Poker Strategy

Knowing your Odds

Your odds of winning can be calculated, and this knowledge can help you win at poker. Let’s say you have four clubs – two are in your hand, while two are on the table. You’re waiting on one more club to fall on the river to complete a flush which puts you in a great position to win. There are 13 clubs in a 52-card deck and you have four, so this leaves 9 more in the deck. There are 46 cards left in the deck (two in your hand and four on the table), and nine of them will form your flush. This leaves a total of 37 cards and brings your odds to 37/9. This means that your chances of landing the 5th club and forming a flush are around 4/1.

Knowing this can help you decide what to do easier and eventually win the round.

Knowing the Pot Odds

The next thing you’ll need to learn is how to calculate the pot odds. The pot odds are essentially the number of chips you can win vs. the number of chips you need to put in the pot. We can use the aforementioned example to calculate the pot odds and make the right decision. You already know that your odds of getting the 5th club to form a flush are 4/1. Let’s say the pot already has 10 in this situation. Your opponent bets their last 10, so now there’s 20 in the pot. What should you do? Do you call or fold?

Figuring out the math can help. In this situation, you’re requested to pay 10 to get twenty or pot odds of 2/1. Your odds of hitting a flush are 4/1, so taking a risk to win the pot in this situation isn’t really worth it. In this case, you should fold.

If the situation changes a bit, your play will be different. For example, if the pot has 90 and your opponent bets his last 10, the chances of winning the pot are much better. You need to pay 10 to win 100 – translated to odds, that’s 10/1. Risking a 4/1 to get a payout of 10/1 is worth it, so in this situation, the correct decision is to call.

The different Poker Styles

You know what makes poker so exciting? It allows players to use different styles and approaches. Although not officially recognized as poker styles, there are some approaches that can be broken down in a few groups.

First comes the so-called Tight playing style – it’s preferred by players who like to play cautiously and don’t take risks. It’s a more conservative style of play fit for patient players. Just opposite of it is the Loose style of play. Just like the name suggests, it’s a much looser type style that involves taking risks frequently.

Players can also play aggressively or passively, either taking matters in their own hands or letting their opponents dictate the play. There’s no right or wrong approach – you can just use what suits you best. However, every style of play comes with a list of advantages and disadvantages. We suggest learning them all and using each one depending on the situation you find yourself in. Sometimes, it makes perfect sense to be aggressive, but if you have a bad hand, you should take things down a notch. A good poker player will know which style to use in any situation and that’s what you should be aiming for.

The Importance of your position at the Table

You’ll hear many poker players saying the position at the table is not important, but it really is. Although it doesn’t really sound logical, where you sit at the poker table can either bring you an advantage over the other players or ruin things for you. The dealer, also known as button, is the last person to act. This means that by the time you’re up, you already know what others have played. This gives you a tactical advantage over everyone. Betting last after learning what your opponents did may be the difference that essentially makes or breaks your chances of winning.

According to experts, this tactical knowledge means you’re better off playing late than early hands. Many poker players save their bets for the late stages. Their relaxed position at the beginning of the game and aggressive play toward the end allows them much better flexibility and gives them better chances of winning.

So, if you have the option to pick your spot at the table, we suggest going last.

The Art of Deception

Deception techniques such as bluffing and learning how to keep a poker face on are just as important in a game of poker like any other factor we mentioned earlier. If you want to win at poker, you need to become better at bluffing. In some cases, bluffing is the only thing that’ll help you win when the odds are clearly not in your favor. It’s a technique which requires a lot of time to master, but trust us – it will make a world of difference in the end.

This kind of deceptive approach has one goal in mind – to force the opponent to change their style and make a mistake. With bluffing, you can successfully force an opponent to fold a hand they really shouldn’t, allowing you to win the pot. You might think that body language doesn’t really play a part in poker, but it really does. Learn how to get better at bluffing and master the mathematics of poker and you’ll be on your way to poker tournaments.

Starting Hand vs. Rest of the Hand

One of the things that separate poker amateurs from poker pros is the way they form their hands. Everyone knows what a good starting hand is. You just need to follow some guidelines and you’ll quickly realize how good or bad your starting hand is. However, how you play for the rest of the hand is equally important.

Depending on your starting hand and your poker skills, you can either make a great hand out of nothing or ruin a good starting hand. And that’s what makes the difference in the end. In order to create a winning hand, you need to calculate the pot odds, bluff, recognize bluffing when you see it and recognize the betting patterns of others. In simple terms, you need to get better at poker and that will come with a lot of exercise.

Once you’re comfortable with it all, you’ll learn how to solve the puzzle of the starting and winning hands.