Texas Holdem

Your starting hand is probably the most important aspect of a Texas Holdem game. Unlike other Poker variants, Texas Holdem has only 169 different starting hands. This limited number means that suffering many bad hands will always eventually lead you to some good staring hands, so sit tight.

Your position will be of great importance when evaluating your starting hand. The most general rule for all players is to fold when your starting hand has two non-pair cards less than 10. However, this can change with a player’s position, and in most cases, the following is quite successful:

In an early position: raise with A-A, K-K, and A-K, call with A-K, A-Q, K-Q, Q-Q, J-J, and 10-10, and fold with all other hands.

In a middle position: call with 9-9, 8-8, A-10, A-J, J-Q, Q-K, and A-Q.

In a late position: call with K-10, Q-10, J-10, A-J, A-10, A-any card, and small pairs. Do not call a raise unless your hand is strong, and if it is not, fold.

Note: 2 suited cards or an Ace with a small card is not a strong starting hand in he long run. High pairs are the strongest as they put early money into the pot and encourage other players to fold.

Don’t waste money by calling all raises with marginal hands, and don’t automatically call small blinds.

Deciding to continue after the flop is the second most important aspect of playing Texas Holdem, because a player’s hand is 71% complete after seeing the flop. If there is a bet in front of you, fold if you do not have a high pair, straight, flush draw or better.

Bet when: you are first to act and think you have the best hand. Fold when:

• Another player raises and you’re holding only one pair.
• There is a bet in front of you and you have only 2 unsuited cards.
• You have no chance of a straight or flush.

Only bet your hand if you are first to act, and call as long as there is a slight chance you may win, as folding is costly at this point in the game. You may already have committed a large percentage of your chips, so a small percentage more is at many times worth the risk. However, if you cannot make your hand once the River card is turned over, fold.