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Pokerteam articles 17

Pre-Flop Texas Holdem Poker Strategy

Pre-Flop Texas Holdem Strategy is the key for you to having any kind of success when it comes to Texas Holdem. Your chances of winning the hand begin and end here. If you have troubles here you may wish to find think long and hard about playing poker online.

Before the flop everyone has two cards which have to be judged in isolation. After all one person may be holding A-A and another 2-3 preflop but who has the better hand with the flop comes 2-2-2? Not that you no this in advance but nobody does which is why online poker is so tricky.

Obviously flopping four of a kind doesn’t happen every hard of online poker and given this you need to honor the percentages of Pre-Flop Texas Holdem Poker Strategy and in turn be quite conservative in your Starting Hand selection. You are going to throw away 4-8 and the flop will come 8-8-4 but that’s poker. You just have to deal with it. Or you can call with your 4-8 and find that the next 99 you have absolutely nothing.

Playing well pre-flop separates you from your opponents and is probably the hardest thing to master in online poker and Texas Holdem strategy.

Let’s divide up your Starting Hands into sections.

Big Guns - AA, KK, QQ, AKs, AK, JJ.
No question at all. You should be raising with these hands. Without taking the flop into consideration these are better than anything your opponent would have so you would win the hand if the flop is neutral or in your favor. Only a negative flop will unhinge you such as on a straight draw when they become absolutely useless. The more people in the pot the less chance you have of winning so be aggressive with these pre-flop to knock your opponents out of the pot. The biggest pitfall with these hands is that after getting junk hand after hand after hand people are so wedded to them that they refuse to fold with them even if it’s obvious that are going to lose the hand.

Good Hands - AQs, AQ, AJs, KQs, KJs, JTs
These starters have potential to be great with a good flop. With an ordinary flop you should fold without a second thought. Playing these weakly is fine especially as it may appear you are bluffing if a good flop comes. Be wary of trap-hands though which is playing with something despite it being the second best hand.

Middle Men - AJ, KQ, KJ, KTs, QTs, J9s, TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22
Better to play these when long-handed as your potential windfall is ever greater. If heads-up fold if the flop isn’t receptive as not good hands to chase with. If you hit your set you are set, if not get out.

Well Connected - 89s, 78s, 67s, 56s, 45s, 34s
Here you are look for a straight or flush. Again you want more people in the hand to maximize your winnings.

Bottom of the Barrel - A5-ATs, A5-A2s, K9s-K5s, Q9s-Q5s, J8s, T8s, 97s, 86s, 75s, 64s, 53s, 42s
You should probably muck these hands unless you are in late position or have a huge chip stack.

Other influences to your Pre-Flop Texas Holdem Strategy

Position - The earlier you are the tighter you should be and vice versa.

Game Flavor - In a loose game you could play just about anything and the more people in the hand the weaker your starting hand can be. If someone is being a cowboy and raising all the time pre-flop you will want something strong before you take him on.

Think Small - One thing that doesn't happen enough of in online poker is that players are content with collecting lots of small pots. The desire to win a massive won can be the same thing which sends you packing.

Numbers Game - The more people in the hand the better your hand has to be. Similarly the more people in the hand the less you should slow play.

Chip Stack - The bigger you stack is the more adventurous you can afford to be.

Pauline Davis - Poker Expert

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