Hey everyone!
I’ve decided to make my own guide to Texas Hold’em Poker, This will probably be a long post so bare with me but it will cover a lot of strategy’s and aspects of Texas Hold’em. This post will cover;
Bet Sizing
Bluffing
Playing Straight and Flush Draws
Mental Aspect Of The Game
So lets begin.
BET SIZING
I’m going to start this topic off with a quote I heard from Paul Levesque also known as Triple H in WWE.
“You get out of it what you put into it.” This statement can be related to Poker too. This quote to me means the more chips you put into the pot the more you get if you win the pot. A lot of the time I see players not making proper bets and it drives me crazy. You may be asking “What’s a proper bet size?”
Well it all depends on the game your playing. For example lets say your in a game at a 6 handed table and your the big blind. The blinds are 200/100 no ante. There’s already 300 chips in the pot before cards are dealt. Your dealt AK of clubs.
Everyone but the small blind folds and the small blind limps in so now there is 400 chips in the pot. What should you do? You know AK is a very strong starting hand. You should always raise in this situation. My thinking is if the small blind legit had a strong hand then the small blind would have raised.
So now the question is how much do we raise? I would play this very aggressively. Half of 400 is 200 so in my opinion we should be betting somewhere in that range. I decide to bet 350 and the small blind folds.
In my opinion you should be betting somewhere between half pot and just a little over half pot when you have a strong hand. Again though it all vary’s form situation to situation.
BLUFFING:
Bluffing is essential to being a good Poker player. You can’t be afraid to bluff. If you never bluff your just playing cards and that’s boring! Lets say your dealt 4 10 off suite and your UTG at a 6 handed table and you don’t want to fold. What should you do?
BLUFF!!! In this situation you should be making an over bet to the pot to get players off their hands. If the blinds are the same at 200/100 I would simply over bet around 475. You hope that no one has a great starting hand and everyone folds.
In Poker you can’t be afraid to bet and bluff. Sometimes your right sometimes your wrong and I can’t stress that enough. If you never bluff it really limits your play since your basically only playing cards. You can’t be afraid to take risks.
PLAYING STRAIGHT AND FLUSH DRAWS:
A lot of times at the tables I see players continue to check their hands to showdown to see if they make their straight or flush. This is absolutely the wrong way to play your hand. The main reason being because your missing out on value. Let’s say your in a heads up game on the button with the blinds 200/100 and you are dealt the Ace of diamonds and 10 of clubs
The flop is 3(d) 7(d) K (d)
Your opponent has a pocket pair of 5’s of clubs and spades. Your opponent is not happy with the board and checks the action to you.
YOU MUST BET!!! You’ve got the nut flush draw!!! If you don’t bet your crazy! You want to bet fairly low in this spot so you can get value from your opponent. If you bet to much your opponent will most likely fold. I’d say a bet of 250 is reasonable. Though in this spot your opponent is really folding about 95% of the time.
The point I’m trying to get across is that you must bet your flush draws and the same exact thing goes for straight draws. You can’t afford to miss value. Also keep in mind that we were on the button this hand and like most players know position is everything. Even out of position though in a heads up game your playing just about every hand unless it’s complete garbage like 2 7 off suite or suited for that matter.
Playing position is an essential to being a good Poker player.
Getting back on the main topic though You can’t miss the chance to get value off your opponents.
MENTAL ASPECT OF THE GAME:
Lastly but I think most Importantly I want to talk about the mental aspect of your game. If your mind isn’t 100% in the game you won’t play to the best of your ability no matter what you do. To be successful you must be focused on the task at hand and that’s winning hands.
If you are planning on playing a tournament this is especially true since the blinds and antes are always going up and you got to keep track of the game.
Simply put you got to have the right mindset when going into a ring game or tournament. One thing that gets me in the mood to play Poker is listening to music. Usually I like to listen to The Gambler by Kenny Rogers and Ace of Spades by MotorHead. Those songs really get me in the Poker mood.
To be a successful Poker player your head must be in the game, Remember the goal of Poker is really making good decisions. Making good decisions leads to good results.
In Closing
I hope this guide I made helps new players and seasoned players. I hope this helps you with your game. Please feel free to comment with any other advice for players!
Take care.
-Marc
