These easy 101 poker tips helps
you to make sure you're one of the few players that make money at the world's
greatest game.
1-20 poker tips:
1.Be Selective With Your Starting Hands
Profitable poker begins with selecting
profitable hands. A player who only plays the top 10% to 20% of the possible
starting hands will generally make more money than a player who plays the top
30% to 40% of starting hands. Loose players can still be profitable players,
but it requires considerably more skill to play a loose style profitably.
Tighten up and watch your profits soar.
2.Practice Effective Bankroll Management
Everyone goes broke at one point or another and
it's usually because of poor bankroll management. Generally speaking, you
should have 30 to 50 buy-ins for whatever game you're playing. So if you buy
into a $1/$2 No-Limit Hold'em game for $200, you should have a bankroll of $6k
to $10k. The looser you play, the more buy-ins you should have to make sure
your bankroll can withstand the swings.
3.Take A Study Day Each Week
Become a student of the game. Read all the
poker books you can get your hands on. In fact, read these books multiple
times. I have some poker books that I've read 5 times over and I find something
new every time I read them. A few good books to have are The Theory of
Poker, Sit 'N Go Strategy, Super System and
the Harrington on Hold'em series. There are several other good
books as well. Take some time and browse your local bookstore to see which
authors you like to read.
4.Be Prepared For Downswings
If you practice effective bankroll management
you'll be financially prepared for downswings, but you need to be mentally
prepared as well. Poker may be a game of skill, but there is a dash of luck
involved too. You need to stay focused when the poker gods see fit to squash
you like a bug. Even the best players will face downswings. The trick is to
work your way through it as best you can. You can analyze your game to make
sure your downswing isn't due to your play or take a break. Just make sure you
don't go on tilt and make the downswing worse.
5.Vary Your Play
After a while, even good players fall into a
rhythm. They raise with one hand and limp with another. They only play a
certain range from late position and a tighter range from early position. If
their opponent checks for a second time on the turn, they always bet 2/3 pot.
After a while, your opponents will pick up on these patterns and they'll start
outplaying you. Change up your play every once in a while to keep your
opponents guessing.
6.Pay Attention To Your Bets
Do your betting patterns betray your hand? Do
you only re-raise with aces or kings? Do you raise 5 times the big blind to
protect small pairs? Do you make a continuation bet every time you show
aggression before the flop and check the turn if your opponent floats you when
you have air? Some players have betting patterns so consistent that they might
as well announce their hand. What are your betting patterns telling your
opponents?
7.Control The Pot
There's an old poker saying that says
"Small hand, small pot. Big hand, big pot." You need to control the
pot to match your hand. It's tricky controlling the pot without alerting your
opponents to your hand, but it's a necessary skill if you want to win more
money.
8.Keep An Eye On The Nuts
Always know what the best possible hand is on
every street and determine how likely it is that your opponent holds the cards
necessary to make that hand. For example, if you're playing a re-raised pot and
have JJ on a board of Q-J-10, there's a decent chance that your trips are up
against a straight if your opponent is raising and re-raising. However if
you're playing a re-raised pot and have 99 on a board of 9-7-5, it's much less
likely your opponent is holding the 68 necessary for the straight.
9.Be Aware Of Your Position
Too many new players are oblivious to the
advantages of playing in position. It's easier to trap your opponents and it's
easier to make moves on your opponent when you're in position.
10.Watch Out For Diminished Returns
There are two major ways to increase your poker
profits when you're playing online. You can either play at higher limits or
play more tables. However your win rate will generally go down when you do
either one of these things. For example, let's say you play $10 Sit 'N Goes and
have a 30% return on investment (ROI) when you play one table, a 20% ROI when
you play two tables and a 10% ROI when you play three tables. That means you'll
make roughly $3/hr. when play one table, $4/hr. when you two-table, and $3/hr.
when you three-table. Obviously you should be two-tabling.
11.Double Barrel More Often
Too many players fire a shot on the flop and
universally give up on the turn. Try firing another barrel occasionally.
Players will call a flop bet with draws, overcards, or just because they think
they can take the play away from you on the turn. Sometimes you need to fire
another barrel to take them down.
12.Become A Well-Rounded Player
Learn games besides Texas Hold'em. Texas
Hold'em is a popular game and most players have at least a basic understanding
of profitable play. The same can't be said for Omaha and 7-Card. In fact, many
online Omaha players are Hold'em players that are trying something new and will
call your bets while they're drawing dead. The more poker variants you can play
the more opportunities you have to profit.
13.Classify Your Opponents
Practice classifying your opponents. Notice
whether they play loose or tight and put it in their player notes. Then figure
out if they're aggressive or passive and write that in their player notes.
Knowing whether your opponent is tight-aggressive or loose-passive will help
you figure out what kind of hand they have and help you outplay them on the
flop.
14.Keep Records
Do you know what your average ROI is for
tournaments? What about Sit 'N Goes? How many big blinds per hour do you win
when you play $1/$2 No-Limit? What about $3/$6 No-Limit? How does your win rate
change when you multi-table? By keeping records you'll be able to make informed
decisions about what game you should play to maximize your profits.
15.Learn From Better Players
Is there a player that always wipes the felt
with you? Buddy list them and watch them play. You might learn some new tricks.
At the very least you'll learn about their game so you can beat them the next
time the two of you cross swords.
16.Use Tracking Software
Tracking software is a vital tool for improving
your game. These programs are great for exposing leaks. A good program will
show you how much you win or lose with each hand and in which position. Many
will also show you how much you win or lose to each opponent. There's no better
way to get you to stop raising KJ off suit from under the gun in a full ring
game than seeing how much money you lose making that move.
17.Analyze Your Game Regularly
There's no point in spending the money on
tracking software if you're not going to analyze your game. Look for positional
leaks and leaks that are due to poor hand selection. You should review key
hands to see if you misplayed the hand and replay some of your winning hands to
see if you could have extracted more money.
18.Overpairs Aren't The Nuts
There's exactly one time that AA is the nuts -
preflop. Once the flop comes down, your aces are no longer the best possible
hand. It seems like most players, especially at the lower limits, forget this
fact. Let's say you're facing two limpers and have AA. You raise 5 times the
big blind to thin the field, but both limpers call. The flop comes down 9-8-7
rainbow. The first limper thinks for a second and bets 2/3 pot, then the second
limper raises pot instantly. There's a good chance your aces are no good here.
19.Watch Out For The Raise On The Turn
Pay close attention the next time you play
poker. Players don't raise that often after the flop so when they do you have
to wonder why. In my experience, the raise on the turn is the most dangerous
raise in the game. Players with a made hand will often smooth call bets on the
flop then raise a bet on the turn hoping that you have something. If you get
raised on the turn you should think long and hard before calling. Top pair is
almost always beat in this situation.
20.Learn Pot Odds
If you read this tip and thought, "What
are pot odds?" you should stop playing poker right now and start reading
some poker books. It is impossible to play profitable poker if you don't
understand pot odds. This tip may look obvious to some people, but you wouldn't
believe how many times I've seen a Sit 'N Go player post a t200 big blind and
fold to a raise when they only had t150 left. That should have been a call with
any two cards.
