Poker Lessons

See also

• Martingale Strategy

Play fewer starting hands more thoughtfully.
Yes, it's true that there are some players somewhere who play too conservatively pre-flop, for the most part, players play too many starting hands - and they play many of them thoughtlessly. There are books that list the types of hands that you should be playing in different positions and against different types of players. We're not going to replicate all of the good work done by many other authors in this brief article. Nor do we expect you to memorize some table of starting hands. This lesson requires that you become more selective by thinking more seriously about which hands you really want to be playing and how you will play them.

This lesson comes down to asking and answering one two-part question houghtfully before each decision to play. That question is, "Do I really want to play this hand? And if so, what is the best way to play it?" That's all. Start to do that mechanically at first and it will become second nature to you. As you'll see, other poker lessons flow from this one.

Play more aggressively pre-flop.
Many beginning and intermediate players play pre-flop too passively - by calling when they should raise. And they raise by too little - raising only the amount of the big blind when they should be raising by three or four times the big blind.

This lesson also begins with a question, "Might I want to raise instead of call with this hand in this position?" Make sure that if you decide to play that you consider the possibility that a raise might be better than a call. Consider the reason for a raise. Do you want to drive other players out? Do you want to get them to call, but for more money than they would otherwise put in if you just called? And then make the raise necessary to achieve your purpose. Don't be afraid to be bold.

Remember the action of your remaining opponent(s).
There are not a lot of clues to the holding of your opponent(s) in hold'em. Unlike stud, your opponent(s) do not have exposed cards in front of them to help you deduce their likely holding. Nor are there folded cards to remember that might help you figure out the cards that remain in the deck. But you do have the betting action of your opponent(s) to consider. They can tell you a lot about what they are likely to have and what they are unlikely to have. But you must remember their action.

Say, for example, that you are in late position and called an early position raiser who raised the $10 Big Blind to $40 pre-flop. The Big Blind also called. Everyone else folded. The flop comes J T 6. The player in front of you checks. You check and the Big Blind bets $100. The pre-flop raiser folds and the action comes to you. You need to consider not just the fact that your opponent is betting $100 but also the fact that he just called before the flop. It tells you a lot about what he is likely to have and not have. Work on this skill and you will get better.