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Squeezing a profit out of marginal situations is what winning poker comes down to. The object is not to win every hand played, but to win every hand you play. The best way to do this is to out bet your opponents. Every bet made should have a purpose: Either it is made to induce a weaker hand to fold, or it is made to maximize the winnings on the hand.

Since there are many opportunities to outplay your opponents, you have to know which opponents you can outplay. It is difficult to finesse weak players. The slow play often backfires because one of the loose limpers will hit a hand. The bluff does not work, since these players call with any two cards. The following sections demonstrate many of the advanced aspects of the game and how best to play them.

Representing Your Hand

A strong bet can represent a strong hand. This is especially true when betting after the flop. If an Ace or King shows on the flop, you can represent an Ace or King in your hand by betting. Often, it is what you represent that is more important than what you actually have, especially if you have put your opponent on a medium or weak hand.

Shuffle Up and Steal

The most common place to steal the blinds is from the button, if no players have made a raise in front of you. With only the blinds remaining in the game, a raise often accomplishes the steal. Statistically, the blinds should fold unless they have a strong hand. If you do not raise, but simply limp in, the blinds normally check to see a half-price or free hand, since they already have an interest in the pot, whether they like their cards or not. It is a good place to pick up extra chips, but it is not going make you rich. It is often a way to end the hand quickly and have a new hand dealt with more players and more money available.

One thing to remember here is that some players, known in poker terms as defenders, are maniacal in their defense of their blinds. These players protect their blinds in situations that do not make statistical sense, solely to keep someone from stealing their blinds. Save your blind steals for other players who do not defend them as strongly, unless you have an extremely strong hand. With this strong hand, taking on the defender is often the correct move. A strong bet may entice the defender to free up a large quantity of chips. Though trying to take advantage of a maniacal defender is not always successful, it can be highly profitable in the end.

Stealing the Pot

Stealing the pot is easiest if you are the last player to act and the action was checked to you. At this point, a bet will reduce the number of remaining players or allow you to collect the pot without opposition. Do not use this ploy exclusively, as better players catch on quickly and begin check raising against your (most likely) poor hand. It is good to use this ploy to steal the pot when you have an excellent drawing hand, such as a nut flush draw. Players more often tend to “check to the raiser.” If you draw to your hand, you now have a larger pot to win. If you do not hit, you can always check, hoping the final card makes your hand.

Check-Raise

A check-raise is declining to bet when you first have the opportunity, with the intention of letting another bet arise. You can then re-raise. Your intention is to lure them into a false sense of security, allowing your raise to increase the pot. After they commit to a first bet, they are more likely to call a second bet. If your re-raise is strong enough, they may decide to fold.

Check-Call

The check-call is often useful when you have a mediocre hand and you are unsure of its strength against the other hands. It is also very effective early in a session to set up opponents for a winning check-raise later. When playing a moderate hand, especially in limit games, it is not a bad move to check first, and then call an opponent’s raise, rather than raising on your own. After a few times, this pattern establishes a passive table image of a calling station. Opponents become confident betting into you and you can later make them pay when you aggressively play a solid hand.

The check-call, as well as the check-raise, is a great weapon with an extremely loose player to your left, allowing them to do all of your raising, thus masking the true strength of your hand. Unfortunately, the check-call can be dangerous for a mediocre hand when up against an opponent with premium cards. Another drawback is that, if no one else raises, the other players receive a free card.

Value Bet

When you are positive you have the best hand, a value bet may be your best move. This bet is one that is small enough to entice a call on the river. In a limit game, it is easy to add that final bet. It is only a single bet and does not cost much, and the second best hand nearly always calls. For many players in a no-limit game it can be much harder to call. You want to make the bet small enough to call, but large enough to punish your opponent for making it. Do not give your opponent a free showdown at the river. You do not want your opponents to think you actually want them to make a call.

You might get an opponent to pay off your bet on the river by making it appear you did not want a call. Most players only bet on the river if they have a strong hand, or, less frequently, as a bluff attempt. If you do not get the call, that is fine. Do not show your winning cards, collect the pot and leave your opponent wondering if it was really a bluff.

The Continuation Bet

A continuation bet is one where you start out betting strong pre-flop and keep pressing the bet all the way to the river. This is most effective with premium hands that improve on the flop, but you can also use it successfully if the flop did not improve your hand. By showing strength when you have a premium hand, other players assume you are doing so when you are on a draw or making a bluff.

The Squeeze Play

The squeeze play is a tactic best made in a no-limit game. When a player re-raises after a raise, it makes the players between the raisers afraid of being squeezed “Between a Rock and a Hard Place.” This is also known as “Stealing with Equity.” Do a squeeze play when you have a good hand and you suspect another player is on a draw. For example, you have top pair with the best kicker. Making a large raise or re-raise could force others off their hands, since the odds are against them making the straight or flush draw. Your aim is to change their pot odds to make it inadvisable for them to call.

Raising Under the Gun

In a limit game, this is when the person under the gun (or the first player to bet) raises rather than checks the bet, forcing the other players to call two bets at once. In a no-limit game, it is a large over bet or an All In bet. Your intention is to limit the number of players left in the hand. This move amounts to a reverse steal, since normally only a player with an exceptionally strong hand would raise so far out of position. Players who are notorious bluffers often do this. The effect almost certainly causes players to fold, but the ones remaining are equally as aggressive or have a premium starting hand. Often, players raise under the gun as a means of betting to gain information. It is best to use this tactic when only a few players are left in the hand.

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an e-zine dedicated to poker. He is also the award-winning author of “Winning Blue-Collar Hold’em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments” and three new books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMag, where he gives you a daily poker quote or pokerism.

categories: poker,Texas hold’em,Texas holdem,poker strategy,winning poker,poker hands,poker books,premium hands in poker,poker betting strategy,top ten,poker rules,no limit hold’em

Winning poker comes down to squeezing profit out of marginal situations. The object is not to win every hand played, but to win every hand you play. The best way to do this is to out bet your opponents. Every bet made should have a purpose: Either it is made to induce a weaker hand to fold, or it is made to maximize the winnings on the hand.

Since there are many opportunities to outplay your opponents, you have to know which opponents you can outplay. It is difficult to finesse weak players. The slow play often backfires because one of the loose limpers will hit a hand. The bluff does not work, since these players call with any two cards. The following sections demonstrate many of the advanced aspects of the game and how best to play them.

The Art of the Slow-play

The slow-play is when you intentionally under-bet in order to disguise the strength of your hand and attempt to trap an opponent with a weaker hand. Unlike the bluff, the slow-play is effective against both strong and weak opponents. Bad opponents simply bet their hand, so if they have something or they are simply on a draw, they are going to pay you off.

You should not slow-play when there is a flush or straight draw on the board. You should only slow-play when your opponent has a poker hand that is not likely to improve enough to beat yours. Suppose the flop is AD-7H-KC and you hold 7D-7C, and you put your opponent on an Ace or King. It is usually more profitable to bet the hand aggressively on the turn. This way you can get at least one extra large bet by letting your opponent make the initial raise for you.

The flop is the primary round to use the slow-play. Your opponents give you action for one of two reasons on subsequent betting rounds. Either they improved their hand on the next street and their hand is now worth betting, or they think their mediocre hand is good because you did not show strength the previous round.

If you slow-play the turn, you are sacrificing an opportunity to make money on the turn. The only reason to slow-play here is if your read on your opponents is that they will fold with any bet you make. If this is the case, then it may be worth checking to see if you can get a bet from them on the river, since winning a pot with one round of betting in it is better than winning one with no money in the pot.

Some players want to slow-play a monster hand on the turn so they can make the big raise on the river. This is another example of trying to be too complex in betting. Because of their desire to raise on the river, they slow-play the turn and forgo an opportunity to make good money from several opponents. On the river, these plays usually end up isolating a single remaining opponent, who may or may not call a raise.

You should concentrate on building the pot at every opportunity when you have the premium hand. Do not attempt fancy slow-plays. They can cost you money from missed betting opportunities or from your opponent hitting a hand on the turn or river.

When Not to Slow-Play

If you should hit quads or a full house, do not over play the hand. If your opponents are playing out of position, they frequently do not bet the turn or river, instead they check or call. If you slow-play the turn, this type of opponent does not start throwing in raises and re-raises. Therefore, just keep betting as you normally would on the turn, despite the improvement. People will rarely put you on quads, so try to get some action on the turn by betting somewhat conservatively. Do not stop playing your style of play and slow-play when you have a great hand. That becomes an easy tell to spot and makes your play predictable.

Remember that the act of betting does not automatically give your hand away. This is especially true if you have been constantly changing gears and mixing up your table image throughout the gaming session. Also, never overlook the fact that another player with an inferior hand may slow-play the flop with the intent to open up on the turn. Letting them do so allows you to hide the strength of your hand when they do raise or re-raise. As with the bluff, the slow play is not as useful in limit poker as it is in no-limit. With only a small bet, most players that are going to stay in the hand will do so for at least one additional bet.

Representing Your Hand

A strong bet can represent a strong hand. This is especially true when betting after the flop. If an Ace or King shows on the flop, you can represent an Ace or King in your hand by betting. Often, it is what you represent that is more important than what you actually have, especially if you have put your opponent on a medium or weak hand.

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an e-zine dedicated to poker. He is also the award-winning author of “Winning Blue-Collar Hold’em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments” and three upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMag, where he gives you a daily poker quote.

categories: poker,Texas hold’em,Texas holdem,poker strategy,winning poker,poker hands,poker books,premium hands in poker,poker betting strategy,top ten,poker rules,no limit hold’em