Ok, I figured out I might as well write an article on how to win this game (or rather how to increase your chances of winning).
Texas Limit Hold’em is a lot different from Texas No Limit, but you can win a lot more than average by literally playing “honest” poker. (verycoolwriting.com) Its a lot more boring, but if you don’t mind sitting around for a couple hours, you can usually always double or triple your buyin (assuming max buy-in) earliest within an hour, maximum usually within 3 hours.
So… How To Increase your chances of winning at Texas Limit Hold-em. (c)-2008 verycoolwriting.com
1. Be prepared to spend 1-3 hours playing poker straight. If you aren’t, or you get bored easily, don’t play this, because you’ll most likely make mistakes (and make someone else money).
2. Only play your absolute best hands pre-flop. “Best” hands consistent of (a) any pocket pair (yes, ANY pocket pair, i’ll explain later), (b) Ideally SUITED and CONNECTED cards (i.e., J10 diamonds), (c) and then suited (with at least one high card for nut or close to nut flushes), or connected or semi-connected (i.e., 6-7, or 8-6, etc).
3. DON’T BET BIG ON THE FLOP IF ALL YOU HAVE IS TOP PAIR. You can bet — but if you are playing in a casino 10-ring game (or even 6 ring), you usually get some dork that will always, always, call you to the river, and if all you had was 10 high on the flop, moron will probably spike a jack, queen, king, or 2nd pair on the river. So if you bet, and someone calls — if their is a higher card on the turn, or your hand isn’t any better, either just call or fold. This is not no-limit poker, so rarely is top pair on the flop ever the ‘best’ hand. (Unlike how most no-limit players like to play). verycoolwriting dot com
4. Once you see the flop, play it mathematically. No matter how you bet, since the bets are so “small” in limit poker, you are always going to have morons that chase straights, chase flushes, chase a full house, etc, etc — ALL the way to the river. There could even be a couple raises — and they will just merrily call along. So first thing you should do when you see the flop is this. Check for any straight draws or flush draws. Check to see if the board has paired up. If none of this is true — and you have top pair or better — then chances are you’ve won the hand and can bet aggressively. But if any of the above is true, play cautiously, and be prepared to fold top pair to any aggressive re-raising, because you are almost always going to have some moron that will spike something he needs on the turn or the river.
5. AA and KK ARE NOT GREAT CARDS IN LIMIT POKER!!! Yes, it’s true. No-limit, yes, they are beautiful cards, because you can make the bets big enough to scare out most of the players, such that the only ‘heads’ up players you are going against are people who have say AK, AQ, AJ, KK, KQ, etc — in which case you already have them totally dominated. In LIMIT poker — you can have AA, “raise” 2x the blinds (which is nothing), get 5 callers and then get someone who hits two pair, flush, a set, etc and start do crazy betting. If you try and bet and someone crazy bets you, chances are they have better than you so either fold or just call.
6. PLAY ALMOST ALL YOUR POCKET PAIRS PREFLOP! Providing the betting doesn’t get crazy stupid (in which case it’s usually two ‘no-limit’ players battling it out with AQ vs AJ, etc) — then you should always play your pocket pairs, even 22. It is the sweetest thing when you can start crazy betting the flop against a no-limit player who things their top pair or high pocket pairs will beat you. They become ‘married’ to their cards, and almost always will give you a massive payout. So play as many pockets as you can afford to.
7. BET BIG WHEN YOU HAVE THE NUTS OR CLOSE TO THE NUTS ON THE FLOP! It’s the funniest thing — when you have the nuts flush/straight/set/etc (or at least ‘close’ to the nuts) — wierd thing in limit poker is most people simply don’t believe you. And if you get a turn card (that say wouldn’t give you a 1 card straight, but you already hit the nuts on the flop) — keep betting. People generally speaking simply do not believe you that you hit the nuts on the flop. It’s rare — but when it happens you can usually get quite a sweet payout. AND — the funny thing is — if you DONT bet on the flop when you have the nuts — and try and ‘trap’ players and wait until the turn card to make a big bet — almost always most of the people will fold. It’s wierd — bet when you have it, don’t bet when you don’t — and you generally will win bigger, and better, pots.
Anyways, these are 7 great strategies for improving your chances of winning texas hold’em poker more consistently. Enjoy!
Tags: how to play hold-em, how to play limit hold'em, how to play poker, texas hold-em, texas hold'em, win poker, win texas, winning strategies
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