Tight Poker
Over the years that I’ve been playing poker both in casinos and online poker rooms I have always found that playing a tight/aggressive style works out the best in the long-run. The idea of playing this style of poker seems boring to most new players who are looking for action and big dollars, but it’s the safest strategy for new and veteran poker players.
When you’re playing a tight/aggressive playing style it simply means that you don’t play many hands and you have a strict hand selection. It also means that when you do play in a pot you are very aggressive and don’t allow your opponents any freebies. The strategy typically pays off more then it doesn’t due to the fact you won’t see a showdown most of the time because your opponent will fold. When your opponent doesn’t fold you need to keep an eye out for hands that can beat you and you may even want to slow down on betting the turn and river depending on how you feel about your opponent’s last bet.
Since you aren’t going to be playing many hands your opponents will usually pick up on this and not want to bet to large against you when you’re in the pot. This can give you a good advantage because when you’re in the hand you know you’re going to be betting big and trying to get everyone out of the pot. Whether you hit a hand or don’t hit a hand you should always bet when you finally play a pot because you should have enough respect from the table to steal it. The only time you need to be careful is when you have raised the pot preflop and the board shows up with a 9-8-7 on the flop. Your opponents might think you’re sitting with an A-K or something like this and you might find they make the call if you bet.
If you hit a big hand on the flop when you’ve decided to play a pot then it’s sometimes wise to slow down and let someone else take the lead in the pot. When you have the nuts or close to the nuts and feel strong about winning the pot you want to allow your opponents to do the betting for you so that you can get the most out of them. In this position you should check after the flop and see if one of the other players is willing to take the lead and come out betting. If an opponent does make a bet then you need to decide whether you want to flat call or raise, and you’ll need to determine this based on the strength of your hand. If nobody makes a bet on the flop then based on the turn card you might be forced to lead out betting if your hand is in jeopardy of losing to a draw that has hit the board.
For new players and veteran players this is the best strategy to use at the poker table. To read more about Poker News, check out google’s newsfeed. You won’t get much action at the tables, but you should walk away from your session with some profits which is the main goal.