If you know any basic strategy in Texas hold’em, you know that choosing you’re hand is very important. Many beginners will play , bet and lose with every hand. The key is choosing the hand that ill give you the wining outcome. If you bet and play every single hand you will lose money every time you play.
There are some basic starting hands that are the “ultimate” hands for in Texas Hold’em. These hands include pocket pairs, which are any pair. The best of which are aces. Getting a starting hand of 2 aces is the best hand in the game. The reason for this is, when the flop and river come, even if nobody on the table gets anything but a pair, you still win. In addition, nobody can have a higher pair than you.
The fact that this hand is the best hand would make everyone think that this hand should be used at all times and you should bet all you’re money in. This is not correct thinking. First of all, when you get this hand, you don’t wan to bet too much money at first because you will cause anyone who knows even a little strategy to fold causing you to lose out on a few more bets. One of the people that you caused to fold might have thought that they had the better hand with a pair of kings and raised for you, which would have meant more money for the pot. You want t o keep that pot as large as possible and you want to cause as many people as possible to lose.
This can easily be done by luring them out. Luring out players is very simple to do. If you have a semi- decent hand that you are sure can win, try not to cause you’re opponents to fold by betting low. Thik of it as a backwards bluff. You bet lower then what you’re cards are worth to create a safe feeling for you’re opponents. Then When the flop is down, you can start to raise and finally with the few people left you can go all in and try to eliminate someone while giving yourself the top position.
In a tournament, It is it more important to you that you win or is it more important to you that you can stay in the game and try and win in any place and receive a prize. In my opinion, its more important that I get into any place rather then not place at all. Lets take this into what I wanted to discuss, which is sacrificing great hands for survival. Imagine that you had a pocket pair and you folded. You would never do that right, that would be an impossible reaction to a 2 aces. What if I told you that it would be wiser to throw them away?
If you where in a game with 6 people left,
Player1 – $210
Player2 – $156
Player3 – $90
you – $70
Player5 – $30
Player6 – $18
These are the current statistics of the game and you have just received 2 aces.
You would wan to go all in and take player 5 and player 6’s money right? Well chances are if you go all in, they would fold, thus causing you to lose out on there bets. They know that you probably have a great hand and you will win, so they fold. Now there still in the game and you have a chance, at this point, of losing with nothing in with the next hand and you probably made only a minimum win with the aces.
If you folded then what? That would have made a much greater impact if you think about it. If the players with more money in the top spot decided to bet $20 or $40, players 5 and 6 would be out if they lost. You would still be in at this point with $70. If the next bet went up to $90 player 3 would be out to if he lost. Now if instead of going all in with the aces which would have won, you folded, you would still be in the game and in the number 3 spot entitling you to the third prize if you lose right there. Of course you have almost no money left and might lose unless you get another good hand. This is better then getting a small gain and possibly losing in without gaining 3rd place thus getting no prize and losing all money.
