Texas Holdem Tips

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As everyone remotely connected to the professional poker scene knows, for the past four years an amateur has won the WSOP main event. Chris Moneymaker stunned the world first, and then came Greg “Fossilman” Raymer, followed by the great Joe Hachem and then last year’s top man Jamie Gold. It’s been the revenge of the amateurs all around for some time now. Whether or not this trend will continue in future years is a matter that can only be determined by the passage of time, but in many ways, the horse is already out of the barn. Meaning that all over the world, amateur players are doing everything they can think of to sharpen their game, get an edge over the global competition and prepare himself for entry in the biggest poker tournament known to man. Naturally, these aspiring champions are turning to the Internet in droves, looking for any information that could one day make that critical  difference. Consider the 10 basic texas hold em tips that can be counted on to serve you well in your own personal quest for a WSOP bracelet.

1. Understand the hidden value of the first position. Clearly, few players would choose to be first, but it’s not all bad. You will have more check-raising opportunities. Also, this position lets you raise before the middle and last position players even get a chance to call, which can be a pretty effective tool.

2. Be aggressive. This game does not reward timidity, at least not in the vast majority of instances. For proof, just look at the playing styles of most recent WSOP champs.

3. Use aggression as part of your texas holdem hand odds / pot odds evaluation. The odds will improve in your favor as you consider the percentage of time your opponents’ fold, in addition to the percentage of time you make the winning hand. Thus, aggression must always remain a primary factor in your odds-related decision.

4. Don’t mess with unconnected medium and low cards. Even when they entail suited cards, if they can’t flop a straight you should toss them away.

5. Don’t fall in love with your starting hand. Unless you’re flying on American Airlines, you never want to be seduced by two hole cards.

6. Keep and open mind. This is closely related to the above, yet it applies even when your starting hand is less than overwhelming. Tracking each development from the pre-flop through the river is essential.

7. Treat starting low pairs cautiously. In this instance, unless you flop trips or quads, get out of the hand quick.

8. Manage your chip stack. Between evaluating cards and reading opponents, it's no surprise that many players fail to pay due attention to their worth at the table. Ignore your stack at your peril.

9. Before the flop, always fast-play high pairs as well as very strong hands. This adds cash to the pot and entices any garbage hands to fold instead of shaming you with a lucky flop.

10. Leave the trash talking to Phil Hellmuth and Mike Matusow.