Online Poker Strategy
The Four Basic Skills of Online Poker
Poker pros are commonly described as tight
and aggressive: "These poker pros do not play many hands, but
when they do play them, they play them like they have the nuts."
That's a nice general description, but it doesn't
say much. And it's not even totally right about no limit games, as
a solid loose, aggressive player is a person to be feared. Thus, when
I think people say a player is tight and aggressive and therefore
good, I really think they mean that the player has mastered four critical
elements of poker.
#1. Math skills
Good poker players know the general percentages.
They know that you have about 1 in 8 chance of hitting a set when
holding a pocket pair, and that you have about a 1 in 3 chance of
completing a flush draw at the flop.
They know the importance of 'outs.' Outs are simply
the number of cards that will improve your poker hand. Count your
outs, multiply them by two, and add two, and that's roughly the percentage
shot you have at hitting.
They can figure out the 'pot odds'. Knowing outs
is meaningless unless it's translated into rational, calculated betting.
Knowing you have a 20% chance of hitting, what do you do then? Well,
simply once you figure out your chance of hitting/winning, you divide
the size of the pot at the river (i.e. the current pot plus the amount
of money that you think will be added through future bets) by the
amount you have to put in. If you have a 20% chance of hitting and
the bet to you is 50, if the pot at the river will be greater than
250, call. If not, fold.
Math skills are the most basic knowledge. The purpose
of this site is not to go over pot odds, implied odds, etc. That's
day one reading. Anyone who doesn't understand these concepts should
not play in a game until they do.
#2. Discipline
Good poker players demand an advantage. What
separates a winning poker player from a fish is that a fish does not
expect to win, while a poker player does. A fish is happy playing
craps, roulette, the slots; he just hopes to get lucky. A poker player
does not hope to get lucky; he just hopes others don't get lucky.
Good poker players understand that a different
game requires a different discipline. A disciplined no limit player
can be a foolish limit player and vice versa. A disciplined limit
player is always very tight preflop. He or she will not play too many
hands, only the ones that have a very good chance at winning.
However, a disciplined no limit player is VERY different.
This player is not so concerned with paying too many blinds; instead,
he or she does not want to get trapped. The main difference between
a disciplined limit and no limit player is that the limit player avoids
piddling away his stack bit by bit while a disciplined no limit player
avoids losing his whole stack in one hand. Hence, a disciplined no
limit player can play a lot of hands. Preflop, he or she can be as
loose as 'that' girl in high school. However, a good no limit player
knows when to toss hands that will get him or her in trouble.
A disciplined player knows when to play and when
to quit. He recognizes when he is on tilt and is aware when a game
is too juicy to just quit while ahead.
A disciplined player knows that he is not
perfect. When a disciplined poker player makes a mistake, he learns.
He does not blame others. He does not cry. He learns from the mistake
and moves on.
#3. Psychological Skills
A good poker player is not a self-centered
player. He may be the biggest SOB you know. He may not talk about,
care about anyone but himself and may enjoy stealing food from the
poor. However, when a poker pro walks into a poker room, he always
empathizes with his opponents. He tries to think what they think and
understand the decisions they make and why they make them. The poker
pro always tries to have an answer to these questions:
a- what does my foe have
b- what does my foe think I have
c- what does my foe think I think he has
Knowing the answer to these questions is the first
step, manipulating the answers is the second and more important step.
If you have a pair of kings and your foe has a pair of aces, and you
both know what each other have and both know that you each know what
the other has, why play a game of poker? A poker pro manipulates the
latter two answers by slowplaying, fastplaying, and bluffing in order
to throw his opponent off.
Good poker players know that psychology is much,
much, much more important in a no limit game than in a limit one.
Limit games often turn into math battles, while no limit games carry
a strong psychology component. I would NEVER play poker against a
solid computer 'bot' in a limit game. However, in a no limit game,
that bot would be toast.
#4. A Clear Understanding of Risk-vs-Reward
Pot odds and demanding an advantage fall into this
category. Poker players are willing to take a long shot risk if the
reward is high enough, but only if the expected return is higher than
the risk.
More importantly, they understand the risk-vs-reward
nature of the game outside of the actual poker room. They know how
much bank they need to play, and how much money they need in reserve
to cover other expenses in life.
Good poker players are fundamentally slightly risk-averse.
In economics, a person is defined as risk-neutral, risk-averse, or
risk-loving, depending on how that person rewards the next dollar
they gain or lose. Risk loving poker players are perfectly happy risking
their entire bankroll on an even odds bet, a risk-neutral poker player
is indifferent towards it, and a very risk-averse poker player would
never risk his whole bankroll. Thus, a good poker player is slightly
risk averse because he demands a big enough advantage to not be considered
'risk-neutral,' but he tends to value every dollar in his bankroll
equally. If you cannot afford to lose your entire bankroll, you should
not be playing with that much money.
Starting Hands
The first thing you must understand when you play
Texas Holdem is which hands are good and which are bad. Though it
depends on the number of people in the game and the type, here is
a general guide to use when you are just starting out but want to
be a winning player at the lower limits. I suggest starting out at
a fixed limit of $1-2 or lower.
Hands to Raise with:
These are 'premium hands' that you want to raise the pot on the preflop:
AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ, AQ, 1010
Hands to call with:
You want to see the flop with these hands and then decide. Do not
call three bets with these hands, call only one or two.
AJ, KQ, QJ, J10, 109 (only if of same suit),99,
88, 77, Ax (same suit)
Pot Odds
Once you hit the flop, you should use pot odds to
decide your next action. When you hit the flop, either you will be
winning or hopefully winning (with a made hand) or you want cards
to improve your hand (you are drawing). If you have a made hand, you
should bet and raise. You want to win the pot now because more cards
can only help your opposition. An example of a made hand is if you
hold AK and the board is KJ4.
If you do not have a made hand, you are drawing.
You must use 'pot odds' to determine if you should call or fold. First,
you must count the number of outs you have. An out is a card that
will make your hand the best hand. For example, if your hand is KJ,
and the board is Q 10 7, then your outs are 4 Aces and 4 9's, or 8
outs total. To calculate your percentage of hitting an out, you take
the # of outs X 2 + 2. Once you figure out this number, you multiply
it by the pot to see what the maximum bet is that you can call. For
example, if you have 6 outs (6 cards will help you), you have about
a 14% chance of hitting. If the pot is 100 and you must call 10, you
should call because you can call up to $14 (.14 X 100) but the cost
is only $10. However, if the bet to you was $20, you should fold because
that would require a 20% chance of hitting.
Deception
Bluffing and Slowplaying are two deceptive techniques
you should employ.
Bluffing
Contrary to popular belief, bluffing is almost useless
in a low limit game (anything less than $2-4). Rarely will people
not call to a showdown, so there is no point in scaring people out
of the pot. I suggest waiting to bluff until you play at a higher
limit. When you play at a higher limit, it's best to bluff when you
'represent' something and there are only one or two opponents in the
pot. For example, betting at the flop with a high card on the board
'represents' a pair, raising when a flush is possible 'represents'
the flush.
Slowplaying
Slowplaying means deceiving your opponents into
thinking you have less of a hand then you do. For example, suppose
you hold KK. The flop comes K33, so you flopped a full house! There
is no need to scare people out of the pot because there is little
chance of someone drawing out on you. Thus, you should wait to the
turn or maybe even river to jam the pot with bets and raises. You
should slowplay if two conditions are met:
1. You hold a whopper and there is almost no chance
of someone drawing out on you.
2. You will only get action if some other
cards come out that will improve your opponents' poker hands, but
these cards are not good enough to make these poker hands beat yours.
