POKER HOLDEM - Starting Hands and Position Play

 

One important recurring decision is to choose which hands to play. A good rule of thumb is to play fewer hands than your opponents. Learning whether a hand is playable or not, is very much a question of experience. Strong pairs and running cards are good hole cards.

 

Do not be curious

Remember, it will cost money to see the flop. In order to win in the long term, you should not waste money out of curiosity. Sometimes, high cards are not as good as they may seem at first glance. For example, a queen and a jack off-suit is normally not a good starting hand.

 

Good starting hands

These are very good starting hands: AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ, AQ, TT

These are also good: AJ, KQ, QJ, JT, T9 (suited), 99, 88, 77, Ax (suited).

You should normally refrain from playing other starting hands.

 

Heads-up

If you are playing heads-up – one against one – you can play more starting hands than you would at a full table. In that situation you have a greater chance of winning a hand with 22 (55% chance of winning) than with AK (45%). That is because you already have a pair, and against only one player, the risk of his/her hitting a higher pair than yours is smaller.

 

POSITION PLAY

Your position at the table primarily means your position in relation to the dealer. The dealer has the most advantageous position, as he/she has the opportunity to see how all the players act before making his/her own decision. But you can also choose position in relation to players that you know play in a certain way.

 

 

Early position

The four players to the left of the dealer are in early position.

It is more difficult to win much from an early position. The player to the left of the dealer is the small blind and is the first to act after the flop. The player to the left of the small blind is the big blind. This player already posted his/her bet. The player to the left of the big blind is the first to act before the flop. This is called being under the gun.

The players on the blinds and under the gun (early positions) must be selective about the hands the play as they do not have the privilege to see how the other players act before they make their own decisions on whether to call, raise or fold.

Say, for example, that you are the first to act, holding Jack-ten in different suits. You call, betting the same amount as the big blind. The player to you left raises and everyone else folds. You are now faced with a dilemma. There is a significant risk that the other player is holding better cards than you, with at least on ace or a pair. Unfortunately, you have already bet, because you had no idea how the other players would act. In addition, you will have to act before the other player throughout the entire hand.

 

Late position

Playing clockwise means that the players who act late have an advantage. This means that a player in a late position can play a weaker hand and gamble more without having to worry about losing too much money.

Sitting on the button gives you the benefit of not only seeing how the other players act, but also of being able to control the size of the pot. After all the other players have bet, a raise from the button can push up the pot, assuming everyone does not fold. Because the players have already accepted making a bet, it is easier to lure them into betting a second time (or a third or a fourth!).

 

Sit to the right of a tight player

A classic strategy is to ”sit to the right of a tight player and to the left of a loose one”. With the loose player on your tight, you always assess the hand after he/she acts. He/she will probably call or raise more often with worse cards, which allows you to confront him/her. A tight player rarely relies on luck.

You can steal the blinds more easily if you have a tight player on your left. By raising pre-flop you can make a tight player fold if he/she does not have very good hole cards.

A tight player to your left will call rather than raise when you raise, even if they have a really good hand. You can scare them more easily into believing that you have the best possible hand (the nuts), thereby getting the next card without paying anything. This applies even if they really have the edge over you.

 

Sitting to the left of a loose player

With loose or even wild players to your right, you can re-raise immediately after they raise and thus get rid of mediocre hands or drawing hands.

The bankroll of a loose player fluctuates wildly. Money has a tendency to move clockwise around the table because it is easier to read the player to your right. When a loose player is heading for a negative round, you are in the right position to take maximum advantage of this.

 

Other Poker Texas Hold'em Beginner Lessons:

 

01. ADVICE FOR BEGINNERS
02. POKER HOLDEM RULES
03. MONEY MANAGEMENT
04. STYLE OF PLAY
05. CHOOSING OPPONENTS
06. STARTING HANDS + POSITION
07. READ THE CARDS
08. ODDS - PROBABILITIES - POT ODDS
09. BLUFFING in POKER HOLDEM
10. POKER GLOSSARY

 

 

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