Hold'Em Situations That Will Help You Become a Winning Player

 

 

 Hold'Em Situations That Will Help You Become a Winning Player

Trapping Hands
These are my favorite forms of chip raking opportunities on the felt. The definition of a trapping hand is simple;  you hold a really strong hand and another person has a weaker hand that may show strength for him to continue playing with. An example of a trapping hand would be if you flop a set/trips, especially with a small pair, and another person has a big pocket pair. You can brutally clean him out at this point. Any player less than extremely experienced will fall in love with a big pair type of hand and almost always you can really empty his piggy bank.
There are a variety of trapping hands out there. For instance, flopping a straight and your opponent may also flop, but hits a set.  Trapping hands are hands that come in great when your maybe having a slow day, not seeing many cards to play, stay patient and there is your reward. There are mayne situations that could be considered a trap, I find the easiest to explain and make someone really understand is flopping the set.  This is a hand where the entire time you are aware that you are way ahead, especially if you flop top set. Again as said in previous posts, stay humble, dont fall in love with any hand, you could think you are running a trap hand, and you yourself are falling right into the hands of a trap, so be aware, think before you act!

Betting in Late Position - You won't make a bunch of money betting in late position when everyone checks to you but its worth mentioning because you could pick up the scraps (blinds) and grind a couple hundred dollars that way, even without having hands to play.


Drawing Hands - Drawing hands are tricky in no limit. When you flop four of one suite in limit holdem, it is an easy decision to keep calling till the river. In no limit that isn't always going to be the case since if you miss your draw on the turn card, often the next bet will be too large to make it profitable to keep calling. I've found that if I'm in early position with a flush draw or straight draw it is often better to come out betting, almost  a feeler bet, but enough to make them think,  instead of checking and calling. First, if you check and call you give away your hand as well as show weakness, also you leave yourself open to being over bet or just bet out of the pot. Second, you may even win the pot by tossing chips into the middle as a feeler. The risk of betting is that you are going to get raised an amount you can't call. My advice for drawing hands is to learn the odds and then compare them to the size of the pot.  Also, get a feel for your opponents, do they tend to form a continuation bet or do they check performing a trap.


Big pair over big pair (AK included) - I mentioned above about how most of the time you won't make that much with your big pairs. The usual routine is that you raise preflop, get a caller or two and then bet the flop and everyone lets go of the hand. Sometimes you'll get a freshy who doesn't believe you and calls you down but those folks do not usually last that long. A good percentage of the time I take down smaller pots with my AA, KK or AK. The rest of the time I come away with the win, I end up against someone who has a smaller pair. AA and KK can be hands that sadly lead to a way for you to lose your stack because it is very easy to fall in love with the best starting hands because they are the best. If you're dealt AA or KK on the dealer button, You have a better chance of making more money with it since people assume that you're playing  position instead of the cards in your hand. This is why if you are on the button with a big hand and everyone folds to you, don't slow play it and limp in, raise it since people won't believe you. Sometimes I'll even make a raise much larger then I normally do on the button if everyone folds to me. For example, if I normally raised to 15-20 dollars preflop, I'll raise it to $35 or $50. Then people really think I'm trying to steal the blinds. Every now and then you'll have a guy who tries to raise over the top of you  thinking you're bluffing and it will end to your benefit. Those are the dream moments.

Small Pots - Most of the pots in no limit, and the ones you'll win, are going to be small. Everyone will be winning little pots for a while and then ACTION, someone will get nailed and lose their stack. That's how it goes. The small pots can add up after a while though.  Stay patient and persistent, and success will follow.

 Bluffing -  It's almost impossible to bet someone out of a pot in limit poker since it just costs them one more big bet. In no limit this situation has much more potential for earning, especially coupled with a good read of a hand and position. Learning when to bluff is an advanced skill that you will pick up as you learn the true feel of the game, thousands of hands and situations, seeing and understanding why things happen, and again analyzing your opponent. We will go into the bluff in later posts, but keep in mind a decent player is hard to get off his medium hand, and a novice is simply called a calling station, they are almost impossible to bluff, just keep that in mind and pick your spots.  Don't become to obvious, or your bluff will be voided and you will lose!