In an earlier article, we dealt with the power of position, and we touched briefly on playable hands in regard to your table position in Texas Hold'em. Remember, your position at the poker table determines the playable poker hands. An understanding of playable hands, in regard to your position at the table is paramount to a winning poker strategy. Many beginning, and even seasoned players still do not understand the basic concept of position, and that it has a determining factor on which cards are playable. There comes a point where you have two separate gambling tendencies from winning poker strategy. If you are a poker player that considers an any two cards can win philosophy, then you are playing indiscriminately, and you may see some of the following starting hands as being far too tight. In fact, they are very loose and a general guide. So much depends upon the poker situation you are in, and the style of play of your opponents. You should realise that if the pot has been raised in front of you, then you need to tighten up on the hands that you play, particularly from early position.
The fundamental mistake of many poker players is to play too many hands, and there are many reasons for this, some being boredom, the willingness to gamble and sheer impatience. In poker, patience is a virtue and a very important one, particularly if you want to become a winning player. It is not so hard in the long run, if you follow a few simple strategies. There are only 169 different two cards starting combinations and learning to play them correctly is not as hard as you might think.
We are going to go into a little more depth of what hands are playable in what position. First of all, we will deal with pairs and suited cards. In early position, which is small blind, big blind and the first to act, which are seats one, two and three on a typical nine seat table. It's obvious the big hands that you can play in early position: ace ace, King King, Queen Queen, Jack Jack, 10-10, and even depending on the circumstances 9-9, 8-8, 7-7. That is not too difficult is it and these are typical, good starting hands that are playable from any position. Less obvious hand combinations in Texas Hold'em, require a little more thought depending on your position.
In middle to late position. It is possible to play hand combinations such as:
nine eight, ten eight, Queen nine, Jack eight, King nine, Queen eight, ace nine, ace eight, ace seven, ace six, six six, five five. It is very important to remember that these are suited cards or pairs to be playable In these positions. Why? Pairs can be very strong, depending on your position on the poker table and suited cards are very important in determining your starting poker hand. Suited cards are far more playable, as connecting pairs and the flush and straight possibilities with these hands put the odds in your favour as far as playable hands are concerned. This is where pot odds come into to the game of poker, and that is the subject of another article.
Everyone has seen on television players such as Gus Hansen and Scotty Nguyen play seemingly impossible hands against impossible odds and win huge pots at the table. But what they don't show you is the amount of time and the amount of play it took to get to the final table for these mega dollar events. These players do not play loose and go all in every hand, as you might see on television. Their play is carefully calculated through many years of experience at the poker table. You see the highlights and the highlights only to make exciting television. Don't expect to play at your home games and use these strategies against your friends and come out a winner all the time. It just won't happen! We have all been sucked out on the river by players who think they are hot stuff, but watch them closely, they end up the losers.
A lot of poker players make the fundamental mistake of over playing unsuited cards. In the long run, this is a losing strategy, because you are hoping and gambling on an outcome in poker. It is important to realise that skill is a fundamental part of the game. If you want to be a winning player, a major mistake of many players is over playing their hand and seeing too many flops. What are you trying to achieve by this? What really are you trying to do? What you are doing is gambling and gambling has it's place in a skilled game such as poker but at the right time and the right level of skill. If you want to gamble, you are better off going and playing slot machines. Get your chops down perfectly and then you can start to expand your play.
In the late position, you can take control. If you have a decent hand, you have a chance to see how the other players will react when you call. When the flop comes, your playing decision is fairly simple, did your hand improve? If so, you need to consider raising, but do consider what the players before you have done. Have they just called? If so, you can scare them out of the hand with a raise. You know you have a strong hand. But what if someone has raised after you and you have a strong hand? You have to reraise in this situation as they are most likely trying to bluff you out at the pot. Then again, it depends on the situation, and only experience will teach you this, but you can minimize your losses by understanding these basic fundamentals of Texas Hold'em. As Kenny Rogers said, you gotta know when to fold them!
If you are in the situation of someone reraising your great hand, you need to evaluate if they are bluffing or have the better hand by examining the possible hands on the board. Your opponent may have a higher flush or straight. The truly great players know when to lay down a monster without batting an eyelid.
The fundamental mistake of many poker players is to play too many hands, and there are many reasons for this, some being boredom, the willingness to gamble and sheer impatience. In poker, patience is a virtue and a very important one, particularly if you want to become a winning player. It is not so hard in the long run, if you follow a few simple strategies. There are only 169 different two cards starting combinations and learning to play them correctly is not as hard as you might think.
We are going to go into a little more depth of what hands are playable in what position. First of all, we will deal with pairs and suited cards. In early position, which is small blind, big blind and the first to act, which are seats one, two and three on a typical nine seat table. It's obvious the big hands that you can play in early position: ace ace, King King, Queen Queen, Jack Jack, 10-10, and even depending on the circumstances 9-9, 8-8, 7-7. That is not too difficult is it and these are typical, good starting hands that are playable from any position. Less obvious hand combinations in Texas Hold'em, require a little more thought depending on your position.
In middle to late position. It is possible to play hand combinations such as:
nine eight, ten eight, Queen nine, Jack eight, King nine, Queen eight, ace nine, ace eight, ace seven, ace six, six six, five five. It is very important to remember that these are suited cards or pairs to be playable In these positions. Why? Pairs can be very strong, depending on your position on the poker table and suited cards are very important in determining your starting poker hand. Suited cards are far more playable, as connecting pairs and the flush and straight possibilities with these hands put the odds in your favour as far as playable hands are concerned. This is where pot odds come into to the game of poker, and that is the subject of another article.
Everyone has seen on television players such as Gus Hansen and Scotty Nguyen play seemingly impossible hands against impossible odds and win huge pots at the table. But what they don't show you is the amount of time and the amount of play it took to get to the final table for these mega dollar events. These players do not play loose and go all in every hand, as you might see on television. Their play is carefully calculated through many years of experience at the poker table. You see the highlights and the highlights only to make exciting television. Don't expect to play at your home games and use these strategies against your friends and come out a winner all the time. It just won't happen! We have all been sucked out on the river by players who think they are hot stuff, but watch them closely, they end up the losers.
A lot of poker players make the fundamental mistake of over playing unsuited cards. In the long run, this is a losing strategy, because you are hoping and gambling on an outcome in poker. It is important to realise that skill is a fundamental part of the game. If you want to be a winning player, a major mistake of many players is over playing their hand and seeing too many flops. What are you trying to achieve by this? What really are you trying to do? What you are doing is gambling and gambling has it's place in a skilled game such as poker but at the right time and the right level of skill. If you want to gamble, you are better off going and playing slot machines. Get your chops down perfectly and then you can start to expand your play.
In the late position, you can take control. If you have a decent hand, you have a chance to see how the other players will react when you call. When the flop comes, your playing decision is fairly simple, did your hand improve? If so, you need to consider raising, but do consider what the players before you have done. Have they just called? If so, you can scare them out of the hand with a raise. You know you have a strong hand. But what if someone has raised after you and you have a strong hand? You have to reraise in this situation as they are most likely trying to bluff you out at the pot. Then again, it depends on the situation, and only experience will teach you this, but you can minimize your losses by understanding these basic fundamentals of Texas Hold'em. As Kenny Rogers said, you gotta know when to fold them!
If you are in the situation of someone reraising your great hand, you need to evaluate if they are bluffing or have the better hand by examining the possible hands on the board. Your opponent may have a higher flush or straight. The truly great players know when to lay down a monster without batting an eyelid.
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