How to Win at Texas Hold'em Column

Installment #5:

Your seat position relative to the button strongly influences which hands you play

The later your position, the more hands you can play and the more aggressive you can be. This is the most important concept in low-limit hold’em. When you have a drawing hand, you will know how many opponents you have and how much it’s going to cost to see the next card. None of this information is available if you are playing from an early position.

If you want to start winning money in low-limit hold’em, play only your strongest hands in the first or second chair to the left of the big blind. Tight is right in limit hold’em games, especially when you are sitting in an early position in the betting sequence. Even from middle position, you should have a fairly strong starting hand if you are the first or second player to enter the pot. Playing too many hands out of position (from a bad position in the betting sequence) is the most common mistake that new players make in limit hold’em games.

Always ask these questions on the flop

What is the best possible hand?

Am I holding it or do I have a draw to it?

How likely is my opponent to be holding it?

What is the probable strength of my opponents’ cards?

You must be able to read the board cards correctly throughout the hand. As each community card is placed face up on the table, decide what the best possible hand is. Then determine the most likely draws that could improve your hole cards, or an opponent’s cards, to the nut hand on fourth street or fifth street.

The next question to ask yourself is how strong your hand is in relation to the flop. Do you have the nuts at the moment, or a draw to it? Most of the time you will neither have the nut hand nor face an opponent who is holding the nut hand. However, you still need to know what the best possible hand is and how likely it is that one of your opponents is holding it.

Try to find out your opponents’ betting styles as soon as you can. For example, does Bill usually bet a straight draw in late position, but never bets it when he is in the first or second seat after the blinds? Will Cliff bet with rags (bad cards) on the button if everyone checks? Does Judy play “any-ace” (an ace with a low kicker)? If Matt checks on the flop but calls your late position bet, ask yourself what hand he could be drawing to. Some players like to slow-play their hands by check-calling the flop, check-calling the turn, and then check-raising on the river. They are usually holding the nut hand or something close to it, and are trying to trap you for additional bets.

Don’t draw to a lower hand when a higher hand is possible

You must always be careful that the hand you are drawing to will be the best hand if you make it. When there is a lot of action on the flop and turn, someone usually has either the nut hand or a draw to it. Suppose you have a flush draw and the board pairs on fourth street. Someone could have made a full house or four of a kind. This means that even if you make your flush, you will lose. In other words, you are drawing dead. It is very expensive to make your hand only to find that it’s a loser.

Don’t draw to the low end of a straight, which experience players call the “ignorant end.” For example suppose you limped into the pot in late position with the 7-6 of spades. The flop comes 9-8-7 rainbow (three different suits). You have made a pair with a draw to a straight. Take another look at that board. What if a 10 comes off the deck on fourth street? You’ve made your straight, but if an opponent has a jack, he has made a higher straight. You may have only three outs—the remaining three jacks in the deck—just to get a tie. Even if you stay in the pot and hit a jack, somebody else might have a queen in his hand—and you still lose. In hold’em, ignorance is not bliss.

Next Month's Installment #6:

Seldom Raise Before the Flop

Bluffing is over-rated in limit hold’em

Get ready to show down the best hand in low-limit, multiway pots