Winning Texas Hold'em

Win big, even if you're a beginner.

by Drew Higgins

The majority of this guide is basic poker terminology and strategy. If you
already know the basics and want the “dirt” so to speak visit our site
where this article is continued www.PartyPokerPost.com.

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An Introduction

Being the most popularly played poker variant, there's no doubt that more and more people
are learning Texas Hold'em. After knowing the basic rules and familiarizing oneself with the
dynamics of the game comes the start of the fun parts: learning the basic winning strategies.

Just a reminder: If you're looking for the Advanced Guide Click Here now (this guide
is just the basics – good if you're new, otherwise you need the other guide entitled
“extreme cheats” - Drew

Five Phases

The game of Texas Hold'em comes in five phases: Preflop, Flop, Turn, River, Showdown.
There's not much technique involved in the first and last. During the preflop, the player does
nothing but take what card is handed to him. These "hole cards" or face-down cards,
however, will be the bases of a Texas Hold'em player's winning strategy. Which leads us to
the showdown, where all the players who have remained in play reveals their hand, the
veritable conclusion of a Texas Hold'em poker game.

High Limit, Low Limit

Presumably you are new to the game of Texas Hold'em. There are basically two ways to play
Texas Hold'em for real: high-limit and low-limit. The limits are the dollar amount of what
you will be staking. High-limit Texas Hold'em is no place for beginners. Texas Hold'em
strategies change the higher the limit becomes, so don't be surprised if the tips used by high-
limit poker veterans are significantly different, even contradictory to what will be given
here.

Low-limit Texas Hold'em, however, is a difficult game to master. It is accepted wisdom that
the easiest and most consistent strategies only apply to middle limit poker. When it comes to
Texas Hold'em books, most of those deal with strategies and techniques for high limit games.
Good examples for the low limit game are also hard to find. Watching poker tournaments on
TV are always played at high limit.

There is so little knowledge of the low limit game that it is often easier to begin at higher
limits with all the good players to understand your strategy from. For the beginner who has
no bankroll to speak of, there is no choice but learn strategy at low limits.

Looking for more? Visit the Advanced Guide Click Here on our site (yes, its free!)

So how exactly to you win?

So how does one exactly win in Texas Hold'em? Assuming that in a given session one gets to
play enough games for the law of averages to apply--meaning that luck will have little effect
at the end of the day--a Texas Hold'em player who knows his strategies and know when to
apply them will be among the richer player in the table. A bad player may have luck on his
side in a given session, but as luck is random, a good player may be lucky as well and with
strategy on his side, his takings will surely be much more than the amateur player who has
temporarily been favored by lady luck.
 To put it another way, in the game of poker, especially in the popular sport that is Texas
Hold'em, a good player can be likened to a good investor. A good investor does not rely on
luck. The good poker player relies on his knowledge of risk and calculates his move based on
strategy and this knowledge on how the hand given to him will stack against other gamblers
at the poker table.

Betting

The betting structure in a game with low limits usually consists of four betting rounds. It is
customary to double the limit of the first two rounds on the last two. For example: in a
$5/10 limit game, one could raise up to five dollars on the first two rounds and double that
on the two succeeding rounds, thus a low limit $5/10 game will have a maximum of
5+5+10+10 or $30 dollars bet from each player plus the big or small blind depending on his
position. The most common betting structure in card rooms are $2/4, $3/6, $4/8, which
aren't quite as large as our example.

Positioning

A key element in playing Texas Hold'em is one's position at the playing table. The standard
is: play tight when you're in the early position (first dealt by dealer) and loose if you are in a
late position. Playing tight means that waiting for winning hands and folding when you have
non-winning hands.

Raise when you're in an early position and get "big pairs" or "top pairs" AA, KK, QQ or AsKs.
Big pairs mean that statistically, whatever the flop is, you get a winning hand. AA being the
highest hand on preflop. AsKs is a lower pair but of equal suit. Tight playing means you don't
raise but call when you get AK (different suits), AsQs (like suits), KsQs and QQ, JJ, and TT.
Otherwise, a tight player folds whe he or she gets other hands.

In the middle position, the ideal playing strategy is--for lack of a better phrase--not so tight.
So call with a 99, 88, AsJs, AsTs, QsJs, AQ, KQ. Play loose when you're in late position. Call
when you get an A (with any card of the same suit) preflop, KsTs, QsTs, JsTs, and any small
pair.

Some low limit players will feel like a winner and call when they get two cards of the same
suit preflop, but statistically this is a losing hand. There is better odds calling on an A paired
with a low card of a different suit, but calling constantly with this preflop hand will only
shrink your bankroll.

The first round of betting comes after the two preflop "hole cards" are dealt. After the
preflop comes the flop. Three cards are dealt by the dealer face-up. These are called
community cards because they're turned up for everyone to view. Betting after a flop may be
statistically better if you think you still have the better hand, but plenty of money has been
lost on supposedly unbeatable cards after the flop.

The flop added to your "hole cards" makes up 71% of the maximum hand in a poker game.
There are now only two cards that may possibly be in play. After a flop is no place for
wishful thinking, though a player might be tempted to go against greater odds by calling on
an unfit hand or a hand that is less than top pair. You should not by any means be tempted
to risk your money if you do not already have stronger top pair. But call when you have a
straight missing one (called a "straight draw") or a flush missing one ("flush draw")--a flush or
straight draw means that you have four cards of the five needed to make either a straight or
a flush. For example: T,9,J,7,6 or S6,S9,SJ,C8,SQ. Playing a late position, a low pair is good
preflop, but without a third coming out at the flop, fold.

After the sixth card is dealt beside the three flop cards, comes the third betting phase.
Winning hands may want to complicate maters for other players by "checking" or calling no
bet but keeping your options to call. This is really unnecessary to do. If you believe you have
the winning set of cards after the turn, call or raise. This is the best way of maximizing the
pot for your winning hand. For beginners playing low limit, holding a pair against an
aggressive player or a player that keeps raising, it's best that you fold. You are most likely
beaten and the chances that the other gambler is bluffing is not good (constant bluffers are
easy to spot and are statistically losers).

Most often than is advisable, the turn is treated as the least interesting of all betting stages
and most players look forward to the river. But such players are only opening themselves up
for a disaster. They are hoping that they will miraculously complete their straight or their
flush in the river, but poker is not a game for Hail Marys. If you are holding only two high
cards of different suits by the time the turn comes, then you're one hell of a hopeful poker
player, as the best case scenario is a high pair. Most players would have folded by this time,
so if you still see several players in play, you might as well kiss your money good bye.

The river is the last card and in low limit hold'em, players are allowed their last bet. In low
limit, a player has one chance to fold if he doesn't make his hand (an incomplete straight or
only four cards of the same suit). Good players rarely see the river and if you're not sure
about your hand by the time the river is dealt the only logical way to go is the showdown.
Folding at the river is an illogical move. If you're only bluffing with not even a pair in your
hand, there is no reason to stop bluffing now. If you are holding a good hand and think the
other player has a superior hand, it makes more sense to risk another four dollars than to
fold, in which case you would lose eight dollars on a hand that might have won the pot.

It should also be said that as the poker session continues, one should avoid showing what
cards you have in your hand. If you win in the showdown, you will have to show your card.
However, if you have won the pot because all other players have folded, you are entitled to
keep your "hole cards" only to your self.

Another important thing to note in beginners' games. Bluffing is a crucial strategy in any
game of poker, but according to psychologists and poker experts, bad players tend to have
too high a regard for their hand. A bad player is the good bluffer's Achilles heal.

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