poker Strategy
TEXAS HOLD'EM
Texas Hold'em is no doubt the most popular brand of poker in the world today. The majority of this games increased popularity and the increased number of new players has been brought forth mainly due to the televised poker events such as the World Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker. Texas Hold'em is a game that is easy to learn, but it requires practice, skill, and complex strategies to become successful at it.
A very important strategical factor in Hold'em is a player's position at the table in relation to the dealer. The player that sits to the left of the dealer, including the blinds, is considered to be in early position. An early position player is at a disadvantage because the player is not given the opportunity to observe their opponents' actions before they must make a decision on their hand. An early position player who decides to either call or bet on a weak hand may find themselves faced with a raise by one of their opponents, which in turn makes it more expensive to continue on with that weak hand. A player in early position with a strong hand will find it harder to increase the pot with a raise, unless other players are raising after.
Those players that are sitting to the right of the dealer, including the dealer, are considered to be in late position. The strategic advantage you get as a player in late position is you get to observe your opponents' actions before you make a move. A player in late position can decide to play a weak hand if there have been no bets or raises beforehand. Also, if you have a strong hand you have more of an opportunity to increase the pot size by either coming in with a bet or a raise. A strong hand can and should be played in any position, while a weaker hand should only be played when you are in later position as you can then decide if your hand has a significant chance of winning.
If your style of poker is a little tight or if you are a beginner we recommend you play the major starting hands. Those hands are as follows: A-A, K-K, Q-Q, A-K, J-J, 10-10, 9-9, 8-8, A-Q, 7-7. If you consistently play these hands in the beginning, you will find you will be playing for a lot longer than your opponents. We don't want to limit your game play, so once you are confident in your abilities and you are getting good reads on your opponents you can play more hands. If and when you get a significant hand you can play, and should play the hand aggressively. This play will help generate a big pot and if you play it correctly you'll have a nice opportunity to increase your chip stack.
After seeing the flop, do not be afraid to take a hit on your stack. Often times, beginners make the mistake of staying in a hand because they have already contributed to the pot on the previous bet. If you don't connect on something or you feel you are in a weak position just save your losses and get out of the hand. With seven players or more at one table it will usually take two pair or better to win a hand. So, if you don't have the high pair after the flop (for example, if the flop is K-8-4, the high pair would be two Ks), and you are not in a good position to hit a straight or a flush, you should give strong consideration to get yourself out of the hand. However, remember that as the number of players goes down, your potential of receiving strong hands will also go down. So if you're sitting at a table with just a couple of opponents, it would be in your best interests to play more aggressive.
If you are the first player to act after the flop, don't be afraid to check on occasion. This move can work to your advantage in one of two ways. First off, if you have a weak hand you might be able to see one more card without having to put anymore of your chips into the pot. Secondly, if you in fact have a strong hand you could try to convince your opponents that your hand is weaker than it really is. Therefore, you can draw out some more of your opponent's chips and bring them on over to your side of the table.
The Turn card and the River card provide you with two more chances to either get out of the pot before your chip stack takes a beating, or you can increase your winnings. That is a goal that every player has. At this point, it is likely that there will only be a couple of players remaining who are still trying to fight for this pot with you. The best advice that we can provide you with here is to be extremely cautious. Once you have seen the turn card (fourth community card), do not stay in the pot with the hopes of hitting a straight or flush, unless you can do so by staying in with a check (that is, without putting more chips into the pot). The bottom line here is to not allow yourself to get too far into hand when it is weak and see your chips disappear.
OMAHA HI/LOW
In Omaha High/Low the player with the winning hand must split the pot with the player that has the best qualifying low hand. Every played hand has a high winning hand but there is not always a winning low hand. In order for a low hand to qualify, there must be five cards that do not have a value higher than eight. Any two of your four down cards are played for the high and two are played for the low. Players have to play exactly two cards out of their hands for each direction (high/low). As a reminder, aces can be played as high and low. Also, straights and flushes do not prohibit a hand for the low, so a player finishing with 5 4 3 2 A would have an unbeatable low hand as well the player would have a 5 high straight to play for high. If you end up with this hand you would have a tremendous opportunity to win both ways, and "scoop" the pot. This would be the ideal situation.
The most important thing for you to realize is the big pot difference between winning half the pot and "scooping" it all. Scooping the pot will generally build a nice healthy chip stack for you. If you were to get half the pot you would slightly increase your stack from where it was at the beginning of the hand. The majority of top Omaha High/Low players generally play hands that have a good chance at winning both ways. So, after the flop or even after the turn, if you feel you don't have an almost guaranteed winner for either high or low, you should get out of the hand and save your chips for a better opportunity.
Here are a few other strategies for you to take a look at:
- It is very difficult to run players off in this game and early raises are risky (unless you know you cannot lose) so it is best to slow play the majority of your hands.
- Be aware of the uniform flops, such as 6 7 8, as they can easily turn into straights that can overtake high pair trips, or any other good hand you might have. Likewise, be weary of suited flops as that can complete an opponents' flush.
- Any time you are at the poker table you need to shift your attention to your opponents. You need to study their moves whether you are involved in the hand or not. This will help you later on and hopefully you can take advantage of them with the knowledge you have gained.
- Don't be afraid to bluff and get caught once in a while as well. This will make your play less predictable and it will make your opponents' think twice before they make moves against you.
