Poker Classes
Tournaments
PokerStrip
PLAYING TIGHTER
If everyone at the Texas Hold'em Poker table plays loose then no one can pull ahead. The card players will trade pots back and forth while the casino slowly rakes all their money. The better Hold'em players will lose to a lesser extent, but in the end, no one can succeed.
“No one can succeed if everybody acts tight. Solely the house wins.”
Professional Tip
The tight rounders will trade smaller pots to and fro while the house rakes all their money.
Whenever everybody at the Texas Hold'em Poker table plays the same, no one can get ahead. Learning Hold'em only by merely playing Hold'em is player's folly. If you learn to play Texas Hold'em poker like everyone else plays, you cannot have a long run edge. To advance at Texas Hold'em Poker you must play tight in loose games and play in loose games only. There is no other way. You have no edge in a tight Hold'em game and you only have an edge in a loose game if you play tight. It could be accomplishable to play on the loose and win in the long run if all the other players are complete idiots, but nature does not supply enough complete idiots who play holdem poker.
As rounders come and go during a holdem poker session the game will occasionally get tighter. You will see more players folding on the first round. The pots will be more modest. If your Hold’em game gets too tight, find yourself a better game or don't play at all. You want to be the only tight player in a loose Hold’em poker game, but often there are one or more other tight players at the table. Sometimes loose players tighten up their play for whatever reason, but that's typically temporary. You will have to take all of this into consideration when assessing a Hold’em poker game. There's no accurate way to measure it, but you can acquire a feel for it.
THE LAW OF BIG NUMBERS
Most of us are impressed with big numbers – suchlike the size of Gates fortune. But what about little numbers that render you a huge advantage? Let’s assume that you improve your odds of winning by 5%? So rather than winning 10 in every 100 pots (on average) you could increase that to 15. Doesn’t sound like very much does it?
Ten in 100 pots for 10 players in truth means you are getting back the money you bet less the house rake. Start with $100. Play 100 hands of Poker. The rake is $1 per pot. That’s $100 the house takes from all the winnings leaving you $90 at the end of the night. The played all night and lost $10. Write that off to entertainment.
With 15 pots – see the difference the oh so neglectable little 5% advantage makes? You are now ahead, just based on average play, $115 for the night. Small numbers make huge differences. Play three times a week for a year and you are up $18,000 based on your 5% advantage.
Don`t get pot commited or as the wise say - do not throw good money after bad A sequence bet is a bet based on the very human nature of thinking but yet very questionable idea that “Well, I have put in so much dough on this filthy hand, I might also see it through.” Never alter future strategy based on a past hands. So you got lucky and drew on an inside straight? You should have mucked. Not only will that luck not come back, it will make you a looser player. We are inclined to use the experience to modify future play.
PLAYING POKER SOLITAIRE
Human psychology is very fascinating. Research has borne witness that the ordinary gambler tends to underrate the cards of their opponents and overvalue their own. One of the best ways to understand this inclination is to play Solitaire Poker. Play out 6-10 hands of Texas Hold’em, evaluate your card odds for the flop, and then look at the other down cards. You will be surprised at the number of opportunities to win you will see in the competition’s hands.
Be hard on your hand. Certainly you could draw a card that will help you but so can all of the other remaining card players. One of the best exercises in an actual game is to try and reckon the other players two down cards based on their playing style and betting. The more expert you become at this, the more effective your game will become. In the long run, isn’t this really the point of the game?
You are here: Playing Tighter