Bluffing – To bluff is a part of the game, but it’s all about the timing. Many times you see players bluff too soon at early stage, or at the wrong moment in the game, and as a result lose the hand and sometimes even the game if they went all-in and tried a bluff.
Usually players bluff when they are in short stack and the blinds are high, they have to take a risk in order to survive the game. When you catch a bad day and you’re out of luck, getting winning hands is tough and bluffing is essential.
High pair – When you get pocket aces or kings, don’t bet all your money before the flop – unless you are in short stack. The idea is to draw as many players as you can into this specific hand, and try to milk them, but only if your stack is high or if you are in the big blind and no one raised. When you are in short stack or when someone raised before you, you have to reraise with this kind of hand in order to scare the other players and make them fold with cards like ace high or low suited cards – those kinds of cards usually catch something in the flop and beat your hand. Remember – pocket aces or kings are the best hands you can get before the flop, but once the cards are on the table it’s an entire different story…
Decelerating the game – An important aspect of the game is to play slow when you have good hands. Usually when you catch a good hand at the flop, you’ll want to check and then reraise when other players make a bet. The idea is to trap one player or more during the betting round and try to enlarge the pot as much as you can, without scaring the others because they might fold. As long as you feel your hand is dominating, checking or making small bets is the safest way to win big pots.
Know when to fold – A wise man once said that a good player knows when to bet, but it takes a great player to know when to fold. The biggest dilemma for any poker player is when you get a pocket pair or the big slick (A-K) and the flop opens several possibilities which make your cards look a lot less strong, what do you do? One of the most classical flops in such a hand is three cards connected such as 7-8-9 or three cards suited, chances are your pair isn’t strong as it was before the flop. You can easily try to gain the pot by betting but you might run into a player with an inside straight or four suited cards just waiting for the fifth one to make a flush.
Know when to hold’em, know when to fold’em…
Low pair – Betting with a small pocket pair before the flop can be tricky. A lot of times it depends on your place at the table, where are you sitting compare to the dealer because if you make a bet and another player makes a raise, you might find yourself pot committed.
Unless you are the chip leader or at least strong enough, the best thing to do is to check and wait for the flop. If you catch trips when the flop opens you’ve reached your purpose, otherwise it should be easy to discard and 7 out of 10 times you should fold. If you decide to take your chance with your small pair and higher cards on the table you should ask yourself just one thing – Do I feel lucky..?
