7 Important Texas Holdem Strategy Lessons by Henri Junttila
The cards slide across the surface of the poker table like a hockey puck on ice (Okay, so I like hockey, so what? :). You look at your hole cards and see Ace Ten off suit. You ask yourself “What now?”. You end up calling an UTG raise from the small blind.
The flop comes down A 2 6 rainbow and you end up losing half your stack to Ace King. He had you dominated the whole way, blargh! You shrug it off as unfortunate and keep on going.
Did you play bad or was it just unfortunate? What if I said that usually it is bad play, a bad pre-flop decision? Texas holdem strategy mistakes like these are easy to make when you’re beginning, the more you learn the better you become so keep reading!
Texas holdem strategy is pretty simple when you get down to it. The hands you see on TV aren’t real poker. They are often just highlights in tournaments where the blinds have increased to the point where players have no choice but to go all-in!
Here Are The Golden 7:
1. Solid Poker - Texas holdem strategy will take you nowhere if you play bad starting hands in bad positions. I know you’ve heard it before and I will tell you again, because it is CRUCIAL to your success. Play tight out of position. That means super tight in the small blind, big blind, under the gun and middle position (for 6-max No-Limit Hold’em games). If you do this you will have a greater chance to make money!
2. Planning - A professional texas holdem player plans ahead. That means he thinks about the possible outcomes. An extreme example is if you hold A2o. Two players limp and one good player raises. You cannot possibly call here because you will never know if you’re hand is good, unless you flop two pair or better. So think ahead!
3. Stay Cool - Learn to identify signs of poker tilt. Do you get frustrated after you lose a pot? Do you get angry? Whatever your sign is you have to be aware of it. You have to learn to take a break or just quit because if you do not, you will inevitably end up losing more money than you should. Poker tilt will usually impair your judgment and get you into sticky spots because you think you can do something you cannot.
4. Game Selection - If you choose games where you are the best players then you will win. And the easier games you choose the easier you will win. Pick games where you have an easy time winning and you should have no problems. I know many good players who avoid this simple texas holdem strategy tip and are too lazy to select good games. They just sit all day and play with other good players. If they’re good they’ll win a bit, but not even close to as much as if they selected better games.
5. Bankroll Management - Are you familiar with this texas holdem strategy tip? I recommend you have a minimum of 20 buy-ins for the stakes you’re playing. I prefer over 30 myself. Read about proper poker bankroll management and apply it! If you avoid this, then you avoid success.
6. Keep An Open-Mind - Learn from everything you can. Discuss texas holdem strategy with friends, at forums and hire a coach to help you! I read all the books on texas holdem strategy I could find when I started out, after that I joined the 2+2 forums and after that I started discussing hands with poker players I met at the forums. The last step was to take coaching and I have been taking coaching for over 3 years now, all the time. Remember, even Tiger Woods has a coach 
7. Keep It Fun - All the texas holdem strategy tips lose their meaning if you are not having fun while doing it. Do whatever it takes to keep the game fun. Maybe you shouldn’t try becoming a professional poker player. You might enjoy playing semi-professionally or maybe just having fun with it. If you have fun then it is all good!
Are you interested in when to use these tips? Read more about Texas Holdem Strategy at Texas Holdem Poker 101, a extensive resource of Texas Holdem Tips maintained by a Professional Poker Player.
Article Directory: Article Dashboard
| 
