Every hand of Texas Hold’em offers a unique scenario for poker players to encounter. With more experience, players get a feel for timing and managing the right ways to handle different pressure situations. This is especially the case when you are playing heads up.
Throughout the course of a tournament you can afford a big mistake here or there. But the thing that you can’t afford to do it to make multiple costly mistakes because that’s a signal that you aren’t capable of handling the pressure.
No matter how small these mistakes these may be, they show that you are not able to read the game well and other players will not respect your hand. This is why aggressive poker players are able to constantly defeat weaker opponents, in spite of the odds of an upset.
Heads-up Play
At the table, it’s essential to read your opponents eyes. Reading players means observing the playing styles of the players and deducing the methods. Their methods can give you the lead to their further moves. This can be especially useful if you play with the same players often. If you happen to know the playing styles or tendencies of that player, you might easily be able to predict their moves.
In this way, you shouldn’t even be playing your own cards when you are heads up. A good poker player will know what the other person has by the way they call, raise or check. There’s also a good chance that the person will act just a little bit different when they have a good hand.
All-in bets
One thing that you must respect: if the person you are playing heads-up against goes all-in, you have to be very careful if you ever consider calling them.
Here are a couple of important tips:
- How many chips does your opponent have left?
If this amount is more than 1/4 of the total stack, you should consider folding your hand unless you have Jacks or better.
- Dominate the blinds!
This is the easiest way to build up a lead in heads-up action. We both probably got 8-5 offsuit or very similar. But if I raise the blind 3 times, the opponent will either reraise (causing me to fold if I don’t have anything) or will more likely fold. This is also the most likely place for someone to try an all-in.
This means that you know their weaknesses and know the right times to hit them. This also means that you can build strategies based on their weaknesses and have an edge over them even if your cards are not really, all that good.
Now of course poker is a game of luck, just as the other gambling games are and sometimes you’ll have a crushing defeat when you did everything right. That’s just the way it is. If you don’t like it, don’t play poker.
But you can develop your skills, knowledge of the game and knowledge of your opponents to reduce the role of luck considerably. If you have better skills, you will be more confident. Confidence leads to aggressive betting and chip stack building.
Aggression is very important in the game. The reason behind this that you are not always dealt the best cards and there is always a probability that some other player on the table has better cards then you and will take you down in the showdown. The only way out is to pressurize the other players into folding with our aggressive and confident moves.
Like I said before, aggression only works when you know when to fold and not challenge the heads-up opponent. They are more often than not looking for an easy way to win or get back into the game. A flip of the coin or better are good enough odds for them to go.
Falling for these tactics can lead you from the promised land to a land of failure.
And such confidence is very useful when you are playing heads-up because you can’t hide from the player who is the only opponent left at the table. The only thing to do is to play the player more than you play the cards.
What to do when you are behind in heads-up play
You can be tempted to do anything, but you have to keep self-control and make the right decisions. You may run out of choices and may have to go all in, almost with every good hand you get.
The advice that I have if you are behind is to play for the blinds. Try to take them as often as possible. Remember that any face card should prompt you to raise and see how the other player reacts to the raise.
You have to scope out your opponent, but if they are not going to bully you with their chipstack, then you can a relatively inexpensive look at the flop, especially on your big blind.
The flop is where you want to do most of your decision making when you are behind. It’s likely both of you don’t hit the flop. When you get any hand after the flop, its a good time to go all-in when you are or are about to be short-stacked.
In case you are playing limit-heads up you and your opponent will have lesser space to move in and this lets both of you have more control over the situation. You should try to position yourself on the button in such cases as from this position you can pressurize the big blind after the flop.
The sensible thing is to attack from the button and defend off it. This will make you have better control. Playing heads up is mostly about handling the pressure well and acting with an alert mind. Use these strategies for heads-up play according the situation you are up against.
The thing that Texas Hold’em poker is best known for is its unpredictability. Every game presents the players with a new challenge which they have to face off against each other with their wits and skills. All the players on the table are fighting for the same pot.
Of course, luck is involved in this game and the player who wins would definitely have had luck favoring him. No matter how good you are, if it isn’t your day, it isn’t your day. There’s nothing you can do but bluff or fold out.
But the role of making the right decisions at the right time cannot be sidelined. It has just as important of a role as luck does in Texas Hold’em.
From the moment, players enter the casino and make up their mind to play poker they are faced with decision that can almost decide the results of the game for them.
A player must read as much as he can from the entire hand before they are about to make the right judgment in poker.
Why did this person raise this time around when he checked before?
Did he just look at his cards again because he might have a straight or flush draw, but couldn’t quite remember?
How often has this person made a raise before the flop?
Questions like that are what you should be asking yourself.
Unpredictability in Poker
People say in order to be good at poker, you have to be unpredictable. Well what exactly does that mean? Should I fold my pocket tens preflop and raise with a 5-6 suited? That would be pretty unpredictable.
Obviously not. A simple way to be unpredictable is to put yourself on the other side of the questions that we asked before.
Are you going to call, call, call every time someone else bets?
Do you automatically raise when you have a great starting hand?
Does the way you check give something away about your hand?
Mix it up correctly and people won’t want to play against you as often. You can make other people avoid you if you surprise someone in a hand. Getting the blinds for free is one of the best ways to build your pot.
Important Decision Making Strategy
Because if he doesn’t he is certain to lose. Let’s look at 5 of the important decisions that a player has to make in Texas Hold’em
#1 - How much can I lose today? A player must decide his budget as the amount that he can afford to lose. It’s a lot more fun to play poker when things don’t depend on you winning.
Gambling can be racy and in the midst of all the excitement, credit cards can easily go beyond intended usage if your playing online. The number one rule is keeping control.
#2 - Which table should I play? Choosing the table can play a major role is deciding the fate of the game. You should not choose table with resident poker pro sitting on it or else you may face disastrous results.
Easier said then done in an online environment. The advantage of online poker is that the hands go much quicker and you can get a much quicker feel for the players at your table. A good move is to always wait several hands before playing unless you have a very strong hand. Pay attention and it should not be hard to get in the money.
Also, you should not choose table which are entertaining stakes much beyond your budget. If you have $100 to play with, then play ten $10 games instead of two $50 games.
#3 - What kind of hand to I make? After a player is dealt his cards, he starts to think. He thinks about the best hand he can make with the cards dealt to him. Which cards do I need on the flop to help me secure this hand over anybody else playing and are the odds of winning too slim.
Choosing the right type hand and choosing it fast is important to avoid aimlessly picking choices and chasing the bad cards. From years of playing in online poker rooms, I know what I’m going to do within one or two seconds. Its really up to you if you are better at math and want to take a little bit longer to know what the exact odds are rather than get the relative estimate that scanning the situation produces.
#4 - Which strategy should I use? Choosing the right strategy is very important. Strategy is way in which a players plans to make his moves. He may choose to play tight, loose, aggressive or passive according to the cards that a player is initially dealt. This is where mixing up your strategy from time to time throws people off a step.
#5- Should I bluff now? Bluffing is something that a player does when he wants to mislead his opponent. Bluffing is done partly through the expressions and the moves that a player makes. This can even be achieved online where you can’t actually see the other person. Just mix up the amount you bet and how long it takes you to bet or check and you will confuse some people.
Bluffing should not be done at a time when it is obvious, against players who can’t make it out easily and for a limited time. The best time to bluff is when you are the first player to act and several other have folded. People will assume that the other people all got low cards, so the probability of some else having really good cards is better.
It also works better later on in games where people are going in with less strength in their hands. Keep that heads up person on their toes by playing on your terms. This means bluffing at the right times and folding when you get caught. Then fold a bad hand or two without contesting them and come back with a raise.
These types of tactics are what makes some poker players better than the cards that they receive.
Every poker player who puts some effort into the game learns strategies which can make his winning odds better. Such strategies are definitely very effective but there are times when you need have something extra to emerge as a winner.
This something extra is a set of those extra special strategies which have the mettle to overcome the pro players. The ordinary game skills may beat the ordinary players but to beat players player who are more than ordinary, you need to have strategies which are more than ordinary themselves.
Let’s look at some strategies which can be useful on a table populated with good players:
- Unpredictability: The better your opponent is the easier it is for him to know your plans.
When he sees you trying to change that expression on your face, he knows you maybe be trying to bluff. The moment he sees you looking at the small blind, he knows what your next more going to be.
So, a very important is to make your moves unpredictable. Twist your strategies, make the steps less obvious and use your tricks at the right time.
The right time is when your opponent does not expect you to do so. The important thing is to remember that even your opponent knows that you are trying to do the unexpected and you have to take special care to be truly unpredictable.
- Ending Math: It is essential to be good at math and to be able to do calculation fast.
You have to keep working out the chances and the ways in which your opponent may try to exploit you. All the good players wait for the last part of the game to make their strong moves.
Techniques such as SAGE system and Nash-Equilibrium are mathematic procedures which make it easy for a player to have a better idea of the final moves before they happen.
These may not be very useful when playing on the normal tables, but play crucial roles in high stake pro games.
- ICM: This is another math-based technique which makes calculations easier and presents a clearer picture of the odds to players so that the best decision can be made.
ICM stands for Independent Chip Model and this enable the player to understand the value of stake in terms of dollars instead of the number of chips in the stack.
This is very useful for making long-term game plans.
- Watching the pros: Watch the pro tournaments whenever you can. Take notes of the strategies used by the players and the results of those.
This first advantage of this is that you get to learn new tricks and strategies which make you stronger.
The second and more important advantage is that you will get to know the strengths, weaknesses and playing styles of players who may be your opponents in the tournament.
Knowing how your opponent players can be a major help if you want to outwit them.
If you are only concerned about online poker tournaments, you don’t have to worry about your tells the same way you would at a live poker tournament. Playing small home game tournaments will help you develop the skills and patience needed to win in a live tournament.
But above all this is practice and hard work. Just knowing the skills and strategies cannot help you. You have to master these techniques with actual practice.
The flop is the most important time of the hand in Texas Hold’em. It’s important to determine immediately whether your hand has any value before you start betting, calling or raising the pot. A lot of people would say that the turn is even more important than the flop because the betting and stakes are a lot higher. But calling a bet after the flop should not be something you should be doing if you are trying to make a speculative hand.
If you have a marginal hand, lets say you hit the 2nd pair on the board with three other people betting behind you. There’s no way that you should be calling more than a modest bet from the other players. A lot of times, the marginal hands that you hit will be beaten, say by a higher two pairs or a three of a kind. People often lose all or most of there chips playing in hands that they should not have been playing.
Here’s a look at the most important things you should consider after the flop has come:
Strength of Your Hand
Exactly how strong is your hand? Do you need to protect your hand or can you slow-play? If your drawing for a flush or a straight how good is the possibility of completing your hand? These are a lot of the things you have to ask yourself.
For Example: Three people have called ahead of you and you have pocket Kings. You have to raise the bet at least three blinds to get some of the other bettors out. There are way to many bad things that can happen on the flop for you to just call and try to suck someone else in.
Number of Opponents Playing in the Hand
The more people you are playing against, the better the chances are of someone hitting a big hand. Pay attention to possible flushes and straights. If a tight player raises big, get out of the hand unless you know you have the pot.
If several people straight call, it might be the right time to try to get a cheap straight or flush. If you suspect others are trying to ride the flop for free, raise three times the blind to protect your high cards. Most of the marginal hands will be folded once they realize someone might have a hand.
What Cards Came on the Flop?
I know that I’m repeating this a little, but it is an important point. You have to be aware of the following types of flops:
All High Cards - If you don’t have any, it means you fold on the first bet. There can be anything from a dominant two pairs or high straight draws.
A Pair on the Board - When this happens with multiple players, someone is likely to have the third card in their hand. When there are two pairs on the board, people can tend to play the “Who has the Ace?” game. This is a perfect time to surprise people with a higher pocket pair or the full boat. You just don’t want to bet it as if you had the nuts, though, if you were looking for a call.
The Pot Size - The size of the pot should make a huge difference in the way that you bet your hands. If three or more other people called a 3 times the big blind bet, you should bet hard and force others out if you landed a dominant hand. Don’t let people see the cards for cheap in that situation, that is the best way to lose all of your chips. If the pot is small on the other hand, you can afford to get beaten by someone who is slow-playing a monster.
Three Suited or Three Connectors - Warning! Large hand possibility! If the people you are betting against are all checking, you have to put a bet out on the board for your top pair. You have to make them decide if they want to chase. If you get re-raised, you are going to want to think about the quality of your hand before you decide to call.
Pot Odds - If someone raise the $25-$50 blinds by $500, you better have an awfully good hand to call them. If three people or more are in the pot before you and you are short stacked, go all in and try to double up or chase others out if you have anything considerably fair to good in your hand. If someone bets $200 on a $1500 pot, you should call it because if you don’t have anything in your hand, you shouldn’t have been calling in the first place.
Online Poker vs. Face-to-Face Poker
While the actual game of poker and the rules involved in playing the game hold true no matter the situation and terms of playing be it online or in a land based casino or poker room, the game itself and the opponents that one may face could actually be very different in each respective scenario.
Those that are used to playing online and those that are used to playing in a land based casino only can often spot on another after playing with the respective other for only minutes. Online poker players have completely different tells than that of a land based poker players. And while this isn’t true for all online players as a whole it does hold true for the majority.
Online players are used to completely different environments when they are playing poker than those that play more frequently in a face to face game. Online players often play out of their home in a familiar surrounding with only the computer beside them. They do not need to worry about facial expressions, about showing their emotions or about anything that is happening in their surroundings. They are often used to having the TV on while they play or perhaps eating, singing or doing what they please.
Those players that play poker at land based casinos or poker rooms are often the strict opposite, they are used to containing their emotions and hiding their tells as much as possible. They often learn to read other players by the way they sit, how they blink or even how they breathe.
When online casino poker players come together to land based players it is always interesting to watch the dynamic but often times the land based player has a little bit of an advantage versus the online player. So if you are used to playing online and plan to play at a land based casino; it is a good idea to roll up your selves and play a few games as if you were surrounded by a room of people- including your opponents.
In Texas hold’em, as in all forms of poker, it’s important to be selective about your starting hand requirements. Those who play every hand are bound to be losers in the long run. The question is how to decide which starting hands are worth playing in a Texas holdem poker game.
Starting Hands in Limit Hold’em
Limit hold’em is a game of big cards. You want to mostly be playing cards in the “Broadway zone” of T through A. Give more credit to a hand that is closely connected and a little extra for suited.
Keep in mind that the weaker big card hands come with the risk of being dominated. A hand like KJ or even AQ is a good hand to raise with, but not a great one to call a raise with, because of the risk of being dominated by a hand like AK and having to put a lot of money in with a losing hand.
Hands like small pairs and small suited connectors have limited value. You will have to see a lot of flops before you hit with them and the payoff will not necessarily be that big.
Starting Hands in No Limit Hold’em
No limit hold’em is a game of big pots. You can afford to play some more unusual holdings because the payoffs can be great. This means that in addition to the big card hands, you can add all the pairs and suited connector hands. When you play small pairs and suited connectors, you should be playing them in later positions, as part of multi-way hands, and only if you can limp or call a small raise with them.
Other Notes on Starting Hands in Texas Hold’em
If you are not happy with your results in Texas hold’em, the first place to look is at your starting hand requirements. Playing small pairs and/or suited connectors may not be working for you. If you are the type who will continue if he hits any part of the flop, or who cannot get away from a second best hand, you may be better off sticking to the big card hands for now.
