If you have been casually playing poker for a while but have decided to take the next step and learn some basic game strategies, you are at the right place. Until now, you have probably just played for fun with your friends, but after reading this article, you will be on your first steps toward making money from poker. One thing is guaranteed. Next time you sit down to play, you will see massive improvements.
PRE-FLOP IS KEY
Pre-flop is where everything begins. It is the foundation upon which you build the house. If the foundation is shaky, everything on top is vulnerable. The same thing applies to poker. Having a solid pre-flop strategy is the basis for success. Having a strong foundation will make it easier for you to play on future streets. Consequently, making mistakes pre-flop will often lead to even bigger mistakes post-flop. So, what can we do to build a strong foundation? As simple as it sounds, we must choose which hands we want to get involved with. For most people reading, this means playing tighter than they currently are. How tight? It will depend on a few factors, but there are two crucial ones: your position at the table and the action in front of you.
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Try it- Position: Your position is determined relative to the dealer button. The button is the most valuable as it is the only position where you are guaranteed to act the last post-flop. On the other hand, the blinds are in the worst position as they are obligated to put money in the pot before the cards get dealt. You should always be aware of your position as it will significantly affect your strategy.
- Action in front: This one is pretty self-explanatory. What people in front of you decide to do will have a substantial impact on how you play your hand.
So, what does this mean for our pre-flop strategy?
The earlier we are to act, and the more action there is in front of us, the tighter we have to play. It’s as simple as that. We will play the most hands when everyone folds to us on the button. We are guaranteed to act last post-flop, and no one has shown interest in the pot before us. We can profitably raise around half of the deck. This hand range includes any pair, Ace high, most suited hands, and some of the highest and best-connected offsuit combinations.
On the contrary, being the first to act pre-flop, we can only raise our strongest holdings, such as a pair of sixes or higher, Ace-Jack offsuit or better, Ace-five suite or better, suited broadways, and King-Queen off. What this means in reality is that approximately seven out of eight times, we are supposed to fold, being the first to act pre-flop.
When it comes to action in front, we follow a similar pattern. The more action there is, the less we can play. Facing an open from an early position on the button, we can now only play around 20% of the hands compared to the 50% we could open if everyone folded to us. Facing a raise and a re-raise, we must play even tighter and get involved with only the strongest holdings.
Now that we understand the basics of pre-flop hand selection, here are some tips you can immediately implement into your game:
- Never be the one to limp first. If there has been no action in front of you, you should always raise the hands you want to play. Don’t just try to call and see what comes on flop. The chances are that you are playing in a game where most people’s strategy is exactly that. By raising pre-flop with a strong range, you are guaranteed to charge them a maximum amount when they make the mistake of getting involved with a speculative hand. If someone limps in front of you, you could limp behind with some hands that don’t mind seeing a cheap flop like low pairs and suited connectors.
- Always three-bet your strongest hands. Similarly to the first tip, you should always look to put more money in the pot with your premium holdings. When someone opens, and you are sitting there with a pair of Kings, Queens, Aces, or Ace-King, always look to re-raise. Don’t be afraid of playing a big pot. Most people will call your three-bet way wider than they should, and you should take advantage of that. You can three-bet wider when you are in late vs late position situation or when someone is going extremely crazy with their opens.
- Don’t call too much. It is as simple as it sounds. You three-bet your strongest hands and call some medium strong ones. Everything else goes into the muck. Some good candidates to call are low to medium pocket pairs, suited connectors and some broadways. The exception to this rule is when you are in the big blind. Having already put money into the pot before the hand even started, you get a better price on your call then the other positions.
- If the game is crazy loose, play tighter. If you have found yourself in a wild game where nobody wants to fold and everyone keeps piling the money in pre-flop, you should tighten up even more. There are two reasons for that. Firstly, some of the hands we want to open are not profitable anymore, as a part of their value comes from taking the pot down pre-flop. Secondly, if there are consistently multiple people seeing flops, you need a stronger hand on average to take it down. Additionally, since you are playing a tighter range versus opponents that don’t want to fold, you can use bigger raise sizings to squeeze that extra value out of them.
It would be too long for one article to cover everything you need to know about pre-flop play, but these are the foundational principles that will take you in the right direction. There is a ton of free material on this topic online, so you can look out for that when you decide to take the next step. Stay tuned for part 2, where we will look at basics of post flop play and how you can gain an even bigger edge over your opponents. GO BIG OR GO HOME!