Strategy

Let's start by looking at your hand


You're getting dealt two cards that are private to you. What should you do with them : fold ? Call ? Raise ? The first step in a poker hand is EVALUATING your starting cards. Cause you can't just play every hand... Some starting hands are very good, some aren't.

A-A is the best possible starting hand. While holding A-A doesn't makes you a guaranteed winner, it is sure a helpful hand on your path to success. Problem is, you won't get deal two Aces that often...

Then you have K-K, and Q-Q.
Aces, Kings and Queens are such good hands that you will actively play them (almost) everytime. Such hands are sure worth raising, as you would with...

A-K suited. Ace-King is also a very strong hand. This isn't a pair, granted, but with the help of the 5 community cards, your chances to find a pair of Aces or Kings is quite good. You also have the opportunity to make the best possible flush (the « nut flush ») if three cards of your suit appear on the community board. Let's not forget all the straight possibilities that you can make, using one or two of your private cards. Last but not least, you can win with just your high card – the Ace – if noone of your opponents makes a pair...

J-J, T-T. Those pairs are also very good starting hands in No Limit Hold'Em, especially when you are facing only one opponent in the hand. But you have to be careful with them if you're up against several players since any Ace, King or Queen on the flop will give your opponents a better pair than yours.

9-9, 8-8. Those are interestings hands, but not worth betting the whole farm. It all depends on the price you're getting and on how many players entered the hand. You'll have to figure how much to risk and how to react depending on your opponent's bets and raises.

Finally, let's end this tour of the very best No Limit Hold'Em starting hands with Ace-King offsuit. Ace-King is basically a great starting hand, but the fact that your cards aren't of the same suit will make Ace-King somewhat less apealing. This is what we put it lower in our ranking.

Those ten hands represent the top 10 hands in Texas Hold'em No Limit. It's useful to give you a rough sketch of the hierarchy used. During your first games, you could just play those ten hands and be just fine. It would be your best chance to end up a winner while you're still a beginner at the game... But it would sure be boring cause it would force you to stay out of the action for sometimes as long as an hour. What a bore !

So, what about playing a wider range of hands once you're familiarized with the basics ? Here is some advice on how to play more hands. When you don't hold a pair in your community cards (it's called a « pocket pair »), make sure your two cards are of the same suit and as close as possible in rank. It will maximize your chances of improving your hand when the community cards come.

So, you can extend your criteria of selection to hands like K-Q suited, J-T suited, sometimes A-J or Q-J suited.

Small cards are only good when they are « connected » and « suited », meaning that, as we already stated, they have to be close in rank and of the same suit, like 9-8 of clubs, 7-8 of diamonds or even 6-5 of spades. Those are good hands cause they are invisible when you « hit » your flop : your opponent will have a hard time figuring out what you have and will be more likely to think you're holding « big cards » such as the afromentioned A-K, K-Q and so on.

Now you've got an idea of how to pick your starting hands. What you need to remember, most importantely, is that there are tons of other hands that constituate the majority of hands you will get dealt. Those hands, well, I'm gonna put it simply : DON'T PLAY THEM. 10-2, 9-4, J-3, K-4, etc, etc... All those hands have no positive expected value, even if they are suited.

With, let's say, Q-7, what's gonna happen ? Either you miss the flop, and in that case you already lost the money the put into the pot before the flop. Or, you'll make a pair of 7 or Q on the flop, which isn't that good cause you're facing the big risk or meeting an opponent who also holds the same pair, but with a better « kicker ». The kicker is the second card you have in your hand when the first card makes you a pair or trips. The kicker is key in Texas Hold'em. Here, holding Q-7 on a Q high flop, chances are big that if you play a large pot, someone will have A-Q or K-Q or Q-J for the same pair, but with a better kicker. Granted, you could still beat your opponent by making a second pair with the 7, but it's highly unlikely. Poker is about odds and statistics. You need to make play that have a positive expectation, in other words play that will make you a winner IN THE LONG RUN, not just once in a while.

As you can see, there are only a few very good hands, and a few more that are interesting and playable. So, you'll have to be patient. At poker, patience is an ESSENTIAL concept.

Nota Bene : the more your hand is marginal, the more you have to be careful, by taking into account the way the hand unfolds, the price to pay and your position.

Position

Position in poker is your relative position to the « button », representing the dealer. Button moves clockwise from hand to hand. Believe it or not, but position has a big impact on your the value of your hand. You'll always here players say « I had good position », or « I didn't have position » when talking about hands, and they'll talk about how the way they played the hand changed depending on their position. The best position is located « on the button », that is when you are the dealer. As the button moves in the left direction in every subsequent hand, your situation worsens. Having the button one or two seats to your left is still good, while you become more and more vulnerable as the button moves towards your right. Worst position being in the small or big blind.

When are on the button or close it, you have the advantage of being the last (or one of the last) to act during all the betting rounds. As a result, this is the other players who will be forced to reveal their intentions and bet first, giving you lots of precious information, whether it is during the first round of betting (where you will decide to play the hand or not) or during the subsequent rounds where you will gauge your opponents real strengh.

Reversing the situation, when you're acting from the blinds, you're forced to take your decision first, with no idea of what your opponent have or will do, whether it's before the flop, on the flop, turn or river...

Position is a CAPITAL concept that you'll have to take into account during every hand you play. If you're one of the first to act, you'll have to carefully pick your starting hands, only playing the very best ones. If, on the other hand, you're on the button and no one entered the pot or shown real strengh, you perfectly can be more liberal, more aggressive, even more risky in your attitude. In late position, you can play hands that you wouldn't even blink when you were acting in first position. It allows you to take the upper hand against your opponents, and – why not – bluff them ! Some experts have been quoted to say that having position is like playing with a third card up your sleeve...

Let's take a little exemple with one specific hand : A-7.

With Ace-Seven, don't commit the mistake of entering the pot in first position. On the other hand, it would be a big mistake to fold this hand while on the button when every player folded before you. Heck, you have to raise with thos hand ! You have the ideal position to « steal the blinds », robbing those two poor players who were forced to put money into the pot before even receiving cards. Of course, they could have a better hand than A-7, but statistics dictate that it won't be the case most of the time. Even if one of the blinds calls you, you will still have the advantage to act last. Two options then : either you find a good flop, either you don't, and in that case, you can still win the pot by bluffing, since your opponent probably missed the flop too. That's actually a very important thing to remember : most hands miss most flops !

When to bet? When to raise, and how much?

In poker, and especially in No Limit Hold'em, managing your chip-stack is a key concept. Your bets influence the way the hand plays out, and have tremendous importance on your overall score at the end of the game. As important are your opponents bets : they are full of valuable information. Learn how to use it!

* If you bet when you should have checked or folded, you're losing money in the long run.

* If you fold or check when you should have bet, the result is almost the same since you're missing a profit opportunity.

* Also, if you bet too much, or not enough, you're losing money too...

Example : avoid betting all your chips when there's only a few chips up for grabs. On the other hand, don't bet too litle when the pot is gigantic. Especially when you have a big hand that doesn't have a sure chance of winning the final pot, for instance when you're playing against an opponent holding a drawing hand, like a straight draw or a flush draw. If you think you have the best hand at the moment, go for it and bet! Make your opponent pay a good price for drawing a miracle card!

* What will also make a big different are the RAISES. When you raise, you make the pot grow by betting more chips than your opponent did in the first place. Your opponent bet an amount, and instead of calling or folding, you throw the ball back at him by betting even more. This is a very important yet dangerous weapon because you're risking more chips. Use it in specific situations only.

When to raise ?

* You will have to raise when you will want to protect your hand, for instance when you have a strong hand that would be a sure winner could the hand stop right here. Problem is, if you're on the flop, there are still two cards to come, and you fear your opponent might be drawing to a flush. If he bets to make you think he has a « made hand », you have to raise !

* You will also raise to reduce the « field » : the number of the opponents still in the pot. Let's say you're holding a pair of Aces in the hole : this is a monster hand. The best one, in fact. But beware: if four or more opponents enter the pot, you won't be that much of a favorite anymore! So, you have to raise to increase your chances of winning.

* In a lot of situations, you will simply raise in order to win more. Every time you have the pefrect winning hand (say, Ace-King of spade on a board with three spades and no pair), your goal will simply to be to maximize your profit ! This is the typical situation where you absolutely don't mind playing a big pot.

* Last situation : raising to gain information. Example : a player bets and you have a very nice hand : pocket Queens. You feel strong but you'd like to find out if you're opponent isn't holding one of the hands that can beay you (pocket Aces or Kings, that is). You'll agree that it wouldn't feel nice to loose all your stack this way... So what you gonna do is raising. And very often (though not everytime cause there are always some very tricky opponents) you will « find out » : either your opponent folds and you win the pot with no drama, either he calls and now you know you have the best hand, or either the opponent reraises, even sometimes saying « ALL-IN ! ». In that last case, it would probably better to cut your losses and save the rest of your chips. This situation is one where you raise as a way to ask a « question » to opponent. You then react depending on his « answer ».

In truth, you will quickly find out how to bet properly after experiencing one or two bad experiences – it can't be avoided, unfortunately. Players often say that you have to « pay to learn ». It's as much true in poker as it is in life !

Understanding the odds

What a poker hand is all about is simple : taking risks. But what we're talking are about calculated risks.

Depending on your holes cards, you manage your capital (the chips) and invest a certain amount in the hope of winning more, on the condition that it's worth it. In order to achieve that goal, you have to ask yourself several questions :

1 – How much sould I bet now, and during the next rounds of betting ?

2 – What's the return on investment ? Will I win enough to make up for the risk I'm taking ?

It's only after answering those 2 questions that you'll be able to get involved in a pot.

Those notions are just glimpse into the notion of « odds ». If you have to risk an amount, you'll not only have to think about what you risk losing, but also, more importantly, think about what you risk WINNING. What really matters isn't the risk you're taking, but whether it's a « good » investment or not.

Here is a non-poker related example. You're flipping coins. The risks and odds are obvious : you have one chance out of two of winning the coin toss. Let's say you risk 1 euro on every hand. You know what you risk losing. Now you have to ask yourself, « what do I risk winning ? » If you opponent is offering you 1,20 euro for everytime you win the coin flip, that's a good risk to take. Heck, you could safely raise the stakes in that situation. On the other hand, if you're opponent is offering you 0,95 euro everytime you win, runaway as fast as possible. Because you will win as many coin flips as your opponent, but in the long run your losses won't make up for your wins. Statistically, you will loose everytime on the long run.

Conclusion

In poker, whether you play for peanuts or for bick bugs, you won't avoid taking risks. You have to calculate your risks in relation to excepet return on investment. Your chances of financial return on investment have to be better than the statistical risk of losing the hand !

Odds and stats are sciences that dictate randomness. Knowing your odds and stats will help you control the risks, and get ride of the luck factor on the long run !