Take your poker skills up a level with these poker strategy tips for beginners! The whole process of playing anonymous poker remains the same; it’s just that you get a little better at the game when you know all the ins and outs.
Mix your styles
Broadly, the poker approaches can be categorized as-
- Tight–cautious moves, few hands, and little risks
- Loose–opposite to tight approach, lot of hands, and a lot of gambling
- Aggressive–lots of bets, open pots and larger bets to pressurize opponents
- Passive–lot of calls, let others decide your moves
Suppose you do not fit perfectly in any of these categories; congratulations! Changing your styles is helpful at the table as it makes you unpredictable. Beginners should use a mix of ‘tight-aggressive’ approach. However, in the long run, it is advised that you get comfortable in an aggressive way. This is one of the best poker tips for beginners and will enhance your gameplay in the long term. In a way, this the game theory of poker.
Positions are crucial
Not many beginners realize the importance of their position on a poker table. The dealer plays the last hand, and hence, he is at a greater advantage. He has an edge as he has seen how others have acted. The dealer is switched for every hand. So, when you are in the dealer’s shoes, ensure that you make the most of it.
Meanwhile, the late position poker players have a slight advantage as they can observe other’s moves. If you are in this position, relax your starting hand as you have greater flexibility and more options.
Bluff sensibly
Bluff comes with experience. Even the novices know that bluffing is an important poker strategy. A perfect bluff might get you a pot even if you do not have a strong hand.
The goal is to make other poker players fold their best hands so you can take that pot away. Most of the time, you will have useless or weak hands, which are worthless. This is where bluffing skills come in handy.
A bluff is successful when you make your opponents think that you have the winning hand. Imagine that you have the best hand and make moves following that chain of thought. Before bluffing, make sure to consider your hand thoroughly to build up a convincing ‘story.’ A smart player might see through your bluff if you make incomplete or hasty decisions.
Calculate your poker odds and outs
The calculations are easier than you think. Suppose you are holding four hearts. If one more heart falls on the river, you win! There are 13 hearts in a typical deck; you are holding two, and two are on the board. There are still 9 hearts left. Excluding the 6 mentioned cards, there are 46 cards left that could make it to the river. Out of those, 46, 9 will get you the pot. These are your outs.
37 of those 46 cards will be of no use to you. So, the ratio becomes 37 to 9, and thus, your poker odds are 4 to 1.
Determine if the pot is worthy
We will assume the above outs and odds to explain how you can determine if the pot size is worthy.
Let us assume you are against one player and waiting for the last heart to show up in the river. The opponent bets 10, and there is 10 in the pot. In this case, you have to pay 10 to win 20. The pot odds are straightforwardly 2 to 1. But your odds of winning are 4 to 1. Here, you are risking 4:1 against 2:1, which doesn’t sound too good, and it would be best to surrender.
Meanwhile, if the pot holds 90 and the opponent adds his 10 to it, you have to pay 10 to get 100. Here, the pot odds are 10 to 1, which look good against your 4 to 1 odds. You should take the risk and call. This is a worthy pot.
So, these are some must-know poker strategy that you can adopt in your game. You will get used to them with practice and experience. As you play more, you will develop your own poker strategy guide!
