| Basic Poker Strategy for Beginners |
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Basic Poker Strategy for Beginners Of course you want to win at poker; that’s why you’re playing, after all. Even people who are fond of saying they play poker for fun want to win. Fun is more intense when you win. If you keep on losing, how can you have fun, right? Unfortunately for poker beginners, skill has more weight than luck in poker. While some people would willingly attest that beginner’s luck is true and that you can win a lot of money when you’re just beginning in poker, the fact remains that you cannot survive long in poker if you mainly rely on luck to win you the pot. Since you understandably have little poker playing experience and cannot rely on it to tell you how to play the game profitably, then just make do with the following poker playing strategies for now. Later on, as you become more proficient in the game, you can deviate from these strategies and invent your own unique playing style. Keep Your Focus Do not play for the sake of playing; play because you want to win. This will keep you focused on what goes on in the table. Focus takes on so many forms. Basically, however, this means that you should keep an eye out on your opponents. Study when they raise and, if you get the chance, find out if they were raising because of good cards or were raising to steal the blinds. Focusing on your game also means that you have to think about every bet you make and study how other players in the table take your actions. Be Sensible This is perhaps the best strategy that you should employ when playing poker. When you know you have a very small chance of winning the hand, do not wait around to prove yourself right. That is, fold before the flop. For instance, if you get low, unsuited and disjointed hole cards (say, 8h and 3d), it must be very obvious that your chances of improving such hole cards are pretty slim. Therefore, you should immediately fold when it’s your turn to act. Do not wait around for the flop as the first board card couldn’t possibly help you. Staying around when you have such hopeless pocket cards is akin to giving away free chips. Don’t Play Guardian Some players actually go on betting and calling even if they know they’ve lost just because they want to challenge another player into revealing that he was merely bluffing. This is a costly exercise and is only practical if your cards have a fighting chance of winning you the hand. |
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