7 Key Tips on Starting Poker from Scratch in 2025

16 Dec 2024

Intermediate

This material is for medium-skilled players

The game of poker is difficult these days. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it: there aren't too many totally clueless fish anymore, ready to hand over their money to you. However, there are a few bread-and-butter strategies, formulas if you will, that consistently work for me at the poker tables. And if I were to start poker all over again today and wanted to get on the winning path in around 30 days or less, this is what I would do. Let's jump into it!

#7: Understand Your Position

First things first: you need to understand your position at the poker table. It still amazes me, especially with my students, that so many of them don’t realize that not all seats at the poker table are created equal.

I've just put the image on your screen so you can see that the button and the cutoff are by far the most profitable seats. Why? Because you get to act last on the flop, turn, and river, which is a massively proven statistical advantage.

You get to see what your opponents do first, and in a game like poker, with incomplete information, this gives you a huge edge. It allows you to:

1. Get more bets in;
2. Make more raises;
3. Fold your hand and save money.

So, what’s the solution? You want to simply play more hands from the most profitable seats: the button and the cutoff. That’s why the starting hand selection charts I’ve included in my free poker cheat sheet are heavily biased towards playing more hands from those two seats.

#6: Re-Raise with Premium Hands 

Next up: always re-raise with your premium hands. What are they? Premium hands are:

• Pocket aces;
• Pocket kings;
• Pocket queens;
• Pocket jacks;
• Ace-king.

Some people might also include ace-queen or pocket tens on this list, but you get the idea: it’s essentially the strongest hands in the game. These are the hands that will generate the vast majority of your profits in poker.

Don’t get fancy, like so many amateurs in today’s games, and just call with these hands when someone else has already raised pre-flop.

Always re-raise. This allows you to:

1. Build the pot;
2. Charge weaker hands.

Now, a common question I get is: «But Nathan, how much should I re-raise?» Here’s my suggestion: raise to three times their raise size as a default. For example, let’s say you’ve got two red queens (queen of hearts and queen of diamonds), the third-best hand in all of poker. You’re playing a $1/$2 cash game, and someone raises it up to $6.

#5: Fastplay Against Weak Players

All right, moving on. The next thing you need to know is to always fast-play against bad players. Let me break this one down for you. The bad players (you’re probably already aware of them) are our fishy friends. These are the players who will call you with any two cards. Heck, they’ll call you down with two napkins if they like the look of those napkins!

Basically, these are the weaker players in the game: 1 - they’re not playing to win; 2 - they’re playing for fun. They want to:

1. Catch you in a bluff;
2. Make a wild bluff against you;
3. Chase any draw.

They’ll call you down with bottom pair, or with nothing at all. So, what’s the strategy here? When you hit a really strong hand against these players, you should always play your hand very fast. What I mean by this is:

• Bet big;
• Raise big.

I literally wrote an entire book about this called Crushing the Micro Stakes. This approach is how I built some of the highest winnings of all time at small and mid-stakes games in online poker. Let me give you an example: you’re holding pocket sevens (seven of hearts and seven of spades), and a fish calls you. The flop comes K-7-3, giving you middle set - one of the strongest hands possible.

After that the fish bets into you. Now, here’s where many beginner or amateur players make a huge mistake: they try to get fancy and just call.

Guys, you need to understand that you’re only costing yourself money by trying to get tricky here. Instead, you should be making a big raise. Why? Cause fish aren’t folding top pairs on this board. For example:

1. If they’re holding hands like  ,  ,  , or  , they’ll never fold;
2. If they have any two hearts for a flush draw, they’ll call.

And let’s not forget: recreational players often call with much weaker hands than just top pairs. Don’t make the mistake of just calling here. A common question I get from my students is: «But Nathan, I’m afraid they’ll fold if I raise. I don’t want to scare them out of the pot!». Here’s my response: 

If they have nothing, it doesn’t matter whether you call or raise - you’re not winning a big pot either way. But if they have something, like:

• Top pair;
• Middle pair;
• A draw.

You’re costing yourself money by artificially keeping the pot size small with just a call. Takeaway: Always fast-play your strong hands against bad players. Raise big, and take advantage of their tendency to call with weaker hands.

So, guys, take it from my 10+ years as a professional poker player: this is where you make the money in poker. When you’re up against weaker players, always raise it up big. This gives you the opportunity to win a large pot.

#4: Play a Lot of Suited Connectors

All right, moving on. The next thing you need to know is to play a lot of suited connectors. These are hands like:

•  ;
•  ;
•  ;
•  .

Why are suited connectors so powerful? These hands are absolute money, especially in deep-stack No-Limit Texas Hold'em games, which most of you are probably playing. The reason is simple: suited connectors can make all kinds of strong hands, like:

1. Straights;
2. Flushes;
3. Well-hidden trips, and more.

When the stacks are deep, e.g. 100 or 200 big blinds, and you’re playing against weaker players, hitting a big monster hand with suited connectors can lead to an absolutely massive pot. Let me give you an example. You call pre-flop with  , and the flop comes:   .

Your opponent makes a bet, and you decide to call. Here, you have an open-ended straight draw - any 7 or Queen gives you the nut straight. What should you do next? Sometimes, I’ll raise in this spot. But a solid percentage of the time, I’ll just call in position.

Now let’s move to the turn. It comes . Boom: this is our money card! We’ve made the unbeatable straight: 7-8-9-10-J. So what’s the play here? If they bet again, you already know I’m raising it up big. And if it’s a weaker player? Well, you’re going to win a massive pot if they have a hand like   or  .

Bottom line: Don’t sleep on suited connectors, especially:

1. When the stacks are deep;
2. When you’re up against weaker players.

Over the years, suited connectors have been one of my absolute biggest profit sources at the poker tables.

#3: Missing 4th Street Bets

The next thing you need to know is: don’t miss your 4th street bets. So what’s Fourth Street? In poker, Fourth Street is another name for the turn. Here’s a quick rule of thumb: If you have a good draw or top pair, you should continue betting on the turn most of the time.

Let me give you an example. You raise pre-flop with  , bet on the flop, and your opponent calls. By the turn, the board reads:    . We got lucky here and hit top pair on the turn with our King.

Guys, there’s no reason to check here. Here’s why: As a loose and aggressive player myself (the style I teach in my videos, books, and training materials), I’m often betting on the turn even with bluffs.

For example, on this board, I’d continue betting with hands like:

•   (a straight draw with an overcard);
•   (a straight draw and a flush draw);
•  , and so on.

These hands have solid equity as draws and can apply pressure to opponents. So, what does that mean for made hands? If I’m betting with my bluffs here, it only makes sense to bet again when I actually hit my hand - like top pair with   in this case.

By betting consistently in spots like these, you’ll maximize your value and keep your play balanced, making it harder for opponents to read your strategy.

#2: Always Play Your Pocket Pairs

Alright guys, the next thing you need to know is to always play your pocket pairs. Pocket pairs, whether it's pocket aces, pocket kings, or even pocket twos, have been my most profitable hands over my 10+ years of playing this game. And to be honest, it’s not even close. The majority of my profits in poker have come from these hands, and the reason is simple: when you hit a set (three of a kind), you’re in the most powerful position you can be in.

What is a set? A set is when you hit three of a kind using your pocket pair. For example, let’s say you have  , you call pre-flop, and the flop comes:   . Now, if you're up against a recreational or even a decent player holding  , you’re sitting pretty. You’re around 92% to win in this situation, because the only way they can beat you is if they hit running   to make a full house.

So, what’s the bottom line here? You need to play your pocket pairs in all situations. Of course, the big ones like pocket aces, pocket kings, and pocket queens should be raised or re-raised preflop. But even with smaller pocket pairs, you still want to give yourself a reason to get into the pot.

1. If you’re the first person into the pot, raise it;
2. If someone re-raises you, sometimes call.

The goal here is to hit a set and win a big pot.

#1: Don’t Hero Fold Pocket Kings

My final tip for you is don’t hero fold your pocket kings. This one seriously gets under my skin when I see players fold pocket kings preflop. Guys, I don’t need to tell you: pocket kings are the second-best starting hand in poker. The only hand that beats you is pocket aces.

Let me break down the odds: if you’re playing a 9-player game, your opponent will only have pocket aces about 4% of the time. In a 6-player game, that drops to 3%. These are incredibly low odds! So, as I always say, if you have 100 big blinds or less, don’t fold pocket kings preflop.

Example: You raise with  , a tight player 3-bets you, you 4-bet, and they shove. What do you do? You call without hesitation. Yes, there’s a 3-4% chance they have pocket aces, but far more often, they’ll have hands like:

•   (you’re ahead);
•  ;
•  ;
•  , and so on.

Don't fold this hand pre-flop unless the stacks are ridiculously deep, and that is almost never the case in poker. Thanks a lot for reading, guys. I will catch you next time!