Texas Holdem Stratagy

You've passed the first hurdle just by asking this question. You realize that there are strategies involved instead of just jumping in and playing every hand. The first strategy to keep in mind is playing premium hands. If you play long enough you'll see a lot of hands that you would have won if you stayed in with your ten-six offsuit cards. But you forget about all of the hands you would have lost be staying in with these cards. At the beginning when the blinds are extremely low, you can try to limp in with unfavorable cards (but you're asking for trouble). As the blinds go up, make sure you have decent cards before you decide to play. A second strategy is to make sure that crappy cards don't beat you. If you have some premium cards, you should be thinking about raising preflop. The amount of the raise will depend on your position. If you are first to act, be careful because there are a lot of players who could go over the top of you. If you're later in position or on the button, don't hesitate to make a bigger raise. It's much better to win a small pot and get bad cards out before they catch a monster then to slow play and lose a big pot to lucky cards. Another strategy is not overplaying your hands. If you are going all in with your bluffs, you are asking for a call. There are many times, I will bet just enough that it looks like I want a call because I have the winning hand even though I'm bluffing. This serves two purposes - the first is that it looks like I have a strong hand and the second is losing fewer chips if the player has a good hand and decides to call. Remember, no matter how much I bet, if he has a good hand, I'm going to lose chips on a bluff. More of a warning then a strategy is to watch out for getting bad habits playing freerolls. I love freerolls and suggest them for learning purposes but you have to keep in mind that people are willing to take more chances because it isn't costing them anything. Never go into a freeroll with an attitude of just going all in. You have to play them with an attitude that I'm going to play well and win. Once you have a grasp of the game, you should think of playing some $1 games where it will be more real. From there, you can decide if you want to risk any more.

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