Poker is all about percantage play and your own strategy. Naturally a little luck comes into it, but if you keep to the basic strategy, you can turn even the toughest table into your favourite. Below are a few basic tips and strategies that will get you going and make sure that you do not make a fool of yourslef at a table. Once you have mastered these, you will develop your own strategy with which you feel comfortable.
- When you have a useless hand, fold – fast.
- According to popular opinion among the experts, you should make sur ethat you have at least 50 times the table limit available before you start. Pretending to be a big time player will only get you into trouble.
- When you are at a stage where you are holding the unbeatable hand, make sure that your opponents pay dearly to see it.
- The odds of improving your hand on the draw are about even, so keep it in mind that the first 5/7 cards that you receive will be the foundation of what you have to play with. Build your strategy from there and not on the chance of improving your hand.
- Don’t overestimate yourself and do not try and beat the stronger players at the table by taking risks and losing sight of the other aspects of your game. Stick with your strategy as long as you can and play your own game. Taking unnecessary risks just to “prove a point” will lose you a ton of money if you are not lucky and if you do beat them on the odd occasion, it may not be worth all the effort.
- Don’t try and impress people by getting the highest hand. Your aim is to beat the other players. Play wisely and keep them guessing. Remember, you scare them enough, then the pot is yours.
- If you can’t beat the other hands, don’t join them, fold and live to play another day. The table will always be ready when you are.
- Don’t hold four cards of an inside straight—an inside straight is one where the potential straight can be completed only one way. An outside straight is one that can be completed in two ways and so is twice as likely to be successful. The only exception to this rule is an ace-high straight.
- Don’t hold three cards of a straight except for K-Q-J.
- Don’t hold three cards of a flush- do not hold three cards of the same suit unless it is also a potential straight flush.
- Don’t hold a kicker with any pair or with three of a kind- a kicker is a single high card (J,Q,K,A) that has the potential to turn into a winning pair.
- The pair or three of a kind should always be played and the kicker discarded.