Poker Beginner Strategy

Poker Beginner Strategy

If you want to be a good Texas Holdem player there are some topics you need consider:

How much money should you invest?

If you are looking to just have fun, don't invest any more than is 'fun' to lose. Hence, if you're comfortable blowing 100 bucks, put in $100 and see if you can win with it.

If you are looking to make money, you should be able to bank 200 big bets at the limit you play. Hence, if you play a $2-4, you should have $4 X 200= $800 dollar roll. For $5-10, your target roll should be $2000. These numbers prevent you from blowing your entire bankroll because of one bad run.

Some may say that the 200 big bets is too low for shorthand, but we believe you need to be reasonable about potential losses. You don't want to invest more than 200 big bets unless you've proven that you're successful at that limit.

Starting Hands

While playing Texas Holdem the first thing you must understand is which hands are good and which are bad. Though it depends on the number of people in the game and the type, here is a general guide to use when you are just starting out but want to be a winning player at the lower limits. I suggest starting out at a fixed limit of $1-2 or lower.

Poker Hands to Raise with:

These are called 'premium hands' that you want to jam the pot with preflop:

AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ, AQ, 1010

These are the hands to call with:

You want to see the flop with these hands and then decide. Do not call three bets with these hands, call only one or two.

AJ, KQ, QJ, J10, 109 (only if of same suit),99, 88, 77, Ax (same suit)

Pot Odds

Once you hit the flop, you should use pot odds to decide your next action. When you hit the flop, either you will be winning or hopefully winning (with a made hand) or you want cards to improve your hand (you are drawing).

If you have a made hand, you should bet and raise. You want to win the pot now because more cards can only help your opposition.

If you do not have a made hand, you are drawing. You must use 'pot odds' to determine if you should call or fold. First, you must count the number of outs you have. An out is a card that will make your hand the best hand.

For example, if your hand is KJ, and the board is Q 10 7, then your outs are 4 Aces and 4 9's, or 8 outs total. To calculate your percentage of hitting an out, you take the # of outs times 2, then add 2. Once you figure out this number, you multiply it by the pot to see what the maximum bet is that you can call.

For example, if you have 6 outs (6 cards will help you), you have about a 14% chance of hitting. If the pot is $100 and you must call $10, you should call b/c you can call up to $14 (.14 X 100) but the cost is only $10. However, if the bet to you was $20, you should fold, because that would require a 20% chance of hitting.

Slowplaying

This means deceiving your opponents into thinking you have less of a hand then you do. For example, suppose you hold KK. The flop comes K33, so you flopped a full house! There is no need to scare people out of the pot because there is little chance of someone drawing out on you. Thus, you should wait to the turn or maybe even river to jam the pot with bets and raises. You should slowplay if two conditions are met:

1. You hold a whopper and there is almost no chance of someone drawing on you
2. You will only get action if some other cards come out that will improve your opponents' hands, but these cards are not good enough to make these hands beat yours.

Tilt

Being on tilt means letting your emotions disrupt your ability to play. All poker players go on tilt at least once during their career, but limiting these episodes is essential to winning at poker.

Poker is a game that requires reason. If you have JQ of spades, and the flop comes AQ10, all of hearts, and there is a lot of betting action, you need to know to fold. If you were on tilt, you would let your emotions take control and make you do whatever it took to take down the pot. You would keep chasing, hoping to catch a king and hoping that no one had a flush.

Is a fact that people who get upset and don't stay focused and reasonable, will lose all the money they brought to the table, is imperative to stay focused and rational while at the poker table.

While going on tilt is natural, you need to limit it. Generally, the best way is to sit out a couple of hands and go on a walk.

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