Pre-Flop Strategy

Holdem starting hands can be divided into four general categories--premium hands, playable hands, marginal hands, and garbage hands. Premium hands include high pairs (Jacks, Queens, Kings and Aces) and Ace-King. These are hands that you will always want to play. Playable hands include pairs from Tens down, and two non-paired cards Ten or above (a good Blackjack hand is also a good Holdem hand). These are hands that are usually good, but must be played more carefully and should often be folded if the pot has been raised before it is your turn to act. Marginal hands are even trickier and should be folded more often. These include "suited aces" (an Ace and another card of the same suit, such as Ace and 8 of clubs) and "suited connectors" (two consecutive cards of the same suit, for example 8 and 9 of spades). Finally there are the garbage hands, which basically includes everything else. Garbage hands (something like a 9 and a 6 for example) have very little chance of winning and should usually be folded without a second thought. The only exceptions are when you are one of the blinds and so have already put your money in, or when you intend to steal the blinds with a bluff (an advanced strategy discussed later).

After deciding whether or not to play your two cards you then have to make the decision whether to raise or just call. As a beginner you only want to raise with premium hands. You can usually call with any playable hand providing you only have to call one bet (i.e., no one in front of you has raised). As you gain experience you should begin to consider more factors when deciding how to play your hand. Typical factors that should influence your decison are the number and type of players at the table, your position, your chip stack, and your tolerance for risk.

Number of players: With 10 people in the game, it's much more likely that someone has a strong hand than in a short-handed game. Also you'll need to be more cautious in larger games as the chances of someone's hand fitting the flop will be much better. More competition means stiffer competition. So the more players in the game, the better a hand you will need before you get involved.

Type of players: Players can generally be classed as passive or aggressive. The more aggressive the table is, the tighter you should play (tighter means playing fewer hands, waiting for stronger cards before getting involved). If you've noticed one or more players raising every hand pre-flop, don't try to play the their game. Let aggressive players win some hands uncontested, it usually won't be enough to hurt you. Then nail them when you have a solid hand. If the table is mostly passive (meaning you are unlikely to get raised) then you can play a few more hands (including marginal hands) because you are getting a cheap price to hopefully catch a great flop. But don't take this too far. Having passive opponents doesn't turn garbage hands into gold!

Your position: Your position is your place in the betting order. If you are one of the first players to have to make a decision, you are in early position. Early position is the worst place to be, because you don't yet know what most of the other players are going to do. Playing a marginal hand from early position is dangerous because it's very likely someone behind you will raise and you will end up having to put more money in than you wanted. A good rule of thumb is that if you don't want to face a raise with your hand, don't play it. Late position is much more favorable because you already know what most of the other players think of their hands, as well as how much it will cost you to play. Calling with marginal hands is much safer since it is less likely someone will raise after you. Thus if you are in late position and no one has raised, you can play more hands. But, again, don't take this too far--you should still only be playing hands that have a reasonable chance of winning.

Your chip stack: If you have only a few chips left, you'll want to play extremely carefully since each hand you play could be your last. You can't afford the cost of chasing any draws, so you'll generally play very tight and wait for a premium hand to make an all-or-nothing stand. But if you have a big chip stack, you can take the high-risk, high-payout bets. That doesn't mean you can play every hand hoping to get lucky, but it does mean you can afford to play the reasonable draws that often come along and sometimes prove to be very profitable.

Your tolerence for risk: Depending on your playing style, you may want to play more or less aggressively pre-flop. Players who shoot for larger pots but don't mind a greater chance for losing will want to raise more pre-flop, especially from late position. Some players prefer to be as selective as possible pre-flop, grinding out a winning hand here or there while taking fewer risks. It really depends on your own style of play, and how you perceive the players around you. Remember that the most effective style is not only one you are comfortable with, but one that makes your opponents uncomfortable!

Post-Flop Strategy

A good hand generally means top pair or better. Top Pair means that you have paired a card in your hand with the highest card on the board, for example you have KJ and the flop is K95. Also strong is an overpair, a pocket pair higher than any card on the flop (for example you have QQ and the flop is J92). Two pair, three-of-a-kind, straights and flushes are obviously even stronger and will usually be the winning hand. If you pair a card that is not the highest card on the flop (called middle pair or bottom pair) then you can sometimes still play the hand, but it should be considered as a weak drawing hand (hoping to hit two pair or three-of-a-kind).

When you have a weak hand, remember that the only way it will improve is by drawing out. If someone is going to make you pay to draw, then it often is not worth it to stay in the hand. Many, many players lose money by chasing draws that don't offer good odds. Don't be one of them. This is a very important topic, so be sure to read Playing the Odds in Texas Holdem for a much more detailed discussion.

These principles only provide the most basic strategy for Texas Holdem, but following this advice should allow you to play a reasonably solid game against typical players. Don't get overwhelmed trying to learn more advanced ideas or memorizing more complete strategies until you've gained some experience with basic play. Once you have developed a little more feel for the game, you can move on to Texas Holdem Intermediate Strategy.