Advanced Holdem Tips

Posted by The Poker Man on June 14th, 2010 at 07:18am

Once you understand advanced Texas Holdem tips you’ll start taking down pots you never thought were possible. There is a gap between comprehension and execution between an intermediate and an advanced hold em player. Intermediates understand that the cards in front of them mean less than collecting information on what your opponents cards may be, but lack the experience to accurately read their opponents hole cards. Professionals use the information presented to them in every hand to accurately gauge when to bluff, when to semi-bluff, when to bet, and when to fold. The cards in your hand mean absolutely nothing in the full spectrum of the game and what your opponents are holding means everything.

The first step of learning how to accurately gauge your opponents hole cards is by putting them on a range. Once you understand your opponents range you can determine whether or not a bet would have a positive or negative outcome. If your opponent is tight and only sticks around when he has a hand you can throw out what is known as a value bet to determine whether or not your opponent is strong or weak. Your opponent will take one of three actions after you bet at the pot: he’ll fold, he’ll call alerting you to slow down on the betting, or he’ll re-raise, alerting you that he has a very strong hand. Another one of your opponents may consistently chase after straight and flush draws. When you’re up against this opponent you know that you can keep betting at the pot until the fifth card to his hand hits the board.

Loose aggressive opponents are going to give you the most trouble when it comes to reads simply because their range is much wider. The easiest way to figure out what they’re up to is to watch hands that you aren’t involved in. Every pot that your opponent wins gives you more information towards determining a range as well as a betting pattern to your loose aggressive opponent. In online play you can tag your opponent using the notes system with all the information you need to beat him.

Determining their hand range will give you a broad idea of whether or not they’ve hit on the flop. You’ll be able to make educated guesses on whether you should stay in the pot or surrender. With each additional pot that’s played, you’ll be able to pinpoint more accurately their hand range. You’ll know which players trap, which players bluff, and which players only stick around with a strong hand. This will let you know when a bluff or semi-bluff will be effective, and when you stand no chance of winning.

Loose aggressive opponents typically require at least a pair to beat. You can go for the semi-bluff to increase the size of the pot, but to actually take it down it may be better to be holding both a pair and the draw if you want to throw out a bet. Trying to put them on a range by pre-flop raising also doesn’t always work. They may call with a wider variety of hands than that of their tight counterpart.

Betting at a tight aggressive player who has already called one of your bets is not a wise strategy. If you bet and they stuck around it’s time to slow down. They either have a hand or have become wise to you betting them out with nothing. Either way they’re not going to budge. Keep track of their previous hand history to determine if they’re trying to make a move on you or if they actually have something strong.

Texas holdem strategy is all about paying attention to what your opponents are doing. The more you pay attention, the better chance you have at winning more pots. Read as many poker tips as you can to improve your game.

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