Winning Poker Strategy: Perfecting Your PokerAce99 Č Your opponents are wondering what you have got in your hand as you wait patiently to place the bet. You patiently wait as the player before you carefully looks at their hand and then at yours, trying to decide what hand you have got the best chance of winning. You can tell they are stumped as you take your time before calling their all-ins. You will notice that they never bet their hand and it is obvious what they have: they have a very weak hand.
Perfecting your poker face is a good way to keep your opponents out of their reads and put more money in your bankroll. If you have a great hand (or the hand of a player who really should be known as a great poker player), you want to keep other players in the game. The fewer the number of players in the game, the more of an advantage you do in your hand. The number of hands you play increases your chances of an advantage. But if you alienate your opponents, you may know that you are in the way and most likely they will try to take you on with a lot of big bets.
Let’s say you have a hand of J-7, and you call your bet as the BB calls (on the button). The Flop comes out a J-5-2. Not a terrible hand, the kind of hand that would win a small pot or lose in a big one. You may think you are safe and not need to bet, but the button is a player that plays only a few hands. If he put his money in the pot with a weak hand, he will be careful with what cards he invested in the pot.
The reason an online poker player would call the all-in bet is because of the concept of the blinds. As a gambler you are in the process of elimination. By calling, you may live to see another hand, and if you are in the blind, you only need to win the small blinds, nothing more. In short, you want to keep your risk low. An all-in bet may keep the player in the hand with a better hand longer than would a call. You want to maximize your wins and minimize your losses.
As your number of players drops, the better your odds of winning, and as your number of players drops, the more your initial investment is in at risk. You may be in a hand with 10 or less players. If you are the chip leader, you need to make everyone pay to see cards. Let’s say you have $4,000 in chips and the blinds are $50-$100. If you raise $150, you can make all heads up in that hand. You still don’t have a hand but you do have position. Hands after the flop are dealt in the clockwise fashion around the table.
On the other hand, if you’re in the small blind with $1,500 in chips and the blinds are $300-$500, you are in a very difficult position. If you have a hand, you should bet it blind, or use the small blind button to make your bet. Unless you have a monster, it’s best to keep most of your chips in the pot and wait for a monster hand to double up.
Ok, you pushed all-in. Now what? First, you wait for your card to be blown away by a lucky card. Safely and securely, go all-in against one opponent only, unless you have a large stack of chips.
Why not give this tips a try? See how it works for you. Yes, it does help to have a large stack of chips. Yes, it would be helpful to have a few other players in the pot. However, these other players would most likely be playing with a wide range of hands. You want them to go in with a wide range of hands. If you narrow your opponents down from three to just two, you are actually increasing your odds by not spreading it out so widely. Spread it out more, and your odds will still be good, but not as good as when you have a large stack of chips.
As the blinds go up, and as the round progresses, you are not going to want to be going all-in every time. Under the right circumstances, going all-in can be a good idea. Let’s go over some of the other situations that you would like to hold up until you completely knock out the other players. There is plenty of nothing cards to pick up in later positions. When you have a pocket pair or two high cards, for example, it’s a good idea to go all-in before the flop. When you see the flop, if you have nothing, and your opponents have high cards, you will have a good opportunity to double your stack.