Texas Hold Em' Strategy Guide

To develop a working poker strategy, it’s crucial to understand the interaction between players, the odds, and the advantages of table position. There are many different poker games, but aside from some play differences, some strategies remain the same. To play successfully, you need to have a basic grasp of the odds and know what good and bad hands look like.

Here at Casino Night Party NY we have compiled a list of strategies and tips from professional players to help you improve your game. If you planning a poker tournament check out our poker tournament services here.

Source: World Series Of Poker

Six Pro Texas Hold em' Tips

Tip #1 Fast-Play Your Strong Hands to Build the Pot and Make More Money

It’s a sad sight when a player checks their flopped nut flush three times, and then has to awkwardly table their monster of a poker hand when their opponent checks back the river. Slow-playing too often is a mistake common among players who are afraid of chasing their opponents out of the pot when they have a strong poker hand.

In most cases, it’s best to bet your strong hands to build the pot and protect your equity. That’s not to say you should always bet/raise your strong hands post-flop. You can check your strong hands if:

It’s unlikely that you will be outdrawn.
There aren’t many scare cards to prevent you from getting paid on later streets.
Your opponent’s range is heavily weighted toward hands with no showdown value.

However, when you feel uncertain, just bet (or check-raise if you weren’t the preflop aggressor). Yes, it’s disappointing when your opponent folds, but that’s not nearly as disappointing as getting outdrawn or missing out on potential value.

Source: Upswing Poker

Tip # 2 Play Fewer Hand's

There is a limit on how many starting hands you can play before the flop in No Limit Texas Hold’em, even for the world’s best players. If you try to play too many hands, you’ll bleed away your chip stack (unless lady luck is on your side).

Developing a solid preflop poker strategy is by far the easiest and fastest way to improve your bottom line. However, while developing solid preflop ranges is relatively easy to do (like by downloading our free preflop charts) having the discipline to stick to them is difficult. Don’t allow yourself to get impatient and play a hand not worth playing.

The best approach is to play a tight range of strong and/or playable hands, and you need to play those hands aggressively. Playing all of your hands aggressively, including the more speculative ones like 7♠ 6♠ or 5♥ 5♣, allows you to disguise the strength of your actual hand.

When you raise, your opponents won’t know whether you have A-A, A-K, or 7-6, which makes you super tough to play against. Tight and aggressive wins the game!

Source: Upswing Poker

Tip #3 Only Play Against Bad Poker Players

This is one of the biggest keys to your success in Texas Holdem poker games. You need to make sure that you are always playing with bad poker players.

If you play online poker and you use a poker HUD then you want to be specifically looking for players with a VPIP of 40% of higher.

While I know that these “wild” players can sometimes be frustrating to play against, you will profit from them big-time over the long run.

You need to always remember where the money comes from in Texas Holdem. It is not the tight solid regulars who will pad your profits. It is the loose and wild amateurs.

Source: Blackrain79

Tip #4 Steal The Blinds Like A Pro

One of my absolute top Texas Holdem tips for you is to steal the blinds more often. Most people do not steal them enough. You should be stealing the blinds with a wide range of hands such as:

T♠8♠
K♥3♥
Q♦T♣

And more.

This is especially the case when there are two tight players left to act in the blinds, as is often the case these days online.

This is another important reason to be using a good poker hud so that you know what player types are in the blinds.

Source: Blackrain79

Tip #5 Knowing When To Call

Calling is the opposite of a raise. It’s putting in the minimum bet to stay in the hand. However, players can also use it to gain information, bluff, or hide their strength.

Let’s look at some of the rules of calling:

Draw out the hand by hiding an excellent card by calling. You can raise it during later rounds.
Calling is always a neutral move that can prevent players from falling out of the hand.
You can also use it to close out the betting action if you’re on the button.
Calling can allow you to get a cheap card to see if you can make your hand.
Finally, you can use it as a stone-cold bluff.

While raising might raise some eyebrows, calling is a vital tactic for increasing your winning percentage.

Source: Arkadium

Tip #6 Learn The Value Of Betting

Value bets are any bet you make when you are 90% sure you have the strongest hand. While most value bets happen during the showdown phase, remember that hands only head to the showdown 20-33% of the time.

In other words, value betting earlier helps extract maximum value from your hand. Premium hands come at a risk, so you need to get as much as possible from them to cover the barren parts of your session.

So, when should you be value betting?

It’s a great strategy anytime you are positive that you have the most substantial hand on the board. Stay strong, and keep calm. Even if they fold, you’re not losing anything you would have gotten by checking. Moreover, scaring them out of the pot is better because it doesn’t give them a chance to hit their draw.

If you’re looking for the perfect value bet size, try 60% of the pot value.