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Every game in life is based upon simple things like bet and win. Even the innocent 'tic-tac-toe' invented in Western Europe around XI century, was originally considered a gambling game. Gambling itself became an integral part of our civilisation. It was around for thousands of years and has never left. It's a never-ending story of hope to win and a good luck, of excitement of the winning and carrying on racing to win more as long as you believe in your good fortune and are willing to play...
Texas Hold'em is by far one of the most famous and exciting Poker games ever invented. It takes its roots in Texas, USA. The rules of the game were first put down in Robstown in 1900. At that time, this game was particularly popular among the cowboys and residents of the state, however, in the rest of the US, where Poker was in a current trend, people preferred different types of the game.
The first wave of popularity hit Texas Hold'em on the verge of 1970-1980. Originally it was introduced at a Las Vegas casino in 1967 and then later - at the World Series of Poker.
The true beauty of Texas Hold'em is the simplicity of its rules. But at the same time, deep knowledge of psychology, good observation and basic mathematical skills are also expected.
Game rules
Texas Hold'em is a betting system that's based on winning at the end of the card dealing. If the bet does not reply to any of the opponents' bets, the player wins the pot without disclosing his cards, and this is the very basis of a bluff.
All participants are given 2 cards and 5 cards are laid out on the table: the first 3 cards are called 'the flop,' another 2 - 'the turn,' and the last 5th card is called 'the river.' Each player chooses 5 cards from 7 available in order to build a 'winning hand.' You can form a winning combination using either 2 cards, or just one of them (if the cards don't improve on the card table, although it's quite rare).
Texas Hold’em strategies
The main strategy of playing Texas Hold’em Poker is to shift the responsibility of making major decisions onto your opponent’s shoulders. An aggressive strategy of playing frequently turns out to be the most profitable in Poker. Evaluate your starting cards, bluff, don’t be afraid to raise to get weaker opponents out of the game – these are the basics of aggressive playing in Texas Hold’em.
The basics: starting hand
The main commandment of every Poker player in all types of Poker is to analyse your own hand, which is impossible without analysing the starting cards. It's not only necessary to estimate the value of your starting hand, but also to consider odds of winning, create an optimal strategy taking into account your position – how you are doing compared to the dealer. It's especially necessary in Texas Hold'em, because of the sequence of blinds and trade: in every round a different player opens the dealing (while in Omaha Poker it’s the player with the strongest hand, who does that). Because of this, a starting hand can be weak early on and become a strong weapon against your opponents later in the game.
Strategies of playing Texas Hold’em on preflop depending on your position
Evaluate your position at the table and select one of the following strategies:
- Early positions (first three places on the table on the left hand of the players making blinds, i.e. blind bets): only careful play. Don’t take part in pre-flop game if you have weak (marginal starting hands), play only the strong hands. Good hands to play in early positions are the strong combinations of kickers, for example, ace + king, ace + queen, king + queen, and junior pairs. It is better to drop other hands, without hoping for a flop.
- Middle positions (three spaces to the left of players that are in the early positions): the number of possible playable combinations is a lot higher. Play strong pairs of senior cards and pairs, but don’t risk too much and raise if you only have an ace and a nine. Call the hands with elder kickers to see the flop.
- Late positions: these are most profitable for the player and are considered a gold miner for experienced players. If you have a strong starting hand, raise the stakes, but don’t forget to analyse the probabilities and hands of players in other positions. Because you would be taking part in trade fairly late, you would have a lot of information on opponent’s hands. Even an average hand could be played there without too much risk, and if you have a strong hand, you can win even during first stage of the game.
Analysing the starting hand in Texas Hold’em
It is a basis of the Poker game strategy – analysis of your own starting hand. Depending on position its value can change, but the principles are overall the same, and the main one is that only 18-20% of all combinations are useful for further play.
So, if after the first dealing you have:
A pair of senior cards (aces, kings, queens, jacks, tens), take part in the battle for the bank on pre-flop and do a raise. It doesn’t matter what strategy you are using – aggressive raising, bluffing... A pair of senior cards gives you fairly good chances for winning.
Senior kickers (combinations like ace + king, ace + queen, king + queen) are fairly strong from the start and you can play aggressively with these. You have a good chance to get a strong hand with senior kicker in flop, and so raise if necessary.
Junior pairs and combinations with senior cards (like queen – jack, ace – nine, pair of eights) – these are risky hands that you should only play if you are in the middle or late position. There is a possibility of assembling a strong combination during flop, for example, Street, Flash or Set (Triple). If you have a chance to watch the flop, while only placing minimal bet, do it. If everyone at the table is doing a big raise, though, think whether it is worth it to continue.
Junior cards and combinations of junior / senior cards (like five + six, ten + nine, queen + two). These hands are too weak for playing and are very risky. If you are in the late position, you can try to play the hand until a flop – if the price is not too high. Don’t play these hands from an early position.
Most effective bluffing strategies
Contrary to the beginner’s belief that bluffing is uncontrolled, silly raise as a way to make opponent’s drop their hands and finish the game. To be effective, bluffing needs to be 1) perfectly timed, 2) played at perfect moment and 3) based on tactical calculation, knowledge of opponents and experience. There're some effective bluffing strategies for Texas Hold’em:
- Three Barrels Bluff
The idea behind this is that a player bluffs on every round – so on post-flop, turn and river. This strategy is very effective if you control initiative from early on, right from pre-flop. Professionals recommend to use such three-tier bluff against weak players, but it can also be effective against professionals as well. It's necessary to make big stakes to use this strategy as you are raising and re-raising during every round, and making sizeable bets. You need big and consecutive stakes to kick determined opponents out of the game.
How to use the strategy: first of all, consider the flop. If three cards on the table are giving the majority of players a chance to stick to the flop (for example, three cards of the same suit or a junior pair), play your starting hands and don’t bluff as a chance that a flop would be useful for your opponents is fairly big. If the flop is not coordinated and chaotic, for example, a mix of junior and senior cards is bluffing as in these conditions your opponents be easily deceived. Secondly, remember that the main purpose of bluffing is to make opponents believe that you have a strong hand and play accordingly in the consecutive rounds.
- Semi-Bluff Strategy
This strategy is based on a semi-bluff, i.e. the player is raising or making a bet, while having only a draw (unfinished combination) on hands, which needs one or two cards to be improved. Strictly speaking, this is not a 'pure' bluff as you do have a chance to assemble your winning combination during turn or river. An advantage of this strategy is that a strong hand would back up your bluffing during later stages of the game. And you also have a chance to make opponent leave the game.
This strategy could be used during all Poker games, but is most effective in Texas Hold’em and Omaha Poker – in any types of game with several rounds of playing.
How to use the strategy: the starting point is your draw hand. If you have an unfinished combination and a turn and river in front, you can use the semi-bluff strategy (unless your opponents are very determined and are doing one raise after another). Main rule for using this strategy sounds like this: it's more profitable to use it as your draw hand gets stronger. If you are hoping for a weak pair in the flop, the semi-bluff strategy is useless, and if your starting hand is weak, just leave the game altogether. However, if you have something like Flash-draw on flop, the semi-bluff strategy becomes sensible, because your odds of finishing a Flash are approximately one in three. Keep an eye on the game flow, and react to the cards dealt on turn and river. Carry on using semi-bluff strategy if you have senior cards turning up during the dealing. Also take into account the character of your opponents as this strategy does not work with some players. For example, the players that are following the simplest strategy of always calling (they always call and never drop) will not be affected by semi-bluff.
