• AA:     Always raise.
• KK:     Nearly always raise. The one exception is if you get a raise and a reraise in front of you from very tight players.
• QQ:     Nearly always raise. Possible fold against an extremely tight player raising in front of you. Fold to raise and reraise.
• JJ:       Raise first in, raise with one limper, raise with multiple limpers, Fold or reraise to previous raiser. Fold to raise and reraise.
• TT:     Raise first in, raise one limper, raise multiple limpers. Fold to raise and reraise. Fold or reraise to previous raiser.
• 99:       Raise first in. Usually raise one limper, sometimes call in early position. Call two or more limpers. Fold to raise in early position and mid position. Call or reraise in later positions when raiser might be on a steal.
• 88:       Raise or fold first in. Usually call one or more limpers. Fold to raise.
• 77-22:  Attempt to see the flop as cheaply as possible. Call but be prepared to throw away to large raise.
• AKs: Always raise. Be prepared to put all your money in pre-flop unless tight player raises or reraises. If you get all your money in first, you may get 50:50 shots such as JJ and TT to fold.
• AQs: A trap hand. When out of position, attempt to keep pot as small as possible, checking and calling unless you have hit your flush or straight. However, worth a raise in late position.
• AJs: An even bigger trap hand. AQs and AJs get inexperienced players into a lot of trouble. Once again, try to keep the pot small if you are out of position. Be prepared to throw this hand away preflop to a raise.
• ATs-A9s: Worth a speculative raise in late position if you are first in or if there is one (loose) limper. Otherwise, be afraid, be very afraid.
• A8s-A2s:         Big trouble in early position. I would throw these hands away unless there were hardly ever any raises preflop. Worth an occasional blind steal attempt if you are in late and there have been no callers. Worth limping in late if there have been several callers. Worth completing in the small blind (but you want to hit a flush or two-pair – you do not want to be calling big bets on a draw!)
• KQs: Raise in late if no previous callers or one (loose) caller. Limp if several callers. Throw it away in early. Limp or throw it away in middle position. Another trap hand loved by limit players. It is far less powerful in no limit.
• KJs: As with KQs, but more so. Be very careful with this hand
• KTs-K9s: Danger. Warning. Just about worth completing in small blind or calling a small raise if you are in Big blind. You want to hit big here.
• K8s-K2s:         In early position, dreadful. In middle seats, dreadful. In late position, usually played by players with “I feel lucky!” badges on their lapels. I hate these hands.
• QJs, QTs: Nice hands to get in cheap with, if you can. Less likely to be dominated, and with potential for great wins on flops such as AKJ and AKT when you are up against AK, AJ, AT. The two pair can usually be induced to go all-in, even though he has only four outs. Even against a set you are favourite with a made straight.
• Q9s-Q2s: As a rule, rubbish
• JTs: Another nice hand, but does not seem to have the same winning potential as QJs or QTs. Worth seeing a cheap flop from middle and late positions. In early position I would chuck it.
• J9s: Very speculative. Often played by loose players who then dig their own grave when they flop two pair and a runner runner backdoor flush chance. Backdoor flushes are useful in limit poker. In no-limit, they are rarely worth factoring into your calculations.
• Other suited connectors: 98s, 87s, 76s are speculative, but have big win potential (usually with the straight rather than the flush). 65s down to 32s have less potential than you might think. Occasionally worth getting in cheap with and then “accidentally” exposing when you fold, giving the impression that you are looser than you are.
• All other suited hands should be folded.
• AK: Raise first in and put in a good sized raise if there are limpers. You do not want weaker Aces calling you from behind, putting you out of position and then leaving you in potential trouble on a flop of, say AJ9. Try to win the button by raising.
• AQ: Worth a raise of a single limper if you are in middle-to-late. Do not just call with this hand. It is horrible against many opponents. In early position I would be tempted to throw this hand away. If you call, you face a multi-wayer. If you raise, you either win the blinds or find yourself in trouble.
• AJ: A serious trap hand. Usually if you raise and are called, you are in trouble. If you fail to raise, you are likely to be in bigger trouble. Worth a speculative raise in late
• AT-A9: Worth a raise in late if there are no previous callers or just one loose limper. Otherwise, ditch it.
• A8-A2: Hands that sleep with the fishes. Walk away
• KQ: Worth a speculative raise in late. Be prepared to lay down to any reraise. Like AJ, this is a trap hand. You rarely have the nuts and can often end up losing your entire stack. KQ is a much worse hand in No Limit than it is in Limit.
• KJ: Where was that “I feel lucky” badge? Usually, just fold and wait for another day.
• KT-K2: Hands liked by people with an aversion to money. Walk away.
• QJ, QT: Like their suited counterparts, hands that have potential, but not nearly as much as if they were suited. I’d want to be fairly sure of getting in very cheap before I played these.
• Other unsuited connectors: All very speculative. Worth completing with in the Small blind, but as a rule I would fold.
• Any other hand. Fold. Watch other players for the rest of the hand.

Follow this guide when you play online poker or poker at your local card room or tournament event and your success rate will improve. Knowing what starting hands to play is a good stat, but there is so much more to this game.

1. Make sure that your play of the hand has been consistent with a hand that beats your opponent
2. Do not bluff just on the river, except in no limit for a large amount relative to the size of the pot (and then only when you are last to bet). Bluffs are best set up in advance, like a good lie. They need surrounding veracity to make your opponent believe.

An example from Limit $5-$10 game.
Hero (you): As Kh
You are in a middle position.
The player on your immediate right calls. You raise. The small blind, whom you have observed to be an inexperienced player, calls. The big blind folds. The early-position limper on your right calls. $35 on the pot ($10 from each of the active players, plus $5 from the folded Big Blind).
Flop:
Qs Td 5s
Small blind checks, Limper checks, and you bet. Small blind now springs to life and raises. Limper folds and you call. $55 in the pot
Turn:
Qs Td 5s 6h
To your surprise, the small blind now checks. You check as well. You had been expecting a bet here. The only logical explanation for this check is that your opponent has something like King-Jack or two spades, or maybe even King-Jack of spades.
Therefore he raised on the flop in the hope that this would allow him to see the turn and river relatively cheaply. However, you decide to check as well. The main reason to do this, even though you suspect that you are ahead, is that if your read is wrong you may be check-raised again.
River:
Qs Td 5s 6h 6d
Your opponent now bets. You call in the blink of an eye and he says “I missed”, showing his King Jack. You show your Ace-King high and everybody thinks that you are a genius.
But your play was quite logical. What other kind of hand could your opponent have? His bet on the river was a classic “this is the only way I can win this pot” bet. You see it time and time again, and it is a classic example of how not to bluff. Note also that you do not have to be right every time. You don’t even have to be right half of the time. You are putting in $10 and winning $65 as a result. Provided your read is correct one time in six or better, you will show a profit from calling here.
Is the answer therefore, “never bluff”? Definitely not. In fact, the bet by the player with the Ace-King on the flop is a form of bluff. A “continuation bet” in no limit poker (where you raise pre-flop and bet out about half the pot on any flop) is a kind of bluff. People bluff all the time, because they miss their flops more often than they hit, but they bet anyway.
But these are not “last throw of the dice” bluffs. They are more a “well, I missed, I’m probably behind, but I might end up in front, and, if I bet, my opponent might fold” kind of bluff.
Are there any times that you should try a “last throw of the dice” bluff? Definitely. Another old saying in poker is “never bluff a duffer”. As with most old sayings, it is sometimes false. Bluffs have to be set up in advance, so that your hand could, quite logically, be something which slaughters the best that your opponent can have to offer.
Suppose you are on the button in a no-limit game and have any two cards. Say, 87 of spades. Since you do not plan to be called here, your holding is irrelevant. You call a 4xBB raise by a player in middle position. You have noted that he is a solid player who is willing to call big bets, but is also willing to lay down a good hand. Both of you are quite deep-stacked. Your opponent also knows that you are capable of calling raises, when you have position, with any number of hands.
Flop:
9d 4s 3d
Your opponent bets three-quarters of the size of the pot and you immediately call.
Turn:
9d 4s 3d Jd
Your opponent checks and you bet the size of the pot, making sure that you have enough to bet the pot again on the river if your opponent calls. But he doesn’t call; as you hoped and expected, he folds. From his point of view, there is no reason why you should not have two diamonds. Your play has been quite consistent with having a drawing hand. And there is a good chance that your opponent has missed the board has well.
Let’s move back a card and look at your thought processes when you call your opponent’s continuation bet on the flop.
If you hit a seven, a two, or a diamond, then you have a card which scares the hell out of your opponent. A five, a six, a nine, a three or a four will also have him worried. Since you do not have a diamond, that gives you eleven “outs” rather than the nine you would have if you were really drawing to a flush. Add to that two threes, two fours, three fives, three sixes, two sevens, three nines and you have 26 cards that scare the hell out of your opponent out of the 47 unknown cards in the deck. You are odds-on to hit a card which, if you bet the pot, will probably make your opponent lay down a pair of aces. And all because you put in a bit of forethought.

Understanding relative hand strength pre-flop is not a hard thing to do if you analyze a starting hand chart. By familiarizing yourself with a starting hand chart, you can identify the top starting hands you should be playing. If you are playing tight and only playing premium hands, you will be playing hands like strong top pair hands like AK/AQ and big pocket pairs. But if you were to only play premium hands, observant players will pickup on the fact that you are only playing big hands, and it makes it easy for them to get away from a hand when you show aggression, which is why you really need to widen your starting hand range, to play more speculative hands which can hit the flop hard.

The very best starting hand in Texas Holdem is AA but getting dealt pocket aces by no means guarantees you will win the hand, it is only the best hand pre-flop. In fact, if the player(s) in the hand are betting aggressively by the time it gets to the river, and your hand doesn’t improve, there is a very good chance your AA is no longer the best hand.

To mix things up you want to play cards which can crack the big hands like small pocket pairs and any cards that are suited and closely connected such as 98s, and T9s. When you hit the flop hard with these types of hands, if your opponent has an overpair its going to be very difficult for them to get away from their hand, and quite often you will win a large sized pot.

When playing pre-flop in Texas Holdem, remember that you want to play big hands in big pots and small hands in small pots. By “big” and “small” I refer to the strength of the hand. However, the cards you play is not the only consideration.

Position is key in Texas Holdem and probably more important the your two hole cards you are playing with. That may sound like a ridiculous statement but its not. What you need to realize is that Texas Holdem is a game of mis-information. Any additional information you can extract in a hand is going to be useful and helpful in your decision making. When you have position in the hand, you will get to act last, and the later you act the more information you have over your opponents, since the other players will be acting before you.

When you are playing in early position, you really should be looking to play only the very best starting hands most of the time, because if you get called by another player, there is a strong possibility you will be playing out of position in the hand.

The button in Texas Holdem is the position which gets to act last, so the closer you are to the button when deciding what action to take pre-flop, the more you should be looking to widen your starting hand requirements, and raising more marginal hands in an attempt to steal the blinds. One of the huge advantages of playing in late position is that even when you get called and you happen to miss the flop, since you were the pre-flop aggressor, if the flop likely didn’t help your opponent either, you can easily take down the pot with a continuation bet. But I will discuss this strategy in more depth in the playing the flop article.

By now you should be aware about the importance of hand strength and position in Texas Holdem, when deciding what to do pre-flop. While these two factors are pretty much the only thing you have to be concerned about to beat micro stakes cash games, there are other considerations you need to keep in mind, especially in tougher mid to high stakes games.

When playing against tougher, more aggressive opponents, you need to understand that they are also very familiar with the fundamentals of the game, and the importance of position. If they see that you are always raising in late position, they will suspect you are raising with less then premium hands, and will play back at you. So in tougher games you need to be making the necessary adjustments when playing pre-flop.

For example, even though it can be great to raise with small pairs like 22-44 in early position in micro stakes games, because when you hit your set, you will likely win someones stack, in tougher games, there is a lot more 3betting, so folding these type of hands in EP is a consideration due to the likelihood of getting squeeze raised.

The flop must fit your hand by:

1. Improving your hand.

2. Giving you a draw that offers a sizable pot should you hit it.

3. Being so lousy it probably didn’t help you and likely any of your opponents.

After the flop you have a very important decision to make. Playing beyond the flop will cost you some chips. Is it worth it to play on?

Over cards On The Flop

If you started with AK and the flop is J 9 5 you have two “over cards”. Both of your cards are higher than any card on the “board”. If someone before you bets they are representing they have a jack, or maybe a nine in their hand. Or prehaps an “over pair” like QQ, KK or AA.

Do they or don’t they? It helps to know your opponents playing tendencies in this situation. Studying how your opponents play different types of hands is an important part of winning at poker.

How many opponents are you up against? If someone bets and then someone raises it is obvious that you do not have the best hand with your ace high. Many players will call with their AK hoping to catch another on the turn or river. This is usually a bad play in Texas Holdem.

Think about it. There are three more kings and three more aces left in the deck of forty seven unseen cards. 41 cards won’t pair you up , 6 will. 41 against 6, or about 7-1. In other words, you are a 7-1 against favorite you that you’ll catch an ace or king on the turn.

Overplaying over cards on the flop is one of the biggest mistakes poker players make. Chasing and calling bets when it is obvious you don’t have the best hand at the moment and little chance of improving to the best hand. If you DON’T make these calls you will save yourself a lot of money. The only time you want to be floating the flop with just over cards is when you expect the flop didn’t help your opponent as well, and expect to still have the best hand.

Playing A Draw On The Flop

Draws are all about pot odds. Are the odds of you making your draw greater than the money you will win? For example: You have the AJ of hearts and the flop is Q 8 3 and two of them are hearts. If either of the next two cards is a heart you’ll have made a flush which is a powerful poker hand. Not only that but you would have the “nut flush”, the highest possible flush because you hold the ace of hearts.

But what are the odds of making your flush with two more cards to come? There are two hearts in your hand and two on the board, leaving nine hearts in the deck of forty seven unseen cards. 38 card won’t help you, nine will. 38 against 9 is about 4-1. With two cards to come it’s about 2-1 odds.

That is pretty good odds but there is more to the pot odds equation. Let’s say there is $10 in the pot. The bet you must call to play your draw is $3. The pot is “offering you” 10-3, or about 3-1, but the odds of making your flush on the turn are 4-1 against you. The odds of you making your hand are GREATER than the odds the pot is offering you. In the long run you will lose more money than you will win in this situation. Not good.

Now if the pot was $20, and the bet for you to call was $3, the pot is offering you about 7-1, with 4-1 of making your draw on the turn. This is good and it would be correct to make the call. Do you see what I am saying here? It is very important that you understand basic pot odds on the flop because you are planning your hand on future streets, you can not win at poker if you don’t.

Sometimes you will be the pre-flop raiser when flopping a draw. If you flop a hand with many possibilities such as a high pair and a straight or flush draw, make sure to bet aggressively. With many ways to win you want to build the pot for when you hit, and potentially getting weaker hands to fold straight away.

However, most of the time the flop will not hit your hand. If you started with a good hand like AQ and the flop is K 7 3 and people start betting and raising you are beat my friend. Fold. Do not chase miracle cards, they may in fact be dead outs. In saying that, sometimes even if you flop nothing you should still come out betting. Mixing up your play is an important poker strategy, keep them guessing but don’t over do it. Bluffing works a lot better in no-limit games where you can control the size of your bets and maximize fold equity when playing against tight/passive players.

In general, when the flop gives you a good hand play aggressively. If you are raising only premium hands pre-flop you will have a strong hand on the flop more often. Bet if first to act and consider raising with a powerful hand if you expect your opponent to call.

Remember poker is a game of skill with a luck factor thrown in. Only play when the pot odds are in your favor unless a bluff will pick up the pot. Winning poker players aren’t lucky they’re smart and always consider the math and long term profit expectations. You must learn to play correctly on the flop if you want to be a winning Holdem player.

1. A strong made hand.

2. A straight, flush draw, or combo draw with profitable pot odds.

3. Or a good chance to win the pot by bluffing. For example, you could float the flop with nothing against an aggressive cbettor, with the plan to steal the pot on the turn.

If you don’t have at least one of these good reasons to continue with the hand you should check or fold when it’s your turn to act. You can’t make very many bad calls on the turn when it matters in poker if you want to be a winning player.

In order to play the turn in Texas Holdem properly;

If you’re quite sure you have the best hand on the turn, you can choose to either bet, raise, or try for a check-raise. It’s important not to give your opponents a free chance to draw against you. Make them pay to see the river card, so be mindful of check raising the turn on draw heavy boards, because it can allow your opponent to check back and get a free card.

If you’re on a draw, try to see the river as inexpensively as possible. Call if you have a flush draw or an open ended straight draw on the turn against two or more opponents giving you descent pot odds. If you were the pre-flop aggressor and playing against a tight player, if you sense weakness, you can consider semi-bluffing, especially strong draws. You will get folds a lot, and even when they do call, you have a number of outs to make the winning hand.

When playing the turn, remember that anytime there is a pair on the board you may be up against a full house and three of a kind, so it can be worthwhile going for pot control on the turn if a large part of your opponents range is medium strength hands.

If you’ve got a great hand in early position, you can also consider a check-raise on the turn if you’re sure someone behind you will bet. This way you get in the extra bet to build the pot and force the drawing hands to pay more to continue to the river.

Double barrel bluffs are an important component of a winning player’s poker arsenal, but you definitely don’t want to get carried away with doing it. When you have nothing on the turn and the only way to win the pot is to bet, you can be worthwhile betting scare cards like the A or K when these cards make up a large part of your range. For example, let’s say you opened UTG with QJs but you miss on the flop which is 237 and your continuation bet gets called. If the turn card is a K, this can be a good bluff card, since its likely your opponent called with a worse pair on the flop.

What action you should take when playing the river in Texas Holdem is largely dependent on your opponent and their playing tendencies. If its likely they are on a missed draw, then betting the river isn’t a great option, because it doesn’t allow your opponent to try and steal the pot with a miss timed bluff. Always consider your opponent’s hand range and what they can realistically call with. If you can maximize the value of your hand but taking an alternative line, then you should do so.

If you have nothing, like you missed your draw and have only ace high, don’t bet or call any bets. Bluffing in low-limit Holdem poker games usually won’t work, but every hand is unique. Against a very tight player heads-up, a bluff may work, especially if the river card is a scare card putting a possible straight or flush on the board. Maybe he’s also missed his draw? You must carefully watch how your opponents play each hand throughout the game to know how, and when, you can take advantage of their unique playing style.

Normally you should only bet the river when you expect to have the best hand and want them to call you with a worse hand. For example, if you have top pair and a descent kicker you should probably bet on the river as long as the board isn’t scary. At least you should bet against one or two opponents. The more opponents, the more you should be worried of being beaten with a top pair type of hand.

Usually in low-limit Holdem you should play your cards in a straight forward manner. Don’t get fancy with bluffs and check-raises on the river, there is no need to get creative to beat low limit Holdem players. Get your money in when you have the best of it, fold when your gut tells you that you’re beat.

I think one of the keys to playing the river in an optimal manner is to know your opponents style of play. Against a very aggressive player who over plays weak hands you should raise if you believe your hand is best. Against a very solid, tight player who bets into you, think seriously about folding on the river unless you have a very strong hand.

When playing on the river, always be aware of the best possible hand by paying close attention to the board cards. If you have two pair you probably have the best hand, but watch out for possible straights and flushes, etc.

Anytime there is a pair on the board it’s possible that somebody has a full-house. However, if you have a flush and your opponent has not shown strength after the board paired, you likely still have the best hand.

In summary, look to bet strong hands from the start so by the time you get to the river you have a relatively easy decision. Play your cards in a straight forward manner on the river but mix-up your play once in a while by bluffing, slow-playing and check-raising on the river card in Texas Holdem. Just don’t over do it.

General Background
Texas Hold’em is the most common form of poker played today. Its primary objective is to make the best five-card hand using any combination of five community cards and the two hole cards dealt to each player.
Blinds
Before each hand, the two players left of the button (used to represent the dealer) are forced to place a bet before any cards are dealt. The player immediately to the left of the button is referred to as the small blind, while the second player to the left is known as the big blind. The big blind is equal to the minimum bet and the small blind is generally half the big blind. The button is rotated clockwise at the completion of each hand. The blinds get raised over the span of the tournament on given intervals depending on the tournaments rules. Also, later in tournaments, a bet known as the ante is enforced. The ante is posted, before cards are dealt, by all players involved in the hand, as well as those in the blind.
Betting
Betting occurs four times in a full Texas Hold’em hand. Betting occurs in a clockwise pattern, and continues until everyone has folded, put in all their chips, or matched the amount bet by all players.
If a player is first to act, they can check. Checking is the act of passing on a bet, or a bet of 0. The next player can also check. If every player checks, then that betting round will conclude. Action will then proceed afterwards. Pre-flop, only the big blind will have the option to check, unless he faces a raise.
The act or wagering more chips than the current bet is known as a raise. A raise has to be at least two times the current bet.
In the event the player wishes to match the current bet, it is known as a call.

Hand Play
Pre Flop
First, the blind bets are placed to signify the start of the hand. Then, each player at the table is dealt two cards face down. These are the player’s hole or pocket cards. This is the first round of betting, beginning with the player to the left of the big blind. Betting continues clockwise until all players have called a raise, checked, or folded.
The Flop
The flop consists of four cards being dealt. The first card is dealt facedown into the muck, while the other three are placed faced up, making the first three community cards. A round of betting then happens. This time betting starts with the small blind, or the person to the left of the dealer button.
Fourth Street (“turn” card)
The next two cards off the top of the deck are dealt. Again, the first one goes facedown into the muck, and the other card is placed face up next to the other three up cards. Another round of betting happens, starting with the small blind.
Fifth Street (“river” card)
The next two cards are taken off the top of the deck. The first card gets placed face up, into the muck, while the other card is placed face up next to the four community cards. This is the last card to the community, which makes up the board. The final round of betting takes place and the hand is over. The pot, or the chips at stake, are then awarded to the player with the best hand (see hand ranks). In the event of a tie, or split pot, the chips are evenly distributed to the winning players.
End Hand Ranks
The quality of a players hand is determined by the best combination of five cards picked from the two in their hand and the five on the board. The following are the ranks of hands from best to worst.

The quality of a hand is determined by the size of the highest card. For example, a straight from 3 to 7 is weaker than a straight 5 to 9. Also, a pair of tens beats a pair of nines. But, the suit of a card has no influence on hand strength. 8♥ 8♣ and 8♦ 8♠ have the same exact strength.