by Danny Kalis

Created on: March 15, 2010

The Reality:

Winning actual money playing Texas Hold 'Em as a beginner is a bit of an oxymoron. Most players with beginner level skills are lucky to come out positive in one out of ten poker sessions. This is a reality one must face when taking on such an endeavor. It would be like an average high school basketball player going against a professional basketball player. You might get lucky and score a basket here and there, but the odds of winning after playing for an hour or two are highly unlikely. The difference is that anyone can learn to become great at poker, while you need athletic ability to be great at basketball.

The Key to Winning:

The most important piece of information to learn to become a successful poker player is to fold. This is the greatest paradox in poker, fold more to win more. The key to winning long term in Texas Hold 'Em is to be involved only in pots that you are likely to win. The very best time to fold a hand is pre flop. This means that you have nothing invested in the hand and can easily walk away from it.

When to fold:

A successful poker player will fold 9 out of every 10 hands pre flop, and more if you are a beginner. The hands you should ALMOST never fold are AA KK QQ and AK suited. These hands are a huge advantage against almost any random hand. No matter what your gut feelings are you should ALMOST always fold 2-7, 3-8, 3-9, 2-10...etc. The great Mike Caro states, "The player who goes with his feelings will soon feel his wallet getting lighter."

The Exception:

The reason you fold so much is, in part, to gain table respect. Player's around the table will very soon realize your tactics and think they have you pegged as a player who will only play the very best hole cards. The advantage is now on your side. If you see a pot getting a few little raises, and you are sitting with a hand like 89 suited (which you would normally fold but has potential) now would be a great time for a call or small raise. The other players will assume you are sitting on a monster hand and will likely fold or just call. After the flop it is a good idea to make a pot sized bet. Other players will be incredibly intimidated because of your table respect and will likely fold or possible just call again. Supposing a player has called again and the turn comes, it is the time to make a large bet. A good bet would be 1.5 times the pot. 90% of the time any opposing players will fold, you don't have to show your cards, collect the pot, and maintain your elite table respect allowing for this move to be operated again and again infrequently until you are caught bluffing.

Conclusion:

This very basic strategy will also give you an opportunity to view how the rest of the table plays their hands while not having to focus on your own hands most of the time. Make mental notes of each player. The value of this assessment cannot be overstated, knowing your competition is a key factor to playing poker. Using this strategy is the fastest, cheapest, and most effective way to turn a beginner into an intermediate player in a very short span.

Learn more about this author, Danny Kalis.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.