In this chapter, we will focus on giving you some tips and strategies that will help you to improve your game right from the start, before you move forward. When you play your first, or you 1001st game, you’ll be able to use these strategies to make sure that no one can walk away with more than they should in a game of poker against you.
Your Hand: Keeping It Quiet
Of course you would never let anyone see your hand as that would allow them to place a better bet on their hand, which would ultimately allow you to lose the hand or, even worse, have everyone withdraw from the game when you have a great hand to play. For that reason, one of the key things you must do is to protect your hand.
The way that most people can tell what’s in your hand is not by looking at your cards, but watching your reaction to those cards. Here are some common reactions that people have. When you visit a casino, watch for these signs in other people.
- You look at your cards and smile.
- You look at your card and raise your eyebrows.
- You look at your cards several times.
- You place a large bet out of character (other bets have been lower.)
- You have some nervous indication such as bouncing your leg or hand.
- Your mood instantly improves.
These are some of the most common mistakes that people make when they are playing poker and get a good hand. If you have a good hand, you don’t want anyone else to know that you do have a good hand. If they do, then it’s easy for them to fold out of the game and you win a small pot instead of the bigger one you could have gotten.
In order to keep yourself from making this mistake, make a conscious decision to think about your reactions before the cards are dealt. For example, take your time and rethink the way that you are acting. Try to suppress emotion.
Your Betting Strategy
As mentioned, the other way that people can see your reaction and therefore make a decision about your hand is the way that you bet on your hand.
Let’s say that for the last few hands, you have bet conservatively. When the time came, you didn’t have great cards or bad cards. You weren’t aggressive. Now, you get a good hand. You bet on this hand high right from the start. This is a clear indication to the other players that you have a good hand because they know that you aren’t usually betting high on a riskier hand. They fold out of the game, and you are left with a small pot.
In an effort to overcome this, you’ll need to develop a betting strategy. A betting strategy is simply a term to describe your betting methods. The more varied that you can keep them; the more ideal your game will be played. The very best poker players are the most unpredictable players in the game.
Pay close attention, watching the other players. Who is aggressive and who is playing conservatively? This can help you to determine how they are playing too.
The best thing for you to do is to place bets more randomly. If you have an okay hand, then bet a bit better. The next time that you have a good hand; bet a bit lower than you normally would. Confusing the other players will work in your favor here.
Here’s a mistake that many people make. They stay in the game of poker whenever they have an ace in their hand. While an ace is a vitally important part to the game, that doesn’t mean that you will have the best hand of the game.
When do you know when to stay in the game with an ace in your hand? The best route to take, for most, is to stay in the game when you have another card that is of the same suit as the ace or you have a ten or higher with it. This gives you an increased chance of winning.
What’s Everyone Doing?
Part of your betting strategy is to define what everyone else is doing during the game. Any good poker player knows it’s not just about the cards in your hand, but the cards in other’s hands as well. Learning to spot the way that they are playing, namely the way that they are betting, you can benefit with a better chance of winning the hand.
What’s their chip count? For games that are no limit games, there’s always the risk of losing it all if someone puts in all of their chips. But, there’s more to learn from this as well.
While a mistake here in watching other plays can hurt you, you should also take note of how high they are bidding and on what type of cards they are bidding better. For example, are they a conservative bettor most of the time? If so, noticing this can help you to clearly see when they have a good hand (they will tend to bid higher.)
Take your time to learn about the other players. When you take mental notes about the way that they play and any tells that they have, you’ll learn what their strategy is and develop your own against them.
It’s also important for you to pay attention to your own game. Is your betting strategy working? What needs to be changed in it? What’s more, are you winning? Take the time to analyze your own weaknesses so that you can develop into a complete player that is hard to beat.
These are some of the most basic means of controlling the game play from your standpoint. But, you also need to learn how to know what to bet and why. This will ultimately dictate how well you can play any hand.
Aggressive Strategy
Probably the best route for any beginning player to play is that of the aggressive role. Beyond anything you do need to use the other tools we’ve discussed, but you also need to know how to successfully play the game when your turn arrives.
Play a strong hand. Fold your hand when it’s less than a fifty percent chance that you’ll be successful. It’s that simple. You should avoid chasing draws, too. If other players believe that your style of game is weak, they will try to take advantage of this. On the other hand, it could work in your favor in limited situations.
What are good cards to have in your hand? If you want to play the math angle of poker (yes, percentages will come in your favor here) then consider this.
The best cards to play include:
- AA
- AK, in the same suit
- KK
If you have these cards in your hand, your chances are any place from 31 to 22 percent of winning. If you have this type of hand, your raise should be about four times the table’s limit.
What else is a good starting hand?
- JJ
- AQ
- KQ in the same suit
- AJ in the same suit
- KJ in the same suit
- 10 – 10
- AK, not in the same suit.
While these percentages of wins will be less (around 20 percent to fifteen percent) they are still good starting hands to hold on to.
If you have:
- Pairs ( 8 – 8, 9 -9)
- Two Face Cards (Kings, Queens, Jacks)
- Or hands that can help you with a flush or a straight
Then, be patient and stay in the game. Analyze your cards to see what they could be, especially when playing games like Texas Hold’em where it’s all about the showdown and most winning hands will be nothing more than pairs.
Know The Odds
An important element in playing poker is to know what the odds are. When a set of cards hits your hand, you should know how difficult it will be for you to obtain the goal that you are after. Here is a very simple chart to help you to see what the best odds for you are.
Remember: There are 2,598,960 different ways that your deck of 52 cards can be played with five card hands.
In this chart, the odds of being dealt cards in your first hand are represented.
- Your Hand
- Odds Of Being In First Hand
- A High Card
- 1/1
- One Pair
- 15/1
- Two Pair
- 20/1
- Three Of A Kind
- 46/1
- Straight
- 254/1
- Flush
- 508/1
- Full House
- 693/1
- Four Of A Kind
- 4,164/1
- Straight Flush
- 72,192/1
- Royal Flush
- 649,739/1
In other words, it is more important to consider what is more likely to happen and to run with it, rather than looking for the highest cards every round.
When you look at this information, you’ll realize that most players aren’t playing for a royal flush but for much lower ranking hands. On the other hand, this is not necessarily as true when it comes to poker hands where you are exchanging cards for new ones from the deck, as in some forms of poker.
Here is an example for you to take into consideration.
Your hand is a 6, 3, King, King and King.
With this hand, you can either make a full house or four of a kind. You can get a pair in 72 different ways. But, if you get rid of two of your cards, you will then reduce the number of ways that you can get a pair by five. That reduces your chances of making a full house.
Since you have five cards, there are another 47 cards out in play, all of which are either in the deck or in other’s hands, which you can’t determine. Therefore, doing the calculations pulls down the odds of getting a full house to 15 to 1.
If you want to get a four of a kind, you have to have that final king, of course. If you exchange just one of your cards, you end up with odds of 46 to 1. Or, if you exchange two cards, you end up with the odds of 23 to 1.
What does all of this mean to you? When you are dealt a hand of cards, no matter what’s in your hand, you need to know the percentages, or odds, that you will get the hand that you are after.
Depending on the cards in your hand and the type of game that you are playing, you can clearly see where the odds of success lie for you. Take the time to learn as much as you can about the odds of poker as it will help you to make the right decisions, more often.
Learning the odds of the game can help you to improve your strategy for success. Never get too far in depth with worry, though. Instead, play smart and strong, by making changes to your strategy as often as necessary to win.
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