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Poker Strategy
There are many factors that come into play when it comes to poker strategy.
In this section we will cover general basics as well as the more advanced areas of poker strategy, offering a few poker tips along the way.
It is important that these aspects of the game are mastered by a player relatively new to poker, who's planning to be successful playing in either friendly or real money poker games.
For quicker access and easier navigation you can either jump directly to each point of poker strategy by clicking on one of the subjects listed below or simply scroll down the page.
Starting Hand
A very important part of poker strategy is to evaluate your first set of cards once the starting hand has been dealt and decide whether to continue playing with that hand.
Many players put considerable amounts of study into the appropriate starting hand “standards” for the game being played. A correct decision in this matter will lead to a profit for a skilled player in the long run. The appropriate starting hand standards depend on many factors such as: betting structure of a game, position, character of other players and the rules of the game being played.
Poker Hand Strength
Knowing the relative strength of your hand at the poker table is one of the very important factors of poker strategy.
Many beginners make the mistake of betting on hands that are unlikely to win in the showdown in hopes that their hand will eventually improve. This is a loosing strategy against experienced players in the long run. In any given poker game about half of all five card hands will be smaller than a Pair of Deuces and approximately one forth will be better than a Pair of Aces. Anything that is smaller than a Pair should generally be folded at the earliest opportunity.
In Texas Hold'em for example, where only two cards are dealt before the first betting round, unmatched combinations of low cards are unlikely to improve to a winning hand.
A Full House is such a good hand that it is more likely to be the best hand at the poker table.
For more information on the likelihood of each hand in poker please visit our poker odds page.
Position Play
The raw odds of a better hand being on the table increase based on the number of players who have not yet had the opportunity to bet. Players who open the betting generally need better hands than those who will bet later. In a first betting round of a six-player poker game for example, it is recommended for a player to check if he has anything less than a Pair of Aces.
The last player to bet however may open the betting with as little as a Pair of Deuces if no one else has spoken. Folding is recommended if you are the first player to the left of the blind in Texas Hold'em for example, unless you have the strength to raise.
Drawing Hand
There are many factors that have to be taken under consideration when deciding whether or not it is a good poker strategy to play a drawing hand.
The nature of the poker game played, betting structure and the pot worth are just some of those factors.
Comparing the ratio of pot odds to the odds of completing the hand however is the most basic principal. If you are not drawing dead and the pot odds are working in your favor then it is likely that the draw may be worth your while.
Improving Poker Pot Odds
Poker hand improvement is possible with practically every hand but what most players who are new to the game of poker seem to forget is the fact that their opponents holding better cards may also improve their hands on the draw. In the long run it is the player with the better hand before the draw that will more likely have the better hand after the draw as well. If at any given point of the game you have a reason to believe that your opponent has a better hand, then folding would be the appropriate action. However, if the pot odds are working in your favor and the amount of money in the pot is large compared to the amount of the next bet you are required to make in order to remain in the game, then it is possible that calling would be the appropriate action. Calling could be the right move if a player was trying to fill either a Straight or a Flush. But if the money that could be won gives a lesser payout on the bet, then calling is not recommended in this case. The approximate odds of filling an outside Straight on the next draw are 6-1, and the odds of similarly accomplishing a Flush are about 5-1. One bet that rarely pays off but is frequently made by beginners is trying to fill an inside Straight or a Straight with one of the middle cards missing. The odds against filling such Straights are roughly 13-1. Such a bet should not be considered unless your pot odds are very good.
We devoted a full section to poker pot odds if you would like to read more about this subject.
Outs
Knowing what number of outs you have is an important factor of poker strategy.
Let's say you are holding four hearts in the Draw Poker game, and you draw one card in hopes to accomplish a Flush. There are 13 hearts in a deck of cards and you have seen four of them, so in this case you have 9 outs,
(13 hearts in the deck – 4 hearts seen = 9 outs).
If you have Two Pair and you think that you have to make a Full House in order to win the round, then you have four outs, which are the two remaining cards for each rank that you are holding.
It is also important to know that the hidden cards of your opponents may effect your calculation of outs.
Assuming that on the turn of Texas Hold'em game, you have an A and 10. The community cards are: 5 , K, 7, J.
At this point you are holding a drawing hand of Ace-High that is unlikely to win without improvement.
The number of outs you have depends on the cards held by your opponents.
In this case you definitely have at least 9 outs that would improve your hand to the best possible.
The following cards: 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9 and the Q, would help you accomplish an Ace-high Flush, with no possible better hand on the board. Q or Q would give you an Ace-high Straight with no higher hand possible.
You also have other possible outs that would more likely give you a winning hand, but they could also help one of your opponents accomplish a strong hand that could potentially beat yours. For example, 5 and J would make you an Ace-high Flush, but it could possibly help your opponent fill a Full House if he was holding something like K and K. Another possible out is a Q, which would give you an Ace-high Straight, but at the same time this card could possibly help another player to accomplish a Flush of spades. Getting any of the three remaining Aces or 10' s could also be beneficial, accomplishing either a Pair of Aces or a Pair of 10's and giving you even more potential outs.
In this case, if your opponent was holding 7 and a 9 for example, he would make a Pair of 7's, but your Pair would beat his.
So in this Texas Hold'em example you would have 9 outs for certain, and depending on what you are expecting for your opponents to have, as many as 18 possible outs.
Bluffing
The bluff is an important part of poker strategy.
The exact bluffing frequency for each situation of the game is a complicated mathematical exercise in the game theory and is impossible to solve at the table. Players have to rely on their experience and intuition when it comes to bluffing.
Many beginners see bluffing as a way to win the pot.
Bluffing rarely works to the advantage of poor players who tend to overestimate the strength of their hands.
All players should bluff occasionally to make their large bets on good hands look less credible.
Constant and consistent bluffing however, is too predictable and does not work for long against the more experienced players, generally leading to large losses.
If you bluff in certain situations your opponents will figure this out and start calling more.
However, if you never bluff, they will catch on as well and stop calling your non-bluff bets, which puts you in a disadvantage because even though you might win the hand, you will fail to win the amount of their call.
Consider value betting your strong hands, bluffing with hands that you are certain wouldn't win any other way and checking all the other hands in between. If on the river for example, you will find yourself with a hand that is not very strong but still good, you are more likely better off if you check and then call your opponent's bet rather than bluffing. If your opponent is holding a worse hand he is less likely to call your bet, but if you check it may influence him to bluff, allowing your call to win you more money. In another scenario, if your opponent has a better hand than yours he will most definitely call, costing you more money.
Raise and check-raise as a bluff should be used carefully as it is not only more psychologically intimidating than just opening but it also risks more of your money, making the pot worth larger with a more likelihood of being called.
Bluffing is more successful with fewer players participating in the game.
With only one or two opponents, you have a better chance that none of them has a good enough hand to call where with three or more opponents it is more likely that one of them has a good hand, making bluffing an unlikely success.
Bluffs have often a more successful outcome in the early stages of a poker game with many betting rounds. Once other players have contributed significant amounts of money into the pot they are less likely to give it up. Such a tendency is based on the false concept of being “pot-committed” and goes beyond the correct poker strategy of calling more often with higher pot odds.
Less frequent bluffing is recommended in Hi-Low split games.
Players with very weak hands will call in hopes to win half of the pot in which case the likelihood of splitting the pot greatly reduces your pot odds. Bluffing in games such as limit Omaha hi-low for example doesn't put you in too much of an advantage.
Protection
Another part of poker strategy is to give your hand protection by encouraging your opponent to fold his drawing hand that could possibly improve and beat your hand. This is generally done with a hand that is already made. In this case a player would either bet or raise with his made hand that he suspected may be vulnerable to his opponents drawing hand.
Betting for protection is different from bluffing where winning can happen only if the opponent folds. This move is made with a hand that is likely to win the pot but is not strong enough for slow playing.
Betting for protection is particularly important when there are multiple opponents at the table. If for example, you are holding the best hand at the current time while playing against four players, each of whom has 1 in 6 chance of defeating you, the four opponents combined are in fact more likely to beat you, even though each of them is weak as an individual. If you place a bet, some or all of those players will fold, leaving you with fewer opponents and therefore a better chance of winning the pot.
Slow Playing
Slow Playing (also called Sandbagging) is another move in poker strategy.
A player who is slow playing might check or call with a hand that he would normally raise with in order to tempt those players who would fold in case of a raise to make a bet, or to attract other players to bet more aggressively than they otherwise would. This often is a risky move as it sacrifices the protection that a bet or raise would ensure. It may also put the pot building value of a bet at a loss if other players participating in the game also check. However, such a move can be profitable to you under one of the following circumstances: you have a good enough hand not needing a protection bet, an opponent is likely to place a bet when you don't, your opponents are likely to fold or call if you bet.
Slow Play techniques can also be used in games such as California Lowball where the check-raise is not allowed. Instead of raising a player would instead call (“flat call”) with a very strong hand and then later raise.
Multiple-round slow playing moves can be made in games with many betting rounds such as Stud Poker and Community Card Poker.
Suppose you were playing 7 Card Stud Poker and the first three cards dealt to you are all Deuces. A player who bets first has a Jack showing, you raise and your two other opponents call.
On the next round, the opponent who made the first bet gets another Jack and you luckily catch the last Deuce. Your suspicion is that he may have Two Pair or three Jacks, and he suspects that you have Two Pair or three Deuces. He will more than likely ignore the possibility of you holding Four of a Kind as it is as very unlikely hand to get, just as you can ignore the fact that he may be holding four Jacks. He places another bet and you make a call. For a number of reasons, you should probably consider calling for the next round or two, and maybe even checking if no one else bets, rather than raising. In this case you do not need protection because your hand is so strong that there is almost no chance of getting beaten. If your opponent has Two Pair and you act aggressively, he may suspect that you have three Deuces, and fold if his hand doesn't improve. Granting other players to continue for smaller stakes may allow one of them to catch a hand such as a Straight, Flush or a Full House, in which case your final bets may be called or even raised, building a significantly larger pot. Also, keeping as many players participating in the game as possible will build up the value of the pot. You will have to start betting strongly at some point though. The point after all is to get more money into the pot, which cannot be accomplished if you continue to check on every round.
“Fishing for the overcall” is another slowplaying technique that takes place only on the last betting round. This situation occurs when the last card you are dealt creates you a very strong hand. The player in front of you bets and there are more opponents to make their moves behind you. Even though you would normally raise with your strong hand, calling in this case may encourage players behind you to overcall instead of folding if you raised. This play works best when there are several players that are the kind that are more likely to call a bet rather than raise it after you call. Getting the overcall gains no more money than raising and having the initial bettor call if there is only one opponent behind you, at least in a fixed limit game. This technique also sacrifices any possible profit you could have made from players who would have overcalled even in case of a raise.
Betting for Value
Betting for value is another important technique of poker strategy.
This method is used by players holding strong hands who expect to win at showdown and want to encourage their opponents to call for the purpose of increasing the value of the pot.
In some situations however, betting for value can also be done with a drawing hand that is not the best at the present time.
If for example, you figured that on the next to last betting round of a fixed limit poker game against six opponents you had 1 in 4 chance of being dealt a final card that would help you accomplish a winning hand, you could still bet for value even though you would lose 3 out of 4 times. This is because the one time that you have won, you would win more than three times the amount of your bet, so your bet would earn you money in the long run. Even though the win in this case is only statistical, the bet still qualifies as a value bet because it was made in anticipation of winning and in hopes that the opponents would call, increasing the value of the pot.
Betting for value is opposite to a bluff or a protection bet, but some bets may be done in combination of all of these three techniques.
We hope that you found the above material along with poker tips included helpful in the improvement of your poker strategy. Thanks for visiting and all the best in your future poker game!
If you are looking to further improve your poker game the following pages may also be of interest to you: poker skills, poker odds, poker pot odds
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