Gambling
Guide: Texas Hold 'Em Part 4
from Guys Night Online
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Continued...
Establish Yourself
After winning multiple hands, or one big hand, you
become more powerful and intimidating to many of the
players early in the game. The chip leader position
will naturally demand respect from the rest of the
table. Your bluffing power is greater and you can
run out the weaker players easier.
If you have been playing on a poker
internet site for a while and a few people at the
table recognize you as being a solid player, they
will ultimately respect every hand you play. Your
name alone will give you an edge. It is amazing how
poorly some will play when they feel intimidated by
another good player. I have seen some of the best
internet players thrown completely off their game
when they found out they were playing a pro from the
WSOP.
I recommend that beginners play a number
of holdem websites and move around using different
aliases until you can win on a consistent basis. Given,
no person can win every tournament they play in, but
you should get to where you can place in the top payout
positions 3 out of 5 tournaments with 10 players or
less before you should expect to establish yourself.
As with any sport practice makes perfect.
Players Who Have Little To Lose
Call or bet against players with small chip stacks
frequently. All-ins are common due to frustration
coupled with the fact that they have very little to
loose and very little to play for. Many times even
a semi decent hand will beat someone in this situation.
Watch the player carefully to determine if they are
in fact acting out of desperation. If you have noticed
that they have either checked or folded a number of
hands while holding a low stack, this would lead you
to believe that when they do finally bet the last
of their chips, they have something pretty good to
go with. If they go all-in right after a big loss,
chances are they are ready to leave the table and
just want to get it over with.
All-in on No-Limit
If you go all-in on any hand and you do not have the
nuts (a hand that cannot be beat) you might as well
be playing a slot machine. Sure, the pocket Aces are
the best possible hole cards, but when betting your
entire chip stack before seeing a flop be advised
that ANYTHING can happen. It is wise not to go all-in
pre-flop regardless of what you have unless you are
sitting at a very tight table.
Some internet players will use the
all-in as an attempt to bluff others out of smaller
pots. Let them have it, because a small pot is really
not worth the risk (commonly calculated as pot odds).
If the size of the pot is substantial, and you have
most of your chip stack in it already, AND you have
a decent chance of winning the hand, then you should
go all the way. But consider, trying to bluff a large
pot with a weak hand will usually result in a loss.
As I stated earlier, beware of a player who has checked
a bet, and then comes back with an all-in on the next
turned card. Many times this is a sucker bet, don't
be the sucker.
Finding The Right Table
You want to find a table with loose players. Look
for tables where the players see the flop at least
60% of the time or better. The worst table to be at
is one that has nothing but tight players seeing the
flop 40% or less. Very tight tables lend to very small
pots. When there are big pots involved you better
have the cards and plenty of chips because it is almost
impossible to bluff a tight table. Since you are learning
to becoming a conservative player your mission is
to find all of the loose gamblers!
When you have found a good table to
play, watch a number of hands go around before you
sit down. This gives you an opportunity to observe
the playing styles of your opponents and will lend
to some of the online tells I discussed earlier. Targeted
the tight players, play more sequence straights and
aggressively steal more blinds. When you see loose
players in on a hand then YOU should tighten up -
slow play, bait and trap, etc. Let them have the smaller
pots and then hit them heavy with an all-in winner.
Again, know your opponent, study his habits, and you
will stand a better chance of taking all of his chips.
Conclusion
The best advice I can give to anyone who wants to
play Texas Holdem online or offline is to stay within
your comfort zone. You should never play for more
chips than you are comfortable losing because the
pressure will simply be too great for you to play
effectively. Poker is a mind game. If you stay within
your mental limits, the risk becomes less of an issue
and you will play Holdem poker as it was meant to
be played – as a FUN game where you are in control
of your emotions and your emotions are not in control
of you.
Often times I see players who enter
big money tournaments that they had no business being
in to begin with. Quite simply the larger tournaments
with the bigger payouts attract the better players.
If you are not at that same level of play as your
opponents, you are simply donating your time and money
for a lesson learned. If you cannot consistently win
at a $20 buy-in table, then why should you loose more
money at the $50 tables? Always know your limits and
always play responsibly.
There you have it. Countless hours
of internet Texas Holdem have been played in order
to bring you these game winning observations. Many
of the principles I have covered in this eBook may
simply be regarded by some as common poker sense,
but I feel the need to stress these principles once
again due to the fact that so many Texas Holdem players
on the internet tend to abandon them. You can effectively
eliminate the majority of your competition online
simply by following these guidelines. Create your
own unique style of play and mix it up frequently,
and I WILL see you at the final table!
