Feb
16
Grabbing information is one of the most important skills that you need in poker. From your opponent’s betting patterns and the “tells” that they make simply define your hand and are simply integral on your next decision. But you can’t do that without proper positioning, which is on the button or somewhere near it.
But that doesn’t mean that you should fold every hand if you’re not in the proper position, each has its pros and cons, and it should also determine how you should play your hand.
In this article, I’ll tell you how to utilize perfectly your position in pre-flop play.
This position is from under the gun to the third turn in a ring table, which has around eight people seated. In this seat, you have to be choosy in raising your hand or simply limping into the pot because there are about five to seven people yet to act, thus there are more chances for them to raise the bets and given that you don’t have a hand that’s good enough, you just lost money the size of the blind.
So it’s important that you only raise premium hands in this position like AK, AQ and AJ suited. When someone re-raises after you, you have a good idea that he/she has jacks or queens. So not only is raising pre-flop a good way to drive out people who have small cards that may get lucky after the flop, it also gives you information on who probably has a hand better than yours.
In this position, you have to be looser, but not to the extent that you’re virtually throwing your chips away. A9, K10 and QJ may be raised here, given that no one has raised and indicated that he/she has an excellent hand.
Again, the reason why that you should raise pre-flop is to mine important information about your opponents, if they have good to great cards.
In late position, you can practically raise any hand you want, depending on the circumstances. If everyone just limps in to the pot, and a raise is nowhere in sight, then you stick your foot right in and raise around four to five times the big blind, even with cards like 24. It may win you the pot right there.
But be wary when everyone calls when you do raise, because they may sense that you’re trying to steal the pot. Don’t cringe if your technique fails and if the flop shows high cards like A-J-4, raise outright and try to steal the pot again. They may rethink that you tried to steal the pot before the flop and give you credit for hitting aces or jacks.
As you may observe, one may get looser in choosing his/her cards when nearing late position and also presents you the opportunity to steal the pot. Late position also entails you to play more aggressively and show some muscle, enabling you to hammer on pots, do isolation plays and basically eat up the blinds. So to speak, position should guide you on how to play your hands because it opens the option of instilling fear into your opponent, bluffing your way into the pot or does the complete opposite of the previous two.
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February 16, 2009
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One Response to “Texas Hold ‘Em Secrets – Preparing For the Flop”
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After seeing the flop, don’t be afraid to cut your losses. A common mistake made by novices is to decide, “I’m already in this hand, so I might as well play it out.” Wrong.
With seven players at a table, two pair or better will generally be the winning hand. If you don’t have the high pair after the flop (e.g. if the flop is K-9-5, the high pair would be two Ks), and you’re not in good position for a straight or a flush, you should probably get out of the hand.
However, remember that as the number of players goes down, so does the potential of a strong hand — so if you’re at a table with just two other players, it could pay off to be more aggressive.
If you’re first to bet after the flop, don’t be afraid to check. This can work to your advantage in two ways. First, if your hand is on the weak side, you might be able to see one more card without having to put more into the pot. Second, if your hand is strong, you could convince an opponent or two that it’s weaker than it really is.