Playing Bad Hands instead of Folding:

Playing bad hands are one of the most common mistakes by beginners. I see a lot of beginners playing bad hands instead of folding. The best advice I can give a beginner is to stick with high pairs and high suited pairs.

Be aggressive and Raise the Hand

A beginning poker player should play with confidence and never show fear. It would be a good idea to avoid tables that you are always calling your opponents. I would suggest that you raise the hand instead of calling the hand. Also, you need to be in control of the table.

Check the Table Limit

There are a lot of tables to choose from when playing online. It’s very possible to click on a table with the wrong table limit. I can remember thinking that I clicked on a 5.00 dollar table but accidently clicked on a 500.00 dollar table. It was a very costly mistake but it’s important to learn your mistakes. These tips should make you a better play and help improve your poker strategy, Texas Holdem game, Texas Holdem strategy, and online poker skills.

You’re now deep. If you have got 15bbs or less then do as as I said in the last post and make it your prime aim to double up or take down huge pots by 3-betting preflop. If you’re a big stack then DO NOT get carried away. All too often people who have big stacks try to bully the table too much and get caught up with odds to double up a short stack.

You want to still play tight aggressive but increase your raising range. If tables are getting short handed then start raising preflop with suited aces, suited connectors and all the premiums of course. Remember that other deep stacks are going to be hugely scared of you. You can take them out in one foul swoop so remember to keep 3-betting roughly once every 3 orbits if they have shown that they raise light preflop. Always look to your left and make sure you know what stack sizes your opponents have. Don’t constantly steal from 10-15bb stacks with very little as they are very likely to shove light. Remember that if you have a tight image, under the gun raises are hugely respected. Don’t be frightened to raise (standard 2.5bbs) with a hand like 67s as you can catch a huge flop or represent a huge hand. Aggression is hugely important, but blind aggression is a big stacks downfall.

The basic lessons you should have learned is that it is important to not let your stack get blinded out. Don’t be frightened to make moves with very weak hands if you think that you’re opponent is going to fold.

Remember – Players raising ranges are generally much much larger than their calling ranges. If a tight player shoved back at you from the BB would you even call with AQ? A lot wouldn’t.

Hopefully at this point you have not leaked many chips and you have steadily been growing your stack. If you have picked up the hands and played them right you should be on a 20-30bb (big blind) stack or more.

At this point you need to keep your tight aggressive image, aware of stealing and limit yourself on how often you do it, and the common 3-betting that happens around this time.

It’s important to keep a tight image. You don’t want to keep stealing blinds every orbit or even every other orbit. Players will begin to 3-bet you light preflop and you’ll start leaking precious BBs with your weak hands. With some luck hopefully you havent been switched around a lot and have been on the same tournament table for most of the game. Mid game it is likely to have a good 80 or so hands on your opponents. Keep an eye out for the players who raise 3% of the time and the players who raise 20% of the time. These are very important notes you need to be aware of. Know your opponents.

If you find yourself getting short stacked, then do not let yourself blind out. This is a horrible play and people are constantly busted waiting for a perfect hand that never comes. You need to find the next opportunity to make a big steal preflop, or to double up with a premium.

One thing I have learned is 15bb stacks are the best in this situation!

15bb stacks have the most fold equity for shoving all-in with. If there is someone on the Button who has been raising 15% of the time preflop and he raises your big blind, you should be shoving back at him with a big raise. The best cards to do so are hands like 45 suited to 9T suited (or of course a monster hand). Anything higher and you will be dominated if you are called and may be a 30% dog or less. 45 may only be 5-high, but it has a better chance against AK than A5 does. Think about it, the Button has raised 3bbs and you shove 15bbs from the big blind with 45s. The pot before your shove is 3bbs + sb+bb+ante. At semi-deep stages you could be earning yourself 5bbs for that 15bb stack of yours. That’s 33% increase. If your 15% raiser raises from the Button a lot then chances are he is doing it with air and will fold. And if he does call, then you’re still not bad odds for a double up. Just because you have a bad hand preflop, doesn’t mean you can’t win and double up. Everyone needs a bit of luck at some stage in an MTT.

The Early MTT Strategy is starts around with the blinds around 10/20 to 200/400

Now this strategy focuses on a regular speed tournament starting with 3,000 chips and 15 minute blinds.

Start the tournament off by playing tight aggressive. Usually it takes one to play about 20 hands very tight to get a feel for the table. This is very important as you will find out who will be raising light in position and you can adjust your calling range when necessary.

You really want to only be playing premium hands for the first few levels. Don’t get involved in with KQ/KJ or even AJ on a raised pot preflop. If the table is good with a few loose players, then you will be fine to double up or build a stack before the blinds start getting big. Even if you are unlucky enough to go card dead, you will be able to double up with some of the advice I will give later.

Early stages in MTT strategy is very boring. You rarely need to worry about the opponent you’re playing and just have to sit back and be incredibly patient. If you are impatient and start raising/calling marginal hands preflop then you will lose unessicary chips that are vital for a double up later on.

There’s nothing to it. Just sit back and play Aggressive. Don’t bother making bluffs or tricky plays. Keep it simple and it will pay off for later stages where you can start to get tricky.

There are some basic poker strategy tips that extend to just about any game being played. From 5-Card Stud to High-Lo and beyond, these things combine to make a good poker player. There is definately a reason why some players consistantly make it to the finals at the World Series of Poker (*hint* its not that lucky rabbit foot), and that’s because they got skills and strategy!

Focus: Perhaps the hardest one, but also the number one poker strategy employed by a good player. Good players are patient and they wait for the right hands and restrain themselves with good practice, from making foolish moves. Discipline and focus can be a hard poker strategy to consistantly, but it can pay off in the long run. Playing the right hands at the right time while folding the right hands at the right time, can lead to some serious riches.

Watching, waiting: The next big poker strategy good players use is to do nothing more than employ the powers of observation. They pay attention to what’s going on, watch the behaviors of their opponents and gain a feel for the game and the table, almost like a sixth sense. This can be harder in online poker, but this poker strategy extends to that arena, as well.

Understanding: The most basic poker strategy of all, and one of the most vital, is understanding the game being played. Players that use this poker strategy will begin to intuitively understand that odds involved in making particular moves. This poker strategy goes beyond know the cards in a good hand, it extends to the ins and outs of each game being played. Implying the odds are crutial to making the correct decisions.

Improvisation: Another good poker strategy to employ is making sure your actions are not consistent. When other players are watching, this particular poker strategy can make it very difficult for them to read you. In turn, this poker strategy can pay off with wins when the cards might say otherwise.

Money matters: This is the poker strategy tip that can make the most difference in the long run. Don’t bet it all on one pot and don’t bring to the table more than you can afford to lose. Players that follow this poker strategy tend to be able to play it close to the vest because they aren’t as concerned about individual hands as those who bring their milk money to the table.

It takes a while to master basic poker strategy, but doing so can help increase wins and decrease losses. While no poker strategy in the world can guarantee a win every time, the idea is to increase the odds in your favor. To become an overall winning player. =)