Tips and Strategies
for Poker
When it comes to poker strategies there are some things
you should consider right from the beginning. You might
even consider them the golden rules of poker. They pretty
much apply to any poker game you are likely to play. These
golden rules are:
- Don't be cheap. As a general guideline you should start
out with 40-50 times the table limit.
- Get out if you have nothing in your hand.
- If you got a good hand make the others pay to see it.
- If they got you beat, fold.
- The objective is to beat the other players not to have
the highest hand.
- Don't think you can beat a better player. You might
win little but you could also loose big.
- The chances of getting a better hand is 50:50 and
The chances for you to get one of the following in your
original hand.
- No Pair / 1 out of 2
- One Pair / 1 out of 2.4
- Two Pair / 1 out of 21
- Three of a Kind / 1 out of 48
- Straight / 1 out of 250
- Flush / 1 out of 510
- Full House / 1 out of 700
- Four of a Kind / 1 out of 4200
- Straight Flush / 1 out of 72,200
- Royal Flush / 1 out of 650,000
With these things in mind there are already a couple of things
you can immediately conclude.
The more players there are on the table, the greater the
chance for one or more players to have a high ranking hand
You must have at least a pair or four cards to a straight
or flush. If not, fold immediately.
This last advise might seem a little harsh but as said above
the chances of improving your opening hand, if you have
nothing, and beating the other players are rather small.
This means, unless you are really lucky, you will fold most
of the time after the first deal.
Now let's say you have something to build on, like a pair
or a three of a kind. What you have to decide now is whether
to keep a kicker or not. A kicker is a high card most players
hold with a pair or three of a kind. It is recommended you
toss the kicker because the odds getting the card of the
same value to your kicker is small, very small.
Another thing you have to keep in mind is you should never
try to build a straight or higher out of three original
cards. The odds for you on this are 1:85. On the other hand
it highly recommended you always keep four cards to a straight
or any flush. As you will see below the odds here are not
bad at all, considering the odds of the original dealt cards
from above. The chances of completing a
- Flush / are 1 out of 4.5
- Straight open on both ends / are 1 out of 5
- Straight open on one end / are 1 out of 11
- Straight open on the inside / are 1 out of 11
- Straight Flush open on both ends / are 1 out of 23
- Straight Flush open on one end / are 1 out of 46
- Straight Flush open on the inside / are 1 out of 46
You always have to remember these odds when making your betting
decision. Let's say you have a four card flush. The first
question that pops into your mind should be: What are my chances
of completing on the deal? In this case they are 1 out of
4.5. If the pot is not 4.5 times the money you would have
to bet, you should fold. Anything else would just be blindly
risking your money to beat the odds.
