Installment #8:

Learn how much to raise

	One of the most common mistakes that new players make in no-limit hold’em is betting the wrong amount of chips when they raise. New players usually do one of two things – they either don’t bet enough or they bet too much. Not betting enough is called under betting the pot and betting too much is called over betting it. Either of these mistakes can get you into a bunch of trouble. Under betting the pot is a very common mistake that beginning hold’em players make. Often times I see several people enter the pot for the minimum bet, which is always the size of the big blind. Then someone in late position makes a raise exactly double the size of the big blind. This is a very weak play. Raising such a small amount won’t drive any of the original callers out of the pot, and could give one of the early limpers an opportunity to make a much bigger raise, forcing everyone out of the pot. Why not simply call and see what develops after the flop? Having late position gives you the advantage on all future betting rounds.  Over betting the pot is another common mistake. Suppose the blinds are $10-$25 and nobody has entered the pot yet. You look down and find two adorable aces, the best possible starting hand. Your heart starts pounding and you announce, “I raise!” as you shove $500 into the pot. Everyone folds, including the blinds, and you win the pot. How big a pot have you won? The two blinds, $35 in all. You have only made a $35 profit with the best possible starting hand in hold’em! What happened? You made the mistake of over betting the pot and forcing everyone out. If you had bet a little less – around $100 – you might have gotten a caller and won a bigger pot. It’s true that you could also have gotten outdrawn and lost with your aces, but that’s a chance you must take. After all, you can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, and you can’t be a winner at no-limit hold’em unless you can make the most profit out of your strong starting hands. So, how much should you raise when you enter the pot in no-limit hold’em? As a general guideline, raise three to four times the size of the big blind. For example, if the big blind is $20, raise to $60 or $80.

Play very few hands when you are sitting in early position

	The earlier your position in relation to the big blind, the worse off you are. The later your position, the better off you are. This is true because when you are the last player to act, you know what everybody is doing before the action gets to you. This is a big advantage. If you are the first to act, all the other players have an edge on you because you have to act on your hand before they do. This means that many hands that are playable in late position are not playable in early position. If you enter the pot from early position with the 10-9 of clubs, for example, you don’t know whether someone will raise after you enter the pot. This could make that type of hand too expensive to play for profit. Hands with middle connecting cards need lots of callers and, preferably, no pre-flop raise to make them worthwhile to play. In a nutshell, the earlier you have to act the less information you have, and the later you have to act, the more information you have.  Most players, even professionals, lose money by playing hands in the first two seats after the big blind. Only the best starting hands like big pairs and A-K can be played for a long-term profit from early position. Small pairs and suited connectors just don’t play well from an early position.

Bluff when the time is right

	The bluff is a major element in playing no-limit hold’em successfully. However many new players make the classic mistake of bluffing too often, probably because they’ve been watching too much “television” poker. The World Poker Tour on the Travel Channel and the World Series of Poker on ESPN bring all the top poker action right into your living room. What you are watching, however, is usually just the final-table action, not the play that allowed the finalists to get there. When the audience sees players raising each other with hands like 4-3, or moving all their chips into the center of the table with nothing but a flush draw, they think that’s how to play the game. In other words, the audience is led to believe that players bluff far more often in no-limit hold’em that they actually do. The truth is that final-table action is quite a bit different from the play in the early stages of the tournament. Players have less reason to bluff in the opening rounds of the tournament because the blinds are much smaller and, therefore, they can afford to wait for strong starting hands. But at the final table, it’s a different story because the blinds are very high – it simply costs too much to just sit and wait for a powerful hand. Therefore, the players must try to maneuver each other out of the pot just to survive. This means that they sometimes attack each other with much weaker hands. The bottom line is that what might be a correct bluffing situation in the final stages of the tournament could get you broke in the earlier stages.  Timing is everything in executing a successful bluff. That is why getting to know your opponents is so important. Tighter players will often surrender their blinds without much of a fight. These players are easier to bluff. Loose players who frequently defend their blinds and play lots of pots are much harder to bluff. They will gamble with you. Know your man, get your hand, and then bluff!

Next Month's Installment #9:

Raise more often than you call

How to Win Hold’em Tournaments

Things you should know before you enter a tournament