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Introduction If you’re new to Hold’em then you’ve found the right page. Hopefully, by reading our beginner’s strategy guide, you’ll be able to enjoy your poker more and start making a little profit along the way.
Starting Hands Probably the most important factor for any variation of poker is to select good starting hands to play. If you continually play bad or too many starting hands you’re going to be a loser in the long run. Here are the starting hands we recommend:
(s = suited, X = card lower than 10)
Group One
Group Two
Group Three
Position Position is a big factor in Texas Hold’em, probably more so than in any other poker game. To act last or late in a betting round is a tremendous advantage, as you can see all that has gone before and have more information to base your decisions on.
If you’re in early position then you should only be looking at playing hands in group one. From middle position you can also play hands in group two and from late position you can safely play hands from all three groups.
Be Aggressive A controlled aggressive style is a winning style. Don’t be afraid to bet or raise when you think you have the best of it. If you find yourself calling too many bets, ask yourself: Should I really be calling if I can’t raise?
Bluffing The beauty of poker is that you don’t have to have the best hand to win. If you sense weakness in your opponents, why not try a bluff? It doesn’t matter what cards you hold, sometimes you can win the pot with a bluff.
However, you should choose the right moment and the right opponent when attempting a bluff. As you gain playing experience you will be able to recognize when it is correct to try a bluff.
Also, when you bluff, be sure to bet enough. For example, if there is $100 in the pot it’s no good making a $20 bluff as you are likely to be called. Bet the full amount of the pot if you want your bluff to be successful. That’s why it takes a lot of courage to pull off a successful bluff!
Money Management / Game Selection Never play with money you can’t afford to lose and don’t play in a game where the stakes are too high for you. If necessary put your name on the waiting list for the game you want to play. Don’t play a game you’re uncomfortable with just because there is an open seat.
Recommended Reading If you want to learn more about playing Texas Hold’em we recommend the following books that have been written by some of the best players in the game today:
Hold’em Poker, David Sklansky Hold’em Poker for Advanced Players, David Sklansky Super System 2, Doyle Brunson Championship Hold’em, T.J. Cloutier and Tom McEvoy Harrington on Hold’em (1,2 & 3), Dan Harrington Internet Texas Hold’em, Matthew Hilger
Introduction So you’ve learnt the ins and outs of Texas Hold’em and now you want to get your hands on four cards instead of two… Well, you’ve come to the right place! Let’s take a look at some basic Omaha strategy.
Starting Hands Starting hand selection is probably more important in Omaha as having four hole cards instead of two will mean that you’ll probably catch a little bit of the flop and your hand could become hard to get away from and wind up costing you a lot of money if you have second best.
As there are so many different starting hands in Omaha there aren’t any pre-defined groups of hands to play and not play. The general rule is that all four cards must be connected in some way. Here are some examples of good starting hands:
Ac-Ad-Kc-Kd Ac-Ad-Jc-10d Kc-Kd-Qs-Qc 7c-8c-9d-10d 5c-6d-6c-7d
As you can see with the above examples, all the cards are connected. It also helps if you have suited cards and obviously two suits are better than one. Let’s take a look at a couple more examples:
Kc-Qc-Jc-2d 10c-10d-9c-5c
In these examples we have what we call a ‘dangler’, a card that is not connected to the rest of the hand. This makes the hand marginal as you have in effect, only three working cards. You can also see that three of the cards are of the same suit. This further devalues the hands because it makes it less likely to make a flush.
Be careful early on In Omaha, even if you have the best hand before the flop or on the flop, you should play it very carefully as things can change fast. With everyone having four hole cards there are so many extra possibilities, so even if you have the best hand you can be sure that someone is drawing to beat you.
In Pot Limit Omaha you don’t need to worry about building a pot. The pots get big all by themselves. You don’t want to build a big pot early on with the best hand only for the board to change and then face a big bet later on that you can’t call.
Then pounce on the turn If you have the best hand on the turn, this is the time to pounce. Put in a big pot sized bet or raise and your opponents will have trouble calling you. And if they do then they’re getting a very bad price trying to draw to beat you with only one card to come.
Bluffing Bluffing is less of a factor in Omaha but it does happen. One bluff you might want to try is the ‘bare ace bluff’ where there is a possible flush on the board and you only have the ace of that suit in your hand. As you have four hole cards it is quite possible that you have two cards of that suit. However, pick your spots carefully and remember that you can’t bluff a bad player!
Recommended Reading If you want to learn more about playing Omaha we recommend the following books that have been written by some of the best players in the game today:
Championship Omaha, T.J. Cloutier and Tom McEvoy Super System 2, Doyle Brunson
Introduction Although Omaha High – Low is a split pot game, you should be working out how you can get all of the pot, not just half of it. Here are some tips that might help you do just that!
Starting Hands To give yourself the best chance of scooping the pot you need to select the correct starting hands to play. Good starting hands contain both high and low cards. Hands with middle cards (6,7,8 and 9) are useless in this game and should not be played. Here are some examples of good starting hands:
Ac-Ad-2c-3d As-Kh-2h-3s Ac-2c-3d-4d Ac-Kd-Qs-2c
With both high and low cards you can win both ends of the pot. It also helps to have suited cards, especially aces suited with another small card, as you can make what is know as nut-nut. This means having the best possible low hand and the best possible high hand.
You can also play hands that contain just high cards (ten and up), but be prepared to throw it away if the flop comes with two or more low cards.
Play on the Flop The texture of the flop and how it relates to your hand will decide if you carry on with the hand to the end or if you fold right there. Your decisions on the flop go a long way to determining if you will be a winner or a loser at the game in the long run. If you follow these simple rules about play on the flop you’re more likely to be a winner:
Getting Quartered Another factor you should be aware of in Omaha High – Low is the danger of being quartered. This is when two players tie for the best low hand resulting in each player only getting a quarter of the pot - it happens quite frequently! So be careful in multi-way pots as it is common for more than one person to have the nut low.
Recommended Reading If you want to learn more about playing Omaha High – Low we recommend the following books that have been written by some of the best players in the game today:
Championship Omaha, T.J. Cloutier and Tom McEvoy Super System 2, Doyle Brunson High – Low Split Poker, Ray Zee
Introduction Although it’s not as popular today as Texas Hold’em, 7 Card Stud is still a great game and well worth taking the time to learn. Here are some basic strategy tips that will help you get started playing 7 Card Stud.
Starting Hands In 7 Card Stud you get to see three cards before the first round of betting as opposed to only two in Hold’em, meaning that you have more information on which to base your decision.
Strong starting hands in 7 Card Stud are:
Look at the up-cards around the table 7 Card Stud presents you with a wealth of information via your opponent’s up-cards. You must be able to analyze this information correctly in order to be a winner at the game. You also need a good memory to remember the cards that have been folded. Some examples:
Bluffing Even though 7 Card Stud is usually played as a fixed limit game, which makes it harder to bluff, you can still try some bluffs if you have a scary board. Your down cards might not amount to much but if you have a powerful hand showing like four to a straight or four to a flush then go ahead and try a bluff.
Recommended Reading If you want to learn more about playing 7 Card Stud we recommend the following books that have been written by some of the best players in the game today:
7 Card Stud for Advanced Players, David Sklansky Super System 2, Doyle Brunson
Introduction
Although 7 Card Stud High – Low is a split pot game, you should be working out how you can get all of the pot, not just half of it. Here are some tips that might help you do just that!
Starting Hands
To give your self the best chance of scooping the pot you need to select the correct starting hands to play. Good starting hands contain three cards lower than a six, preferably with an ace, and if they are suited you have a monster.
Three low cards that include a seven or eight aren’t recommended as they can often end up as the second best low.
High pairs should be played very cautiously as you can only win the whole pot if no-one makes a low.
Look at the up-cards around the table
7 Card Stud presents you with a wealth of information via your opponent’s up-cards. You must be able to analyze this information correctly in order to be a winner at the game. You also need a good memory to remember the cards that have been folded.
Recommended Reading
If you want to learn more about playing 7 Card Stud High – Low we recommend the following books that have been written by some of the best players in the game today:
High – Low Split Poker, Ray Zee 7 Card Stud for Advanced Players, David Sklansky Super System 2, Doyle Brunson
Tournament Strategy for Beginners Poker tournaments are an entirely different proposition to ring (cash) games. If you lose all your chips in a ring game, you can always buy more. In a tournament you can’t, so you’d better be careful not to lose them!
There are three distinct stages to a tournament. Let’s look at them individually:
Early Stages In the early stages of a tournament the blinds are relatively small compared to your chip stack, so you can afford to take your time and be selective about what hands you play. Although some players will play almost any two cards because the blinds are so small, this isn’t a winning strategy and they’ll quickly go broke. You’ll also see players open the pot for a raise of 10 or 20 times the big blind. This is not good play as it over commits them to the pot and offers good value for an opponent to call on a drawing or marginal hand. We recommend raising approximately 3 times the big blind no matter what the big blind may be. If there are a couple of callers in front of you, then you can go ahead and raise 4 or 5 times the big blind, but no more than that.
Middle Stages By the middle stage of tournaments most of the weak players will already be eliminated and play will have settled down. At this point you should loosen up a bit and try to accumulate some chips. The blinds are also higher now and become worth stealing. Your goal is to build a big enough chip stack so that you’ll be able to make the final table.
Late Stages Okay, so now there aren’t too many players left and you can start to smell the money. You must decide if you’re content with just getting into the prize paying positions or want to go on and try and win the whole thing. If you have a short stack and just want to make the money, then play tight and wait till you’re in the money before you take a few risks. If your goal is to win the tournament then there are a lot of chips to be won by being aggressive as the aforementioned short stacks just trying to make it into the money are easy prey.
At the final table, look to knock out the short stacks to jump up the prize ladder. Be aggressive and take some risks, especially as it gets short handed.
The above strategy tips are for a multi table tournament but translate to a single table sit and go as well. Imagine when you start a ten person sit and go that it is just like the early stages above, when it’s down to six or seven players it’s the middle stages and when there are four or less players it is the late stages.
Recommended Reading If you want to learn more about playing Tournaments we recommend the following books that have been written by some of the best players in the game today:
Tournament Poker, Tom McEvoy Tournament Poker for Advanced Players, David Sklansky
Good luck in your tournament play at Pinnacle Sports Poker!
Guide to Starting Hands When you decide to play a starting hand in Texas Hold’em, you should be thinking about the showdown before you call your first bet. How do different hands win in a showdown?
AA, KK, QQ, JJ The most common road to victory is a simple pair. This makes high pairs (i.e. AA, KK, QQ, JJ) very strong hands. These hands do best against fewer players. When you start the hand, you probably have the best hand, but there are more cards that help your opponents than those that help you.
Consider your KK hand – there are only 2 kings that can improve your hand, whereas the other players will have many more to help them get 2 pairs, a straight or a flush. When you have the best hand, you should always aim to raise and re-raise so that other players must pay to have a chance to improve their hand.
On any hand other than AA, be prepared to abandon it if overcards hit the flop and there is a lot of betting action. It is painful to fold pocket Queens, but not as painful as sweetening the pot for the guy who wins with a pair of Aces.
AKs, AK, AQs, AQ, AJs, KQs, KJs, JTs These are very strong hands, with big hit potential. You will almost always call with these hands, and often raise depending on your position and what action other players have taken at the table. In addition to winning with a high pair, you can often hit a straight or a flush. When you hit a straight and there are lots of high cards on the board, you’ll often see a lot of betting, which makes this hand very profitable.
You should be aware that it is remotely possible that your hand is dominated (i.e. you have AQ, your opponent has AK, and there is an ace on the board). Such hands can be very costly to lose, which can justify folding AQ or worse if there are a couple of raises before you.
Even though these are fantastic starting hands, you have to be prepared to abandon them if the flop misses you completely and you are up against several players.
AJ, ATs, KQ, KJ, KTs, QTs, J9s These are medium strength hands that are easy to fold before the flop against a raise. You hope to hit a straight or a flush for a monster hand. Be very careful if you hit two-pair though – when there are a lot of high cards on the board, other players might have hit a straight. If you don’t have a high pair or straight/flush draw, be prepared to toss the hand quickly and cheaply. If you have just a single pair, be cautious if you are raised – that player might have the same pair with a better kicker.
TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22 When you play a mid-low pair, you want to see the flop cheaply and hope to hit a set (3 of a kind). The odds of you hitting the set are 6.5:1. If you hit it, you have a monster hand and can play it aggressively. If the flop misses you and there are cards higher than yours on the board, be prepared to fold if someone bets into you.
89s, 78s, 67s, 56s, 45s Suited connectors are long-shot hands. It’s very unlikely that you’ll win with a single pair, so you’re playing for a straight or a flush. You’re a large underdog anytime you play hands like these, but they can cash in big. An important thing to remember when playing these hands is that you want lots of opponents, so that when your hand hits, it pays well.
You can call these hands in a late position if no one has raised, and you expect at least 4-5 people to see the flop. You generally don’t want to play these hands from an early or middle position, because you could face a raise before seeing the flop.
If you hit your flush and another player keeps re-raising you, realize that he could have a higher flush. Don’t let your fear of a higher flush allow you to give other players free cards if you hit your flush though – if a fourth flush card hits the board, other players are much more likely to hit their own flush.
A9s-A2s, K9s-K5s, Q9s-Q5s, J8s, T8s, 97s, 86s, 75s, 64s, 53s These “other suited hands” are marginal. You are hoping to hit your flush, or perhaps you even have one possible straight. With A5, you have only one possible straight: 2-3-4. Meanwhile, a hand like J10 has 4 possible straights. A little distance between your connectors greatly reduces the strength of the hand. While it helps that your hand is suited, this is not reason alone to play the hand. A suited hand is only 2% more likely to win than an unsuited hand.
These hands are sometimes played from the small blind or big blind, or when in late position if your table is loose and passive.
Anything else A hand like K6 or 10-4 is junk. You need two pair or a three of a kind to have a realistic chance of wining. There are times you might call as the small blind, but otherwise you don’t ever want to pay to play these hands.
Guide to Position Position or seating position refers to how far a player is sitting from the button or dealer. This is a critical concept, because the earlier you act, the more likely it is that someone acting after you will have a better hand. If your position is later, it is easier to evaluate the hand since you have had the opportunity to see more players make their decisions.
You need better hands to call if you are acting in the early position. If you are the first to act, 9 people will have a chance to call or raise after you. If you are the last to act in the late position, you know exactly how many people have called and whether any have shown strength by raising. Consequently, you can play much weaker hands if you are late to act, especially if no one has implied that they have a strong hand by raising.
Position is particularly important in no-limit or pot-limit Texas Hold’em. In these types of games your initial call might face a huge raise forcing you to fold, or pay more than you intended to see the flop. If you are last to act, you know exactly how much you’ll have to pay to see the flop.
Bluffing It is easier to bluff if you are in late position. If everyone checks to you, their play suggests they do not have a strong hand. When an opponent shows weakness, it is a prime time to bluff. If you are against one or two opponents, your bet after their checks might win the pot right there!
Another technique that is strong from a late position is the “semi-bluff”. When you are betting a “semi-bluff”, you probably do not have the best hand. However, you usually have quite a few ways to make a much stronger hand – i.e. drawing to a flush or open ended straight. A semi-bluff can win the hand just like a normal bluff, but it has an additional advantage: If your hand improves, it is harder for other players to determine what you have.
Don’t bluff too often. If players believe you bluff too often, they might check to you with a strong hand and raise when you bet. This is called a “Check-Raise” and is a deadly tool against bluffs or players betting with weak hands.
Tight or loose game A tight game is one where very few players are seeing the flop. In a 10-player game, most flops might see only two or three players. In a loose game, many players are calling to see the flop – often five or more.
If you are playing in a loose game and there is not much raising, position becomes less important. If you have a hand like 9D-10D, you could play this from early position if you are not likely to be raised. If there is a lot of raising before the flop, you have to be more conservative in the hands you play, especially from an early position.
Loose or tight players If you can identify the players around you, you gain an advantage. For example, if you know that tight players are less likely to call, you can play more liberally if many of the players acting after you are tight. You can also try to steal blinds from tight players if it is you versus tight players in the blinds. Knowing a player is loose helps you also – if you can count on that player calling, you can play weaker hands that have flush/straight potential, knowing the odds will justify your call.
Reasons Not To Bluff Bluffing is dramatized on TV – many of the televised hands feature big-name players bluffing others out of pots they should win seemingly every other hand. While this is entertaining, the sad truth is that bluffing (especially in a Limit game) often throws good money away after bad. There are rare occasions when a bluff is the right decision, but most players tend to bluff too much, which costs them money.
Here is a list of times you should NOT bluff:
When You’ve Recently Been Caught Bluffing Players remember the most recent hands and if they beat you on your bluff, they’re more likely to call your future bluffs and bets. After you get caught, play tighter. When you hit your hand, you’ll be paid better.
Against an Ace Players tend to call when they have an Ace, even if the pot odds do not justify it. Bluffing into an Ace on the board is a good way to get raised.
When there are a lot of Players The more players you are facing, the more likely at least one of them has a solid hand. Bluffing could convince players with no hand to fold, but you’ll still throw money away to the best hand of the group.
Against Bad Players As the saying goes, ‘never bluff a duffer’. Bad players tend to call even when they shouldn’t and they can be extremely stubborn, especially when you try to bluff. Against bad players, you’re better off playing straight and always betting or raising when you have the best hand. Straight play will pay extra dividends against these players who may call when drawing dead, trying to “sniff out” an imaginary bluff.
When Playing from the Blinds While a player in the blinds could have a good hand, the odds offered when posting blinds permits the play of many weaker hands that would otherwise be folded. Rightly or wrongly, players assume the blinds have a weak hand. Similar to playing bad players, you want to play straight from these positions. When you bet from the blinds, you are more likely to get callers which will pay you handsomely when you hit your hand.
After a Bad-Beat or a Series of Losses Players might expect you to be on tilt. Are you? It is easy to get frustrated by bad luck. If this has happened to you, recognize your frustration. Either control it, or take a break. If you play trying to win it back quickly, then other players will recognize you are “on tilt”. They will be more willing to call your bets, which will extend your losing streak unless you play only quality hands.