What is the best way to play texas holdem poker?

Question

on a table with people, not on the net

Answer 1

Watch for the other players' "tells" - how they react to a good or bad hand.
Fold bad hands, or so-so hands in early position. Bet good hands strongly, as a small win is better than a small loss.
If you see the flop, it doesn't fit your hand, and someone bets strongly, you should fold 9 times out of 10.
Know when to make your stand. Don't get nickel and dimed to death.
The biggest mistake players make is playing too many hands. Know when to fold 'em.

Answer 2

Someone else asked a similar question a few weeks ago and I told him this;

Do NOT play the people, play the cards. Real life poker is incredibly different. There are people out there who specifically watch for things you do. They make playing poker boring becuase all they do is stare at you. Just concentrate on what you are doing. Don't be bothered by "tells" you may or may not have. You don't know if you have those tells or not. You could have Joe-blow tell you that you wink when you have a good hand and Joe-schmoe could tell you that everytime you have a bad hand you wink. Which one do you believe? None of them. They are out to play mind games, not poker. There are a multitude of sites out there that give you odds on different poker hands...which ones are best to play and which ones you are almost never going to win with. You can look at those and get a feel for the different hand there are out there to play. Other than that just don't pay attention to the guys wearing the cowboy hats, ipods, and goofy sunglasses. They are trying to get you off your mind. I play atleast two times a week in a sanctioned tourney and I play atleast once a week with a group of guys I know. I will hardly ever play on-line.

Answer 3

All forms of poker are equal in that what works for one, works for another:

-BUILD a solid foundation, knowing which hands will win most of the time
-STUDY the game and continue to recognise your strengths and weaknesses
-PAY YOUR MORTGAGE OR RENT with the money you win from the other mugs.

The link takes you to an eBook, which comes with an hour of free Internet poker coaching.

http://www.church-of-texas-holdem.com/abc-of-online-poker.html

The difference between Internet and live poker is much smaller than people think. Sure, you will shake, blink, scratch your nose, fart, drink too fast and all other kinds of 'tells'. Will your opponents make anything of them? No, because they will be doing all the same kind of stuff and probably won't be paying as much attention to you as you think.

TV and movie poker is unreal, the close-ups and drama are mostly fake. If you watch it without the commentary or dialogue, it would be as dull as watching Jaws without the scary music.

Don't be intimidated, don't play with money you can't afford to lose and have fun! Poker's not that serious, really. Unless you want it to be.

Answer 4

Dont get sucked into playing hands you have no chance of winning..if your dealt 2 usless cards at the start just fold dont be hanging on and hoping something will turn up cos it rarely does

Answer 5

played when this game started, dealt for years, won most of the time NOW, WHAT HAS HAPPENED? TOO MANY PLAYERS PLAYING BAD HANDS AND GETTING lucky. i don't get it I am now 92 yrs old.