Want to become a better player, fast? Follow these 10 tips to boost your poker performance & profits. While geared to beginner players, there’s poker tips that even seasoned pros should remind themselves of once in a while.
1. Don’t Play Every Hand / Do Fold More
Probably the number one mistake beginning poker players make is that they play far too many hands. When you’re just starting out playing poker, you want to play poker, and that means staying in hands that aren’t very good just to be part of the action. But playing more doesn’t mean winning more, it usually means losing more. If you find you’re staying in half or more the hands you’re dealt, you need to upgrade your starting hand requirements.
2. Don’t Play Drunk
Countless nights have I sat across a table from someone & watched them get plastered silly and throw away their entire stack of chips. I’ve been that person too – and there are nights where you’re just playing with friends for low stakes and it’s more about the fun than the poker – but if you’re in a casino, watch the alcohol. The truth is, while you may be more relaxed after 2 drinks, it may lead to you playing looser and less sharply, even if one’s not ‘drunk.’
3. Don’t Bluff Just For Bluffing’s Sake
A lot of beginner’s understand that bluffing is a part of poker, but not exactly how. There’s is NO rule that one must bluff a certain amount or at all during a poker game, but many players don’t feel like they’ve won unless they’ve tried a poker bluff. Bluffs only work in certain situations & against certain people, and if you know a player always calls to the showdown, it is literally impossible to bluff that player. It’s better never to bluff than to bluff “just to bluff.”
4. Don’t Stay in a Hand Just Because You’re Already In It
Another common mistake beginners make is to think that “Well, I’ve already put that much in the pot, I have to stay in now.” Nope. You can’t win a pot just by throwing money at it. There may be cases when pot odds warrant a call, but if you’re sure you’re beaten, and there’s no way your hand can improve to be the best hand, you should fold right away. The money you’ve already put in the pot isn’t yours anymore, and you can’t get it back just by playing a hand all the way to the end.
5. Don’t Call at the End of a Hand to “Keep Someone Honest”
This one follows the last tip. I see a lot of players look at another player’s final bet, look at the hand, & say “I know you’ve got me, but I have to keep you honest,” as they throw in a final call. It may be worth it to see if a player really has the hand if you’re not sure & you’re gaining information that will help you later on, but if you really feel a player has the hand he’s representing & you’re beat, why give him another pile of your money? Those bets will add up over an evening.
6. Don’t Play When Mad, Sad, or in a Generally Bad Mood
When you play poker, you shouldn’t do it to escape from being depressed or having a really bad day. You start out on tilt — playing emotionally, not rationally — and you won’t play your best. Likewise, if during a poker game, you lose a big hand or get sucked out on and feel yourself going on tilt, stand up & take a break until you feel calm later on. Fellow players will sense your mood & take advantage of it.
7. Do Pay Attention to the Cards on the Table
When you first start playing, it’s enough just to remember how to play and pay attention to your own hand. But once you’ve got that down, it’s incredibly important to look at what’s going on at the table. In Texas Hold’em, figure out what the best possible hand would be to fit the flop. Make sure you notice flush & straight possibilities. In 7-card stud, pay attention to what’s showing & what people have folded when you consider calling opponents.
8. Do Pay Attention to the Other Players
As you play, one of the single best things you can do is observe your opponents, even when you’re not in a hand. If you know if one player always raises in a certain position, & another has a poker tell when he bluffs, & a 3rd folds to every re-raise, you can use that information to help you decide how to play against them. Once you know that player 3 always folds to a re-raise on a river, that’s when you can bluff & steal a pot.
9. Don’t Play at too High Limits
There are many reasons people move up to a higher limit game than they usually play. Good reasons like they’ve been winning consistently at a lower lever & are ready to move up, & bad reasons like the line is shorter for higher limits or you want to impress someone. Don’t play at stakes that make you think about the actual money in terms of day-to-day life or with money you can’t lose. Even if you had one super-good night at $2/4, resist the urge to play $5/10. The next tip explains more why.
10. Do Pick the Right Game for Your Skill Level & Bankroll
One of the reasons you shouldn’t jump into a $5/10 game after winning a huge bunch of money at $2/4 is because as the stakes rise, so does the average skill level of the players sitting there. You want to be one of the best at the table, not the fish who sits down with sharks. If you’re making stacks of money at a lower level game, why move? You’re winning stacks of money. The swings up & down at higher limits are much bigger, and one big night’s win won’t last long at a high-stakes game.
If another poker player is going to give you free information as to what they might be holding, you’d be a fool not to take it. This is what tells are all about. If you notice your opponent doing any of -the following, it’s likely something you can use to either win a pot or avoid losing to a huge hand.
Shaky Hands
This is probably the most famous of all tells because every movie or TV show that has an episode featuring a poker game uses it. If you notice a player’s hands shaking after looking down at his cards or after the flop hits, they likely have a monster. Unless you’re holding the nuts yourself, you should likely fold whenever you see your opponent’s hand flopping around. If you’re a hand shaker you need to either get yourself under control or train yourself to do the same shakes when you’re bluffing.
The Speech
Using “The Speech” is all about being a good actor. Here’s an example of what poker pros refer to as “The Speech”. We were playing a home game the other night when one player glanced at his cards, declared that he needed a break and shoved all his chips into the middle. I threw my low pair into the muck, but another player decided he would call. The speech-giver flipped over A-K suited, which gave him two pair on the board with only the river to come. he went on to win the hand proving his speech was total crap. Whenever a player uses “The Speech”, they’re almost always full of it and have a big hand.
Betting Trends
Many bad players give away the strength or weakness of their hands by the way they bet. Picking up on this betting trend requires a good memory, but it’s well worth it. One trend I picked up from a fellow player made it easy to identify his buffs. Whenever he had a good hand, he would put in a large bet or raise about three or four times the big blind. However, almost every time he attempted a bluff or a pot steal, his bets would be gigantic, always more than give times the big blind. Picking up on these betting trends will help you cripple players who fall into these habits.
Chip Glances
When the cards are being dealt or the flop is being laid out, don’t look at the cards, look at your opponent. Specifically, watch where their eyes go. If your opponent immediately glances down at their chips, that usually means they have a hand and they’re thinking about how much to bet. If you catch a player studying your chip stack, that also means they’ve probably got a big hand tucked away. When they’re checking out your stack, they’re usually trying to determine how much of it they can take with their monster hand.
Questions
Don’t be fooled by players that appear clueless and ask what the bet is or if it’s their turn to wager. Unless they truly are distracted by something, this could be an act to make themselves look dumb and vulnerable to a big bet. This is just another fake-out by your opponents, so don’t fall for it.
Chip Toss or Chip Slide
The way a poker player puts their chips into the pot can give away how good or bad their hand is. If a player casually tosses their chips into the pot, they’re likely trying to hide the fact that they’re holding a monster hand. If they forcefully push their chips into the middle, this tends to be a sign of weakness. The aggressive push is an act to try and compensate for their junk hand.
Semi-bluffing is one of the first steps that new poker players take after realizing they need to stop being calling machines and employ some creativity in there game. properly working these opportunities could be the difference between a good session and a great session. not every table is right for profitable semi-bluffing, but when you find one that is, it can pay at a much higher rate than the expected one or two big bets per hour.
The concept of the semi-bluff is simple. Instead of calling a bet and hoping for a card to come because you have outs, you bluff at the pot instead. It’s called semi-bluff because you still have outs to win the hand, but currently have nothing or very little.
This play has three advantages. By betting, you often pick up a pot because no one else has hit the flop. Secondly, you often control the size of the bet by betting out because players (especially the one currently in the lead) will be fearful of the bet and will usually just call, allowing you a cheaper draw than the current leader may have bet. And finally, you mask what your hand is by betting on a draw. If that draw hits, you’re in position for a big payoff from an opponent who has been letting you bet into their lead because it will be difficult for that player to put you on your hand.
Semi-bluffing would include betting out flush and straight draws, as well as betting second pair and even two over cards, if there were no previous bets. This aggressive method is only profitable if the players at the table react the way you want them to.
It’s required that you know your opponents and that you create the illusion that you are a tight player. You do this by only showing good cards at showdown. If you can establish yourself as a tight player, tight opponents will fold to your bet.
Once you start to bet your draws and small pairs, your opponents will stay away and you will pick up lots of small pots. This can go on as long as your opponents allow it.
Remember, never show any of these rag hands you’re winning with, just because you’re getting everyone to fold. You will still continue to get good starting hands that will pay you at showdown, make sure these are the hands everyone gets to see. It’s important to maintain the illusion of a tight player to maximize your semi-bluffing opportunities.
The best semi-bluff situations are when the flop has come off in a manner that would not help a hand of big cards. Most players that see a flop are playing big cards. Let’s say you decided to play 8, 9 and a flop like 7, 2, 4 comes off. This is often a good situation to bet because your opponents are likely to be on two over cards. Depending on the size of your bet, you can force the other players off the pot, or if you do get called, you could hit your straight for a big payoff.
The semi-bluff is the grinder’s meat and potatoes. It’s a tactic used by most players of quality to some degree. Employ it in your game and you’ll see how it can pay off in a big way.
Make your bets big enough to fold to with over cards, and small enough not to break you if you do run into a monster and have to fold to a raise. Don’t be afraid to force the action when you can.
