The best way to start building a solid poker strategy is by learning basic poker fundamentals. The basic fundamentals are built around core concepts that contribute to winning money at the game. Similarly to any other game or sport, mastering the fundamentals will build “muscle memory” and make learning more advanced concepts much easier.

The first step is to gain a sound theoretical understanding of what drives profit in poker. This is because without knowing where the money comes from, it’s virtually impossible to gain the necessary perspective that allows for optimized learning. That is where the fundamentals come into play which will be the focus of the rest of this guide.

What You Will Learn

With this in mind, here are what I think my top five lessons would be for a new player trying to beat the $2-$5 no-limit hold’em games in Las Vegas. Don’t limp into pots ever.

Ultimate Texas Hold'em® is a poker-based casino game in which the player may make one raise at any time during the course of the hand. The earlier the raise is made the higher it may be. Unlike other poker-based games, raises made after the ante still have action, even if the dealer doesn't open. Texas Hold'em Tips. Basic Strategy: Tips: Position: Starting Hands: Bluffing: Betting: Money Management So this is where it all begins, a fantastic journey that is going to teach you the bread and butter strategy that you are going to need to beat friends, family and complete strangers at the poker table to help you pad your bankroll on a regular basis.

Once you understand the basic rules of Texas Hold’em gameplay, which we discussed in the first installment of this beginner’s guide, it’s time to dive into actually building a profitable strategy to employ at the tables.

Invariably, any successful long-term poker strategy contains several ubiquitous elements. Attempting to play poker without at least a rudimentary grasp of these components will impair your progress. Some elements may be somewhat difficult to understand at first or even appear unpleasant to master.

I tell you this in the spirit of full disclosure, not to dishearten or demoralize you. On the contrary, I want you to know that having a full theoretical understanding of poker should empower you. Few will take the time to master all of the concepts necessary to achieve the object of the game, which gives anyone that takes the time to do so an edge over their opponents.

Here is what this article will cover:

• The Object of the Game
• Expected Value
• Pot Odds
• Equity
• The Fundamentals of Poker
• Where the Money Comes From

The Object of the Game

Being proficient at poker is much more than just learning about when to bet, raise, or call. In fact, those are just the tools we use to carry out the tactics of gameplay. Before you can know how to successfully employ those tactics, you must first have a game plan, or strategy, that gives you the best chance of performing actions that achieve your ultimate goal: to win money.

All actions should be made with winning in mind. If an action does not win money, you consider another action. If there is no profitable action, you simply fold. How do we know if an action is profitable? By analyzing the expected value.

Expected Value

Expected value, or EV, refers to the net won or lost on average for each and every poker decision you make. The individual result of one poker hand is not important. All that matters is whether a specific decision will show a profit or loss were the situation to be played out over an infinite number of occasions. If a particular decision or action shows a net long-term gain, it is profitable (+EV). If the action shows a deficit, it is -EV or a “leak.” As you might have guessed, a leak is any action that loses over the long term.

It’s All About the Long Haul

What I am talking about here is a focus on the long term. Instead of worrying about whether a particular decision will or will not win or lose the current hand, your focus should be on choosing actions that lead to the best long-term monetary outcome. That’s how professional poker players think, and you should as well.

Sometimes there is more than one profitable outcome. Often, there is no profitable action or the situation is so unclear that it’s virtually impossible to know whether the play will be profitable or not. In the case of the latter, it’s typically best to check and/or fold and move on to a more clear spot. As you gain experience, unclear spots will become fewer and farther between.

How To Break Down Profit or Loss

In poker, there are two ways of profiting. Either you win at showdown by making the best hand, or you win when everyone folds to your bet or raise. Respectively, these are called Showdown (SD) earnings and non-showdown earnings. The sum or difference between these two types of income, minus the rake, determines whether a particular hand or action is +EV or not.

Choosing The Right Action

While the concept of EV might seem overwhelming to some of you, it’s actually not as difficult to put into practice as you might think. This is because you only have to make one decision at a time, and there are typically only two to three options for you to make. And, just like on a multiple choice test, sometimes one or two of the choices are obviously really good or glaringly inferior.

Example #1 – Choose the Most +EV Option

Let’s say someone has open-raised before the flop, we hold KK, and action is on us. In that case, we have three options.

1. Fold
2. Call
3. 3-Bet

We know that pocket Kings is the second-best hand in poker, so we can immediately eliminate folding as an option. While folding does not lose anything, it certainly makes us less money over the long term than the other two options will. That makes it -EV. Therefore, we have to choose between calling or 3-betting. It’s our job to weigh the various factors in play at that moment and pick the one that appears to be most +EV.

With experience, 90% or better of all of your decisions will become this cut and dried.

Mastering Expected Value

The sum total of all decisions made over time determines how much is won. Our goal should be to eliminate as many losing situations as possible and increase the number of winning ones. In other words, part of mastering expected value is to create profitable situations for ourselves. If we learn a bit about pot odds and adhere to a few fundamentals, it becomes a lot easier than you might think.

Pot Odds

When deciding between one or more options, it is often necessary to understand how pot odds work. Pot odds are the ratio of the current pot size compared to the cost of making a call.

How do I Figure Out Pot Odds?

To compare your pot odds with the equity, it’s easiest to express pot odds as a percentage. To do this, you divide the bet size of the pot after your call. For example, let’s say our opponent bets $5 into a $10 pot. That makes the potential pot size $20 (the pot + his bet + your call) and the amount you have to call $5. Therefore $5÷$20= 25%.

Pot Odds of Common Bet Sizings

• Full Pot Bet = 2:1 or 33%
• 3/4 Pot Bet = 2.3:1 or 30%
• 1/2 Pot Bet = 3:1 or 25%
• 1/3 Pot Bet = 4:1 or 20%

How do I use Pot Odds?

Pot odds come into play when it is likely that you do not have the winning hand now but there is a chance that your hand can improve to the best hand on a future street. This chance is typically expressed as a percentage and is determined by the number of “outs” that you have.

What Are Outs?

An out is referred to as the cards in the deck that could potentially come and improve a poker hand in some way. Outs are typically associated with “drawing hands,” but can also apply to “made hands” as well.

Made Hands Versus Draws

A made hand simply means a holding that has a strong potential of being best on the current street. One pair, two-pair, three-of-a-kind, and anything better can be categorized as a made hand.

A draw is a hand that is currently not “made” but has the potential to become made on a future street. While this term could be applied broadly, I mean any hand could become a pair on a future street. When someone is talking about a draw, they are usually referring to un-made hands that have numerous outs. When an out comes for a particular holding, the result is always in either a made hand or a stronger made hand.

Most commonly, when people think of a draw, they envision one that can become a really strong hand, like a flush or a straight. You will hear people refer to “flush draws” or “straight draws” which are exactly what they sound like. If you hold two spades, for example, and the flop contains two spades as well, then you only need one more spade to make a flush. Therefore, you have a flush draw. A straight draw is when your hand currently makes four cards to a straight.

Determining Number of Outs

Any future cards that can improve a draw are known as outs. When involved in a hand, you should instantly be able to recognize how many likely outs you have based on your draw. Here are 5 commonly held hands on the flop and the number of outs of each one.

• 2 outs: Under Pair (Drawing to a set)

In the example, the only two outs left in the deck are the other two fours.

• 4 outs: Gutshot Straight Draw

In order to make a straight in the example, a King would have to come.

• 6 outs: Over Cards

In this example, top-pair can be made if either a Queen or a King comes on the turn or river.

• 8 outs: Open-Ended Straight Draw

An example of a 4-card straight. In order to complete the 5-card straight, a Six or a Jack would have to come.

• 9 outs: Two Card Flush Draw

Flush draws are very easy to recognize. In this example, any spade on the turn or river will make a flush.

I recommend that you memorize these five common draws as they will allow you to navigate the vast majority of drawing situations you will face. They will help you determine your equity so that you can make correct “pot odds” decisions.

What is Equity?

In poker, equity refers to the percentage of a pot that is “owned” by the players involved in a hand on a specific street. Expressed another way, it is how likely a player is to win by the river if he or she were all-in right now. For the purposes of determining EV, equity only really matters pre-flop, on the flop, and on the turn. Once you are on the river and no further cards are to come, equities are established. In other words, you either have the winning hand and 100% equity, or the losing hand and 0% equity.

How is Equity Used?

Equity is a tool that is used to determine the course of many of our poker decisions. By relying on math and knowing our approximate equity at any given time, we can make better-informed actions. By converting our chance to win into a ratio or percentage, we can determine the viability of both calling and raising in specific situations.

How do I Determine Equity?

Equity is a mathematical problem. Once you determine your potential outs, you can do the math based on the number of cards in the deck. Here are the chances of improving based on the number of outs and current post-flop street.

Now, don’t worry. You don’t have to be a math person to figure out your approximate equity. You just need to use the same “trick” that I have used for years.

The Rule of 4 & 2

Determining your approximate equity is simple really. All you need to do is multiply your number of outs by 4 on the flop and 2 on the turn.

For example, let’s say you have a gutshot straight draw on the flop which gives you 4 outs. 4 times 4 equals 16, so you can expect to hit your gutshot 16% of the time by the river. 4 times 2 is 8, so you can expect to hit your gutshot 8% of the time by the turn. The actual numbers are 16.5% and 8.7%, but the results are close enough to make intelligent decisions.

Using Pot Odds and Equity to Determine the Expected Value

When holding a drawing hand and facing a bet, pot odds can be used to determine the expected value of making a call. You do this by comparing your pot odds with your current equity. If your equity is higher than the pot odds (percentage chance of improving), then you can profitably make the call.

Let’s say you flop a flush draw with 9 potential outs and face a bet of $8 into a pot of $12. Our pot odds are $8/$28= 29%. Based on the rule of 4 & 2 you have approximately an 18% chance of making your flush by the turn. Since 18% is not higher than the pot odds of 29%, we cannot profitably call the bet based on the “direct odds.” Even so, sometimes we can still make a call in this or similar situations if our opponent might invest more money in the pot on the occasions we make our hand. This is known as “implied odds.”

Implied Odds

Implied odds can be defined as the amount of money you stand to win on later streets, should you call a bet or raise and then make a strong hand. There is no way to know exactly what your implied odds are in any given situation, but you can learn to recognize common scenarios where calling is profitable.

Specific hand types that tend to have strong implied odds are small pairs, suited connectors, and non-suited connectors. These holdings can make well-disguised straights, two-pair, and three of a kind hands. Suited connectors have the added benefit of potentially flopping powerful “combo draws.” A combo draw most commonly refers to having both straight and flush draws.

After the flop, hands that have high implied odds tend to be disguised straight draws like gutshots, or a turned/rivered two-pair. Before considering making an implied odds call you need to be fairly certain that your opponent is strong enough to put more money in the pot after you make your hand and that you don’t have “reverse implied odds” issues.

Understanding Reverse Implied Odds

Reverse implied odds refers to situations where you call a bet and make your hand, but are still second best. This concept affects each implied odds decision you will make and is the most important factor when deciding to continue without initiative. As a rule, you will want to avoid these situations like the plague. You will rarely have the necessary implied odds to call in most situations. So, if reverse implied odds is a concern, then you almost never want to commit more chips to the pot with a speculative hand.

Before the flop, reverse implied odds situations arise by making calls with hands that can make strong hands which are not the nuts. A good example is suited hands that do not include an Ace. Since many players like to limp suited Ax hands, you will find that your frequency of losing flush over flush will be increased when you consistently call with two cards just because they are suited.

The Fundamentals of Poker

While math is an important part of poker, you don’t have to be a numbers genius to excel at the game. With experience, all of the math-based decisions you will make will become second-nature and are not something to rack your brain on too much while learning. In fact, the vast majority of our decisions are not math-based at all.

Much more important to winning at poker is an adherence to the fundamentals along with the ability to adjust your play based on what your opponents are doing. While learning to adjust to other players has a fairly steep learning curve, mastering the fundamentals are actually quite easy. Without a doubt, a complete novice can instantly get rid of a large number of leaks just by implementing them.

What Are Fundamentals?

It is my firm belief that learning poker should be accomplished similarly to any other game or sport. The first step toward mastery is always in learning the basic fundamentals. A fundamental is a tried and true or proven element of the game that, when followed correctly, increases a person’s chance of success.

In poker, there are strategic elements that, when adhered to, inherently lend themselves to profitable play. In fact, the fundamentals of poker act as a recipe for winning at the game. Indeed, all strong poker players build their entire poker games around these core elements. Therefore, if you ever find yourself struggling, you can always fall back on the fundamentals to get yourself back on track.

In poker there are three core fundamentals:

1. Position
2. Initiative
3. Pressure

Position

Position by far is the most important fundamental element of a winning poker strategy. Since poker is a game of information, whoever maintains an informational advantage, has an inherent edge. This is where position comes in.

To play in position means to act last after the flop. If you act last, you get to see what everyone else does before it’s your turn. This extra bit of information is very powerful and cannot be overstated.

The dynamic between the in-position player versus the out-of-position player is a hugely relevant factor in every single poker hand that is played. Position governs just about everything you do at the table. In fact, it is the determining factor as to how profitable a poker starting hand is!

Initiative

The next important fundamental has to do with driving the action in poker. Having initiative means that you were the last aggressor on the prior street. For example, if you open-raised pre-flop and were called, you have initiative. Post-flop, the only way you can obtain control of the pot is to raise someone’s bet or have them relinquish initiative to you by checking.

In general, it is always more profitable to be the one controlling a poker hand. The reason is that you are the one making a bet and can win the pot without having to see a showdown. Therefore, you should always actively seek out initiative going into post-flop. In other words, try to be the pre-flop aggressor and avoid calling, unless you have a very specific reason.

The most common scenario where you will see initiative play out is when a player open raises, is called, and then has the option to “continuation bet” (c-bet). C-betting means to follow through on the flop with a bet after being the last pre-flop aggressor. Oftentimes a pot can be won uncontested even without making this hand. This makes c-betting a powerful tool in a player’s arsenal. The only way to use this tool is by having initiative.

Pressure

Aggressive actions almost always tend to be more profitable than passive ones. Not only does it force your opponents to constantly react to you, but it also adds hidden profit to your game that a lot of players overlook. What I am talking about here, is fold equity.

What is Fold Equity?

When you apply pressure to an opponent through a bet or raise, there are three possible outcomes: he can either call, he can raise you, or he can fold. This fact has far-reaching implications for your long-term poker profit. When an opponent folds to your bet, you win the pot immediately without having to go to showdown. It doesn’t matter if your hand is strong or weak, you still win the pot.

Why Fold Equity Matters

Let’s take an example and say you have a particular hand on a flop and make a bet. Sometimes your opponent will have a hand he can call with. Sometimes he will have a hand he can raise with. Other times, he will have a hand that he will fold and you win the pot uncontested. Now think about this situation, or a similar one, occurring thousands of times over your poker career. Bear with me here, as I explain the significance of this.

For simplicity’s sake, let’s say that, on average, you win $10 by the river when called, lose $10 by the river when raised, and win $2 when he folds to the bet on the flop. What is your average profit in this spot if your opponent calls, raises, or folds with an equal frequency? Positive $2! Basically, what this means is that the reason you profit when you bet in this situation is that your opponent sometimes folds.

Therefore, fold equity is the extra amount of equity that you gain when you factor in how likely it is that your opponent will fold. In fact, you will find that many situations are unprofitable if your opponent doesn’t fold often enough to overcome the times that they call or raise. The key is becoming adept at when you have a lot of fold equity and when you don’t. Even so, don’t worry about that right now. For now, you just need to understand what fold equity is and how it will add to the overall long-term profitability of hands that you play aggressively. The main point here is that if you never bet or raised, you would miss out on these non-showdown earnings.

Using Fundamentals to Your Advantage

Playing in position gives an informational advantage while playing with initiative and pressure gives an overall profit advantage via fold equity. Overall, if we build a poker game around the fundamentals and our opponents do not, we enjoy an insurmountable advantage against them. Before we move on, I want to give you three takeaways regarding the fundamentals of poker:

1. Since we know initiative and pressure is important, we should avoid calling without a clear path to profit in doing so.
2. Due to fold equity, we should always favor betting or raising, before considering other options.
3. Since we know acting last is advantageous, our pre-flop starting hands we choose to play should mostly be determined by position.

Where the Money Comes From

Just knowing whether a play is +EV or not is just the beginning. Frustratingly for some folks, this information will not necessarily lead to winning money in poker. Bear with me here as this is both somewhat difficult to grasp and equally challenging to explain in an understandable way. Even so, it is paramount that you understand where the money comes from, or how profit is made, in poker.

Of all the concepts that you must master to win at poker, there is one overriding thing that you must comprehend before you can fully maximize your potential as a player. In fact, everything you do at the tables is a reflection of this one core idea. After all is said and done and the long term is reached, how are the winners distinguished from the losers?

The answer might seem obvious. I mean the winners obviously win because they play better than the losers. But what is at the heart of playing better? I mean how do we define what playing better means in a holistic sense? That answer is called “reciprocality.”

What is Reciprocality?

First coined by Tommy Angelo, reciprocality basically says that, over the long term, when you handle a specific situation the same as your opponent, no money changes hands. When you handle a situation differently, one player profits to the detriment of the other. For example, if you and your opponent both play pocket Aces the same exact way and both end up with an average profit of $10 every time you each play it, then you both break even against each other and no one has an edge. Apply that same concept to every action, on every hand, over every street, against the entire player pool for your entire poker career and you can see how money changes hands.

Basically, what this means is the small things often count more than the big, exciting hands or actions. I mean, think about it. Everyone makes a lot of profit when they hold monster hands like AA or KK before the flop, or when they flop a flush or better after the flop. Indeed, it’s really hard to play hands poorly, so the lifetime profit for these often dramatic and thrilling hands is through the roof. However, since everyone is making a ton of profit in these spots, there isn’t much room for actually making a long-term “reciprocal” profit against the player pool.

But what about those insignificant “boring” actions that not many people are paying attention to, how much do they matter?

Using Reciprocality In Practice

The way we use the concept of reciprocality lies in the knowledge that every single aspect of your poker game matters when you view how profit works in a long-term sense. Trivial actions that many players neglect could actually be a gold mine of profit if you figure out how to play it better than everyone else. Even so, while constant improvement is important in how much money we make at the game, it’s not the most critical takeaway from understanding reciprocality.

Much more importantly, what reciprocality tells us is that not only do we have to scrutinize every aspect of the way we play poker, we also have to realize that it’s the quality of our opponents’ actions that really drives how much money we make. In other words, to maximize our profit, we need to play against opponents who are fundamentally inferior. Ultimately, it’s not necessarily how good we play that determines how much money we make. What really matters, is how much worse our opposition was during our poker career.

You may be wondering why I included such an advanced concept in a beginner’s guide. First off, this information is vital if you ever want to become the best player you can possibly be. And while it is a bit complicated to initially learn, once you grasp how reciprocality works, the beauty lies in its far-reaching simplicity. Secondly, this knowledge will make the learning curve of the rest of your poker journey so much easier. I only wish I had been told this back when I was a beginner!

What’s Next?

Now that you have a basic understanding of the object of poker, it’s time to start working toward using the basics to start building a workable strategy. In the next section, I will teach you how fundamentals drive strategy and tactics. You will also learn about maximizing EV, thinking in ranges, and more. However, before you move on, make sure that you understand every concept laid out in parts one and two. If there is anything that you are unclear on, it might make the next concepts much more difficult to grasp.

Poker is a popular card game that combines elements of chance and strategy. There are various styles of poker, all of which share an objective of presenting the least probable or highest-scoring hand. A poker hand is usually a configuration of five cards depending on the variant, either held entirely by a player or drawn partly from a number of shared, community cards. Players bet on their hands in a number of rounds as cards are drawn, employing various mathematical and intuitive strategies in an attempt to better opponents.

Given the game's many different forms and various dynamics, poker strategy becomes a complex subject. This article attempts to introduce only the basic strategy concepts.

The fundamental theorem of poker[edit]

The fundamental theorem of poker, introduced by David Sklansky, states: Every time you play your hand the way you would if you could see your opponents' cards, you gain, and every time your opponents play their cards differently from the way they would play them if they could see your cards, you gain.^[1] This theorem is the foundation for many poker strategy topics. For example, bluffing and slow-playing (explained below) are examples of using deception to induce your opponents to play differently from how they would if they could see your cards. There are some exceptions to the fundamental theorem in certain multi-way pot situations, as described in Morton's theorem.

Pot odds, implied odds and poker probabilities[edit]

The relationship between pot odds and odds of winning is one of the most important concepts in poker strategy. Pot odds are the ratio of the size of the pot to the size of the bet required to stay in the pot.^[1] For example, if a player must call $10 for a chance to win a $40 pot (not including their $10 call), their pot odds are 4-to-1. To have a positive expectation, a player's odds of winning must be better than their pot odds. If the player's odds of winning are also 4-to-1 (20% chance of winning), their expected return is to break even (on average, losing four times and winning once for every five times they play such a pot).

Implied odds is a more complicated concept, though related to pot odds. The implied odds on a hand are based not on the money currently in the pot, but on the expected size of the pot at the end of the hand. When facing an even money situation (like the one described in the previous paragraph) and holding a strong drawing hand (say a Four flush) a skilled player will consider calling a bet or even opening based on their implied odds. This is particularly true in multi-way pots, where it is likely that one or more opponents will call all the way to showdown.

Deception[edit]

By employing deception, a poker player hopes to induce their opponent(s) to act differently from how they would if they could see their cards. David Sklansky has argued that winning at poker is often decided by how much one player can force another to change his/her style while successfully maintaining their own strategy.^[2]Bluffing is a form of deception where players bet strongly on a weak hand to induce opponents to fold superior hands. Related is the semi-bluff, in which a player who does not have a strong hand, but has a chance to improve it to a strong hand in later rounds, bets strongly on the hand in the hopes of inducing other players with weaker 'made' hands to fold. Slow-playing is deceptive play in poker that is roughly the opposite of bluffing: checking or betting weakly with a strong holding, attempting to induce other players with weaker hands to call or raise the bet instead of folding, to increase the payout.

Position[edit]

Position refers to the order in which players are seated around the table and the strategic consequences of this. Generally, players in earlier position (who have to act first) need stronger hands to bet/raise or call than players in later position. For example, if there are five opponents yet to act behind a player, there is a greater chance one of the yet to act opponents will have a better hand than if there were only one opponent yet to act. Being in late position is an advantage because a player gets to see how their opponents in earlier position act (which provides the player more information about their hands than they have about his). This information, coupled with a low bet to a late player, may allow the player to 'limp in' with a weaker hand when they would have folded the same hand if they'd had to act earlier. Position is one of the most vital elements to understand in order to be a long-term winning player. As a player's position improves, so too does the range of cards with which they can profitably enter a hand. Conversely this commonly held knowledge can be used to an intelligent poker player's advantage. If playing against observant opponents, then a raise with any two cards can 'steal the blinds,' if executed against passive players at the right time.

Reasons to raise[edit]

Texas Holdem Strategy Reddit

Unlike calling, raising has an extra way to win: opponents may fold. An opening bet may be considered a raise from a strategy perspective. David Sklansky gives seven reasons for raising, summarized below.^[1]

• To get more money in the pot when a player has the best hand: If a player has the best hand, raising for value enables them to win a bigger pot.
• To drive out opponents when a player has the best hand: If a player has a made hand, raising may protect their hand by driving out opponents with drawing hands who may otherwise improve to a better hand.
• To bluff A player raises with an inferior or 'trash' hand attempts to deceive other players about the strength of their hand, and hopefully induce a better hand to fold.
• To semi-bluff A player with a drawing hand may raise both to bluff and for value. While technically still a bluff, as the player may not end up with a made hand and is primarily trying to drive out players, the player still has the opportunity to make his or her hand and win the pot if the bluff is called.
• To block Players on drawing hands may put out a 'blocking bet' against players who are likely to bet when checked to, but unlikely to raise when bet into. This is a small bet made on a drawing hand to lessen the likelihood of having to call a larger bet from a player in late position.
• To get a free card: If a player raises with a drawing hand, their opponent may call the bet and check to them on the next betting round, giving them a chance to get a free card to improve their hand.
• To gain information: If a player raises with an uncertain hand, they gain information about the strength of their opponent's hand if they are called. Players may use an opening bet on a later betting round (probe or continuation bets) to gain information by being called or raised (or may win the pot immediately).
• To drive out worse hands when a player's own hand may be second best: A combination protection and probe raise, a player with a strong hand but not the 'nuts' (the hole cards that make the best possible hand given the current face-up cards) may raise, both to induce drawing hands that may improve to the 'nut hand' to fold, while also testing to see if another player has the 'nuts'.
• To drive out better hands when a drawing hand bets: If an opponent with an apparent drawing hand has bet before the player to act, if the player raises, opponents behind them who may have a better hand may fold rather than call two bets 'cold'. This is a form of isolation play, and has elements of blocking and protection.

Reasons to call[edit]

There are several reasons for calling a bet or raise, summarized below.

• To see more cards: With a drawing hand, a player may be receiving the correct pot odds with the call to see more cards.
• To limit loss in equity: Calling may be appropriate when a player has adequate pot odds to call but will lose equity on additional money contributed to the pot with a raise.
• To avoid a re-raise: Only calling (and not raising) denies the original bettor the option of re-raising. However, this is only completely safe in case the player is last to act (i.e. 'closing the action').
• To conceal the strength of a player's hand: If a player has a very strong hand, they might smooth call on an early betting round to avoid giving away the strength of their hand on the hope of getting more money into the pot in later betting rounds.
• To manipulate pot odds: By calling (not raising), a player offers any opponents yet to act behind them more favorable pot odds to also call. For example, if a player has a very strong hand, a smooth call may encourage opponents behind them to overcall or even raise, building the pot. Particularly in limit games, building the pot in an earlier betting round may induce opponents to call future bets in later betting rounds because of the pot odds they will be receiving.
• To set up a bluff on a later betting round: Sometimes referred to as a long-ball bluff, calling on an earlier betting round can set up a bluff (or semi-bluff) on a later betting round. For instance, a player with a strong initial hand may call instead of raise to see the flop cheaply. That flop may not benefit the player, but the player may still have many 'outs' (cards left to deal that could make a strong hand), or even if the odds are slim they can try to bluff. By raising, this scenario may appear to an opponent like a player who has 'limped in' with a weak initial hand, but after the flop now has a strong made or drawing hand. A recent online term for 'long-ball bluffing' is floating.^[3]

Gap concept[edit]

The gap concept states that a player needs a better hand to play against someone who has already opened (or raised) the betting than he would need to open himself.^[4] The gap concept reflects that players prefer to avoid confrontations with other players who have already indicated strength, and that calling only has one way to win (by having the best hand), whereas opening may also win immediately if your opponent(s) fold.

Sandwich effect[edit]

Related to the gap effect, the sandwich effect states that a player needs a stronger hand to stay in a pot when there are opponents yet to act behind him.^[3] Because the player does not know how many opponents will be involved in the pot or whether he will have to call a re-raise, he does not know what his effective pot odds actually are. Therefore, a stronger hand is desired as compensation for this uncertainty. A squeeze play exploits this principle.

Loose/tight play[edit]

Loose players play relatively more hands and tend to continue with weaker hands; hence they do not often fold. Tight players play relatively fewer hands and tend not to continue with weaker hands; hence they often fold. The following concepts are applicable in loose games (and their inverse in tight games):^[1]

• Bluffs and semi-bluffs are less effective because loose opponents are less likely to fold.
• Requirements for continuing with made hands may be lower because loose players may also be playing lower value hands.
• Drawing to incomplete hands, like flushes, tends to be more valuable as draws will often get favorable pot odds and a stronger hand (rather than merely one pair) is often required to win in multi-way pots.

Aggressive/passive play[edit]

Aggressive play refers to betting and raising. Passive play refers to checking and calling. Unless passive play is being used deceptively as mentioned above, aggressive play is generally considered stronger than passive play because of the bluff value of bets and raises and because it offers more opportunities for your opponents to make mistakes.^[1]

Hand reading, tells and leveling[edit]

Hand reading is the process of making educated guesses about the possible cards an opponent may hold, based on the sequence of actions in the pot. The term 'hand reading' is actually a misnomer, as skilled players do not attempt to assign a player to an exact hand. Rather they attempt to narrow the possibilities down to a range of probable hands based on the past actions of their opponent, during both the current hand and previous hands played by this opponent.

Tells are detectable changes in opponents' behavior or demeanor which provide clues about their hands or their intentions. Educated guesses about opponents' cards and intentions can help a player avoid mistakes in his own play, induce mistakes by the opponents, or influence the opponents to take actions that they would not normally take under the circumstances. For example, a tell might suggest that an opponent has missed a draw, so a player seeing it may decide a bluff would be more effective than usual.

Leveling or multiple level thinking is accounting for what the other opponents think about the hands. This information can then be used to the player's advantage. Some players might be able to make educated guesses about opponents' hands; this could be seen as the first level. The second level could be thought of as the combination of the first level and deducing what the opponents think the player's hand may be. Skilled players can adjust their game play to be on a higher level than that of less skilled opponents.

Table image and opponent profiling[edit]

By observing the tendencies and patterns of one's opponents, one can make more educated guesses about others' potential holdings. For example, if a player has been playing extremely tightly (playing very few hands), then when he/she finally enters a pot, one may surmise that he/she has stronger than average cards. One's table image is the perception by one's opponents of one's own pattern of play. A player can leverage their table image by playing out of character, and thereby inducing his/her opponents to misjudge his/her hand and make a mistake.

In live poker, as opposed to internet, stereotypes are often used for initial 'reads'. For instance, people of retirement age are often witnessed to play tight. Players will often project this image on unknown people of retirement age. Young people wearing headphones and hoodies are often witnessed to play more aggressively and mathematically if they played a lot of winning internet poker. These stereotypes can often be good bases to start a profile.

Often, there is a rather small pool of players in a given card playing venue. People will carry their history of playing with them in these environments.

Internet poker players can use large databases of hand histories to get a more precise player profile. Statistical information about opponents is displayed on the tables in the form of a heads up display. The most commonly used software is PokerTracker and Hold'em Manager.

Equity[edit]

Players' equity in a pot is their expected share of the pot, expressed either as a percentage (probability of winning) or expected value (amount of pot * probability of winning). Negative equity, or loss in equity, occurs when contributing to a pot with a probability of winning less than 1 / (number of opponents matching the contribution+1).

Example

Alice contributes $12 to a pot and is matched by two other opponents. Alice's $12 contribution 'bought' the chance to win $36. If Alice's probability of winning is 50%, her equity in the $36 pot is $18 (a gain in equity because her $12 is now 'worth' $18). If her probability of winning is only 10%, Alice loses equity because her $12 is now only 'worth' $3.60 (amount of pot * probability of winning).

Texas hold 'em example

Alice holds J♦8♠. Bob holds K♥7♠. After the flop, the board is 5♥6♥7♦. If both hands are played to a showdown, Alice has a 45% chance to win (which she is unaware of, because she does not know what hand Bob holds), Bob has a 53% chance to win and there is a 2% chance to split the pot. The pot currently has $51. Alice goes all-in for $45 reasoning that she can take the pot immediately if Bob folds or that Bob calls with a worse hand. Bob's simple pot odds for the call are also 32%; since his equity of 53% is greater than the pot odds he has to call, Bob has a positive expected value for the call (if he knew Alice's hole cards).

Short-handed considerations[edit]

When playing short-handed (at a table with 3-6 players), players must loosen up their play (play more hands) for several reasons:^[1]

• There is less likelihood of another player having a strong hand because there are fewer players.
• Each player's share of the forced bets increases because there are fewer players contributing to the forced bets, thus waiting for premium hands becomes more expensive.

Texas Holdem Strategy Chart

This type of situation comes up most often in tournament style play. In a cash game, the adjustments are very similar, but not quite as drastic as the table can ask for what is known as a 'rake break.' A rake break occurs when the floor-man, who represents the casino, agrees to take a smaller portion than usual for the hand. For example, a random casino might normally receive 10% of the pot up to 5 dollars for a 'rake.' In this case the table would only owe 10% up to 3 dollars until there are a sufficient number of players again. In online poker rake breaks are determined automatically.

Structure considerations[edit]

The blinds and antes and limit structure of the game have a significant influence on poker strategy. For example, it is easier to manipulate pot odds in no-limit and pot-limit games than in limit games. In tournaments, as the size of the forced bets relative to the chip stacks grows, pressure is placed on players to play pots to avoid being anted/blinded away.^[5]

Mindset considerations[edit]

In 2014, Bwin conducted a study to see what makes a professional poker player. The brain activity of poker players, of varying degrees, was monitored using EEG headsets and visualised into brain maps.^[6] Leading sports psychologist, James Hazlett, then interpreted the findings:

• More experienced players showed higher levels of focus and concentration throughout the game.
• The amateur players had less control over their emotions, and were prone to allowing negative emotions, such as frustration, distract them.
• Whilst opponents were taking their turn, the expert players opened up another table or watched replays of hands they had played poorly to improve.
• The brain maps showed that the professional players were led more by logic and intuition.

The conclusions of the study suggest that poker players can improve their strategy by considering their mindset. Mental training techniques, commonly used by athletes, could therefore help to improve performance by working on elements such as self-control and concentration.

See also[edit]

Poker plays[edit]

Specific games[edit]

Notes[edit]

Holdem Poker Strategy

1. ^ ^abcdefDavid Sklansky (1987). The Theory of Poker. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN1-880685-00-0.
2. ^Milovsky, Nicholas. 'The Basics of Game Theory and Associated Games'. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
3. ^ ^abDan Harrington and Bill Robertie (2004). Harrington on Hold'em: Expert Strategy For No-Limit Tournaments; Volume I: Strategic Play. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN1-880685-33-7.
4. ^David Sklansky (2001). Tournament Poker for Advanced Players. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN1-880685-28-0.
5. ^Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie (2005). Harrington on Hold'em: Expert Strategy For No-Limit Tournaments; Volume II: The Endgame. Two Plus Two Publications. ISBN1-880685-35-3.
6. ^Your Brain on Poker