Uncommon Poker Tips for Beginners

Uncommon Poker Tips for Beginners

I first started playing poker in high school with several friends. We would get together every Friday and Saturday and play Texas Hold 'Em for hours, sometimes not finishing until 4 or 5 in the morning. My friends were never very good. Well, to be honest, neither was I. None of us were. In fact, we were terrible. But we didn't care. It only cost us $5 or $10 a week (continuously shuffled back and forth) and it gave us something to do. Not to mention that poker was surprisingly entertaining. Bluffing with nothing, flopping a set, trying to guess each other's cards, winning money, losing money, the highs, the lows...it was all great. There's just something about poker that makes you want to keep playing. It's more than the money. It's something baser; something natural. You have to really be in the game to get the feeling. You can't just play it. It's a euphoric feeling that comes from taking something that someone else wagered. Poker is the survival of the fittest, but luck still rears it's ugly head. Poker is life. But I was terrible at it.

Before playing our little home games, I didn't know much about poker. I wouldn't even have been able to tell you all the hands (though I'm going to assume you all know the hands). That didn't last long though. After a couple of months of screwing around I began to notice the betting patterns of my fellow players and I learned how to manage my chips. I looked into books written by the pros and I began to play online. I was still losing, but I was losing with a bit more style and not quite as often. Over time I began to win a little more. By the time I graduated high school I was consistently earning just over an average of $100/month playing several $10 games a few times a week. I was hooked. Now I'm in college paying for all of my expenses with money earned from playing poker, and I live a relatively lavish lifestyle for a college student.

Basic poker concepts are not difficult to grasp. Anyone with a brain and patience can play poker. Poker is hard to master, and it is a grind. No one can say they've mastered the game of poker, and that's one of the things that makes it great. But what I've done in this article is give you basic tips to jump start your poker game. Whether you want to start winning home games with friends, play online and win consistent money or if you have aspirations of going to the World Series of Poker in Vegas, these basic tips are crucial for any beginner to have success. Remember, these are basics that you can always revert back to if you're having a rough time. Poker is a game that allows (demands even) creativity. So be creative, but until you get the hang of the game, these tips will get you started:

• Play Online and Start with Freerolls

Ok, I know it's not really a poker tip and it's also pretty obvious, but with the new legislation people may be hesitant to play online. You can still do it, even in America! Playing online gives you access to thousands of poker games, of all kinds. My personal favorite and the one I 'grew up with' is No Limit Texas Hold 'Em, which works out because it's also the most popular. I originally played on Party Poker and I was able to get a very high Return on Interest, around 35%. Unfortunately, Party Poker decided to disallow U.S. players to play for Real Money on their site. But, you have many other options. Personally, I prefer Pureplay because it's simple and I've had a lot of success winning there. A lot of easy players. Plus, you can sign up right now with just an e-mail and play in a $10,000 free tournament, so it's a good time to hop on. Remember, wait until you're comfortable playing free rolls before you start risking your real money. At the very least, play low limit games.

$10,000 Poker Freeroll

• Play the Right Hands at the Right Time

I don't know how many times I've seen players raise an OK hand in bad position just to be raised or called multiple times by hands that are better than their own. This should never happen. The more people who are left to act behind you, the better your hand needs to be.

You want to try and wait to have the best hands especially in the beginning of games. In general, people are loose in games when the blinds are low, so you want to play tight since you're likely to get a lot of callers. When the blinds are high, if the game has tightened up like it tends to do, you can actually afford to be more aggressive. Again, it's a judgment call based on the table, but in general don't be loose early in the game. It's counter-intuitive, but in the end you lose a lot. You're goal is to reduce the number of people seeing the flop, not increase it. Remember, the fewer people in the hand, the more likely you are to win.

• Read Books Written by Professionals

These guys are pros for a reason; read what they have to say. Not only will you be getting schooled by the best players in the world, you'll be reading what everyone else is reading. Poker is a game of information, and the more information you can have on your opponents, the better. What better way to learn something about your opponent's strategy than to read what he's reading? The two books I recommend are Tom Sklanksy's “Theory of Poker” and Mike Caro's “Book of Poker Tells”. The latter book I'd recommend especially if you're playing live games, but Caro talks about betting trends as well so it's still a good read. As for Sklanksy's book, it's full of valuable information.

• Know the Strong Hands, and Play them Aggressively

There's nothing worse than getting a pair of preflop aces and having them get busted by 10-6 off suit because you slow-played the hand. Remember, you want to minimize the number of players that see a flop. You should almost never limp into a pot with a really good hand. The only times I would recommend limping in is if you are in very early position and you're playing on a loose table. Doing that may set you up for a potentially large payout. A lot of players think that limping into the pot in late position is a good way to ensure you get some action. While this is true, you're forcing yourself to play passively after the flop. Playing aggressively rather that passively will help you get a better read on your opponent.

• Avoid the Preflop All-in

It's amazes me how many people still go all-in preflop at a time with least amount of information is available. Obviously if you're low on chips and it's late into the game you'll have no choice, but early on there's absolutely no reason to go all-in like crazy. Before the flop you've had access to only 28% of the cards you're going to see. Now, naturally if someone puts you all-in and you have Pocket Aces you want to call (most of the time, there are sometimes when it's wise to fold. See the above chart. If more than 4 people are in the hand still, you may want to consider getting out). The people this is focused at is the ones that raise all-in after one round of raises with hands like 10 10 or AQ. While there's no doubt those are good starting hands, you know of only two cards out of the possible 9 in play (if you're up against just one person). I recommend avoiding the all-in as much as possible preflop. Odds are you won't scare anyone out of the hand once they've already raised, but if you wait until you can get an extra read on them AND get more information about you own hand. It's simple, smart play.

• Manage Your Bankroll

If you follow no other tip, follow this one. Countless numbers of players go broke because they play stakes that are too high for their bankroll. You want to make sure you have a minimum of 20 buy-ins. You WILL go on a losing streak. Even the best in the world go on losing streaks. You'll have days, maybe weeks where you won't seem to be able to catch good cards and you have to struggle constantly just to place. Losing streaks are inevitable. But, with proper bankroll management, you can reduce the risk of going broke because you will be risking a smaller portion of your bankroll. If you consistently play 3-5% of your bankroll per game, you will successfully managing your bankroll. Play 3% if you're having a bad streak of games, and 5% if you're on a hot streak. Sticking to this simple system is enough to significantly reduce your risk of going broke, and increase your odds of making good money long-term.

If you follow these basic tips you should see your game improve almost instantly. Sticking to these strategies will help ensure that you'll be playing poker for years to come. Remember, poker is a lot more than gambling and if you treat as such, you'll have a lot of success. Thanks for reading!