Texas Hold Em Strategy

Texas Holdem is a popular variation of poker as it is relatively simple to learn, but it is difficult to master. This makes the game appeal to amateur players as well as professionals. Luck plays a small part in a player's success, but strategy can certainly improve your chances of winning. There is different strategy for low limit players than there is for high limit players so professionals may play slightly differently to amateur players.

Some players find it difficult to fold their hand, particularly near the beginning of a game. You must be aware however that you will generally be far more successful if you play selectively – that is, you must play fewer, but better hands than your opponents. If you continue to invest money into a pot that you are highly unlikely to win, you will have less money to invest into a pot that you may win. Rather fold early and save your money for later. There is nothing wrong with folding before the flop if you see no potential in your cards. Generally after the flop, you will have an even better idea of whether it is worth carrying on or not.

When you are playing low limit Texas Holdem, you can divide the types of hands that you may hold into three categories. The type of hand that you hold will determine the way that you play that hand. Look at you hand in terms of big pairs, draws and milking hands.

You are more likely to be successful playing for big pairs (top pair or an over pair) if you have fewer opponents drawing against you and you are defending your position. It is therefore recommended to play aggressively early on in order to eliminate the competition.

Draws are hands that are open in that they need more cards to improve or complete them. These types of hands do better with more opponents as they hit less often and so are more successful with more players in the game and more money in the pot.

Milking hands are any top hands – that is, hands where you have the best possible cards. In these hands, you want to increase the size of the pot as much as possible. To do this, you must make sure to keep a "poker face" so that you do not give your hand away. Also, play slowly so that you can raise in later rounds when the pot is larger.

If you do not give your game and strategy away, your opponents will not be able to guess what cards you are holding by how you are playing. Your expression will not be able to help their game. On the other hand, if you can keep track of how your opponents look and how they tend to play, you may get an idea of how you should play based on their expressions or actions. Keep aware and keep calm.