If I were teaching a new player to play no-limit hold’em, and my goal were to get this player up to a professional level of play, how would I do it? What would my lessons look like?
May 03, 2019 Which Poker Tip Was Most Helpful? Play Fewer Hands And Play Them Aggressively. Don't Be The First Player To Limp. Semi-Bluff Aggressively with Your Draws. Fast-Play Your Strong Hands to Build the Pot and Make More Money. Defend Your Big Blind. Fold When You're Unsure. Nov 23, 2017 5 Quick Tips To Win A LOT More Money At Poker Doug Polk Poker. Poker Hands is the show where Doug analyzes live poker hands from tv poker shows such as Poker After Dark, EPT (European Poker. The game is easy to play, with a moderate house edge so players actually have a shot at earning a win. There are two basic ways to play the game, Ante-Play and Pair Plus. Five Strategies to three-card poker Play like a Pro: 1. Learn the Rules: With online tri-card poker.
Let’s say I had only three months to do it. With most people, I will admit, it would be a tall order. The learning curve is steep these days, and I don’t think everyone could make it from zero to pro in that short a time.
I’d have to make compromises. I couldn’t try to cover every possible situation. I’d have to find the important bits and skip the rest.
I’d also have to tailor the lessons a bit to a specific type of game. The most important skills in some game types are not as important in others. 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.
Lesson No. 1. Don’t limp into pots ever. And don’t call preflop three-bets unless you are trapping with an ultra-premium hand.
Limping into pots, calling the preflop raise, and then check/folding the flop when you miss is an enormous leak. It’s also one that nearly every player who hasn’t been specifically coached out of it exhibits.
In my opinion, most players would see an immediate improvement in their winrates if they simply refused to limp in with any hand, especially if they chose to instead fold most of these hands.
For most players, refusing ever to limp means playing much tighter, particularly from out of position. Until you’re already an established pro player, tighter is better.
Lesson No. 2. Don’t pay off big turn and river bets.
This lesson might be different in some types of games, but in the Las Vegas $2-$5 games, it’s easily a candidate for the single most important piece of advice. Do not pay anyone off. When someone makes a big turn or river bet or raise, your one pair hand (or whatever other hand you’re thinking about calling with) is a bluff-catcher. That means, in the great majority of cases, your opponent won’t be trying to make a value bet with a worse hand. Either you’re beat or your opponent is bluffing. And players in these $2-$5 games do not bluff often enough to make calling worthwhile.
So you don’t pay off. I know it can be frustrating to feel like you’re getting muscled out of a huge pot, but the fact is, most players in these games do very little muscling. They try to make hands, and then they bet the hands they make. A big bet usually means a big hand. You don’t need to call to find out for certain.
Lesson No. 3. Your opponents will limp into pots, call raises, and check/fold flops. Take advantage of this weakness by raising lots of hands with position, betting the flop, and often also betting the turn.
It’s a simple play, but it’s one that generates a very consistent profit in these games. Players play too loosely preflop, are too willing to call preflop raises after limping in, and are too willing to check/fold the flop or turn if they miss. With many players, you can ignore your cards and raise the limps, bet nearly all flops, and bet most turn cards as well.
Say two typical players limp in a $2-$5 game. You raise to $25 on the button. Both limpers call.
The flop comes 10 8 2. They check, and you bet $50. One player calls.
The turn is the 5. Your opponent checks, you bet $120, and he folds.
In this scenario, and in many like it, it doesn’t matter what you have. Your opponents are beating themselves by playing call/call/fold so often. All you have to do is put the bets out there and let your opponents run repeatedly into the brick wall.
Yes, there is some nuance to this, and some boards are better bets than others. But against many opponents at the $2-$5 level, most flops, turns, and even rivers are good bets. Keep betting until your opponents prove to you that they won’t beat themselves by folding too much.
Lesson No. 4. With value hands, don’t try to blow opponents out of pots. Instead, play most value hands with the goal of keeping a player in through the river.
Value hands — hands like top pair, two pair, or any other hand you think is a favorite to be best — lose their value when all your opponents fold. If you win without a showdown, you might as well have been holding 7-2. (See Lesson No. 3.) With your value hands, you generally want opponents to get to the river.
Most players like to see showdowns if they feel like they can see them without losing too much money. No one likes to fold and think, “What if I was good?” If your opponents get to the river, often it’s an easy sell to get them to call a final value bet (as long as you don’t make it too big).
Calling these value bets is one of the biggest mistakes that $2-$5 players make. (See Lesson No. 2.) Allow your opponents to make this mistake.
Most players try to end hands early when they feel like they have the best hand. “Don’t want to get drawn out on,” they think. But this is backward thinking. End hands early with strong bets when you have nothing but a weak draw. Allow hands to reach showdown when you actually have something to show down! (Makes sense when I put it that way, doesn’t it?)
If I have top pair, I’d much rather get called for $30, $50, and $80 on flop, turn, and river than get called for $30 and then blow my opponent out of the hand with a $100 bet on the turn. The chance to win $160 with the hand instead of $30 outweighs the risk that I’ll get outdrawn.
Lesson No. 5. Think every hand about what strategies your opponents are using and how they’re thinking, and (almost) ignore the two cards in your hand.
I’ll put it bluntly. Most $2-$5 players beat themselves. They tend to play strategies that are extremely transparent, overly simplistic, and inflexible. You can beat some of these players simply by betting every time it’s your action (See Lesson No. 3.) You can beat other of these players simply by waiting for hands that beat top pair/no kicker and then making value bets. (See Lesson No. 4.)
Your job as a poker player is to identify the strategy each opponent is using and deploy a counter strategy. In many cases, the two cards in your hand become irrelevant. My experience is that the players that are always thinking about their hands never figure it out. It’s the players who are thinking on the next level that do. ♠
Ed’s newest book, Playing The Player: Moving Beyond ABC Poker To Dominate Your Opponents, is on sale at notedpokerauthority.com. Find Ed on Facebook at facebook.com/edmillerauthor and on Twitter @EdMillerPoker.
Table Of Contents
Are you struggling to turn a decent profit at the poker tables on a consistent basis? Are your results best described as 'somewhere around break-even'?
First off, don't worry because you are not alone. This describes the results of the majority of poker players.
Often, however, it is just a few small strategy adjustments that can take your game from mediocre to amazing — from break-even to crushing it.
In this article, I am going to provide you with seven subtle but highly effective poker tips to take your game to the next level.
Editor's Tip: You can try all the poker tips on one of these free poker sites. Playing online poker for free is the best way to hone your poker skills and practice with no risk.
Try them — your bankroll will thank you.
1. Think About Ranges, Not Hands
One of the easiest ways to spot the difference between average poker players and elite ones is by how they think about what their opponent has.
- Average poker players try and put somebody on a specific hand.
- Advanced poker players think in terms of ranges.
A range is essentially the entire spectrum of hands somebody can have in a specific situation. For example, player X can have a flush, top pair, middle pair, bottom pair, a draw, ace-high or a complete air-ball bluff.
Good players understand that player X will show up with this entire range of hands with various frequencies.
They try and figure out those frequencies and then make the best play.
Average players try to put an opponent on exactly (or some other specific hand) because that's 'what their gut tells them.'
Watch the video below to understand how poker pro Jason Wheeler uses every possible information available to understand his opponent's cards and choose his play.
Poker Tip Key Takeaway: Be Realistic
Think about your opponent's range instead. Nobody has a specific hand in poker — they only have a range.
They will show up with different hands to varying degrees.
2. Ditch Your Favorite Hand
A lot of people have a favourite hand. I know that every time I get dealt the old -suited my eyes light up and I want to play it so bad!
However, in reality, I know that -suited is a mediocre hand.
It makes sense to play it in some spots — late position, for instance, in an unopened pot. But it should almost always be folded in early position.
If you currently have a favourite hand, that's fine — most people do. But don't give it preferential treatment and make bad plays with it.
Winning poker is about math and cold hard logic, not superstition.
Poker Tip Key Takeaway: Be Smart
Playing too many hands is a widespread mistake (see: Five Common Mistakes New Poker Players Make).
One of the best ways to avoid it is to introduce range-based thinking in your reads.
3. Adopt a Consistent Strategy
Another big key to becoming a great poker player (and perhaps one of the most important poker tips you should know) is consistently applying a winning strategy.
It is not okay suddenly to change things up (e.g. to open with -suited from early position) just because you are bored or tilted.
All of your learning, experience and study over the years has given you a body of knowledge telling you how to play this game profitably.
But it only actually matters if you apply it at the poker tables all the time. Every hand counts and every session counts.
Elite poker players apply the same winning strategy over and over again, no matter how they feel or what their recent results have been.
Poker Tip Key Takeaway: Be Consistent
Poker is a long-term game. You need time to build your bankroll and find the right strategy that works for you.
You should not change your strategy after a big win or a big loss (here's why). If you really feel like your approach needs to change, make sure you read Nathan Williams' Handling the Ups and Downs of Low Stakes Poker first.
4. Always Have a Reason
Big-time winning poker players will sometimes break from their standard, successful strategies, but always for obvious reasons.
An average player might start raising -suited in early position because he is bored or wants to make something happen.
An elite poker player will raise with this hand in this position on occasion because he notices the table is playing passively and there are a couple of recreational players in the blinds.
There is a clear reason then to believe that raising -suited in early position (typically a fold under normal circumstances) might be a profitable play in this situation.
If you can produce a well-reasoned argument why deviating from your regular strategy might be more profitable, then it is okay. It is the 'because I feel like it' or 'I am bored' reasoning that has to go.
Poker Tip Key Takeaway: Be Reasonable
The welcome bonus can only be claimed by contacting the Stan James customer service team within seven days of making a qualifying deposit. Any claims made after 7 days will not qualify for this promotion. Any accounts that do not contact the customer service team will not qualify for this promotion. Contact can be made 24/7. Free welcome bonus casinos. Here listed are bonuses for Stan James Casino, that include welcome, 2nd deposit, 3rd deposit, match deposit bonuses and other bonuses.
Think. Use your experience to analyse the situations, and then understand 'why' you would take one road and not another.
If you don't have enough experience to evaluate different situations yet, you better go back to the free games and grind.
Basic Poker Strategy
5. Know When to Fold Your Aces
Another clear difference between average poker players and great poker players is the ability to fold an overpair.
You know that little sick feeling you get when you have and a tight opponent raises all-in on the turn? You make the so-called 'crying call', and he turns over the set yet again.
If you deposit $50, you will receive a $200 bonus, that comes with a 30x wagering requirement.($50 deposit + $200 bonus) x 30x wagering requirement = $7,5000As you can see, the formula is simple once you fill in all the values. If the bonus period ends, the winnings and bonus will be forfeited.In the case that you lose your entire deposit, the bonus is over and there is no need to complete the wagering requirement. In some cases, like the, you will can claim a 100% Cashback, of your initial deposit falls to $0 and you do not meet your wagering requirement.The maximum you can wager on allowed games is $5, when you claim a bonus.Staking ContributionNow that you know about wagering requirement, we will talk about staking contribution. Ruby red slots no deposit bonus. But it is actually one of the most important numbers you must know when claiming a promotion, as it will help you decide if the promotion is a good value for your playing style.If you have not met your wagering requirement, you will be unable to withdraw money from your bonus balance.
You need to start paying attention to that feeling a little bit more often.
Certain patterns are easily recognisable at the lower stakes — especially when you play online poker — where it is 100 per cent the correct play to fold your overpair.
Good players can let go of any emotional attachment to their pretty-looking hands. Average players get married to their aces or kings instead, and can't let them go even when they know they are beat.
Poker Tip Key Takeaway: Aces Lose Too
Starting with the top of all poker hands isn't enough to guarantee you the pot.
Ask anyone for good poker pro tip, and they will all tell you the same thing: sometimes, you'll need to fold those Aces.
6. Realise Tilt Only Hurts You
Tilt is a destroyer of bankrolls, dreams and poker careers.
I can't tell you how often I receive emails or comments from people who describe to me how they've tilted vast amounts of their bankroll away when things went badly at the poker tables.
The reality of poker is that sometimes things will go badly for you, and there is absolutely nothing that you can do about it.
This is what you sign up for every time you sit down to play.
There's always the possibility you might run terribly. You might run lights out as well, though.
When you allow yourself to lose control of your emotions and throw your strategy out the window, the only person you are hurting is yourself.
All those hours you've spent trying to learn and improve your game were basically wasted because you decided to choose your emotions over reason when it mattered.
Respect the work that you have done. You owe it to yourself to maintain more composure and stop throwing away money when the cards go south.
Poker Tip Key Takeaway: Relax
The psychological side of poker can be overwhelming, and you need to be ready to deal with it.
Swings happen and bad beats will come. If you don't know how do deal with this, have a look at the poker tips Italy's poker pro Rocco Palumbo shared with PokerNews at the 2017 PokerStars Championship Prague.
If these tips work for Palumbo, they may as well work for you!
MAXIMIZING SLOT PAYOUTS. Slot machines are not games of strategy. Live casinos and online casinos offer them as games of pure chance. Only rarely does skill come into play, although skill-based slots loom as a coming attraction.On most slot games, there’s nothing you can do to change the outcome. This figure is even more startling when you consider that most slot machines have an RTP (return to player) over 90%. The average slot pays out at a rate of 93-94%. The average slot pays out at a. Jul 21, 2019 You can’t find the payout percentage on a slot machine — at least not in the United States. I’ve heard that you can get this information on slot machines in Europe, but I’ve never seen an actual photograph of this kind of labeling. You can, though, have some fun calculating actual payback percentages in the short run. Find out what slot machines actually returned to the public in all U.S. See which states have the best-paying casino slot games and which have the lowest-paying casino slots. Includes slot machine payback statistics for all U.S. Casino/resorts, riverboats and Indian casinos. Which slot machines payout more.
7. Don't Play in Bad Games
One more way average players regularly sabotage their poker results is by stubbornly playing in games that are full of decent-to-good regulars.
If you can't find somebody at the table who is playing very poorly, then you have to ask yourself why it is that you are even there.
If you only play poker for the mental challenge or recreation or pleasure, then this is fine. This poker tip doesn't necessarily apply to you.
But if winning is at all a priority for you, then you need to remember you don't turn a significant profit in poker by pushing tiny edges against good poker players.
Best Strategy To Win Poker Tournament
You win big by playing against players who are making significant fundamental errors and giving away their money over the long term.
What are the best odds slot machines. Jun 06, 2018 Progressive machines are built on anticipation, so by proxy, random jackpot machines have the best odds in casino slot machines. It has been suggested that progressive online slot machines might result in less frequent wins in order to drive up the jackpot number. Have a healthy skepticism when a slots expert tells you they know how to beat the slot machines. Among the games in a casino, video slots (in general) have a high house edge. Besides finding gaming machines with high jackpots and a low house edge, no skill or strategy is required to play slots. That means you can’t expect to increase your odds of winning in most situations. Every spin on a slot machine is totally random. Every time the machine is played, the computer program picks a random symbol on the first, the second, then the third reel. The payback or return of the machine is then based on the probability of lining up the winning combinations. In fact, in this article we’ll be discussing which slot machines have the best odds and pay the best. Types of Slot Machines Before we start discussing which slot machines have the best odds, it’s important to know what types of slot machines exist, especially since there are so many different kinds.
As the classic movie Rounders reminds us, 'If you can't spot the sucker in your first half-hour at the table, then you are the sucker.'
Poker Tip Key Takeaway: Choose the Right Games
Best Strategy To Win Money In Online Poker
Don't sit with the pros if you can't beat them. Selecting the right games is key to your successes in poker — one wrong move, and you are out.
Again, there's no shame in playing free poker games or in looking for the easiest poker games to play online if that's what you need.
Final Thoughts
The divide between break-even players and big-time winners is not as wide as many people think.
It is often just a few simple little adjustments you can learn over time that can carry you over to enable you to start winning at a higher clip.
A lot of it has to do with starting to view the game in a much more cold, detached, mathematical and logical way than you presently do.
Emotional and/or superstitious poker players almost always lose or struggle to remain even.
Elite poker players, meanwhile, know they are in it for the long haul and don't get overly wrapped up in each hand or moment. They continue to make the most profitable play again and again, no matter what.
Nathan 'BlackRain79' Williams is the author of the popular micro stakes strategy books Crushing the Microstakes and Modern Small Stakes. He also blogs regularly about all things related to the micros over at www.blackrain79.com.
This article was originally published on Feb. 13, 2017. Last update: November 28, 2019.
Be sure to complete your PokerNews experience by checking out an overview of our mobile and tablet apps here. Stay on top of the poker world from your phone with our mobile iOS and Android app, or fire up our iPad app on your tablet. You can also update your own chip counts from poker tournaments around the world with MyStack on both Android and iOS.
Tags
cash game strategytournament strategyonline poker.live pokerstarting hand selectiontiltmental gameno-limit hold’emgame selectionpremium handsrange readinghand reading