Poker School
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Grab a seat in the classroom, and we will begin to teach you how to play poker online to maximize your poker bonus, and make the most profit possible. The strategy we have outline is how to maximize your profits and minimize losses. We assume you already know enough about poker to apply these techniques. If you have any questions contact us or post it on the forum, otherwise, let's begin. I'm gonna put more random text here.. I'm gonna put more random text here..I'm gonna put more random text here..I'm gonna put more random text here..I'm gonna put more random text here..I'm gonna put more random text here..I'm gonna put more random text here..I'm gonna put more random text here..I'm gonna put more random text here..
Hand Rankings: Click Here for Hand Ranking Chart The Rules: Texas Holdem is played by 2-10 players. The game is dealt according to the button, a small round disk that indicates who is the 'dealer'. The dealer acts last on every round, and the closer you are to the dealer button, the better advantage you have, as more players will act before you then after you. Like most variants of poker, the objective of Texas hold 'em is to win pots, where a pot is the sum of the money bet by oneself and other players in a hand. A pot is won either at the showdown (when the remaining players compare their hands) by forming the best five card poker hand out of the seven cards available, or by betting to cause other players to fold and abandon their claim to the pot. The objective of winning players is not winning individual pots, but rather making mathematically correct decisions. As a result of making such decisions, winning poker players are able to maximize their expected profits and win more money than they lose in the long run. Back to Top Betting Structure: Texas Hold 'em is played using small and big blind bets. A dealer button is used to represent the player in the dealer position; the dealer button rotates clockwise after each hand, changing the position of the dealer and blinds. The small blind is posted by the player to the left of the dealer and is usually equal to half of the big blind. The big blind, posted by the player to the left of the small blind, is equal to the minimum bet. The two most common variations of hold 'em are limit hold 'em and no-limit hold 'em. In limit hold 'em, bets and raises during the first two rounds of betting (pre-flop and flop) must be equal to the big blind; this amount is called the small bet. In the next two rounds of betting (turn and river), bets and raises must be equal to twice the big blind; this amount is called the big bet. No-limit hold 'em is the form most commonly found in televised tournament poker and is the game played in the main event of the World Series of Poker. In no-limit hold 'em, players may bet or raise any amount over the minimum raise up to all of the chips the player has at the table (called an all-in bet). Back to Top Play of the Hand: Play begins with each player being dealt two cards face down. These cards are the player's hole or pocket cards. These are the only cards each player will receive individually, and they will only (possibly) be revealed at the showdown, making Texas hold 'em a closed poker game. The hand begins with a "pre-flop" betting round, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind (or the player to the left of the dealer, if no blinds are used) and continuing clockwise. A round of betting continues until every player has either folded, put in all of their chips, or matched the amount put in by all other active players. Note that the blinds are considered "live" in the pre-flop betting round, meaning that they contribute to the amount that the blind player must contribute. After the pre-flop betting round, assuming there remain at least two players taking part in the hand, the dealer deals a flop, three face-up community cards. The flop is followed by a second betting round. This and all subsequent betting rounds begin with the player to the dealer's left and continue clockwise. After the flop betting round ends a single community card (called the turn or fourth street) is dealt, followed by a third betting round. A final single community card (called the river or fifth street) is then dealt, followed by a fourth betting round and the showdown, if necessary. Back to Top The Showdown: If a player bets and all other players fold, then the remaining player is awarded the pot and is not required to show his hole cards. If two or more players remain after the final betting round, a showdown occurs. On the showdown, each player plays the best five-card hand he can make from the seven cards comprising his two hole cards and the board (the five community cards). A player may use both of his own two hole cards, only one, or none at all, to form his final five-card hand. If the five community cards form the player's best hand, then the player is said to be playing the board and can only hope to split the pot, since each other player can also use the same five cards to construct the same hand. If the best hand is shared by more than one player, then the pot is split equally among them, with any extra chips going to the first players after the button in clockwise order. It is common for players to have closely-valued, but not identically ranked hands. Nevertheless, one must be careful in determining the best hand; if the hand involves fewer than five cards, (such as two pair or three of a kind), then kickers are used to settle ties (see the second example below). Note that the card's numerical rank is of sole importance; suit values are irrelevant in Holdem. The best possible hand given the five community cards is referred to as the nuts. For example, on a board such as 2-3-7-8-Q, with no more than two cards of any one suit, the nuts is three queens. With those community cards, a player holding two queens could not be beaten at the showdown by any player. Alternatively, with the hand as 2-4-7-8-Q, the nuts would be a straight, or hole cards of 5-6. Back to Top Basic Full Handed Texas Holdem Strategy: Play Tight: When playing full handed Texas Holdem, remember that you will need will always be up against a potential of 9 other opponents. You need be folding between 80-90% of all of your hands preflop. This is the biggest fundamental mistake beginning players make. Playing too many hands, and going too far with those hands. The problem with a lot of starting hands is that they just don't win often enough to be profitable. The other problem is that many hands can be dominated by other hands. For example, if you hold 10 J. The flop comes 10 7 4. This looks like a good flop for you, but if there is another player who holds a 10, chances are high that their kicker (the card that goes with their pair) is higher then yours. If they hold 10Q, 10K, 10A, or a pocket pair higher then 10's, you have very little chance to win. (You will need to hit a Jack, which is over 8-1 against happening). Bad players simply play too many hands. Here is a list of recommended hands to play, and in what position: Back to Top Preflop Starting Hands
CATEGORY 1: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs, AKo, AQs CATEGORY 2: 1010, 99, 88, AJs CATEGORY 3: 77, 66, 55, A10s, KQs, KJs,KQo, EARLY POSITION (first 3 after the blinds) Play Category 1 hands only. Always raise with them MIDDLE POSITION (4-6 after blinds) Play Category 1 and 2 hands only. If 2 or less players have entered the pot, always raise. If more then 2 players are already in the pot, raise with category 1 hands, and call with category 2 hands. LATE POSITION (and small blind): Play category 1,2 and 3 hands. If no one is in the pot, always raise. Always raise and re-raise category 1 hands, If 2 or less players are in, raise with category 1 and 2 hands. Back to Top Preflop General Rules If you are the first player into a pot, always come in for a raise. Never just call a raise or a re-raise (except from the blinds). If your hand is good enough to call, go ahead and re-raise. Take the lead. Try to be the aggressor (be the player betting) every time you play a pot. The only way to win a pot without showing your hand is to be the player who is doing the betting. Play your hands straightforwardly 99% of the time. At lower limits, there is no reason to be 'sneaky'. Straightforward aggressive play works best against weak players. Don't be ashamed to fold your hand, even if it is a great starting hand. You won't always hit the flop, and folding when you are beat is just as important betting when you are ahead. Back to Top Flop Strategy If you have the lead (i.e. you were the raiser preflop), you should bet on the flop almost every time (called a completion bet). Hopefully, if your opponent(s) missed the flop, you will win the pot. An exception is when more then 3 opponents see the flop with you. In this example, most of the time one of your opponents would have hit the flop, and betting here is useless. The flop is where you make important decisions on whether to continue with your hand or not. At this point, 5 out of 7 total cards for the hand are available. Back to Top Turn Strategy The bet size doubles on the turn, so if you have a big hand, get as many bets in on this street as possible. Weak players often wait until the turn to try to check-raise, so be wary of a player who check-raises you on the turn, he will almost always have a strong hand. Back to Top River Strategy If you have made it to the river, the pot is usually large, and your hand is decent. You should rarely fold on the river, because the pot is large and you only need to win a small percentage of the time to be a winner. EX: The pot is $30 and the bet is $2, you are risking $2 to win $30, so you need to win better then 1 in 15 times to be a winning player. You should only bet your stronger hands on the river. If you have only 1 pair, be more likely to check/call on the river. Back to Top Basic Short Handed Texas Holdem Strategy: When playing short handed, there are going to be less opponents that you have to beat each game, BUT the game costs more money to play, as the blinds come around more quickly. The pace of the game is also faster, as you will see more hands per hour, as there are less people to act every game. On the positive, because of this, bonuses will clear faster when playing short handed. See our charts on our Clearing Rates and you will see how beneficial it is to become a good short handed limit player. Back to Top Preflop Starting Hands
CATEGORY 1: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs, AKo, AQs CATEGORY 2: 1010, 99, 88, AJs CATEGORY 3: 77, 66, 55, A10s, KQs, KJs,KQo, CATEGORY 4: 44,33,22,KJo,K10s,K10o,QJs,QJo,10Jo,10Js,Axs EARLY POSITION (first 3 after the blinds) You will never be in early position, as there are only a maximum of 5 opponents you are playing. MIDDLE POSITION (4-6 after blinds) Play Category 1-3 Hands. You want to be raising when you open the pot almost every time, even more often then when playing full handed. Since their are less opponents, these hands are more often leading, and must be played aggressively. LATE POSITION (and small blind): Play hands in all 4 categories. If no one is in the pot, always raise. Always raise and re-raise category 1 and 2 hands. Back to Top Preflop General Rules If you are the first player into a pot, always come in for a raise. Never just call a raise or a re-raise (except from the blinds). If your hand is good enough to call, go ahead and re-raise. Try to be the aggressor (be the player betting) every time you play a pot. The only way to win a pot without showing your hand is to be the player who is doing the betting. Play your hands straightforwardly 99% of the time. At lower limits, there is no reason to be 'sneaky'. Straightforward aggressive play works best against weak players. Don't be ashamed to fold your hands, even if they are very strong preflop. You won't always hit the flop, and folding when you are beat is just as important as winning big pots when you are ahead. Back to Top Flop Strategy If you have the lead (i.e. you were the raiser preflop), you should bet the flop almost every time. Hopefully, if your opponent(s) missed the flop, you will win the pot. The flop is where you make important decisions on whether to continue with your hand or not. At this point, 5 out of 7 total cards for the hand are available. Because there are less opponents, the pot sizes on the flop are often smaller then full handed games. This means that you often won't be getting the correct Pot Odds to call your straight or flush draws. If playing 4 handed or less, a good rule of thumb is this: When the flop comes, imagine that the top card is a deuce. For instance, if you have A J and the flop is K J 4, imagine the King is a 2, and you now have top pair A kicker. Since there are less opponents, 2nd pair is often the best hand on the flop, and playing too tight (i.e. folding 2nd pair on flop v.s. 1 opponent) will simply cause your opponents to steal too many pots from you. Be more likely in short handed to trap your opponent on the flop, especially in position. If you flop a set or two pair, the likelihood is much less that there will be a straight or a flush draw against you, so you can often soft-play your hand until the turn. Back to Top Turn Strategy The bet size doubles on the turn, so if you have a big hand, get as many bets in on this street as possible. Weak players often wait until the turn to try to check-raise, so be wary of a player who check-raises you on the turn, he will almost always have a strong hand. Back to Top River Strategy If you have made it to the river, the pot is usually large, and your hand is decent. You should rarely fold on the river, because the pot is large and you only need to win a small percentage of the time to be a winner. EX: The pot is $30 and the bet is $2, you are risking $2 to win $30, so you need to win better then 1 in 15 times to be a winning player. You can bet top pair most of the time on the river, as your opponent is much more likely to pay you off (call with the losing hand) short handed then in a full 10 man game. He will often call you with 2nd or bottom pair, or even sometimes a high card. Back to Top Outs Chart Basic Short Handed No Limit Texas Holdem Strategy: We do not recommend beginning players clear bonuses playing full handed no limit holdem. Basic Short Handed No Limit Texas Holdem Strategy: We do not recommend beginning players clear bonuses playing short handed no limit holdem. Back to Top Recommended Poker Books
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