The 7 Texas Holdem Strategy Commandments
First one card, then another slides your way. The first is an Ace, the second a Nine and they’re both spades. How do you play a hand like this?
Are you confused? Don’t worry, most players are! The player first to act raises and your hand is pretty so you call in the big blind after everyone has folded. You manage to flop an Ace but you get trapped and lose 50% of your stack to the early position raiser because he had Ace King and had you dominated the whole way. You’re a bit confused but shrug it off as bad luck. Did you play bad or was it just unfortunate? What if I said that usually it is bad play, a bad pre-flop decision? Texas holdem strategy mistakes like these are easy to make when you’re beginning, the more you learn the better you become so keep reading!
Texas Holdem strategy doesn’t have to be hard. The hands that evade the TV cameras are usually the more important ones (strategically). These hands aren’t shown on TV because it is too boring to watch for the average joe.
Here Are The Golden 7:
1. Starting Hands - I know you’ve heard this by everyone on the planet, but it is crucial that you play good starting hands. Especially in any position that isn’t the button or the cut-off. You have to play very tight out of position. This is especially true out of the blinds. Play tight and you will have a good chance of winning. I promise you that!
2. Plan Ahead - A good texas holdem strategy tip is to plan ahead. Think about how the hand will play out. Will it be easy for you to play or hard?
For example a hand like Ace Ten of hearts in the small blind after 2 limpers and a big raise from the button. This hand will most likely be very hard to play after the flop, because if you hit your ace you aren’t sure if you have the best hand and the same goes for a ten high flop. This is why planning ahead is crucial in a game like No-Limit Hold’em
3. Stay Cool - Learn to identify signs of poker tilt. Do you get frustrated after you lose a pot? Do you get angry? Whatever your sign is you have to be aware of it. You have to learn to take a break or just quit because if you do not, you will inevitably end up losing more money than you should. Poker tilt will usually impair your judgment and get you into sticky spots because you think you can do something you cannot.
4. Finding the Fish - If you only play with poker players that you have an edge against then the natural outcome will be you winning a lot of money. Learn how to select good poker games and don’t overestimate yourself. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Choose games where you have an easy time winning, and work with people to improve your weaknesses!
5. Money Management - You should keep at least 20 buy-ins for the level you are playing. So if you’re playing $200 NLHE then you should have $4,000 MINIMUM. And if you drop below say $3,000 you should move down to $100 NLHE until you have $4,000 again. I know it doesn’t sound fun but if you do not want to go broke then you have to learn proper money management.
6. Keep An Open-Mind - Learn from everything you can. Discuss texas holdem strategy with friends, at forums and hire a coach to help you! I read all the books on texas holdem strategy I could find when I started out, after that I joined the 2+2 forums and after that I started discussing hands with poker players I met at the forums. The last step was to take coaching and I have been taking coaching for over 3 years now, all the time. Remember, even Tiger Woods has a coach
7. Pleasure - You should always feel immense pleasure while playing poker. Or almost always for those of you who are professional poker players. Sometimes it just isn’t as fun as you want it to be, but you have to get those hands in because it is how you make your living. I myself try to keep it as pleasurable as possible, it’s no fun playing a game you hate, right?
Henri has been a professional online poker player since 2004 and made over $300,000 to this day.
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