General Poker Strategy

Poker Strategy Basics

• Folding: Playing a weak hand is a sure way to lose at poker. If you have a weak hand, fold and wait for better cards to come in the next hand. If you get bad cards again, fold again. Don’t play weak hands just because you have a bad run of cards.
• Blinds and antes: The size of the ante or blinds affects strategy.
  • If the ante is small, consider folding many of your hands and playing only the best ones, since you can afford to sacrifice the ante amount.
  • If the ante is big, consider playing more hands that are slightly weaker, since you can’t afford to have large antes take bite after bite out of your holdings.
  • If you put in the small blind, you should generally put in the additional bet to match the big blind rather than fold, especially if the blinds aren’t too big or you have a satisfactory starting hand.
• Playing position: Being last to act in a betting round allows you to see what other players do and then draw conclusions about their hands. This advantage allows you to use more aggressive strategies.
• Varying your game: Don’t be so predictable that other players can “read” your cards from your actions. Every once in a while, bet in an unexpected way.
• Knowing when to bet aggressively: Aggressive betting means betting big when you have at least a decent hand but not necessarily the best hand. When you make a large bet, you put other players in an uncomfortable position, making folding their safest move. It’s a useful tactic when you want to try to drive other players from a hand early on, or if everyone else checks and you want to try to steal the pot.

Pot Odds

1. Counting your outs
2. Calculating the remaining cards
3. Calculating how much you should bet

Counting Outs

Calculating Remaining Cards

• Stud games: Subtract the total number of cards in your hand and the total number of other players’ up cards from 52.
• Draw games: Subtract the total number of cards in your hand and the total number you have discarded from 52.
• Community games: Subtract the total number of cards in your hand and the total number of community cards on the table from 52.

Calculating How Much to Bet

For example, say you’re playing five-card draw (see Five-Card Draw and Variations). The pot is $80, it’s your turn, you’re facing a $20 call to stay in the game, and you’re holding . Should you call in order to get the chance to turn in the jack and, with luck, get a 3 or an 8 to make a straight? To decide, use pot odds:

1. Calculate the outs: There are eight outs that can potentially complete your 4-5-6-7 straight draw: four 3s and four 8s.
2. Calculate the remaining cards: There are 47 cards in the deck (52 – 5 = 47) whose value you don't know.
3. Get a percentage: 8 divided by 47 is roughly 17%.
4. Calculate your max bet: Multiply 17% by the total of the pot ($80) plus your bet ($20): 0.17 × $100 = 17. So $17 is the most you should call for this round.