When it is your turn to act you can always fold and be done with the hand.

If there is already a bet, you can call just the amount of that bet.

No bet out there, then you can check and make no bet.

Already a bet and you want to bet more, then you raise.

Those are your options: check, bet, fold or raise.

But we here other terms associated with action at the tables, like: Smooth Call. The smooth call refers to a situation where you have a big hand, a hand that you normally would bet big but when facing a bet in front of you, instead of raising you simply call as a means of deception with the idea to make your opponent(s) think you do not have a big hand, that is a smooth call.

Another term used often is the Check-Raise. In this situation, when it is your turn to act you check then when a player behind you bets and the action comes around to you again, you raise. Since you have already checked, other players will think you are weak and wil probably fold or perhaps just call the bet but your raise!

So your action on this round of betting was first to check and then to raise. Hence, the term: check-raise. The idea here is to get more bets into the pot and to trap the other player(s) when you have a big hand. To successfully execute the check-raise you need to be fairly sure that someone is going to bet behind you because you don’t get your opportunity to raise if everyone else in the hand also checks.

The check-raise is a very powerful betting strategy and one you should watch for and practice when the time is right.

-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #38

The last post talked about how most of the time in poker the ‘right’ move or the ‘right’ action depends on a lot of factors. However, there are some basic poker ‘facts’ that do not vary and are a good place for a new player to begin their study of the game. Poker rules and poker math are good instances of such ‘facts’.

Let’s take an easy example: the number of outs to a flush draw in Hold’em. You have two diamonds for down cards and on the flop two more diamonds hit the board. Since there are 13 diamonds in the deck and you can see 4 of them, there are 9 more diamonds that can come on the turn or the river to make your flush. Also since you can see 5 cards total, there are 47 cards you cannot see, so: 9 cards of the remaining 47 can make your flush. These are facts and you can do calculations of pot odds and odds of winning (and losing) the hand with those hard facts.

Suppose this hand occurred in a 5/10 cash game and you are heads up. If you don’t bet then your opponent can bet 5 on the flop and 10 on the turn, which means it will cost you a maximum of 5 to see the turn card and 10 more to see the river; 15 is your maximum further commitment to draw to the flush. Should you hit the flush, you can bet or raise and then your opponent will have some information on you but it won’t be a ‘fact’ because you could be betting without the flush.

It is always to your advantage to be betting a hand with the ‘facts’ while your opponent is struggling with partial information.

-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #37

Often new players are frustrated when they ask what they think is a simple question and get the answer: “It Depends.” However, there is a lot to be learned from that answer and it is, most often, the best answer a good poker coach can give you. Let me illustrate.

You ask: “How do I play pocket Jacks?’

Your coach or poker buddy should say: “It depends.”

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When it comes to poker, the one debate that never ends is whether poker is a game of skill or luck. Here are couple of the “truisms” you will hear over and over in this conversation.

“On any one hand luck might win but over the long run skill will always prevail.”

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“If it’s a game of luck, why do the same faces keep showing up at the final table?”

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Watch carefully as the dealer pulls in any folded hands, you will notice these go in a pile of discards often called “The Muck.” It is important to know the rules about discarding a hand and when “a hand hits the muck.”

The basic rule is that if you hand touches the muck it is dead. A dead hand cannot win the pot. Here is an example of why this seemingly simple rule is important. This is not a far fetched example, things like this happen all at the time at the poker tables.

After the flop, a player bets out and the other player in the hand folds. The betting player tosses his hand in the muck and awaits the pot from the dealer. But down at the other end of the table another player still has cards! Even though the first player bet and whether or not he had the best hand, his hand is dead and the remaining player with cards wins the pot uncontested.

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Sometimes even the simpliest of actions needs some explaining; consider the deal. Each (Hold’em) hand begins with the dealer giving each player two down cards, one at a time. The deal starts to the left of the button with the small blind and ends after two rounds with the dealer button.

Should a card be exposed during the deal, it is left on the table and replaced by the dealer after the final card has been dealt to the button. The dealer will then announced the exposed card as the “burn card.”

After all betting is done after the initial deal the dealer will burn a card (meaning the top card of the deck is placed facedown on the table) and the next three cards are flopped. Only in the case of an exposed card would the players know what the burn card was. Another round of betting, another burn and the turn card comes out. Same process: bet, burn and the river card.

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Everyone says the first thing you need to know about playing Texas Hold’em is what are the best starting hands or the best hole cards/down cards.

So what are they?

Well the first four “best hands” are easy.

AA

KK

QQ

JJ

Well actually there is some debate whether JJ or AK suited is the 4th best hand. This is where thinking about starting hands versus just memorizing a list is vital. Before the flop we are thinking about what hands play best against other hands other players might enter the pot with. So our “top ten” list has to do with hands that play well and win pots.

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Poker should be fun. But you are going to judge your play by how well you do, which means you are going to count your chips at the end of a session and know whether you are a net winner or loser. For that reason it “Pays to Pay Attention.”

There are lots of distractions at a live poker table. Most card rooms have television sets tuned to the best sporting events of the day and most rooms are set-up right next to the sports book, so you can get a bet down on the games. But if you are watching the football game or soccer match, you are being distracted from the poker game. You know the game YOU are playing.

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You can’t become a good poker player alone. Talking about hands and strategy is important, you need other views and you need to hear how other players will play a hand. Not only do you need to improve your game but you need to learn how others players act in situations. Improving your reading skills requires talking with players who do not play the way you do and getting to know their styles.

We want to help you with that, so we have opened a new poker discussion forum for our little community to talk about all things poker.

Come Join Us at: New Forum

-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #30

You simply have to make money when you are in late position. Late position includes the button and the cut-off seat one before the button. These are these most powerful positions in any poker hand. The advantage of acting last is enormous. You can reraise weak raises. You can bet out when passive players check the flop or turn or river. You can get out of the way of two early players who have decided to get into a betting war.

In addition, the late position players are often making pre-flop moves to steal the blinds. In fact, there is an unwritten rule that if you are a late position player and you are the first player to enter the pot (all early and middle position players have folded), you must enter the pot for a raise. Calling the big blind in late position when you are first to act is a very weak play and will seldom, if ever, be made by professional players. A raise from late position is seen by everyone at the table as a possible steal attempt but the blinds still need good cards to call the raise and as often as not will simply relinquish the blinds. If the blinds do call the raise in an attempt to ‘defend’ their blinds, they play the hands out of position and are likely going to face a post-flop bet from the late position player.

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