Learn Texas Holdem

If you only play sometimes or play in home games with your friends you may not want to play tight aggressive poker. Tight aggressive poker is usually not as fun as gambling -- much like many other things in life taking the safe bet isn't always the most exciting. So if you want to be part of the action more, gamble a little, drink a lot and have fun but still not get busted out the game early, look like a moron, or suffer the abuse of your friends then this article may help. There are ways to gamble in a "less bad" way then totally going all out calling every pot. I'm going to try to put together as many tips that I can think of to steer you in the right direction. When I play in home games with my friends I play a way different game then I do at the casino. This is the time when I let loose, get drunk, gamble, bluff, and go crazy. I've found that putting a bad beat on a friend in a home game is way more satisfying then actually winning the pot! LOL But just like real holdem the good hands hold up more then the bad ones so you have to play atleast marginally or you'll end up busting out first and being the beer bitch the rest of the night (no offense to women using the word "bitch". That refers to any of my friends that I beat..hehehe).

 

So here are some holdem tips for the guy/girl who wants to play and gamble some:

*Instead of me writing in every tip not to do this in a ring game, just assume that since it is here for tips on gambling some and not on playing solid poker at a casino or online.

Learn Some Odds/Probabilities: You will really benefit if you review the poker odds for making hands. After you do this you'll realize why playing in a certain way can be profitable and playing poker in other ways is just flat out gambling. So go check this table out on texas holdem odds and probabilities.

Play Any Hand With An Ace: Normally in a ring game you wouldn't want to pay a full bet to see the flop with hands like A2off, A6foff, A7off, etc since if you catch your Ace your kicker isn't good usually. But in your home game you might. You'll play them for two reasons. The first reason is that often times if no one hits anything then your Ace high will win. The second reason is that if you catch a pair and call till the river to catch two pair your odds are about 1 out of 5. So that isn't a money making opportunity a lot of the time but it isn't the worst gamble to make. Also when you do hit your two pair then you'll most likely win since it will be "Aces Up" (two pair with one pair being an Ace).

Play Kx, Qx, Jx, Tx: When we say, Kx, we mean a King with a suited card with it. Examples of this hand are Kspades5spades, or another way to write that would be K5s (K and 5 suited). We also throw in a suited Queen, suited Jack and suited Ten. What you are hoping for when you play these hands are that you'll catch top pair, two pair or the flush draw. These aren't great poker hands but they aren't horrible gambling hands. They have a number of ways to win if you go to the river after catch something on the flop. That combined with playing against drunk friends who aren't very good should be enough to make them decent.

See The Turn Card: Often times you'll pick up a draw or a pair on the turn. Most times this won't pan out but when you do hit you'll nail someone. Let's say for instance that you had a hand like T9 and the flop was 45J. You gamble and see the turn card which could give you a pair (nine or a ten) or it could bring a Queen or an Eight giving you a straight draw. Another example would be if you have Ks5s and the flop is As-Jh-5h Now you gamble and see if you can catch a spade on the turn, or a pair. The combined odds of winning aren't the worst in the world.

Play Gutshot Straight Draws: Hitting a gutshot straight draw by the river is about a 1 in 6. Just to make sure you know what that is, here is an example: You hold 56 an the flop is 894. Notice that the 7 would give you the straight. Why you normally don't do this in a regular holdem game is because you don't enough odds to call it. There are times though when enough people are in the hand to make this play profitable. In your home game though you will rarely get the correct odds but it won't be the worst in the world because when you do hit the hand it will most likely hold up.

Gamble For Big Hands: If you are going to gamble make sure that you gamble and try to suck out on hands that will actually win if you hit. You wouldn't want to try to draw to pair your Queen on the river if you know your buddy already has an Ace pair. So when you do gamble, be much more likely to do so with the following: gutshot draws, backdoor flush draws, hitting your set, or two pair.

Backdoor Flushes: A back door flush is if you for example have 4c6c and the flop is Tc-Jd-Qd and the turn and river are Ac-9c. Notice that you went "runner runner" to catch two more clubs to win. Normally in a regular game this isn't correct if you only have that way to win since it is such a long shot. Other times you have extra outs, cards that can make you win, so it is correct. Like let's say you have QcJc and the flop is 9c-4d-5d Note that now you have overcards and a backdoor flush draw and backdoor straight draw.

Hitting A Set: Hitting a set after the flop is really unlikely since you have only two cards that can help you. Let's say you have pocket ducks (22). To hit your set on the flop is about 1 in 8 (which is fine for most regular holdem games) but let's say you don't catch the deuce on the flop. To hit it on the turn card you are about 1:23 and to hit it by the river you are about 1:11. So it really is a gamble but I like this play in the home games since when you do hit it, you are almost guaranteed to be the winner.

Bad Players Get Good Cards Too: You may want to ease up a bit on your friends if they have never played before. People who don't know how to play holdem at all still get good cards as many times as you do and they catch stuff as often as you do. The difference is they sometimes will play in ways that you wouldn't so it is hard to know what they have. Because of this I've found it is often times better to just call them down if you have a decent but not great hand then raising them like you normally would with someone else. Obviously if you have the nuts or a set or something you won't hold back but things like top pair can be trouble so just call them if you think something is wacky.

Play As Loose As Possible: There are two cases where I would play almost every hand given to me and those are: limit holdem games with an ante and then really passive no limit games. For example if your friends rarely ever raise preflop and it will cost you a little to get in each time then just call everything. If they make a big raise or something then you can put more thought into it but definitely take advantage of their lack of aggressiveness.

No Limit Holdem Bluffing: If you guys are playing no limit holdem at your home game then becareful about bluffing in the wrong areas. Bluffing is sensationalized a lot on the TV and people who don't know about poker often think it's a big part of the game. Because of that you won't be able to bluff your buddy out the majority of the time. What you want to try to avoid is bluffing into someone who is very willing to call you with next to nothing. Losing most or all of your chips on just one play is very easy to do but it is just as easy to avoid this by waiting for a better opportunity. On a similar note bluffing into someone who already has a lot of chips in the pot or very little chips left usually always means a call. It seems obvious but sometimes we forget that the best times to bluff are when the opponent thinks you have something and he has very little. If you are interested in bluffing in holdem or using the semi-bluff, here is another article I wrote to introduce you to the subject.

Play Looser In the Back: This is a general strategy that holds true for all texas holdem games from home games to no limit to limit casino games. I wanted to mention it here though because it does set you up nicely for all the other tips above. You may want to just play normally for all but the last three positions (dealer button and two before). There you can open up and play way more cards and more loosely after the flop. And like I mentioned above, if the game is really passive - not a lot of raising - then I would use this position to play just about any two cards against my friends.

Encourage Bluffing and Loose Play: I try to do this whenever I play regardless of whether it is a home game or a casino game. I like to do my best to keep the table light hearted and fun, with a bunch of jokes, etc. That is really hard to do if you are losing that day but it is worth it. I've found that it really loosens up the players which means bigger pots. The last thing you want is everyone to be in a bad mood, barking at eachother and folding every hand waiting for pocket Aces. You make money when people play badly, so never try to discourage them from doing so.

Conclusion: Texas Holdem Gambling, Not Playing Well

I know I already mentioned above that these tips are for if you want to gamble in not so bad way but I thought I would repeat myself once more to make sure no one thinks that these are tips you would want to include in a regular game if you want to play in a way that will win in the long run. These definitely are not "holdem poker tips", they are "holdem gambling tips". I will say though that some of them do apply some of the time to a good players game. See that is the beauty of holdem, it is purely situational. Sometimes things are clearly right or wrong but the vast majority of the time you'll be making decisions based not only on rules you memorized before the game but on the as much information as you can gain at that exact moment. Rules are made to be broken and your ability to adapt makes you successful not only in poker but in life.