Poker Strategies the Pros Use

When it comes to poker, there is more than one way to skin a cat. There are many different strategies you can use in many many different situations. A good poker player learns to identify these situations and adjust his strategy accordingly. This is the secret to becoming a pro poker player. Playing one strategy or doing things a certain way may work one time at one table against certain players, and it may be disastrous against others. First of all, every likes to play aggressively. Raise, raise, raise. This will work in many No Limit Holdem games. However, you will have to scale back if you are playing Limit Holdem for example. What I think works and what doesn’t work is playing just too aggressive when you finally hit a hand. By being too aggressive, you will scare some players off. Not aggressive enough and they will suck out and you will get called. Maybe one of these players will even re-raise all in with what seems like a garbage hand. You can’t be afraid of that, it happens quite often. When you hit a hand, you have to make a continuation bet even when you don’t necessarily have the best hand. You have to make a bet that is large enough to get the tight players who are really stalling to fold, to call. You don’t want to give away any free money. Even when you do hit the nuts, continuation betting is a tool that can get your opponents to fold those hands more often than not. Consequently, you will probably make most of your money off of small pay tables, although you will also get some decent sized pots. Make sure you are skilled and experienced enough to win these in addition to the ones you win with the nuts. That way your play can make a bigger overall profit. It is also a good idea to mix it up a bit. Don’t be predictable in your style of play, others will be able to take advantage and you will come out on top. If you want to play poker online, I recommend starting at the low limit levels. Here you will find many amateurs and a few more people who are inexperienced. If you can take these steps, you will end up with a very good advantage over the people who are really good at the game. Once you move up to higher costs, you will find people who are better than you and play better hands. So always make sure you are matching your skills against someone better than you, you will win over time if you play enough. This is true in any poker game. However, the No Limit version of the game is easier to win because there are less hands and more action. In Limit Holdem, you have more time to think and more money to be put into the pot. Unless you hit the flop or excellent card in Limit, you are usually going to have to commit your chips sooner or later. In No Limit, you can always raise before the flop. You might find that you get action for your bluff, in which case you can fold the hand and not lose any chips. If you think you will be called, you can always come out with a strong bet after the flop. Most of the time players only bet a little when holding a strong hand, others will bet their entire stack if they have a weak hand. In addition, tournaments are much faster because of the blinds going up. In a 9-player situation in a NL match, the blinds go up pretty quick. This way you can get eliminated while still in the game. In a home game, you can take turns being the banker. This way you don’t have to sit still and let people get eliminated. When a flop of 3-7-9 is dealt, you can play quickly and try to take the pot with your hand. In a Limit game, you don’t get that many opportunities to do this. So, a few general tips for playing better hands in poker and in life are really important. You can’t go in saying, “I have pocket aces!” and expect to win. You need to surprise people with your skill. When you have a pocket aces, you never say two words; “I have pocket aces!” You just say, “I have pocket aces.” The other thing about being a pro is, you need to learn how to get out of a hand sometimes. You can’t always wait for your opportunity. If you say you are unlucky, you may be careful, but if you say you are unlucky, you lay the hand down. Sometimes, I find it better to get out pre-flop than to play it to the end. Sometimes, saying I have a good hand makes the other person raise the pot and sometimes it will just get you to fold. You have to be able to say, “I have nothing;