Learn Texas Holdem

Question: Your site is great... I'm VERY new to the game (3 weeks), and you're general advice has definately kept me from being torn apart by the people I play with... I haven't won a tourney yet however because it's a "kitchen table" game I've managed to get my buy in back 4 out of the five times I've played... I've got my family hooked on your site too... They all love it and they've been playing holdem for years!!! Keep it up... But I do have some questions, and I hope that you find them worthy enough to answer: 1.) Some of the people I play with come with a girl/boy friend, brother, best friend, etc... They sit next to eachother, and basically play off each other's actions, and or "help" when the other folds because they know their habits so well. The couples put their heads together because the money basically goes to the same place anyway... Would it be poor ettiquette, rude, or plain wrong to separate them when we play because it bothers the rest of us?

2.) For the few times that I have played it has always come down to the same person and myself... If he is chip lead by a huge margin then he calls it off, and gives up my buy in or if it is reversed he tears me a new one... I've tried to study him.. His style is really out there tight, loose, passive, aggressive you name it he's got it.... I think that he plays very well(he rolls with the scenarios), and I haven't noticed any tics like with every one else... Any advice on how to crack him?

3.) Can't afford to play in a casino or card room (time, distance, etc.) Plus I'm a "starving student" but I want to get a more well rounded poker education don't have the bankroll nor the social skills to find one... Any advice on how to find a game, web sites that post them, things like that?

Thanks for you consideration,

Lost in Learning

Answer: First of all, thanks for the questions and I'm glad you are enjoying the site. I'll answer your questions in order:

1. Technically, there is a rule that states there can be only one player per hand. What that means is you can't share thoughts about a hand and how to play it with another person, whether that person is another player at the table or just sitting beside. I was standing behind my girlfriend when she first started to learn how to play holdem. I walk over to notice that she was about in the fifth bet on the river with another player. After a quick glance at the board, I realized that she had the nut flush (ace high) and the other person had the straight flush. I wanted to just lean over and tell her to stop raising, but I couldn't. So no, it isn't being a stickler for asking them before the game not to share information about a hand while it is in progress.

2. Well if you are playing a no limit holdem tournament and you find yourself heads up and the other guy has a huge chip lead, you are stuck. What dictates how fast or slow you play is the blinds. If the blinds are a significant amount of your chips, you are going to have to take an all or nothing approach to each hand -- either all-in or fold. If you happen to win and double through and are now even chips with the opponent you can sit back and play a little more. But again, if the blinds are really large, it is all-in or fold. Now, in the case that the blinds aren't a factor yet, you can wait a bit more -- by wait I mean you don't have to go all-in preflop every hand. You can call sometimes and see the flop and play it from there.

Next, position is power in heads up holdem so raise your button a lot of the time. Try to make a few small pots with nothing, taking jabs. If he checks the flop, bet it. If he calls, then sometimes take a free card on the turn if you have nothing. Then set him up for a big hand when you have top pair or something else strong. Pace is important. You need to be aware of whether he is only raising with good hands preflop and betting on the flop with something. And if he is only raising, maybe doubling the blinds, preflop with good hands like face cards or an Ace, you can use that against him. If you have 79 and the flop is T94, most likely you have the best hand if he raised preflop. Also, I would sit down sometime and just deal out two hands over and over so you get an idea of what holdem is like when you play random hands heads up. Most of the time, if you flop a pair on the flop, it is good.

Lastly, for starting hands that you plan on not going all-in with preflop, don't give too much credit to small preflop raises. What I mean by that is if your opponent raises his button everytime, you can't fold most hands, only the really bad ones. Remember, you play much looser heads up than at a full table. See the flop and try to flop a pair and then go from there. Even bottom pair is usually ahead.

3. I'm not sure how you can find home games. If you are a student, I'm sure you can find some other students interested in playing. Every person I meet now and mention poker to tells me they have a home game. If that doesn't work, you can always just play online for free at one of the sites (or at the micro limits).