It is very difficult to calculate the exact odds of hitting a drawing hand when you’re sitting at the poker table. Unless you’re a genius with a gift for mathematics like Chris Ferguson, you will not be able to do it. That leaves two options for the rest of us: The first option is to sit at home with a calculator, figure out the odds for every possible combination of draws, and then memorize them. That way, no matter what situation comes up, you always know the odds. But for those of us without a perfect memory, there’s an easier way. Here is a simple trick for estimating those odds.

The first thing you need to do is to figure out how many “outs” you have. An “out” is any card that gives you a made hand. To do this, simply count the number of cards available that give the hand you are drawing to. For example: suppose you hold Ac 8c and the flop comes Qh 9c 4c. You have a flush draw. There are thirteen clubs in the deck and you are looking at four of them — the two in your hand, and the two on the board. That leaves nine clubs left in the deck, and two chances to hit one.

The trick to figuring out the approximate percentage chance of hitting the flush is to multiply your outs times the number of chances to hit it. In this case that would be nine outs multiplied by two chances, or eighteen. Then take that number, multiply times two, and add a percentage sign. The approximate percentage of the time you will make the flush is 36%. (The exact percentage is 34.97%.) Now let’s say that on that same flop you hold the Jd Th. In this case you would have an open ended straight draw with eight outs to hit the straight (four kings and four eights). Eight outs with two cards to come gives you sixteen outs. Multiply times two and you will hit the straight approximately 32% (31.46% exactly) of the time.

One important thing to keep in mind is that the percentage stated is merely the percentage of the time that you will hit the hand you are drawing to, NOT the percentage of time that you will win the pot. You may hit your hand and still lose. In the first example, the Qc will pair the board and may give somearticle a full house. In the second example both the Kc and the 8c will put a possible flush on the board, giving you the straight, but not necessarily the winning hand. Still, knowing the approximate likelihood of making your hand is a good beginning step on the road to better poker.

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Once you have chosen your game and table, you must select a seat where you will get the most value for your money. Poker players place their bets in a clockwise direction. It is worthwhile to identify the big Bankroll players and to sit at the position to their left. By doing so all the betting and raising will be done by the time the action reaches you.

The importance of position can not be stressed enough. Even the same cards dealt in the same order may produce vastly different results depending on where you’re sitting. Playable Hands and winning combinations in late positions will often be unplayable in earlier positions.

If you are first, second or third to play after the dealer button you are in what’s called the “early” position (also known as “up front”). If you are the dealer button (also known as “playing the button”) or one or two seats to the right of the dealer button you are in what’s called the “late” position. All players in-between (and normally facing the dealer across the table) are in the “middle” position.

If you are in the “early” position, the types of hands you must try to play are restricted to high cards or good hands, since you have no way of knowing what the other players in the group are holding.

If you are playing the “middle” position, you’ll have players waiting behind you and others that have already played. The chance of a raise is slightly less in this position and there are already several players in the pot so you will get better odds playing weaker hands.

The advantage of being in the “late” position is that you get a chance to see almost every play so far, and will be able to read how other players feel about their hands by the way they have checked, bet, raised or re-raised.

It is a great advantage to be in the “playing the button” position, since you are last to act in each betting round of that hand. Like the “late” positions, you can play a much weaker hand than normal and can use bluffing more often to your advantage, particularly as the game advances.

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Once the game has started and the cards have been dealt. This is a critical time in the game as you will need to decide if the cards are worth playing.

Basically you should play with any two high cards i.e. 10′s up; Ace and 9; or any suited cards with an ace, and pairs are usually played from 7 up.

High consecutive same suit cards e.g. 9s, 10s (spades) and lower pairs can also be played depending on your position and the following factors which are general points to consider before playing the hand:

1. Number of players
2. in a 10 player game chances are someone will have a strong hand and you’ll need two high cards (jacks up) or a high pair to play. Your bankroll
3. if you are about to be called “all in” choose the hand you play carefully if you have one last hand you want it to be a good one. Others playing aggressively
4. assuming some amateur players tends to raise constantly, let him win the blinds, wait for a good hand and press him to the wall.
5. Your position – as mentioned in the last lesson, when seated in a later position play more than in an earlier position.

Remember that the key to becoming a good player is to have patience, a player that tends plays a lot of hands will eventually lose.

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Always observe how other players are betting, even when you are not playing it is a must.

A common mistake, especially amongst inexperienced low-limit players, is that they will call to see the ‘flop’ with hands that they should have folded. They also play their hands long after it’s clear they’re beat. In short, they play to lose.

It’s rare that a beginner low-limit Hold ‘Em player will play too conservatively. More often than not they will almost always decide to call instead of fold. They want to play and it’s no fun for them to fold without calling the final bet to see what you have.

The way you can tell inexperienced low-limit players from medium/high-limit players is that the latter do a lot more raising pre-flop. If the game you are in, involves an excessive amount of raising that’s a sure sign you’re up against a talented player and it’s worth thinking about getting out!

Finally, always go on the assumption that your opponent is better than you until you have clear evidence to the contrary. Don’t be over-confident!

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If you see the Flop and you are truly undecided between checking and betting it is recommended to bet. By betting you won’t give away any free cards so you won’t get beat on the River by a player who may have folded, also the pot will be greater if you should happen to win.

Should you Flop a good hand the reasons to do so must depend on a number of things: the strength of your hand, how many players are left in the hand, the odds of getting an over-card on the turn or River and your ideas about what the opponents are holding. Your decision should be based on this criteria.

You should bet your good hands for value but its’ also good to vary things up and always keep your opponents guessing.

What you must remember about raising on the Flop, especially during a low limit game, is that rarely does it force out a player who Flopped any kind of hand at all or any kind of flush or straight draw. The point of raising on the Flop is to build a pot and to coax your opponents into paying.

Always raise and re-raise if you Flop a pair with top kicker and are pretty sure you have the best hand at that point. You are in the best position to win the hand against any single straight or flush draw, and also against any other player with top pair and a weak kicker.

Another good thing about playing your hand in this way is that when a flush is drawn on the board your opponents won’t know which of the two hands you have; the top pair or the flush draw. This uncertainty helps you as you will be called more often on the River when the flush card does not come.

It’s advisable to play cautiously. If there is a lot of raising on the Flop, it usually means that someone has flopped a set or two pairs and already has a better hand than you. You also have to be sure if one of the raisers is in the blind.

They could have anything in the pocket, got a miracle Flop and are now betting in order to save it.

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From a strategical point of view, tournaments highly differ from regular games. In a ring game, you need to be able to determine when to surrender your hand, but tournaments demand that you win a substantially high percentage of the pots that you play.

Starting Off
Before the tournament, be aware of the type of Blinds structure that you are going into and how the winning pool will be divided. Remember that tournaments run fast, so it is crucial that you follow how many blinds remain in your stack and when they will start to increase.

The next thing to think about during tournament play is that it is fast. The blinds go up every 10-15 minutes so you need to keep close track of how many blinds are left in your stack, and how long it is before the blinds increase again.

While the cost of the blinds is fairly low in comparison with your stack size, you can play much more marginal hands than normal. It is worth risking a small portion of your stack to see the flop with small pairs, suited connectors and other minor hands in order to double your stack if you hit big on the flop.

On the same note it is also worth playing good hands somewhat conservatively pre-flop. If you hold AK in late position and there are several callers it is often better just to call. This reduces your loss should the flop not turn out to be to your liking and you also have the advantage of disguise if you hit a monster hand on the flop.

You can either begin building your game by taking the more aggressive route, or by trying to take the safe approach and steadfastly watching your chips grow. Each route is acceptable, it simply depends on how you prefer to play and what is your personal style…

There is no need to place too much attention at this point on extracting other players from the game. Your main focus for now should be to establish a sure stack.

Intermediate
From now, there is an increase in the blinds. Your priority here is to win the blinds at this point. It is recommended that if it is your turn to bet the pot, that you raise the stake. The chances are, the other players will not call your raise, giving you an opportunity to win the blinds.

At the same token, you must be stricter when it comes to calling the stakes, taking a more aggressive stance when you contribute to the pot. Ideally, you want to try to win the blinds once per every round.

If your stack drops lower than 4 times the upper limit, you can anticipate being called a lot more often. That’s because your stack is not large enough to critically damage the larger stacks at the table, and the other players know that you are being forced to play somewhat more marginal hands. Beat this by raising only with top hands and limping in with practical hands. It’s advisable to raise your calling requirements when you are short stacked in case a better opportunity comes along. Unless you are on the verge of being blinded out, then you should move all in with any Ace or King.

If you have twice the average stack size or more you are in a good position. Beware, this can change instantly as the blinds quickly add up, so don’t let things slip. Continue playing aggressively, especially with the short stacks, but be cautious of the other large stacks at the table as they can do you serious damage.

If you find yourself in a face off with a player who is almost all-in you should pressure him to commit their last few chips at the first opportunity. If you call a bet when they make one, you must bet in order to prevent them checking – knocking that player out will put you in a serious advantage position. But take note, play cautiously as no matter how few chips a player has left they can always turn things around and achieve a commanding position in just a few hands.

Final Stage – Making the money
If you have been playing well at the table you may have survived to the point where you’re nearing the paying winning places. This is when you want to move in for the kill.

By now the blinds will be so high that almost all remaining players in the tournament will have stacks around or below the critical size (about 4 times the upper limit). The game will become increasingly short-handed so you will be able to see fewer hands before your stack starts to shrink due to the blinds.

Watch the tournament lobby closely to see exactly how many players are left on the other tables and how many chips they have. Usually it’s the top 10% of tournament players who receive a share of the prize pool, so hanging in there a little longer can increase your chances of winning.

If you have an average or large stack you want to play extremely aggressively when raising but conservatively when calling. However when you have fewer than average chips it can be right to adopt a much more conservative strategy for the following two reasons:

1. Assume that there is only one more player to beat out before you increase your winnings and there is another player at your table without the chips to survive the next round of blinds. At this point it is advisable to fold any hand other than premium hands to try and last longer than the other opponent.Play tight if you can survive longer than one or more of the other players left in the game. This will put pressure on them to try and win a pot before you – and if they lose you are one further step up the climb to the top and if they win you still have the chance to win another pot and be back in the same position as they are.
2. Assuming you have enough chips to see the next few hands playing tight also reduces the chance of immediate elimination and forces the other players to take each other out of the game which is also to your advantage.

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Slow-playing is a technique intentionally used in order to make your opponent presume that he is in a much better situation than yourself. Slow-playing is generally efficient against both good and bad poker opponents (bad opponents simply bet their hand, so if they have something, they will pay you off no matter what).

It’s not advisable to slow-play when there is a draw on the board; you want to slow-play when someone has a poker hand that is not very likely going to improve on yours. For example, suppose A95 is on the board. You have 99 and you are sure your opponent has an ace. It is better to wait until the turn to bet hard, so you can draw more money out of him for at least one extra big bet.

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Starting hands and pot odds only go so far when playing Hold’em. While these perceptions are of high importance at beating the bad players, you generally have to add a few more tricks to your repertoire in order to beat out the better players.

Hard limit games are very challenging and it can be hard to beat tough competition. However, you can raise your chances for winning if you do certain things to give yourself that extra edge.

An important factor is relative hand strength and odds. If you have KQ and a skilled player raises in front of you, it’s likely that you are beat. But at the same time, KQ is a playable hand in the right circumstances. It is desirable to have hands that you will be able to dominate in the pot so you can beat them later on. If you are in the middle or early positions, you will have to call with this hand and move a dominated hand along.

Other plays with certain hand strength would be coming in with suited connectors, or small pairs, in order to provoke others to come in with you. But if you have a mid pair and some guy at the table raises in front of you, you need to consider re-raising in order to cut him off. Now, imagine you have 99 and you place him on Ax. You currently have odds on him and want the pot to be you against him.

When playing a flush or straight draw, it is generally uncomplicated with bad players, but is usually mercurial with good players. If you are heads up at the flop, you should for sure semi-bluff at the pot and pray to take it down. Moreover, if its heads up and another player bets at you, you ought to think about raising in order to either intimidate the other player into backing down or to save yourself half a bet. In the event that he has a top pair and is just calling if you pass on the turn, you can be more sure and earn yourself a free card. You will have seen the turn/river for just 2 small bets instead of 1 small bet and a big one.

An Ace and a suited low kicker is one of the most frequently misplayed hands when it comes to limit poker. In fact, this is a much better no limit hand because of its likelihood of beating another player when you hit a flush. People tend to go in with this hand and frequently though it is usually dominated, and it’s rare to hit a flush.

People generally like to stuff the pot with AA or KK, but it is more advisable to try to play these hands a bit differently against the better players. You should try to re-raise with KK because you want to charge someone for looking for an A. It is probably best in this case to flat call with AA unless there are a number of runners and you want to avoid too many from entering the pot.

However, if you’re in late position or the blinds and there is a raise, it will wind up a flat call. It is expected to be a heads up between the players and the raisers, it will likely have about an 80% advantage. Now you should call his flop bet and then raise him on the turn. Through this method, you can make a significantly larger amount of money than if you just knocked him preflop.

When playing a tight game, the players tend to get scared at a re-raise preflop because this usually means QQ or better. Therefore, it is often best to re-raise with just a average hand preflop if you’re sure that this will improve the chances of a flop bluff. After playing with the same people for awhile, you will learn to tailor your AA line of attack and play that hard preflop in order to re-raise.

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I never get tired of saying it: If you’re the first to enter the pot in a No-Limit Hold ‘em game, never call. If you aren’t prepared to raise, throw your hand away.

Why, you ask? Simple. By raising, you put pressure on the blinds and the other players at the table, making them consider just how strong their hands really are. Chances are that by raising, you’ll force marginal hands to fold before you even see the flop, limiting the number of players you have to beat through the rest of the hand.

OK, with that out of the way, the next obvious question becomes: How much should I raise?

To that, I say; it depends. First off, you shouldn’t allow the strength of your to hand affect the size of your raise. A tough poker game is like real estate. The three most important factors in deciding how much to raise are: Location, location, location.

You always want to make your opponents’ decisions as difficult as possible. In choosing the size of your raise, you want to give the big blind a tough decision between calling or folding if the rest of the table folds around to him.

Raising from early position is to advertise a very strong hand – one that can beat the seven or more other players who still have to act. Since you are representing such strength, it doesn’t take much of a raise to convince the big blind to fold. Also, since your hand is so strong, you actually don’t mind a call from the big blind anyway. The real reason for a small raise is that you have so many players acting after you, any of whom might wake up with a monster and re-raise you.

When you raise in late position, you’re representing a hand that can beat the two or three remaining hands. This gives you a lot more freedom to raise with marginal hands, but your raise must be bigger or the big blind can call too easily. Another reason to raise more from late position is that you’re trying to put pressure on the big blind to fold, not call and, more importantly, you don’t have as many remaining opponents who can re-raise you.

One of the most common mistakes in No-Limit Hold ‘em is coming in for a raise that’s too big. In early position, you want to keep your raises at about two times the big blind. With four to six players to act behind you when you’re in middle position, raise to about two and a half big blinds, and raise to about three times the big blind from late position.

If you’re representing a big hand by raising from early position, it stands to reason that you’ll only get played with by huge hands. Why risk four, five or more bets to win only one and a half bets in the blinds when you’re often going to be running into monsters along the way? If you’re holding A-Q rather than A-A and a player comes over the top, you can lay it down without having risked much.

Some beginners raise more with their strongest hands to build a bigger pot or raise less with these monsters to get more action. Instead, I recommend that you play your starting hands the same way no matter what you have. With A-A or A-J, raise the same amount so you’re not telegraphing the strength of your hand to watchful opponents. An exception would be if you know your opponents aren’t paying attention and you feel sure that you can manipulate them.

These numbers need to be modified if there are antes. You should generally add about half the total antes to any raise. Your early position raise should be two big blinds plus half the total antes, and three big blinds plus half the antes for your late-position raises.

There are many loose live games these days. If you find yourself in one of these games and you can’t steal the blinds with a normal raise, tighten up your starting requirements slightly and make larger raises. If this raise still can’t take the blinds, don’t tighten up anymore, but choose to raise an amount that you expect to get called once or twice behind you. Since your opponents are playing too loose, take advantage of it by building bigger pots when you think you’re getting the best of it.

The last exception is when you’re short-stacked. If making your typical raise means putting over a quarter of your stack in the pot, just go ahead and move all in instead. Betting a quarter of your stack before the flop commits you to calling just about any re-raise or, at the very least, it gives you a very tough decision. Moving all in here instead of raising less forces the tough decision on your opponents and eliminates one of your tough calling decisions. All of which brings us back to my first principle: Avoid being the one to just call.

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Let’s say an early position opponent – preferably a loose opponent – raises and gets called by one or more players. Now there’s a lot of money in the pot. More importantly, the players who simply called are unlikely to have a hand that would merit calling a big re-raise. If they had such a hand, they probably would have raised instead of flat calling in the first place. Now it gets to me.

I “sandwich” the callers with a big raise.

If my raise gets the initial raiser to fold, the meat of the chips will very often be coming my way.

I prefer to make this play from the blinds than from the button; if one of the blinds happens to wake up with a great hand, it really doesn’t matter what the initial raiser was betting with – my goose is cooked.

I get maximum value from the sandwich raise when I am down to about 15 big blinds. For instance: I’m in the small blind. A loose player brings it in from early position for three times the big blind. Two players call. There are now 10.5 blinds in the pot. I look down and find 8-7 suited.

I raise all-in.

The initial raiser now has to make the tough decision as to whether to call a significant raise. Even if my timing is off and he has a big hand – let’s say A-K – and decides to call the bet, I’m still in pretty good shape. My 8-7 suited will beat his A-K about 41% of the time. I’ve invested 15 big blinds and stand to win 37 big blinds. I’m getting exactly the right odds on my money here.

I won’t make this play with a hand that can easily be dominated, like a small ace or king. I don’t want to be 25% (or less) to win if I can help it.

And by making the play all-in, I completely negate my positional disadvantage, and make the most of my short stack. With all of my money in the pot, I can’t be outplayed after the flop.

If it’s chips you’re hungry for, try the sandwich. You might just find that it hits the spot.

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