Want to improve your poker game? Check out our top poker strategy tips, including hand selection, position play, and bluffing techniques.
If you want to know how to win at poker, more specifically, Texas Holdem, the key is to first understand that while luck is a contributing factor in the short-term, skill wins out in the end. Anyone willing to work hard can develop the necessary skills to make money at the poker table. Who knows, maybe you could even get good enough to win a poker tournament.
The first step towards acquiring the skills possessed by the best poker players is to go all-in on reading this poker strategy guide
1. Limiting your range is how to win at poker in Texas Holdem
One of the biggest mistakes inexperienced and losing players make is to play too many weak hands and starting hands. Folding over and over isn’t a ton of fun, so it’s understandable you want to get in there and play a bunch of hands. And you’ve probably seen Tom Dwan on TV playing seemingly every hand.
But patience is a virtue if you’re trying to learn how to win at poker, especially against an aggressive table full of good players who love to gamble. That’s not to say you should only play aces, kings, or other strong hands. By all means, play suited connectors in position, just don’t get in the habit of playing too many hands or you’ll lose money. This is especially true for those new to the game. Once you become more experienced, you can comfortably expand your pre-flop range and learn how to win with a range of hands.
2. Play a balanced range — proper poker strategy
Mixing it up at the poker table is an important strategy because you won’t be so predictable. Don’t always continuation-bet on a flop when you have a big hand. Check-raise a flopped flush draw half the time, call the other half. Three-bet in the big blind with a suited ace in one hand, and just call the next.
There are too many players who make it so obvious what they have because they don’t mix it up. Play a balanced style of poker and you’ll keep your opponents on their toes. If they always know what you have, you’ll never get paid off on your big hands and your bluffs will never get through. Poker is a game of deception, which means if you can’t trick opponents into thinking you have something you don’t — whether it be bluffing or the nuts — you’ll never win.
3. Bankroll management: never play above your head
How to win at poker tip #3: poor bankroll management is one of the biggest reasons for failure in poker, and is certainly not how to win at poker. It takes a lot of money to make a lot of money in this game, and that isn’t just a cheesy cliche. No matter how well you play, there are going to be days you get crushed, whether it’s in a cash game or a tournament. The cards won’t always break your way.
Sometimes the poker gods will decide your opponents are going to hit every flush draw. If you aren’t properly bankrolled, you run the risk of going broke before luck evens itself out. You should have a bankroll of at least 25 times the buy-in for the game you play, just to be safe.
If you’re on a limited budget, it may be best to start out playing online poker. You can sharpen your skills playing free poker games online far cheaper than playing with real money in a live setting.
4. Learn to accept defeat
Another destroyer of a poker career is bad luck. We’re all going to get stacked by a gutshot straight draw that hits from time to time. We’re all going to have losing sessions. But you can’t let that destroy your confidence or you’ll never make it in this difficult poker game.
In addition to getting dealt good hands from Lady Luck, poker requires mental toughness. Watch videos on YouTube of Phil Ivey taking bad beats. Pay attention to his reaction. He never gets upset about a bad beat, or at least he doesn’t show it, and it’s no surprise he’s one of the best of all-time. You’ll win some, you’ll lose some, and that’s the way it is with every professional poker player.
5. Never get too high
We aren’t talking about smoking weed here. Much like losses shouldn’t crush your confidence, you should never get too excited after a win (unless you take down a World Series of Poker bracelet or other major event, of course).
Always remain level-headed regardless of recent results, even when you’re on a heater. And, yes, you will eventually hit a heater if you play long enough. You could win $300 one night and then lose it back the next. So, there’s no point celebrating a small victory. New players can often be excitable, but longevity requires a level head.
Keep learning the trade and stay humble through practice, low stakes games, strategy articles from poker sites, and other players.
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