Hold’em Poker Strategy Guide
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The following basic guidelines will hopefully speed up the learning process for any player new to Hold’em poker.Luck v Skill
It is often said that Texas Hold’em takes minutes to learn but a lifetime to master. At times the game can appear very simple and may create the illusion that the results are dominated by luck. In the short-term period of a single session or tournament a seasoned professional may lose heavily, whilst a complete beginner may prosper as luck can play a significant part. Over the long-run, luck evens itself out with the difference between winning and losing dependant on skill. The following basic guidelines will hopefully speed up the learning process for any player new to Hold’em poker.The Right Poker Skills
Poker rewards players with patience and discipline above all else. Inexperienced players have a tendency to play too many hands and then lack the discipline to fold in later betting rounds when the evidence suggests they are beaten. The key to winning is learning how to maximise your earnings on your best hands and having the discipline to cut your losses when you recognise you’ve run into trouble.Play Money to Real Money
If you have practiced your skills on the play money tables and feel you are ready to take on the challenge of real money poker, be prepared to make a few adjustments to your game as making the transition requires a much more conservative approach from the style you may be accustomed to. The betting patterns in play money games have very few similarities to those seen for real money as players rarely fold, considering they have nothing to lose. Alternatively, freeroll tournaments offer a much more competitive and realistic experience as there are often cash prizes to win. In a play money side game a player can simply add more chips every time they go bust, but if a player loses all of his/her chips in a tournament they can no longer continue and therefore lose their seat. These factors ensure the game is more conservative as players have a genuine motivation for looking after their chips which results in a more accurate representation of real money poker games. For beginners, freerolls or low buy-in tournaments are probably the most cost efficient method of learning the ropes. Afterwards, the tournament skills picked up can be adapted to real money side games with some adjustment in the strategy.Hold’em Poker Basic Strategy
PositionBefore outlining which hands you should be looking to play and how to play them, it is very important to first realise the importance of your position in relation to the button. When you are seated on the dealer button, you will be the last player to act on every betting round (apart from the first round when the big blind position is last to speak). This is a great advantage as you gain the benefit of knowing what your opponents have done before you, which gives you more clues about the hands they are holding. However, if you are the first person to act on every betting round, there is no way of knowing what the other players are planning to do. This can create some difficult situations where it can be hard to know what to do. The implications are that in early positions you should only be playing the very best hands before the flop, and only fairly strong hands should be played from middle positions. In later positions a few more hands become playable, particularly if the pot has not been raised.
Starting Hands
On a full table of ten players, in general you should be looking to play the following types of hands. The fewer players there are, the lesser your starting requirements need to be, and for heads-up play there is no chance of waiting around for great hands. This is why it is easier to learn poker on a full table at first.
Premium Hands
Pair of Aces (pocket rockets, bullets)
Pair of Kings (cowboys)
Pair of Queens (ladies)
Pair of Jacks (hooks)
A-K (ace-king) suited or unsuited (the big slick)
A-Q suited
Fairly Strong Hands
A-Q unsuited
Pair of Tens
A-J suited or unsuited
Pair of 9’s
K-Q suited
A-10 suited
Playable Hands
A-10 unsuited
Pair of 8’s (snowmen) down to Pair of 2’s (ducks)
K-Q unsuited, K-J, K-10
Q-J, Q-10
J-10 suited and any lower suited connecters, 10-9, 9-8, etc..
Ace-small card suited
Other suited connecters, J-9, 10-8, 9-7, etc..
Hands to Generally Stay Away From
Q-3 (the gay waiter – a queen with a tray)
7-2 unsuited (the worst starting hand)
2-3 (a rat and a mouse)
10-2 (Brunson)
Picture card-weak kicker, eg, K-5
And many more
From early position, only the premium hands should be played, but the later you are the more you can widen your starting requirements. The general categories for playable hands fall into:
Big pairs – Aces, Kings & Queens
Limit – these hands should be raised before the flop from any position to get more money into the pot and to reduce the number of opponents. If too many players get the chance to see the flop, there is a fair chance you may not have the best hand afterwards. Don’t be afraid to fold if it looks like you are losing on the flop. If you have a pair of kings and an ace comes out on the flop, with many players still in the pot there is a very good chance someone has made a pair of aces. If players start betting you have to be prepared to throw away that big pair and wait for the next chance. If the flop doesn’t seem dangerous then keep betting.
Pot-limit & No-Limit – there may be times when it is worth the risk of slow playing a big pair but if you try this you must be prepared to accept the consequences if it backfires. If there is a player raising frequently it may be best just calling or checking if you are first to act. If the aggressive player raises, then you can reraise. In contrast to slow playing big pairs, you also do not want to bet too much before the flop because you want action with your best hands.
Medium pairs – Jacks, Tens, Nines & Eights
Limit – These types of hands can be fairly tricky to play at times and in loose games where many players are calling, they are probably best played as if they are small pairs. In limit games it is difficult to reduce the number of opponents in the hand but if the game is fairly tight and you are in late position you can raise if you think you will only have a couple of opponents to deal with on the flop. If the flop comes low you can bet again but often you may have to throw away your hand when overcards come out.
Pot-limit & No-Limit – Again, they can be very difficult to play but in no limit games it is easier to reduce the number of opponents in the pot as you can bet a larger amount before the flop. If there are many players in the pot, it may be better to just call and hope to hit trips on the flop.
Big cards – A-K, A-Q, A-J, K-Q, K-J
Limit – From early position a raise before the flop with A-K or A-Q is appropriate but it is dangerous to play weaker Aces or the likes of K-Q from early position as you could easily run into bigger cards. In middle and later positions many more of these hands become valuable and should be raised. Be careful calling raises with hands like A-10 or Q-J as they are often overrated hands. If the raise is from a conservative player then you are not only likely to be behind, but also likely to be dominated. An example of this may be when you hold K-Q and call a raise from a tight player. If you are up against A-K and a King comes on the flop then you are going to like your hand but are unlikely to win with your Queen kicker. Q-J can be a troublesome hand for the same reasons so should only be played if there has not been a raise and you are in late position.
Pot-limit & No-Limit – Similar guidelines apply with the danger of having a dominated hand, but it may be more serious as it can cost you your entire stack. If you have raised before the flop from late position and only get one or two callers, with a low flop it is sometimes best to bet again on the flop as your opponents may believe you have a big pair. As you can raise more in no limit it is easier to scare other players off, but also has more serious implications if it goes wrong.
Suited Connecters – e.g. 6-7, 9-10, J-Q
Limit – These hands play best in games where many players are in the pot and the pot has not been raised. They should only be played from late position, and most of the time the flop will not be worth staying in on. When a good flop comes down giving you a straight or flush draw, then as long as the pot is large enough to chase (which it should be if there are many players staying in) then you have a hand worth chasing (see the section on pot odds).
Pot-limit & No-Limit – These hands have less value in no limit because if you flop a good draw, you may have to pay too much to chase your card, whereas in limit the bet is much smaller in relation to the pot.
Small Pairs – Sevens down to Twos
Limit – Loose games are best for low pairs, but you don’t want to be paying too much to see the flop. If a few players have called (or you expect players after you to call judging by the nature of the game) then you can call and hope to hit three of a kind on the flop. If you miss on the flop you are much less likely to make it on the turn or river, which will also cost you more, so it is normally best to abandon after the flop.
Pot-limit & No-Limit – Small pairs can be excellent in the right type of games when you can see the flop cheaply and there is often a lot of betting on the flop. If a player has raised the pot before the flop, it is usually best to fold. If you hit the flop, there are situations when it is best to bet and other situations where you will need to bet. For example, you make your trips but the flop has two suited cards and a possible straight draw. You will need to bet a fair amount to make them pay the price if they want to catch you up. If the flop presents no obvious dangers, it may be better to let another card come out to give other players the chance of making a good second-best hand they are likely to bet with.
Knowing Your Opponents
Knowing how to play the cards will only get you so far until you learn to adapt your game to suit your opponents. The note taking facility is a useful feature as you can categorise opponents by their style of play so the next time you face them you will be better prepared. Whether you are in the hand or not you should be constantly monitoring the other player’s styles. Do they play too many hands? Do they always chase to the River? Do they overrate certain hands? Do they fold most of the time? How often do they bluff?
Bluffing
Pulling off a great bluff can be very satisfying but if it is attempted too often it can become a costly mistake. Some players will attempt to bluff on a regular basis in the hope that when they do hit a good hand, others will not believe it so are more likely to call. The pots won by such players are likely to be bigger than average, but they will also lose more on the hands when their bluffs fail. This risky style of play requires more skill and is likely to cause greater up and down swings. When starting out, a much tighter approach would be safer whereby the pots you win will be smaller but your conservative approach will allow you to get away with the occasional carefully timed bluff.
In low limit games where several players stay in the pot, bluffing is not particularly successful as usually there will be at least one opponent with a good enough hand to call with. As the bets are limited to small fixed amounts, it is harder to bluff in general, whereas in no limit a big raise puts a lot more pressure on an opponent if they only have a marginal hand. In higher limits, the games are generally tighter allowing a greater scope for bluffing. Successful tournament strategy requires the ability to know when and how to bluff, particularly in the later stages as players become worried they may not make it to the money.
Tournament Play
Chip Stack SizesAn important aspect of tournament play is to adjust your play according to your stack size and your opponent’s stack sizes. If you are low on chips (less than six times the big blind) it is often better to try and make a stand by raising all-in with a mediocre hand rather than waiting to be eaten away by the blinds. If you are lucky enough to have a large stack in comparison to others you can put pressure on the shorter stacks and perhaps take a few more chances. Don’t get careless though as the situation can change very quickly in a no limit tournament and you could quickly find yourself back down to an average stack. Try to avoid getting involved with other big stacks unless you have a premium hand as it is often not worth the risk of potentially ruining a comfortable situation with one needless mistake.
Blind Stealing
As the tournament progresses, the blinds start to become more and more important on the fight for survival. During the first few rounds, the blinds represent only a small proportion of the total chips on the table, so winning them will not make much of a difference to your stack. Towards the end, the pattern of the game often changes to a fierce fight for a the blinds as it is often the case that a short stacked player can significantly improve their position by successfully stealing the blinds a couple of times. Players will start to take more chances, particularly in later positions where the likelihood of stealing is increased. Therefore in the early stages of a tournament you can afford to wait for the right opportunities, but later on if you are in trouble you cannot wait around hoping for aces. When you are in late position, no-one has yet called and the players in the blinds tend to fold often, it is often worth considering a steal raise with only mediocre hands.
General Tips
BankrollThe golden rule is ‘never play with money you can’t afford to lose’. In games where the limits are too high you may actually play worse as you are too concerned about losing. You may find yourself not taking chances when you know you should be because you are playing ‘scared money’. Putting yourself under this pressure takes the fun out of the game and is certainly not advisable. If you have aspirations for playing higher limits, take one step at a time and wait until you are consistently doing well at the lower limits before considering moving up. Do not get carried away with a couple of good sessions as short-term fluctuations in luck must be taken into consideration.
Going on Tilt
‘Don’t throw good money after bad’ is another golden rule. Most players are prone to going on tilt every now and again after a bad run of cards or a couple of bad beats. They will start playing too many hands in a desperate attempt to get even. Try to keep your composure at all times and don’t be ruled by your emotions.
