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Edited by Kapil334 at 23-12-2023 05:03 AM
When you embark on your poker journey, there are many traps waiting for you on the way, and if you're not careful, you might fall into them. With that in mind, this article will provide ten quick tips aimed at helping poker newcomers get off to a smooth start.
1. Be Tighter Facing Pre-flop Raises
A common mistake made by beginners is to combat pre-flop raises with hands you'd like to raise with in certain positions at the poker table. Newcomers might get stuck in the mindset of calling pre-flop raises with hands like KT suited, AJo, or 76 offsuit when seated in early positions. As a player entering the pot from middle or late positions, these hands have good playability, but you should respect the pre-flop raises in front of you and consider their range to be very narrow. Ensure that the quality of your hand differs significantly from the player who raised in front of you.
2. Make the Most of Your Position
Position has a significant impact on the playability and profit potential of a hand. Calling a raise with Q6 suited from the small blind position is not wise, even if you're up against a very wide stealing range from the button. Positional disadvantage and players acting after you will hurt your expected value for calling. However, if you're holding Q6 suited on the button, and the players in front of you have folded, it's often an excellent opportunity to raise. If the blind players are tight or passive, the potential to take the pot pre-flop and the positional advantage when called make raising with this hand profitable in the long run.
3. Estimate Your Winning Odds Using Outs
Optimism is a good thing for experienced poker players because it keeps their minds open to spotting profitable opportunities that may go unnoticed. However, poker novices often place too much emphasis on hope and chase draws, lured by the prospect of hitting strong hands, without calculating whether they'll complete the draws frequently enough. You can convert outs (cards that help your hand) into winning odds using the Rule of Two and Four. In the flop, multiply your outs by four to determine your approximate winning odds for that hand. In the turn, multiply your outs by two.
4. Know the Winning Percentage You Need
You need a specific winning percentage to call a raise. Sometimes other factors come into play, like how often you win additional bets and how frequently you can make your opponents fold on future streets. But if we ignore these factors for simplicity, to call a full pot-sized bet, you need a 33% winning percentage, and to call a half-pot-sized bet, you need a 25% winning percentage. You can use these numbers as benchmarks to estimate your odds. If an opponent shoves a large amount into a small pot, you might need close to a 50% winning percentage, but you'll never need the full 50% because there's always some dead money in the pot (even if it's just the blinds). |
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