Author: horse-racing-free-tips

In a perfect world, we would all get high pairs as starting hands, but, in truth, that rarely happens. What players will see more often are lower pairs of cards. For newer players, a pair of anything looks pretty good, but be careful, especially if you are playing for real money, when it comes to low pairs.

In general, there are no hard and fast rules that say what constitutes a low pair. For my own reasons, I consider anything below a 6 to be a low pair. As you gain experience and learn your own style of play you will be able to set your own standards as to what is a low pair and what is not.

One of the most useful tips that I can share with new players is this: 90% of the time (and this is especially true if you are holding a low pair of pre-flop cards) you want to see a cheap flop. What I mean by this is you want to see the flop for as little of your money invested as possible. Put another way, if you’re holding a pair of 3’s you want to see the flop but you do NOT want to put in a lot of money (by calling big bets or raising) in order to see that flop.

The key to remember is that a low pair has potential for becoming a huge hand if you pick up a set (another card matching yours comes up, giving you three-of-a-kind) or a quad (two matching cards come up on the flop, giving you four-of-a-kind) or a full-house, but the important word here is potential. Until you see the flop all you have is a lowly pair, and in a ten-handed game and even in a seven-handed game, that generally isn’t worth very much, and the lower the cards, the less they are worth. Keep in mind that a pair of 4’s will beat that pair of 3’s.

Again, we come back to position play and why it is important to always know where you are in relation to the Button. If you are the first person to act (meaning, you are first to either call the blind and play or fold) you must exercise caution. In fact, this is true with low pairs if you are seated anywhere on the first half of the table. The reason for this is simple. If you are the first to play (or even the second, third, or fourth) all the others players behind you will have the option to raise the bet, forcing you to put even more money in before seeing the flop. If you are playing with aggressive betters, the cost can skyrocket in no time at all. Now if you are sitting there (pre-flop) with a pair of King’s or a pair of Ace’s you might welcome that aggressive betting. But with a small pair in your hand, it can spell doom, real quick.

It is worth repeating. The key to playing small pairs is to see the flop for as little money as possible. A well-disciplined player will happily fold a small pair if the betting becomes too rich. Why will they do this? Experienced players will reason that aggressive betting before the flop usually (not always, but usually) represents a player with a strong hand, and in many cases, it may be two or three players with strong hands.

But what if you are holding a small pair and you are at the far end of the table line? Perhaps you are in the blinds (either the big blind or the small blind) or perhaps you are on the Button itself. What do you do in that case?

Well, it depends. If everyone else has folded, you would want to call the blind and see a flop. If only one or two earlier players have called the blinds (but not raised) you may want to go ahead and call yourself to see the flop as well. However, if one player has made a big raise or if several other players have called and or raised, then you go with your gut, and in most cases, your gut should be saying, “Fold”.

If you are in the blinds and can see the flop for a small additional amount of money, then go for it. If you hit your set, you will be in a very good position to probably win the hand.

If you don’t hit your set on the flop, it is time to think hard about folding your hand unless the other players check and you can check as well. If you can see a free card, see one.

It’s important to understand that you have about a 12% chance of hitting your set on the flop. Another way of looking at this is you have about a 1-in-8 chance of getting that third card on the flop.

The odds of getting that third card to fill your set decrease dramatically after the flop. In fact, the odds of seeing that third card by the River are only about 9%.

These statistics apply to all pairs and not just to small pairs.

So, if you are holding a small pair use common sense and watch your betting. Try to see the flop as cheaply as possible. If you hit your set on the flop, then go for it! If you do not hit your set on the flop, consider folding before putting anymore money into the pot. More often than not, you will be glad you did.

In online Texas hold’em the hands you can hold will be usually grouped with the help of two different big categorizations.

There was a need from the beginning of the poker game for some way to tell exactly which hands are weak and which are strong, which are weaker when comparing and which hands should be kept or thrown. This is why, sometime ago, there has been created a chart that explains and clarifies the hand rankings in hold’em. Each and every possible hand has been evaluated and included in this chart, and the odds for each hand, in all types of drawing situations, have been compared to the odds of similar hand and then accordingly classified. The hand grouping is made in eight distinct groups, starting from group 1, the group considered to have the highest odds and ending with group eight which is with little exceptions the group of very low hands, with very low odds, that are usually not to be played.

Also, in each group the hands are placed in order, from the ones that have been proved to be the strongest to the ones that are the weakest within that group.

The most known and appreciated chart of hands has been developed by two poker analysts and writers that have written book and analysis on poker strategies and theory. Their names are David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth and their hand grouping has been first published in the book named “Hold’em Poker for Advanced Players”. The Sklansky Hold’em Hand Groupings are presented below:

Group 1: A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, A-Ks
Group2: T-T, A-Qs, A-Js, K-Qs, A-K
Group3: 9-9, J-Ts, Q-Js, K-Js, A-Ts, A-Q
Group4: T-9s, K-Q, 8-8, Q-Ts, 9-8s, J-9s, A-J, K-Ts
Group5: 7-7, 8-7s, Q-9s, T-8s, K-J, Q-J, J-T, 7-6s, 9-7s, A-xs, 6-5s
Group6: 6-6, A-T, 5-5, 8-6s, K-T, Q-T, 5-4s, K-9s, J-8s, 7-5s
Group7: 4-4, J-9, 6-4s, T-9, 5-3s, 3-3, 98-, 4-3s, 2-2, K-xs, T-7s, Q-8s
Group8: 8-7, A-9, Q-9, 7-6, 4-2s, 3-2s, 9-6s, 8-5s, J-8, J-7s, 6-5, 5-4, 7-4s, K-9, T-8, 4-3

After this table has been successfully used by many experts, someone has researched for a diploma paper in the university’s senior year a different hand grouping. This is based on the one above and it demonstrates it, but it also shows that it is not complete and additional hands have been added and improved. The Modified Hold’em Hand Grouping is:

Group 1: A-A K-K Q-Q J-J A-Ks
Group 2: T-T A-Qs A-Js K-Qs A-K
Group 3: 9-9 K-Ts Q-Js K-Js A-Ts A-Q
Group 4: A-8s K-Q 8-8 Q-Ts A-9s A-T A-J J-Ts
Group 5: 7-7 Q-9s K-J Q-J J-T A-7s A-6s A-5s A-4s A-3s A-2s J-9s T-9s K-9s K-T Q-T
Group 6: 6-6 J-8s 9-8s T-8s 5-5 J-9 4-3s 7-5s T-9 3-3 9-8 6-4s 2-2 K-8s K-7s K-6s K-5s K-4s K-3s K-2s Q-8s 4-4 8-7s 9-7s
Group 7: 8-7 5-3s A-9 Q-9 7-6s 4-2s 3-2s 9-6s 8-5s J-8 J-7s 6-5 5-4 7-4s K-9 T-8 7-6 6-5s 5-4s 8-6s

There are many important things to learn about Texas Hold’Em before you play the game. One of the most crucial things you need to learn is a good basic strategy for betting. This is also a learning necessity with most other poker games and variations as well.

Fixed limit games are the most common types of Texas Hold’Em games. In fixed limit games, there are two different betting amounts, the low and the high betting amounts. For example, if you were playing Texas Hold’Em at a $10-$20 table, the first betting rounds all the bets would have to be made in $10 increments. So if the bet is currently at $10, you could only raise it to $20 or call. Dependent upon the game you are playing, at some point in the game the betting limit would double, so that all the bets would then be made at $20.

One basic strategy that can be used for betting in Texas Hold’Em is to try to focus on what cards you think the other players are holding in their hands. It will be important to watch the other players to get clues on what they may have or may be planning. One of the most important keys to betting successfully is to understand the other players at the table and try to place bets without them being able to guess your next move.

Most casinos limit the number of max raises to three or four a round. The number of allowed raises in each betting round should be a crucial element in planning your betting strategy.

A bet that is called a check is a nothing bet. Players make these bets when they don’t want to up the amount of their bet, but still want to remain in the game. If there have been no bets made during the round and play comes to you, you can check and pass play to the next player. A round of checks can be good for your poker play, assuming you have developed a good strategy. As always, you will need to study your hand well, and decide on the strength of the other players hands.

Sometimes using bluffs can be a boost to your poker betting strategy for Texas Hold’Em. It is important to remember that bluffs will work best when they are unexpected, if you bluff too often no one will fall for your tricks. On the flip side, if you never use bluffs and bet on a good hand, other players are more likely to pick up on the hand and fold rather than bet against you.

As with any poker game, you should remember that there will always be the element of luck involved, and that play may never go as you expect it to. Having a good betting strategy can tremendously help you in game play, but it is not the only part of the game you need to learn. The more you play the game, the better you should become at developing an effective strategy. Keep in mind that it is crucial to your success that you don’t become predictable in your play, as other players will be fast to pick up on it. Becoming a predictable player will make you lose far more often than you will win.