| In Poker, especially the no-limit games
such as No-limit Texas Hold'em, the cards are just a
small fraction of the game. In fact, a really great
poker player could probably beat an odds and statistics
expert without ever even looking at his hand (blind).
That's right - he could probably beat a math wizard
who otherwise knew nothing about poker without even
knowing what the hell cards he was betting on. Online
a lesser player has a better chance since the physical
tells don't exist online, but even still my money would
probably be on the great poker player playing blind.
While I'm not going to try to write my own Super Systems
here - I will point out a few other VERY important factors
to winning poker.
Opponent Knowledge
In poker, knowledge of your opponents is the
most critical. A good player can be a quick study of
an opponents character and style. How loose or tight
a player is - what they consider a good hand, etc. Simply
put - if your opponent has a weak hand you bet aggressively.
If he's got a monster, you fold. Who cares what cards
you're holding? Now obviously there's A LOT more to
it than this, but it's definitely a reason to be studying
more than just poker hand odds.
Position
Position is the most overlooked and undervalued aspect
of games like Texas Hold'em by beginners and that's
a shame as it costs them lots of pots. In a nutshell
- the chances of your hand being a winner increase as
more and more people fold their hand. Yes - if you have
say KQ and are going up against 1 other player, your
chances are not bad - but if you're going up against
8 or 9 others who feel they too have a hand worth betting
- your KQ is not so strong. Now - if you are in an early
position (meaning you are among the first who has to
bet) then you have no idea how many players will be
playing this hand when it's time to bet or fold your
hole cards. On the other hand - if you are in a late
position (meaning you are among the last to call) you
not only have the knowledge of who and how many players
are in on this hand - but if anyone has made aggressive
bets. If you are in a late position and hold an OK hand
- say a small pair or a KJ - if everyone before you
has folded - you've got a strong hand - but if everyone
before you has called or raised - you've got a weak
hand. As you see - this has little to do with your hand
- but more the circumstances in which it is played.
Pot Odds - Odds On Your Money
Too many beginners just play good cards and just toss
bad ones - or if they have the prospect of straight
or a flush - they will just draw and draw with little
consideration to anything else. Unless you have the
nuts (nuts = the very best possible hand) every time
there is a certain degree of risk when you put your
money in the pot. Rather than clog your brain with pot
odds vs. hand odds (which is good stuff to know) start
simple - just ask yourself if there is enough money
in the pot to justify the risk. If there is a big fat
pot - unless you just know you are beat, or it simply
costs too much too call (which means your pot odds may
not be so great after it's all said and done) - try
to get some action. Even if you knew you were a long
shot - would you bet $25 or $50 on a chance to win $500
or $1000 or more? While you may be a long shot - it's
not a bad bet if there is a reasonable chance you could
win. On the flip side - you may have a decent hand -
and it may even be the winner, (use your opponent knowledge)
- but if it's going to cost you $250 to call and you
stand to only win a few hundred then your pot odds are
not so great and may not be worth the risk.
While there's still tons more to poker than this -
this should open your eyes to more things about the
game of poker than just the cards and their statistics.
Yes - You DO need to know your general chances of pulling
what types of hands - but if you learn to study your
opponents, they will tell you their hands and you'll
be able to beat them without even knowing yours.
Case Study: I played the the PartyPoker
$5/$1 No-Limit and Pot-Limit Texas Hold'em tournaments
30 times (which is not necessarily the best place for
testing theories, but it was all I could afford). I
play a decent online Texas Hold'em at best - but am
FAR from a good player, much less the caliber of one's
writing you SHOULD be reading. Here's what I did....
- 10 times - Played to the best of my abilities. I
placed in the money 8 of 10 times and won 1st place
5 of 10.
- 10 times - Played semi-blind. You can't really play
blind - but I tried my best to just use betting and
position strategies regardless of my cards. I did
not win any but placed in the money 3 times and had
a couple 4th places as well, which is just 1 shy of
the money in those games.
- 10 times - I used nothing but charts and stats and
even software to tell me if the cards I held had good
odds of winning. With little regard to betting and
position - just focusing on what my charts said about
my cards - I never placed in the money - and never
had any 4th or even 5th places. It was the worst losing
streak I've had in my short history of online poker.
Now if you think I set this study up to prove that
just charts and stats don't work? Actually you are wrong.
In fact what got me started on this whole case study
was that I was dumb enough to think in the software
age there were some good short cuts to winning more
pots, so I started letting my PC do the thinking - and
I started losing.
Poker is a game of people - the cards just make it
fun.
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