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The Check Raise

 

The "check raise" is one of the strongest and arguably the most effective moves in Texas Hold'em poker. Regarded by some as a dishonest move and even banned in certain card rooms, there is no doubt that the check-raise is an important weapon in any winning player's arsenal.

A check-raise is made when you check when the action gets to you, with the intention of raising if your opponent bets, hence the name 'check-raise'.

As you can imagine it is an interesting move because at first you show weakness to your opponent by checking, and then coming over the top of them to show a great amount of strength. This is why it can be regarded as dishonest as it is such a deceptive play, 'trapping' your opponent's bet into the pot.

So why should you use the check raise?

The check raise is useful in both bluffing your opponents out of pots and getting more money into the pot when you have a good hand. The check-raise also brings a dynamic element to your game by making you become more unpredictable to your opponents.

It is rare to find an amateur player using this move in a poker game, so if your opponents see you using this move they can be fairly sure you know how to play good poker, and may think twice about bluffing you out of future pots. Below are the two areas that describe how the check-raise can be used for bluffing, and getting more money into the pot with a strong hand.

Check raise example.

Check-raising as a bluff and semi-bluff.

The check raise is arguably the strongest move in poker, and so for this reason it is exceptionally useful when trying to pull off a bluff. This move is most effective against one opponent and becomes less successful as you increase the number of opponents, which could really be said for any type of bluff. 3 criteria should be met in order to make a good check raise:

To pull off a check-raise you have to be in first position for the obvious reason that you have to be checking into your opponent to make them bet. If your opponent does indeed bet, then if you raise your opponent you are showing such a high amount of strength that your opponent will fold any marginal hands.

A check raise will only work when you are first to act, otherwise you will simply be raising (if you are last to act).

There are certain criteria you should follow in order for this to be successful.

• You should be confident that you opponent holds a marginal hand.
• You should re-raise at least twice the amount of your opponent's bet.
• The pot should be relatively small.
• It is advisable to have some sort of drawing hand or marginal hand.

Be confident that your opponent has a hand they can fold.

Firstly, if you believe that your opponent holds a monster, there is little to no chance that a check-raise will get them off the hand. If you know that your opponent regularly bets after a person checks to him with no hand or with small to middle pairs, there is a far greater chance that a check-raise in this situation will work.

Make a strong raise.

Secondly, the re-raise made by you should be at least twice your opponent's bet. For example if your opponent bets $5 into a $10 pot, you should bet $15, re-raising another $10. This is because a minimum re-raise is likely to have little effect on your opponent, because they will only have to call a small amount relative to the size of the pot in order to see the next card. However, if you are re-raising them at least twice the amount they bet, it will make them think a little bit harder about whether they want to pay as much to see the next card.

Aim to make re raises at least twice the size of your opponent's bet. You do not want to give them good odds to call by minimum raising.

Check raises tend to be more effective in small pots.

Thirdly, you are more likely to pull off a bluff when the pot is small. This will be because the amount your opponent must call to see the next card will be larger relative to the size of the pot, giving them the wrong pot odds or to call to make a second pair or to make their draw. Therefore a check-raise will be more effective on the first actual round of betting, such as on the flop in Hold'em. If there is no betting on the flop then a check-raise will still be as effective on the turn because the pot has remained the same size, because there will have been no betting since the pre-flop betting round.

Finally, you will save yourself more money in the long run if you hold a drawing hand, due to the fact that your opponent will occasionally call your re-raise. If you have no hand, you will have to check and give up your hand to any bets on future rounds, losing the full amount of money you used in the actual raise.

However, if you have a good draw when your opponent calls, you stand a chance of taking the whole pot when you make your draw. In addition to this, you are likely to get a free card after after-check raising on the flop, because your opponent will be afraid to bet into you on future rounds. Giving you extra opportunities to make your draw.

Check raising for extra money.

If you hit a monster hand in poker, your main objective is to get as much money from your opponents as possible, and this is where a check-raise comes in handy. Unlike in the situation mentioned above, you want to use the check raise a little more passively to avoid scaring your opponents out of the hand. As with using this move to bluff opponents, there is another set of criteria that will make this play successful when followed correctly.

• The check-raise for extra money is more effective against multiple opponents.
• Be sure to be in first or early position.
• Do not check-raise too much.

It is advisable to check raise for extra money when there is more than one opponent in the pot, otherwise the move will do what is mentioned in the first part of the article, showing too much strength and making your opponent fold his marginal hand.

In the majority of situations, you are better off betting straight out as opposed to going for the check raise. However, it is a handy play to have in your arsenal in the right spots.

It is better to attempt a check raise when you are in one of the earliest positions in the hand, because if you are one of the last few to act, then you cannot be sure that any of the players behind you will bet to give you the opportunity to raise.

Although you want to extract as much money form your opponents as possible, a large re-raise may scare them all out of the hand. By minimum raising you are giving you opponents a greater incentive to put more money into the pot, because it is not costing them as much to see the next card.

Be sure when you do check-raise to extract extra money from your opponents, that your hand is virtually unbeatable. You do not want to be making minimum re-raise if the board is coordinated enough that your opponents hold hands that could possibly out-draw you.

Check raise evaluation.

When used correctly, the check-raise can be used to your advantage when you do not hold a strong hand, and when you hold a very strong hand. It is well worth your time and effort learning the principles put forward in this article, as it will prove to be of a tremendous value to your poker game.

This article covers the basics that you should know to help you understand how to effectively use this move. Be careful not to over-use this move, as it will lose its credibility the more you use it against the same opponent. The check-raise also requires a certain amount of knowledge about your opponent, which cannot be thoroughly taught through articles. So get out there and practice!

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The Semi Bluff

The Semi Bluff > Semi Bluffing EV Examples

Semi-bluffing made simple at Deuces Cracked covers everything you need to know about semi bluffing, and then some more. That video is the perfect compliment to this semi bluffing strategy article.

Watching your bluff get called hurts; it really does hurt a lot. Not only that, but repeated poorly executed bluffs eat away at your bankroll causing you to lose more and more money from one session to the next.

Imagine if there was a way to take the sting out of getting called when you bluff. Better yet, what if you could take all your bluffs and almost instantly make them profitable?

Allow me to introduce... the semi bluff.

*waits for a roar of applause and tears of gratitude and relief*

What is a semi bluff?

A semi-bluff is when you bluff, but you still have a chance of improving to make the best hand on future cards.

For example, raising with A 4 on a flop of K Q 2 would be classed as a semi-bluff. It’s unlikely that you have the best hand right now (making it a bluff), but a diamond on the turn or the river would give you a flush and the best hand (making it a semi-bluff).

What’s the difference between a total bluff and a semi bluff?

• Total bluff = no (or very little) chance of winning the hand if called.
• Semi bluff = some chance of winning the hand if called.

A total bluff has absolutely no chance of winning the hand if called. Therefore, it has 0% equity in the pot.

Note: To be more precise, I’d go ahead and say that any hand with less than 10% equity can be classed a “total” bluff. Sometimes even the most clear-cut bluffs will have some equity for whatever reason.

Semi bluffs have a decent chance of winning the hand if called, so they have at least some equity in the pot. As you can imagine, different semi bluffs will have varying chances of winning the hand, which means that some will have more equity than others.

For example, semi bluffing with a flush and straight draw hand will have far more equity than semi bluffing with a gutshot straight draw. In general, more chance of improving = more equity.

Semi bluffs can also only be made when there are more cards to come (so on the flop or the turn), as those unknown cards are what’s giving you the opportunity to improve. So no, you can’t semi bluff on the river. On the river, you’re either making a pure bluff (0% equity) or you’re betting for value and want your opponent to call.

Semi bluffing diagram (range of semi bluffs).

A diagram to highlight the types of bet based on your equity in the hand.

• A few important notes about this diagram.
• The less equity you have in the hand the riskier your bluff becomes.
• If you have little or no equity in the hand, your bet is virtually a total bluff.
• If you have more than 50% equity you should be betting for value and hoping to see your opponent to call instead of fold.

If your bluff gets called, you’d much rather have a 35% chance of making the best hand than a 12% chance. It makes mathematical sense for a semi bluffs with higher equity to be more profitable than semi bluffs with lower equity, because you end up winning more often with a higher equity percentage.

How important is semi bluffing?

If you’re making a bluff, it’s far more profitable to make semi bluffs than pure bluffs.

Try not to think of “total bluffs” as one thing and “semi bluffs” as another. They are both bluffs at the end of the day. Instead, think of semi-bluffs as the better version of "pure bluffs" or "total bluffs" - the good looking and wealthier older brother if you will.

The advantages of semi bluffing.

When you semi bluff, you still have the opportunity to win the hand. As a result, semi bluffs are inherently better than total bluffs.

The fact that you have more equity in the hand with semi bluffs means you’re saving much more money over the long run. With total bluffs, you don’t have that equity cushion to help you when your bluff gets called.

For example, on a board of QT3 it’s far more +EV to bluff with AK than it is to bluff with 72o.

• With AK your bet has fold equity + actual equity (overcards + gutshot).
• With 72o your bet has fold equity only.

The more equity you have when you’re putting money in to the pot the better. In fact, in the example above betting with AK is almost certainly +EV, whereas betting with 72o is likely to be -EV.

This is a prime example of how semi bluffs are better than total bluffs during play.

Additional advantages of semi bluffing.

It gives you the initiative in the hand. If you bet out instead of checking, you gain the initiative. This means that it’s more likely that your opponent will check to you on future streets, making your decisions a lot easier.

It can disguise your hand. Some players will expect you to check and call with drawing hands, not bet and/or raise. Therefore, you may well win more when you hit your draw because your opponent is less likely to give you credit for having it.

Good hands to semi bluff.

• Big flush draws.
• Open-ended straight draws.
• Flush draws + open-ended straight draws.

All of these hands have good amounts of equity against made hands like pairs, which is the exact reason why they are great hands for semi-bluffing.

Bad hands to semi bluff.

• Gutshot straight draws.
• Weak flush draws.

Care to take a wild guess as to why these aren’t great hands for semi bluffing? Yep, that’s right… they don’t have a lot of equity.

Gutshot straight draws have poor odds of hitting, which means less equity. Weak flushes have a problems with reverse implied odds (even if you hit, you could still lose money to a stronger flush), which means poor equity again.

Still, these hands are better to bluff with than a hand with 0% equity (or close to it). It’s just that they’re not as good as the ones above.

Check out the percentage odds chart or the ratio odds chart to compare the odds of completing different types of drawing hands in Texas Hold'em.

Semi bluffing examples.

Read the full article on semi bluffing examples.

This article is already long enough as it is. The examples in the article linked to above also cover the EV of bluffing with different types of hands with varying equity. Thrilling stuff.

When not to semi bluff.

Don’t semi bluff if you know your opponent is going to call.

If you know that it’s very likely that your opponent will call your bet, it defeats the object of bluffing.

If your opponent isn’t going to fold your semi bluff loses its fold equity, so all you are left with is your actual equity in the pot. Now, seeing as your actual equity isn’t that great because you have a drawing hand, it doesn’t make sense to put more money in to the pot unnecessarily.

Evaluation of semi bluffing in poker.

The best types of bluffs are with hands that have a fair chance of winning if called. Or to put it another way, they have a decent amount of equity in the pot although not being the best hand at the time.

The more equity your hand has when running a semi bluff the better. Think of the equity behind you as a safety net. The more equity you have the bigger the net is, and the more money you will save when you fall (i.e. your bluff gets called).

This is not to say that pure bluffs don’t have their place in poker. If you never make pure bluffs it makes you easier to play against, but I’m not going to get in to that here. Check out balanced ranges for more on that.

But basically, if you’re not fluent in when and when not to bluff, you’re far better off making semi bluffs than pure bluffs. If you’re a beginner poker player, simply swapping pure bluffs for semi bluffs will increase your win rate (or lessen your loss-rate) significantly.

Go back to the awesome Texas Hold'em Strategy.

Poker Continuation Bet

Specific Plays In Texas Hold'em

By Greg Walker

The following guides provide information on how to successfully perform a variety of different "plays" at the Texas Hold'em tables.

Whilst a lot of these plays may look pretty clever, you have to remember that there is a time and a place for everything in Texas Hold'em. Making a squeeze play for the sake of trying to be tricky without any real reasoning is not going to be profitable I'm afraid.

Texas Hold'em plays articles.

The Continuation Bet	1	Plays	8/10
The Semi Bluff	1	Plays	8/10
The Free Card	1	Plays	7/10
The Check Raise	1	Plays	7/10
The Blocking Bet	1	Plays	5/10
The Stop and Go	1	Plays	5/10
The Float Play	3	Plays	6/10
The Double Barrel	3	Plays	6/10
The Squeeze	3	Plays	5/10
The 3Bet	4	Plays	7/10

(Click table headings to sort)

Specific plays section highlights.

Important plays to learn for Texas Hold'em.

Two of the most important plays that you should familiarise yourself with are:

• The continuation bet
• The check raise

The continuation bet is one of those things that takes a minute to learn, but a lifetime to master. Continuation betting is one of the easiest ways to add that little extra to your win rate as a beginner player if you can use it correctly. The sooner you learn how to continuation bet the better.

The check raise is so powerful and deceptive that it actually gets banned in a few card rooms (I bet you're really interested in it now), even though it is a perfectly legitimate play. If you are yet to discover this play you will open up a whole new dynamic to your game after you learn how to use the check raise effectively.

Other interesting specific plays.

Pulling off a successful float play is one of the most satisfying feelings in Texas Hold'em. When everything falls in to place and you take down a pot with a float play you feel like the God of poker. But as with any other play, don't forget that there is a time and a place for a float, otherwise you will be leaking chips like a fiend as you chase after that one moment of greatness.

Just remember that even though these plays will open up and expand your Texas Hold'em skills repertoire, always remember to use common sense before attempting any "fancy plays" at the table.

Common sense trumps extravagance every time in Hold'em (and every other game of poker for that matter). Don't forget that.

Specific Plays In Texas Hold'em

The following guides provide information on how to successfully perform a variety of different "plays" at the Texas Hold'em tables.

Whilst a lot of these plays may look pretty clever, you have to remember that there is a time and a place for everything in Texas Hold'em. Making a squeeze play for the sake of trying to be tricky without any real reasoning is not going to be profitable I'm afraid.

Texas Hold'em plays articles.

The Continuation Bet	1	Plays	8/10
The Semi Bluff	1	Plays	8/10
The Free Card	1	Plays	7/10
The Check Raise	1	Plays	7/10
The Blocking Bet	1	Plays	5/10
The Stop and Go	1	Plays	5/10
The Float Play	3	Plays	6/10
The Double Barrel	3	Plays	6/10
The Squeeze	3	Plays	5/10
The 3Bet	4	Plays	7/10

(Click table headings to sort)

Specific plays section highlights.

Important plays to learn for Texas Hold'em.

Two of the most important plays that you should familiarise yourself with are:

• The continuation bet
• The check raise

The continuation bet is one of those things that takes a minute to learn, but a lifetime to master. Continuation betting is one of the easiest ways to add that little extra to your win rate as a beginner player if you can use it correctly. The sooner you learn how to continuation bet the better.

The check raise is so powerful and deceptive that it actually gets banned in a few card rooms (I bet you're really interested in it now), even though it is a perfectly legitimate play. If you are yet to discover this play you will open up a whole new dynamic to your game after you learn how to use the check raise effectively.

Other interesting specific plays.

Pulling off a successful float play is one of the most satisfying feelings in Texas Hold'em. When everything falls in to place and you take down a pot with a float play you feel like the God of poker. But as with any other play, don't forget that there is a time and a place for a float, otherwise you will be leaking chips like a fiend as you chase after that one moment of greatness.

Just remember that even though these plays will open up and expand your Texas Hold'em skills repertoire, always remember to use common sense before attempting any "fancy plays" at the table.

Common sense trumps extravagance every time in Hold'em (and every other game of poker for that matter). Don't forget that.

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Poker Psychology

Here are all of the strategy articles on the topic of "poker psychology".

I wish I could give a really profound introduction to this poker psychology section, but I don't hold much in the way of a psychology degree or anything like that to wow you with.

Nonetheless, I have been reading opponents and trying to keep sane whilst playing poker for the last 3 years though, so I guess that counts for something.

Poker psychology articles.

Table Image	1	Psychology	7/10
Tilting	1	Psychology	5/10
Downswings	1	Psychology	4/10
Bad Beats	1	Psychology	3/10
Chat Box Strategy	1	Psychology	1/10
Multiple Level Thinking	2	Psychology	8/10
Poker Metagame	3	Psychology	8/10

(Click table headings to sort)

If you're looking for a guide on how to play a hand of Texas Hold'em from start to finish, try the hand guide.

Psychology strategy section highlights.

Important psychology articles.

What's the first thing you think of when asked about the psychology of poker? Outsmarting your opponents? Getting inside their head? "What do they think, I think they're holding" and all that? Well that's all to do with multiple level thinking, which in my opinion is the leading article in this poker psychology section.

The second most important article is the one on the poker metagame. This article pretty much puts a name to everything that influences our decisions that are not from the physical aspects of play. Don't worry, you'll understand what I mean when you read the article.

Other useful poker psychology articles.

The majority of the other articles in this section are related to variance and keeping your cool at the table. I'm sure that a lot of players will benefit from reading the bad beats article... that's right, bad beats actually happen to all of us. But as they say, it's not about falling down it's how you get back up.

Winning players take bad beats on the chin and continue to play the best poker they can. This is what sets winning players apart from those that bitch and moan about bad luck rather than dealing with it and focusing on how well they are going to play the next hand.

Go back to the awesome Texas Hold'em Strategy.

Poker Table Position

How are you supposed to know where you're going if you don't know where you are?

Position is greatly undervalued by every beginner poker player. Your table position is often the difference between winning a hand and losing one.

Before playing a hand in Texas Hold'em you should always be aware of your position relative to the dealer button. Take a look at your position before you take a look at your cards.

• The seats nearest to the are called early position or EP for short.
• The seats nearest to the right of the button are called late position or LP for short.
• The seats in between these will be called middle position or MP.

Poker table position diagram.

You win more money from later positions than you do from early positions. The player on the button acts last, makin the button the most profitable position (over the long run).

• The seats in Red are early position
• The seats in Blue are middle position
• The seats in Green are late position

Early position.

Early Position is least favourable because you'll be one of the first to act after the flop. You want to avoid playing weak cards from these positions. You're relying on your cards to help you win the pot, as being first to act throughout the hand gives you less opportunities to outplay your opponents.

Don't get yourself in to trouble from EP.

Middle position.

Middle Position is better than Early Position, but it's not as awesome as Late Position. You can afford to play a few more hands from MP than you would from EP, as you do not have as many people left who can call and act after you from the flop onwards.

However, if all of the players from Early Position fold, this will still mean that you will be the first to act on each round. When it comes to poker strategy, it's not so much about your seat at the table as it is about who you've got acting before you and who you've got acting after you.

Late position.

Late Position. is highly advantageous.

There is a high chance that you will be last (or one of the last) to act on each round. This is so powerful it means you can be far more flexible with the range of hands you play. Just remember, just because you have position it doesn't mean you can get away with playing absolute junk all of the time.

"Being in position", "having position" and "positional advantage" all mean the same thing. Although it probably makes more sense to think of a positonal advantage as an informational advantage.

The button.

The Button is the best seat in the hand because on every betting round (except for before the flop), you will be last to act. This is amazing. This is also why you should look to play as many hands as possible (within reason) from the button. I'm usually looking for a reason not to play my hand when I'm on the BTN

The cut off.

The 'cut-off' is the position just before the button. This is the second best seat in Texas Hold'em because if the button folds, you will be the last to act on each hand. The button and cut-off are very useful positions for stealing the blinds as there are less players to act behind you, which makes it less likely that they are holding a good enough hand to call a raise with.

How to use table position in poker.

If you have position over another player, it means that you are acting after them on each round.

This means they will give you information before you make your decision.

• They could check - possibly a sign of weakness.
• They could bet - possibly a sign of strength.
• If they bet, the size of their bet could mean something.
• The time it takes for them to make their decision may also give you extra clues.

For example; if you have position over your opponent and they check quickly, this could be a sign of weakness. So you could use this information to bet out and take the pot. It's not always this easy, but getting some kind of information is infinitely better than being the one giving information to your opponent.

Poker table position example.

Lets say you're on the flop with a bunch of players in the pot, and you hold a mediocre hand like middle pair.

If there's a lot of betting and raising before the action gets to you, you can be sure that your hand isn't the best and you can happily fold without losing any chips.

On the other hand, if you are in early position you may bet out with a decent hand, only to find that there are much stronger hands out there that will re-raise you and force you to fold. Therefore you will have lost chips due to a lack of information.

The later you act in a hand, the more information you will have available to you about your opponents.

Positional awareness.

In general, you want to play more hands in position than you do out of position.

This doesn't mean that you force yourself to play any old hand when you have good position. Instead, be more inclined to play a wider range of hands when IP, but don't play this wide range of hands when OOP.

Try not to think of your position as dictating which hands you can and can't play. Instead, think of it as taking advantage of being last to act as often as you can.

Take KJo for example:

• In early position I would be reluctant to play KJo. It's on the low end of the "good hands", and the fact that I have poor position makes it an unattractive situation. The hand isn't strong enough to counteract my positional disadvantage.
• In late position I would raise this hand almost every time if there were no raisers before me. I may also call raises with this hand if I have position on the raiser. I have an advantageous position combined with a decent starting hand, so the situation is looking good.

As a beginner player it's tricky to get to grips with the hands that are okay to play in LP, but are not good to play in EP. How are you supposed to learn the subtleties of which starting hands to play in which positions?

Trust me, you will pick it up as you go along. It will take time, but the more experience you get under your belt the more you'll get to grips with it. If you're completely new to the game, there's no harm in sticking with the premium hands and entering pots with them irrespective of position – that's okay. Just be prepared to broaden your starting hand requirements based on position as you improve.

In Texas Holdem, it is important to have good starting hand selection. This is important as it prevents you from entering pots with sub-standard hands, which could eventually lead to you losing a lot of money in the process.

"Starting hand selection" is simply choosing the good hands over the bad, and thus folding the bad hands when you get them.

It is true that any hand can win in Texas Holdem (or poker in general for that matter), but the fact of the matter is that some hands will win more than others. So if we stick with the good hands, then we should see better results in the long run.

Basic starting hand selection.

Top tier starting hands - top 2% of starting hands.

Good Texas Holdem starting hands are typically hands like big pocket pairs and big connecting cards. So some of the top starting hands would be:

• AA
• KK
• QQ
• AKs

The little ’s’ indicates that the cards are suited, which will increase the value of the cards because it makes it more likely that they will be able to make a flush compared to if the cards were not suited.

This is obviously the top tier when it comes to starting hands, and if we were to only ever be dealt these starting hands we would be making a lot of money. In fact, if we folded every other hand that we were dealt and only played these hands, there is a fair chance that we would be winning money in the long run. But this would only work at the lower limits where other players probably wouldn’t be aware that we only play premium hands.

Second tier starting hands.

If we only ever played with this elite group of cards, we would be folding numerous hands along the way and missing out on other opportunities to win money. Even though these are the cream of the crop when it comes to starting hands, there are still other great hands out there that can win us a lot of money in the long run if we play them.

Such hands are:

• AK
• AQs
• AJs
• KQs
• JJ
• TT

This gives us another 6 starting hands that we can play with, increasing the number of pots that we will be entering. Although these are not as good as the first set of premium hands mentioned, they are still great starting hands that should help us to win money.

Top 10 Texas Hold’em starting hands.

Now if we stick with this set of 10 starting hands we should definitely by on the right track to winning some money from poker. So for any player new to the game you should try your best to stick to the following top 10 hands (also throwing in some of top 20 hands if you have good position):

1. A A
2. K K
3. Q Q
4. A K (suited)
5. A Q (suited)
6. J J
7. K Q (suited)
8. A J (suited)
9. A K
10. T T

As your game improves, you can look to open up your starting hand requirements and require more marginal hands like suited connectors. However, if you’re new to the game you are better off sticking with the big cards that hit bigger flops and make post-flop play a hell of a lot easier for you.

Starting hand selection and table position.

Your table position should always play a big role in determining the range of hands that you choose to play with.

You should stick to playing much stronger hands from early position than you would from late position.

This means that if you are in one of the early position seats, you should stick to playing the top two tiers of hands and avoid lesser hands like; AQo, AJs, AT, KQs and so on. Conversely, if you are in late position and there has been little action before you, you can afford to play these sort of hands far more comfortably.

Why is table position important in starting hand selection?

If you are one of the first to act in a hand, you are going to be at a serious disadvantage to the rest of the players who are acting after you. Therefore, to avoid making things worse, you do not want to be entering a pot with anything less than a premium hand.

Acting first means that you are going to have little information on your opponents. If you are playing with a mediocre hand, it is likely that you are going to be in a spot where you have no idea whether you have the best hand or not. These situations are the ones that lose you the most money in poker, so avoid falling into them by playing stronger hands from early position that will make it easier to determine whether or not you have the best hand.

The importance of starting hand selection.

Starting hand selection is key because it helps to save us from sticky situations post flop, especially if we are new to the game.

Starting hand selection example.

Say for example we are not exercising very good starting hand selection and we decide to call a raise with K T. The flop then comes K 8 2 giving us top pair, which looks like a very strong hand. Our opponent bets into us and we decide to call, because after all we do have top pair.

The turn comes a 4, and our opponent bets once again. We have top pair and we call seeing as we are still happy with the strength of our hand.

The river comes a 7, and our opponent bets into us one final time. We make the call with our top pair thinking we might still have the best hand, but our opponent turns over K Q.

He also has a pair of Kings but he has the higher kicker, so he takes down the pot.

Starting hand selection example evaluation.

This is an all too common problem for poker beginners, and it could have been so easily avoided by being a little stricter with our starting hand selection. Having top pair is great, but all so often an opponent can easily beat it with a better kicker. This is why it is important to have two big cards instead of one, because the size of our kicker can play a vital role in determining who the winner of the pot will be.

You are dealt two cards in Texas Hold’em; make sure that they are both good cards before you enter a pot. An ace with a low kicker is going to lose you more money than it wins.

Don’t be tempted to call raises or enter pots with hands like A4 (rag aces) or K7, because they will just get you into more trouble than they are worth. Make sure that you are the one with the better kicker every time and take the money from the players who are entering the pots with weaker hands than you.

It is actually reasonable to bring down our starting hand requirements if we have good position. Position will give us an advantage over our opponents if we are last to act, so we do not necessarily have to have such a strong hand to play with because will be obtaining information from the way our opponent plays because they will be acting first.

This information and knowledge of our opponent’s hand from the way they play will compensate for the fact that our starting hand is a little weaker than normal. However, we still have to be prepared to fold as having position does not guarantee that we will win the hand, it simply gives an advantage. It is advised that you only enter pots with weaker hands in position once you have become a little more experienced.

Conclusion.

As you continue to play poker and gain experience from the game, it is a good idea to start expanding your starting hand requirements and experimenting here and there. However, if you are new to the game it is strongly advised that you stick to the big cards so that you give yourself the best opportunity to win money from poker.

If you are entering pots with a poor hand, you should be expecting to see poor results.

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