19 Oct 2024 Beginner This article is for beginner players bluff catching slowplay value bet It’s common for beginner players to have some difficulty diving into studying poker. This happens because when we start playing, we don’t know what’s most important, what should be learned first, what to spend more time studying, and which concepts and strategies are essential to become winners and profitable. With this in mind, I have written this article with the 5 tips I believe are the most important for those starting to play poker and who want to be profitable players. Let’s go! 1. Play Tight (few hands) A very common mistake for all beginner players is playing more hands than they should. They don’t know how to differentiate important aspects for making this decision, such as: Position Stack size Opponent's type etc. So, if you are just starting, I recommend that you only play hands according to starting hand charts. These charts can easily be found online for any format of poker. Here’s an example: If you don’t know how to read the chart above, don’t worry, here’s an explanation. The 's' in some hands comes from the word 'suited', which means hands of the same suit. The 'o' comes from the word 'offsuit', meaning hands of different suits. To make it even easier, let’s break down three hands shown in the chart: 77: This hand is simply a pair of sevens, regardless of the suits. You should always play it when you’re the first to act from any position. AJo: You have an Ace and a Jack of different suits. It doesn’t matter if the Ace is hearts and the Jack is diamonds, or clubs and spades, etc. QTs: The 'T' in the chart represents 10, and 'Q' stands for Queen. In this hand, you have a Queen and a 10 of the same suit (both cards are hearts, spades, diamonds, or clubs). Play the hands in blue only when the pre-flop action folds to you or when someone limps (calls the big blind). But if you’re already a slightly more advanced player, always remember to adjust to the table. Most of the time, your opponents will play more hands than they should. And that should be your advantage if you’re involved with a stronger range of hands. 2. Don’t slowplay! You have 5♣5♦ in the BB. The BTN raises, and you call. The flop comes J♥9♥5♠. You check with your set, and he bets. Now what? ALWAYS raise! A big mistake for beginner players is wanting to just call to set a trap (aka 'slowplay') for the opponent. But most of the time, this is a mistake. Most players don’t bluff enough to justify slowplay, and they also call too much when they shouldn’t. Next time you have a very strong hand, forget about the slowplay and be aggressive! This will also protect you when you bluff, as your opponents will know you're balanced in your betting ranges. 3. Recognize when you might have stronger hands than your opponent You have any two cards in the BTN. You raises pre-flop, and only the BB calls. The flop comes A♥K♣2♣. He checks, you bet, and he raises. What should you do? Think about the strong hands you could have that your opponent likely doesn’t: AA AK KK Why would your opponent almost never have these hands? If he had a hand as strong as AA, KK, or AK, he – most of the time – would have 3-bet them pre-flop, right? Poker is a game of incomplete information, so it’s all about possibilities and probabilities. Just as this raise on the flop may not make much sense, you can use it to your advantage. So, when the board favors your range more than your opponent's, you can bluff more, even with a weak hand. 4. Call on the river when many draws miss Let’s imagine the following scenario. A player raises from the BTN, and you call from the BB with A♥8♣. The flop comes T♠8♠3♥. You check, he bets, and you call. The turn comes a 4♥, leaving the board double suited. You check, the opponent bets, and you call. The river comes a 2♦, making the final board: T♠8♠3♥4♥2♦. You check, and he bets. What should you do? Let’s think about the number of possible hands your opponent could have that missed on this board: Any flush draw, whether in spades or hearts, such as: AKs, AQs, AJs, KQs, KJs, 56s, 76s, A7s, A6s, A9s. Now let’s think about the straight draws that also missed: KQ, QJ, Q9, J9, 97, J7. Notice that there were many draws, and they didn’t hit anything? You can call because with so many air, it’s very easy for your opponent to lose control of their bluffing frequency, and this call will be profitable in the long run! 5. The more players on the flop, the less you should bluff Don't overcomplicate your play! The more players there are on the flop, the more straightforward you should play. This means not looking for many bluffing spots or over-calling. When there are many players in a hand, the chance of someone hitting something increases a lot since there are more possibilities. Let’s compare two situations: When you and one other opponent go to the flop, you’re playing against 2 cards. And 2/3 of the time, he won’t have hit any pair on the flop! But when you play against 4 opponents, you’re playing against 8 cards! The chances of one of them hitting something are much higher than in the first situation. So, be tighter in multiway pots. The fewer players in the hand, the more aggressive you can be!
