In order to make money in Texas Holdem, you need to plan a strategy and stick to it whether it’s a tight or loose strategy. Your poker success or failure is directly linked to the kind of hands you play. And you need to successfully deal with all the possible situations that appear in the game.
It’s extremely vital to your well-being and your long-term poker success that you can and will persevere when you encounter a classic problem and plenty of other potential problems at the same time. As much as I hate to sound like a broken record to those who have made money playing poker, I guarantee that you will not make money in poker unless you pick up a strategy that works.
If you want to make money in Texas Holdem, then just go out and play consistently with a well-conceived strategy – and end up winning the cash in the long-run, or at least more often than not.
Selective Aggression
Playing from either out of position or under the gun, you can be sure that other players will regularly doping up their starting hands in order to make their poker increasingly less random. This is really bad news if you are staying at the table with them. Because when you see the flop you will realize that many of them are betting their mediocre hands strongly because they have the upper hand.
This is really bad news if you are not playing from the optimum position at the table, because those players who are betting readily when no one is in the hand will often bet strongly when you raise. This is actually a good situation for a counter, because more often than not it is easy to win a pot when the largely losing player shows aggression.
LimpingoliWSOP 2004 Winner
Being the first to raise and remain in the hand is the essence of the small-ball strategy. This is the essence of Hangers-with- hooks strategy, so the Able player should be much more selective with his raises than the Unahorse player, who will be facing with much stronger hands. It is easy to win the pot when the small-ball player bets his good hands strongly, especially when you have a strong hand. The latter will be facing with much weaker hands, however, and may not have the kicker trouble if he bets his high pair to the tune of 20 big blinds.
When the flop comes down, with no angels on the flop, the small-ball player will usually check or bet, because he knows that he has still not shown any real hand, so there is no harm in continuation betting, especially if you have not shown strength in the previous round. The big blind player will normally continue with an aggressive bet, unless he has made a minimum bet during the round. When the turn comes down, the small blind player will usually check as he does on the turn, hoping that his partner would bet, also hoping that the big blind would not fire the second barrel.
The small blind and big blind bets are heavily dependent on the Togel betting patterns. These patterns are well described in a poker book and are referred to as ‘the weak play of the strong hand.’ If a strong hand’s weaknesses are well known, the partner can easily manipulate the small blind player. By making a ‘small bet’ of around 4% of the minimum bet, he can affect the small blind’s psychology rather than his decisions.
The big blind player is less likely to be able to find a bluffing partner among the tight-aggressive small blind player unless he is acting in very late position. If he has a reputation as a monster, the reputation will get him into trouble with the tight-aggressive player. That said, the tight-aggressive player that is always raising small fraction of the time has a higher probability of being able to grab a pot.
Middle position should be played cautiously, unless there are only a few players left, otherwise ‘Slow-playing’ can be very dangerous. If other players have already indicated willingness to fight, you should usually let them, but do not become desperate and push a reluctant call. If all players except for one or two fold, you should usually let them keep the pot without further showdown, unless you have a very strong hand. This is because, if you lose, you will not win any more bets. Also, if you have a mediocre hand, lady luck may still be around, although probability predicts they will not.
Playing from the button should be done with much caution, especially when there are many loose-aggressive players around, who will chase any sign of a straight or flush. When you have a strong hand, you should always fast play a flop, even if you have no idea whether there is a chance of someone else having a better hand.