No Limit Texas Holdem Tips
To improve your playing skills and knowledge, here are some useful tips for playing your starting Texas Holdem hands. Of course, the best tip is always to keep your cool when you are betting. Don’t go “Tilt” and bet all of your money away in two hands because you got a bad beat. Discipline is the #1 cause of most poker players failures.
There are several basic concept you should follow when you participate in online poker for real money at a No Limit Texas Holdem game table or tournament.
1. Holding small pocket pairs, you have to play them against as many opponents as possible. Usually, each poker gambler wants to play small pocket pairs against lots of opponents, especially in a cash game or in the early stages of a Texas Holdem tournament.
In fact, with small pocket pairs you are trying to hit a third card of your kind on the flop. As you may know, this is called ‘flopping a set’. For example, if you flop your set, you will have the best possible hand. Here we have to mention that if you flop a set, you have to bet or raise in order to get as many chips in the pot as you can.
Texas Holdem hands like pocket 2’s up through pocket 8’s or 9’s are small pocket pairs. Actually, you want to play such a hand against many opponents, because when you hit your hand, you hope that someone else has hit a hand as well and will pay you off.
Hence, if you are dealt a small pocket pair, usually it is a good idea to simply limp in and hope to hit your third card of the same kind on the flop. However, if you miss, it is fine to check and fold to any bet. Remember that you will flop a set roughly once out of every 7,5 times you get a small pocket pair.
2. Pay attention that suited connectors are hands that play well against many opponents, but poorly against one or two. As a matter of fact, the suited connectors are a bit more difficult to play than the small pocket pairs. Typically they do not make a ‘monster’ hand on the flop, but often they will flop ‘monster’ draws. A draw is such a Texas Holdem hand, in which you need one more card to complete your hand, usually with a straight or flush.
Cards from the same suit, next to each other, such as 8d 9d, 10d, Jd form suited connectors. Usually you have a quite strong hand, when these hands hit. Holding suited connectors, you hope to flop a strong draw, a flush draw or a straight draw. Remember that one of the best Texas Holdem hands to hold against pocket aces is suited connector.
3. Perhaps, one of the most important tips, playing Texas Holdem, is not to slow play your big face cards. Remember that if you are going to play these cards, you need to come in for a raise preflop. For instance, a hand like AQ is a strong hand, but actually it is not an appropriate one to play against three or more opponents. Better play such a hand against only one opponent. As a conclusion we have to say that you should raise preflop in order to limit the field to just one other player whenever it is possible.
Follow these basic recommendations above and we assure you that you will not regret. Texas Holdem poker is quite interesting and at the same time profitable card game, but remember that mastering it is not an easy task. Practice it and improve your playing skills. Enjoy your poker experience as much as we do!