Poker Tips and Tricks
We will look generally at Texas Hold'em as this is the most popular version of the game and is certainly the most televised. However, the advice given will apply equally well to other variants of the game.
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Playing Poker
This is where everyone needs to start. Learn to play the game well and you will enjoy sociable evenings with friends and winning in the world's most popular card game.
Learn the hand ranks (Beginner)
So often do new players lose having misjudged the strength of their hands, or simply not realised they have drawn invalid hands. Asking about the strength of your hand during a game is not a good idea! Below are the hands with the strongest ones at the top.
Royal Flush e.g. 10h, Jh, Qh, Kh, Ah
Straight flush e.g. 3d, 4d, 5d, 6d, 7d
Four of a kind e.g. 2d, 2h, 2 c, 2h, Js
Full House e.g. Qh, Qd, Qs, 4c, 4d
Flush e.g. 3h, 5h, 6h, Jh, Qh
Straight e.g. 6c, 7c, 8h, 9d, 10h
Three of a kind e.g. Ks, Kc, Kh, 4d, 8h
Two pair e.g. 4h, 4c, Jh, Js, 6d
Two of a kind e.g. 10h, 10c, 4d, Kc, Ah
High card e.g. Ad, 3h, 5h, 7c, 8s
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Print our handy poker hand guide for your next game. |
Watch players (Beginner)
Poker games are not won with cards alone. There is the important human element to the game and it is up to you to decide when someone is bluffing or not. Watch for tells, little giveaway signs of hidden intentions, to decide if someone's hand is really what they are representing. For example, this could be involuntary eye movements or sudden fidgetting of chips. There are plenty of well documented tells which are easy to spot once you know what to look for. This would give you an advantage in deciding when to call a weak hand or reraise to scare players out of a pot. The most comprehensive and well known book on the subject is "Caro's Book of Poker Tells
Know when to bluff (Beginner)
Bluffing is an integral element to game but it doesn't mean you have to do it all the time. Sure, it is possible to win with absolutely nothing but the consequences are high if you get called. Players will also learn to see through your bluffs if you do it too often.
Appropriate times to bluff are when you already have a potentially winning hand and want to represent a stronger one, or have a chance of drawing the winning hand and want to frighten players out by representing an already made hand. This type of bluff is what pros call a semi-bluff. The strategies behind bluffing are explained in full in the book "Winners Guide to Texas Hold 'em Poker
Do not chase losses (Beginner)
Know your limits and stop when you reach it. There is no point playing just to make up your losses because you will be playing for the wrong reasons. Better to call it a day and play another time when your mind and emotions are refreshed.
Have patience (Intermediate)
Winning starting hands take time to appear so wait and don't be tempted to play rubbish cards. Even though this can be boring, especially when you feel you are getting a long run of cold cards, but if you enter a game with weak speculative cards you will come out a loser more often than not.
Know when to fold (Intermediate)
When the cost of calling compared to the pot size gets too large and is higher than the odds of you drawing the cards you need, it's time to fold. Don't be fooled into making expensives calls, you are simply getting poor value for money.
Think before playing (Intermediate)
It is all too easy to be emotionally drawn into a game and letting it cloud your decision making. The next time this happens, stop and think carefully before you make your move. Aggressive players will try to bully you out of the pot...is there a genuine reason for this? Tight passive players (Rocks) can irritate by providing very little betting action...can this be exploited? Mouthy players will try and goad you...what are they trying to achieve? By thinking through the situation first, you can prevent yourself from making a bad choice and losing money.
Learn the odds (Pro)
Sorry, but you really need to know your maths to get the edge in poker because by knowing the odds of drawing cards will really give you a real advantage when it comes to making betting decisions. Common odds post-flop worth knowing are:
- Drawing a pairing card = 3/47 (approx 6%)
- Completing a flush = 9/47 (approx 19%)
- Completing a gutshot straight = 4/47 (approx 9%)
- Completing an open ended straight = 8/47 (approx 17%)
Chapter 5 in David Sklansky's "The Theory of Poker
Playing online
Playing online is totally different from playing in real life. You are limited by many factors and it is important to know what these are to have a fighting chance of winning.
Choose the correct stake level to play (Beginner)
Generally the higher the stakes the greater the ability of the players. Experienced players will want to win big and fast and won't necessarily have patience to play the smaller stake games. Moving up too fast means you are more likely to come a cropper unless you play very carefully. On the other hand, smaller stakes games can be more random (loose) as players are unlikely to be frightened by the smaller bets and will often choose to stay in a game even with weak hands.
Learns online tells (Intermediate)
Without being able to looking into someone's eyes you will have to rely on other factors. Look for betting response times to try and decide someone's confidence. Was it an immediate raise signalling a pre-determined bet possibly indicating a strong hand? Or did the decision take a long time, possibly indicating a marginal hand? Other possible tells are inconsistent raises; are these large compared to a player's normal raise indicating scaring tactics or a monster hand.
Hosting a poker game
Use poker chips (Beginner)
Forget matchsticks, pennies, sweets and paperclips. Nothing beats the use of real poker chips for a card night. The sound, feel and look will add credibility to your games and will also help the pace of the game because bets are counted out more easily. Avoid the cheap plasticcy type which fall around too easily and make an annoying clinking sound, go for the heavier 11.5g weight chips where possible. Thanks to the popularity of poker these days, poker chips sets are now very cheap and easy to get a hold of (my first set of chips bought in the early 90s cost nearly £150!)
Control the games (Intermediate)
As host, you have the responsibility of making sure the night is well managed and games are kept in order. This is especially the case if new players are present. There is nothing worse than having distractions that slow the games down or finding someone is playing beyond their abilities and not having a fair game.
Set your house rules! (Intermediate)
Stating clearly the house rules for the night at the beginning of the evening will prevent painful disputes later on. I have seen so many arguments in the past which could so easily be avoided if the rules were understood by all at the start. Below are a few things you want to think about.
What are the durations between the blind increases? How much are the blinds incremented each time? If you plan to play a long evening's game, or have just a few players (under six) then doubling the blinds every half hour is fine. If you have a lot of players (around ten) or you want to play a few games in one night then doubling every 10-15 mins would be better.
Are there any limits to the bets in each betting rounds? For limit Hold'em
What are the chip denominations? The standard demoninations for poker chips are as follows:
White |
1 |
Print out our |
Red |
5 |
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Blue |
10 |
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Green |
25 |
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Black |
100 |
Keep drinks topped up (Cheat)
You wouldn't be a good host if you didn't supply plenty of refreshments, right? Well...if you happen to be providing alcoholic drinks you are basically going to impair your guests judgement for the night and they won't be able to make the correct calls or make measured bets. Is this right? Are they drinking their own drinks anyway? You be the judge.