How to play Texas Hold em Poker
-----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Visit Our main site The
Poker Forum
Playing poker for real money is fundamentally different compared
to playing for play money. The rules may be the same, but the
difference is in the way people bet. When winning and losing
start making a difference, people are much more considered when
they actually put money into the pot. We call this playing
'tighter'.
The higher the stakes, the tighter the game.
When moving from play money to real money, you will have to
tighten up your game as well, or you will inevitably lose money.
The aim is to play a slightly tighter game than your opponents.
On low limit tables however, this is no problem. The game is
still pretty loose anyway.
Selecting Tables
Size of Table The first decision to be made before playing poker
is the size of the table. The strategy required for playing on a
ten player table is completely different to that of a two player
'heads up' game. Pick a type of table and stick to it to make
sure you learn it properly.
Visit Our main site The
Poker Forum
In general one can say it's more difficult to play No-Limit
than Limit Games and it is more difficult to play short handed
than at a full 10-player table.
Opponents Choosing your opponents is a powerful ploy to
successful poker. By selecting the right opponents, you maximize
your chance of profitable success. You don't have to be the best
player in the world to be profitable at poker, you just have to
be better than the players at your table. (Actually, you don't
have to be the best player at the table either, as long as you
know who the good players are!).
Find players that you are better than.
The first and most obvious piece of advice relating to your
opponents is to find, and play at, your own level. Secondly,
there is some statistical information in the lobby that you can
use.
Limit When, in this document, we refer to low-limit we're
talking about tables with $0.5-$1 and $1-$2. The information
here should be sufficient for you to play on this level.
To play at $2-$4 and $3-$6 you need to understand the concepts
described here on a slightly deeper level and gain some
experience of playing. Visit Our main site HERE The Poker Forum
Statistics To assist you in finding the right table, you can
use the statistics in the lobby. Flop Percentage The flop
percentage is the most important figure in determining the
quality of players at the table. It shows how many players are
paying to see the flop. It will give a good indication as to how
loose a game is. On a ten-seat table 25% would be very tight and
40% pretty loose.
Pot Size Average Another useful figure is the pot size average.
It will also give an indication on how loose the game is. If the
pots are large, more players are likely to be contributing
Betting Rounds
This section will give you an introduction in how to adopt your
play from play money to real money in the different stages of
the hand.
Pre-Flop Play the right Hands
The first decision is to select the hands you play. To learn
more on which hands to play and when to play them, it's
recommended that you read a good poker book. A good rule of
thumb is to play fewer hands than your opponents.
In loose low limit games, the pots tend to get big which makes
suited connectors (even low) better as you will win large pots
making a flush or straight.
Small pairs are good if there are many callers.
High cards are sometimes not as good as you might immediately
think. (E.g. QT unsuited is normally not a good hand at a 10
player table)
On the Flop
Abandon bad flops If the flop doesn't fit, abandon it. It is
very expensive to hope to make something from nothing at the
flop. A lot of times you won't, and a lot of times others will
make even better hands when you actually do improve.
Inside Straight Draws An inside straight draw is normally not
so good to bet with, unless there is a lot of money in the pot
already and the risk of being raised is very small.
Flush and Straight Draws A flush or outside straight draw at
the flop is normally a good thing. If there are others in the
pot, try to raise - if it doesn't scare people off - to get more
money in, as you will win your fair share of the hands.
Pocket Pairs Pocket pairs that haven't made trips on the flop
and with over cards on the flop are not so good. The chance of
improving on the turn is very small.
Scares It is important to identify scares on the table. That is
flops that can make draws for other players. When this happens,
you will probably win less frequently than on a top pair
* Three consecutive or close cards might very well give someone
a straight draw. * Two consecutive cards may give a two pair
(more connectors played than other cards)
A two flush on the board significantly reduces the profit of a
straight draw. One in four of the cards you are waiting for
could possibly give someone a flush! On the Turn Coming to the
turn, the bet increases. Here's an opportunity for a lot of
money to be won or lost. Managing to make it two bets on the
turn when you'll win and no bets when you would have lost
anyway, makes a winner in low limit Texas Hold'em! (Easier said
than done, though!) Check Raise Frequently go for a check raise
on the turn with premium hands, as you're often checking/folding
less good hands on the turn anyway. This way, your opponent will
not be able to read your hand effectively.
Acknowledge Bets and Raises In low limit games, bluffing is not
very common, which leads to another rule of thumb:
A raise on the turn almost always means that the other player
has a good hand
This is especially true when there are more than two players in
the pot. Don't be surprised if the opponent has trips or a made
flush/straight.
Don't bet on Draws At the turn, the probability for making your
hand is substantially lower than on the flop, and the number of
opponents calling is probably less. Checking and calling is
often the right thing to do, while betting is mostly wrong.
(Unless you think you can scare the opponent off).
On the River Checking a weak hand Normally you should bet out on
the river if you feel you have a strong hand. There is one
exception though. If you have a hand that was good at the flop
but unimproved since (like a top pair with a weak kicker), have
continued betting and just been called throughout the hand, you
should probably be checking. The reason for this is that it is
unlikely that you'll be called with a hand worse than yours
(giving you no profit from betting) and you take the risk that
someone has made a stronger hand on the river (maybe a two
pair), and will raise you (making you lose money). This is a
typical no-profit-for-risk scenario.
Seeing it through Frequently on the river there is enough money
in the pots to make it worthwhile calling a bet, even if you are
unsure if you have the best hand
Bankroll Poker is a game of edge. By playing better than the
opponents, you gain an edge and win money. There is, however, a
large element of short-term chance, which results in possible
swings. To play consistently, you'll need to have a sufficient
bankroll to survive.
Even a very good poker player may have a bad day, a bad week, or
a bad month!
In low limit poker you can handle the situation of losing your
entire bankroll, as it is in small manageable amounts. Playing
high stakes would require maybe $1,000,000 in bankroll, which is
difficult to replace if lost.
A good starting bankroll would probably be 100 small bets. (On a
$1-$2 table, this would require a $100 deposit.) Playing
conservatively will give you a buffer for losing streaks.
Depositing less money is of course possible, but you should be
prepared to deposit more to cover an unlucky streak.
On winning, it's important to build your bankroll in order to be
able to try a higher stakes table. This way you can move up the
limits without any further deposits.
Large Multi-way Pots In large multi-way pots, the number of
players going all the way to the river constitutes the number of
Miracle Rivers thus making your opponents hands increase. It's
all a question of probabilities.
On the other hand, the pot will be large, so by not betting on
bad hands, you'll not have to win too many pots to end up a
winner.
Be aware of made flushes and straights, as well as possible
third pairs making trips, so you don't pay unnecessarily over
the odds on the turn or river.
General on Bluffing In loose low limit poker, bluffing is
generally a bad thing and will not be profitable. Use bluffing
scarcely to put people off. It can sometimes be good to be
caught in a bluff early in the game to draw more callers when
you have a good hand later in the game.