poker school
lesson two: pre-flop strategies in texas hold'em
As a review in our first lesson we learned the fundamental principles of how each round in Texas Hold'em works. However, now that you understand the structure of Hold'em there is a lot of work to be done to become a successful player. This lesson is going to cover the strategies involved with the pre-flop which will help you determine whether or not your starting hand is playable, and more importantly a winning hand.
If you are a beginning player it is important to wait for big starting hands. The big starting hands in limit Hold'em are: A-A, K-K, Q-Q, A-K, J-J, 10-10, 9-9, 8-8, A-Q, 7-7. If you limit yourself to just playing these hands in the beginning you will find yourself in the game longer. As your game improves you will become more confident in your ability, and you will start to play many more hands. Burn and Turn poker school is here to help you with improving your overall poker skills as you will find in the other lessons.
Alright let's get to it. When you get dealt one of the top ten hands (that we mentioned above) play them aggressively. For instance, if you see an A-A in any position (either in late betting position or early betting position) put in as many bets as you can before the flop, regardless of what your opponents do. This is the best starting hand in Hold'em. Pairs from kings to tens are also a good starting hand, you will have the chance to improve on them, and even if you do not get any help from the board, you can still win with having the highest pair. Middle pocket pairs and small pocket pairs are considered a weak hand in a full game of Hold'em. The strategy with this hand is to try and see the flop cheaply. If you "flop a set" (hitting a third card to make it three of a kind), you now have an extremely strong hand. However, if you miss the flop, you are best to fold the hand since the odds of flopping a set are not high (7.5 to 1), try to avoid calling too many bets pre-flop here, since you will be folding most of the time once you see the flop.
Another intriguing situation is having two suited cards. It is important to not overrate this hand, if you do, it can get you into trouble. Suited connectors, such as 9
8, are good drawing hands. These pocket cards are good because it will give you a chance to make both a straight and a flush. Again, it is important to see the flop and then make your decision wisely whether you will continue on with the hand or fold it.
If you get dealt poor pocket cards and you have nothing, it is advisable to fold before the flop. The most common mistake a beginning player makes is to pay to see the flop with a bad hand. This will cost you plenty of money and your chips will evaporate a lot quicker than you would like.
The pre-flop is an event that every player must master to have any chance at becoming a good poker player. You must learn how to evaluate your hand, estimate its strengths, and understand how well your cards will play given your position, the playing styles and tendencies of your opponents. Again, we recommend you start playing with the best hands and more often than not you are going to end up with the best hand.
Lesson two has come to an end and hopefully this will help you on which hands you should start playing and the importance of that decision. We'll see you at the next class where we'll be discussing after the flop strategies.
good luck and enjoy your experiences at the poker tables
