Poker Strategy – Intermediate Players 1

Shorthand Limit Texas Hold’em

Shorthand (tables of 6 or less people) is very popular in online poker; in fact, most of the higher limit games are played shorthand. Thus, to make any sort of of money playing net poker, the best strategy says that you really should learn how to play shorthand.

What type of game should I look for?

One of the most important skills at playing poker is simply playing the right game. Unless you just want to practice, there’s no reason to play against other pros! You certainly can’t expect to make money! The best way to tell if the game is easy or not is to look at the flop %. If it is 40 or higher, the game is good. If it’s 25-30, stay away. Some sites express the flop % as average number of ppl at flop. This isn’t as helpful, but generally go there if it says the average is 3 or more. More people going to the flop means that the quality of hands being played is lower. Thus, all you have to do is sit and wait to strike.

Preflop Starting hands

So what exactly are the good hands and the bad hands? Many books have been written about this, but I’ll summarize what I briefly believe are the ‘playable’ hands.

One thing to remember is that hand values are relative, so a hand can be good under some situations and total trash under others. For example, if there has been a lot of action, like a raise and a reriase and then someone calling the reraise, I would fold anything besides AA/KK and I maybe would even fold KK if I knew the players were really tight. Remember, hand values are relative, so always think about what the other guy has and guess if you have the better starting hand than him before going in.

Hands to raise with, non-raised flop: Paired cards, A10+, KQ,KJ, QJ, J10s

Hands to call a raise with: high paired cards, AQ, AK, AJ, KQ

Hands to reraise a raise: This depends on the raiser. Reriase a maniac with any pair or A9+ because you’ll probably be winning at the flop. Otherwise, reriase with made hands like JJ, QQ, KK, AA (although you may want to smooth call with JJ)

Hands to call and hope to build a pot with (early position) high suited connectors (i.e. 910s)

Poker Help

Flop Tips

When you have a made hand, bet it. If flop is AK5, bet with your KQ, maybe they’ll fold. If one calls, then you have a decision to make, if you think he’s drawing, continue to bet at him. If he’s the type to call with the second best hand. Maybe check to him to see if he bets (he probably has a pair too, it just matters if it’s ace low kicker or king lower kicker or a pocket pair).

When you pair but it’s not the top pair, DON’T call a bet. Either raise or fold. Find out where you are on the flop. If you just flat call, that’s a total of 5 small bets. If you raise and he comes back firing, you can probably fold and save yourself 3 small bets (unless he’s a maniac, in which case just call him to river).

Drawing hands and pot odds: Always know your number of ‘outs’ i.e. number of cards that will make you a hand that you are pretty sure will win. Number of outs X2 + 2 is the percentage of hitting at the next card. So divide the pot by that number and if the bet is smaller than that, call. So, for example, suppose you are on a flush draw in a 10-20 hand, you have two spades in your hand and there are two on the flop. So there are 9 spades out there. The chances of hitting on turn are about 20%. So if pot is 80 and bet to you is 10, call! When calculating the pot size, it is generally best to remember future bets. For example, even though the pot is 80, if you hit, you’ll win 40 more on turn/river bets. So all you really need is a 1/12 chance of hitting.

Poker Training Texas Hold'em

Bluffing

General rule of bluffing: It doesn’t work until $5-10 or higher.

Semibluffing: this is betting when you don’t have a made hand yet, but you can. For example, betting on a flush draw. Example: Flop is A64, you have KQ suited and there are two of your suit on your board. Go ahead and bet. Not only do you have a good chance of hitting, you also can steal the pot. Semibluffing is only effective at higher levels, because at lower levels you are just value betting b/c ppl will call you.

Pure Bluffs: These don’t work too well at limit, but they do work at times. At higher levels, if the flop is kinda scary, say AQ9, if the action is passed to you and there aren’t many in it, go ahead and bet at it if you had shown strength preflop.