In this article I want to present an introduction to Texas Hold’em strategy. I will explain about the various stages involved in Texas Hold’em but please be aware that this guide is aimed at beginners.

Texas Hold’em is such a hugeand complex game that it’s almost impossible to write a definitive guide, instead I try and separate my articles into those aimed at beginners, and those aimed at intermediate level players.

Even though this guide is aimed at beginners I will assume that you are aware that Texas Hold’em consists of 4 separate rounds of betting. The purpose of this article is to outline the differences between these rounds to help you get a competitive advantage over your opponents who may not have been lucky enough to read this article!

Preflop

Play the right hands! Seriously I can’t stress this enough, to become a good poker player you MUST learn to only play the correct hands. A good rule of thumb is to play fewer hands than your opponents. There is really only experience
which can help you decide exactly which hands to play at certain times but a lot of it is also fairly obvious. The higher the card values the better, and if they match then
that is even better. Consider cards in the same suit as a bonus rather than good cards in themselves. Examples of good pocket cards, cards you are dealt, are AA, KK, QQ and AK. Lower than this the cards can be good but are not awesome especially if you are playing at a longhand, 6-10 players, table.
In games with a low level fixed limit where the play is aggressive the pot tends to be fairly big but it is very hard to bluff so you will need a good hand to win. If you
can get a flush or straight then it’s an awesome hand but don’t expect to get it from the flop, for example if you are sitting there with a 2, 3 in hearts then you would need and exceptional piece of luck to win the hand. It’s not impossible it’s just that if your starting hand is an Ace, King for example the odds are far more in your favour.

The Flop

Another golden rule! Even if your hand was good preflop it can turn into junk at the flop, lets say that you were sitting with Ace, King and thinking that this is going to be your hand for sure, but the flop comes up Q,Q,7. All of a sudden your hand is not quite so secure because someone probably has a Queen, and then you would either need two Kings or Aces to beat them. At this stage even though it
hurts you should FOLD!! Your hand can always improve with the turn or river or be very close to completion after the flop but you must be close to a great hand at the flop for it to be worthwhile to stay in. Let me give an example of a drawing hand (this is hand that will be a winner but you need one more card), again you have A, K(hearts) as pocket cards and the flop comes up Q, 9 (hearts), 5(clubs). Here you are only one card away from a killer hand. All you need is another heart
and the odds of getting that are fairly good as you still have two cards to get it. In this case stay in the game, it’s risky but worth it, plus with these cards you also
have the chance of getting another Ace or King which would also be very good. Going for the missing card only really works with a flush though as in the case of a straight the odds of getting that missing card are much smaller! Of course as long as you don’t need to put any money into the pot then you can just check and go on to the turn and river but you would have to be playing with very cautious tight
players for this to happen and in that case a bluff might just work but that is a topic for another article
Another important consideration in all betting in Hold’em is your position at the table. If you are sitting in an early position, i.e. you are one of the first to check or
bet then your hand is in effect much weaker than if you are sitting at a late position. This is because in a late position at the table you can better evaluate what your
opponents are doing whilst at an early position you are guessing all the time.

If you get a great hand like a flush or straight from the flop then that is almost always a winning hand. In this situation you need to raise the pot to get as much money jammed into it as possible, this also works to scare other players away thereby guaranteeing you the pot. Remember that poker is a game of patience and it is better to win lots of small pots than the one big one so if you can scare people away then that is good plus it gives you a good reputation at the table.

Pair in the hand - If you have made a pair but it is not with the highest card in the flop then it actually not that good a hand as the chances are that someone else has got a better hand than you, either already from their pocket cards or matching with the highest flop card. In this case you would need to make three of a kind to win the hand and the odds for that are fairly long.

Scare cards - It is important to always keep an eye on dangerous cards on the table, these are cards that don’t help you but could very well help an opponent. In these circumstances your odds of winning decrease. Examples include;
- Three cards after another or very close to each other in point’s value can easily give someone a straight.
- Two cards after each other can very often give two of a kind as people often play a hand if they have two cards after each other.
- Cards in different suits are a good thing as long as you are not going after a straight yourself. If you are chasing a straight remember that someone else could be as well and that they could have a higher kicker card. This is another reason to only play high cards.
- Always think of what possible poker hands your opponents might have especially if one of them is playing aggressively, it could be they are bluffing but it is more likely that they aren’t!

The Turn card

The fourth card dealt is called the turn card and it almost always leads to an increase in betting. At this stage you really must have a good hand otherwise you should fold or expect to loose a lot of money.

Check raise- This is a clever strategy whereby if you are sitting in an early position with a great hand you check on this round to try and drag other people into the final round of betting. The thinking here is two-fold, first to trick your opponents into thinking that your hand is not as strong as it actually is and secondly to suck as many people as possible into the final round where they are less likely to fold.

Understand the calls and raises- In low limit games bluffing isn’t very effective and therefore isn’t used much. This leads to another golden rule of Texas Hold’em,
if someone raises on the fourth card, the turn, it almost always means that they have just completed their hand or improved on their existing hand. In that case fold unless you yourself are sitting with a very good hand, but it should be at least three of a kind or a flush.

Don’t bet too much on cards which haven’t been dealt yet - If after the fourth card has been dealt you still don’t have your hand you really should consider folding as the odds of getting that elusive card has just diminished a
great deal. This doesn’t mean that it is impossible but if one of your opponents is betting aggressively then you should probably fold otherwise you can get away will
calling small raises.
The River card

Normally you should always raise after the fifth card, the river but there is an exception to this rule. If you had a hand which looked good after the flop, for example you make a high pair with a card on the table but then fail to improve on this hand with subsequent cards then you should check if you are in an early position. The only chance you have of winning is if your remaining competitors have a weaker hand than you. In any case there is no point risking any more money to try and get the pot, and it is unlikely you can scare someone off the pot in a low level fixed limit game. What is absolutely clear is that if someone raises on the fifth card then as above you should fold as it will certainly indicate that they have got a very good hand and there is no point throwing your money away just to
get this fact verified.
That is about it for this basic strategy guide, hopefully these tips will help you to improve your Texas Hold’em game, in future articles I will expand on these principles and also look at some more advanced strategies and tactics.

If you now want to apply these techniques then I recommend you try your luck at Poker Time who also offer excellent casino games and the opportunity to place some sports bets as well.