Lessons in Texas Holdem Poker (Limit)
Want to know how to get the upper hand at Texas Holdem Poker?
Take in these tips by semi professional player Gabriel James.
Texas Holdem Poker, in the Limit variant, is a measured,
mathematical game. You will need strategies that are designed to
help you make the most money for the least effort. There is no
magic formula but I will be giving you tips on how to maximize
your earnings potential.
Everybody knows you need to have good starting hands to be
successful but that is far from the end of the story. There are
many other important points that need to be addressed.
In this article I will concentrate on small stake limit holdem
cash in both live and online games.
The Home Texas Holdem Poker Game
Johnny Moss once said he'd bet his own grandmother in a hand!
And this is where a major problem exists as money brings out the
worst in some people.
I think home games have their place when played for friendly
stakes or for small buy in tournaments. However, as soon as the
stakes go up sometimes friendships go out the door. I've heard
from several of my friends involved with boy's poker nights
(small fee tournaments) that have moved to cash limit, and
finally moved on to No Limit cash. The major reason for these
moves being the involvement of Jack Daniels! Usually it works
out fine but on a few occasions friendships were tested. If you
are going to play at home make sure you play for fun or small
money.
On Texas Holdem Poker - Online
What a great concept - any day, anytime you can find a game
waiting for you for any stakes you please.
Want to play a sit and go tournament for $5, sure no problem.
Want to play $300/$600 with the best in the world then - yes
it's out there.
In order to win the most, you need to select the correct game to
sit down in. As I said, this article is for the small stake
Texas Holdem Limit player, so any statistics I produce have that
in mind. I say small stakes which I take to mean $0.5/$1 tables
up to $5/$10.
Log on to your online poker site and arrive in the lobby. Order
the tables by stake and scroll down. You see five tables that
are ten handed and so you decide to go on the waiting list.
Do you wait for the next available seat?
That depends. If all of the tables have average pots of Seven
Big Bets (a big bet is the value of the bets on the turn and the
river, which in Limit Texas Holdem play are double the size of
the pre flop and flop bets) then it doesn't matter which one you
wait for. If all but one table have less than five big bets and
there is nobody in the queue for the table with more than five
big bets then it is worth waiting for that one.
Why do I put emphasis on average pot size? Well, the bigger the
pot the more you stand to gain when you win a pot. The tables
that have five big bets or less are probably full of "Rocks"
(tight players) and you will not be able to extract the maximum
value for your hand, or they will fold to any aggressive play
you show them. Therefore your earnings per hour will decrease at
these tables. Go for other tables with the highest big bet per
pot average.
More Methods For Picking A Table With Texas Holdem Poker
Another way that you can see which table to choose is to look at
the statistic "average seen flop".
This is the percentage of players that have seen the flop per
hand. Some online poker sites display this in the lobby. If you
are playing small stakes Limit Texas Holdem, any table average
with 35% or higher should have your mouth watering.
Some poker sites allow you to maintain a buddy list. I highly
encourage you to do this. Say you were playing $2/$4 Texas
Holdem and a player on your table is constantly calling down
cold calling pre-flop and showing down things like 6 of clubs 4
of spades from early position they need to be added to your
buddy list.
When you next log on you can check your list and see if they are
playing. Even if they are playing higher, it may well be worth
moving up to take their money. This is especially the case if
you can sit to their left and make isolation raises to get them
heads up with you. (I digress into poker statistics which we
will get onto in due time).
This is only the beginning and I've just brushed the surface
into how to maximise your earnings starting with game selection.
At first, it may be about the right tables. Try these tips and
look for more of my suggestions about Texas Holdem Poker.