The game of poker can be very deceptive. It looks simple, but it's really not. Even after you’ve been playing for years there is always more you can learn. One of the biggest mistakes a beginner or even intermediate poker player makes is thinking they have it all figured out. They become too passive about learning and don’t realize how much they actually don’t know. If you approach poker with this kind of attitude you are going to cap your earnings at a level well below your potential.
Related Reading:
The beauty of poker is that regardless of how much or how little you know, there is always room to improve and thus increase your earning power. Even if you are never planning on playing in the big leagues, just playing for fun with friends or online, having a strong understanding of the game will ensure you don't lose all your money. It just might make you a bit more cocky when bragging about how you took their last $20. Here is a list we came up with to help move you in the right direction towards becoming a stronger player. There's no better time than now to start making some positive changes to your mental and strategic approach to the game of poker.
Play Fewer Hands
This should probably be number one on the list, but since I'm being democratic and allowing you folks to form half my list, we'll put this somewhere in the middle. Most beginners play way too many hands. They get bored folding and think that seeing more flops will somehow magically make them better. All this mentality gets them is into the red.
You should view each hand of poker as $1-$2 blinds. So if you're playing 8 handed $5+$0.50 SNGs, you're effectively wasting $3 every time you play a hand besides your initial bought deal. You want to cut down that waste in order to give yourself the best opportunity to finish in the money. Generally as a beginner you are going to lose money, so you need to counter act that loss by playing fewer hands. Ideally you should be folded up 90% of the time in early position. Why? Because in early position you are last to act and people in late position are almost always playing a wider range of hands then they would in an earlier position.
What Qualifies As A "Good" Hand?
In Early Position
If you're in early position the only high card hands I would recommend playing are ones that are suited & connected.
- QJsuited
- JTsuited
- T9suited
The only non suited high cards I would recommend playing in EP are
- A9
- KT
The idea here is that these hands give you a decent amount of flip equity and they are less likely to be raised behind you, hence allowing you to take away information from other players. For example if you open the pot with JTs and no one raises you, than you can automatically assume no one has a jack or a ten. Now that may seem like minor information to gather, but as mentioned before poker is filled with small details that add up over time to allow you to piece together a bigger picture of what others may or may not have.
Related Reading:
In Middle/Late Position
In later positions you can open the range a bit more due to acting last. Basically you want to be playing any 2 premium cards. Premium meaning Q or T and up, or JJ+. So this includes:
- Any pair (AA-88)
- Any two High Cards QT, QJ, Q9, KT, KJ, K9, JT, AK, AQ, AJ
- Any 2 suited High Card w/ connectors such as KJsuited w/ 98 offsuit
Out of all these starting hands, pairs and high pairs are obviously going to rank as the strongest holdings, followed by high suited connectors. The reason why suited connectors rank higher then say A9offsuit has a lot to do with post flop play and your odds of hitting a monster on the flop. If you want to be a successful poker player you need to realize that your work doesn't start till after the flop, and that solid pre flop decision making greatly affects your overall profits at the tables. That said, let's look at some of the worst opening hands in poker:
What Not To Play
In Early Position
- AJoffsuit
- 98offsuit
- K8offsuit
- Q8offsuit
- J9offsuit
Now in middle and late position you can also loosen up your range slightly. Just because someone calls in early position does not mean you should throw away your hand. Poker is not a game of limiting outs. Meaning just because someone has a pair on the board does not mean your straight draw no longer has a chance at winning. This sort of thought process will limit your play far to often which will in turn lower your win rate drastically. So don't be afraid of a little aggression, especially when you have a good hand. Once again here are some examples of hands you can loosen up with in MP/LP:
In Middle/Late Position
- A10offsuit
- KJo
- QTo
- J9o
- AJsuited
As you can see the difference between what is playable in EP vs MP/LP is quite dramatic. Regardless of position however, there are still plenty of hands I would avoid playing all together. These include:
- A9suited (EP exception)
- 96offsuit
- K9o
- QJsuit
- J8o
The reason why these hands are on the list is because they are either too difficult to play post flop, offer little value pre flop or both. Let's use KTo as an example versus AJ where someone shoves from the button. Realistically what are your outs? You have to flop a ten or better yet hit a ten and have co-ordinated board for a straight. The problem with drawing slim in poker is that at any point one well placed card can wipe out your entire hand. Is it worth the risk for the potential reward? Probably not. That is unless your name is Tom 'durrrr' Dwan.
Related Reading:
How Does This Apply to Tournaments Versus Cash?
Not at all. The blinds are just too high in tournaments not to be playing a wide range of hands. It's also important to note that as the tournament progresses and the blinds get higher, you should be forced into playing a wider range of hands anyway. So in a sense this tip applies to tournaments as the table progresses, just not right out of the gate.
What About Heads Up?
Heads up is a whole new ball game. Due to the lack of opponents and increased odds of winning, most pros will tell you they would rebuy SNGs and MTTs over and over again until they won, but in heads up sngs they would just play that format all day as the return on investment is much greater. Since it's just you versus one other person, the odds of you cashing are much greater. In a full ring game your cash percentage drops significantly due to the amount of players and the fact that most people are tight in the beginning stages of a tournament.
Since you're only up against one opponent in heads up you can afford to be tighter pre flop as you have a better idea of what sort of range your opponent has. In a full ring game your opponent could be raising Q2s but you have no way of knowing this pre flop, all you know is they raise a lot. Where as heads up you will quickly find out that they are a very loose player and are prone to 3 betting a wide range of hands. Because of this you can be a lot tighter pre flop. In terms of a starting range for a tough regular SnG player in heads up versus full ring, I would say:
Full Ring
Due to the fact that everyone is playing super tight you can afford to be a little more aggressive with speculative hands. If everyone folds to you after you raise UTG with 72 suited, that's a problem. Of course this doesn't mean you should be raising every hand, but don't be afraid to mix it up and play some hands that offer you a decent amount of post flop equity.
An Important Note:
The majority of these tips apply more to short handed and heads up play rather then full ring games simply because of the way people play online tourneys. Everyone is so tight in the beginning stages it becomes very hard to accumulate chips. This is why you will see most tables go from extremely tight to extremely loose once people start getting short. At this point it becomes optimal to tighten back up, although most amateurs follow the "aggro is cool, folding isn't" motto and continue to play way too many hands trying to steal pots.
Learn Proper Pot Odds
Pot odds plays a huge role in determining whether a holding is worth playing or not. Basically what pot odds means is taking a look at the size of the pot prior to your action and comparing it to the potential amount of money you can win or the cost it will take to see the next street.
Calling VS Raising Pot Odds
When pot betting (when you haven't yet acted) you must only take into consideration the pot odds when calling. When considering if a raise is profitable, you must also factor in how much you are actually adding to the pot. More on that here:
So lets run through a quick scenario to demonstrate how to make proper calls based on pot odds.
The Scenario: It's a $5+$.50 SNG and there's $18 in the pot. You have 88 and the flop comes J84. Your opponent bets $3. Should you call?
First thing you must ask yourself when deciding weather or not to call is, What are the pot odds? In this case the pot is $18 and he bets $3, meaning if you call the pot jumps to $21.
Your brother-in-law, who you beat regularly, is getting irritated. Here's how to keep him (or you!) honest and happy.
8+ Best Play Roulette Casino Sites in the USA - Top Rated Brands for 2023There are times when it's better to just come out and raise him. But right now you're just calling.
Two Common Rules of Thumb
There are two common rules of thumb when it comes to calling based on pot odds.
1) For every unit in the pot your expected return is roughly 2-1
So if there's $10 in the pot, you should favorite your hand to be better than 80% of hands to call. If the odds swing to 3-1 or better you would now favor your hand to be better than 70% of the time. Needless to say, the better your hand the less pot odds you will call. Meaning if the pot offered you 9-1 you would only call with the absolute nuts.
2) Suited connectors will hit the correct card on the turn or river roughly 33% of the time.
Meaning in the scenario above there is a 33% chance a 8 or another pair falls giving you a decent shot at winning. Add to this equation the fact that there is a good chance your opponent here has a small pocket pair or a jack, giving you additional ways to win, and you can start to see why a good pair holding like eights is valuable on the bubble of a sit and go. This is why you will sometimes see pro's slow play big pockets pairs early position, waiting to trap someone with smaller pocket pairs or over cards in later position with bad pot odds.
Understanding Implied Pot Odds
Implied pot odds are just as - if not more - important then actual pot odds. Actual pot odds only take into account the amount of money in the pot compared to the amount it will cost you to call. Implied pot odds takes into account all the money you will make off your opponent if you win.
Let's adjust our last scenario to showcase how implied pot odds works.
Craps Bet Explained - Tips, Odds, Payout & StrategiesScenario: Same as before except this time your opponent is very tight and only holds a small pocket pair or over card to the flush. Also let's pretend the blinds have $10 each and there is $10 in the pot bringing the total to $38. His bet is $3 leaving the pot at $41.
Okay so in this scenario your true odds of winning are around 9-1. Meaning you would only be favored to have the best hand approximately 10% of the time. Obviously in this scenario you shouldn't be calling. However take a look at the implied pot odds. Assuming he has a small pocket pair or an over card to your pair, if you win he has to pay you $41 dollars. On the other hand if he hits on the turn chances are you only have to pay him $8 more to see the river. So basically you are getting 5-1 on your money if he has a small pair. This completely changes the scenario and now the 9-1 actual pot odds are no longer relevant.
Some players might even argue that your true odds of winning are actually closer to 15-1 instead of 9-1. Yes the turn card could be a eight putting you ahead of a small pocket pair, or a jack putting you ahead of an over card. Add to this equation the fact that your opponent will now likely be afraid of calling a raise with a jack as he already missed the flip once on the turn. The more you think about this scenario the better your pair looks to call.
Put It All Together
Once you truly understand both actual and implied pot odds you can start to piece together a larger puzzle of how to approach pot after pot. No situation is ever the same. Just remember the basic guidelines and use your intuition. Think about all possible scenarios, probabilities and outcomes. Try to put a monetary value on each outcome to determine if the call is +ev or not.
How Do These Tips Apply to Tournaments Versus Cash?
The scenarios will differ greatly depending on what sort of player you are sitting with and if you're close to the money or deep stacked. In general though, you will find it harder to make a profit calling in tournaments verses cash due to the fact the variance decreases as players run out of money. This is why it's imperative you capitalize on situations offering you great pot odds early on in tournaments.
Cash games on the other hand require a good balance between chasing long shots and laying down golden nuggets. People are more prone to bluff in cash then they are in tournaments so finding yourself up against a large bet and a field of unknown hands can at times warrant a call despite less then ideal pot odds. This is why it's called poker, because every scenario is different and requires critical thinking in order to succeed. If it were easy, everyone would quit their jobs and play professionally.
Related Reading:
How to Play Monsters: Set Up Shop
If you have a history in poker then you are probably well aware of the saying "Most money is made set up shop." Or as some refer to it "Big dogs get paid." Regardless of how you say it, the meaning remains the same. You make the majority of your profit set up with a monster.
Set up is when you have a big hand, usually a pair or better, on the flop and your opponent is most likely drawing. The majority of your profits in poker will come from these sorts of scenarios. Luckily these types of hands happen much more frequently then you think. Being able to read your opponents and putting them on a range will help you anticipate when you will be set up with a monster.
In the scenario above where you have position and knowledge of your opponent's range, you can begin setting a trap for your opponent. Knowing he will more then likely be drawing on the flop you can now adjust your play to extract maximum value from his calls. This can be done in multiple ways, such as:
- Betting a smaller amount on the flop to entice a draw to exercise their final two cards
- Check raising on the turn to make them believe you were checking with a weak hand, forcing them to put in another bet hoping to win the pot right then and there without having to go to showdown
These tricks may seem dirty but they are all fair in love and war... and poker! This is why you brought your sun screen, right?
How to Play Monsters: Against Overcards
In the first video Phil Gordon talks about how you should play your big pairs when up against a single overcard. He notes that most amateurs like to slow play their big hands in hopes of trapping someone, where as pros choose to bet and gauge their opponents based on how they react.
Phil explains that if you bet your big pair and your opponent smoothly calls, chances are they have a pair as well and are looking to chop the pot by halving the money in with a call on the flop rather then facing multiple large bets on later streets.
On the other hand if your opponent immediately raises or gets angry and re-raises you, chances are they have a single over card worsened by your pair. In this scenario it's better to slow play as fast-playing your hand will more then likely result in you exiting the pot. This is because your straight draws, flushes and even boats wilt on the vine without the proper backing of a large initial investment.
In the second video Phil goes on to talk about how you should change your mindset based on how many over cards are present on the flop. As the quantity of over cards increases, the likelihood of someone having a pair or better also increases.
At this point it's better to slow play to a degree, allowing you to see if someone else has the hand lead. This doesn't mean you should min-bet, essentially giving away free cards to anyone wanting to peek at the flop, but at the same time you don't want to bet $20 into a $25 pot. The only situation where this scenario would change is if you have reason to believe someone has less then two cards left, essentially forcing them to act first on the turn without the ability to escape without seeing a river.
All these scenarios might seem confusing at first, especially for a beginner. But you have to remember poker is a game of degrees. The more you play, the easier it will be to distinguish a smile from someone who just hit a two pair, versus someone who just realized they just hit a two pair.
Related Reading:
How to Read Body Language
The art of poker involves much more then just crunching numbers and putting players on ranges. Sure those two elements alone will earn you a profit, but it's the addition of extra features that turns a good player great. One of these tools is the ability to read body language.
Everyone gives tells, some more pronounced then others. It's impossible not to leak information unintentionally. Whether it's nervously chewing ice or constantly playing with your wedgie when you're lying, we all do it. Learning how to pick up on these habits can prove very useful when attempting to dissect the strength of your opponents hand.
The Problem With Tells
Mike Caro wrote an excellent series of books regarding the science of poker tells. He defines three main categories tells fall under:
- Useful
- Useless
- Deceitful
Useful tells are precisely that, precise. They are habitual actions linked directly to a players hand. For example if a player consistently rolls up his sleeves before going ballistic with a big raise, you can safely assume a big hand. Useful tells are perhaps the rarest of the three and in all reality should not be relied upon heavily. As soon as a player realizes people are picking up on their trick, they can simply stop doing it and replace the tell with a new one. This is why active observation is key when attempting to turn up the heat on a player. You can't just focus on one tell and assume it's linked to a certain action. You must analyze a player holistically, taking into account everything they do at the table. Only then can you start forming conclusions.
american casino no deposit bonusUseless Tells
These are actions that mean absolutely nothing. Things like yawning or stretching have no relevance to the hand at all. Players who display useless tells in excess are labelled as "tell whores" as they make great reporters yet provide little value as spy's. This is because a player could literally do nothing but yawn and stretch for the entire hand and it would mean nothing. This is why you must always try to find tells that are linked to action. For example if every time a player bets and has a strong hand they accompany it with a fist pump, that is a valuable tool. If however they do it every time they bet, regardless of the strength of their hand, it holds no value. Passion for the game is passion for the game.
Deceitful Tells
These are tells a player knows you have picked up on and thus tries to alter or fake in order to confuse. For example, Tom 'durrrr' Dwan used to purposefully make big bluffs accompanied by massive table talk and constant chip pushing in order to make his checks and calls seem more believable. This sort of reverse psychology is very effective against amateur players, but if used on a regular basis will quickly earn you a label as a faker and lose its effectiveness.
Commonly Recognizable Tells
Below are a few of the most commonly recognized tells. Keep in mind these are merely suggestions, pointers that may help guide you in the right direction.
-
Mirrors: This is when a player subconsciously copies another players action in attempt to relate themselves to that action. For example if you slowly bump your wedding as you check the river with air, a player with a big hand may subconsciously do the same.
-
Nervous Habits: Nerves cause people to sweat, twitch and chew. Pay attention to players who have been calm and collective up until the moment they are forced to act. Chances are if they suddenly jump out of their seat and start shredding ice, they might not be ticking off their grocery list, but rather showing signs of holding a big hand.
-
Too Smooth: Someone who is too smooth can sometimes be a scary sight for an amateur. The player appears emotionless, almost robot like. Although this type of player can be difficult to read physically, you can generally sense their attitude toward the hand. If they light up with excitement when betting a medium pair, you can likely consider that move raised.
-
Minimum Bets/Calls: If a player with 4,000 chips in front of them repeatedly bets exactly 35 or calls exactly 35 on the flop despite the pot odds, you can likely consider this a tell. This doesn't necessarily mean they have a big hand, but it does mean they have something.
-
Speech Patterns: Take notice of players speech patterns when betting, raising and checking. Some players feel the need to speak whenever they have a big hand, while others shut down emotionally and say nothing.
How to Mask Your Own Tells
Just as important as reading other people's tells is being able to mask your own. If you sit there scratching your nose every time you have a pair of threes, eventually someone will pick up on the pattern and draw conclusions based on your action. There are pills you can take to reduce nervous habits, but personally I find the best medication for poker is alcohol. Just enough to dull the nerves and take the edge off, not enough to get hammered and play stupid. After all, alcohol impairs judgement, thus making you a worse player. The drinks should be used as a relaxant, not as an excuse to play like a buffoon.
Below are a few tips for hiding your tells:
Stay Sober
See above.
Be Aware of Yourself
Pay attention to what you do. If you notice yourself winking every time you slow play a big hand, next time try and avoid the wink. Replace the wink with an action that can not be associated with a hand lead, such as adjusting your crotch height. Personally I like to tie habits, break habits or replace habits with tasks that are virtually impossible to link to a hand. For example, if you absolutely must chew ice, only chew it when there is limp betting with lots of players. Never chew the ice when there is action on a flop, as this pattern will be easy for others to pick up on.
Study Others While Ignoring Yourself
Eyes in the back of your head might sound like a cheesy super power from a comic book, but in reality it's an incredibly powerful tool in poker. By focusing entirely on others and blocking thoughts of your own hand, you train your mind to recognize patterns. Earlier I stated that useful tells are rare, and this is true. However, if you observe hundreds of hands worth of actions, you will eventually start piecing together links between certain actions and a player's hand.
Easy Deposit Casinos in UK with Minimum Grievances (2023)Practice, Practice, Practice!
Ignore Yourself Completely
Once you can comfortably study others entirely while ignoring your own hand, you can now start to mentally place players on a range of hands based on their actions. At this point you can now begin to think about your own hand and how to play it accordingly. This is much easier then trying to reverse engineer the process, first placing players on a hand then trying to figure out how to play yours based on guesswork.
How to Play Television Poker vs. How to Play Live Poker
If you've watched a considerable amount of televised poker you may have noticed the camera seems to hone in on the players during exciting moments in order to catch their reaction as they make a bold play or receive a scare card. This makes it appear as if players make most of their decisions on the spot, reacting to the board and playing purely on gut feelings. Though emotions and physical actions are certainly part of the game, much like baseball (a sport typically known for its players' lack of action), poker is mostly played in your head before any physical or emotional actions take place.
Before the flop, and occasionally on the flop, players sit in silence, lost in their own thoughts, creating a tree of possibilities while slowly narrowing down their opponents range until they feel comfortable making a move or calling a bet. As the streets are played and the tree is trimmed of branches, the range narrows further until there are only a couple of possibilities left, at which point emotions and physical actions are introduced as players try to extract the maximum amount of value from their hand. This is why you will sometimes see players celebrate a seemingly unwinnable hand, as in their minds their opponent had them beat with only one specific hand, allowing them to win the pot with that identical hand elsewhere in his range.
Camel Games vs. Online Poker
Camel games (live games) tend to have much wider tables then online poker. People have personalities and emotions that force them to play more hands then they possibly should, creating loose and lively games. Online players will often have trouble adjusting to this style of play at first as they continually wait for a decent hand in a game that seems to always be seeing flops. This leads most online players to over value their hands at first, viewing top pair as weak and trying to get fancy with continuous bluffing attempts. Once they start losing their roll, they panic and abandon all aggression, collapsing into the fetal position and playing tight-AGRESSIVE, waiting for aces or kings.
The secret to dominating live games while primarily being an online player is to first accept the fact that people are playing, simply put, wrong. Top pair is no longer JsJs or better, it's now considered a stone cold draw with Ts9s. The goal when entering a live game is to simply take the blinds and small antennas the fish give off by moving in on them when they are obviously bluffing or playing weak pocket pairs.
Related Reading:
How to Avoid Tilty
Everybody goes on tilt now and again. It's the nature of the beast. The key is recognizing when you are tilted and stepping away from the table. If you find yourself deliberately multi tabling in an effort to recoup some losses at a different table, chances are you are tilting and need to step back.
How to Not Go on Tilt
The key to avoiding tilt is to not take the game personally. Try to remind yourself that you are playing people, not challenging them to a duel of wits. Losing a few bucks to some guy with a comb over and a bad toupee should not have you raging quitng the application out of anger. The second you start blaming external factors such as the site, a card, or another player for your losses, you have entered the realm of tilt and need to log off until you simmer down.
How to Shake Off Being on Tilt
If you find yourself deeply in the hole despite your efforts to shake it off, the best thing you can do is take a walk away from the computer. Get some fresh air, clear your mind, and come back to the game when you no longer feel angry or upset. Holding onto negative energy will only continue to drag you down, potentially losing you much more then the initial buy in that sent you over the edge.
