Continuing the second part of our part on poker startegies looking at which hands you should play, when to play them, how to play them, as well as when and when not to bluff. Remember your main advantage will be that when you enter a pot you will usually have a better starting hand than your opponent. And, when you get an unfavorable flop you will have the discipline to muck your hand and save persons huge turn and river bets.

Continued From Poker Tactics & Strategies – Part 1

Hand 5 A Q (Pre-Flop)

Ace Queen plays very similar to AK you will want to raise this hand whenever you enter the pot regardless of your position. If you are in one of the blinds you should just call. I would not recommend re-raising with the hand very often. You may re-raise with it only when you have a excellent read on the raiser and you have observed that he is a very aggressive player (or a maniac) who raises with several holdings and you have excellent position, the button or next to it. Otherwise you should just call and have a look at the flop.

A Q (Post-Flop)

If you hit either your ace you will have top pair second best kicker, if you hit you queen, and there is no over cards you will have top pair top kicker. As such a flop like Qc 7s 2h is a very excellent flop for you and you should play it quick. If you are first to act bet, if someone else has bet, raise. Continue to play the hand quick unless your opponents continue to play back at indicating a lot of might. If this happens slow down and just call the hand down, they could have flopped a set, or perhaps have an over pair (you should have an thought in this area this as they likely would have been a lot of pre-flop proceedings). If you flop an ace again play the hand quick. If there was pre-flop raising you must be careful if your opponents are showing a lot of might on the flop, you might be up against AK, so pay attention and be careful if your opponents continue to play back at you. Note that a flop of Kd 9h 2s is a terrible flop for you. Any flop with a Kxx in it is a terrible flop for you hand and you should simply muck your hand if anyone bets the flop. You should play the hand the same way you play AK if you miss the flop and no king is on the enter.

Hand 6 & 7 other Huge Connectors AJ, KQ (Pre-Flop)

I am lumping these two hands together since you can play them pretty much the same. If the game you are playing in isn’t very aggressive (there isn’t to much raising before the flop) the hand can be played from all positions. If you are entering the pot from an early position with one of these hands you might just want to limp in. There could be a fantastic deal of proceedings behind you, and if the pot is capped by the time it gets back to you, you can get away from the hand by mucking your cards. They just are not worth four bets before the flop; if the hand is raised behind you, call. It the pot is raised and re-raised you can call if the pot is multi way, 4 players or more but you will need to hit the flop perfectly in order to continue playing the hand, so proceed with caution.

If you are entering the pot with one of these hands from midpoint position or later and you have no more than one caller already in the pot go ahead and bring it in for a raise, under these circumstances there is a passionate probability you have the best hand.

AJ, KQ (Post-Flop)

The flop is going to have to help your hand in order for you to continue playing a hand like this. If you hold KQ and an ace hits the flop you are done playing the hand (unless you flop two pair or better). If you hold AJ and an ace hits the flop, you will lead at the pot, but you must proceed with caution. If there was any pre-flop proceedings, and there is a lot of proceedings on the flop you are probably better off to simply get away from your AJ. This is where knowing your opponents will help you. If you do choose to continue with the hand again, do so with caution. Yeah you have a pair of aces but you only have one pair and your kicker isn’t fantastic so don’t bet this hand to the moon like many of your opponents do. There is no need to loose additional bets due to bravado. If you get a favorable flop to a hand like this you will want to continue leading at the pot unless one of your opponents shows a fantastic deal of might, then just check and call the hand down.

Hand 8&9 other Huge Connectors KJ, JQ (Pre-Flop)

These two hands are certainly part of the huge card family, but they are not raising hands. They should be discarded from very early position. They can be played from mid position or better. If the pot is raised you can protect your blinds with a hand like this as you are already part way into the pot and likely will be getting right pot odds to continue. You want to try and get into the pot as cheaply as possible with a hand like this since if the flop doesn’t improve your hand you will be mucking your hand for any bet on the flop.

KJ, JQ (Post-Flop)
You will need to improve your hand on the flop or you will not continue playing the hand. You will either need to flop a pair or an open finished straight draw or you will have to muck your hand. If you flop a pair and there is no over cards on the flop you will have top pair with a clad kicker. You will want to bet or raise with a hand like this. If you get played back at, at all (raised or re-raised), you must slow down, evaluate the hand and choose if the hand is worth continuing with. Often you will need to muck it right then and there. If you choose to continue with the hand, check and call as long as no over cards or scare cards hit the turn or river, if they do you likely will have to muck your hand. You must play hands like these very carefully or they will end up costing you a lot of cash.

Medium to Small Pairs, Pocket Jacks Through Pocket Twos (Pre-Flop)

While a pocket pair of Jacks is vastly superior to a pocket pair of twos you will really play all of these pockets reasonably similarly. The higher the pair the more might it has. You will absolutely need to hit any hand between 22-88 to have at chance at winning the pot. Occasionally you can win with jacks, tens, and nines without hitting them, but you will need a very favorable flop for these hands to hold up (no over cards, no suited connectors etc.). In early position these hands should be thrown in the muck. With the exclusion of jacks and tens, with either of these two pockets limp in from early position, they are just a small too excellent to muck, even from up front.

From mid position or better you may enter the pot provided that it is not yet been raised and you have at least one or two other limpers in the pot in front of you. If you don’t have these circumstance you should not even bother entering the pot, it is just not profitable. You want to play these medium to small pairs the exact opposite way you play huge pairs. They play well against many players, and you want to enter the pot for one bet. You can call a raise only if you are in very late position and there are at least three other players already in the pot. Most flops will be unfavorable to these types of hands and most often you will have to muck your mid to small pocket hand on the flop. As such, you are not willing to place in several bets before the flop. You want to play against many players in case you are lucky enough to hit a set on the flop. If this happens you will often win a large pot. So remember the only time you want to play your small pockets is when you can limp in from late position against copious players, if you are powerless to enter the pot under these circumstances simply muck the hand. If you play small pockets under any other scenarios they will be huge time chip burners.

Medium to Small Pairs, Pocket Jacks Through Pocket Twos (Post-Flop)

These hands will be very, simple to play after the flop. You will only be able to continue playing if one of two things happens. Firstly, if you hold one of the higher holdings, like tens, or jacks, in this area 40%-50% of the time an over card will not hit the flop. If this happens play your hand very passionate on the flop, bet or raise the hand in hopes of driving out player who hold over cards. If an over card hits on the turn or the river and there is any proceedings you will have a tough choice, either check and call, or muck your hand if you figure you are beat. If there is a bet and a raise when an over card hits, entrust me, you are beat, muck your hand.

If you are lucky enough to flop a set then your objective is usually to get as many chips into the pot as possible, as you will be a huge favorite to win the pot. This is one of the only times you may want to slow play a hand. Especially if a pre-flop raiser or just a very aggressive player is sitting to your immediate left. You can check with the intention of raising or re-raising. You may even elect to wait until the turn to make your check raise, but only do this if the flop is ragged (its not suited, or connected). When you are lucky enough to catch a flop like this you stand to make a lot of cash.

Suited connectors and Ax Suited hands Pre-Flop

There are certain times that you may play these types of hands. They require the same criteria as small pairs. Again, they play well against many opponents, and you want to enter the pot for one bet from late position. You can call a raise only if you are in very late position and there are at least three other players already in the pot. If you can’t enter the pot under these circumstances than you must pass on the hand. It is these types of hands that cost beginners and intermediate players tons of cash. They continually enter pots out of position, under a raise when they shouldn’t, in non-multi way pots, these are all horrible plays and you will NEVER again make them yourself.

Suited connectors and Ax Suited hands (Post-Flop)

Again, they play very similar to your small pairs. You need to flop to these hands perfectly. You need either an open finished straight draw, or a flush draw or better to continue playing one of these hands. If you have a huge draw like either of the ones I just mentioned you usually should just check and call. In limit holdem, if you have at least two other players in the pot, you will always be right in calling the hand all the way to the river. You will be getting sufficient odds to continue with your drawing hand.

If the enter has three of a suit, you must never continue with a straight draw. Someone may already have a made flush, so how can you continue on a straight draw? You can’t and you won’t. If you flopped a made straight, that’s a horse of a different color. In this case you would continue to play unless you experienced a lot of proceedings indicating that you are beat, in which case you will have to get away from this hand. If the flop comes paired, you will never draw to either a flush or a straight, as someone may already have a made full house. The key rule is that if you are drawing, you don’t want to make your hand and subdue lose, you don’t want to be drawing dead. This is precisely what happens time and time again when public draw to straights with paired or suited flops. If you have excellent position and a lot of players you may want to raise on the flop. Lets say it’s a large multi way pot with say five or six players and you have a nut flush draw. You are on the button and five players are in for a single bet. You might as well go ahead and raise in a circumstances like this. You will hit your hand one out of three times, and you are getting six to one on your raise (likely all the players will call for a single raise). If you hit the flush on the turn fantastic bet your hand, or raise it, hey are lucky enough to have caught the nuts so bet your hand. If you miss, your raise on the flop may just give you the opportunity to check the turn and give yourself a free card. Never bet the turn in this circumstances if you can check and get a free card, the odds are no longer with you with only one card to go.

CONCLUSION

To be a winner at the higher limits patience and discipline are subdue probably your most vital weapons in your arsenal, but they alone will not get the job done at the higher limits. You will need to hone your poker skills since doing just these two things won’t get the job done at the higher limits, but I authenticate you it will get it done at the low limits. You should be watching the game carefully, getting a feel for the game, your opponents betting patterns, making notes etc. Notes are an invaluable tool that will improve your online Holdem win rate. They have enabled me to make many, many thousands of dollars that I would otherwise not have made. With a note on a player I am able to make a call that I otherwise would not have been able to make if I had no information on this player. Every session I play I always make notes on my opponents.

I believe that making notes is so vital to your online win rate that I have included a few here as an example of how you might do it. Please note that many of my notes will be referring to 100 and 200 No limit sit and go tournaments but I believe you will get the thought.

Example 1 Player A 100 NL called my raise at level 5 in SB with K8, flop came 225, he bet 500, He goes all-in with any ace at end of tourney, clueless at end of a tourney,

Example 2. Player B 100 NL called an all-in level 2 with AQ pre-flop, only bets the goods

Example 3 Player C 50 limit, 4 bet me on flop with nothing, made foolish bluff

Example 4 Player D 50 NL chasing fool, chased 2nd pair to river enter came A7878, HE WILL PAY ME OFF, PLAY FAST AGAINST HIM

Example 5 Player E100 NL, over better, chase top pair no kicker at any cost, simple to trap, simple to check raise

Example 6 Player F Passionate player, plays well, try to avoid

Notes will help you stay involved in the game when you are not playing a hand. They will help you from getting bored and entering the pot when you know you should. I strongly encourage you to take notes on your opponents, the dividends they will pay reasonably substantial.

You have now been equipped with enough information to be a solid winning player a low limit holdem, so what are you waiting for, go get em tiger!