5 Amazing Ways To Win At Holdem Poker
The Basics
The very first thing you have to do to win at poker, is know the basic rules. I will not outline them here as there are numerous resources online that will tell you that. I don't know your skill level, but to understand what I'm about to teach you, you must know the basic play and terminology. You soon realize that the basics are the same no matter what site you look at (unless someone is trying to reinvent the wheel, in which case IGNORE them). To keep it simple, the basic strategy, whether limit or no limit, you should follow these tips to put some advantage on your side.
Change Strategies
The basic strategy of poker you will learn is to fold... A LOT. What happens when you do this, is better players will view you as a 'tight player'. You never want to get so tight that anytime you raise everyone folds. It's simply not profitable. Remember I talked about luck? Well, let's say you get Ace Ace, which is the best starting hand in either style of poker. Your skill didn't get you those cards, luck did. But now that you have them, if it's the first hand you've played in the last hour, nobody is going to want to play with you. Why? Because they know you have pocket A's. Whether you're playing in a tournament, a single table game, or a cash game, always play 'solid' poker. Which means, play the cards, but also play your opponents. I used to play at a very low $7 six person, single table game and my strategy went like this. As long as there was a full table, I would throw away EVERY hand except pocket A's. Those cards were rare, but when they came I would bet and hope everyone folded. THen I knew for sure I was being pegged as a 'tight' player. I followed this same strategy until there was only me, and 2 other players. Now, normally strategy would dictate you steal when you are on the button to steal the small and big blinds of the other 2 tables. I NEVER did that. I did this for 2 reasons. One, since they knew I was playing tight, it would make them think I was a beginner player following the 'tight' rules too much and still only playing premium hands. If you looked up the basics of poker, you will know that you can't wait for premium hands when there are only 3 people, because you are going to get those hands less, and if you don't play you will lose your chips from the blinds and/or ante. In other words, they would think I was still playing SUPER tight. The next reason, is if I fold on the button, it forces the small blind to either call the remainder of the big blind or raise into him. So really, one of them will make a mistake causing the other to lose all their chips. Once that happens it would put me in second place earning me cash and the chance to win first. Now, you may be thinking what happens if they fold during 3 way play. I would actually steal when I was the small blind. See once your down to 3 players, the game is either going to slow down because everyone wants at least second place. Or it's going to speed up because everyone wants to bully the weak players out. The other thing I did is go ALL IN with ANY pocket pair in my hand. That's right, even 2 2 I would go all in. The reason why, is the odds that they have a larger pair is slim AND since I'm playing tight, they will only call with a premium pair. Yes, a couple of times I lost the game doing this, BUT even if I 'played right' there would be times I lost. Once again, there is luck in poker as well as skill. This method brought me from $500 starting point to over $5,000 in a month. Which brings me to my next poker money making strategy...
Money Management
This is important. If you have $1,000 in the bank left to your name, pulling out $500 to play poker, even if you are better than everyone at the table, is stupid. Remember, as much as you might hear that poker is a game of skill, there is still luck involved. Even if you are playing with newbies that play 7 2 offsuit (the worst starting hand in Holdem Poker). If you watch poker on TV and see a pro playing at a $100,000 buy in tournament, you can bet that $1,000 in your bank that they have over one million dollars in their account, MINIMUM. I would recommend following the 5% rule for cash games or single table tournaments. That means if you play 5% of your entire bankroll, it would take you 20 times to lose all your money. If that happens, maybe you should reconsider playing poker from sometimes to never. Maybe put your money in a mutual fund instead. I would go even further with the 5% rule and play with the 5% you have left. For example you have $10,000 in the bank, so you can play a game that needs $500 to play. Say you lose it all. Repeat a few times. Now you only have $5,000 in the bank. I'd be looking for games that require $250 or less. Chances are, if you've lost half your bankroll, you are playing with people better than you. Don't forget, if you don't know who the sucker is at the table... YOU are the sucker. One last point is multi table tournaments. Play only 1-2% of your bankroll. Because the blinds get larger and then antes start coming in, you WILL be forced to gamble a bit. When poker first became big on TV, you would always see the same faces at the final table. As it's popularity rose, so did new faces at the tables, willing to gamble to beat out the pros. Once again, there is skill involved, but luck plays into it as well. With money management, you keep money in the bank so you have a chance to win again.
Reading People
Don't 'read' into this too much (that's a pun). But reading people is a skill that may WOW you if you ever have the chance to see a pro do it. Some people are very good at it, others are not. I've read articles about how to do this 'online', such as hesitation, but found it to be not very effective. In fact, people will just read those same articles and do the opposite to throw you off. I would NOT try to read people online. In the real world however, this can give you an advantage while you try and figure out if someone is bluffing or not. I don't think I'm great at reading people, but here are some that seem to work over and over for me. One is watching the person who bets or raises, then sits back in their chairs, maybe even watching the tv's on the wall. Usually, this person has a strong hand. So unless you have a strong hand too, it's better to fold. Keep an eye on this person though and see if anyone plays through a hand with him to confirm your suspicion. Then the opposite, when someone is paying attention to the hand, the table, and you. Chances are, they have a weak hand, though othertimes they could be losing a lot and now ready for the kill. Watch this person and see if they like to bluff, or get others to fold a lot. The last one is rare, but gives you a huge advantage. If a person who normally has been playing straight faced, steady handed, suddenly becomes a bit shaky when the flop hits the table, chances are, they have a monster hand. Usually trips or better. Keep in mind, people will also try to read you. Online, it won't make too much difference unless there is something you are doing that drastically changes based on your hand. At the table though, try to be stone faced and put your chips in the pot at the same speed. Maybe count to 3 each time and wait 3 seconds to look like you are thinking.
Change Casinos (online or real)
Keep in mind, if you keep going to the same casino over and over, eventually people will begin to recognize you and your style of play. Or maybe have a tell they have come to recognize. The problem with this is, practice makes perfect. What I mean by that is when people see you over and over, they slowly start to see things they didn't notice before. Maybe you scratch your nose when you have a good hand. Maybe you always bet big when you are bluffing. Maybe you go on tilt often. One someone figures you out, and you confirm it to them, over and over, you are in trouble. Unless you're good enough to not show them ANYTHING. Even the best can read each other. But they also know how to fool too. THe easiest way to overcome this is, go to a different casino. Even if it is the casino next door. Or even a 2 hour drive away. The less often people see you, the less often they remember what you did. Unless they have VERY good memories (and some people do, so keep that in mind). But most times this is a great way to play it safe make extra money or at least, keep more of it in your pocket. Same thing with online, jump around to different online sites. It's a little different because most sites allow for online notes which basically stays with the site. Jumping around online gives you another benefit. Say you like playing $5/$10 tables. Go to 2 different sites and see if you find yourself beating players at one site more than the other. You would be surprised how much this can make a difference. I made most of my money from a UK site versus the 2 big North American sites. You play at the well advertised sites with pros, and guess what's going to happen? Why play with people better than you? You want to play solid poker with people equal, or less skilled than you, and unless they have a lucky streak, you should be able to have a nice profit.
Information is Key
Putting all the tips together that I've listed above, you'll see a very common theme. Information. The more information you have, the better you will do. Read all the poker books you can. Be inspired by stories where people have started with nothing and become rich playing poker. The more information you have, the better you can play. Think about it. If you know, without a doubt that someone has an 10 in his hand and the flop is 10 10 K. How valuable would that be to you who has pocket 9's? You know he has you beat. What about if you knew everytime someone pushes the chips in quickly, that means he has at least trips? Would that be of value? What if someone only plays premium hands, would you play against him? At any casino game, you need to know what your cards are, what you think your opponents cards are, what you think they think your cards are. And down the line. Anything you can remember about how they play will help you with this. Watch all the players at the table. Pay attention to how they bet. If they show their cards, remeber how they played them and in what position. It's hard to remember everything, but do the best you can. Online, it's even easier. There are multiple sites that let you write notes about each player. So next time they are at your table, you can quickly look up their note and see how they played before. Also, you can color code them, maybe have a colour indicating a weak player you can exploit, or a pro who plays lower limits. There are 3rd party programs that add to this too, keeping tabs on players that go to different sites, how often they play a hand, how often they win, their style. Take advantage of this software (make sure it's from a legit source so you don't get robbed in the process). It would be foolish to ignore any information you can get your hands on. Yes, there is luck in poker, but as mentioned before, there is also an element of skill. And one skill is to make sure you are sitting with players you know you can beat whether you are getting good cards or bad. Remember, if you are at a table and don't know who the sucker is, YOU are the sucker.
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