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When you're just starting your poker journey, there are many traps waiting for you along the way, and if you're not careful, you might fall into them. With that in mind, this article provides ten quick tips aimed at helping poker newcomers get off to a smooth start.
1. Tighten up when facing pre-flop raises
One common mistake made by beginners is playing hands like KT suited, AJo, or 76o against pre-flop raises in certain positions at a full table. As players in middle or late positions entering the pot first, these hands are very playable, but the raises in front of us need to be respected and considered as a very narrow range. Our chances of success with these hands against the raising range in front of us are quite poor. Make sure there's a significant quality gap between the hands you're playing as the first to enter the pot and the hands played in front of you when someone raises.
2. Make efficient use of your position
Position has a significant impact on the playability and profit potential of a hand. It's not wise to call a raise with Q6 suited from the small blind, even if it's against a very wide button opening range. Positional disadvantages and players acting behind you will hurt your expected value when calling. However, if you have Q6 suited on the button and all players in front of you fold, it's often an excellent opportunity to raise. If the blind players are tight or passive, the possibility of winning the pot pre-flop and the positional advantage when called make raising with this hand profitable in the long run.
3. Use implied odds to estimate your chances
Optimism is a good thing for experienced players because it keeps their minds open and helps them spot overlooked profit opportunities. However, poker novices often overvalue hope, chasing draws because of the temptation of hitting a strong hand, without calculating whether they can complete the draw often enough. You can use the rule of two and the rule of four to convert your outs into your odds of winning. On the flop, you multiply your number of outs by four to determine your approximate winning odds for the hand. On the turn, you multiply your number of outs by two. |
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