POKER STRATEGY

As varied as the variations found in Poker are the strategies applicable to them. It is not an exaggeration to say that there are really limitless poker variations. . In Hold’em it is crucial to remember your opponent’s playing styles to give you the edge when a pot is up for grabs. In Omaha, first-rate players know they would often be required to use their ability to drive other players with good hands out of pots with aggressive betting. In 7- card Stud, players are expected to memorize cards and calculate difficult pot odds at a moment’s notice. All these various strategies require skills, patience and full range of experience to convert a game into a win. We discuss here some of the more basic strategies :-

Check/Raise

The Check/Raise is a fundamental poker strategy that entails you know your opponents betting tendencies. It is comparable to a slow play in that you check and wait on a loose player sitting behind you to take a turn at the pot. The divergence being, with Check/Raise, you shoot right back at the player after his bet with a raise s/he cannot possibly call if they are bluffing or on a draw. Players in general use this strategy when they have a decent enough hand or a lot of outs and are up against a loose player. It is essential to make sure the pot is worth taking.

Slow Play

This is a strategy some players employ often to win pots from loose players is the slow play. This is when you have a good hand but do not bet for that reason hoping or knowing a player behind you will bluff. When this works it can add to the size of the pot and cover the strength of your hand. You will often see this technique from players holding Pocket Aces i.e two aces in the hole. Players deliberately slow play the Aces because the hand is so strong they wish to keep atleast one other player in the pot. Slow playing does not mean you should always check.. Ensure you don’t over-bet scaring all others.

Bluff

Bluffing involves the act of making a bet or a raise when you do not have a satisfactory hand to win a pot. The point of this bet is to force the other players out of the hand, thus winning the pot, by faking you have a superior hand. Unless you have the ability to make a bluff, you would never be able to win at poker.