Poker how to bet
- The bet is the atom of winning poker. The bet is the
individual building block on which you must construct your
game.
- Bets are easy to misuse. A bad call here, a poor fold
there, a raise missed here, a missed bluff there- you can
strangle a whale on ways to misuse a bet. Poker is a card
game, but winning poker is a betting game. Unfortunately for
most players, they focus on their cards more than their
betting, even though a commonly recognized standard for
successful poker is to win one bet an hour.
- Blind-stealing - When you are in the dealer's position,
and only you and the blinds are remaining in the game, a
raise is often called "blind-stealing". This is because the
blinds may fold, whereas if you didn't raise but simply
called, the blinds would simply check. It’s a good way to
make a buck or two, but will never make you rich. It’s more
of a way to end the game fast and have a new hand dealt with
more players.
- Small suited connectors should be played with a good
flop that gives you the best draw. With big suited
connectors (like AK) you can feel safe with an over pair.
- I think you know that in most cases you should fold
trash hands. No strength. No potential. Fold. But there is a
case when you should stay in game – if it’s free for you to
see the flop. If the table is tight then it’s almost
impossible to get a free card. Easier – at the
loose-aggressive table (Loose-passive table is something
like Santa Clause). So in case you can check – check.
- You don't want to be bluffed very often in limit poker.
But the weaker your hand, the less likely you should be to
try to catch a bluff. There comes a point where your hand is
so weak that you can catch an opponent bluffing and lose.
And, of course, if your hand is relatively strong, but not
strong enough to catch most legitimate bets, you might
unexpectedly beat opponents who are too exuberant in their
value betting. So, even when you think you are trying to
catch a bluff, the stronger your hand is, the more likely
you are to win. This is even more important when you are in
a situation like Toms. Tom made the mistake of trying to
catch a bluff without considering how many players remained
to act behind him.
- If a single player would call only 50 percent of the
time, it’s always a good idea to bluff. The pot is likely to
be five times the size of the bet. So, if you lose your bet
half the time and win the pot half the time, your profit is
enormous. You lose $100 on one failed bluff; you win $500 on
another bluff that works. That’s $400 profit on two
attempts, or an average gain of $200 on a $100 bet a 300
percent return on investment or a 200 percent gain. It’s
what skilled players live for.
- Oftentimes you shouldn’t bet a strong hand if your
opponent bluffs too much. You’ll sometimes make more money
by checking and letting him try to bluff when he holds a
weak hand. The more liberally your opponent calls, the more
medium-strong hands you should bet for value. If a player is
threatening to call, you should bet all medium-strong hands.
When you see this, the player is trying to prevent your bet.
That means he’s weak and looking for a cheap showdown, but
will often call reluctantly if you bet.
- Never seek sympathy. Never to complain about bad luck.
First of all, nobody really cares. Their inflated memories
of personal bad luck dwarf whatever you're complaining
about. And if you complain to opponents--such as in a poker
game--they're inspired because you're unlucky. They'll think
you're not a force to be reckoned with, they'll play better,
and they'll cost you money. It's the same in life. There's
absolutely no reason to tell tales of misfortune. You'll
inspire life's opponents, and you'll lose esteem among
life's allies. So, if your luck is bad, keep it to yourself.
- Keep your hand secret. If you habitually exposed your
poker hand before the showdown, opponents would know what
you had, and they'd know for certain whether to play against
you, whether to raise you, whether to pass. It would be
stupid to play poker that way, but people do that everyday
in real life. How? They don't keep secrets.
- Never volunteer personal information to anyone who isn't
a friend, unless you know specifically that you have
something to gain by volunteering the information. Sound
heartless? Well, OK, it's all right to volunteer useful
information if it can't harm you. It's also all right to
give information sometimes if you're getting information in
return. But think back. I'll bet for every time you
regretted keeping secrets, there are many more times you
regretted telling secrets. People simply give away too much
information, and it eventually haunts them. Secrets can seem
insignificant at the time they're shared, but later the
sharing turns out to be an important mistake. Like it or
not, successful people keep secrets much better than
unsuccessful people, just as successful poker players
conceal their hands better than unsuccessful players.
Repeating: It's a fact that people who succeed keep secrets.
- Don't humiliate your opponents. Always allow opponents
to save face, no matter how tempting it is to gloat. When
you make it painful for opponents to lose, they play better,
but you want opponents to play worse. Additionally, life is
complicated enough without motivating people to get even
with you. So, always give those you conquer a chance to save
face--unless you'll never have to confront them again. In
poker, it's the same--unless your opponent is permanently
broke after losing this pot, don't humiliate him. Angry
players often return to harm you. Don't gloat; win
graciously.
- Never reveal important information about yourself unless
you have a specific reason for doing so. Starting now,
practice telling yourself mentally why you're giving
information before you give information. People talk about
their lives and their opinions, giving information that may
later be damaging. They do this because they want to seem
friendly. But, there's a special way you can be just as
friendly and, instead of putting yourself in jeopardy, gain
an advantage. How? Instead of giving information about
yourself, use the same time to ask other people about
themselves.
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