What is important in any money game is to have a set discipline when you play, regardless whether you are a first timer or a pro.
Here are 10 tips that will help you regulate your game.
1. Don't Play Every Hand
Probably the number one mistake beginning poker players make is that they play every hand. It is understandable that you are new to the game and you want to play poker, which usually means staying in the game with cards that are no good just to be part of the game. But playing more doesn't mean winning more, it usually means losing more, so if you notice that you are playing more than any other player, then you need to look closely at your starting hands. More info
2. Practice “Your” game
After winning a few big wins some players let it go to their head and think that they are ready to take on the world. Stay calm and don't change tactics and believe you are invincible, or up the ante, as it is the fastest way to lose your money. If you have a formula that is working for you, then stay with it. Keep your head and stay calm as emotions can run high at poker and stay sober.
3. Don't Bluff wildly
Bluffing is one of the trickiest stunts to pull off in poker. If your opponents catch you bluffing, then you need to be extra sneaky the next time. There's is NO rule that you have to bluff a certain amount of times, or bluff at all game. Most players like to bluff and some are very good at it, so beware that if you bluff too much and in the wrong situations, you’ll probably be a losing player, so balance is important. More info
4. Don't Stay because you've paid
Beginners tend to value their cards by the amount that they have put in a pot and therefore stay in far too long. You can't win a pot by throwing money at it so if you're sure there's no way your hand can improve to be the best hand, you should fold and walk away from that pot.
5. Start at smaller tables
Start playing at the small tables where the stakes are very low. You can learn without losing serious money and move up slowly as you gain experience and confidence.
6. Pay Attention to the Other Players
Learning by watching is one of the best things you can do when you're not in a hand. Observe the other players and watch how they play their hands or how they raise in a certain position. Do the players have a tell when they're bluffing? or folds at every re-raise? Always assume that they (players you haven't played against) are better than you until you study and observe them and are confident they aren't.
7. Calculate the percentages
Keep playing the percentages. If the next card does not fall the right way don’t be afraid to fold. Knowing the poker odds is a key skill that almost all good poker players have. In poker the probability of many events can be determined by direct calculation. Below is a basic table for computing probabilities for many hands dealt in the game of Texas hold 'em and provides some probabilities and odds. More info
8. Vary your game
Be careful the other players around the table don’t start to guess your game. If for example you only bet when you have a Pair of Aces, your opponents will take notice the next time you raise. Change tactics if you think that they have your game worked out.
9. Learn to leave the table
If you find that you are being outplayed, outclassed or just unlucky at the table, then it is time to take a break and leave the game. Sitting at a table thinking about getting your money back or getting revenge on who ever has just cashed in on your chips is an easy way to lose a lot of cash if you don't know what you are doing. If the game you are in starts to break up for one reason or another and you are left with a couple of really good players, then just walk away or take a break until other players have joined. Poker is about playing to your limits. More Info
10. Picking the Right Game for Your Skill Level
When the stakes are raised the attraction to the pot is greater, but so is the average skill level of the player. Large stake games are interesting to watch, but shouldn't be funded by you. If you're making money at a lower level game, then stay there and learn the game and enjoy the rush.
Knowing when to let go
Watching your chips disappear is probably the lowest point of any Poker players game, only made worse by the fact that it is happening not through folding preflop but by having the second best hand.
Unless you are a mind reader, there is no way of knowing what your opponent is holding so you have to play your best hands only and leave the rest of the hands that can be beaten pre-flop. If another player in an earlier position puts in a raise at this point, then you really should fold that Ace Jack, because the probability is they have an Ace King or Ace Queen or even a pair of Jacks or better.
As soon as you know that you can't win no matter what, fold your hand and wait for the next game, even if its a pair of Aces you are holding. Being a beginner at poker it is important to understand when to play, and when to fold.
Below are the best and worst starting hands
Poker Language
Check To not bet, with the option to call or raise later in the betting round. Equal to betting $0.
Draw To play a hand that is not yet good, but could become so if the right cards come
Call To put into the pot an amount of money equal to the most recent bet or raise.
Flop The first three community cards, put out face up, all together.
Turn The fourth community card. Put out face up, by itself. River The fifth and final community card, put out face up, by itself.
Rake An amount of money taken out of every pot by the dealer. This is the cardroom's income.
The Best Times to Bluff
- You are in late position and no one before you is representing a strong hand
- The board cards or cards you have showing make it possible for you to represent a strong hand
- You have a table image of a rock
- You have read other players' tells and sense they are weak and will fold to a bet or raise
- You are facing only one opponent
- When you know a player still in the hand is the kind who never folds
- When a player has so much money in the pot that your raise or bet will not be enough to force him to fold
- There are still many players in the hand
Probabilities and odds of being dealt various starting hands.
| Hand (non suit specific) | Probability | Odds |
| AKs (or any specific suited cards) | 0.00302 | 331 : 1 |
| AA (or any specific pair) | 0.00453 | 220 : 1 |
| AK, KK, QJ or J10 (suited) | 0.0121 | 81.9 : 1 |
| AK (any non-pair incl. suited) | 0.0121 | 81.9 : 1 |
| AA, KK, QQ | 0.0136 | 72.7 : 1 |
| AA, KK, QQ or JJ | 0.0181 | 54.3 : 1 |
| Suited cards, J or better | 0.0181 | 54.3 : 1 |
| AA, KK, QQ, JJ or 1010 | 0.0226 | 43.2 : 1 |
| Suited cards, 10 or better | 0.0302 | 32.2 : 1 |
| Suited connectors | 0.0392 | 24.5 : 1 |
| Connected cards, 10 or better | 0.0483 | 19.7 : 1 |
| Any 2 cards with rank at least Q | 0.0498 | 19.1 : 1 |
| Any 2 cards with rank at least J | 0.0905 | 10.1 : 1 |
| Any 2 cards with rank at least 10 | 0.143 | 5.98 : 1 |
| Connected cards (consecutive) |
0.157 | 5.38 : 1 |
| Any 2 cards with rank at least 9 | 0.208 | 3.81 : 1 |
| Not connected nor suited, 2-9 | 0.534 | 0.873 : 1 |
| Best starting hands | |
| Ace-Ace |
Strongest starting hand you can |
| King-King | Very, very strong hand |
| Queen-Queen | Strong starting hand that can be beaten but gives you options |
| Ace-King | Very strong, you should be looking to match up one |
| Jack-Jack | Not the strongest hand but most players wouldn't mind |
| Ace-Queen | Very strong hand that gives you a few options |
| King-Queen | Strong and should you get them suited a very interesting hand |
| Ace-Jack | A so-so drawing hand, get them suited and you are in business |
| King-Jack | Suited this hand will win 19% of the time unsuited only 15% |
| Ace-Ten | It's the lowest hand in our top ten |
| Worst starting hands | |
| 2-7 | Off suited this is the worst and lowest ranking status |
| 2-8 | Another hideous starting hand |
| 3-8 & 3-7 | These two hands take joint third place |
| 2-6 | Start of a straight, but not a good starting hand |
| 2-9, 3-9, 4-9 | They are three of the worst you can be dealt. |
| 2-10 | Made Doyle Brunson a winner of two WSPs, but it is one of the worst |
| 5-9 | Statistically always folded |
| 4-7-8, 5-8, 3-6 | Not very strong to play these hands |
| King-3 | Picture card plus a low card, unsuited One of the worst hands |
| Ace-4 | Unsuited an Ace combined with a low card loses power |
Bluffing
In it’s simplest terms, to "bluff" is to bet or raise with an inferior or weak hand. Bluffing is an essential skill for a good poker player, and it’s important to understand how and when to bluff.
Its fair to assume that you won't be blessed with Aces in every hand, so you will need to learn to work around that and play the cards that you are given. But beware!! Too much bluffing at the wrong time or getting caught bluffing will mark the beginning of your loosing streak.
There are 2 major kinds of bluffs:
Pure bluff -- When a player makes a pure bluff, he bets or raises with a bad hand that has little to no chance of improving. For example, if in five-card draw, a player has nothing but a king-high and raises, hoping everyone will fold.
Semi-bluff -- When a player bets on a hand that is probably not the best hand at the moment, but has a chance of improving later in the hand, it is called a semi-bluff. For example, if a player has 4 cards to a straight or flush in Texas Hold’em on the flop and bets, that’s a semi-bluff.
Probabilities and Odds (Hold 'em)
The probability of many events in Poker can be determined by direct calculation. There are 1,326 (52 × 51) / 2) distinct possible combinations of two hole cards from a standard 52-card deck, but since suits have no hierarchy value in poker, many of the hands are identical in value before the flop. For example, K?Q? and K?Q? are identical.
Of the 1,326 combinations, there are 169 distinct starting hands grouped into three categories,13 pocket pairs (13 × 12 / 2 = 78), 78 suited hands and 78 unsuited hands (13 + 78 + 78 = 169).
The relative probability of being dealt a starting hand of each given category is calculated as follows:
| Hand category | Hands | Suited combination | Combinations | Specific hand | Any Hand | ||
| Probability | Odds | Probability | Odds | ||||
| Pocket Pair | 13 | 6 | 13 x 6 = 78 | 6 / 1326 = 0.00453 | 220:1 | 78 / 1326 = 0.0588 | 16:1 |
| Suited Cards | 78 | 4 | 78 x4 =312 | 4 / 1326 = 0.00302 | 331:1 | 312 / 1326 = 0.2353 | 3.25:1 |
| Unsuited Cards non paired | 78 | 12 | 78 x 12 = 936 | 12 / 1326 = 0.00905 | 110:1 | 936 / 1326 = 0.7059 | 0.417:1 |
Pot Odds
The pot odds in Poker are the ratio of the current size of the pot to the cost of a potential call. For example, if the pot contains $20, and a player must call $1 to stay in the hand, then the player has 20-to-1(20:1) pot odds. Pot odds are often compared to the probability of winning a hand with a future card in order to estimate the calls expected value.
The expected value of a call is determined by comparing the pot odds to the odds of drawing a card that wins the pot.
If the odds of drawing a card that wins the pot are numerically higher than the pot odds, the call has a positive expectation; on average, you win a portion of the pot that is greater than the cost of the call.
