Implied Odds

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Introduction
Implied odds in poker is a concept that is one that you will get better at as you become a more experienced player. When we discuss implied odds we are generally talking about whether or not a player feels that calling a bet will be ‘worth it’ after the later rounds of betting have been completed. As an extension from calculating pot odds, you would think this concept uses maths principles as well. That is not necessarily the case. When you are working out the implied odds you are trying to work out the future value of the pot. You may not have the pot odds to call, but if there are many players in the pot or you have strong reason to believe if you make your hand you will be paid off handsomely then it is worth the call.

How to use Implied Odds?
The best way to explain how to use implied odds is to use an example. Let us say that you are on a flush draw and there is only one other person in the hand. They bet the flop and you call. They bet the turn and you call. You then hit your flush on the river. They then check to you and then you bet. They may or may not call but the point is you have not received good value for making the calls.

Another example is when there are three cards of the same suit on the board and you have the ace of that suit. Your opponent fires a large bet at you and you call. The turn card gives you the nut flush and your opponent checks. It is very unlikely at this point that you win any more money from this pot. If you miss your flush on the turn that means that you are going to be faced with another large bet.

These two examples above show you that playing drawing hands that look dangerous to your opponent isn’t a good idea. As soon as the danger card comes they are going to be scared off and be hesitant to wards contributing to the pot any more. The idea behind implied odds is that you want to continue to be paid off once you hit your draw. This is where the value of calling a bet comes in when you don’t necessarily have the pot odds to do so.

An example of a situation on where you will receive implied odds worthy of playing against your pot odds calculation is when you have an open ended straight draw. The key here is that your hand can be disguised a lot better than what a flush can. When you hit your draw your opponent is likely to keep betting into you. If your opponent has a strong hand like two pair, a set or even top pair with a solid kicker you can easily be paid off here. When you make your draw bet it aggressively and more often than not you will be rewarded nicely for it.

These examples that we have just taken you through should give you a clear idea of the fundamentals of implied odds. Much of the concept is based around the ‘feel’ of how the hand is going to turn out. The more you play and begin to understand the concept the better you will get at being able to judge what type of hands will pay you off. The key to using implied odds is to play hands that your opponents will find hard to put you on. If they have trouble putting you on a certain type of draw then this is when you will be paid off the best.

Closing Thoughts
Some poker players like to use strictly a math based game or one based on gut instinct. If you like to use a mixture of both like many players to than it is important to understand this basic concept. Put simply, if you have great implied odds you can ignore the pot odds. If you don’t have great implied odds then it is time to make you decision based on your pot odds calculation.

Tags: How To Play Poker, Poker Mathematics

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Basic Texas Holdem Poker Rules

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Basic Texas Holdem Poker Rules The Texas Holdem version of poker is one of the easiest to learn. It is for this reason that it has now become the most popular poker variant both online and in casinos. The simplicity of the Texas Holdem rules allows new players to pick up the game and start playing after a few minutes, whilst the depth of the game helps keep players interested for years. This guide aims to give you a complete understanding on how Texas Holdem is played, and it will take no longer than 5 minutes. So take a little of your time and learn how to play the hottest card game in town.

The Basics
Texas Holdem is played with a 52-card deck and poker chips. Texas Holdem can be played in a cash game style, where there is no time limit and each hand is played with real money. The game can also be played in a tournament style where each player receives a set amount of chips at the start, and the winner is the player that obtains all of the chips on the table. Tournaments can also be played for real money, where the winner takes all or part of the other players’ buy-ins.

Each player is dealt two cards face down on the table, these are called ‘holdecards’
5 community cards are dealt face up in the middle of the table in 3 separate stages
‘The Flop’ is the first stage, where the first 3 cards are dealt face up
‘The Turn’ is the second stage, where 1 card is dealt up
‘The River’ is the final stage, where 1 last card is dealt face up
Players use a combination of the 2 cards in their hand and the 5 cards on the table to make the best 5 card hand (see Texas Hold’em Hand Rank)
At each stage there is a round of betting
If there are still players left in the hand after the final round of betting, the hand will go to a ‘showdown’ and the best hand will take the money in the pot

Betting
Betting is a fundamental part of poker. The amount you can bet depends of the variant of Texas Holdem you are playing. In Limit Holdem you can only bet a fixed amount on each round. In Pot Limit Holdem you can bet any size you wish up to the amount that is already in the pot. In No Limit Holdem you can bet any amount of money on any round up to the amount you have in front of you. There are numerous stages in the game of Texas Holdem where betting can take place. The rounds of betting are listed in order below:

Holecards are dealt
Round of betting
Flop is dealt
Round of betting
Turn is dealt
Round of betting
River is dealt
Round of betting

In each of these rounds of betting, you will have 3 options available to you depending on what has happened before the action reaches you. The two situations you will be in are acting after there has been a bet, or acting after no bets have been made.

Acting After No Bets

Check – By ‘checking’ you do not put any money in the pot, and the next card will be dealt if no other bets are made.
Bet – By betting you put money into the pot. This means that the other players must call this bet to see the next card to be dealt.
Fold – You also have the option to fold, but this is rarely done because it is currently free for you to see another card and give yourself an opportunity to make the best hand.

Acting After A Bet

Call – By calling, you put the same amount of money into the pot that the other player has ‘bet’. Therefore you will see the next card if no other players raise this bet.
Raise – You can raise another player’s bet and force them to call an additional amount of money for them to see the next card.
Fold – If you do not wish to put more money into the pot, you can fold your hand. Your hand will be declared ‘dead’ and you will no longer be able to win the money in the pot.

Dealing
The cards in Texas Holdem have to be dealt in accordance to a simple set of rules. These rules help to keep the dealing fair, and prevent the cards from being fixed.

Holecards must be dealt 1 at a time from the top of the pack in a clockwise motion starting from the dealer’s left.
Before the flop can be dealt, a card must be ‘burned’ which means that this card is dealt face down on the table and placed to one side.
Before the turn, another card must be ‘burned’
Before the river, one final card must again be ‘burned’

As you can hopefully see, Texas Holdem is a very simple game to pick up. It is also a very enjoyable game and can be played for real money or for entertainment purposes without the use of money. Due to the betting nature of the game, it is possible to learn skills and strategies to improve the way you play and win money through playing poker.

Tags: How To Play Poker, Poker Strategy, Texas Hold'em

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Top Online Poker Tells

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Poker Tells When playing online poker, it’s more difficult to tell whether your opponents are bluffing or they actually got a premium hand because you can’t see their physical expressions. Nonetheless, there are other useful tells which you can use when playing online.

So what are the most common online poker tells?
The speed of play of your opponents is a fundamental factor when it comes to online poker tells. As a general rule, a quick bet can be interpreted as a sign of weakness, and a delayed action can be a sign of strength, as your opponent is thinking about the best way to act with what he considers to be a premium hand. Pay attention to the amount of time it takes your opponents to make their move, and store that information in a corner of your mind. If you are able to see their cards at showdown, you will the chance to determine with what kind of hand they “slow bet” and what kind of hand they “quick bet.”

You should also think about your own way of playing to hide these tells. The best strategy consists in taking the same amount of time for every action you take, so that your opponents won’t be able to pick up tells from your speed of play.

So let’s have a look at the most common online poker tells:

A delay followed by a check
Most players who take a longer time than normal and then check want you to believe they have a strong hand and that they are thinking about betting. In most cases, they have a weak hand and don’t want you to raise so they can see another card for free.

A delay followed by a bet
Players who wait a longer time than normal and then bet often have a strong hand. They want you to believe they have a weak hand to lure you into calling/raising.

An instant-call after you bet
The opponents who call your bet instantly often have a weak hand. These players want you to believe they have a good hand and are hoping you will not raise again.

An instant-check, or a check / raise
Players who use the check/fold button are ready to fold to any bet, thus meaning that they have a weak hand. In addition, they might be playing at many tables at the same time so they are not paying much attention to the game. It’s easy tell when a player uses a check box as his action comes within a blink of the eye of the previous player. However, you might bump into a player who will check quickly and then raise. You have to be very careful in this case because he wants to indicate weakness to make you bet into his strong hand. Also, if your opponent has checked the “raise any” button, it’s obvious that he has a premium hand.

A bet on the turn
If a player calls and checks on the flop and then bets on the turn, it often indicates he has a weak hand. Those kind of bets often mean that they picked up a draw or that they are semi-bluffing with a draw they got on the flop. You should consider a raise even if you might be bluffing yourself.

An instant-bet / raise on the river
This move usually indicates that the player has a very strong hand. If they raise or bet so fast, they want you to believe they are bluffing. This move is also often used on the turn and in most cases (less frequent that a bet on the river) it denotes a strong hand.

Watching the chat box
An easy way to pick up tells is by paying close attention to the chat box. Usually, if a player who has a big mouth suddenly gets quiet, you can be sure he’s playing a strong hand and he’s concentrating to get the most out of the pot. However, if a quiet player suddenly becomes a bit too talkative in the chat box, he’s probably trying to bluff with a weak hand or he’s on “tilt,” thus emotionally unable to play good poker until he calms down.

Fold / Call / Raise percentage
This is another easy way to pick up tells. Watch your opponents to get a sense of what their fold/call/raise percentage might be. You’ll spot tight players easily because they rarely play if they don’t have a good starting hand. When they bet, you can be sure they have a premium hand. In addition, paying attention the way your opponents are playing should also give you an edge over the “calling stations,” players who nearly always pay to see the flop and thus have poor starting hand selection.

Waiting for the Big Blind
When you sit down to play a Texas Holdem game online, you’ll often have the possibility to “wait for the big blind,” or you can put up a matching big blind to start playing instantly. This tells you if an online player is patient or not. If he doesn’t want to wait for the big blind to get to him, he may not be patient enough to wait for a good starting hand and he’s probably a loose player.

Beginners’ tells
New poker players might be difficult to pick up tells on. They often play erratically you can’t figure out anything about their game. For example, most beginners (or some sharks, see later) act on their hand exactly the opposite of its strength, meaning they place bets for their weak hands and check for their strong hands. If you can see their cards on showdown, you’ll be able to tell if a player is playing like that, and mark him as a beginner. But don’t get confused by a shark who might be using the check-raise move!

Tags: How To Play Poker, Top Online Poker Tells