, induce your opponents to make mistakes in their play and even influence your opponents to take certain actions, which they wouldn’t normally take under the same circumstances. Broadly applied in live Texas Holdem games, the “tells” are sometimes underestimated by novice online players, while poker pros benefit from tells in both casino and online games.

Opponent profiling and table image

The “sharp eye” concept, suggested by Ronald Norris, states that from each behavioral change or tendency of your opponents you notice, you gain and on the contrary, each thing and even nicety you miss decreases your chances to win. Though live and online Texas Holdem games differ, the majority of methods and techniques of evaluation and opponent profiling are extremely useful in both branches of the game. By observing the patterns and tendencies of your opponents you can make more intelligent guesses about their cards. For example, if one of your opponents has been playing very tightly all the time and then enters the pot with aggressive raises, you can surmise that he finally got a really strong hand (better than average). The term ” table image” refers to your vision of the whole table (i.e. all of your opponents). Texas Holdem pros recommend sitting out a couple of games and build your table image before tossing your chips onto the table. On the other hand, you can leverage your own player profile by playing out of character inducing your opponents to misjudge your behavior and therefore make mistakes.

Equity in Texas Holdem poker

In Texas Holdem, the term “equity” refers to your expected share of the pot. A player’s equity is expressed as an expected value (pot value * probability of winning) or as a percentage (actual probability of winning). Loss in a player’s equity (frequently referred to as negative equity ) occurs when you contribute to the pot having a negative probability of winning (less than 1). For example, say John contributes $20 to the pot and has 2 opponents, which also put $20 each. Therefore John’s $20 bet gives him a chance to win $60. In case if his winning probability is 50%, then his equity in the $60 pot is $30, which means that John has a positive equity, because his $20 contribution is now “worth” $30, but if John has just a 10% winning probability, then he has negative equity, because his $20 contribution is now only “worth” $6.

In case if there are already some money in the pot, then John’s pot odds connected with a certain play can indicate a positive expected value, in spite of his negative equity.

Let’s take a look at this educative example taken from a common Texas Holdem game:

John has a Jack of diamonds and 7 of spades and Mary has a King of hearts and 6 of spades. The first three community cards are 5 and 6 of hearts and 8 of diamonds. If both John and Mary will play their hands to the showdown, then John has a 45% winning chance and Mary has a 53% winning chance. Also, there is a 2% chance that they’ll split the pot. Currently there is $51 in the pot. John decides to go all-in for $45 and he is sure that Mary is going to call him. In this case John’s implied pot odds for his all-in bet are 32%. Mary’s simple pot odds for the call are 32% too. Due to the fact that both players have a winning probability bigger than 32%, both call and raise have a positive expectation. However, due to the fact that Mary has a bit more equity (53%) in the pot than John (45%), John would have been better off playing this pot as cheaply as he can. When John went all-in for $45, he gave up the existing difference in pot equity on the amount of chips he put in the pot.

Short-handed considerations in Texas Holdem poker

If you are playing a short-handed Texas Holdem game (a game involving lesser than normal players), you have to switch to a rather loose play your play due to the following reasons:

• First of all there is a lesser probability that one of your opponents has a strong hand, since there are lesser players at the table and the majority of cards remain in the deck.

• Secondly, the share of the forced bets (blinds) in short-handed games for each player is increased, since there are lesser players who have to make forced bets (blinds), therefore waiting for good starting hands appears to be more expensive.

Structure considerations in Texas Holdem poker

The limit structure of the game, as well as the blinds and antes has a significant influence on Texas Holdem strategy. For instance, manipulating pot odds appears to be way easier in pot-limit and no-limit than in limit Texas Holdem games. In tournament games, when the size of the forced bets (blinds) relative to the chips stacks increases, the players have to play pots in order to avoid being bankrupt by antes and blinds.

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Afterword

The given article covers the general concept of Texas Holdem strategy and requires further study of each item. It emphasizes key principles and hints a preferred sequence of items to study. You will find a lot of in-depth articles describing the niceties of each of these items on our site. Don’t forget that winning Texas Holdem pros never rely on luck – they exploit their knowledge, skills and experience to earn serious money playing their favorite game.

Sincerely, Ronald Norris.

However, if you are a beginner and want to become a winning player, then you must start with these basic rules, learn hand rankings, look through poker terms and familiarize with basic Texas Holdem strategy before playing real money games. Remember that all intellectual games, including Texas Holdem, require intelligent approach rewarding most patient and smart players with easy and stable income.

Texas Holdem Poker is the most popular community card game, where each player can use any combination of two pocket cards (also known as hole cards) and five community cards (also known as board cards) to make a poker hand, which separates Texas Holdem from some other poker games like Seven Card Stud or 5 Card Draw, where each player holds an individual hand.

Texas Holdem Objective

In the game of Texas Holdem Poker, just like in all poker variants, players compete for the pot (an amount of money contributed by all players staying in the game). Both hole and community cards are dealt randomly, outside of players’ control, so each player tries to influence the size of the pot based on the strength of his poker hand.

Each game of Texas Holdem is divided into a series of deals or hands (in this case term "hand" means a separate game). In the end of each game, or "hand" the pot is awarded to one or more players. Each game may either end at the showdown, or when there is only one player staying in the game, while others fold. If two or more players see the showdown, they compare their hands to determine the winner and the pot is awarded to a player holding the strongest poker hand. However, if there is more than one player holding equal hands, which are the strongest hands at the table, then the pot is equally split among them. In case if all, but one player have folded thus abandoning their claims to the pot, the pot is awarded to the player who hasn’t folded, regardless of the strength of his poker hand.

Note that the major objective of winning Texas Holdem players is not winning each separate hand, but rather making correct decisions about when and how much to call, raise, bet or fold based on mathematical and strategic analysis of the game. If you will learn how to make such decisions, you will be able to maximize your long-term profit. Remember that winning professionals play just up to 20% of hands.

Betting Structures

Each typical Texas Holdem game starts with blind bets – forced bets posted by two players sitting to the left of the dealer button. Antes (forced bets posted by all players at the table) may also be used, as an addition to blind bets and in late stages of poker tournaments. A dealer button (round disk usually marked with "D" or "DEALER") is used to represent the player sitting in the dealer position. The dealer button moves clockwise around the table after each game, thus changing the position of both the dealer and blind bets. The first player sitting to the left of the dialer button posts the Small Blind. The Small Blind is typically equal to 1/2 of the Big Blind. The next player sitting to the left of the Small Blind posts Big Blind, which is typically equal to the size of the minimum bet. For example in a $4/$8 Texas Holdem game, the small blind is $2 and the big blind is $4.

Note that in poker tournaments the betting structure is a bit different: the size of ante and blinds periodically increases as the tournament progresses.

Also note that in some rare cases, the size of the small blind may vary from 1/2 of the big blind to some other fraction of the minimum bet. For example, the small blind can be $10, when the big blind is $15. However, the double-blind structure is more common.

In poker tournaments, when only two players remain at the table, special "heads up" or "head-to-head" rules are typically enforced and blind bets are posted in the different way. The player sitting in the dealer position posts the small blind and the second player posts the big blind. Besides of this, the player sitting in the dealer position acts first preflop, while after the flop he or she acts last for the rest of betting rounds.

You may already know that the three most popular Texas Holdem variants are No-Limit Texas Holdem, Limit Texas Holdem and Pot-Limit Texas Holdem. No-Limit Holdem is the most popular Texas Holdem variant, which is commonly played in televised poker tournaments and in the World Series of Poker Main Event. In No-Limit Texas Holdem, the players are allowed to bet and raise any amount of chips over the minimum raise. They can even bet or raise all of their chips (this move is usually called an "all-in" bet). The size of the minimum raise is limited to the size of the big blind. If any player wants to re-raise, then he or she must raise at least the size of the previous raise. Take a look at the following example:

Say, the big blind is $2 and there is a $6 bet to a total of $8. In this case a raise must be at least $6 more for a total of $14. In case if a raise, or re-raise is an all-in bet that doesn’t equal the amount of the previous raise, then the initial raiser cannot make another re-raise. However, this only matters if there was a call made before the re-raise.

Limit Texas Holdem was historically the most popular Texas Holdem variant across the United States before the terrific increase in popularity of No-Limit Texas Holdem. In Limit Texas Holdem forced bets and raises are limited. During preflop and flop (the first two betting rounds) both bets and raises must be equal to the size of the big blind (which is also known as the "small bet"). During turn and river (the third and the fourth betting rounds), both bets and raises are limited to the double size of the big blind (which is frequently referred to as the "big bet").

The major distinctive feature of Pot-Limit Texas Holdem is that the maximum raise is limited to the current size of the pot, including the amount needed to call.

Note that many casinos offering Texas Holdem allow the player sitting to the left of the big blind to post an optional bet called live straddle, which is typically double the size of the big blind. This bet the acts as the big blind. No-Limit Texas Holdem as well as other no-limit poker variants may allow multiple re-straddles of any size that would be considered as legal raises.

Play of The Hand

Just like in most poker variants, the card deck is a standard 52-card deck without Jokers. Play of the game begins with each player being dealt two hole cards (also known as pocket cards) facedown starting with the player on the small blind and ending with the player on the dealer button. These hole or pocket cards are the only individual cards received by a player, which can be only revealed at the showdown, which makes Texas Holdem a "closed" game.

Each hand begins with a preflop (first betting round), which starts with the player sitting to the left of the Big Blind and continues in the clockwise order. In case if no blind bets are used, the player sitting to the left of the dealer button acts first. The first betting round continues each player will either match the amount put in by his opponents, go all-in (in No-Limit Texas Holdem), or fold. Remember that blind bets are treated as live bets during the preflop, which means that they represent the amount of money, which blind players must contribute to the pot, so if all players call around the table to the player sitting in the big blind position, then he can just check or raise without contributing any money to the pot.

In case if more than one player remains after the preflop, the flop begins with 3 community cards dealt face-up on the board, which is then followed by the second betting round. The flop and all subsequent betting rounds start with a player sitting to the left of the dealer button and continue in the clockwise order. Besides of this, only one community card is dealt between all subsequent betting rounds, so when the flop ends, one community card (which is usually called "the turn" or "fourth street") is dealt face-up on the board, which is then followed by the third betting round. The final community card (which is usually called "the river" or "fifth street") is dealt face-up on the board, which is the followed by the last betting round. If there is more than one player remaining in the game after the last betting round, then the showdown occurs.

Note that in casino and home games, the dealer usually burns one card before the flop, turn and river to prevent players from using marks on the back of playing cards.

The Showdown

If the game ends before the showdown with all, but one players fold, then the remaining player is awarded the pot regardless of the strength of his poker hand. If there are two or more players staying in the game after the end of the last betting round, the showdown occurs. At the showdown, all players compare their five-card poker hands made from the total of seven cards (5 community and 2 hole cards). Unlike some other poker variants, where players must use certain quantity of hole and community cards to make a poker hand, in Texas Holdem players can use any of hole and community cards to make a hand. This means that a player may use both of his hole cards, one hole cards, or no hole cards at all (just community cards) to form the strongest poker hand he can make. If a player chooses to use all five community cards, then it is usually said "he plays the board". If the board appears the strongest hand at the table and all remaining players choose to play the board, then the pot is equally split among them.

This also happens if two or more players hold individual, but equally strong hands – the pot is then equally split among them. For example there are $120 in the pot and two players hold equally strong hands (say, a pair of Kings each), then each of these players is awarded $60. Note that any extra chips will typically go to the first player sitting to the left of the dealer button.

You should be careful in determining the winner if several players hold closely-valued hands, because if these hands involve less than five cards (hands such as three of a kind, or two pair), then kickers (other cards not included in winning combination) are used to settle ties. For example, Bob has AA23J and Mary has AA23Q – Mary wins, because her Q is higher than Bob’s J.

Also note that in Texas Holdem suit values are irrelevant – numerical rank of cards is of sole importance.

Hand Rankings

In Texas Holdem, as well as in other poker variants, players build five-card hands according to predetermined rules of the particular poker variant they play. This five-card combination is usually called "poker hand". Player’s hands are compared at the showdown, which occurs if two or more players remain in the game after the last betting round. Poker hands are compared according to standard ranking system; the player with the strongest poker hand wins the hand (deal).

Generally, the strength of a poker hand is increased by holding several cards of the same rank, having all five cards with consecutive values, or holding all five cards of the same suit. The ranking system is developed based on the probability of random deal of such hand from the deck – the lesser is the probability of deal, the stronger is the hand.

Take a look at this list of poker hands arranged in the descending order:

Straight Flush
Four of a kind
Full House
Flush
Straight
Tree of a Kind
Two Pair
One Pair
High Cards

General Hand Ranking Rules

You can use these general rules to evaluate poker hands, regardless of the set of hand values used in the game.

•  Separate (individual) cards are ranked from Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, A. Ace can only act as low, as a part of a Ace-2-3-4-5 (straight), or suited A-2-3-4-5 (straight flush). Values of individual cards are used to rank poker hands that contain none of winning combinations, or as the kickers to compare equally strong hands. Note that Ace acts high just in 2-to-7 lowball games and acts low just in Ace-to-5 and Ace-to-6 lowball games. (Lowball poker games are games played with the same, but reversed hand rankings, which means that players try to build the lowest possible hand, because the lowest possible hand will either win the entire pot, or at least a share of the pot, like in 7 Card Stud Hi-Lo.

•  Card suits are of no value. In Texas Holdem, as well as in other poker variants, card suits are generally used to determine whether a hand belongs to a certain category – the flush and straight flush. In most poker games including Texas Holdem poker, if two or more players hold identical hands, except for suit, then the pot is equally split among them. For example if Mary holds 10♠ J♠ Q♠ K♠ A♠ and Bob holds 10♦ J♦ Q♦ K♦ A♦ - they split the pot. In some cases, a "high card by suit" ranking is used to randomly select a player to deal. Besides of this, a "low card by suit" ranking is used to determine the bringin bettor in some stud poker games.

•  A poker hand always consists of 5 cards. In Texas Holdem poker and some other poker variants, where more than 5 cards are available to each player (2 hole and 5 community cards in Texas Holdem), then the best possible 5-card combination is used to determine the winner.

•  Poker hands are always ranked first by category and then according to individual card ranks. This means that even the lowest qualifying hand that belongs to a certain category will defeat all other hands belonging to lower categories – the lowest two pair hand will defeat all one pair hands and high cards. For example if Bob holds 2♦ 2♠ 3♦ 3♣ 5♠ and Mary holds J♦ J♠ 10♦ 6♣ A♠ or A♦ 4♠ K♦ J♣ Q♠ – Bob wins. However, card ranks are used to break ties between two equally strong hands of the same category. For example if Bob holds A♦ A♠ 3♦ 5♣ Q♠ and Mary holds A♣ A♥ 3♠ 5♦ K♣ - Mary wins, because her King is higher than Bob’s Queen.

You need to learn these basic Texas Holdem rules and see poker glossary before proceeding to more advanced strategy references. Understanding of these basics is necessary for all levels of competitive play.

Read our Step by Step Texas Holdem Guide

You don’t have a lot of information when you start a hand in Texas Holdem. In fact, because cards don’t accidentally flip over in online poker rooms, you will only know the two, three, or four cards you’ve been dealt. So, yes, in a way, you’re feeling around in the dark, but there are ways to separate the good poker hands from the bad hands. But before we present our guidelines, you need to know why our advice changes, based on when you act in a hand.

• Why Position Makes a Difference in Texas Holdem
• Playing Hands from Middle Position in Holdem
• Playing Hands from Late Position in Holdem
• Playing the Blinds
• Hutchison Point Count System

In this section, you can learn

• What an online poker room “lobby” is, what it contains, and what information it gives you.
• What to do to select a poker table and “buy in.”
• What options will appear on your screen as you play and what they mean.
• What happens if you don’t act in time.
• What playing multiple tables simultaneously involves.
• What is and is not allowed when “chatting” with other players.

• The Lobby
• Figuring Out Which Tournament or Table to Join
• The Cards Are Out! Now What Do I Do?
• Other Stuff You Need to Know About Holdem Game Play
• Playing Multiple Poker Games
• How to Detect a Cheater on Your Own

Doyle Brunson is a witness of poker development as a game of millions. Nowadays Brunson still plays Texas Holdem on the top level and it is extremely interesting to talk with such experienced poker expert. No doubt, Brunson has a lot to say about poker. He is the first two-times champion of WSOP ME.

Surprisingly, a true legend of poker Brunson says that the game didn’t change much. He believes that theory of the game is the same as it was decades ago. According to Doyle, it is crucial to understand at the right time that your opponents start to predict your actions and can resist your game style.

Brunson tells that he was fan of aggressive Texas Holdem strategy but he had to change his style because even best tactics stop to bring benefits one day. Poker pro underlines that good players always change their tactic according to a situation at the table.

Level of a Texas Holdem tournament and a place of event are not significant. Players are much more important. “Poker is a competition of real people, therefore you need to pay attention to their psychology aspects and behavior. Do not think that you can rely only on cards.” – says Brunson.

Poker is in a full swing nowadays. We witness poker boom on both costs of Atlantic Ocean in every corner of the world. High-stakes tournaments are arranged weekly. Despite Brunson takes part in most tournaments conducted in Las Vegas and London , he thinks that there are too many events at the moment. And he says that tournaments arranged too often. Brunson doesn’t try to cover all of them selecting just some of the most important Texas Holdem competitions. Brunson comments:” I believe a tournament has to be something special in the life of a poker player. But if you can participate in an event once a week, it means that importance of such tournament is not really high. It would be wise to arrange just several biggest competitions. And I have got preconceived opinion on cash-tournaments. There are just too many poker events at the moment”.

It is very possible to meet Brunson in Las Vegas Bellagio. He likes to participate in huge long-lasting poker sessions with big pots. Poker became part of his life and Doyle often says: “I would be dead already if I do not play poker. I reckon that poker gives me life power. People say my young spirit is enclosed into ageing coat. It is true about me: I didn’t feel that I am ageing up to last year. Poker gives me adrenaline. The game makes my blood flow in my veins. I regularly play poker, read about poker and it keeps me smart. I was lucky with genes and members of our family lived long. That’s why I am going to play little bit more”.

It is hard to believe but Brunson was playing even in 70-s. Moreover he participated in the first WSOP. He doesn’t stop even now when he is 76. He plays and wants to win WSOP bracelet in the United Kingdom .

“Nobody could predict that poker will be so popular. Benny Binion (founder of WSOP and poker Hall of Fame) once told me that there will be a hundred players at big tournaments. In late 70-s it sounded as a fiction. And now Texas Holdem tournaments attract up to 8,500 players. Nobody knew what will happen with poker. And we can not say anything about the future of the game“

But true legend of poker Brunson knows one thing for sure. He will participate in the tournament and aim to fight for WSOPE bracelet. And no doubt, he deserves his chance.

Benny made a special mention of a group of best players, who proved their skills and were on the top of Texas Holdem. They were as honoured and powerful as Gods of Ancient Greece. They deserved to stand on a pedestal. They deserved to be treated with great respect.

36 men and 1 woman were accepted to the Hall of Fame since 1979. Non-professional players have a chance to be taken into the Hall of Fame as well. The only one requirement is a great contribution to the game, even not at the poker table. The Hall of Fame members include such people as Benny Binion, Jack Binion, James “Wild Bill” Hickok, Edmond Hoyle and Henry Orenstein (inventor of hidden cameras to display cards).

There are 9 candidates to become members of the Hall of Fame this year: Barry Grinstein, Mike Sexton, Erik Seidel, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negranu, Scotty Nguyen, Dan Harrington, Men “The Master” Nguen and Tom McEvoy. The decision on the candidates will be made by 30 members of jury. Jury is consisted of 15 members of the Hall of Fame and 15 competent journalists. Members of jury are allowed to vote for 3 candidates only. But according to the rules a successful candidate has to earn 75 % of votes minimum.

Surprisingly, journalists take part in voting this year. Many people believe that only reigning members of Hall of Fame have a right to make such important decision. But this new rule helps to prevent destruct of Poker Hall of Fame. From now personal relationships between best poker players are not decisive.

Let’s turn to baseball for a while. Such player as Phil “The Scooter” Rizzuto would never earn enough votes to become a member of baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown (NY). But finally Phil was taken into Hall of Fame after 35 years when veterans of “New York Yankees” occupied most chairs in this society.

On the one hand, it would be wise if members of jury could vote anonymously. But if Hall of Fame authorized person dislikes candidate, he would not have a chance to be approved anyway. Poor candidate would have to wait until his foe passes away. And candidate can only step over a dead body.

Is age-limit for candidates necessary?

It seems like age-limit would be a good idea. In other sports Hall of Fames it is a requirement that a candidate has to be a retired person. Poker Hall of Fame does not use this rule. Doyle Brunson proved that it is possible to become a star even at the age of 70. Chip Reese entered list of best players when he was 40. He was playing Texas Holdem until the end of his life. Reese passed away in 2007. He was an active player almost 20 more years after becoming a candidate to enter the Hall of Fame. Maybe it would be wise to apply “Chip Reese Rule” i.e. you cannot become a candidate if you are younger than 40.

If age limit is applied, jury would have to spend many years exploring career achievements of each candidate. Tom “durrrr” Dwan got impressive results when he was 17. And such online poker players as Annette Oberstad starts to build their careers at the age of 15. Modern poker players improve their skills really fast. And it is very difficult to predict what kind of achievements they would have at the age of 40. Results of current Hall of Fame members might be really poor in comparison with achievements of modern young stars such as Oberstad.

Playing too tight is not always fun, because you must have patience and wait for the right cards to arrive and the time between action could be long enough to get you bored. However, patience does have its rewards and if you play tight enough and use only the hands for which you are certain to win, you’re going to make good money at almost any table.

Now the question is how tight is tight enough? Many of the great players get to see action only in 10% to 20% of the hands and that’s the optimal strategy you have to adopt if you play for winning and not just for fun. For example, when playing HORSE, and you get a round of 10 Omaha Hi/Lo hands, it’s possible that you won’t get in any of those hands some cards good enough to play. On average, about one hand can be a sure winner and that’s the hand you have to play.

Many Omaha Hi/Lo players don’t understand the strength of their hand and that’s why they’ll go on with mediocre hands and if you play a tight poker, such players will make mistakes against you and you’ll win plenty of chips from them.

The best starting hands are obviously those that have an Ace in them, and this is the kind of hands on which you should put money into the pot. An A-2 is the ideal pair you might get, especially if it is found together with some other low cards. Even A-3 is a good pair that can be played, but only if your Ace is suited.

After a while, it might happen that you start to lose your patience as you keep getting bad cards that cannot be played and you finally get some cards that are almost good, for example, A-4-6-9, with a suited Ace. You might think that this hand is not bad enough to discard without thinking, but neither good enough to use your money without a second thought.

Many players will play such hands, especially since it happened before they once folded and got good cards at the flop. However, more often than not, such a hand will bring you into trouble, because it’s a very vulnerable hand.

A good hand is a hand in which the cards somehow connect to each other and work out good together. An example of a bad hand is K-10-3-4: this hand is one of the worst you could get: it has two bad low cards and two equally bad high cards, which are not connected to each other well enough. Some people see some potential, both in low and in the high parts of the hand, but that potential is almost insignificant and it’s better not to risk your money on such hands for which you’d have bad odds to win. In the end, the hand has just two bad low cards and two bad high cards.

All four cards should somehow connect in order to make a good hand. Many poker players are used to Texas Holdem Poker and then they see the richness in the combinations in the four cards, they’ll just go on with just a pair or a low draw or a flush draw. This is not a good strategy, as a pair has a much less value in Omaha Hi/Lo than it has in Texas Holdem. It’s best if you have all these three in one: if you have at the same a pair, a low draw and a flush draw, you have much more chances of winning, it’s as if you had 3 hands, and your opponents have just one each. You don’t get very often such good hands, in which the cards interconnect with each other, but it’s worth waiting for them, as they give you excellent odds of winning.

You should look for two pairs, or sequential cards, or hands that have two different suits. It’s even better if you have these combined. Bad hands include hands which have four low cards which are all of different suits. Three of a kind is also not a good hand, because you can’t keep all three of them, as for your final hand, you get to choose only two of your own cards and three of the community cards. This is why it’s less likely that a card of that kind will appear among the community cards.

Because the pot is split among the under-8 and all cards, it’s best if you can win the whole pot, not just half of it by having the best hand overall. The best possible hand to win the low is A2345, because you can win both the high and qualify for the under-8 cards, too. This is the reason why the best possible hand in Omaha Hi/Lo is AA23, especially if the Ace and 2 are suited, the perfect hand being if the other ace and the 3 are also suited. The second best hand is AAK2, which can give you a start to both the high (with the AK) and the low (with the A2), and as such you have a chance to win both.

If you get a great hand, it’s time to raise as much as possible, because this is the moment you’ve been waiting a long time of tight playing. If you play tight, you must not waste your opportunities, which are rather rare, so you must go on and raise and hope for the best.

This is not the case for a Limit Texas Holdem tournament. One great hand that you get is not going to give you a strong position in the tournament and the faith of the tournament is rarely defined by just one hand. This means that the moment you play such a tournament, you will have to use the same strategy that you use for the average cash game that you play. Trying to slowly accumulate the chips and take the mistakes you make to the smallest limit is the perfect strategy. When you are going to make the transition between the No Limit to the Limit Texas Holdem tournaments you should always try to play a little bit tighter before the flop and after that just loosen your game.

There are several important reasons why your game will be improved when you will play tighter before the flop. For example if you are going to make anyone fold with just one raise before the flop there will be absolutely no point in playing in an aggressive way after you have already seen that you have a weak hand.

Another good reason why you should play a tight game before the flop is that at the Limit tournaments have absolutely no antes. Compared to the No Limit Texas Holdem tournaments where the antes will come very quickly into play and you are forced to start making moves in order to steal the pots so that your stack will not go down to zero. At the Limit tournaments there will be a very little incentive to do such a move due to the lack of the antes, which are usually forcing you to play differently. What you can do is sit on the stack of chips that you have and you will not have to worry at all about losing too much ground.

In order to maintain equilibrium in your online Limit poker tournament play you will want to tighten your game before the flop and after that loosen it up. Since this type of poker tournaments are going to have a limited pot you will know exactly each moment how much it’s going to cost you to call your opponents even if you are not going to have the winning hand. In case you want to know if your opponent is bluffing the amount of chips you have to pay to find out is transparent. Depending on how your opponents are playing you can feel comfortable to call a couple of bets. This way you will get the chance to know what is the strategy of the other players and sometimes you can also win a couple of hands this way.

In order to give you a better idea about what you have to do exactly we are going to give you a clear example of a game and how you should react. Let’s say that you have an AK hand and raise, since you will use a tight play before the flop. The big blind is going to call you and the flop will come with 9-9-2. The turn will bring in a community card: 6 and you are going to both check. The river can be absolutely any card that is not going to influence your hand. If your opponent is going to bet, even if you only have Ace-high you should call since you have already showed a little bit of weakness on the turn by checking and not raising the pot. In this situation your opponent can have absolutely any hand. Even if in this situation your opponent might have pairs that are going to beat your hand, in the same time he could be bluffing or have a weaker hand. Thanks to this strategy you will feel that you are in control of the game and on the long term it will help you win many hands. In case you are going to use the correct strategy you can dominate the other players.

In case you will have the same situation at a No Limit Texas Holdem tournament, your opponent can get the chance to bet half or even all the pot so that you fold. But the situation is completely different at a Limit tourney since you can always afford to lose and call thanks to the odds that you’re getting. The hand will have only four big bets and all you have to do in order to see his hand is o call one big bet, this means that you will be getting 4/1 on your chips. You should also make sure that you understand what the type of players you’re playing with is. If they are going to be really tight, you might consider folding if he never seems to get out of the line.

In case you get a better hand like a top pair you should definitely play more aggressively and the other opponents might call you with just an ace high hand or just a bottom pair. In case most of the players at the table are just going to be some really loose players, you can raise on the river if you have a top pair.

Once you will start playing a Limit Texas Holdem tournament you should definitely adjust your play to the new conditions of the game. And one of the best strategies that you can use is to play tighter before the flop and loosen up your game after it. This will help you win more hands and keep your stack in good shape, since most of the players are just going to use their No Limit tournament strategy, which is not always very profitable.

Unlike Texas Holdem: This cannot be technically termed as a Omaha tip, however it is very close to one. One major reason possibly could be because unlike Texas Holdem this game is much less popular. And because of this, players are not interested in putting in enough of time to master the skills of the game. Players only have the basic idea of how to play the game, but the intricacies of it are not much known and if players developed these techniques their game would advance to a much higher position. How can you be good at this game, is anyone guessing? It is simple: all a player will have to do is learn more about the game and then use those skills when he plays at the table.

Style of playing: Players who play this game are playing it very loose, the reason being that most are familiar with Texas Holdem and think they can use those skills when they play at the Omaha table. This is a serious mistake that every player commits.
Unlike other games, Omaha Holdem is much more technical in nature and it is easy to notice what the best hand is. In several games there are instances of a straight being played on board or a flush with odds where one of the players has the hands. The game requires a lot of focus and you should use your skills all the time, and you should not have a moment of rest. The hand that you have should be good since it may or may not compare to the other player’s hand.

Being Patient: Like any other game, patience plays a major role if anyone needs to profit from the game. If you have the patience to wait then you will find opportunities to win especially at low limit tables. One important factor to remember is that many players will have a loose game, and if you happen to notice it you have the chance of winning the big pot.
Players often feel that the two little pairs that they possess are the best of hands. On the contrary any experienced Omaha player will tell you that these two good pairs are not enough to hold up. This is what it means when we say that your game is too loose. You should keep a watch on players like these who tend to play a loose game, as this will allow you to win the pot provided that your game is not loose as well.

There are a few tips for a players hand; some of the well suited tips in playing a game of Omaha are with particular hands that work in both ways ideally during the multi-way pots along with betting, that is quick and aggressive when the nuts are at your advantage. It will take some time and good practice for a player to realize when the nuts are in his favor. With the number of cards that a player holds in his hand, it is not easy to know what kind of cards you are holding. Knowing what you have in your hand is only possible if you have spent enough of time playing the game.
While you look for a few good poker sites, you can take a shot at a few games and you get the chance to learn quite a bit in a short span of time.

•  Playing a tight game: When a player begins to play the Texas Holdem either online or in a land-based casino especially for real money you will have to stick to a strategy that needs to be played throughout the game. The strategy is playing a tight game of solid poker skills. Unlike how it looks on T.V. every professional player resorts to this style, ensuring that they stay around for long.

•  Game is within your abilities: Every player wanting to be successful should have the ability to read hands like Phil Ivey. He is considered to be best poker player, because he read his opponents with excellent skill and ease, something that every poker player will have to learn to do, in case he wants to be successful at the game.

•  Emotions should not interfere: There could be instances where you have started playing a tight game and then suddenly changed because some opponent was a bit nice towards you and didn’t beat you too badly. After which your game included very suitable connections to what happened along with hands that are equal to trash, since your main aim was to win back the money. These are triggers that trigger off a certain emotion and it happens to all players several times. It is therefore required that a player understands what triggers him.

•  Keep your bankroll in consideration: It is always advisable to play a game within the bankroll limit. If you have $1000 you shouldn’t be playing for the entire $1000. You should have at least 20 buy-ins especially for the limit you have. This means that your bankroll should be $4,000 and in case you happen to have less than $4000 then move down to $100 NLHE.

•  Studying and analyzing the situation: A good poker player should always continue studying the game, and this will help him win many games in Holdem. There is a lot that a poker player can study about poker, for instance betting tactics, managing the pot, theory in gambling, implied odds, playing a flush draw, how suited connectors can be played, how to make use of scare cards and making excellent reads that are solid enough to win the game. These are just the basics recommended, however there are tons of such ideas that a poker player needs to learn about. To learn most of them a poker player can get himself a poker teacher, join online poker forums or chat up with poker friends. All of this is worth the trouble to learn the nuances of the game.

•  Let it be simple: The most important tip is to keep the game simple. If you probably find that you are complicating the game then you need to relax and sort things out in your mind first. Since only if you have it simple in your mind will it show in your strategies, this is one quick way of winning the big amount. You can pick up new poker skills and learn more about it by reading several no limit tips that are available in books, on websites and is also easily available on several of the poker forums. This should have your game retract to a much more tight game of Texas Holdem which is solid enough to keep you winning.

Playing a loose game of Texas Holdem is not recommended and if your goal is winning the game then keeping the game tight is the right way!

The prime factor is the blind size, along with complete understanding of the position of the high cards. Let’s look at some of these:

Size of Blind

When the game has two standing players left, they often are obliged to push everything in almost all of the hands. One explanation to this is that there is a 10% increased chance of the blind occurring on the players chip stack.

The player could have 11,000 chips while the other could hold 9,000 chips and the blind could be at 600/1200. This could risk a blind and both players might have to move all of it in. If your stack of chips is much smaller than the blinds, then it makes more sense moving it all in, if there is a hand or pair with an ace. This will put the player in the forefront of a flop.

Even if a player has two high cards, they can move most of their chips in, if your hands are as low as J-10. As a matter of fact if the chip stack is less or five times the big blind it is no fault of yours if you move all in and you can have any starting hand to do so. In case you don’t have that many chips, you will need to win some.

However if the blind is small as compared to the chip stack the game is entirely different. If the player has 11,000 chips while the other has chips that are of 9,000 value and blinds at 22/400, then the player needn’t wait for better hands to make a move in. The chip stack won’t be eaten by the blinds and they can follow the suggestion in high cards and the position.

High Cards

High cards in heads up is like having cards like A-K, and these can grip a full table and prove to be much stronger in any heads up play. It is similar for big pairs. You can re-raise if you have hands like J-J, since your opponent will possibly not have a hand that can beat it.

The reason being that there are only two players that the dealer has to deal two hole cards to. If it is a full table, the dealer would be doing the same, but for 9-10 players. It is basically simple to understand, that since there are more cards to be dealt, the probability of you getting stronger hands is evident.

Although that is true, you needn’t be too aggressive in your game. With a J-20 hand it is much easier to play a K-2 after a flop. And if waiting for a flop it is advisable to have two high cards rather than one high and one low card.

This is so that your kicker is strong and that you do away with having one low and one high card.

Position

When playing the game, it is essential to play as many hands as possible especially when you’re the last to play. This position is great especially during a heads up game, as it makes you know what your opponent’s moves are, and you can base your move on that. This strategy should help you win money or not lose all of it.

Keeping a great winning average in Texas Holdem is more important than having a great losing average. For this a player has to develop a strategy that is consistent and once done he will be in an advantageous position.

Every player faces a bit of bad luck, but this does not mean you keep changing the strategy of the game. If you happen to frequently change the strategy then you will probably be losing many more games. This will create a panic situation and you will only end up losing most of your stack.

Some basic steps when playing Texas Holdem are:

• A player needs to recognize every opportunity to fold. It definitely is not worth it if you play the game and only keep folding for every hand. In order to make a more profitable opportune it is important to recognize the best time when you can fold especially in Texas Holdem. Before you even start with playing the game it is essential to know what hands you will play. Based on this a strategy needs to be devised and it should not be forgotten that the position plays a vital roles in how you will play the hands. The most advantageous is when you have to play last, since this will let you know what the players play.




• Every player needs to know what his rewards and risks are. It is a bad move if players put in a lot from their stack especially when they know that the payoffs are not great at all. While on the other hand if the payoffs are excellent, a player is tempted to play those hands he wouldn’t play in a normal situation. For e.g. if you have $1,500 in your stack and the other player has $175 you may be tempted, when he puts in the lot, and you might want to counter play with your J-9 off suit.
  However if the player happens to play it right from the early positions, the opponent may have an excellent hand and with your move you will be letting in him in the game. All this risk is not worth the pot.




• It is advisable not to put in large amounts of money after a bad game. Just like it isn’t advisable in the game of blackjack the system of doubling up: e.g. is when you have lost $100 and you bet $200 for the next hand. This will keep happening till you lose everything.

You must be wondering how it all conjures up to Texas Holdem. It is advisable that you do not stick to this version of the Holdem game. For e.g. there is a big pot that is placed and you have put in most of your stack after which the river appears and you can be thrown off the game with only one card, and the card is played in the river.

This is not what you want, so you change your strategy and the 2-7 off suit that was just given to you is appropriate and you put in a more of your stack in the pot. If you feel you’re being stuck in the rut and only going further reeling below, you should move away from the table. When you find that you still possess most of your stack with you, you will be happy with this decision.

If you’re looking at increasing your profits in Texas Holdem, then it is required that you need to learn all Texas Holdem tips. This will up your poker sills and you will earn more profits.

What is tight Texas Holdem poker? It is the same as any regular game of Texas Holdem, except that the pot is much smaller than the normal ones. This is because the number of people involved in the game at that particular time is very small, this is just one of the many ways that Texas Holdem is popularly known as a game even for smaller groups.

Tight Texas Holdem poker does not mean any kind of skill required in Holdem, neither is it any sub branch of the game. All it means that the winning pot is smaller not flamboyant and big as the normal pots, that you win making you rich overnight. People however do not refrain from playing a game of Tight Texas Holdem Poker, the reason is simple enough. They still take home some money!

Tight Holdem players do a lot of checking, in the hope of finding that one card that is free whenever there is a draw. Whenever a player checks in a free card on a draw the other players go on an offensive. This is quite noticeable and the blame is on the few other players!

This game gives the opportunity of several games to be played consecutively. This can be a bit confusing and only can be understood completely if the person watching the game is seated and follows the game for sometime, with complete dedication in understating the game, he will understand what’s happening. If the person doesn’t seem to enjoy any particular game on a table, he can always request for another table. With online poker this is highly impossible and the advantages lie only on land based casinos.

Playing this game online and trying to switch tables just because you don’t like a game is possible and there are several choices that are offered. It can also be checked to see the number of flops a player has. The online poker sites also tell you what the average hand should be, helping a person to make up his mind when it comes to playing the game. It makes it simpler for the player in a way, but takes away the thinking part of the decision on if a player wants to join a particular game.

It is quite possible to increase the stakes in the game, and can happen if the other players in the game all agree. If the player finds that the recommended stakes are too high for him to play with then he can opt out of that game and move on to the game that is being played on the next table. This is good since it doesn’t force you to play with certain amount of stakes that you are not comfortable with.

Tight Holdem poker is hardly ever popular, although the game of Texas Holdem has now a much wider audience and player base, because of its rising popularity. Texas Holdem is an action packed game, and everyone wants to be a part of it by playing the game online or offline. Those who want to accentuate and move forward in the game can take a test by playing some tight games of Holdem.

If a player finds it difficult to play and win in a tight Holdem game, then he sure does not stand much chance when he plays for high stakes. It is highly recommended that a player first learn the game basics by playing at a smaller stake and then move to the next level.

Winning is important but should not be regarded as a severe criterion, it is first important to learn the basics of the game and then take it from there. Losing in this game is evident; all a player needs to do is play in a smart and confident way.