The dealer's button moves one seat to the left at the beginning of each hand. The player to the immediate left of the dealer is the small blindand the player to the left of the small blind is the big blind. The players in the blinds must ante up a small amount of money to get each hand started. Best Cash Game Strategy Tight is Right. It might be a boring way to play but sitting back and waiting for good hands can often be a great way to. Stay in Position. The lack of complete information in poker makes it extremely tough to win but you can make your job. It's Never Too Late to Fold. Patrick's Day SALE IS LIVE! You can get poker coaching for over 75% off: this course, I review every major hand t.
Table Of Contents
European online slots. Winning poker players are constantly evolving. That's a good thing, but lots of people get lost along the way. With ‘winning strategy advice' coming from all directions, and highlight reels of high stakes pros pulling mega bluffs and folding the second nuts on YouTube, you can be forgiven for falling into the trap of fancy play syndrome, but it's time to get back to basics.
In this article, we take a look at how simple a tight-aggressive style is to play and how it works.
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Why Tight-Aggressive
A tight-aggressive style works because it gives you an almost immediate advantage over your opponents – you will generally be playing stronger hands than they do. That means you'll make stronger hands post-flop too. You'll be value betting more and bluffing less.
There's no mystery to a tight-aggressive style. You're looking to be more selective over your starting hands and play them aggressively. That means you should be entering pots with a raise rather than calling, and betting rather than checking.
This gives you two ways to win a pot:
- Either at showdown with the best hand
- Or by getting your opponents to fold.
It also means you'll be building a pot with (hopefully) the strongest hand. You should enter pots with a standard raise of 3x and add a big blind for every limper. So, if you're playing $0.50/$1, your opening raise should be $3 and if someone's already limped in you should make it $4. Everyone has an opinion on opening raises but if you stick to the standard raise you won't force out weaker players and you won't let players enter the pot cheaply.
Position
If you want to know how important position is, just listen to Doyle Brunson who said, ‘If I could play every hand on the button I'd beat any game blind.' Poker is a game of incomplete information – the more you have the better the decisions you can make. That's why the button is the best position in poker. With the exception of the blinds, you'll act last pre-flop and you'll act after everyone on every street post-flop.
‘If I could play every hand on the button I'd beat any game blind' -Doyle Brunson
Playing out of position makes everything much harder – unless you hit a monster hand you'll always be second-guessing your opponents. Take a hand like suited. If you get this on the button and there have been a few callers before you, you can call with great odds to hit a big hand. This same hand is almost impossible to play in early position when you don't know if a player will raise behind you. Even if you do see a flop you'll have to play every street out of position. Taking a nine-handed game, position breaks down as follows:
- Seats 1 & 2: Blinds
- Seats 3,4 & 5: Early position
- Seats 6 & 7: Mid position
- Seats 8 & 9: Late position
Playing In Early Position
The aim of playing an ABC style of poker is to minimise tricky decisions. So, in early position it's simple – it's all about strong hands. Throw away anything weaker than suited and any pairs worse than . If you're tempted to enter with a weaker hand, say suited, ask yourself what you'll do if you get three-bet. Keep things simple and you won't get in trouble.
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Playing In Middle Position
In middle position you can start to open your range up and play more hands. You'll have information from players acting before you and you've only got two or three seats behind you to worry about. If someone from early position has raised then you need to think about what hands he's opening with. If he's opening with the range above ( suited+ and +) you need a tighter range to avoid being a dog against him. If someone from early position has just called then you can limp along with hands that play well in multi-way pots, like pairs and suited connectors.
Playing In Late Position
When you're in late position you can play a much wider range of hands as you'll have a significant advantage over your opponents for the rest of the hand. You can open all pairs, suited, hands like suited and suited connectors.
You'll notice that we're still keeping a fairly tight range of hands that we're playing – you're looking to enter pots with the strongest hand. Stealing the blinds is still important – not as much as in tournaments obviously – but you shouldn't be tempted to try to steal them with any two cards. If the blinds defend then you're going to make things hard for yourself post-flop.
Playing From The Blinds
Playing from the blinds is tough. People get tempted to defend their blinds with a wide range of hands as they've already got money in the pot and don't want to lose it. Defending too wide means that you'll end up losing even more money though.
However, you should look at the cost of entering the pot and use your common sense – defend when it's cheap and you're getting the right price. You can defend with more hands in the big blind than the small blind.
When To Deviate From ABC Strategy
Best Online Poker Strategy
Back in the good old days an ABC strategy was all you needed to get by. The games might be tougher today but a solid ABC strategy is still good enough to win at lower stakes. Generally speaking, live games are weaker so an ABC strategy has even more chance of success.
Playing poker usa freeroll. An ABC strategy is also extremely useful to adopt if you're sat with players you have no information on. It will enable you to build information up without taking risks.
Cash Game Poker Strategy With Amateurs
The big problem is that it's predictable and easy to exploit. If you're sat with decent players, or you're sat at the same table for a long time, it won't take your opponents long to work out how you're playing. If this happens you can balance your play by adding bluff raises with weaker hands and raising from early position with small pairs and suited connectors. This will get you into less trouble than raising with hands like suited, which could be horribly dominated. If you flop big with a suited connector you're likely to have the best hand.
Also, you can add information you've got on other players to your game. If you know that the players to your left are playing too tight you can open up your range in middle position. If you know they're hyper-aggressive then you should stop limping and trying to get into pots cheaply.
Download Betsafe Now
Grab yourself up to €2,000 first deposit bonus by downloading Betsafe through PokerNews. Enjoy Twisters, 6+ Hold'em, Speed Poker and more when you play on Betsafe.
The GamblingSites.org poker strategy section offers in-depth strategy articles that focus on a number of different areas in the game. From live play to online play, it's covered here. You'll be able to learn everything from basic bankroll management to game play concepts that you can work into your existing strategy. We have prepared these articles with the goal of teaching and educating players of all experience levels, and we hope that they will improve your game and overall income from playing poker.
Strategy Sections Covered:
Live poker is the most traditional form of the game. Whether you visit Atlantic City, Las Vegas, or somewhere in between, you'll find that poker is one of the main attractions in every casino. Tangiers casino free. Live poker offers a variety of dynamics that vary greatly from what you'll find in typical online play. You'll need to learn how to identity and understand live tells, what playing in a casino entails, and how to find the best game for you with the least amount of time and effort. The game may be the same in terms of rules, but it actually plays quite differently when you shift from online to live play.
European online slots. Winning poker players are constantly evolving. That's a good thing, but lots of people get lost along the way. With ‘winning strategy advice' coming from all directions, and highlight reels of high stakes pros pulling mega bluffs and folding the second nuts on YouTube, you can be forgiven for falling into the trap of fancy play syndrome, but it's time to get back to basics.
In this article, we take a look at how simple a tight-aggressive style is to play and how it works.
Discover the Betsafe Poker Loyalty ClubEarn up to 30% cash back by making it to Diamond Tier
Why Tight-Aggressive
A tight-aggressive style works because it gives you an almost immediate advantage over your opponents – you will generally be playing stronger hands than they do. That means you'll make stronger hands post-flop too. You'll be value betting more and bluffing less.
There's no mystery to a tight-aggressive style. You're looking to be more selective over your starting hands and play them aggressively. That means you should be entering pots with a raise rather than calling, and betting rather than checking.
This gives you two ways to win a pot:
- Either at showdown with the best hand
- Or by getting your opponents to fold.
It also means you'll be building a pot with (hopefully) the strongest hand. You should enter pots with a standard raise of 3x and add a big blind for every limper. So, if you're playing $0.50/$1, your opening raise should be $3 and if someone's already limped in you should make it $4. Everyone has an opinion on opening raises but if you stick to the standard raise you won't force out weaker players and you won't let players enter the pot cheaply.
Position
If you want to know how important position is, just listen to Doyle Brunson who said, ‘If I could play every hand on the button I'd beat any game blind.' Poker is a game of incomplete information – the more you have the better the decisions you can make. That's why the button is the best position in poker. With the exception of the blinds, you'll act last pre-flop and you'll act after everyone on every street post-flop.
‘If I could play every hand on the button I'd beat any game blind' -Doyle Brunson
Playing out of position makes everything much harder – unless you hit a monster hand you'll always be second-guessing your opponents. Take a hand like suited. If you get this on the button and there have been a few callers before you, you can call with great odds to hit a big hand. This same hand is almost impossible to play in early position when you don't know if a player will raise behind you. Even if you do see a flop you'll have to play every street out of position. Taking a nine-handed game, position breaks down as follows:
- Seats 1 & 2: Blinds
- Seats 3,4 & 5: Early position
- Seats 6 & 7: Mid position
- Seats 8 & 9: Late position
Playing In Early Position
The aim of playing an ABC style of poker is to minimise tricky decisions. So, in early position it's simple – it's all about strong hands. Throw away anything weaker than suited and any pairs worse than . If you're tempted to enter with a weaker hand, say suited, ask yourself what you'll do if you get three-bet. Keep things simple and you won't get in trouble.
100% deposit match bonus up to €2,000PokerNews readers can enjoy a massive first deposit bonus when they sign up for a poker account at Betsafe
Playing In Middle Position
In middle position you can start to open your range up and play more hands. You'll have information from players acting before you and you've only got two or three seats behind you to worry about. If someone from early position has raised then you need to think about what hands he's opening with. If he's opening with the range above ( suited+ and +) you need a tighter range to avoid being a dog against him. If someone from early position has just called then you can limp along with hands that play well in multi-way pots, like pairs and suited connectors.
Playing In Late Position
When you're in late position you can play a much wider range of hands as you'll have a significant advantage over your opponents for the rest of the hand. You can open all pairs, suited, hands like suited and suited connectors.
You'll notice that we're still keeping a fairly tight range of hands that we're playing – you're looking to enter pots with the strongest hand. Stealing the blinds is still important – not as much as in tournaments obviously – but you shouldn't be tempted to try to steal them with any two cards. If the blinds defend then you're going to make things hard for yourself post-flop.
Playing From The Blinds
Playing from the blinds is tough. People get tempted to defend their blinds with a wide range of hands as they've already got money in the pot and don't want to lose it. Defending too wide means that you'll end up losing even more money though.
However, you should look at the cost of entering the pot and use your common sense – defend when it's cheap and you're getting the right price. You can defend with more hands in the big blind than the small blind.
When To Deviate From ABC Strategy
Best Online Poker Strategy
Back in the good old days an ABC strategy was all you needed to get by. The games might be tougher today but a solid ABC strategy is still good enough to win at lower stakes. Generally speaking, live games are weaker so an ABC strategy has even more chance of success.
Playing poker usa freeroll. An ABC strategy is also extremely useful to adopt if you're sat with players you have no information on. It will enable you to build information up without taking risks.
Cash Game Poker Strategy With Amateurs
The big problem is that it's predictable and easy to exploit. If you're sat with decent players, or you're sat at the same table for a long time, it won't take your opponents long to work out how you're playing. If this happens you can balance your play by adding bluff raises with weaker hands and raising from early position with small pairs and suited connectors. This will get you into less trouble than raising with hands like suited, which could be horribly dominated. If you flop big with a suited connector you're likely to have the best hand.
Also, you can add information you've got on other players to your game. If you know that the players to your left are playing too tight you can open up your range in middle position. If you know they're hyper-aggressive then you should stop limping and trying to get into pots cheaply.
Download Betsafe Now
Grab yourself up to €2,000 first deposit bonus by downloading Betsafe through PokerNews. Enjoy Twisters, 6+ Hold'em, Speed Poker and more when you play on Betsafe.
The GamblingSites.org poker strategy section offers in-depth strategy articles that focus on a number of different areas in the game. From live play to online play, it's covered here. You'll be able to learn everything from basic bankroll management to game play concepts that you can work into your existing strategy. We have prepared these articles with the goal of teaching and educating players of all experience levels, and we hope that they will improve your game and overall income from playing poker.
Strategy Sections Covered:
Live poker is the most traditional form of the game. Whether you visit Atlantic City, Las Vegas, or somewhere in between, you'll find that poker is one of the main attractions in every casino. Tangiers casino free. Live poker offers a variety of dynamics that vary greatly from what you'll find in typical online play. You'll need to learn how to identity and understand live tells, what playing in a casino entails, and how to find the best game for you with the least amount of time and effort. The game may be the same in terms of rules, but it actually plays quite differently when you shift from online to live play.
Etiquette in Live Poker
Game Selection in Live Poker
Avoiding the Pit
Common Live Poker Variance
Bankroll Management in Live Poker
3-Betting in Live Poker
100 BB vs. 200 BB Games
Analyzing a Player's Talk
Bet Sizing in Live Poker
What Bet Sizing Tells You
How to Induce Calls
How to Induce Folds
Playing Draws in Live Poker
Indicators of Strength in Live Poker
False Tells, Min Raises and Overbets
Bluff Catching in Live Poker
Types of Live Poker Players by Appearance
Types of Live Poker Players by Strategy
Talking to Players to Gain Information
Continuation Bets and Double Barrels
Body Language in Live Poker
Check Raising in Live Poker
How to Protect Yourself From Giving Off Tells
Online Plays That Don't Work Well Live
How to React to Straddles and Other Plays
Online poker is largely what enabled Texas Hold'em and other forms of poker to explode after 2003. If it wasn't for Chris Moneymaker winning a satellite tournament on PokerStars to earn his entry into the World Series of Poker Main Event, who knows if the game would have ever become really popular. As the years progressed, online poker really began to change. At one point in time, even the weakest of players were able to generate huge amounts of profit. As players gained more experience, however, the skill levels continued to rise. Online poker isn't what it once was in terms of playing styles, and the ability to adapt is one of the most vital skills that a player can possess.
Bankroll Management in Online Poker
Multi-Tabling
Handling Online Poker Tilt
Variance in Online Poker
How to Use a HUD and PT/HEM
Online Poker Cash Game Strategy
Poker isn't just about playing your cards; there is a lot more involved than you may realize at the surface. Some of your biggest assets as a player will come from skills that you practice when you aren't on the felt. This could mean mathematical decisions, emotional control, financial decisions, and so on and so forth. Having a sound framework for your play is one of the easiest ways to ensure that you are creating a profitable future in the game. These articles focus on the broader areas of the game and lend themselves to a much more general approach to the game.
Short Stack Strategy
Calculating Implied Odds
Beating Loose Players
Beating Aggressive Players
Beating Passive Players
TAG Playing Style
LAG Playing Style
Table Image, Presence, and Awareness
Playing in 100BB Games
Bankroll Management
Moving Up in Limits
Games and opponents are one of many ever changing variables in poker. You won't usually be in the same sort of game dynamics as you move from table to table and room to room. Making the necessary adjustments in your play in order to capitalize on specific circumstances is absolutely crucial if you want to be a long term winner in the game. These articles were designed with the objective of elaborating on defined situations, game types, and opponents. Use the parameters in the titles to understand how strategy varies from one situation to the next.
Playing Out of Position
Open Raising
Continuation Bets
Double Barrels
Giving Up
Playing JJ, QQ, and AK
Flopped Flush Draws
Stealing Pre-Flop
Multi-Way Pre-Flop Pots
Suited Connectors
Small Pocket Pairs
Middle Pocket Pairs
Check Raises-Flop, Turn, and River
Tournament poker is one of the two primary forms of the game. Odds are that you were introduced to poker via tournaments in one way or another. You might have watched poker tournaments on TV, you may have played in home tournaments with friends, or you may have heard about them from others. No matter what got you involved in tourney play, you know that there's a lot of complex strategy involved. Tournaments come in many different shapes and sizes, and being able to alter your strategy for different events is a necessity.
Playing in Small and Mid-Stake Events (<1k)
Passive vs. Aggressive Tourney Play
Regular vs. Turbo Tournament Play
Pre-Flop Hand Selection in Early Levels
Stealing the Blinds in Early Levels
Value of Position in Early Levels
Speculative Hands in Early Levels
Three Bet Ranges in Early Levels
Three Betting Light in Early Levels
Small Pocket Pairs in Tournaments
Middle Pocket Pairs in Tournaments
Playing JJ, QQ, and AK in Tournaments
Playing KK and AA in Tournaments
Set Mining in Tournaments
Playing Draws in Tournaments
Floating in Tournaments
Continuation Bets in Tournaments
Double Barrels in Tournaments
Bluffs in Tournaments
Playing Limped Pots in Tournaments
Bet Sizing in Tournaments
Isolating in Tournaments
Large vs. Small Tournament Fields
Sit n go poker is the abbreviated version of tournament play. You won't be playing for hours or days on end, but you are playing with the goal of knocking out your opponents until there's only one player left standing. As is the case with tournaments and cash games, there are many different types of sit n go's in existence. You could play faster paced games, deep stacked games, etc. As the third most popular form of poker, sit n go's create plenty of opportunity for profitability.
SNG Basic Strategy
Turbo SNG Strategy
Ultra Turbo SNG Strategy
Heads Up SNG Strategy
Playing the Bubble in SNG
6-Max vs. Full Ring SNGs
Multi Table SNGs
Push/Folds in SNGs
Satellite SNG Strategy