How to avoid defeats playing Texas Holdem: play fewer hands

Ronald Norris

Of course, it is not nice to lose. Any defeat leads to a disappointment and it might affect your mood dramatically. Texas Holdem is a very difficult game and many newcomers feel unhappy when they lose.

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)