Sunday
Apr192009
How to Play Texas Hold em Basic Strategy
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Something that I have not touched on in some time, but remains an important part of learning basic Texas Hold em strategy, is the selection of starting hands. Most novice players get into way too much trouble because they are way too loose in their starting hand selection. This also pertains to playing No Limit Hold em in the satellite tournaments, which we have been talking about the last few weeks.
If you are just starting out playing Texas Hold em, then by far the best strategy, is to play very tight. I talk about this at length in my book, The No B.S. Guide to Winning Online No Limit Texas Hold em and it is a point that most players tend to forget. Stick to the premium hands unless you are compelled to do otherwise. (by this I mean, if you are in one of the blinds or at a point in a tournament that dictates that you make a move)
As you level of experience increases, you can get more varied and creative in your plays, but for the most part, if you stick to premium hands such as A-K, A-Q, A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, you will keep yourself out of trouble and have a huge advantage over about 80-90% of the rest of the poker population.
Boring? Yes.
Successful strategy? Yes again.
Of course, you are going to play more hand than just these, just because you will make some position plays, get in when you are in the blinds, etc. As I talk about in my ebook, you also may want to try to see flops with small to middle pocket pairs as well. But, many times, if you play your premium hands strong, you will find yourself up against "action junkies" that were in a pot with A-4 or some such crap and you have them dominated with your A-K.
This is particularly relevant in satellites as well. Let the other players play the junk hands and bust out early. Remember, you don't have to finish first in most satellites to make the money. Don't get caught playing crap hands. Leave that to the other players, play your strong hands strong, and you will find yourself getting paid in satellites more often than not.
Get on Full Tilt and give it a try! Today is a great day for satellite tournaments
If you are just starting out playing Texas Hold em, then by far the best strategy, is to play very tight. I talk about this at length in my book, The No B.S. Guide to Winning Online No Limit Texas Hold em and it is a point that most players tend to forget. Stick to the premium hands unless you are compelled to do otherwise. (by this I mean, if you are in one of the blinds or at a point in a tournament that dictates that you make a move)
As you level of experience increases, you can get more varied and creative in your plays, but for the most part, if you stick to premium hands such as A-K, A-Q, A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, you will keep yourself out of trouble and have a huge advantage over about 80-90% of the rest of the poker population.
Boring? Yes.
Successful strategy? Yes again.
Of course, you are going to play more hand than just these, just because you will make some position plays, get in when you are in the blinds, etc. As I talk about in my ebook, you also may want to try to see flops with small to middle pocket pairs as well. But, many times, if you play your premium hands strong, you will find yourself up against "action junkies" that were in a pot with A-4 or some such crap and you have them dominated with your A-K.
This is particularly relevant in satellites as well. Let the other players play the junk hands and bust out early. Remember, you don't have to finish first in most satellites to make the money. Don't get caught playing crap hands. Leave that to the other players, play your strong hands strong, and you will find yourself getting paid in satellites more often than not.
Get on Full Tilt and give it a try! Today is a great day for satellite tournaments
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