Before we go any further, you need a brief explanation of the kinds of poker games that exist. They can basically be thought of as two major groups, tournament and non-tournament poker, or sometimes referred to as cash and ring poker. There are multi-table (MTT) and single table tournaments (STT). The single table variety is normally sit and go (SNG) meaning that the game can only begin when the table is full.
The tournaments may encompass satellite games whereby the player can move into higher stakes and higher class tournaments or the freeroll games where no fee is required. Then there are the guaranteed games where the host guarantees some kind of prize pool. All but the freeroll require some amount of buy in. In some tournaments, the players are allowed to supplement the buy-in with additional chips through the re-buy and add-on options.
The tables are named for the number of players around it, so long tables include 8-10 players, short tables have 4-6 players, plus heads-up (HU) which are one-on-one.
Having familiarized ourselves with the basic rules and terms, we can move on to the basics of poker strategy. The single most important concept any player must know is probably the concept of the odds. Odds are the chances you have of getting the winning combinations in any of the future steps of a current game.
These winning cards are referred to as outs. So your chances for hand improvement is dependent upon the number of outs currently in your hand and these chances (odds) can be calculated, put to memory, or read from an odds table.
The player must also be able to calculate pot odds – the relationship of the required bet to the bank. Pot odds can be discounted and implied odds. Discounting is a decrease in the number of outs which is beneficial to the opponent as well. Implied chances include not only the current pot and bets, but also the possible bets in future rounds.
The possible strategies of poker include the bluff plays such as the straight bluff which is either a bet or raise with no chance at winning should a showdown come up, and the semi-bluff, a raise without a proper hand to do so but the hand has a nice number of outs, which gives it a good chance to improve. There are more intricate plays like the slow play or sandbagging, which refers to playing passively while at the same time having a strong hand in the game’s beginning phases. This move will keep opponents in the game. Then there is the free card which is a raise from the late position in the flop with the expectation there will be checks on the turn to enable the river to be arrived at without further betting action. This technique is most commonly employed in a drawing hand.
A distinction is usually made between a flush-draw, four cards to a flush, and a straight-draw, four to a straight. Straight-draws can be open ended or gut shot (inside straight) draws. If two specific cards are required to compose a combination, such draw hands are called backdoor draws or runner-runner. When a player still attempts to assemble a draw despite certainly losing to a ready opponent combination, the player is said to be drawing dead.
Now lets talk about the check-raise. This is where a player checks intending to raise after an opponent’s bet. This strategy is generally used during the flop against the preflop-raiser (Preflop-raiser: The player who raises during the preflop round).
To end this strategy primer, there are the blind steals and defense. This takes place should no one enter the game before the flop and the late position player raises to force the blinds to fold. He now gets the blinds’ bets with no competition remaining. Ah, but the blinds can seek revenge with a 3-bet and this is the blind defense.
The author is a successful limit cash game player. He plays poker online and receives Red Star Rakeback as well as Carbon Rakeback.
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