10 Tips for Hold'em Beginners
Tip 1: Playing too many hands can destroy your chip stack. Keep it simple play your hands with the right starting cards. This doesn't necessarily mean you should only play the best cards, but just don't play every hand looking to get lucky. You should know what you're trying to do with each hand you play. If you're gonna call iwth K,4 off suit, know why you're doing it, probably because you feel the other players are weak and you're going to bluff at it. Don't call hoping to hit a king.
Tip 2: Do not play above your bankroll. If you are buying in for a small amount, when other players have bought in for a lot- you will lose your chips just through the blinds and being so limited. If you don't have enough, then don't buy in. I bought into a casino game once for $100 when every other player had around $500. Every bet or raise was around $15 or $20 and I really didn't have the stack to chase or bluff. My only chance was to hit the nuts, and I lost my money.
Tip 3: If you suffer a very bad beat, take a 15-30 minute breather. Or sit a couple of hands out. When players' suffer a bad beat they can often become to emotional and aggressive.
Tip 4: Use pot odds in your game. You need to at least have a basic knowledge of this to be competitive on the table. If you have no knowledge of this, and other people are playing with probability and implied odds, you're putting yourself at a disadvantage. You might win sometimes, but eventually pot odds will destroy your game if you have no knowledge of it. Think of it this way, you're always gonna have good days when you hit the nuts every hand and clean everybody out, but knowing pot odds and implied odds and incorporating it into your game is gonna earn you much more money in the long run.
Tip 5: Follow table etiquette and don't string bet. String betting really annoys a lot of players and it's not allowed in casinos. If you do this, players might just target you out of annoyance. Also remember to put your blinds in. If you constantly forget players may get annoyed. Try not to be a rabbit chaser, don't ask to see the next card if you have already won the hand.
Tip 6: Don't be arrogant on the table. Don't celebrate too much or rub it in if you take a big pot. If you do this, people will look down on you.
Tip 7: Don't over-evaluate flush draws or open-ended straight draws. If you don't have pot odds to call it, then fold. If you think the other guy is drawing to a flush or a straight, on average, he's gonna get it about 1 in 3 times. Also consider that he might already have it.
Tip 8: Don't play drunk. If you are drinking it can affect your judgement. It can make you more aggressive when you should be playing tight and it can cause you to make really stupid plays.
Tip 9: If your mood is not good that day, you probably shouldn't play. It will make you play irrational poker and send you tilting. You are better off to wait and play another day.
Tip 10: If you raised on the river and the bet was called- show both of your cards. There is a rule that if you only show one of your cards, even if it's enough to win the pot, not showing the other card counts as a fold. If players take this seriously, your hand could be forfeited- and the other player may win. This is actually a poker rule and a lot of people are not aware of this. If you only show one card, and the other card is down- it is actually considered as a 'mucked' hand.
