Raising is what makes the game of Texas hold’em exciting. You should raise often, especially against weak opponents. You should also pay attention to how often your opponents raise.
Any time an opponent raises before you act, it’s time to reconsider whether your hand is good enough to play. I’m a fan of the raise or fold guideline.
If your hand isn’t strong enough to re-raise the raiser, go ahead and give him credit for having a great hand and fold—unless you’re already involved in the pot. In that case, it’s okay to call asingle raise and see what the flop offers.
Poker is a game that is constantly evolving and changing year in and year out. The strategies employed by today’s players are very different than what players were using even just a few years ago. However, there are timeless Texas Hold'em tips which will always serve to add some BBs to your winrate. The 'Texas Hold'em Starting Hands' entry on Wikipedia plots out why this is: There are (52 × 51)/2 = 1,326 distinct possible combinations of two hole cards from a standard 52-card deck in Hold'em, but since suits have no relative value in poker, many of these hands are identical in value before the flop. $1/$2 No-limit Texas Hold'em is by far the most popular poker game being played in live poker rooms around the country. For the average poker player $1/$2 cash games are the bread-and-butter of their weekly poker fix. For someone who's up to speed on the basics of good cash-game strategy, it's also the main source of their poker profit.
Pay attention to position, too. Players who raise from early position usually have stronger hands than players who raise from late position.
Winning poker is aggressive poker, too. Players who win a lot of money at Texas hold’em don’t do it by calling a lot of hands down to the river.
If you have a big pair preflop, you should almost always raise. Big pairs play better against fewer opponents. The more people in the pot with you, the more likely it is that someone will drawout on you.
If you have more speculative hands preflop, try to get into the hand cheap with plenty of opponents. Then if you hit your hand, you can get paid off.
You should also raise aggressively preflop from late position if you have any reasonable hand and little opposition. You want to give yourself a chance of winning the blinds.
Poker chips, playing cards, and dice needed to play Texas Hold'em. (Courtesy of Javier Webar on Flickr. License: CC BY-NC).
Instructor(s)
Will Ma
MIT Course Number
15.S50
As Taught In
January IAP 2016
Level
Graduate
Some Description | |
Instructor(s) | Prof. |
As Taught In | Spring 2002 |
Course Number | 2.24 |
Level | Undergraduate/Graduate |
Features | Lecture Notes, Student Work |
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Course Description
How To Win Trophies In Texas Holdem Poker
Offered during MIT's Independent Activites Period (IAP), this short course covers the poker concepts, math concepts, and general concepts needed to play the game of Texas Hold'em on a professional level.
IAP is a special 4-week term in January that provides members of the MIT community including students, faculty, staff, and alums with an opportunity to organize, sponsor and participate in a wide variety of activities and topics that are often outside of the regular MIT curriculum.
Faculty Advisor: Paul Mende
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