Texas Hold’em is a tough game, but even beginners can have a fighting chance if they master a few basics. Here are ten tips that will get your poker career off on the right foot.
1. Don’t play too many hands. This is the biggest problem new players have. It’s fun to be in every pot, but that’s also the easiest way to lose a lot of money. As a beginner, stick to playing strong hands – pocket pairs, suited hands with an ace, two cards ten or higher, and maybe a few suited more connectors like T9 suited or 98 suited – and nothing else. This will stop you from getting into situations where you’re just spewing money.
2. Don’t be afraid to raise. But wait, didn’t we just tell you to be careful with your money? It’s true, you shouldn’t play too many hands – but when you do play, you want to play aggressively! This is especially true with a conservative strategy, where you’re likely to have the best hand before the flop more often than not.
3. Be careful when someone raises in front of you. A raise usually signifies strength, and you’ll need an even bigger hand to play against someone who has raised than what you’d need to raise yourself. If someone has raised before the flop, it’s probably best for now that you stick to only playing pairs of tens or higher, or ace-king. Two raises in front of you is real trouble – stick to AA and KK only.
4. Bluff rarely. If you’re a beginner, chances are you’re playing in home games, or very low limit games on a poker site or in the casino. In other words, you’re not playing against very stiff competition, and you won’t need to fool anyone in order to win; even worse, your opponents aren’t likely to fold to your bluffs anyway. As you become a stronger player, you’ll get a better feel for when to bluff, but for now, just play it straight and bet with strong hands.
5. Don’t fold in big pots if you have any chance of winning. This is more easily applicable to limit hold’em, but applies to no limit too when you’re facing a small bet on the later betting rounds. If you only have to call a small bet to have a chance at winning a huge pot, especially on the river, you should call every single time – at least for now.
6. Learn basic poker odds. You don’t need to know everything about poker math right away, but you should learn some basic estimates so that you know when it’s worth sticking around in a hand, and when you should fold. For instance: a flush draw on the flop will come in by the river a little more than one out of three times, while a flush draw on the turn has only about a 20% chance of hitting.
7. Don’t be afraid to bet with good hands. It can be scary to bet with just one pair, or sometimes even with two pair or more, especially when several players start calling your bets. In loose games, there are often so many people in the hand that someone will usually come back to beat you by the river. But that’s okay; the hands you do win will pay off more than enough to make up for the times you lose. All those bets your opponents are putting into the pot when behind add up fast. If an opponent raises, that should get you to slow down with a good (but not great) hand; but if they’re just calling, keep betting until they give you a reason to stop.
8. Don’t always slow play with monsters. There is a tendency among beginners – and even some more experienced players – to disguise their big hands every time they make one on the flop. If you end up with three-of-a-kind, a straight, a flush, or even more on the flop, don’t be afraid to bet; you’ll usually make as much or more money that way than you will by going for a check-raise. However, if your opponents have become smart enough to see you only bet with strong hands, these are good spots to let them make a bet instead. Just don’t turn it into your default play. Remember, when we have a good hand, we want to bet!
9. Fold hopeless hands. Sure, the big pots in loose games mean you should often stick with hands that aren’t that strong, but it doesn’t mean you have to stay in every pot. If you have nothing – no made hand, no draw – and other people are betting, don’t be afraid to fold. This is even truer if there has been a bet and a raise before the action gets around to you; in that case, you’d better have a very strong hand to keep going, just like when we see that much action preflop.
10. Stay calm. Don’t go on tilt or fly off the handle if you run into some bad luck, or someone beats you after making an obviously terrible play. When people play badly, you make money in the long run – if anything, you should be encouraging their bad play! Tirades at the table also tend to tighten up a game. By keeping the atmosphere friendly, you encourage looser play, which makes it easier to come out ahead.
