Texas hold'em tactics and strategies?

Question

i have recently started playing poker (hold'em) and wondered what your advice would be from your experience at playing poker and in what ways you can win more frequently.

all responses appreciated.

Answer 1

tight is right.

Start learning the maths. It's about probability. It relies on how many players were dealt cards, how many are still in the hand, your cards, and the cards on the table. When you get a feel for the maths you can better play hands. For example: A 7 off suit is a playable hand with 3 people but should be folded when all 9 have called for the flop.

Bluffing takes practice, guts and luck. But to begin with ONLY bluff for one reason: To protect a moderate hand. EG: You have 9 K suited and the flop comes up 9 5 8 with 2 clubs (not your suit) You have top pair with kicker. But there are 2 clubs that could turn to a flush or some lucky SOB could get a 6 and a 7 from his hole cards and the next 2 community cards. Hence your strong hand will only remain strong if you make people pay good and big money to see those other two cards. This is the time to bet big. More elaborate bluffs can work when you get experience but that's a good starting rule of thumb.

Don't go all in for small stakes. In a $1 $2 game the pot after the flop may be $12. Go all in with $200 and what have you got? Someone may call, it's too early to be sure you can win and you're throwing away $200 on a coin toss. And if you do get them all to fold, you just gambled $200 to win $12.

Good luck and happy playing.

Answer 2

Let's say you're playing with 9 other players. If you won $90 every time you had the best hand and lost $10 every time you didn't have the best, then the game would be a game of pure luck. The strategy is in: A) figuring out how to increase your winnings when you have the best hand, B) how to decrease your losses when your hand is not best, and C) (better yet) how to win money even though your hand is not the best. There have been a few times where I would catch a monster hand and get paid for it, but then I would bet aggressively the next few hands, to the point where I overheard a couple of others say "I can't believe how lucky he is". But the truth is that despite the fact that I got lucky on only one hand (which happens to everyone at one time or another), the aggressive bluffing turned one lucky hand into a profitable winning streak. ------------------------- Give you an example of a specific hand, to show you the difference between strategy and luck: No-limit, $1-$2 blinds. I get 10-10, make a $5 bet, and one other person calls behind me. There's $13 in the pot (including $5 of mine), my opponent has $300 still in front of him, and I have him covered with $350 in front of me. Here's the luck part: The flop is 10-6-2. I've flopped a monster (three 10s). Here's the strategy part: Can I turn an $8 win into a $300 win? I'm first to act after the flop is dealt. What to I do? A) Bet small, ($2 - $10) B) Bet big, ($25 - $75) C) Bet huge, ($100-$200) D) Bet all-in ($300) E) Check (planning to call if he bets), or F) Check (planning to check-raise if he bets) What do you do? --------------------------------------... Here's another example in which luck is almost completely taken out of the equation: No limit, $1-$2 blinds. Someone raises to $5, You have 10 of diamonds, 8 of spades, and you're the only one to call. The flop is K-J-9 of diamonds, giving you an inside straight-flush draw. He checks, you check. The turn is a 3 of spades. He checks, you check. The river is the A of diamonds, giving you the second-highest flush. If he has the Q of diamonds, he has you beat. If he has a smaller diamond, he may think he has a good hand but you have him beat. If he doesn't any diamond, you have him beat and he knows it. He goes all in for $250. Do you A) call B) fold How much luck is involved in this decision?

Answer 3

There is really nothing you are going to learn in a few sentences on Yahoo Answers. Some people are so stupid they even claim it is all luck!

What you need to do is study. Read some books. Understand them, practice.

Play online for play money. Now when you first start out, you will find it is a bit unrealistic. People throw their money away because it is not real. However, if you are playing online at a site like PokerStars.com and work your way up to $50,000 buy in Sit and Gos and the higher stakes play money tables, you will find the games at least as challenging as micro stakes real money.

Practice what you have learned in the books, and keep working until you have a million dollars in play money. This may take a while but once you are good enough to win that much, you can start to consider real money games.

As to a little practical advice here's mine:

Position is everything. Don't play anything but the very strongest of hands if you are less than three places from the big blind. You need a pair of queens or better. If you are in other positions play any pair for cheap (don't call a raise and re-raise with anything less than jacks). Play any two cards that in blackjack would add up to 20 or better. Play any suited ace for cheap.

If you have a real premium hand you should come in for a raise. You don't want to play a premium hand against seven other limpers. There is a good chance someone will outdraw you.

If you are playing tournament poker, don't risk all your chips with a marginal hand. Top pair is rarely good enough.

Don't chase unlikely hands like an inside straight draw or three cards to a flush.

If your low pair does not make trips on the flop, dump it to any serious bets.

Learn what outs are and how to approximate your odds on the turn and river. Learn to calculate pot odds. Learn about online tells.

I'm not sure how use much of that advice will be without practice or reading a book, but use what you can. Good luck!

Answer 4

I agree with zct about this question, he is a solid player and his advice is very good. You should play tight when you are first starting out and only play good cards. Position, chip size, and lots of other factors go into your decision on what and when you should play your hand. If i have A-J at a table with loose players then i always fold, but that same hand at a tight table and if I'm in position i may raise it up. Also the number of players in the pot and the type of players they are and the kind of image you have at the table are just some factors you must think about. Just go out and play.

Answer 5

Get Doyle Brunson's poker book. It's still concidered the Bible, 25 years after it came out. There is a lot of good advice in it.

Answer 6

Always keep tens or higher, and suited straight draws, and any ace. When the flop comes, fold if you cannot beat aces up. Slow play and raise on the turn. If possible, raise on the river as well. You cannot control your wins but you can control your losses. Use good money management. Good luck.

Answer 7

You can log on my site, for advice. And feel free to contact me there for any specific strategy.

Take care

Answer 8

when playing hold em best strategy is play your opponents not your cards. meaning look for tells and how your opponents play.

Answer 9

all you have to do is when you have a good hand just dont change your expression.and when you are betting go low and work your way up.

Hope this helps!!!

Answer 10

it all has to do with luck