Advanced Texas HoldEm Strategies

Betting strategies in the game of Texas Holdem are the single most important factor in being a consistent winning poker player. Deciding how to bet
pre-flop, flop, turn, and river cards will ultimately determine the success you have when playing poker. Every betting action you take needs to be
done for a reason.

Betting strategies are influenced by many different factors both at the table and from previous history with players. Here are some of the things
you’ll ask during the course of a hand.

Pre-flop Strategy

Pre-flop betting strategies will differ according to your position in the hand. The first thing you have to ask yourself is, does my hand justify a
raise? If your hand is not good enough to raise with from the position you are on the table then just fold the hand. You want to tighten up your
opening range in early position because you have more players to worry about who are still yet to act. This is more important on full ring tables
where there are more players then in short handed games.

Dealing With The Pre-Flop Raise

If someone has opened with a raise, you need to decide is my hand valued to call a raise? Again, your position at the table is important. You can
speculate with more hands when you have position on the pre flop raiser, however you typically want to fold dominated hands which you may have been
willing to open raise with, for examples hands like KJo to avoid awkward spots post flop where you may not have the best kicker.

If there has been raising pre-flop behind you and you look down at your cards to see a premium starting hand, then you needs to ask yourself can I
re-raise? (also known as a 3bet). More then likely you should because you want to 3bet for value to get more chips in the pot before seeing a flop.
Also, if you have a hand like AA/KK and there was a UTG raise, you don’t want to flat call here and allow hands like 77 to flop a set, when you
could have gotten the hand to fold pre-flop.

Concentrate On Your Table Image

You also need to consider your table image, which is how other players perceive the way you play. Is it loose, tight, aggressive, passive? If you
are seen to have a tight table image, and you know the UTG raiser is a tight player who is folding to re-raises, then as part of your pre-flop
betting strategy you can 3bet light in position because there is a very good chance you will take down the pot without seeing a flop. This is an
important part of the pre-flop betting strategy because you are developing an aggressive betting image and give yourself a better chance of getting
paid off when you are dealt a premium hand. Aggression is a key part of an advanced betting strategy when playing poker.

This also applies when someone raises in late position and you are in the blinds. Quite often players will raise with alot of mediocre hands when in
late position in an attempt to steal the blinds. If you’re in one of the blinds and already have money invested in the pot, you have to determine
many things. One of them is making others think that from time to time you’ll call a raise and defend your blind. This might stop someone from
trying to steal your blinds later on. You also need to consider 3betting pre-flop in the blinds, both with premium hands for value and as a bluff vs
players who are frequently stealing the blinds.

If you are going to raise pre-flop, set a standard raise of about 3 times the big blind and stick to it. Usually raising 3 or 4 times the BB is the
default. Varying it might give other players a read on your play; if you keep it the same with big pairs, small pairs, suited connectors and bluffs,
other players will never know the strength of your hand, providing you some opportunity to deceive. Deception is a big part of betting strategy so
don’t make the novice mistake of varying your pre-flop bet sizing based on the strength of your hand, because you are just giving thinking players
information.

After The Flop

Once the flop is shown, you now have a better idea of where you’re at in the hand. If you want to make it a bad bet for players on a flush draw or a
straight draw to see another card, bet an amount about equal to the size of the pot or 2/3 of the pot. If you flopped a very big hand, like a set or
a very strong draw, a good betting strategy is to check and hope your opponent bets so that you can check-raise. If the board is very coordinated
then make sure not to slow play, just lead out with a bet. If you’re the player who flopped the draw, you’re usually hoping to see the turn card
without risking much more money. Sometimes the other players will check and it will cost you nothing to stay in the hand. This might also be a spot
for a semi-bluff, in which you bet hoping to get others to fold and, if not, there are still a number of outs which can significantly improve your
weak hand. If you’ve flopped nothing but are trying to represent a big hand since you were the pre-flop raiser, cbet bluffing is a valid play as you
are continuing to show strength on the flop after you raised pre-flop. Usually a bet of about 2/3 of the pot will let you know where you’re at, but
the optimal bet sizing on the flop will be dependant on the board texture. On a flop like K53 which likely didn’t hit your opponent, then a smaller
bet is optimal when you have nothing, because there is nothing your opponent can call with.

To Bet Or Not To On The Turn Card

The turn card opens the door for many draws as there is now four cards on the board, many straight draws and flush draws are now possible. Some
players like to defend to continuation bets a lot and float the flop so they will sometimes pickup extra equity on the turn. Don’t always assume
when your cbet gets called that your opponent has a hand. In online poker the continuation bet has become almost the norm, so you have to be willing
to fire a second barrel on the turn as a bluff sometimes, otherwise you are just spewing money to always give up on the turn and it would be best to
check/fold the flop instead when you don’t have a made hand. If you have a big hand, now’s the time to protect it. Betting enough to make the draws
fold is the right play. Bad loose players will call with drawing hands when they are not getting the correct odds, so exploit this mistake by
betting big on the turn. On the other hand, if you’ve got a draw on the turn, you need to determine if your opponent actually has a strong hand.
Semi-bluffing on the turn is a good strategy when you can expect to get alot of folds, even when you get called you still have outs to improve your
hand.

River Betting Evaluation

On the river, making bets when you think you have the best possible hand is not always straight forward. Betting a small amount relative to the pot
can get a player with a medium strength hand to call your bet, but betting too little is losing a ton of value when your opponent has a stronger
hand then you anticipated. It is really important to be accurate in putting your opponents on a hand, so you can extract the max value on the river.
Always be cautious when you have a medium strength hand and a draw gets there on the river. If you bet and get raised a large amount, you’re in a
tough spot. Your opponent might have been chasing a draw hand or was on a pair/draw type hand. If you think you may have the best hand but its
marginal, often bet/folding the river is best. Never check/call in marginal spots on the river because most players play a straight forward game and
will only bet the river if they have you beat. There are a lot of ways to lose money with a good but not great hand like when you have a top pair
hand with medium kicker, which is why you usually want to fold these dominated hands pre-flop. Be especially careful not to go broke with one pair
hands on the river as most players who are showing strength on the last street have a hand which beats one pair.

Texas Holdem advanced betting strategies change greatly as players get to know you and you get familiar with them. You must change up your game, have
solid betting strategies in mind but be unpredictable. Deception is an essential part of the game, particularly in No-Limit Holdem.

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