Gambling
Guide: Texas Hold 'Em Part 2
from Guys Night Online
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Continued:
Position
Many poker professionals state that the dealer position
is the best betting position you will experience.
This is true in most cases, but is not always the
case (you will understand why I say this later). The
dealer position is valuable due to the fact that you
have the opportunity to see how many players are still
in on the hand and how strongly they feel about their
hand. Since Texas Holdem is played in a clockwise
manner, those to the right of the dealer have less
information to base their decisions on thus having
a perceived disadvantage.
Early betting positions are always subject
to being raised by other players after you. Any time
you are in the dealer position with multiple callers
AND you have a good starting hand, then you can usually
increase the minimum
bet with a slight guarantee that everyone will call.
This is a wonderful way to increase the winning pot
size.
While I will not argue or try to belittle
the dealer position, I will say that many online poker
tournaments have been won by those who truly understand
how to make the most out of the "blind"
positions. Consider that you play a blind position
2-1 over the dealer position during a tournament.
The "blinds" are what you would call an
"early" position. You have no feedback from
the other players as to what type of hand the think
they have, and how much they are willing to wager
on their hands.
Unless you start out with strong hole
cards, you need to be very conservative and check
your hand. If you do not have good starting cards,
simply do not raise, do not call, do not fish, and
do not take the chance, end of story. Often I see
those in the big or small blind position take a gamble
based upon the idea that they already have half of
the ante in the pot, so why not gamble and call the
other half. Why not? Because it is still truly a gamble
and foolish . Especially when the blind stakes are
high. Those who can resist this temptation are those
who end up saving a good bit of chips for when they
actually have a hand and need to use them. Remember,
good players win with a solid game plan; they do not
rely on luck or chance.
While speaking of position, it is always
a good time to introduce the art of bluffing. Believe
me when I say this, bluffing is truly an art. Compare
it to the abilities of a skilled artist whose brush
dances around the canvas as if it had a mind of it's
own - a competent holdem player can bluff his way
around the table just as easily. While you can always
bluff one player easier than you can 9 players, position
is a critical factor.
If you know many of the players at the
table are tight players and you feel the timing is
right, then a blind position is the absolute best
time to bluff a bad hand like no other. I say this
for two reasons. One, there are no cards on the table,
so even if an opponent has Ace/Ace in the hole, they
have absolutely no idea if you have Ace/Ace also.
When bluffing from a blind position before a flop
the mindset should be "my cards are just as good
or better than yours and I'll prove it with my wager".
But keep this in mind; if you raise
a substantial amount on the bluff, and you get more
than one caller, one of them will usually have a very
strong hand they are proud of. If this is the case,
back off of your bet and fold. There is no harm done
here, do not be a victim of playing your ego. When
bluffing from the blind position you are really only
concerned with "stealing the other blind"
and nothing more.
Now consider the post-flop bluff from
a blind position assuming you have one or more callers.
If an ace (or any strong possible combination such
as 3 sequence cards etc.) shows on the board, you
have the option of slightly raising the bet again
to see if your opponents are actually holding anything
of value. If not, they will most likely fold their
hand fearing that their king or queen will not hold
up to your "supposed" ace and so on.
With callers on the table this is effectively
the opposite of "blind stealing" and a tactic
used by many of the best online poker players. Nothing
is more powerful than bluffing the blind stealer.
I would advise that you use this tactic with caution,
and do not over play it. It is much more effective
if you do not overplay it. The more experienced players
will catch on to you if you abuse it.
Easy Online Tells
Obviously there are not as many tells when playing
on the internet as there are when playing in person.
You cannot see the other player in order to read his/her
expressions and emotions. But believe it or not, there
are times when you can pick up on the playing habits
of another player online. For instance: Players that
frequently push the check/fold button before their
turn. This is very common among NOVICE or uneducated
players. This is an easy tell, they have no hand worth
playing and only hope to see free cards - or fold
if a raise is made. A GOOD player will take some time
off of the clock even when they have nothing. This
keeps the other players guessing at all times.
Sometimes it will even frustrate an
experienced or frequent player causing them to make
a hasty decision. If you see someone checking quickly
hand after hand, play them aggressively, unless of
course you know the player and
they are using this as a method to fool their opponents.
Some veteran players will try to use
the clock as a "timing" tool to their advantage.
For example, a player may take the full “time
out” before they make their decision to check/fold/raise.
If they use a large amount of time to simply check,
odds are they have nothing. Slightly raise the stakes
to keep them in check. If they come back with a large
raise or an all-in raise – watch out! Unless
you know this player very well it is wise to be cautious
and back down. Regardless of the outcome use it to
your advantage by taking mental note of the player’s
style and use this knowledge for the next showdown.
A novice player will consistently play their hand
the same way every time.
I’ll give you a good example.
I once knew a player that went all-in every time he
would stay in a hand. It didn’t matter if it
was on the flop, the turn, or the river, if he bet
– it would be all-in. Believe it or not, he
won a lot of tournaments – until I (and eventually
a few others) caught up to him by carefully observing
his playing style. He would only play Ace/King, Ace/Ace,
or any suited cards. Once this tell was out, it was
easy to know when to stay in a pot or when to fold.
My point is this: If you will carefully watch a player
and take note of what cards they hold when they win
AND loose, you can get a good feel of how they play
and thus recognize their “tells”.
Winning on the flop
In the beginning of a tournament, watch
the first 10 to 15 hands. If there have been 2 of
a kind, 3 of a kind, and full house wins, you can
bet that a straight is sure to follow soon. If you
get an open end straight at this point, you should
bet stronger than usual. This also works in reverse,
for example, if a straight has won, 2 of a kind, and
3 of a kind has won numerous times, bet on a full
house showing very soon. You must carefully watch
every hand that has been played and take note to the
number of hands won that are shown to the table as
well as "mucked" hands. Calculate these
possibilities when predicting what will show next.
Early in a tournament, you should use
pre-flop betting to get a feel for the playing styles
of the other players. Raising the bet by at least
3 times the minimum wager on the flop will usually
make tight players fold. Also, many novice players
will not call any type of raise to their hand before
seeing the flop - even if they have a good starting
hand. This type of betting can also slow down the
blind stealer as well as aggressive players who play
multiple hands while the blinds are low.
To Chat or not to Chat
Some players like to use chat very often. This is
no different than the lounge player who likes to “trash”
talk during the game and keep you distracted. Sometimes
they will remark only to anger you, trying to get
you to play to their hand. Other times they will befriend
you, hoping that you become less aggressive in your
betting towards them.
If you are serious about winning online
Texas Holdem, turn off the chat, don't even open yourself
up to the distraction. If you really want to talk
and have a good time getting to know people, visit
a designated CHAT room and save your money. Remember,
if you are focusing your attention on the talk, your
not focusing your attention on the players and the
cards they play.
If you must chat (my wife can't help
it - she loves to talk) then never disclose the truth
about your previous hand. If someone asks you...LIE.
Whatever winning hand they had, you had one better.
If you had the nuts and couldn't be beat, then tell
them you bluffed their socks off! The point is this,
if they are analyzing your style (and they will) you
have an opportunity to throw them off. Always keep
them guessing. You do not want to be a predictable
player.
