Holdem Tips

1. He provides a mathematical proof for this in his advanced holdem strategy book, Applications of No-Limit Hold’em. Applications shows that in order to bet with a balanced range (a range composed of the optimal number of value bets and bluffs) on the river, we need to bluff less on each progressive street.
2. The best position in Texas Hold 'Em is 'on the button.' When you're on the button, you're the last person to act in three out of the four betting rounds—after the flop, the turn, and the river.
3. Continuing a 10-part series of 'hold'em tips' for new players, we discuss calculating pot odds and using pot odds to help with decisions at the table.

Texas Hold'em has a lot of swings due to the rounds of betting and the turn and river cards. Keep those chips for a time when you have the best hand and want to take advantage with a re-raise or call. One of my top Texas Holdem tips is to always be aware of what type of poker player you are up against. For example, you will frequently encounter Nits, TAGs, LAGs, SLAGs, fish and so on. Here is a complete list by the way of all the poker player types and how to beat each one.

One of the first and most important examples of 'poker math' that new no-limit hold'em players need to learn is how to calculate 'pot odds.' In fact, when people talk about the 'math of poker,' a lot of the time they are mostly referring to pot odds and how an understanding of them can help you decide whether to bet, raise, call, or fold.

Put most simply, pot odds represents the ratio between what you stand to gain in a hand of poker and what you have to spend in order to get it — that is, the ratio between your reward and your risk when making any given decision during a poker hand.

Calculating Pot Odds

For example, if there is $80 in the pot and your opponent bets $20, that makes a total of $100 in the middle. That $100 is the reward you can get if you're willing to risk $20 to call the bet. Pot odds are expressed as a ratio (reward-to-risk). In this case you're having to risk $20 to win $100, so your pot odds are 100-to-20, or 5-to-1.

That's the scenario poker players most often describe when talking about pot odds — that is, when facing a bet and deciding whether or not to call or fold. You add the amount of the bet to what is already in the pot to calculate the reward, the bet you need to call represents the risk, and the pot odds 'being given' to call is that reward-to-risk ratio.

Of course, you can also talk about pot odds after a player raises. Say you decide not just to call that $20 bet described above, but to raise to $80. That would mean your opponent has to call $60 to have a chance at winning what is now $180 in the middle — 180-to-60 or 3-to-1 pot odds.

That might seem simple enough — a little bit of addition and an easy division problem, and you can calculate pot odds.

But why bother? There are lots of reasons.

One big reason why you want to stay generally aware of what your pot odds are — which means keeping track of how big the pot is at all times and being able to compare the pot size to each bet — is that doing so helps you estimate whether or not the pot odds being offered to you are favorable or unfavorable given the situation.

Let's look at three common circumstances in no-limit hold'em in which pot odds can be helpful when making decisions.

Using Pot Odds When Playing a Drawing Hand

Say you are on a flush draw and have with the board showing . There is $120 in the pot, and your opponent has bet $60. You could call to see the river card, but are the pot odds favorable enough for you to make the call?

It's easy enough to see that the reward is $180 ($120 in the pot plus the $60 bet), and so with a $60 risk you are getting 180-to-60 or 3-to-1 pot odds. Is that good or bad?

You believe you probably have to make a flush in order to make a better hand than your opponent's, so that means you have nine outs — the nine remaining clubs — to make your hand. You can see six cards (the two in your hand plus the four on the board), leaving 46 unknown cards, so you can estimate your chance of seeing a club fall on the river to be 9 out of 46, or just over 4-to-1 against.

Compare your pot odds (3-to-1 to call) to the odds you'll make your flush (a little worse than 4-to-1 against). It's clear that calling isn't such a good choice — that the pot odds aren't favorable for calling — because over the long term calling is not a profitable play.

Let's say you were to make this call 100 times. About 20 times you'd make your flush on the river (actually a little less, but we'll round it up). You'd be risking $60 x 100 or $6,000. But your reward would only be $180 x 20 or $3,600. After making this call 100 times and winning only 20 hands, you'd have lost $2,400! (Note: we aren't considering what extra money might be won or lost after the river card, but just the profitability of this particular turn call.)

Pot odds are favorable when they are greater than the odds against making your hand. If the pot odds were 5-to-1 here, it would be a good call with it being just over 4-to-1 against making the flush. But 3-to-1 pot odds are unfavorable when drawing one card to make a flush.

Using Pot Odds to Decide Whether to Call a Preflop Raise

Pot odds can also be compared not just to a specific probability (like drawing to a flush), but also to a more general estimate of your chances in a hand.

Say for example you're playing $1/$2 no-limit hold'em and get dealt in the big blind. A player raises to $7 from the button and it folds to you.

First off... what are your pot odds here? There is $10 in the middle (the $1 small blind + the $2 big blind + the $7 raise), and you have to call $5 to stay in the hand. That's 2-to-1 pot odds.

Now, think about the prospect of playing out of position. It's a hand without a lot of potential that is almost certainly worse than whatever the player on the button who raised has. Unless you flop a couple of diamonds or perhaps trips or two pair, you're not likely to feel good about going very far with this hand. Are these 2-to-1 odds favorable?

Online Texas Hold'em Tips

No, they aren't. You could quantify this perhaps, noting how you with two suited cards you flop a flush draw about 11% of the time, you flop two pair about 2% of the time, and you flop trips about 1.3% of the time — that adds up to around 14% good flops, meaning it's worse than 6-to-1 against your seeing a good flop. That's just an estimate, really, but is obviously way worse than the 2-to-1 pot odds, so folding is in order.

What if a player raises to $7 from early position and five other players including the small blind call before the action reaches you in the big blind with your ? Now there's $44 in the middle and you have to pay $5 to see the flop. Those are almost 8-to-1 pot odds, which are in fact greater than the odds against your flopping something good — you might consider calling.

Using Pot Odds to Decide Whether to Call a Suspected Bluff

Pot odds can also be relevant when deciding whether or not to call what you think might be an opponent's bluff.

You've reached the river with your and the board shows . Your opponent raised before the flop and you called, and you called his bets on both the flop and turn. Now there's $100 in the middle and he's betting $50, giving you 3-to-1 pot odds to call.

You suspect strongly he could be bluffing, but you think it's possible he might have something like aces, kings, jacks, ace-queen, or king-queen and have you beat. While it's not feasible to calculate exactly the likelihood he's bluffing, you might be able to make a rough estimate — say, that he's probably bluffing at least a third of the time here.

That would make it 2-to-1 against your tens being best, making 3-to-1 pot odds favorable for you — a profitable call to make.

Conclusion

There are many other applications of pot odds in no-limit hold'em, but you can't take advantage of them until you start to become comfortable figuring out pot odds as a hand is playing out.

This is often easier to do when playing online poker, where the betting amounts and pot sizes are shown as numbers. But even when playing live, you can with practice become increasingly at ease keeping track of what's in the pot and calculating pot odds until it becomes second nature to you.

And once you do, you can then use pot odds to help direct your decision-making in a variety of contexts.

Also in this series...

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Basic Strategy: Tips : Position : Starting Hands : Bluffing : Betting : Money Management

So this is where it all begins, a fantastic journey that is going to teach you the bread and butter strategy that you are going to need to beat friends, family and complete strangers at the poker table to help you pad your bankroll on a regular basis.

I could delve right into a strategy article here, but I am going to whet your appetite a little with a few core Texas Hold'em tips to get the ball rolling. This way we can set some basic (but easy to follow) groundwork, and then build on it as we go along. No problemo...

1] Stick to playing good cards.

As much as you might like to think that being a good poker player is playing any two cards and making money with them, it really isn't. If you are playing bad cards, you are playing bad cards... there is no two ways about it, no matter how many fancy plays you think you know.

As a potential winning poker player, you need to come to terms with the fact that you have to throw away the majority of the hands you are dealt. The ability to play the good cards and throw away the bad ones is the foundation of every winning poker player. You might see pro players on TV playing useless hands, but these shows do not truly reflect how these pros play normally (if they want to win money), so don't get sidetracked.

Have a read over the article on starting hand strategy for more information.

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2] Always think about your position.

Your position at the table can have a huge influence of the outcome of a hand. You will really be amazed at how much power you have when you are acting after your opponents rather than before. The longer you play poker, the more you will start to realize how almost every play you make will be influenced by your position at the table.

You see that white dealer button on the table? Make sure you get used to keeping track of it, because playing in position (when you are acting after your opponents) more often than you play out of position will have a dramatic effect on the number of pots that you drag home.

Hands in Texas Hold'em can be won on position alone. Honestly, position is awesome.

3] Don't get addicted to bluffing.

Yes, bluffing can win you a few extra pots, but it is not the heart of winning poker strategy. First of all you need to work out how to play a hand properly, and then you can start thinking about adding extra elements to your game like the bluff. The chances are that if you are a new player, you are bluffing far too often and losing money because of it.

It is an awesome feeling to pull off a successful bluff, but as you start out learning the game and trying to make money from it, the bluff is something that is best set to the side for the time being. If a prime opportunity to bluff jumps right out at you, then by all means do what you need to take the pot. But in general, the bluff is something that should be used sparingly and only in the right situations when you are confident that it is going to work.

It's better to save your money and check, rather than lose a lot by attempting to bluff. Read up on the bluffing tips article to help you pick the right spots.

4] Learn a little bit of the maths.

No, please, don't run. The math in poker isn't that hard at all. Okay, it might take 5 or 10 minutes to get your head around some of it, but it is incredibly handy and will help you to make the most profitable decisions possible at every opportunity and earn you a lot of money. Now that's enough to get anyone wanting to learn some math!

Your first stop should be the playing flush and straight draws article, which will cover basic maths and pot odds. You don't have to read it just yet, but keep it in mind for a little further down the road.

5] Think about everything that is taking place at the poker table.

Texas Hold'em Tips And Strategies

A thinking poker player is a winning poker player. The problem with poker is that if you win, it doesn't necessarily mean that you made the right play. Similarly, if you lose, it does not mean that you made the wrong play. This can make it tricky to figure out what is wrong and right when it comes to playing a good poker game, but only if you let it.

Whenever you make a decision, think about why you are doing what you are doing and what you expect to accomplish by doing this. Similarly, think about why your opponents are making the moves they make and why they could be making them. This is a great way to develop your mind and help to start seeing poker from all the angles, which is key to developing a winning poker game.

Hold'em Tips And Tricks

Texas Hold'em tips overview.

Okay, that's pretty much everything I wanted to say. I'm not going to drag this out for any longer, but I just want to say that if you can follow these Texas Hold'em tips closely and build upon them with the information on this site, you will eventually become a consistent winner in the game of no limit Texas Hold'em. Cool or what?

Holdem Tips For Beginners

Oh, and also. Don't forget to play within your limits and exercise good money management. Otherwise you are doomed to failure, no matter how well you can play. Seriously.

Go back to the sublime Texas Hold'em guide.

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