Any great Texas Hold'Em tips?

The Game Room
1

I’ve got my first proper poker game coming up next month (Feb 18th). It’s going to be a pretty amateur game and the stakes are low, but I’d still really like to win or at least do ok. I’ve got fairly good card sense but have never played this form of poker for money before (I have started to play a little on the net but for play money).

I’ve read up some tactics and think I’ve got a reasonable understanding of the game. However I just know they’ll be some kindly Dopers out there with some good advice and tips.

Thanks,
Ithaka

2

Check out the forums at twoplustwo.com.

Play money isn’t very good practice since most players are far looser than they would be in a money game. If you can’t or don’t want to play for money online, then the play money limit tournaments are probably your best bet at simulating a real money game.

Will you be playing limit, pot limit, or no limit?

3

Thanks Dag, I’ll look at the forum.

I think we’ll be playing limit, if this means there’s a set limit to what you can raise each go. That’s mostly been what I’ve been playing online as well. I agree play money doesn’t really work - it takes a really bad hand for people to fold.

I’m a bit cash strapped so my first cash game will be the 18th - I’ve been assured that £25 (roughly $50) is the absolute most I can lose . . .

4

The most important thing is the simplest. Play good starting cards and raise with them. When I am playing limit I am raising half the time or more that I am in the pot. If you are starting with better cards than your opponents you will win more often. If you are playing pairs over sevens, Ax with a kicker of ten or more and KQ, QJ suited, and maybe KJ, you will be succesful. The later your position, that is if you are the dealer, or the deal has recently passed you, the looser you can be regarding what you will play.

The hard part about this is that you will feel like everyone else is getting in on the action and you are sitting out far too many hands. Unfortunately the recipe for monetary success and having fun are a bit different. Let us know how it goes.

5

Chasing draws is usually a bad idea. Don’t fall into the trap of “oh, it’s only another bet and maybe I’ll get lucky.” You’ll miss way more often than you hit.

And yes, I know all about pot odds, that’s not what I’m talking about.

6

Starting hand selection is the biggest factor in success. Playing tricky usually costs you more in the long run. You shouldn’t be calling as often as most new players do, you should be raising or folding.
If you have time you might want to check out David Sklansky’s Theory of Poker, its pretty dense but can be read chapter by chapter for info you feel you need. Actually I can’t recommend this book enough.

7

This makes absolute sense to me and is probably hard to play - if in any doubt,fold! I’ll let you know.

You do a lot of this when not using real money. I’ll have to learn to restrain myself.

Thanks, guys.

8

The most tempting and dangerous hand to play is when you have an ace with a low kicker, something like A6. The problem is that everyone else is keeping their ace. Let’s say your flop is A,10,2. One guy bets, what do you do? If you call and get raised you can’t have any confidence that your kicker is good. If you raise, you may be raising into a much better hand. If you fold that raised the question of why you called preflop to begin with. I make most of my money online by have a better kicker with my ace than my opponent.

9

For a beginner in a low stakes game, self-restraint is the key. Learn to only play high pairs (7s and up) and AK & AQ. Unless you’re on the big blind, of course. You can play a little looser on the big blind, but only before the flop. If you didn’t get a hand on the flop, get out.

Low stakes games are tough, especially in a game full of beginners, because people will call nearly anything before the flop - “Ah, what the heck, it’s only $2.” By only playing true quality starting hands, you minimize the risk of losing the hand because some idiot decided to play a 7 2 off-suit and got lucky on the flop.

Learn how the other players play. Some people play really loose, and if you’ve got a marginal hand (A 7 suited, for instance), you might consider calling. Perhaps they’re just trying to buy the blinds. But only make such risky moves after you’ve had an hour or so to size up the competition.

As you get more comfortable, and as you begin to understand how the other people play, experiment with playing a little looser. Any pocket pair, plus AJ, A10, A9 and A8.

But be cautious - I agree with everything the other posters said - don’t chase straights or flushes or anything like that unless the betting has checked all around. After all, therre’s no need to fold if it costs nothing to stay in.

I know I’m writing all this as though it is carved in stone. It’s not, of course. But if you’re a beginner, I suggest player as tight as you can - at least until you get a feel for the table. And be warned: If you take a big chance and it pays off, DO NOT fall into the trap of suddenly playing loose. Winning on a long shot can be addictive - don’t fall into that trap. Go right back to playing tight again. The money you just won can be gone pretty quickly.

Best of luck! We’ll be here on the 19th, looking for a progress report.

  • Ol’ Peculiar.
10

Best tip I’ve been given that works especially well when playing with beginners: Don’t look at your pocket cards or the flop when they’re first dealt. Instead, look at the other players. If you see people looking at their chips off the bat, they’ve probably got a good hand and it could give you an idea on whether or not to go forth with an iffy hand.

11

The best advice has already been stated: don’t chase hands, play good hands starting hands. Personally, once I get a *****feel for the table, I’ll play A-9 on up, and bet any A-10 on up, large bets (pot or more) on 10-10 on up. Don’t go too crazy on A-K, even if suited.

Oh, some other great advice: do not act out of turn. I cannot stress that enough.

I wouldn’t bluff too often, especially with newbies. I find them to be the biggest calling stations. Look for the person who seems awfully shy about losing his money. Raise on him constantly. Also, act slowly, take your time. This forces you to notice other things. Plus, I find it harder to read slow players.

If you’re playing a Limit game (even pot limit), some these tidbits won’t work. Arguably, you can play a little looser in a limit game.

12

Leaving aside for a moment that A9 is my very own personal DEATH HAND (can’t win with it, can’t beat it, will barely play it in a blind, otherwise it gets mucked on sight for I hate it with the firey passion of a million burning suns), it’s easy to over-value it especially as a beginner. At first blush it looks like a strong hand, big A and a decent kicker, but if anyone’s holding AK-AT they’re going to play it and you’re going to be outkicked. There’s also no straight possibility with it so it doesn’t even have that advantage. Personally I rank it as weaker than A5 which at least has an outside straight possibility.

Another tip: don’t over-value suited cards. If the hand is crap, being suited makes it suited crap. You’re not going to hit the flush very often (see earlier advice re: chasing), certainly not often enough to make it worthwhile. If you’d muck it unsuited, mucking it suited is going to be the right play almost every time. An exception to this is suited connectors which have the straight possibility but again, don’t overvalue suited connectors either. 54s is pretty much just as worthless as 54os.

13

Since you’re looking for advice more than straight facts, I’ll move this thread to the IMHO forum.

bibliophage
moderator GQ

14

I always pay to see the flop.

Probably not what the pros would do but I’m always of the opinion that anything can happen in the flop.

For instance, the last time I was playing (with friends, max £30 per person brought to the table) my hole cards were a nine and a two of differing suits.

Paid to see the flop, instead of doing what I believe most books would suggest and fold.
The flop had a nine and two twos.
Full house.

If only that happened every time.

15

#1 piece of advice. If you’re cash strapped, if losing all of your stake is going to actually financially impact your well being, DO NOT PLAY!
Go into the evening with an attitude of “I’m going to lose £25. I’m paying £25 as a reasonable price for an evening’s entertainment”. If you win, great. If not, you got your value in fun.

Also, what starting hands you can play (in limit) depends on how many people tend to see every flop, whcih depends on how many people are playing. If 10 people are playing, and 7 or 8 see every flop, then suited connectors and hands like JT get a LOT better, because there’s more money for you to win when you DO hit your hand, so it’s OK to pay money more often to TRY to hit your hand. (Same for low pairs.) (I was playing $3/$6 last night and salvaged a miserable night by limping in with 22 and hitting a set.)

16

You’re welcome at my table any time. I’ll raise you pre-flop 9 hands out of 10 and win 99 times out of 100 when you call with garbage and gladly pay you off the 100th time when your hand hits.

17

That’s probably the reason why I seldom win :frowning:

18

Playing tightly preflop is the key. No winning hold’em player (talking about full table limit hold’em here) is going to play more than 25-30% of hands, and the best play about 18%.

Almost as important is understanding your position. The dealer, or the “button” (because of the button passed around in casinos to indicate the nominal dealer), has tremendous advantage in that he is the last to act on any given round. Those who are first to act–the blinds and the hands that follow the blinds–are at a big disadvantage. This means you should adjust your starting hands accordingly; while you can usually see the flop for one bet with A-10 offsuit when you’re on the button, you should throw it away every time when you’re “under the gun” (the first player to bet after the deal).

The third thing that I’d tell a newbie in a small-stakes, loose home game–don’t bluff. Just don’t. If you think you have the best hand, bet it up. If you have dick-all, fold. If you have a reasonable draw to the best hand, like an outside straight draw or a four-flush (on the flop), you’re usually better off betting it up. In general, you want to be the one betting or raising rather than just calling; your better players will bet out or raise about twice as often as they call. If you don’t have the stuff to bet or raise, you should probably check or fold.

Lastly, don’t give your opponents more credit than they deserve. You’re not playing against Doyle Brunson here; these people are amateurs just like you. Many, like the appropriately named Arch Trout, are of the “any two can win” school, and just by following most of the advice in this thread, you should be able to take their lunch money.

Really lastly, remember that variance happens. If you lose your whole buy-in at this game, it doesn’t mean you were outplayed, or that you’re not good at this. Bad nights happen to the best and good nights happen to the worst. You get it back from them next time. (Don’t forget to mention that the big winner traditionally buys the beer for the next game. In my regular game back in med school, this usually cost far more than the night’s winnings, so your best bet was really to come in second. :slight_smile: )

PS: I’m kidding you there, Arch Trout. :slight_smile:

19

You know you’d pit him, Otto. :wink:

20

I’m not sure where you get the idea that your hand will be better than his 99% of the time…

If you ignore betting, he has a 50% chance of beating your hand, so if he calls every bet, he should (theoretically) win half the hands without even having to look at his cards. This approach is not effective for obvious reasons, but I’m just wondering where you got the idea that you will win 99% of hands…