Texas Holdem Strategies
The subject of this article is basic
Texas Holdem strategy; the common sense guidelines to smart poker that
you’d better know well, because your opponents sure do, and they’re using
it against you right now. Here we go!
Fold
Forget about what you see on TV.
In real Texas Holdem you will be folding more often than anything else.
And if you’re not, then you’re probably playing too frivolously. Texas
Holdem is about seizing opportunities, not barnstorming through every hand.
If you stay in to the Showdown on more hands than you fold, we wager that
your time as a Texas Holdem player will be brief.
Check
Overzealous poker neophytes will
often fold out of a hand they could just as well have stayed in, if only
they’d waited to see if everyone checked before them. Often everyone will
check in a hand, and then you -- having folded instead because you thought
your hand unsalvageable -- missed out on a chance to see your next card
for free. Oops. If you’re the first to bet and you want to fold, check
instead (unless you plan to bluff and then, may the force be with you).
Worst case scenario, someone bets after you and then you fold after all.
Big deal.
The Nuts
This is when you have the best possible
Texas Holdem hand that can be had at the table at that given moment in
time. If you’re not sure whether you have the nuts or not, you probably
don’t. And if the River hasn’t been dealt yet, the subsequent card or cards
in the deal could totally alter what The Nuts becomes.
Slow Play
A passive strategy, whereby you,
holding a winning hand, feign weakness to keep more players contributing
to the pot. If, after pulling off a slow play to the end, you still believe
you have the winning hand, you may want to go all in on the River.
Check-Raise
A deceptive strategy whereby you,
holding a strong Texas Holdem hand, initially feign weakness by checking
the right to bet to the next players; then, when a player does bet and
your turn comes around again, you don’t just call the bet, but your raise
it (and usually raise it big). With this strategy, even if all players
fold at that moment, you still get the chips they threw in after you checked.
Keep Your Emotions at the Door
They will kill you at the Texas
Holdem table. You must keep your wits about you, and if you can’t -- as
will sometimes be the case -- get out of the game and get out while you
still can.
Change It Up
Whatever your personal favorite
strategies, to be truly successful at Texas Holdem, you must mix up your
game. Don’t let yourself fall into a rut, and by all means, do not become
predictable -- it is Texas Holdem’s kiss of death. Keep your opponents
guessing, or suffer the consequences.
Position
Consider where you’re sitting in
the sequence of betting for each hand. Your strategy must change depending
on whether you’re betting first, last, or somewhere in the middle.
Attack Weakness
Texas Holdem players are either
predators or prey. And if it’s often very difficult to tell one from the
other. So proceed with caution, and when you smell fear, pounce!
Chip Leaders
There is one way, and one way only,
to play Texas Holdem when you are the chip leader: as a Bully. When you
have the most chips, it is your prime opportunity to wipe out as many players
from the game as you can. All of them. That is your best chance to win.
******
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Article Source:
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