When To Bluff in Texas Holdem
August 11, 2009 | Leave a Comment
When bluffing is right in Texas Hold’em
A good bluff is the move ever poker player wants to make. After all, if you ask people what comes to mind when they hear the word poker, most people will say bluffing. Unfortunately this sets the wrong tone for most poker players. See, bluffing is something that should be done with tact and cunning, not simply because it has been popularized in culture and because it seems like the thing to do. Rather bluffing is a well timed move during a moment of opportunity that helps one maximize his or her profit. In this article we will actually focus on what some of these texas holdem bluffing opportunities are. We will discuss three situations that you should look for that indicate a good time to bluff and also what cues will indicate a weak player or a weak situation.
Three Opportunities to Bluff Playing Texas Holdem
- 1. When the flop is awful: When a poor flop falls you might find yourself in an excellent position to bluff, especially if you are in middle or late position. When nothing great comes on the flop, there are a few things going on. For starters, unless players were pre flop raising with big pocket pairs, the likelihood of someone having anything real great is pretty low. What a bluff does in this situation is simply discourages passive players to continue or it convinces other players that despite the awful flop, you hit a piece of it with your bad starting hand and now you have something. Either way, a bluff on a bad flop is usually a pretty good move.
- 2. When it’s a check fest: Many times in hold’em, especially in the low limit games, players get in the horrible habit of simply checking around and around the table. Well, this is a great opportunity for a bluff. Basically what happens is a mob mentality ensues and everyone silently agrees that their hands are awful and its best to just see the next card for free. Well, this is where you need to step in and put an end to the festivities. Next time you’re playing some cards on FullTiltPoker.com and this situation comes up, make a bet and let the table know that you won’t tolerate check fests and that you have a hand anyways despite everyone else’s grim outlook. All that even if you don’t have a hand because it’s an excellent time to bluff!
- 3. Against tight players or few players: We have long preached that the key to bluffing is noticing the situational advantages that make it a good move. Tight players are definitely one of them. Tight and aggressive players are dangerous, but just straight up tight players can be walked all over. A well timed bet against a cautious, tight player can often yield excellent results. This bluff can work regardless of where you are in relation to the tight player. A well timed bet or raise in front of the tight players often times is more effective than a raise after the tight player has already bet. The reason for this is that if a tight player bets, they might have a fairly decent hand.
- AA (pair of aces)
- KK (pair of kings)
- QQ (pair of queens)
- JJ (pair of jacks)
- AKs (ace king suited, big slick)
- AQs (ace queen suited)
- TT (pair of tens)
- AKo (ace king offsuit)
- AJs (ace jack suited)
- KQs (a king and a queen of the same suit)
In addition to the points made above, the main things to focus on in terms of bluffing are players acting weak and lots of checking. Players check really for one reason, because their hand is bad and they want a free card. Less frequently players will check in order to deceive. This however is an altogether different situation and is for another time. For now, focus on bluffing in one of the three situations listed above and you will find yourself extracting more money while at the same time protecting yourself from foolishly throwing away chips because someone told you to bluff.
We recommend practicing your bluffs at Sportsbook Poker. Why? They are USA friendly, offer easy credit card deposits, and a large player base of rookie texas holdem players that you can start out playing against. Use a Sportsbook Promo Code “KICKASS” to lock in the best bonus.
Five Texas Holdem Tips
January 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Five Full Tilt Low Limit Hold Em Tips
New to poker? Start out playing limit texas holdem. This is where bets have fixed sizes, unlike no limit which is any bet amounts at any time.
Limit Hold Em is a great way to cut your teeth and get some great experience without having to risk your entire stack in one hand. There are many pro’s who play primarily limit poker at the highest of stakes and feel that it is the best form of poker although this author believes no-limit holdem is the purest form of the game. Regardless, Limit poker is a great way to start out playing in real money ring games online. You can start as small as a few cents per bet.
There is no place online that you will find more Limit Hold Em tables then on FullTilt.com Poker.
Making money playing limit poker on Full tilt does require patience, but if you remember these Texas Holdem Tips, it can be highly profitable! Follow these five Full Tilt Poker tips and make money playing low limit holdem!
Find The Fish!
Full Tilt Poker is the home of thousands of players online, and you are bound to be able to find some fish. One of the most important things is to seek out those loose fishy tables in the Full Tilt Poker lobby. In limit poker, most of your profits are going to come from you opponents poor play and mistakes. Even when you first start playing limit poker on Full Tilt, keeping these things in mind will give you an immediate advantage.
Look for tables with high percentages of players seeing the flop (anything 40%+ is usually super juicy) and with as little re-raising pre-flop. You want a table with lots of limps or if there are raisers at the table, you want to find a table that has very little RE raising pre-flop.
Position Is King!
In the limit poker games at Full Tilt and virtually everywhere, you will often see people misplaying their position. Use your poker fundamentals, and know that in late position you can play more hands like suited connectors and small pocket pairs if you already have lots of people in already. Position is so over looked in low limit poker that you can easily use it to your advantage.
If It Is Not Premium Hand, Don’t Call A Raise playing Limit Texas Holdem
One of the biggest mistakes players make playing is playing way to many hands for a raise. If the pot is raised and you are not folding your mediocre unpaired hands, then you are playing to loose. Calling too many raises at the table and having to fold the flop can prove to be a major detriment to your bankroll and a leak in your game.
When it’s ok to call a raise? When there are lots of players already in and you are getting great expressed odds from the pot. If there is $14 in the pot and it costs you $2 to call, you are getting 7 to 1 pot odds and virtually any reasonable hand is worth a call.
Raise Your Strong Hands – Don’t Slowplay
You want to bet and raise your strong hands in limit poker. You will often find your table is full of weak passive players who will check and call your bets but who will not bet into you allowing you to check raise. Go ahead and bet and you will show more profit over the long run. On Full Tilt Poker, you will often see many people limping into the pot with a mediocre hand, make them pay. You shouldn’t be slow-playing against weak opponents, build the pot by betting and raising.
Always Know The Pot Size!
In limit poker, you are often going to find yourself priced in much of the time. However you still want to consider the size of the pot in order to make adjustments to your play. I like that if you are playing at FullTilt, you can set the table settings to display the pot size so you always know exactly how much is in the pot with a quick glance at the table. When the pot gets big, you need to take every action that you can in order to take it down. If the pot is huge and you have something that will get you paid if you hit, and you are only facing one bet, then you can call here. Knowing the pot size will also help you in playing your draws properly. There is no need to chase a draw only to win a very small pot.
Limit Hold Em can be a very tricky game for those just starting out, but it can also teach you discipline and patience and give you a strong understanding on which hands can be played profitably.
There are a lot of limit games to choose from on Full Tilt Poker, and at the lower limits, these Low Limit Poker tips should help you take down a lot of pots.
Texas Hold Em General Rules
April 25, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Texas Hold em Rule Book
Everyday, more and more people are jumping on the poker bandwagon because their friends are playing it or they see it on TV. But many of these people don’t even know simple poker rules. Now imagine that; playing when you don’t even understand the basic poker rules. And when I speak of the basic rules of poker, I’m talking about the rules of texas holdem.
And why just the rules for texas holdem? After all, the official poker rules encompass a wide variety of games. Well, it’s because texas holdem has become the most popular form of poker on the planet by far. And for that reason, many people avoid looking at other rules for poker games and go straight to the texas hold em rule book. More specifically, they look at the texas no limit holdem rules.
Now it has often been said that the rules to texas holdem take minutes to learn but a lifetime to master. And if you believe in this statement, learning the texas holdem poker rules and regulations should be the easy part. So let’s get started!
To begin, each player is dealt two downcards, or holecards, that are theirs and only theirs to be used. This is pretty easy to comprehend since most card game poker rules allow players to have at least some personal cards. After the two cards are dealt to each player, a betting round occurs.
In a betting round, the basic rules for playing poker call for everyone after the blinds (two bets laid down before deal to ensure betting occurs) to call, raise, or fold. Now in a limit game, there would be some cap on how much one could raise on a hand, but the texas hold em rules on raising in a no limit game allow for one to raise as much as they want.
After the first betting round is over, the flop (first three community cards) is shown and yet another round of betting ensues. The same rules for poker games bet applies here as it did before the flop. After these bets are placed, the turn card (fourth card) is shown and another betting round happens. When all bets are placed, the final card in the river is dealt followed by the final round for bets.
When all bets are placed, everyone still in the hand shows their cards and whoever makes the best hand out of the five community cards and the two they hold wins. Then the next hand is dealt and everything starts all over again.
One last thing that’s important to note is that the rules for a home poker game can vary as, depending on the amount of players, there might only be one blind. However, texas holdem tournament rules usually stay pretty consistent with the standard as there are enough people then. Other than that, this is pretty much the way texas hold em is played everywhere.
Texas Holdem Starting Hands
February 4, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Texas Holdem Hands
If you want to learn texas holdem and develop a strong strategy it is important to first learn texas hold em hand ranks (what hold em hands beat what) and learn which texas hold em starting hands are the best to have pre-flop.
These are the basics of Texas hold em and it is critical for new players to commit the hand rankings and top starting hands to memory before moving on to anything more advanced in Texas Holdem. Without knowning “what beats what in Texas Hold Em” you will not understand how the game works, and strategy on how to play the game.
Rank of Hands in Texas Holdem
Let’s start with what Texas holdem hands beat which. It is always super important when playing to know what Texas Hold Em hands can beat yours so you can figure out which hand is the ‘nuts’ based on the cards on the board.
Below is a list of Texas Holdem hands in rank from best hand to worst.
Texas Holdem Hand Ranks
Royal Flush
Five cards consisting of the A, K, Q, J, and Ten all of the same suit.
example: Ah,Kh,Qh,Jh, and Ten of h (h=hearts).
Straight Flush
Five cards in sequential order all of the same suit.
example: 4d,5d,6d,7d and 8 of d (d=diamonds).
Four of a Kind
Four cards all of the same rank.
example: K,K,K,K,6
Full House
Five card hand consisting of three cards of one rank, and two cards of another same rank, or three of a kind plus a pair. This is also called a ‘boat’ or a full boat.
example: K,K,K,6,6
Flush
Five cards all the same suit.
example: 3c,5c,9,Jc, and A of c (c=clubs).
Straight
Five cards in sequential order (suit does not matter)
example: 2,3,4,5,6
Three of a Kind
Five card hand consisting of 3 cards of the same rank.
example: 5,5,5,J,7
Two Pair
Five card hand that consists of two cards of the same rank.
example: 5,5,7,7,J
One Pair:
Five card hand that consists of two cards of the same rank.
example: 5,5,7,9,J
One of the best ways to memorize the ranks of hands is just by playing some practice games online. Download Texas Holdem Games for free at a respected online poker room like Full Tilt Poker or PokerStars.com and start playing. There is no charge and you do not ever have to deposit any real money until you are ready.
Based on the above chart of Texas Holdem Hand ranks, you now know that if you have a flush, your opponent(s) will need either a higher flush or better to beat you. Being aware of all possible hands based on the board is a vital skill needed to enhance your Texas Hold Em playing skills, this is called ‘Reading the Board’.
You should ALWAYS try to figure out ‘the nuts’ on every hand. Figure out the nuts, the near nuts and what the future nuts could be on the turn and river. Also you need to understand your common texas holdem hand odds.
Now that you know the best hands according to five-card hand ranks, let’s talk about what are the best two cards to have in your hand during pre-flop betting in Texas Hold Em.
Top 10 Texas Hold Em Starting Hands
In the chart below, we will list out the top 10 Texas hold em starting hands. In this list, you will notice that some starting hands have a “s” next to them, and others may have an “o” next to them. When referring to starting hands in Texas hold em, a “s” means that the two starting cards you hold are suited, and the “o” refers to two starting cards that are off-suit (ie, NOT suited – are of two different suits).
Also, keep in mind that these Texas Holdem hands are ranked based on their worth PRE-flop (before any community cards are on the board). You will want to learn how to bet each of these top 10 starting hands based on your position at the table. For now, let’s focus on learning what the best starting hands are in Texas Hold Em and committing them to memory. Please note we are talking about your individual hole cards.
Ten Best Texas Hold Em Starting Hands
Tips to Playing Strong Texas Hold Em Starting Hands
Playing these top ten Texas hold em starting hands properly pre-flop is important to winning more pots with them. You want to raise appropriately and be aggressive to encourage those with weaker starting hands to fold. You may find many players at a Texas Hold em table that will “limp in” with just about any two cards regardless of the starting hand rank those cards may have. These hold em players play their game based on luck as opposed to skill, but they can still beat you if you don’t raise aggressively pre-flop to get them off the pot and to fold.
While Texas hold em strategy changes when you are playing short-handed Texas holdem (just a few players as opposed to a full table), it is always important to represent your strong starting hands with strong pre-flop bets. Another quick tip to maximize your winnings is to use a valid bonus code when you sign up, check out the FullTiltPoker.com Bonus Code for bonus offers.
You will find that if you base your game on the odds of strong Texas holdem Hands and less on the possible luck of any two cards, you will rake more pots to you in the long run. You will also develop a strong image at the Texas hold em table as a player who only plays premium cards. This is a valuable reputation to have! As your game progresses, you will be able to change up your style of playing your Texas hold em starting hands and become a more feared player at the table.
More texas hold em Tips and Strategy
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Texas Holdem 101
Best Site For New Players
