Playing with fewer hands means more Profitable Poker

 

Calling the first bet is the most important decision you will have to make when playing Texas Holdem. The most common mistake most players make is playing too many hands.
Some are conscious but like to risk, others are looking for action and others simply have no idea which hands are open and which are not. It doesn't matter why, but the reality is that most players, especially at low stakes, play too many hands. When they are lucky and hit a good pot with poor cards like   or , they will think they are making good decisions and will repeat. That this does not make you doubt what is correct. In the long run it is not profitable to play certain cards. What determines if a hand is profitable or not is not an isolated result, it is the probability measured in the long term.

 

One of the most important principles, if you want to win money in Poker is: "Only play the hands that are profitable, that is, those that have a positive long-term expectation." The theory is easy, but in practice, the situation can get a bit complicated because the same cards can be profitable in some circumstances and not in others.

 

Before making your decision, think about these principles:

 

• You cannot change the long-term probability.

 

• You must not play hands out of position.

 

• You should not call bets when you do not have the necessary Odds.

 

• You should not play draft hands against few players.

 

• You should not "go" expecting to be lucky.

 

You have to get to play only those hands that have a reasonable chance of becoming the best move on the table. This is a good example of why you should not give free cards when playing games and there are several active opponents, some cards can do you a lot of damage.

 

As a general rule, you shouldn't play more than 30% of the hands that are dealt to you. This can vary depending on the type of game you are playing (solid / soft - aggressive / passive). You will have an advantage over your opponents if you play better cards than them.

 

To call or not to call the pot preflop depends on several factors:

 

• The value of your cards.

 

• Your position.

 

• The number active to see the Flop.

 

• Whether the Pot has been sent or not.

 

• Type of game (solid / relaxed - aggressive / passive).

 

• Level of your opponents.

 

• Your experience and skill.

 

If you ignore any of these factors when deciding which hands to play, it will be much more difficult to become a winning player. Every good ending begins with a good beginning.

 

VALUE OF YOUR CARDS:

 

In the long run, everyone will be dealt the same amount of good and bad cards. The winning players are the ones who play the good ones while the losing players also play the mediocre ones. Making the decision to play a hand is easy, what is difficult is to fold those cards that are at the limit but are known to have a negative long-term expectation.

 

YOUR POSITION:

 

Position 1 = Half Blind
Position 2 = Blind
Positions 3, 4 and 5 = First positions.
Positions 6, 7 and 8 = Middle positions.
Positions 9 and 10 = Last positions. Specifically at 10 is called DESSERT.

 

In poker, INFORMATION is POWER. Every decision of your opponents is information of great value. The more information you have before making your decisions, the fewer mistakes you will make and the more correct your actions will be. In the early position you have to act without knowing almost nothing about what your opponents are going to do, and on the contrary in the late position you already know what they did. The worst positions are the two blind men, and the best is that of the dessert.

 

Although only after a lot of practice will you be able to take advantage of your position, start by never belittling it.

 

Depending on what position you are in, you will play some hands or others. The same cards can be profitable in one position, and not be profitable in another. For example, there are cards that are only profitable if there are many players in the pot, and you only know that if you are in late or DESSERT position. Other cards will be profitable to play with fewer players so you can take advantage of your position to raise and force some of the players who act behind you to fold.

 

As a general rule remember: THE BEFORE YOU HAVE TO TALK, THE BETTER YOUR LETTERS WILL HAVE TO BE TO GET INTO THE POT. .

 

If you play without giving enough importance to the position, your bank is going to suffer.

 

NUMBER OF ACTIVE PLAYERS ON THE FLOP:

 

This is a very important factor to take into account when deciding whether or not to enter the pot. Some cards are only profitable with a minimum of active players. Others work better against one or two opponents.

 

Examples:

 

HIGH PAIRS AA, KK, QQ, JJ: These are the so-called Premium cards and we all hope they will deal them to us for the value they have by themselves by not depending on the Flop to win. High pairs increase in value, the fewer opponents there are. If there are many players who see the Flop, the more chances there will be that someone will hit a weird play, or a good draw and screw up your pair.

 

• HIGH CARDS: Cards like AK or AQ, if they are the same suit, have more value. They are in an intermediate situation. They can work well both against a single opponent and against several. In a 1x1 you may have the best play even without an Ace or King on the flop. If there are several active players, you will need help from the Flop to move on.

 

• CORRELATIVE LETTERS OF THE SAME STICK AND SMALL PAIRS. Although they are different hands, we treat them in the same section because they are only profitable in similar circumstances. Project hands of the type , they should only be played against a minimum of 4 opponents. The reason is because against few players you will hardly have the necessary Odds to go in search of your Outs in case the project appears on the Flop.

 

• Something similar happens with small pairs. We assume that small pairs will only win the pot when one of the two Outs that would give us the three of a kind appears on the flop. But be careful because with a low trio you will also lose sometime. If we do not hit the Flop, it is not usually profitable to continue paying until the River and it is best to fold if someone bets. Our Odds to hit three of a kind on the Flop are 7.5 / 1, which means that we will hit more or less 1 time out of 8. For small pairs to be profitable to play them, we have to do it in circumstances that guarantee that when we win we will recover what we lost the other times we played them. This will only be achieved if you play them against 4 or more opponents.

 

IF THE POT IS ENVYED OR NOT:

 

There are generally two types of common situations in which you have to decide to call a raised pot:

 

TYPES OF GAME (Tight - Loose / aggressive):

 

It is very important that when you sit down to play you know how to identify the type of game that predominates at the table.

 

If less than 30% of players are going to see the Flop, we can consider it to be a solid table (grabbed), with a careful selection of the hands to be played, and giving value to the position. They tend to be aggressive tables, with enough stakes and re-stakes, to reduce the number of active players. This type of game is usually common at high limits, although it can also be found occasionally at low limits. Some experience is required to play at these tables, if you don't have it, stay away from the.

 

 

If 40% of players or more see the Flop, it indicates that the type of game is soft. They are usually passive tables and there are usually not many raises and re-raises so it is usually cheap to see the Flop. Players do not usually place a lot of value on position and play more hands than are recommended. Eg:   from first positions or from middle positions. These tables are suitable for any type of player, especially beginners. With patience and a good selection of hands, half the work is done, then it is applying the calculation of probabilities and your ability to maximize profits. This type of game is usually found in low limits and of course in Micro-limits.

 

All the rooms offer information on the% of players who see the Flop, so it is relatively easy to know what type of game is being played at each table.

 

LEVEL OF YOUR OPPONENTS:

 

Advanced players try to play more hands against weak players and less against good ones. Some hands you can make profitable against mediocre players, while against other players you have to be more careful selecting your cards.

 

If you are lucky enough to find yourself at the same table where a maniac is playing (a player who reraises with any hand and wants to win all the pots), simply take out the rod and wait for your chance. Do not fall into the trap of letting yourself be carried away by his madness.

 

YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE AND SKILL:

 

Advanced level players are capable of profiting from cards that a mediocre player could not. This expands the number of hands they can play.

 

Good players manage to make the most of winning plays, and minimize losses on losing plays.

 

• When the raise is before you (and therefore you still have no money invested): In this case, the money in the pot seldom justifies your participation. Try to find reasons to throw yourself more than to call. If you have a high pair in your hand (Premium), and someone raises in front of you pre-flop, take advantage and re-raise to try to isolate yourself with the one who raised. Beware of playing high cards like AJ or KQ in raised pots. Because even after hitting your pair of Jacks or Kings you can still have a losing play.

 

• When the re-raise is after you (and you already have money invested): If you follow our instructions and play the hands we recommend, respecting the criteria of position, type of game, number of players in the pot ... normally you should call the re-raise.

 

There are two main reasons why a player can preflop reraise:

 

• To reduce the number of opponents you are going to face, because you have cards in your hand that work better against few players. Eg Premium Cards AA, KK, QQ, AK

   

 

• Para engordar el Pote. Estando en últimas posiciones, con alguna mano de proyecto () o con un par medio () and that there are at least 5 active players, it can be interesting sometimes to raise to put more money in the pot in case we link our trio or our possibility of drawing.

   

 

 

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