Texas Hold'em Strategy
I am not going to go over the rules of how to play Texas Hold'em. Chances are you know the basics and are now ready to improve your game.
So, I will get straight into the Strategy of Texas Hold'em.
Basically the game begins with everyone being dealt 2 cards (hole cards). Out of the 169 possible starting hands there are only certain hands you should play with which I will list below.
STRONG HANDS
AA, KK, QQ, JJ and AK (suited).
These are the strongest possible hole cards in texas hold'em. These make you favorite straight away and should be played very aggressively and always raised with no matter what position you are in. If others want to stay in you should make it costly for them, this will also drive out any weaker hands that might have otherwise stayed in and got a lucky flop to make a better hand. With AA and KK you should always re-raise if there is a raise before you.
GOOD HANDS
TT, AQ (suited), AJ (suited), KQ (suited) and AK
These are good hands, an ace plus a high card gives you the chance of a high pair with a great kicker. Also suited high cards give you the chance of high pairs and flushes with a great kicker. These hands should also be played aggressively and raised with from middle to late positions if no other raises have been made. If there has already been a raise it is often best to just call. Similary if you are in an early postion it is often best to simply call or perhaps just make a small raise with these hands for fear of being re-raised by someone with a strong hand.
MEDIUM HANDS
A10 (suited), KJ (suited), QJ (suited), JT (suited), AQ and 99. A2 (suited), A3 (suited), A4 (suited) and A5 (suited
These are medium strength hands with good possibilities but you have to consider how other players are betting. If one or two players bet aggressively then chances are they have a better hand than you and you should fold.
If you do stay in for the flop then you have to decide whether to stay in for the turn card. You have to use common sense here. If you have made a hand then you might want to stay in but consider what the other players might have. Could they make a better flush or straight than you? Is there an ace in the flop giving someone a potential pair of aces that beats your high pair?
Any pair, 8 or lower, is worth playing if it does not cost you much more than the big blind to see the flop or about 5% of your stack.
The reason being that the flop will make your pocket pair into three of a kind about 12% of the time. So a low pair is suddenly a fairly strong hand if the flop turns your pair into a set. As always you have to consider if someone can beat it depending on what's showing.
You have to decide what to do based on how they bet, again if they bet aggressively they might well have a better hand than you. They could be bluffing but as a rule its best to be cautious and wait for the killer hand to beat them with.
YOUR POSITION AT THE TABLE
Your position at the table is important and should determine how you bet. Your position changes with each hand as the dealer button goes round the table.
If you are the dealer you are in the best position because you get to see what everyone else does before you make a move.
If you are positioned next to the dealer and are first to bet you are considered "under the gun" which is the worst position as you don't know what the other people are going to do.
If you are in a late position such as the dealers position before the flop and players before you have just called the blind it would suggest they have poor hands and are trying to see the flop cheap. If you have a medium hand then it is often worth a raise at this point. Not a huge raise but a fair sized one, if someone re-raises you then fold as they where probably slow playing a good or strong hand. If no one has a good or strong hand it will most likely make most or all of the other players fold. If any players do call you then your next action will depend on what the flop brings but as you have raised on a medium strength hand there is a good chance the flop will be kind to you.
About the Author:
John Woods is long time poker player and owner of the website www.TexasHoldemStrategy.co.uk
Texas Holdem Strategy
