It is common knowledge that everyone forgets the bad beats that they lay out and always remember the ones that you receive. The first step in being able to deal with bad beats is to remember the ones that you are on the good side of. This will enable you to handle them as you can more or less consider them to be payback for the times that you did not deserve to win a hand. You know, that inside straight that chased down on the river because you ‘felt’ that it was going to hit and then found out you beat someone who flopped a set. File that one away because you will need it later.

One other thing that you will need to get straight in your head is that if there is a chance that the card can hit, then you are still at risk. While there are percentages to every hand, they are not true in odds in the respect that if 100 hands were dealt out that the side that is favored 70-30 would win 70% of the hands. While it is unlikely that it would happen, the favorite could actually lose every time.

The fact of the matter is that regardless of the percentages, the weaker hand HAS to hit sometimes. Unfortunately, you may feel that it always happens against you, but this again goes back to you remembering all of the bad beats that you have put on people yourself.

Another way to deal with bad beats is to simply take a break. If you are in tournament or a cash game, just get up and take a quick walk to clear your head and let it go. If you sit at the table and stew on it, you are not going to be concentrating on your cards and you can end up losing everything. If you are on a run of a few days where this is happening, take a longer break from poker. Give yourself a couple of days off and do anything but play poker until you can do so without thinking that you are going to take a bad beat.

Tilt is something that every great poker player has fallen victim to at one point or another. Hopefully, after it happens to you, you can learn the lesson of how disastrous it can be. Relax, get your focus back and start playing cards again. Remember, start filing all of those lucky hits you have to keep the bad beats that you take in perspective.

The problem with a lot of amateur card players is that they are scared to put money into the pot without the best hand. Once the flop has hit, you don’t necessarily have to have the best hand to hit. By merely checking it down, you find out nothing and invite everyone to beat you. In order to be a great tournament player , you are going to need to fire, even if you don’t have the best.

As an example, assume that you have been deal Q9s on the BB and someone in late position has doubled the blinds. Both you and the small blind make the call for the hand to be three handed. The flop comes out Ad9h2c. You have a rainbow flop and you have hit middle pair with a decent kicker. The small blind checks and you fire a $400 bet into a $600 pot. The initial raiser calls and the SB folds. What does his call tell you?

Since there is no flush draw or straight draw, you have no worries there. Since he raised in late position, he more than likely has an A, but it Is probably pretty weak or he would have come over top of you. He could also be sitting on a pocket pair like JJ or 1010. The only other real alternative is that he is setting you up for a re-raise on the turn. So now the turn card is dealt and it is a 6s. There is still no draw on the board unless he was going after a runner-runner pre-flop. With $1,400 in the pot, you fire a $1,000 bet.

This bet is going to give you a very good idea of where he stands. If he is setting you up, he will come over the top of your, but in most cases, if he only has a weak A he will just call or fold here. If he calls, you are going to have to make a decision on the river as to how you want to approach the hand. For this example, let’s assume he calls.

By just calling, he has more or less told you what his hand is. There is no draw so that is not even a question. His weak raise prior to the flop would indicate a mid pair or a weak A. You can still possibly be the winner here, but it is unlikely. Depending upon the type of player you are up against, you may have to back off at this point and take the loss if he makes a big bet on the river. Again, this is why it is so important to pay attention during the course of the tournament.

If he has shown a tendency to fold on the river with a weak hand, you can fire at the pot and hope he doesn’t come over top of you. If he is a calling station, you have no shot of chasing him out so check it down and hope he does the same. Your betting told you what he had, now it is up to you to make the right move.

Playing against maniac

With Dwan ending the season on a winning note, it is only appropriate to discuss how to handle a maniac at the table. They play just about every hand and fire at every pot. Their cards mean nothing to them and when they spot weakness, they are relentless. This type of player can win a lot or get felted, but they could care less. To them, it is all about scooping the chips and getting you off of your game.

This style of play has become very popular over the last few years. The young, internet generation of poker player has no fear and no respect for anyone else at the table. They are going to fire at any pot and if they hit, they will come right at you regardless of their kicker. You are going to have to learn how to deal with this type of play if you are going to be successful in today’s game.

If you show weakness, you are going to get run over. On the other hand, you don’t want to continue to dump good money after bad just to prove a point. You are going to have to catch them in a hand and make them pay. It is the only way to slow them down and reverse the way that they approach the game. It will only take once before you can slow them down and then it is your time to play their game.

If you sit down at a table and are out of position, change tables. You do not want to be in front of a maniac as you have to be ready to push your chips every time you are in a hand. To play with someone like this successfully, you must have position.

One thing that you are going to have to keep in mind is that this person is capable of playing any two cards in any position. You are going to have to watch their betting patterns and see how aggressive they are when they catch something and when they are just making a move on the pot. This attention to detail will pay off when you finally get your hand.

The maniac feeds off of weakness. In order to get them to fall into your trap, you are going to have to donate some hands to the cause. Look at is as an investment as you will get all of this back and more when they bite on the trap. Make some weak bets or raises and when he comes over the top, give up your hand after some thought. Do this a couple of times and the trap is set.

Now when that big hand hits, make your bet and wait for him to come right back over the top. If you are in a good situation, he may be pot committed and call you regardless of what he has. If he doesn’t call, you take the chips and you wait to catch him again. If you can catch him again, he will more than likely start to slow down when you are in a hand. Maniac’s are not stupid, they are just very aggressive. Once you get him slowed down, you can start to take over the table. You can get a maniac under control, it just takes some time and patience to do it.

When you make your move is going to depend on how fast the levels are and how many sets of blinds that you have left. While a lot of players will get concerned when they get below a certain level, it is not about how big your stack in as much as it is how effective that stack is going to be when you push it in the middle of the table.

For example, if you are down to 1,000 in chips and the blinds are only at 50/100, you still have 2 rounds before you need to get into panic mode. The reason is that you can still make a significant raise by pushing all in with 700 chips that will make someone think twice before calling you. However, once the blinds get to a point that your stack will only represent a standard 3x or 4x the bb raise, you need to be concerned. In fact, you need to make sure that you never allow it to get to that point.

While the saying ‘a chip and a chair’ sounds great, you are going to need some unbelievable luck in order to make that work. By staying aggressive with a stack that still represents a significant raise, you are fighting off those that will call you just for the sake of eliminating a player.

Another factor in this is going to be your position. You need to get those chips in the middle against players that have to worry about losing the amount of chips that you have remaining. Pushing them in there against someone that has a monster stack is only inviting a call. While this is great when you are sitting on AA or KK, you want to avoid giving the big stack at the table the opportunity to tangle with you.

Finally, it all comes down to your cards, or should I say card. Remember, you are looking to make a move against players that cannot afford to take the hit and when you are in position. Whether you like it or not, you are often going to have to get those chips in there on the strength of only one card in your hand. If you are not sitting on a pocket pair, you MUST be looking down at an Ace or King.

Being short stacked is never an enviable position, but you have to get those chips in there when they can do the most good. With any luck, you will be able to scoop up some blinds and manage to hang around until you see a good hand, but don’t wait too long. Once you get in the danger zone of 6-10x the big blind, you are going to have to take your chances when a decent hand comes around. Otherwise, you are doomed to seeing your last couple of chips go into the middle on the blinds where you have no choice in making a stand.

You can make a lot of money off of these players, but you can also cost yourself a lot if you don’t know how to react to them. Online is easy as you can take notes and when you sit down at a table you will already know their style. If you are playing live, you are going to have to pay attention to every hand and make sure you pick up on their play. Once you have them identified, you can adjust your play accordingly when they are in a hand.

Calling stations are notorious for passive play. They will usually only raise pre-flop with hands like AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ, 1010. Anything else, they will tend to call down any raise prior to the flop and pray to the poker gods that they hit something. If they did raise pre-flop with a hand and do not hit, they will more than likely check. However, keep in mind that if they raised with a hand like 1010 and the flop comes out K72, they are going to check, but if you bet, they are going to call you all the way down to the river in the hopes that somehow their 1010 will hold up.

A perfect example of a calling station hand would be you are dealt AQ and the station has A3. You pre-flop raise and are called. Flop comes out K-10-3. You fire and the station calls. Turn card comes out as a 7. You bet and the station calls. River card is an 8. You now have 4 over cards and a possible straight on board. You fire a river bet and are called and lose the hand because the station made one of his cards and cannot let it go. Does it make sense? Absolutely not, but it happens time and again.

How you change your play is going to be dictated after the flop and what happens on that first bet. If a calling station makes a pre-flop raise and then fires again on the flop, you can be pretty certain that they have either hit their hand or are sitting on a pocket over pair. They do not comprehend continuation bet so you are all but guaranteed that they are alive and well in the hand. If you haven’t hit, just dump the hand and wait to catch them later.

If you pre-flop raise and then fire a continuation bet on a missed flop, they will call you if they have anything working off of that flop. You have to fire that continuation bet, but from that point you are going to have to play very cautiously. You can still fire on the turn just in case they are on a draw, but if you miss the river, you are going to want to show them a hand. The amount of money you will save by doing this on the river will more than justify the play.

The bottom line is that you cannot bluff a calling station out of a hand. If they are in after the flop, they have more than likely hit the flop in some way or have some type of draw working. Your river bet is the biggest bet you are going to make in the hand and when you miss and fire, you are dumping chips. If you have a hand, you can absolutely bet as they may be sitting there with bottom pair. However, firing on the river with nothing is just going to decrease your stack against this type of player. Adjust your play and you crush this type of player and avoid losing unnecessary money.

A lot of players who are experienced run into the same problems, and most of the time the problem is themselves. Me included, I am my own worst enemy. If your brain is full of knowledge on betting styles, bluffing tactics and stack control why do you still lose when you play? Basically having all this knowledge doesn’t ensure that you will use it correctly. There are a few ways you can help avoid long losing streaks and I am going to try and help you realize these principles. As stated earlier consistency is the key, your not going to win every time, but as long as you win more then you lose you can be a successful Texas Holdem player.

Play Your Games

One of the biggest mistakes by Holdem players of all levels is changing there styles. You might not even realize that you are doing it, but if you stray from your winning strategy it can cause you to be a losing player. Major reasons that people change there style in game is because they want to show off there abilities, because they are bored and because they want to win so much they won’t let the game just happen. Boredom is one of the biggest problems that Holdem players run into, especially when you are playing long sessions. Keep an eye out for this when at the tables, if there are players who are card dead, they might be looking for any excuse to get into the action. We have all had sessions when it seems like you just get any cards, like every time you look at your hole cards it’s a 7 – 2 or J – 5, you will get bored. My suggestion is when you are bored and can’t control your urges to get in the action, walk away, take a break and relax. There is a reason you see a lot of players wearing head phones on television games, that is to try and control there boredom. I can’t state this enough, never show off at the poker table. Texas Holdem is not a game that requires you to prove that you are a good player, winning is what matters at the end of the day. Remember the goal is not to win a pot individually, its to have a winning session in total. You might lose a battle from time to time, but as long as you win the war, you will leave the table with a smile on your face. Let the game come to you, if the times right make your advanced plays, but if the opportunity doesn’t arise don’t do it. Winning poker players have a drive to win and this is necessary to be a good player, but it can also be a curse. It seems like I say this to much, but you need to know that you can’t win every time you play.

Stakes

This is a problem that some players just can’t get through there heads, never play with money you can’t afford to lose. Every time you make the choice to play, there is a chance you can go broke. Playing at stakes that you feel comfortable with, and that you can afford will make it easier to make decisions. If you have ever sat at a No Limit Holdem table, when you are forced to make a decision, and it goes through your mind that you can’t lose that much money, its time to go down a level. Playing a smaller stakes can make decisions easier and help you with stand longer losing streaks.

Trust Your Instincts

Gut feelings are important if you are an advanced player. If you have played a lot of Holdem you have built in instincts that you might not be aware of. Trusting these feeling is easier said then done, case and point we have all seen Daniel Negreanu call a players hand and make the call anyways losing pots. To trust your instincts correctly knowing basic poker math and probabilities, will allow you to make the right decisions. Trust me you have these instincts, and if you learn to trust them, your game will improve.

The more you play Texas Holdem you will realize that there is no perfect winning formula. If you stay out of your own way, it will help you become consistent. There will be good days and bad, if you control your emotions you can be a good player. Getting out of your own way is not easy, and you probably can’t do it every day. Finding consistency in your game will allow you to be a better player. If you try and follow some of these basic skills you will become a better player and make more money.  Stay out of your own way, play your game, and trust your instincts and continue to learn and become a better No Limit Texas Holdem player.

First and most common mistakes that beginners or inexperienced players make is “getting married” to there pre flop hands. Its important to realize that pocket aces do not automatically win, the hand needs to be played out. Pay attention at all times, know what hands beat you and find out where you are at in the hand. To avoid losing pots with your monster pre flop hands, raise before the flop to hopefully eliminate weak hands. I always insist that players who want to become good Holdem players need to be able to put there opponents on a range of hands that they might be playing. The way to this is by paying attention to any patterns or tells your opponents might be giving you, use this information to make an educated guess on what your opponent might have

Example : Your playing a tournament and you are down to 6 players, you pick up pocket aces in middle position and raise 5 times the big blind and get called by the guy beside you. This player has played a tight game and pretty passive pre flop, earlier you saw him smooth call pre flop with an A – Q. The flop comes out with no ace, but three diamonds, which you do not have, you make a bet anyways three quarters the pot and get called. The board pairs kings on the turn, you check and your opponent moves all in, What do you think they have? You raised pre flop and got a call from a tight player meaning there hand is probably pretty strong, there is a possible three of a kind ( kings ) or flush out there that would beat you. Since you just got called pre flop you don’t really no where you are at so, based on previous knowledge you can make a prediction and I would think the opponent has maybe A – K or K -  J, possibly suited, possibly with a flush. This is probably a good time to lay down those aces.

Slow Playing – We have all seen on television a slow play work perfectly, but be careful what you learn on television poker. The main goal in every hand is to get the maximum value for what you are holding, don’t slow play just for the sake of slow playing. If you feel you are not going to get any action from your hand if you bet out, go ahead and slow play to get some value, but don’t wait to long to take control of the pot. If you slow play often you will start to get less action on your checks and your game will start to become one dimensional. The biggest downfall to slow playing is you let your competitors catch up with you, and possibly beat you at a showdown. If you want extra value from your hand, but don’t want to get sucked out on you I suggest check – raising. For example if you are first to act after you spiked top set, check and when some one bets out behind you raise them, and either play a big pot or win it right there. Slow play when the time is right, against the right players and for the right reasons.

Re – Betting - This is when you make the same bet size on two streets. For example you bet $5 on the flop and catch two callers, and after the turn you bet $5 again. You won’t see this very often in an experienced game, but when you do light bulbs will go off. An experienced Holdem player will take this in one of two ways, one that you have a big hand and are trying to get value, and they might lay down there one pair. On the other hand if a good player has a draw you will laying them the odds to call and suck out on you. Re – Betting can be an effective strategy when playing inexperienced players, but probably won’t work against veterans of the game.

Another common problem amateurs have is knowing when to bluff. To be a winning Texas Holdem player you need to bluff, but if you don’t know how you will lose an awful a lot of money. For a beginner I would suggest the easiest time to bluff is when a board is “scary” and there aren’t a lot of players in the pot. By scary I mean if the community cards have a high pair or the cards are all suited. Making good sized bets (half to three quarter pot) in late position can be a good way to make a bluff look easy. If you want to bluff you are going to need to put your opponent on a hand and trust your instincts on every street. If you are not comfortable, take a stab on the flop and if catch a call, slow down and see what happens the rest of the way.

This is just scratching the surface of the mistakes you might be making playing Texas Holdem. Remember everybody makes mistakes, the key is learning from them and fixing the mistake the next time you are in that spot. Pay attention at the table, keep your emotions in check and have fun at the tables and you will become a winning player in no time.

In most ring games, it is recommended to play lower pairs either cautiously or not at all.  In short handed games you need to change you method of thinking.  Approximately once ever eight times you play a pair, you will flop a set.  When you flop a set, you obviously have a strong hand.  When playing short handed no limit holdem, pot odds are not quite as important as implied odds.  For example, let’s say you have pocket fours and have to call a $20 preflop raise.  Your opponent has $400 in front of him.  If you hit your set on the flop, there is a pretty good chance that you will be able to get a good portion, if not all of your opponents stack.  As a result, you need to play more single pairs.

If you miss the flop with your single pair, then you have the option of getting away cheaply.  Many times, when you miss flopping a set you will have to fold to a bet from an opponent.  There are some cases where you will play against players that raised preflop holding a pair or a hand such as AJ.  On the flop, they very well may check to you depending on the board.  A player that raised with J-J will likely check to you if you flat called their raise and an over card hits the board.  The same may be true if they have aces or kings and the flop comes middling.  In this event, you may be able to draw to another free card to hit your set.

When you hit your set, traditional wisdom says to slow play your hand.  Whether you slow play will depends on a few factors.  First, if the board flops with a potential draw, you want to make the player pay to draw out on you.  Next, if the board comes somewhat nonthreatening, you may want to check to induce a bet from your opponent, especially if it looks that they may have hit top pair of if you feel they have a pair in their hand.  The same is true if you have an opponent that is overly aggressive.

Granted, there will be some times that you and your opponent have sets and they outflop your set or outdraw your set.  These sorts of things happen in poker.  You will have opponents that will chase bad with certain draws and hit.  Others will call with an over pair and hit on occasion.  When this happens, do not let your bad luck affect your game.  It’s normal variance.  You will win the majority of the time when you flop a set.  Play your set as if every time will be a winner.

You can play the best short handed no limit poker games on Titan Poker.

Players will agree that hands such as ace-king suited, ace-queen suited, and ace jack suited can be strong holdings. There are some players that will make extravagant raises and call large raises with this type of hand. I am not saying not to raise at all with this hand, but remember that this hand is still a drawing hand at best. Yes, you can win on the strength of the cards alone in some situations, but do you really want to put yourself at risk with Ace high?

Next, let’s discuss top pair. Many players will make massive moves with top pair. While top pair or top pair with top kicker is a good hand, there are many situations where overplaying the hand can lead to disaster. For example, you hold A-K suited on a flop of K-Q-10. This is a situation where a poker player with A-J can bust you if you are not careful. Another situation that can arise is you hold A-Q suited and the flop comes Q-6-4. You bet out and your opponent raises or even puts you all in. What is the range of hand they could have? Did they raise preflop and you called? Were you the aggressor, and if so, what position did they call your bet from? This is a situation where you might be facing a set. Pocket sixes might call a late position raise. Pocket fours might call, even if the player is loose. Both hands may call a raise from late position hoping to hit a flop. Also, when you are holding A-K, A-Q, or A-J, you kicker is susceptible to over pairs, especially if you were in late position and you called a raise.

Another mistake that is frequently made is players calling all in bets with only a draw and insufficient odds. For example, you hold Ks-Qs and the flop fell 9d-10h-4c. The pot at present sits at 2000. Your opponent moves all in for 6,000. You must call a 6,000 chip bet, which represents 43% of the pot. Assuming that you have 10 outs, you only have a 40% chance to hit your hand. You do not have the odds to make this call.

Many players will call large raises and bets with a big pair and an over card on the board. For example, you have Kc-Ks and you make a big raise from middle position. Late position makes the call as well. The flop falls Ad-4h-8s. Some beginning players will make a continuation bet here. When those players make the bet, many times the late position player will re-raise or put their opponent all in. The inexperienced poker player will then call with their Kings and be left with two outs when their opponent shows an ace. Whenever you have a large pair other than aces, you need to pay attention to the board to watch for an over card. If you raised with a large pair and were called, you need to be aware that you may be facing another pair or someone with an ace.

Loose players are usually of the mentality that their loose play will beat most rocks at the table since rocks play tight. While this may sometimes occur, one common mistake that I see loose players make is bluffing a rock. A rock is a rock for a reason. Their play is solid. If they raised pre-flop, then they have a good starting hand. Sometimes, the flop will hit in such a way where a bluff will win the pot from a rock. When you bet into a rock, and the rock raises, it is time to fold unless you had a miracle flop. Also, if a rock bets into you on a flop, do not try a bluff raise against them unless you have infallible information that the bluff will work. There are two types of players you cannot bluff, a calling station and a rock when they have a good hand.

One final mistake I will discuss today is when players try to make too many fancy plays without understand what they are doing. There are a lot of nuisances of playing No-limit holdem that take years to master. Many beginners will sit down and try a bluff reraise at random to see whether it will work. They don’t take into account that the person that they just bluff reraised only bets out when they have nearly the nuts. Other players will automatically fire a bet to any check. When their opponent checks dark and their bet is reraised, they become confused as to why they were raised. David Williams made a great example of how to turn someone’s hyper-aggression against them in the 2003 World Series of Poker. Williams checked dark to Josh Arieh and he moved all in on the flop. Williams flopped a set and made a well timed double up.

Aggression for the sake of aggression can be a very dangerous thing. Many players will use the quote, “aggressive poker is winning poker.” Another adage that is very appropriate at times in poker is, “Speed kills.” Well timed aggression is a major key to winning at no-limit holdem. Blind aggression puts money in other player’s pockets.
If you cannot come up with a logical reason to make a move beyond just wanting to make the play, do not make the play.

All beginning no-limit holdem players will make mistakes in how they play. That is part of improving your game. By recognizing some common mistakes and taking proactive measures to correct them, you will be well ahead of the learning curve.

Playing Out of The Blinds

Playing form the blind positions can be the most difficult place to play at the table. Pre-flop you do get to act last and with a discount which will allow you to get into pots with weaker starting hands in no Limit Poker.  The story is completely different post flop when you will be forced to act first on all streets. Feel free to get into pots with weaker hands in these positions, but you need to be aware that you will have to act first after the flop. It’s hard to give you a range of starting hands to play in the blinds because the odds will be in your favor a lot of the times. For example if you are in the small blind playing one / two dollar no limit and four people limp in, there will be eleven dollars in the pot when it is your turn to act, therefore you have to call one dollar into an eleven dollar pot (11 – 1) and those odds are almost impossible to turn down no matter your cards. If you have a monster starting hand pre-flop in a blind position and feel you have to raise, make sure you raise enough to thin the field significantly. Once again with four limpers, eleven dollars in the pot and you wake up with a suited ace king you should raise enough to take the pot down or play a heads up pot (eg: depending on the game 5 -6 times the big blind). You do not want to play a big multi way pot when you have to act first, especially when you don’t have the nuts.

Playing in Early Position

Early position is the two to three seats after the blinds. Playing in early position means you will have to act first or early throughout the entire hand. It’s wise to limit your starting hands in these spots, to ensure that you do not get stuck in pots that you don’t belong in. Play big hands like pocket pairs or big suited aces. The big question when playing in early position is to raise or to just call (limp), and there is no perfect answer. A lot of the times you can judge what to do by the way the rest of the table is playing. If you limp at ultra aggressive or inexperienced tables you may be able to wait for someone else to raise for you in later position and either re-raise them or play a big pot while hiding your hand strength. On the flip side while playing at more experienced or solid tables limping in early position can set off alarms bells for your opponents and force them to either fold or limp in themselves. You can use this to your advantage, you may be able to get into the pots with weaker starters, but I do suggest raising it will make you money in the long run.

Playing in Middle Position

You can take it easy sitting in middle position, watch the table and find out how your opponents are playing. See what happens in early position and make a decision accordingly. Feel free to open up the range of hands that you are playing, but don’t get carried away and do something dumb. Play hands that you like suited connectors, pocket pairs and suited aces. You will not feel like you need to get in the action playing in middle position, and sometimes is more wise to continue playing as you were in early position.

Playing in Late Position

When playing in late position you are “In the drivers seat”, you have the option to act last on all streets. Playing from the button (dealer ) is the place at the table where you can be the most creative. Sit back watch the action unfold in front of you and then decide what the best way to play the pot is. Your starting cards don’t matter as much playing in late position, you already have the knowledge of what the rest the table thinks about there hands by the actions they have made. For example your playing from the button, everybody folds to you and you have a seven – queen off suit. In early position that is an easy fold, but when on the button you may be able to simply raise and take the blinds down. This is called stealing the blinds and while playing in the late stages of a tournament when the blinds are high stealing them could make the difference between winning and losing. Another thing to be aware of is if you consistently raise out of late position the other players will stop assuming you have a good hand and will start to open up there games, as they will be fed up with just giving you there blinds. Play all your hands the same so that you not giving off any betting patterns, for example in you have raised from the button all day three times the blind, then if you get pocket aces raise the blinds the same amount. By doing this your opponents may not respect the fact that you have a monster hand.

Playing your position at a poker table can be an easy way to improve your results. It is important to always try and figure out what your opponent thinks you have and move from there. Whether you are playing online or at a casino the knowledge of position will help you at the very least figure out what your opponents are doing. Good luck, and have fun at the tables.