Poker Talk

This is probably one of the biggest tells that people have in their games and they don’t even realize it. Think about how you play your hands before the flop and you will quickly understand what we are talking about here. How much do you raise pre-flop when you are sitting on AA? How much when you only have a small pocket pair?

A lot of players will make a huge raise on one or the other and then play the opposite with the opposite hands. When you do this, you are telling anyone that is paying attention exactly what you have. For instance, you are a player that gets overly aggressive or and raised 10x the blinds with a small pocket pair or you push all in every time when someone raises in front of you with the same hand. When you have AA or KK, you tend to make a small raise of 3x and possibly just call a big raise in front of you hoping for action.

Any decent player is going to be watching you and all you need is a few showdowns for them to know exactly how you play. Forget about trying to vary your raises pre-flop to keep people off balance because it is very easy to lose track of where you are in your raises and actually outsmart yourself here. The trick to being a successful pre-flop raiser is to bet the same amount every time regardless of what your hand is. If you are the first to raise, pick your number and stick with it every time you jump into a hand. If you raise someone who has raised, raise their bet the same amount as you would raise the blinds.

Let’s assume that the blinds are $10/$20. When the action gets to you, you want to raise so regardless of what you are holding, you will make it $120 to go. If someone had made it $60 to go before the flop, you can raise their raise 6x so you can make it $300 to go here. If players are paying attention, they are going to see that no matter what you have, you are pumping the pot by a 6x raise each and every time.

All you are going to need is a handful of showdowns to have everyone confused when they get into a hand with you. You need to do this early and often at the beginning of the session and show a variety of hands. If you are heads up and folding, show those weak hands that you raised 6x the blinds with just like you had to show the KK in a showdown.

The purpose of showing here is make sure that everyone knows you are capable of playing poker 450 the same way you will play AA. Once you are in their head, you can back of showing your cards and play normally. Now when you are in the pot, they have no idea what you have and will tread very carefully around you. This is going to enable you to pull off some major bluffs and also create a lot of action when you really do land some nice hands.

If you intend to be a good Texas Holdem Poker player, you must know which are the finest starting hands, the ones that you can play and the ones that you must fold. Bluffing may help you win any kind of hand but there are several hands that can help you win more often and with guaranteed earnings.

Here we shall discuss the ten most excellent starting hands that can assure you of good results.

Ace-Ace:

The finest starting hand that you can get in Texas Holdem is a set of two Aces also called pocket rockets.

King-King:

The second best hand is ‘King Kong’ also known as the cowboys.

Queen-Queen:

The third most appropriate hand in Holdem Poker is a pair of Queens also known as the ‘ladies’.

Ace-King:

Some players may not think so but most agree to the fact that the Ace-King suited hand or the ‘big flick’ is the fourth most convenient hand in Texas Holdem.

Ace-Queen:

This is considered the fifth best hand and is a set of an Ace and a Queen of the same suit. It is also called the ‘big chick’ or ‘little slick’.

Jack-Jack:

A set of Jacks or ‘fishhooks’ makes the sixth most excellent hand.

King-Queen:

A King and Queen of the same suit make the seventh best hand in Holdem Poker.

Ace-Jack:

An Ace and a Jack of the same suit is considered the top starting hand in Black Jack, but in Holdem it is the eighth highest starting hand.

Ace-King Off Suit:

To see this pair listed as one of the preeminent starting hands may come as a surprise but it definitely is a pair that can be considered as the ninth top hand in Texas Holdem.

Ten-Ten:

This takes up the tenth position in the list. Also known as the ‘dimes’, this set of tens is a good starting hand.

As a new comer to the game, you should abide by these 10 foremost starting hand strategies, as they will always help you win. When you are well into the game and have enough experience to know that you can test out other starting hands, you can do so with ease. You could even try bluffing at this point.

However, you must always bear in mind that you can even lose money if you attempt playing with vulnerable hands. So, think clearly and play wisely.