Advanced Poker Strategies For Texas Holdem

Poker Guide
- Learn to Play Poker: Getting Started
- Poker Game Variations
Texas Hold ‘em Guide
- Learn to Play Texas Hold ‘em
- Hold ‘em Gameplay
- Texas Hold ‘em Strategy
  - Beginner Hold ‘em Strategy
  - Intermediate Hold ‘em Strategy
Blackjack Guide
- Learn to Play Blackjack
- Blackjack Dealing
- Blackjack Strategy
- Blackjack Resources
Roulette Guide
- Learn to Play Roulette
- Roulette Strategy
- Roulette Types and Variations
- Roulette Resources
Slots Guide
- Learn to Play Slots
- Slots Games and Variations
- Slots Tips

It's a game of skill and the player who uses a more advanced strategy than his opponents will (in the long run), end up with all the money. The problem with advanced Hold'em poker strategies is that it can be extremely difficult to memorize all the moves a master strategist would make. Poker strategy tips and tutorials for beginners and advanced players. Improve your skills and learn from experts about Texas Holdem strategy other Poker variants at PokerNews.com. Advanced Texas Hold Em Strategy While there are distinct advanced strategies that can be helpful in Texas hold’em, most of them come with years of experience and lots of time at the table. Over time players develop instinctual playing abilities that simply cannot be taught.

After you master the beginner strategies of Texas Hold ‘em, it is time to move onto the intermediate level of play. While it’s important to keep the basic strategies for Texas Hold ‘em in mind, you can now afford to take a few more risks. Tactics such as bluffing, playing questionable hands and being more aggressive can improve your game and make you a more effective poker player. As you continue your journey to becoming a better Texas Hold ‘em player, give these intermediate strategies a try:

Bluffing

In order to become a great poker player, one of the essential skills you will have to master is bluffing. When you bluff, you attempt to trick other players into thinking you have a better hand than you do.

If played correctly, the bluff can be a great weapon in your arsenal. While you’re learning, however, you should only bluff during certain situations:

When there are not many players in the pot
When you are up against players that fold easily
When you are on the river and have a weak hand
When you are in late position and everyone else has checked
If you have just won a hand through good play
When there is a pair on the board

Evaluating Opponents

Advanced Poker Strategies For Texas Holdem Game

When playing online poker, you need to find means of evaluating your opponents other than taking note of their body language.

Stack Size: Players with large stacks tend to be a bit looser with their calls and bets, so keep a sharp eye out for their aggression during the game.
Username: Players’ usernames may indicate something about their personality and, thus, the way they play poker. Serious online poker players often use some variation of their real name or will have a poker-related username. Generally, the more offensive or crude a username is, the less serious the player is. If players are less serious, they may not be as skilled.
Not Waiting for Big Blind: If players post the big blind before it is their turn, you can assume that they are anxious to play and may not be solid or experienced Texas Hold ‘em players.
Calling the Blind, then Calling a Raise: If you see an opponent call before the initial big blind and then call after the player before them raises, it can be assumed that the individual is not an experienced poker player.
Cautious Play: Just because an opponent is playing timidly does not mean that he or she has a weak hand. In fact, the opponent may be trying to trick you. Keep his or her previous actions in mind as your proceed. Is this the type of player who would try to cover up a hand?

Raising

As you become more comfortable playing Texas Hold ‘em, you may want to consider raising more often.

It’s often a good idea to raise if you have the best hand at the table – after all, the more money there is in the pot, the more you will win.
Raising can also drive other players out when you have the best hand.
Raising when you are bluffing can be risky, but profitable if done correctly. This should only be done in situations when the river has completed a draw other than the one for which you were drawing, but it looks as if it could have completed your hand based on your play thus far. This will make your bluff look more credible to the other players.
Raising in an early round can show strength and lead other players to check for fear of your impending raise
In Limit Hold ‘em, sometimes players raise in order to gain information about their opponents’ hands. This should only be done in earlier rounds when the betting is less expensive.

Questionable Hands

While basic Texas Hold ‘em strategy dictates that you should only play the best hands, once you become a more experienced player you can begin to take risks by playing more questionable hands. The key is to develop the ability to identify the best situations in which to play these hands:

Only play low pairs if there is enough money in the pot to justify the action.
It sometimes makes sense to play a questionable hand simply to confuse your opponents. If you only play the best hands, your opponents will be able to quickly identify your strategy. If you choose to play a questionable hand, make sure you continue to be aggressive throughout the betting round, otherwise your opponents will know that you are bluffing.
In general, it’s best to play questionable hands when you are in a late position. This is because you will be able to determine if there is enough money in the pot to justify the odds of making a better hand.

Short Stack

If you have short stack, you will have less room to make plays, so you will need to take on a much more reserved strategy. While some short stacks can play multiple flops, it is more rare to make it past the flop in terms of betting because you will likely run out of chips. In general, when you have a short stack you will need to more selective about your starting hands – otherwise you’ll go broke.

Instead of playing small hands that have potential, play hands that will be strong on the flop.
Avoid playing suited connectors and small pocket pairs.
Hands that include aces should be given a lot of weight.
Always raise when entering the pot.
Stick to basic poker strategies. Avoid bluffing – just play when you have a strong hand.

You can read more about strategies for playing Texas Hold ‘em based on stack size here.

Varying Your Strategy

Varying your playing style is a tactic you can use to try and confuse other players, making it difficult for them to guess what type of hand you have or what your next move will be. Do what you can to avoid being predictable. In other words, don’t play every hand the same way.

Want to know more? Check out our how-to guides for Texas Hold ‘em strategies based on table position and size.

David Randall

We all acknowledge that poker is a game of skill, but because of the uniqueness of each situation, we can often miscalculate our own skill when self assessing. I'm sure you have seen a bad player turn his hand into a bluff with no real idea why he's betting, have it work out, then pat himself on the back for his great play because it worked out in his favor. When the circumstances are right, turning a marginal hand into a bluff can be a very effective, high-level play. However, it can also be done randomly in spots by a bad player who doesn't know what to do. Without knowing what to do, he then bets or raises as a default.

So what is the difference between the skilled player that turns his hand into a bluff and gets his opponent to make the tough laydown and the bad player that accidentally wins the pot? If you guessed 'intention,' then you are correct.

The skilled player made an assessment of his opponent's range, analyzed how he would react to aggression, and then acted in a manner to get the desired result. The bad player acted on his emotions. He wanted a certain result to be achieved, didn't know how to achieve it, and reacted according to his feelings, which can result in any number of ways.

Let's look at an example so you can see what I'm talking about:

Hero opens to $30 at a $5/$10 table with an effective stack of $1,000 holding pocket sixes in middle position. Villain calls in the cutoff. The flop is . Hero continuation bets $40, and Villain calls. The turn is a . Hero checks, and Villain checks behind. The river is a , and Hero decides to turn his hand into a bluff and bet three-quarters of the pot. In this example, Hero is putting his opponent on some type of one-pair hand no better than tens. Hero realizes it is easier to represent a broadway combo that improved than it is for Villain to do the same. So, Hero took the opportunity to bet in order to get those one-pair hands — the ones that beat his pair of sixes — to fold.

On the flipside, a bad player could actually play his hand the exact same way, but his thought process would look something like this in his head: 'I have pocket sixes. That's a pair, so I raise.' The flop is . 'I don't think he caught any of that. I'll bet $40.' The opponent calls. The turn is a . 'That's another overcard. There are so many hands that beat me now. I'll check.' The opponent checks. The river is a . 'He checked, so I can win if I bet. I'll bet $110.' The opponent folds. 'I did it!'

As you see in this example, there were a few flaws in the bad player's thought processes, but it did not hurt him in this hand. The over card queen on the turn was not a scare card because it hits very little of his opponent's range. He also did not think through what his opponent's range on the river was. He just simply reacted to his opponent checking back on the turn. Had the opponent bet the queen against the bad player, he would've been able to win the pot (especially if he was willing to follow up his aggression with another bet on the river) even though his line represents only a small range in reality.

Now, let's take a look at an example that shows how these leaks could cost money.

Hero opens to $30 at $5/$10 with an effective stack of $1,000 holding pocket threes from middle position. Villain calls from the cutoff. The flop comes . Hero continuation bets $40. Villain calls. The turn is an . Hero checks, and Villain checks. The river is a . Hero checks, and Villain checks. Villain shows pocket fives and beats us.

For the bad player, his thought process is as follows: 'I have pocket threes. That's a pair. I raise.' The flop comes is . 'I don't think he caught any of that. I'll bet $40.' The opponent calls. The turn is an . Now stop the tape.

From here, I have seen this play out two different ways. Either the bad player bets the turn because they think, 'I still don't think he has any of that, and I want to find out where I'm at.' And then the bad player will check the river when they realize they're probably beat. Or instead, the bad player will check the turn, and if the opponent checks behind, the bad player will bet the river. The reasoning for this river bet will be similar to the reasoning in the first example. The bad player is unable to see the differences in board textures, which affects the opponent's range in this situation. As you can see, either way the bad player is going to lose an extra street of value because of these flawed thought processes being exposed.

Everyone has tendencies similar to the 'bad player' I've talked about, and I made these examples extreme to highlight my point. Sometimes you can get away with flawed thought processes, but over time, it will cost you money. Make sure that when you are self assessing, you do not place too much stock in the end result. Remember, poker is a game for the long run, and making the correct decisions over time will turn you into a profitable player. Being results oriented in the short term will do the opposite.

Advanced Poker Strategies For Texas Holdem Free

Advanced Poker Tips Texas Holdem

David Randall is an instructor for Pocket Fives Training and has shot over 100 hours of instructional video and coached over 120 students privately. His most recent project is called 3D Poker Training, which is centered around hosting poker camps in Europe alongside, Sorel Mizzi. The next camp begins October 1st in London. The 3D Poker Training method teaches players to develop adaptive thinking using interactive questions and examples from actual hands students have played. If you are interested in learning from Randall, you can contact him via 3D Poker Training's Facebook page or at the 3D Poker Training website.

Advanced Poker Strategies For Texas Holdem License

Tags
david randallPoker Strategy
Related Players
David Randall