Because poker is a long-term activity, whenever your opponents call a bet where the odds aren’t favorable for them, you make a profit. Of course, they might make the hand and beat you, but in the long run, you’ll eventually collect on situations like that. It’s like doubling an 11 versus a dealer’s up card of 6 in Blackjack; you won’t win each time you do it, but over thousands of hands like that, you’ll profit handsomely.

That’s important stuff, but so is what you make your hand “say”, as discussed above. When you break it all down to its basic elements, the reality is that your opponents have no idea whatsoever of which cards you’re actually holding. You can just as easily raise with 2-3o as you can with A-A and, if you knew no one would ever call you, do it every hand. The fly in the ointment, so to speak, is that you might have to show your hand at some point and 2-3 isn’t going to hold up against the types of hands that will typically call opening raises. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make your hand say one thing when it’s really something else. See my point here?

Most beginning players are concerned only about their own hand; if it’s strong, they bet it, if not, they fold. As you gain experience, you begin to think of your hand in comparison with your opponent’s hand. For example, if you open the pot with a raise because you hold K-K, someone calls and the flop comes A, Q, 9 rainbow; if that caller bets into you after the flop, you have to at least consider the fact that s/he holds an Ace. You don’t know for sure, of course, but it’s a definite possibility. The real crux of this problem is: What does your opponent think you hold? You raised, which indicates a “big” hand and if you can somehow convince your opponent that you hold a hand that can beat a pair of Aces, you can likely make him or her fold. Of course, if your opponent holds A-A, nothing you do will move him or her off the hand. And a lot of players will not re-raise you if they hold A-A, because they want to “trap” as many players as possible. But the odds greatly favor your opponent holding just one Ace, which still beats you at this point, but can ultimately be defeated by another King, a Straight, a Flush or Two-Pair. What if you now raise your opponent? What you’re basically saying is, “I see the Ace and it doesn’t scare me.” Now, your opponent has to stop and consider your move, unless s/he has a set of Aces, in which case s/he will likely re-raise you, if not go all-in. At least if that happens, you’ll pretty much know you don’t have the best hand and can fold with a clear conscience. This is the point where my favorite “rule” kicks in: I seldom go all-in unless I hold the top two-pair on the board. While two-pair at the flop cannot beat Trips on their own, they’ll turn into a Full House 16.5% of the time and any two pair will beat even a pair of Aces in the hole.

What you should be trying to do with your bets is convince your opponent that you hold something other than what you actually hold. If you’re strong, you want them to think you’re weak and if you’re weak, you want them to think you’re strong. Ultimately, such a strategy will extract the maximum number of $$$ from your opponents – you won’t win the most hands, but you will make the most profit – and that’s the real goal when playing poker. Letting your hands do the talking is a big step in that direction.

(Source: GameMaster)

In most games of Hold ‘em poker, the big blind (BB) is a full-sized bet for the first round of play. For example, in a $10/$20 game, the BB is $10, which basically means you only have to check in order to see a flop. No matter how bad your cards are (yes, even the proverbial “worst hand” of 7-2o), you should never fold a big blind hand in an unraised pot, because lightening does strike at times and you’re already commited to the $$$ anyway. Of course, you may raise or reraise if you wish and we’ll talk about that in just a bit.

However, the most important decision for a player in the BB is usually whether or not to call a raise (or two or three) and/or re-raise. A lot of players feel they must “protect” their blind bet from others who would steal it, so they automatically call any raise even though they may have that 7-2o as pocket cards. And don’t kid yourself; it’s very worthwhile to try and steal the blinds, especially when you consider that the expected value (EV) for a hand in a somewhat “loose” $10/$20 Hold ‘em game is about $1, maybe $1.25. So, let’s say a player on the button, who bets in front of the blinds pre-flop, has a decent, though not great hand like A-6s and s/he has noticed that the players in the blinds usually fold to a raise. If everyone else has folded up to this point, the player on the button (the “acting” dealer for this hand) should raise with the idea of stealing the blinds. Unfortunately, such a tactic won’t work every time, so the expected value of such a play is somewhat less than the $15 in the blinds ($5 in the small blind and $10 in the big blind), but whatever the EV is, it’s more than $1 and is undoubtedly many times higher than the EV for A-6s played all the way through from the button. Even if our semi-bluffer has to play out the hand, s/he’s not sitting dead in the water with cards like A-6s, so the pot can still be won, even if one or another (or both) of the blinds call the raise. But we’ll talk more about that when I discuss playing from the button in a future lesson.

Let’s get back to our hand in the big blind. Most of the time all we have to do is check the hand and we’ll see the flop. But what if the bet has been raised from the button? Or from the first bettor (“under the gun”) or a player a little further along? Should we automatically call the raise? Of course, the answer is a resounding “no”. Like most other situations in poker, what you should do depends primarily upon what cards you hold. You’ve already made one bet and those $$$ are gone if you fold, yet you have to remember that for the rest of the hand you’ll be betting first, so you still need some decent cards to call one raise, let alone two or more. Then again, with the right cards, you can not only call several raises, but actually reraise and start building a “monster” pot. But monster pots are won by monster hands, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Because of the unique status of the big blind bet, I’m going to give you a separate list of minimum starting hands to use when you’re in that position. As you know from Lesson 3, most hands that you’ll get aren’t playable at all, but because we’ve already made a full bet in the big blind, it’s okay to loosen up a bit when a raise has been made in front of us.

Like all of the other starting hands, these have been determined through mathematical analysis (mostly simulations) on the Turbo Texas Hold ‘em software that I’ve talked about before. There are no guesses, no “gut feelings” or any other voodoo involved here; either a hand is profitable or it isn’t. If it isn’t profitable, you won’t find it in this list. In fact, I may have been a little too tight, because trying to hit the averages for something like this isn’t easy. But if you’ll go with these hands, I think you’ll like your long-term results, so at least give it a try. As I’ve discussed before, the list of hands I’m going to present here will eventually be a part of my Hold ‘em Poker Basic Strategy Matrix, which we’re building layer by layer.

I’ve arranged the hands for this list in three categories: hands that can raise and/or reraise, hands that can call any number of raises, but not reraise and hands that can call just one raise, otherwise fold. Any other hand not on this list should check in an unraised pot or fold if raised. Rather than listing each separate hand, I’m once again showing the minimum, based upon the high card in the hand so any hand that is better than the minimum may also be played. For example, in the case of a Queen, the minimum to raise and/or reraise is Q-Q; the minimum to call all raises is Q-xs and the minimum to call one raise is Q-9o, which includes Q-10o and Q-Jo. (Remember all the symbols? Here’s a quick review: “x” means any card, “s” means suited and “o” stands for off-suit or unsuited). Any other hand with a Queen as the highest card should check, but fold if raised. It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: If a hand can raise or reraise, it can obviously call all raises and if a hand can call all raises, it can call just one. Remember, just because a hand can raise or reraise, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll do it, although you’ll likely be making a mistake if you don’t. A lot of people like to “slowplay” hands like A-A or K-K, but they’re also the first to complain when someone – a player who may have folded to a pre-flop raise – beats them by drawing out to a Flush.
Okay, enough preaching, here’s the list:

Notes and comments:

Take a look at the first line, which covers hands where an Ace is the highest card. Reading over from the left, you can reraise any raises if you hold A-A in the big blind. The “slash” tells you that a hand of A-Ko or higher (which is A-Ks) and AQs can raise from the big blind if the pot hasn’t been raised yet, but you should just call if another player has raised in front of you, particularly if that raise came from an early position. Continuing to the right, you can see an Ace that is “suited” with any other card can call any number of raises, but if the other card is not suited, then A-10 is the bottom limit. That includes A-Jo and A-Qo, but any other combination should call only one raise, as is indicated in the third column. So, if you have A-3o and are facing two or more raises, you should fold. I know that will seem either wrong or downright amazing to many of you, because most players in limit Hold ‘em games will cling to A-xo like it was life itself, but that’s a serious mistake whenever two or more raises have been made in front of you. The math doesn’t lie (neither do I, for that matter). As you work down the ranks (remember – Jack, 10, 9, etc. are “ranks”), you’ll see that our play tightens up. For a hand where 10 is the higher card, we do not raise from the big blind with 10-10, but we do call any number of raises with it; in fact we’ll also do it with a 10 that is suited with any other card. But, if the other card is off-suit, then 10-8 and 10-9 should call only one raise, otherwise we fold. This means you should fold any hand of 10-7o or lower if the pot has been raised. Of course, if there hasn’t been a raise, you’ll check with 10-anything, because you already have a bet in the pot. And yes, you’re reading it right; you can call raises with 9-xs from the big blind.

The 8 is the mid-point of the ranks; 6 ranks are below it and 6 ranks are above it, so hands where the higher card is 8 or less must be played “tightly” to avoid turning them into losers. Oh, I know all too well about losing a big hand to someone that held 8-2o all the way to the river, but those are the people that pay our rent, so don’t get too upset when it happens. That stinging sensation will gradually fade. But if the bet has been raised, you simply must fold hands lower than 8-7o, no doubt about it. A glance at the chart will show you that hands where the higher card is 8 or less and are off-suit should call a raise only when they’re connected, that is, there are no gaps between the low card and the high card. If they’re suited, we do allow a litlle gapping because we have some Flush potential. But as we get down to the 4s and 3s, we don’t even allow for that, because most Flushes are won by the Ace or King, so our 2 or 3 has very little potential in that regard.

Speaking of 2s and 3s, you should take note of the fact that, even as a pair, those cards have very little potential. Call one raise maximum with them and if you don’t improve on the flop, drop them like a hot potato. Sure, I know the first time you do that, the card you need to make a “set” (trips where two of the cards are in the pocket) will sure enough come on the turn, but in the long run – we are in this for the long-run, remember – you’ll save a lot of $$$ by getting away from those hands quickly. They’ll either work or they won’t. Most of the time they won’t. Just a quick note on playing Q-Q and J-J from the big blind: I didn’t place a “re-raise/raise” indicator on them because it’s really a borderline play. Certainly you can feel comfortable in making the first raise of the pot with them, but you probably shouldn’t re-raise unless you think someone’s trying to steal the blinds; in that case, blaze away with both barrels. However, if the small blind folds behind you and there has been only one raise from a player in late position (on the button or within two places of it), then re-raising either Q-Q or J-J may be a worthwhile move. Again, it all depends. If the player who raised has cobwebs on his chips (as one author very fittingly puts it), then calling is probably your best play. Remember, even a pair of Queens is all but useless if an Ace or King comes on the flop. Okay, get your homework, then go play a lot of poker!

(Source: GameMaster)

If you’re following my recommendations on starting hands at no-limit Hold’em (NLHE), then you’re entering the pot with a raise probably 90% of the time. In this lesson, I want to discuss what to do when you’ve done that and several other players call to see the flop. If you think about it, the possibilities are fairly limited, so let me list them and discuss each one in order. If you have raised, a lot of what will happen on the flop really depends upon what position you’re in; a raise from under-the-gun (UTG) is usually perceived as being stronger than one from the Button, for example. Of course, none of what I’m going to cover will apply to each and every hand, but generally it’ll happen enough to allow us to draw some conclusions.

Please note that what I’m talking about here is the time when you enter the pot at a full or nearly-full table (7-10 players) with a raise and all of the other players either fold or just call. Situations where you raise and are re-raised are basically covered by the Starting Hands Matrix and I’ll discuss them somewhere in the future; for now let’s stick with the basic concept. If you raise and all of the other players fold or call, there are two primary situations you’ll encounter when the flop is dealt:

Situation #1. Everyone checks to you and you:
A. Bet
B. Check
C. Check, then call any bet made
D. Check, then raise any bet made

Situation #2. A player ahead of you bets into the flop and you:
A. Fold
B. Call
C. Raise

As you undoubtedly know, the vast majority of the time the other players will check to the raiser – it’s done so often that the saying is a part of poker lore. How you play your hand at that point “talks” to the other players and you need to remember that you might want to “say” something different, which is what we call a bluff.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

baby

A low-ranked card, usually used in lowball games.

backdoor

1. A draw requiring two or more rounds to fill. For example, catching two consecutive cards in two rounds of Seven-card stud or Texas hold ‘em to fill a straight or flush.
2. A hand made other than the hand the player intended to make. I started with four hearts hoping for a flush, but I backdoored two more kings and my trips won.

back in

1. To enter a pot by checking and then calling someone else’s open on the first betting round. Usually used in games like Jackpots, meaning to enter without openers.
2. To enter a pot cheaply or for free because of having posted a blind.

back into

To win a pot with a hand that would have folded to any bet. For example, two players enter a pot of draw poker, both drawing to flushes. Both miss, and check after the draw. The player with the ace-high draw “backs into” winning the pot against the player with only a king-high draw. Also to make a backdoor draw, for example, a player who starts a hand with three of a kind, but makes a runner-runner flush, can be said to back into the flush.

bad beat

An event in which a player with a high expectation of winning the pot loses. This expectation may be based on having an unusually strong hand beaten by an even stronger one, or by having an opposing player make an extremely unlikely draw. “Bad beat stories” are frequent topics of conversation at poker tables. Lou Krieger started a tradition among some players of charging $1 to listen to one. In some casinos there is a “bad beat jackpot” awarded to a player who suffers a particular beat, for example, having four of a kind beaten.

bank

Also called the house, the person responsible for distributing chips, keeping track of the buy-ins, and paying winners at the end of the game.

Bankroll

The amount of money that a player has to wager for the duration of his or her poker career.

behind

1. Not currently having the best hand. I’m pretty sure my pair of jacks was behind Lou’s kings, but I had other draws, so I kept playing.
2. Describing money in play but not visible as chips in front a player. For example, a player may announce “I’ve got $100 behind” while handing money to a casino employee, meaning that he intends those chips to be in play as soon as they are brought to him.

belly buster

An inside straight draw. Also called a “gutshot”.

berry patch

A game with many unskilled or “live” players; a lucrative opportunity for profit.

bet

1. Any money wagered during the play of a hand.
2. More specifically, the opening bet of a betting round.
3. In a fixed limit game, the standard betting amount. There were six bets in the pot when I called.

betting structure

The set of specific rules for any game covering how much one may or must bet at any point in the game, including forced bets, limits, and raising cap.

bicycle, bicycle wheel

The hand A-2-3-4-5.

big bet

In a fixed limit game where the limit is higher in later rounds than in early rounds, the higher amount is called a “big bet”. That $10-$20 game looked good, but I only had 8 big bets in my pocket at the time.

big bet game

A game played with a no limit or pot limit betting structure.

big slick

A Texas Hold’em starting hand that consists of an Ace and King regardless of suit.

blank

A card, frequently a community card, of no apparent value. I suspected Margaret had a good draw, but the river card was a blank, so I bet again. See “brick”.

blaze

A hand of five face cards that used to outrank a flush.

bleed

To lose small amounts continually, so as to add up to a large loss. I won that large pot with my kings, but then I bled it all off over the next hour.

blind

1. A type of forced bet.
2. A term applied to any action taken by a player before seeing some piece of information to which that player would normally be entitled before that action. For example, a player who would be first to act after the draw in a draw poker game might discard cards and then announce “I bet $10 blind” before looking at his replacement cards. One can similarly check blind, raise blind, etc. Also “dark” or “in the dark”.

blind crowley

Folding your hand when the action to check is an option before looking at your cards.

blind stud

A stud poker game in which all cards are dealt face down. Was popular in California before legal rulings made traditional stud legal there.

bluff

To bet an inferior hand hoping the opponent will fold.

bluff-catcher

On the last betting round, a hand that cannot win if the opponent is making a legitimate value bet, but that might win if the opponent’s bet was a pure bluff. It looked like Jim and I were both drawing for a flush. I missed and he bet, but I figured the pair of nines I caught along the way made a bluff-catcher, so I called.

board

1. The set of community cards in a community card game. If another spade hits the board, I’ll have to fold.
2. The set of face-up cards of a particular player in a stud game. Zack’s board didn’t look too scary, so I bet into him again.
3. The set of all face-up cards in a stud game. I started with a flush draw, but there were already four other diamonds showing on the board, so I folded.

boat

A full house.

bobtail

An open-ender, or “outside” straight draw. Occasionally used to refer to an inside straight draw or a four-card flush draw as well.

bomb

A brick.

bone

A chip, often of small denomination.

book

Four of a kind.

both ways

Both halves of a split pot, often declared by a player who thinks he or she will win both low and high.

bottom end

The lowest of several possible straights, especially in a community card game. For example, in Texas hold ‘em with the cards 5-6-7 on the board, a player holding 3-4 has the bottom end straight, while a player holding 4-8 or 8-9 has a higher straight. Also “idiot end”.

bottom pair, bottom set

In a community card game, a pair (or set) made by matching the lowest-ranking board card with one (or two) in one’s private hand.

box

The chip tray in front of a house dealer, and by extension, the house dealer’s position at the table. You’ve been in the box for an hour now; don’t you get a break?

boxed card

A card encountered face-up in the assembled deck during the deal, as opposed to one overturned in the act of dealing. Most house rules treat a boxed card as if it didn’t exist; that is, it is placed aside and not used. Different rules cover cards exposed during the deal.

break

1. In a draw poker game, to discard cards that make a made hand in the hope of making a much better one. For example, a player with J-J-10-9-8 may wish to break his pair of jacks to draw for the straight, and a lowball player may break his 9-high 9-5-4-2-A to draw for the wheel.
2. To end a session of play. The game broke at about 3:00.

brick

A blank, though more often used in the derogatory sense of a card that is undesirable rather than merely inconsequential, such as a card of high rank or one that makes a pair in a low-hand game.

brick and mortar

A poker game played in person with real physical cards at a traditional casino. The term is meant to distinguish brick and mortar games from online poker games. Abbreviated “B&M”.

bring in

To open a betting round. Gary brought it in for $5, and Kevin raised $10.

bring-in

A kind of forced bet.

broadway

An ace-high straight. A “broadway card” is any card that might make such a straight, namely a 10, J, Q, K, or A.

brush

A casino employee whose job it is to greet players entering the poker room, maintain the list of persons waiting to play, announce open seats, and various other duties (including brushing off tables to prepare them for new games, whence the name).

buck

A token used to mark the position of the dealer.

bug

A wild card that can serve to fill a straight or flush, but which otherwise plays as an ace.

bullet

1. An ace.
2. A chip. See “ammo”.

bully

To bluff repeatedly at all opportunities, or a player who does so. See “run over”.

bum deal

A mis-deal

bump

To raise. I raised $5, and Joe bumped it to $20.

burn, burn card

To deal a card directly into the discards, often at the start of the second and subsequent rounds of a multiple-round game (for example, before giving players their draws in a draw poker game, or before the flop in a community card game). This is done for several reasons, including protecting the players against marked cards, making it easier to recover from irregularities in the deal, and others.

busted

1. Not complete, such as four cards to a straight that never gets the fifth card to complete it.
2. Out of chips.

button

1. A token (also called a buck) used to mark the position of the dealer. In casino games with a house dealer, a buck may still be used to mark the position of the player who acts last on that deal (which would normally be the dealer in a home game).
2. The player currently seated in the position marked by the button. The button raised last round, so I checked into him.

buy-in

The minimum required amount of chips to become involved in a game (or tournament). For example, a $4-$8 fixed limit game might require a player to buy at least $40 worth of chips to play. This is typically far less than an average player would expect to play with for any amount of time, but large enough that the player can play a number of hands without buying more, so the game isn’t slowed down by constant chip-buying.

buy short

To buy into a game for an amount smaller than the normal buy-in. Some casinos allow this under certain circumstances, such as after having lost a full buy-in, or if all players agree to allow it.

buy the button

A rule originating in northern California casinos in games played with blinds, in which a new player sitting down with the button to his right (who would normally be required to sit out a hand as the button passed him, then post to come in) may choose to pay the amount of both blinds for this one hand (the amount of the large blind playing as a live blind, and the amount of the small blind as dead money), play this hand, and then receive the button on the next hand as if he had been playing all along.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

There are several excellent books on poker strategy, and this article will only attempt to deal with the basics that must be mastered by the beginner. A list of articles on the material summarized here appears below.

Hand strength

Once a player has mastered the rank of hands, it is more important to realize their relative strength at a poker table. Approximately half the five-card hands in any given game will be less than a pair of twos, but only about one-fourth of five-card hands in the long run will be better than a pair of Aces. A full house is such a good hand that it is far more likely to be the best hand on the table than a 7 high (the lowest possible hand) is to be the lowest hand at a given table.

One mistake made by many beginners is to bet hands that are unlikely to win in the showdown, hoping that they will eventually improve. In the long run, this is a losing strategy against experienced players. For example, in draw poker, any hand less than a pair should generally be folded at the earliest opportunity. In other games, such as Texas Hold ‘Em where only two cards are dealt before the betting round, unmatched combinations of low cards are unlikely to result in a winning hand.

Improvement and pot odds

Athough improvement is possible with virtually every hand, most beginners forget that players with better hands may also improve their hands on the draw, and that in the long run the player with the better hand before a draw is likely to have the better hand after the draw as well. Generally, if you have reason to believe that your opponent has a better hand than you at any given point of a betting round, the appropriate action is to fold. However, if the money in the pot is large compared to the bet required to stay in (the “pot odds”), a call is possible. This is particularly the case when a player is attempting to fill a straight or flush. However, the approximate odds of filling an outside straight on the next draw is about 6-1, and the odds of similarly filling a flush is about 5-1. As such, calling is not recommended if the money that could be won gives a lesser payout on the bet.

One bet made by beginners that rarely pays off is to fill an “inside straight” – a straight with one of the middle cards missing. The odds against filling such a straight on a single draw are roughly 13-1 against and should not be considered unless the pot odds are particularly good.

Bluffing

Beginners, even talented beginners, see bluffing as a way to “buy” the pot. However, bluffing seldom works against poor players (who tend to overestimate the strength of their hand to begin with) and does not work for long against expert players if a player bluffs too frequently. Although all players should bluff occasionally to make their large bets on good hands look less credible, consistent and constant bluffing generally leads to large losses.

In large games it is difficult to bluff because of the high chance that someone has a good hand. It is also more sensible for your opponents to call than fold if the pot is large unless they are sure their hand is dead. Paying $10 to call with $100 in the pot is good value for anyone with more than a 10% chance of winning.

Position play

Generally, players who have to bet first need stronger hands to open the betting than players who bet later. This is because the raw odds of a better hand being on the table increase based on the number of players who have not had the opportunity to bet. For example, in a six-player game of draw poker, it is recommended that a player check in the first betting position unless they have at least a pair of aces. However, the last player to bet (the dealer) may open the betting if no-one else has spoken with as little as a pair of twos. One expert Hold ‘Em player recommends folding if you are the first player to the left of the blind unless you have the strength to raise.

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.

Video: Pot Odds – Poker Strategy