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Poker Strategy Mastering The Game

Poker Strategy

Poker Tips and Tactics

It’s been said that poker is easy to learn but hard to master. Mastering any poker game is a fun and challenging goal. In the poker strategy section, you will find many resources to help you become a winning poker player. This page features general poker advice and strategy as well as links to poker strategy and tips for other poker games.

The basics of solid poker strategy involve many concepts that you must combine to become a consistently winning player. The following concepts are crucial to learning poker strategy:

• Tight play
• Aggressive play
• Random play
• Taking advantage of opponents’ mistakes

Keep these concepts in mind as you develop as a poker player. These strategic concepts are like the colors on an artist’s palette: the basic colors are the same, but the artist’s use of them is unique and stylistic.

Some Poker Strategy Considerations

Decisions for the New Poker Player

Decide whether you want to play poker to win or to play for fun. To play at a consistently winning level requires both time and effort. In other words, it takes work. There is nothing wrong with playing poker for fun, but there is no reason to plan to lose, even when you are playing for fun. However, deciding which type of poker player you want to be before you start will make your decisions and sessions easier.

Make Good Decisions – the Results Will Follow

Even the best poker players in the world have losing sessions. Don't make the mistake of expecting to win every time you play. Your goal should be to play to the best of your ability in every session. If you do, the cards and winnings will take care of themselves as you improve.
Many players make the mistake of judging their poker playing ability based on the results of each session. Your goal should be to make the best possible play every time. The closer you come to this, the better your results will be.

The Mathematics of Poker

Poker is a mathematical game, and it’s a game of incomplete information. That may sound complicated, but it really isn't. On a very basic level, winning poker starts with the selection of which starting hands to play. If you enter the pot with the best hand more often than your opponents do, you will win more times than your opponents.

Beyond Starting Hands

Starting hand selection is fundamentally important, but it’s only one piece of the poker strategy puzzle. Once you have mastered solid starting hand guidelines and understand how they change by your position at the table, the next area you should work on is your play for the rest of the hand. The area that separates professional players from amateurs is that professional players tend to play much better than their opponents during the remainder of the hand, after the starting hand decisions are made.
This is especially true concerning the decisions made at the very end of every hand. These skills involve calculating pot odds, recognizing betting patterns, bluffing, and using position. The years of practice necessary to master the middle and end game play are well worth the effort, because even small improvements in a player’s abilities can have a tremendous effect on that player’s lifetime winnings.

Avoiding Tilt

Another meta-skill that should be part of a winning player’s poker strategy is avoiding tilt. Your opponents will use your emotions against you, but only if you let them. Emotional play results in poor decisions and lost money. Tilting and steaming can happen to anyone, and sometimes the only cure is a break from the game. That’s okay; the game will still be there ten minutes from now. In fact, it will still be there tomorrow.

10 Essential Hold'em Moves!!!

There’s no simple fix for becoming a winning poker player but there are a handful of simple, easy-to-execute poker moves that can make a world of difference to your bottom line.
By fine-tuning these tactics you’ll have more tools to put to work at the poker table. You’ll be able to better understand your opponents and how to manipulate them, and that will translate directly to money in your pocket.
We already wrote the book on the 10 Essential Texas Hold’em Moves and now we’re back to bring you 10 more.

Today we’re deconstructing the blocking bet, sometimes called the blocker bet. By taking control of the pot with an out-of-position bet you can get yourself a better price on your draws and see cheaper showdowns.
The What: A blocker bet refers to betting from out-of-position in order to control how much money goes into the pot on a given betting round.

Use blocking bets like a shield to protect the rest of your stack.

The Why: When you’re holding a marginal hand that can’t stand up to a big bet, you can make a small bet that is likely to get called, but not raised, in order to see another card or get to showdown for a cheaper price.
The When: Blocking bets are always made from out of position since you must be able to act before your opponent.
The Who: Because making a small bet leaves you open to getting bluffed with a re-raise this move is best suited to use against tight, inexperienced opponents.
The Where: Blocking bets can be used effectively in both cash games and tournaments.

Using Blocking Bets the Right Way

Not everyone agrees on whether blocking bets are truly effective, but they’ll all tell you that if you’re doing it wrong, you’re burning money.
We’re here to tell you that at the right time, against the right opponent, a blocking bet can absolutely increase your winnings.
The important part of using blocking bets is understanding the line you’re taking in the hand, and the kind of opponent you’re up against.
Weaker, tighter players are your targets when you’re thinking about using a blocking bet, because an experienced, tough player will be able to exploit you by bluff-raising.
There are two main situations where you should consider a blogging bet.

Using a Blocking Bet to See a Cheap River Card

Imagine you’re playing a hand of $1/$2 No-Limit Hold’em and a player in middle position raises to $6. The small blind calls and you decide to call with 9♦ T♦.
The flop comes A♦ J♣ 5♦ and you check-call a $12 continuation bet from the original raiser. The small blind folds and the 2♠ hits the turn.

Blocker bets are an important part of small-ball poker strategy.

If you know enough about this opponent to know he’ll fire a second bullet with a wide range of hands, you can make a bet of your own, and size it so that you’re getting a better price to draw to your flush.
With $42 in the pot you could bet $20, since your opponent’s likely to make a more standard-sized bet of $30-$35.
And in addition to seeing the river for less if your opponent just calls, you also pick up some fold equity for those times he completely missed the board and decides to just give up.

 

Using a Blocking Bet to See a Cheap Showdown

The most common and arguably most effective way to use the blocking bet is when you’re moderately confident you have the best hand on the river, but you’re not comfortable calling a big bet to get to showdown.
Let’s go back to the $1/$2 cash game. Just like the first example a player raises, gets a call from the small blind and you call with 9♦ T♦ in the big blind.
This time the flop comes down T♥ 8♣ 5♠ and you check-call a continuation bet from the original raiser after the small blind folds.
You both check the 5♦ on the turn before the 2♠ hits the river.
At this point you’re reasonably confident that top pair is good but you’d rather not pay $35 to find out. By betting out for a smaller amount you’ll be able to see that showdown for a cheaper price, and you’ll also get some fold equity.

Balancing Your Blocker-Bet Range

It’s important to understand that blocking bets are far more difficult to use against good players.
If you only bet small out of position with marginal hands, looking to get a cheap showdown, good players will simply raise and blow you off your hand.
To combat this you must balance your blocker-bet range by doing exactly the same thing with your big hands too.
In the second example from above imagine you had pocket fives and flopped a set. You checked the turn hoping to slow-play and instead of checking again on the river to induce a bluff, you bet small to represent a blocking bet and a marginal hand.
A good player will pick up on this and might try to bluff-raise you off the pot, getting more money into the middle when you’ve got the best of it.

Blocking Bets in Action

If you’re still unconvinced about the power of the blocker bet, let 13-time WSOP winner Phil Hellmuth break it down for you in the video below.

Top 10 Poker Tips!!

1. Don't Play Every Hand / Do Fold More
Probably the number one mistake beginning poker players make is that they play far too many hands. When you're just starting out playing poker, you want to play poker, and that means staying in hands that aren't very good just to be part of the action. But playing more doesn't mean winning more, it usually means losing more. If you find you're staying in half or more the hands you're dealt, you need to upgrade your starting hand requirements.


2. Don't Play Drunk
Countless nights have I sat across a table from someone & watched them get plastered silly and throw away their entire stack of chips. I've been that person too - and there are nights where you're just playing with friends for low stakes and it's more about the fun than the poker - but if you're in a casino, watch the alcohol. The truth is, while you may be more relaxed after 2 drinks, it may lead to you playing looser and less sharply, even if one's not 'drunk.'

3. Don't Bluff Just For Bluffing's Sake
A lot of beginner's understand that bluffing is a part of poker, but not exactly how. There's is NO rule that one must bluff a certain amount or at all during a poker game, but many players don't feel like they've won unless they've tried a poker bluff. Bluffs only work in certain situations & against certain people, and if you know a player always calls to the showdown, it is literally impossible to bluff that player. It's better never to bluff than to bluff "just to bluff."

4. Don't Stay in a Hand Just Because You're Already In It
Another common mistake beginners make is to think that "Well, I've already put that much in the pot, I have to stay in now." Nope. You can't win a pot just by throwing money at it. There may be cases when pot odds warrant a call, but if you're sure you're beaten, and there's no way your hand can improve to be the best hand, you should fold right away. The money you've already put in the pot isn't yours anymore, and you can't get it back just by playing a hand all the way to the end.


5. Don't Call at the End of a Hand to "Keep Someone Honest"
This one follows the last tip. I see a lot of players look at another player's final bet, look at the hand, & say "I know you've got me, but I have to keep you honest," as they throw in a final call. It may be worth it to see if a player really has the hand if you're not sure & you're gaining information that will help you later on, but if you really feel a player has the hand he's representing & you're beat, why give him another pile of your money? Those bets will add up over an evening.

6. Don't Play When Mad, Sad, or in a Generally Bad Mood

When you play poker, you shouldn't do it to escape from being depressed or having a really bad day. You start out on tilt -- playing emotionally, not rationally -- and you won't play your best. Likewise, if during a poker game, you lose a big hand or get sucked out on and feel yourself going on tilt, stand up & take a break until you feel calm later on. Fellow players will sense your mood & take advantage of it.

7. Do Pay Attention to the Cards on the Table

When you first start playing, it's enough just to remember how to play and pay attention to your own hand. But once you've got that down, it's incredibly important to look at what's going on at the table. In Texas Hold'em, figure out what the best possible hand would be to fit the flop. Make sure you notice flush & straight possibilities. In 7-card stud, pay attention to what's showing & what people have folded when you consider calling opponents.

8. Do Pay Attention to the Other Players
As you play, one of the single best things you can do is observe your opponents, even when you're not in a hand. If you know if one player always raises in a certain position, & another has a poker tell when he bluffs, & a 3rd folds to every re-raise, you can use that information to help you decide how to play against them. Once you know that player 3 always folds to a re-raise on a river, that's when you can bluff & steal a pot.

9. Don't Play at too High Limits
There are many reasons people move up to a higher limit game than they usually play. Good reasons like they've been winning consistently at a lower lever & are ready to move up, & bad reasons like the line is shorter for higher limits or you want to impress someone. Don't play at stakes that make you think about the actual money in terms of day-to-day life or with money you can't lose. Even if you had one super-good night at $2/4, resist the urge to play $5/10. The next tip explains more why.

10. Do Pick the Right Game for Your Skill Level & Bankroll
One of the reasons you shouldn't jump into a $5/10 game after winning a huge bunch of money at $2/4 is because as the stakes rise, so does the average skill level of the players sitting there. You want to be one of the best at the table, not the fish who sits down with sharks. If you're making stacks of money at a lower level game, why move? You're winning stacks of money. The swings up & down at higher limits are much bigger, and one big night's win won't last long at a high-stakes game.