Want to become a better player, fast? Follow these 10 tips to boost your poker performance & profits. While geared to beginner players, there’s poker tips that even seasoned pros should remind themselves of once in a while.
1. Don’t Play Every Hand / Do Fold More
Probably the number one mistake beginning poker players make is that they play far too many hands. When you’re just starting out playing poker, you want to play poker, and that means staying in hands that aren’t very good just to be part of the action. But playing more doesn’t mean winning more, it usually means losing more. If you find you’re staying in half or more the hands you’re dealt, you need to upgrade your starting hand requirements.
2. Don’t Play Drunk
Countless nights have I sat across a table from someone & watched them get plastered silly and throw away their entire stack of chips. I’ve been that person too - and there are nights where you’re just playing with friends for low stakes and it’s more about the fun than the poker - but if you’re in a casino, watch the alcohol. The truth is, while you may be more relaxed after 2 drinks, it may lead to you playing looser and less sharply, even if one’s not ‘drunk.’
3. Don’t Bluff Just For Bluffing’s Sake
A lot of beginner’s understand that bluffing is a part of poker, but not exactly how. There’s is NO rule that one must bluff a certain amount or at all during a poker game, but many players don’t feel like they’ve won unless they’ve tried a poker bluff. Bluffs only work in certain situations & against certain people, and if you know a player always calls to the showdown, it is literally impossible to bluff that player. It’s better never to bluff than to bluff “just to bluff.”
4. Don’t Stay in a Hand Just Because You’re Already In It
Another common mistake beginners make is to think that “Well, I’ve already put that much in the pot, I have to stay in now.” Nope. You can’t win a pot just by throwing money at it. There may be cases when pot odds warrant a call, but if you’re sure you’re beaten, and there’s no way your hand can improve to be the best hand, you should fold right away. The money you’ve already put in the pot isn’t yours anymore, and you can’t get it back just by playing a hand all the way to the end.
5. Don’t Call at the End of a Hand to “Keep Someone Honest”
This one follows the last tip. I see a lot of players look at another player’s final bet, look at the hand, & say “I know you’ve got me, but I have to keep you honest,” as they throw in a final call. It may be worth it to see if a player really has the hand if you’re not sure & you’re gaining information that will help you later on, but if you really feel a player has the hand he’s representing & you’re beat, why give him another pile of your money? Those bets will add up over an evening.
6. Don’t Play When Mad, Sad, or in a Generally Bad Mood
When you play poker, you shouldn’t do it to escape from being depressed or having a really bad day. You start out on tilt — playing emotionally, not rationally — and you won’t play your best. Likewise, if during a poker game, you lose a big hand or get sucked out on and feel yourself going on tilt, stand up & take a break until you feel calm later on. Fellow players will sense your mood & take advantage of it.
7. Do Pay Attention to the Cards on the Table
When you first start playing, it’s enough just to remember how to play and pay attention to your own hand. But once you’ve got that down, it’s incredibly important to look at what’s going on at the table. In Texas Hold’em, figure out what the best possible hand would be to fit the flop. Make sure you notice flush & straight possibilities. In 7-card stud, pay attention to what’s showing & what people have folded when you consider calling opponents.
8. Do Pay Attention to the Other Players
As you play, one of the single best things you can do is observe your opponents, even when you’re not in a hand. If you know if one player always raises in a certain position, & another has a poker tell when he bluffs, & a 3rd folds to every re-raise, you can use that information to help you decide how to play against them. Once you know that player 3 always folds to a re-raise on a river, that’s when you can bluff & steal a pot.
9. Don’t Play at too High Limits
There are many reasons people move up to a higher limit game than they usually play. Good reasons like they’ve been winning consistently at a lower lever & are ready to move up, & bad reasons like the line is shorter for higher limits or you want to impress someone. Don’t play at stakes that make you think about the actual money in terms of day-to-day life or with money you can’t lose. Even if you had one super-good night at $2/4, resist the urge to play $5/10. The next tip explains more why.
10. Do Pick the Right Game for Your Skill Level & Bankroll
One of the reasons you shouldn’t jump into a $5/10 game after winning a huge bunch of money at $2/4 is because as the stakes rise, so does the average skill level of the players sitting there. You want to be one of the best at the table, not the fish who sits down with sharks. If you’re making stacks of money at a lower level game, why move? You’re winning stacks of money. The swings up & down at higher limits are much bigger, and one big night’s win won’t last long at a high-stakes game.
In real estate, it’s all about location, location, location. In poker, there’s a similar adage that says it’s all about position, position, position. If you’[re not taking your position at the table into account when playing Texas Hold ‘em, you’re likely playing hands that you should have folded.
At a full table of 10 players, position is divided into four categories before the flop. There is early position, middle position, late position and the blinds. Players sitting in the three seats to the left of the blinds are said to be in early positions. The three seats to the left of the early positions are the middle positions. The two seats to the left of the middle positions are the late positions. The blinds, of course, refer to the small and big blind positions.
The number one rule when it comes to position is the later your position at the table, the more hands you can play pre-flop. This all has to do with information. When you’re playing poker, the more information you have, the better decision you are able to make. If you knew what cards everyone else at the table has, you would have so much information you would never lost a hand at the showdown.
When you’re trying to decide whether you should play your cards or fold, the earlier your position at the table the less information you have. because of this, you should only play premium cards from an early position. Think of it this way: you can call the big blind with anything in an early position, but there are at least seven more players to act behind you. Are your cards good enough to call if one of them raises? If they are not, you have basically given away some of your chips. In an early position, you are vulnerable to raises throughout the entire hand.
If you’re in a middle position, you have seen more players bet or fold, and there are fewer players to act behind you. This means you can play lower-valued hands because you have more information on how the hand is going.
In a late position, your list of playable hands has increased even more. At one of the late seats, only the blinds are left to play after you. You have seen almost the entire table play, and you should have a better sense as to who may have good cards. You will also be in a late position in every betting round that follows, which allows you to react to how your opponents play the hand the rest of the way.
Late position is also a strong seat at the table because it is generally believed to be the best seat from which to attempt a bluff or attempt to steal the blinds. With only the blinds left to act, you can more easily attempt to steal the blinds or attempt a bluff later in the hand because you’ve seen the rest of the table play their cards. Pulling off successful bluffs or blind steals requires information on the rest of the table, and you always have the most information from a late position. Bluffing or attempting to steal the blinds from an early position or a middle position can be dangerous because there are so many players left to act that can call your bluff or break up your attempt at a blind steal.
What type of poker player are you? What type of poker player are your opponents? If you can’t answer those two questions, you’re missing a key component of your game. Poker players are generally classified by two attributes - tight or loose and aggressive or passive. These combine to create the four main player types:
- Tight-Aggressive
- Tight-Passive
- Loose-Aggressive
- Lose-Passive
Most successful poker players fall into the Tight-Aggressive category. That is not to say that all successful players are Tight-Aggressive, because that is definitely not true. A Tight-Aggressive player will usually only see a flop with a solid hand. That is what makes them tight. When they do latch onto a good hand, they will bet very aggressively. Because they are tight, they do not bluff very often, and when they do bet, they should be taken very seriously.
A Tight-Passive player is sometimes labeled as a scared player. These players tend to only play very good hands, and they will only raise when they have a strong hand. Since they are not risk takers, these players are better suited for limit games than no-limit games. If a Tight-Passive player makes or calls a raise, you’ll usually want to get out of their way unless you’re holding a big hand.
A Loose-Aggressive player is sometimes referred to as a maniac because they will play almost any hand and bet and raise even when they have nothing. These players are outrageous bluffers, which makes it difficult to gauge when they are actually holding a strong hand and when they are making a bluff with nothing. Playing against Loose-Aggressive layers can be extremely frustrating and it can take extreme patience to take all of their chips.
A Loose-Passive players is also referred to as a “calling station” in poker slang. These players will call almost any bet with any cards, but they seldom raise or fold after seeing the flop. These players are almost impossible to bluff because it is so difficult to get them to fold.
Now that you know the
types of poker players, try to classify yourself and your poker buddies into those categories. The most successful poker players don’t fit into one category precisely, because they are able to mix up their play and fit into different categories during a cash game or tournament. The more you are able to successfully mix up your style of play, the harder it will be for your opponents to get a read on you.
Playing after the turn is an area of Hold ‘em that needs to be first understood and then properly executed. There’s more to post-turn play than just betting when you have the lead. To be a winning player, one needs to know when a turn bluff opportunity is in front of them. This is the point in the hand when a skilled player can determine what type of hand an opponent is likely to be holding, and it is also where opponents will make assumptions about your hand. I’ll try to outline the process of contemplating the situation and acting accordingly.
Most of your decisions on how and when to bet the turn will be determined by the cards on the board and the opponents you’re in the hand with. In limit Hold ‘em, if an opponent raises pre-flop, then checks and calls a flop bet with low cards on the board, a turn bet will tell you what they are likely holding. If they raise your turn bet, you know they most likely have a big pair, or perhaps trips, and they have just waited to raise the bigger turn bet instead of the flop. If they have a big ace or two big cards they will usually fold to a bet on the turn, and you will pick up the pot with anything in your hand.
Let’s say that you’re in a hand with no pre-flop raises with the big blind and the flop has come with small cards in it. You bet out and get a call. Knowing the blind player is capable of having any two cards, the small flop is likely to have hit them if they called your flop bet. So let’s say the turn card is a big card, preferably a king or an ace. Betting out this turn will often prove profitable because the blind player will assume that you are on big cards, and think their lower pair is no longer any good.
In a no-limit Hold ‘em game, the turn becomes a place where the hand is often decided. Betting the turn in no limit is not something one should do on a whim.
The most common mistake players make on the turn is not to bet their good hands big enough. Allowing players to remain in the hand because you don’t want to top them off about your good cards is not a great idea. Win pots when you can, and betting with a lead is always the way to go, unless you have the absolute nuts. If you make a big bet on the turn and get called or raised, then you know you need to watch out for possible draw cards hitting the river.
The turn is also when you show opponents that you’re serious about your hand. Many players will take a stab at a pot after flop, but few will bluff twice at a pot on the turn. If you think you’re opponent is on the draw, you will win pots by continuing to bet when no draw cards come.
It doesn’t matter if it’s limit or no limit Hold ‘em, the turn is a crucial point in most hands. Learning what each flop means will be the most important part of your decision on how to play the rest of the hand. This is when you should have some type of read on your opponents. When in doubt, bet anyway and see what effect it has on your opponents. You will be surprised how many free pots you will begin to pick up.
