Texas Holdem Poker

Many beginning players will take up Texas Holdem Poker and then wonder why they do not win. They see what looks like a simple game on television and then they try to play the game and find out that they are just donating money to the game. Let’s take a look today at a few leaks in a beginner’s game that can lead to frequent disaster.

First, many beginning players play too many hands. This sounds worn and cliché but many players don’t get what this means. Always playing two face cards or any ace is a sign of someone playing too many hands. You should be sticking to a tight aggressive strategy when you begin as a new player. Otherwise, your bankroll will take massive downswings.

Next, many poker players will overvalue their hand in Holdem. A great example would be someone that has pocket aces and the board has three spades on it. The player bets their hand big because they have aces and continues to push the hand when their opponent raises back at them. In this case, they are behind to a flush and will lose the hand. Another example is someone that commits a good sized stack with A-K. A-K is a good hand, but it is still a drawing hand. Sometimes a player will push and get called by an inferior hand. Most times they will be in a race situation.

The most common leak that you will see in new beginning players is tilting. The player picks up pocket kings and then gets outdrawn by A-5 or some other marginal hand. They then out of frustration or anger start playing any garbage hand. This spells disaster and devastates more beginner bankrolls that players would like to admit.

Another leak that is seen way too often is known as “playing TV poker.” This partially goes along with playing too many hands, but it involves a little more. There are players that will watch TV and then try to imitate the same moves or play the same types of hands they see players such as Gus Hansen play. They don’t understand the strategy behind the moves that they have seen or even the hands that led up to the play.

Sometimes players will be hyper-aggressive with their betting because they see other players bully players around. They then get a rude awakening when someone wakes up with a hand or someone with a decent hand decides to look them up. These same players will also make ill-timed bluffs or will frequently bluff just for the sake of bluffing.

While some of the above leaks seem elementary in nature, so many players make them that it bear mentioning. If you are a new player, take note and try to keep from making these mistakes when you sit down to play your next game of Holdem.

Texas Holdem players that start at low limits usually begin their play with Limit Holdem. Many begin at the $2-$4 and $3-$6 level. These are the lowest levels both in term of competition and profit potential. It is also a level that the most mistakes are made and certain mistakes are repeated in almost every hand. Today, I would like to take a look at a couple of mistakes that low limit Holdem players make.

First, low Limit players will come into a pot calling several bets cold. I don’t care how loose a game is, coming into a pot that has been 3 bet with a substandard hand is a long term losing proposition. There are exceptions to this obviously. If you have two players that raise and reraise every hand, then you can widen your calling standards. However, I was at a table recently where the tightest player raised and was reraised. The reraise was called by three players. Of course, the three players that called three bets cold lost their money.

Next, another mistake that I see made often is players playing too tight at a super passive table. I personally have been guilty of this mistake in the past. I would sit at a table that would have 6 to 8 players stay in for the blinds and I would sit there and wait for hands. As I gained more experience, I would start to speculate with reasonable hands etc. Eventually, I would find a good balance. However, I see players that will sit and play like a rock when just a little bit of belt loosening would garner them a profit.

Another common mistake I see made is not raising at all preflop. If you have a strong hand, then raise it. While it is true that in some games you will not thin out the field, raising puts players on notice that you have a hand. Sometimes you can take the pot with a continuation bet. Sometimes you will hit the flop or have a big pair and still be able to take the pot with resistance. By not raising, you allow more people the chance to see a flop. I was in a hand about a year ago with a man that never raised preflop, even with hands such as pocket kings. His lack of raising cost him bets and saved me money. Don’t cost yourself bets. Raise your hands.

The next mistake is one that is primarily a live cash game mistake. In most games, if only the blinds are left in a hand, many times these players will chop the pot and just take back their blinds. Sometimes you will get a player that is stubborn and will go ahead and want to play their hand. Unless you can get another raise in the pot preflop, this move is usually a bad one. The main reason I say this is due to the rake. If a hand goes to the flop, most casinos go ahead and take their drop. If the pot is chopped, they don’t get a drop. If you just call preflop and don’t chop, you will usually end up losing money. Unless you think that you can get some money out the other player, just chop the blinds. I know this sounds counterintuitive, but it saves on the rake.

Many players starting to play Texas Holdem since 2003 have begun their poker education with No Limit Holdem. For many players, this is the only type of Holdem that they have played. Whether it is due to bankroll considerations or due to wanting to improve their overall poker game, many players eventually take a look at playing Limit Holdem. For many, the transition from No Limit to Limit can be a difficult one. Let’s take a look at a few pointers to help make the transition smoother.

First, in Limit Holdem your objective is to win pots and bet, not stack. This concept is alone makes playing Limit a lot tougher than No Limit for some. In No Limit, one or two pots can erase a deficit and make you a winner for a session. The same is not true in Limit Holdem. Limit Holdem is more of a slow grind and building a profit is the end goal and not one that can be hit by sucking out on one big hand on the river.

Next, Limit Holdem is much more math driven than No Limit Holdem. You need to have a strong grasp on odds and statistics to become a successful Limit Holdem player. You don’t need to know the winning percentage of 10-9 vs. 7-8 for example but you do need to know what type of price the pot is laying to you and pot odds. There are many times that you will make a call in Limit Holdem based not on the fact that you are winning but due to the fact that a pot is laying huge odds. For example, if you hold bottom pair and the pot is laying 13 to 1 to you, you are likely going to call a bet on the river even if you know you are beat. About the only way you would fold here is if the player has flashed you his cards.

Bluffing is much more difficult to do in Limit Holdem. The main reason is that many players take the “oh it’s only one bet” mentality. Other times it is due to the fact that they are getting pot odds to call. One common complaint from No Limit players is that they “cannot push a person off a hand.” I am not saying that you cannot bluff in Limit Holdem, but I am saying that it will not work with nearly the same frequency as No Limit.

You will also draw more frequently in Limit Holdem than in No Limit due to the fact that you will have proper odds to draw. Again, the inability to push players off draws is another common complaint by No Limit players.

For those switching from No Limit to Limit, prepare for a bit of a challenge and prepare for a bit of frustration. Playing Limit takes a different skill set but it is a game that can be mastered with a bit of preparation and practice. Good luck to you at the tables.

One common problem that Holdem Poker players experience is not being able to get away from the table when they are in a losing session. Players will leave a table early to preserve a win but will stick around for hours to try and chase lost money. As a result they end up losing more money than was necessary for a session.

Recently a friend of mine was having this problem and one solution that I suggested to him to help to keep losses down is to institute a stop loss. A stop loss is a system that a poker player sets up to limit the amount of money the player loses in a day. The way it works is simple. If you reach the limit that you set, you leave the game or quit for the day.

Stop losses come in two types. The first is a session stop loss. This sets a limit for the player for each individual session. Let’s say you play No Limit and you set a stop loss at 3 buy-ins per session. If you lose, you leave the game. This is a simple plan but it does come with a potential pitfall. Let’s say that you play a session and go on a bad streak and leave the session. You could just as easily buy-in to another table or at a later time in the day.

The type of stop loss that I personally recommend is a daily stop loss. This type of stop loss sets a limit relative to the limits that you are playing. If you reach your stop loss for the day, you are done for the day. For example, many players will set their stop loss at 30 big bets. If you are playing $5-$10 Limit Holdem, 30 big bets is $300. If you lose $300 in a day, you leave the game and come back another day. The main reason that most stop losses are 30 big bets is that it is very hard to win more than 30 big bets in a day in a typical Limit game. Five buy-ins to a NL game is about the equivalent.

Stop losses are great tools, but a player must have the discipline to follow their stop loss regardless of the game. There are some players that will stay in a “good game” and lose more money just because the game is good. Seldom will you be able to recover 30 big bets or 5 buy-ins in a single session once it is lost. What you risk is putting yourself further in the red.

A big key to managing ones bankroll is to keep loses at a minimum. Tools such as the stop loss will allow you to get away from a game when you are running bad. This in turn will help to preserve your bankroll and allow you to come back and fight another day. Good luck to you at the tables.

Tournament Texas Holdem is a battle of attrition. Deep field tournaments are a grind that will test your mental game as well as your physical stamina. Most people don’t realize what a grind it is to play a full day of Texas Holdem Poker. It will drain you, and you will never know what it is like unless you sit at a table and play for 10 plus hours.

Recently the final table of the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event lasted 22 hours, almost an entire day of No Limit Holdem. Every hand could be your last, and one little mistake can cost you a lot of money. To survive in big tournaments you need to stay on point for long periods of time, you need to remain focused on the task at hand. You never know when you are going to get the hand that will either bust you, or propel you further into the event. I am going to try and set up a few things for you that will help you survive and make some money in deep fields.

Research - Before you put a large sum of money down to play in a big tournament you need to know what you are getting in to. Check out the blind structures, sometimes overlooked structures have a major impact on tournaments. Depends on what kind of Poker player you are, but for the most part the slower the blinds increase the better chance the best players will emerge in the end. Quicker blind structures will force you to gamble earlier in tournaments and might not allow you to play your game. With slower structures (ex. 1 hour blinds), you can take your time, get your reads and play the game that best fits you.

Another thing to research is the payout structures, how many players and how much money will be awarded. Once again it depends on what kind of player you are, some people like when the winner takes a large portion of the money, while others like a safer structure where more people will make a smaller amounts of money. You need to know yourself and pick the payout structures that will best fit your game. If you are a win or bust player, feel free go for the payout structure that will pay the winners 40% or more.

Patience - There is no need to gamble early on in Texas Holdem tournaments, especially when there are a lot of players. Take your time when you get started, feel out your table and set up a game plan that you think will help you win. I am not saying sit there and don’t play, I am saying you need to manage your risk and pick and choose your spots. As an example if you start a tournament with starting stakes of 20 000 and the blinds starting at 25 – 50, there is no reason for you to go broke early in the event. The only reason you should go broke in the first few blind levels is if you take a horrible beat (ex Royal vs Quads).

Once you feel comfortable with the game and you have a good plan it is time to exploit what you have learned. There will become a time when you need to gamble and the better reads and information you have the better chances that you make the right decision.

Stay Ahead of the Binds - The worst thing you can do in a Texas Holdem Tournament is get blinded out. No one wants to go down without a fight, and if the blinds are high in comparison to your stack, its time to gamble. A good rule of thumb is if you have 10 big blinds or less left in your stack, its time to find a hand a go with it. Even if you don’t get any action when shoving your stack in, stealing blinds can buy you some time to find the hand you truly want to get your money in with. If you are low on chips you need to force people to lay down decent hands and take your chances of coming up against a monster. Take advantage of position, if you have a chance to pick up loose pots do it.

Get Lucky - Can’t really control this, but to win big Holdem tournaments you will have to get lucky. Luck is a big part of poker tournaments, and you don’t get any it will be tough to come away with the title. In addition to that you need to stay composed when you get unlucky, and it will happen. Control your emotions, stay focused on your goals and do your best to avoid tilt.

It’s a Team Game? – There will be a point in all tournaments where eliminating players is the most important thing. You need to move yourself up the pay scale and this might mean that you need to give up some value in individual hands in order to bust another player. This might mean you need to check down, slow play and play some hands you usually wouldn’t. I have seen it many times, when a player doesn’t check down, and the all in player survives and busts that same player later in the tournament. Its not a team game, but sometimes helping others, in order to improve your chances to win is the best thing to do.

The draw of the big cash, the glory and respect is why people play big field tournaments. These events can be time consuming, and very frustrating, anyone who has ever finished “on the bubble” knows what I mean. If you do your research, be patient, stay ahead of the blinds and get lucky you might be the next big winner. Tournaments with big fields will test every aspect of your game, mental and physical. Don’t get discouraged you cannot expect to win every tournament you play in, play your best and give yourself a chance.