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Preflop Strategy

Before the flop is where it all starts, where you are forced to make your first important decision depending on all of the variables involved with the hand. It is important to make good, solid decisions before the flop, as it will form the foundations for how the rest of the hand will be played out. If you make a high-quality decision before the flop, you will set the tone for the rest of the hand and give yourself the best opportunity to get into a moneymaking position. However, if you make a bad decision before the flop, you may well set yourself up for a big loss by getting yourself into a sticky position or missing out on a potentially rewarding hand.

Therefore after you have been dealt your cards preflop, it is important to take your time to evaluate all of the different variables in the hand, and not just make decisions on the cards that you are holding. It is important to consider your position and the type of opponents you are playing against, as well as know the correct starting hand requirements. So make sure you think very carefully before every flop and build the foundations for a profitable hand by making the correct preflop decision.

Starting Hand Selection
Choosing which hands to play and which hands to fold is fundamental to playing a winning poker game. The best hands to play in Texas Holdem are:

• Big pocket pairs: AA-TT
• Big suited connectors: AK, AQ, AJ, KQ
• Big connectors: AK, AQ, AJ, KQ

These particular combinations of cards have the best chances of winning than other cards, so if you stick to these you will find yourself in more profitable situations after the flop. It is possible to play other combinations of cards successfully, but if you are a beginner player then it is advised to stick with the big cards until you find your feet at the poker table.

Position
Your position in the hand is an incredibly important variable that you should be aware of in every hand, yet it is something that is all too often forgotten about. The dynamics of play are slightly different in the preflop betting round, as the small and big blind will be last to act, whereas they will be the first to act on every other betting round. However, the general principles of position will remain the same, as you want to try and play more hands where you have position over your opponents than in positions where you do not.

This means that you should avoid playing too many hands in the blinds or in an early position, as being one of the first to act in each hand can make things very difficult unless you are holding a premium hand. Be very careful when playing in the blinds, and don’t feel as though you have to enter more pots in these positions because you have already committed money to the pot. It is far safer to let marginal hands go rather than to call raises with half a holding and play out of position for the rest of the hand.

Remember that position can often play a more influential role than the strength of the cards that players are actually holding, so try and keeping the upper hand by combining good position with good cards.

The cards listed above in the starting hands selection section can be played from almost any position, but you should try and tighten up your starting hand selection in the earlier positions. So as a general rule, you can play with a wider range of the top starting hands in later positions than you should in the earlier positions in the hand.

So the top strategy tips on preflop position are:

• Always be aware of your position in a hand
• Try to avoid playing out of position unless you have a strong holding
• You can afford to loosen up your starting hand requirements in later positions
• Don’t feel committed to playing hands when in the blinds

Betting Tips
When the action reaches you before the flop, you will be faced with the decision to either fold, call or raise. If there has been no raise before you, then a call will simply mean matching the size of the big blind, which is also known as ‘limping in’. This is generally not a good play, as if you are entering any pot in Holdem you will want to be making a raise and show aggression. If you are limping in with a hand, you are either entering the pot with a sub-standard hand or you are playing a premium hand too weakly. So the real question you should ask yourself if you are first to enter the pot before the flop is; “Am I folding or am I raising?”

If you decide that you are going to enter the pot, you should be looking to make a raise of about 3 or 4 times the size of the big blind. By making a minimum raise you are letting opponents with marginal hands come in cheaply, and you are almost defeating the object of making a preflop raise. The idea of a preflop raise is to reduce the amount of players that follow you to see a flop, as it is easier to make profitable decisions when there are fewer players in the pot. So make sure to come in with a strong 3 or 4 BB raise, and increase the size of the raise if you find that a lot of players are still calling these raises with marginal hands or if other players have limped in before you.

If there has been a raise before you, you must now consider whether you should fold, call or raise. If you have a poor or marginal starting hand you should look to fold. If you have a good starting hand like the ones mentioned above you should be happy to call and see a flop. If you have one of the top starting hands like AA or KK, should re-raise to help try and get as much money into the pot as possible.

There will be a few cases where limping-in will be an acceptable play. This will normally be when there have been a number of other players limping-in before you, and so you will have better odds to see a flop. The best hands to limp in with are strong drawing hands such as suited cards with an ace or king, or any connecting cards that can make a straight. You are not looking to make top pair in these limped multi-way pots, as they can often land you in trouble. So aim to play hands that can land you a very strong holding or a strong draw, and then comfortably fold on the flop if neither of these materialize.

Top strategy tips for preflop betting:

• Don’t be afraid to bet or raise
• Make solid 3 or 4 BB raises when entering an un-opened pot
• Increase the size of your raise if other players have limped or are calling stations
• Avoid limping with mediocre hands
• Only limp if you have a potentially strong hand and others have limped before you

Other Preflop Tips

• If you are playing in a shorthanded game such as a 6-max table, you can afford to reduce your starting hand requirements so that you can see more flops. If you stick to the starting hand requirements mentioned above, you would probably find that you are folding too often and missing out on opportunities to win money. So you can afford to play other hands such as AT, KJ, KT, QJ and so on.
• When making your decision pre flop, you should also consider the type of players that you are playing against. If you notice that a tight player has made a raise, it is likely that they have a very strong hand, so you should re-evaluate the strength of your cards in this hand. Similarly, if a loose player makes a raise, it is more likely to be profitable to be call with a decent hand as you could well be holding a stronger hand than them.
• It is important to not be afraid about making bets or raises before the flop. It is important to be aggressive in poker, as it is a winning style that all good players adopt. If you are afraid to make bets and raises when you should be, then you will be making unprofitable decisions and you will find it hard to ever win money from the game. To help accustom yourself to being aggressive, you could try dropping down in limits where there is less money at stake, so that you can become comfortable with playing aggressively and notice the advantages of an aggressive style over a weak playing style.

Everythingaboutpoker.com · Filed Under Poker Strategy 

The Gap Concept in Poker

Introduction
The Gap Concept is a term that you may not have heard of, but the concept is one you should already know the basics of. This concept was originally introduced by David Sklansky in his famous book ‘Tournament Poker for Advanced Players’ and continues to provide players with a solid grounding in poker strategy. The concept is one that is simple to explain as you will see in the rest of the article and one that you can think about to implement into your game easily.

What is the Gap Concept?
The Gap Concept simply means that it will take a better hand to call a raise than what it will take to be the initial raiser. This means that a higher value is placed on the hand of the initial raiser because generally speaking, it takes a better hand to raise with when there are more players behind you left to act. The earlier the position of the raiser, the stronger the value of the hand. With more players left to act from behind a player in early position there is more of a chance that someone will have a solid hand. If you don’t have a really strong hand when you raise from early position you leave yourself open to be exploited. That is why there is a difference in the value of a hand raised from early position than one that is raised from late position. I.e. there are fewer players that are likely to have a solid hand behind you.

Applying the Gap Concept
When a player raises from early position, provided that they are a solid player you will be able to ascertain the range of hands that they could have. Typically a player that raises from early position can be placed on hands like AA, KK, QQ, JJ, 1010, AK, AQ and AJ. In theory, the later the position of the raiser, the hands they can be placed on becomes wider. As we start to move towards the positions close to the button the quality of hands that will be raised decreases. Hands like KQ and KJ for example and middle pairs like 88 and 99 will regularly be raised from late position.

As you can see the Gap Concept relies on the theory that all players will adhere to ‘normal’ poker practice and only play solid hands from early position. As we know this is not always the case and when we come across a loose player they can have almost anything at times. This concept is only meant to be a guide and give food for thought when thinking about what types of hands your opponent could have. This concept is trying to convey the message that if you are faced with an early raiser, you should only call with premium hands. If the pot has not been raised before you, you will not need the same strength of hand.

You will not need the same strength of hand when raising from late position in an unraised pot as what you will when it has already been raised. The reason for this is twofold. The first part of this is because others will have to apply the Gap Concept to you. Because you have raised before them they will have to place you on a strong hand, and in turn have to have a solid hand themselves to call. The second part of this is the fact that there are fewer players left to act behind you. As you know, the fewer players left to act behind you the more valuable your hand becomes. With any luck you might get a few free rides by taking down an uncontested pot. This is especially handy when you are playing in tournaments and can be crucial in the later stages of them.

Summary
To sum up the Gap Concept there are a couple of things you have to remember. The general principle of it is that in theory, the earlier the player raises a pot the more likely he is to have a strong hand. This means that to call a raise like this you will need a much stronger hand than you would if the pot hasn’t been raised yet. This is why there is a difference between the value of a hand that is raising an uncontested pot from early position and one that is raising from late position. The difference in the value is referred to as the ‘Gap’.

Everythingaboutpoker.com · Filed Under Poker Strategy 

Beating Online Micro Limit Poker

Micro limit poker games typically range from 1c/2c to 10c/20c blind structure. You will often find loose players at the low limit tables. However, you’ll sometimes find experienced players hunting for the fish in the hopes of making some easy money. While many people claim that the micro limits are unbeatable due to the fact most beginners rely too much on luck, this is not totally true. If you only play your best hands, learn to read your opponents correctly, and pay attention to your position, you can be a consistent winner.

Here are some useful tips that will help you beat the micro limits:

Tip #1: Only play your best hands, don’t try to bluff
This tip might seem obvious, but I’ve seen too many players trying to outplay or bluff their opponents at micro stakes games. Micro limits are populated by weak players and this is precisely the reason why you should only play your best hands. Beginners are not familiar with pot odds and they are likely to call anything so if you bet hard into them with an average hand or if you try to bluff, there’s a good chance they will put money in the pot until they see the showdown. So don’t take too much risk and don’t be concerned about your image. Just bet your best hands and fold your bad hands.

Tip #2: Sit down with the maximum buy-in
As mentioned above, people playing at the micro limits are often weak and they are more likely to call all-ins with any kind of made hands and draws. If you buy into the table with the maximum buy-in amount and go all-in with the best possible hand, you give yourself the best chance to make the most money from the game. You can’t always be the favorite on the flop, so if you have a premium hand and have a comfortable bankroll, don’t be afraid to throw your whole buy-in into the pot as it will always pay off in the long run.

Tip #3: Beware of pre-flop raises
When playing at micro limits, most players won’t raise pre flop if they don’t have a very strong hand. All they want is to see as many flops they can, hit a big hand, and then bet and raise to squeeze as much money as they can from the pot. Your opponents will pay for the strength of their hand; they won’t think about what hand you might hold. So if a player raises pre flop and then on every street, they nearly always have a huge hand. At the micro limits, there are many more happy callers than compulsive raisers, so beware of pre-flop raising.

Tip #4: Don’t give away tips to your opponents
The bad beats frequency is likely to be higher at micro limit games than at higher stakes because as we noted before, bad players will play almost anything and sometimes they will go away with it. You might get nervous and want to tell them how much they suck for calling a particular hand, but you should refrain from doing that. Stay away from the chat box, and let your opponent make the same bad move again; you’ll be ready to crush him next time.

Tip #5: Choose the best micro limit poker sites
To increase your chances of making good profits from micro limit poker, you should play at the poker rooms that feature the best micro limit games. Our favorites are PokerStars and Titan Poker, which offer insanely easy to beat micro limit cash games starting from 1c/2c.

Evaluation
As you have noticed, there are some differences between playing at the micro limits and playing at higher stakes. Firstly, you sould stay away from bluffing and secondly, you shouldn’t be too concerned about giving yourself a loose image. Just focus on getting the most out of your best hands, beware of pre-flop raises, don’t give tips to your opponents, and you should be able to beat the micro limits rather easily.

Everythingaboutpoker.com · Filed Under Poker Strategy 

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