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Ten Easy Tips to Win More at Texas Holdem
1) Be Patient
Most of the time, winning at Texas Holdem is about camping out and
waiting for a great hand and someone willing to call you when you get it. The
top pros all agree on this one. You don’t have to be a patient person, but you
must apply patience to the game to consistently win. Fix the patience leak
and watch your win rate improve dramatically.
2) Stay on your game
Variance in poker is brutal beyond imagination. An intense streak of
numerous losing sessions can shake the confidence of any good player.
You must try to lose less when these bad runs occur. Do not doubt yourself
or modify your standards. Heaters – or hot runs of cards and callers – can
ignite without warning and next thing you know you are up numerous buy-ins
in a very short amount of time.
3) Play in position
Play much less hands when you are not on the dealer button or right next to
it. Many things can happen that will tell you about your opponents’ hand
strength that you don't yet realize from early position. Put the big bets,
raises, and all-in shoves where they belong – before you act. Maximize post
flop when your opponent bets into you. In position, you never have to give up
a betting round when you have a strong hand and you can always check
behind to see another card when you have a drawing hand.
4) Don’t play garbage hands
Don’t call pre-flop raises with less than very premium hands. When and A or
K shows up, you don’t want to be calling down with a dominated kicker.
Also, unless your small hole cards are both suited and connected, they
almost never get the correct odds to be played. Even worse, they often only
get you in trouble post flop. Low straights and 2-pair and even flushes often
get counterfeited. Flopping 2-pair or better happens a bit less often than
you might think. Fix this and the patience leak and your win rate will likely
double or triple.
5) Bet more
It's frustrating when we build a big pot and have to fold 1 out of 3 hands or
so to made draws (add other big hands and bluffs and it's even more often
we fold), but charging them too much to draw is KEY to winning in the long
term. Calling is a huge mistake on their part and their mistakes are how we
get paid. Also, when we do hit our monster, we will get players calling our
big bets because that's the only way they see us bet our hands. It keeps
them guessing.
6) Call less
Paying more than 1/3 of the pot on the flop and 1/5 or more on the river
when we are drawing to a flush or an outside straight is a mistake and leaks
money. Catching flushes and straights are fun but you must be realistic
about the numbers. If you don’t have a hand that you would consider a raise
with, you often should be folding. 95% of the time, people playing against
you bet because they have a good hand and want to take your money. Think
of that next time before you call.
7) Adjust to your opponents
If your opponents play very few hands, bet into them more and make them
fold. When they play back at you, you can easily fold knowing they have the
goods. When playing against loose opponents, only play the best hands and
play in position. This way YOU control the size of the pot. Be patient and fold
to serious sized bets and aggression – it often means they hit a nice hand.
8) Read your opponents
It doesn’t take long to figure out how an individual plays - and how far they
will go - with different hand strengths. Use this information to figure out
whether your hand is better than theirs. It’s not as hard as it sounds. Practice
this while you are working on your patience.
9) Live Tells
Most people are bad actors, so when you see a botched acting job – do the
opposite. When a player becomes quiet and withdrawn that often means a
good hand. A speech before a bet of any kind is almost always a good
hand. “Well, I’m ready to go to bed anyway” as he pushes his chips in the
middle is the nuts for sure.
10) Get Rakeback (online)
Much of your online poker win rate is going to the poker site in the form of
rake. You can get about a third of that back by signing up for a site under a
very simple agreement. You can go through my web site to get Rakeback at
www.crushonlinholem.com. I offer site free Texas Holdem strategy video
instruction.
Most of the time, winning at Texas Holdem is about camping out and
waiting for a great hand and someone willing to call you when you get it. The
top pros all agree on this one. You don’t have to be a patient person, but you
must apply patience to the game to consistently win. Fix the patience leak
and watch your win rate improve dramatically.
2) Stay on your game
Variance in poker is brutal beyond imagination. An intense streak of
numerous losing sessions can shake the confidence of any good player.
You must try to lose less when these bad runs occur. Do not doubt yourself
or modify your standards. Heaters – or hot runs of cards and callers – can
ignite without warning and next thing you know you are up numerous buy-ins
in a very short amount of time.
3) Play in position
Play much less hands when you are not on the dealer button or right next to
it. Many things can happen that will tell you about your opponents’ hand
strength that you don't yet realize from early position. Put the big bets,
raises, and all-in shoves where they belong – before you act. Maximize post
flop when your opponent bets into you. In position, you never have to give up
a betting round when you have a strong hand and you can always check
behind to see another card when you have a drawing hand.
4) Don’t play garbage hands
Don’t call pre-flop raises with less than very premium hands. When and A or
K shows up, you don’t want to be calling down with a dominated kicker.
Also, unless your small hole cards are both suited and connected, they
almost never get the correct odds to be played. Even worse, they often only
get you in trouble post flop. Low straights and 2-pair and even flushes often
get counterfeited. Flopping 2-pair or better happens a bit less often than
you might think. Fix this and the patience leak and your win rate will likely
double or triple.
5) Bet more
It's frustrating when we build a big pot and have to fold 1 out of 3 hands or
so to made draws (add other big hands and bluffs and it's even more often
we fold), but charging them too much to draw is KEY to winning in the long
term. Calling is a huge mistake on their part and their mistakes are how we
get paid. Also, when we do hit our monster, we will get players calling our
big bets because that's the only way they see us bet our hands. It keeps
them guessing.
6) Call less
Paying more than 1/3 of the pot on the flop and 1/5 or more on the river
when we are drawing to a flush or an outside straight is a mistake and leaks
money. Catching flushes and straights are fun but you must be realistic
about the numbers. If you don’t have a hand that you would consider a raise
with, you often should be folding. 95% of the time, people playing against
you bet because they have a good hand and want to take your money. Think
of that next time before you call.
7) Adjust to your opponents
If your opponents play very few hands, bet into them more and make them
fold. When they play back at you, you can easily fold knowing they have the
goods. When playing against loose opponents, only play the best hands and
play in position. This way YOU control the size of the pot. Be patient and fold
to serious sized bets and aggression – it often means they hit a nice hand.
8) Read your opponents
It doesn’t take long to figure out how an individual plays - and how far they
will go - with different hand strengths. Use this information to figure out
whether your hand is better than theirs. It’s not as hard as it sounds. Practice
this while you are working on your patience.
9) Live Tells
Most people are bad actors, so when you see a botched acting job – do the
opposite. When a player becomes quiet and withdrawn that often means a
good hand. A speech before a bet of any kind is almost always a good
hand. “Well, I’m ready to go to bed anyway” as he pushes his chips in the
middle is the nuts for sure.
10) Get Rakeback (online)
Much of your online poker win rate is going to the poker site in the form of
rake. You can get about a third of that back by signing up for a site under a
very simple agreement. You can go through my web site to get Rakeback at
www.crushonlinholem.com. I offer site free Texas Holdem strategy video
instruction.
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