Texas Hold’em Fever

Basically, the style of play in Texas Holdem poker is divided in two groups: tight and loose play. Loose players are usually playing more hands tending to act even with weak starting hands and tight players usually play few hands tending to act just with good starting hands. The following is a list of statements referring to loose games, while their inverses are true for tight games.

• Bluffing has lesser effectiveness in loose games, because loose players tend to continue playing even with poor starting hands, not to fold.

• Requirements to continue playing with drawing hands are lower, because the majority of loose players may also be playing with poor hands.

• Drawing to incomplete hands, like straights and flushes, is more valuable, because draws are often getting more favorable pot odds and a better hand is frequently required in order to win in multi-way pots.

In Texas Holdem Poker, raising, unlike calling, has a potential extra way to win, because your opponents may fold and from a strategic perspective, an opening bet can be considered a raise. The following is a list of general reasons for raising given by winning poker pros:

• You raise, when you have a strong hand and want to attract more money into the pot – raising to increase pot value.

• You raise, when you have a very strong hand and want to drive out your opponents, who, in other case, can improve their hands during next betting rounds.

• You raise, if you have a poor, or a drawing hand and want to mislead your opponents. A player that has a stronger hand may fold, misled by your raise.

• You raise, if you have a drawing hand and want to get a free card, because your opponent may check you during the next betting round, giving you a chance to get a free card and thus improve your current hand.

• You raise, if you have an uncertain hand and want to check the potential strength of your opponents, if you are called. You can use opening bets in later betting rounds in order to evaluate your opponents’ hands by being raised or called by them. Sometimes this can immediately win you the pot, because your opponents may fold.

• You raise, if you thing you have the second best hand and try to drive out worse players, who can improve their hands during next betting round, which can increase the expected value of your hand, giving you a better probability of success, if you will improve your hand during next betting rounds.

• You raise, if the previous player with a drawing hand bets before you, in order to make opponents behind you fold, even if they have better hands. This method is frequently referred to as “isolation play”.

n Texas Holdem, a player’s position is a very important aspect of the game, which is frequently underestimated by novice players and always employed by the pros. Term “position” refers to the strategic consequences of a player’s position at the table, which is divided into three general zones: early, middle and late positions. A player occupying a seat in the early position needs a stronger hand to raise or bet, than those, sitting in late positions, because if there are five players yet to act behind a player sitting in early position, there is a bigger chance that one of the subsequent players will have a stronger hand than if there were just a couple of players to act. Generally, a late position is an advantage, because a player can see how his earlier opponents act, which provides him with important information regarding their cards, while they have no idea about his hand. Position is one of the most vital key aspects of Texas Holdem. That’s why you need to understand the importance of this element and learn to benefit from your position at the table. In Texas Holdem, the importance of a player’s position goes far beyond ring games. In tournaments, where each player has a limited amount of chips, intelligent players use this commonly held knowledge as an advantage, because a raise with any couple of cards can steal the blinds, if done against passive opponents in the right time.