How to play poker texas holdem

1

Bluff. Bluffing involves pretending your cards are better than they are, but don't say what your cards are, and making aggressive bets to force out all the other players—thus winning the pot with a poor or mediocre hand. Bluffing is risky, however, since you never know when an opponent might have a strong enough hand to call you all the way to the showdown.[25] X Research source Go to source

2

Semi-Bluff. If you have a draw to a likely winning hand, say you have AK of spades and there are also two spades on the board, you may want to bet or raise and draw to a flush/made hand. Semi-bluff tends to be a higher percentage play than a pure [nothing] bluff, by giving you two or more ways to win the pot. (1) Your opponents may fold to your bet on the flop, or (2) they may call but you could bet again to win on the turn card (although this may not fold anyone, seeming like a continuation bet) or (3) you actually hit your draw on the turn or the river and bet again (that's costly, but not as sudden/big as all in).[26] X Research source Go to source

3

Slow-play especially on your monster hands. If you flop a monster/the nuts (the best possible flop with your hold cards) or at least trips, just check and call any bets to induce a bluff since you seem weak, or on the bad side, you may let your opponents catch a card on the turn or river. Slow-playing works best with loose aggressive players that you hope will try to bluff when no one has bet/as if they have nothing. If you flop a full house and bet out, everyone folds and you only win a small pot. So just check and let others lead out, as you try to catch a card on 4th or 5th street. Be careful, though, that you don't slow-play and get many opponents checking to see draws. For example, if you hold T(♥) - T(♠), and the flop comes T(♣) - 9(♦) - 3(♣) for "trips T's", and you now have three or more opponents in the pot. Do not slow play your set/trips, especially if you raised pre-flop and are known to make continuation bets. Bet "a third of the pot" to make the flush draws and straight draws fold or pay to see the next card.

4

Win by intimidation -- not Most Popular. Psyche the other players, within the rules of a tournament. Keep quizzing earlier position players face up and theorizing about their hand while betting against them, without violating rules. Bragging about hitting the nuts, coconuts, monkey nuts is silly but boggles their minds. Over-talk, over-analyze how you might bet, how they may be "strategizing", what they hold -- while watching the reactions of each of the betters who are in the pot ahead of you.[27] X Research source Go to source

• Remark without delaying play when one loses to you on a showdown, "how could you bet on Jack, ten?" and stuff like, "Why would you waste your time and money on Queen-high, awe, oh man..." Don't expect answers, but don't interfere with actual play. Ask about any sort of legitimate issue. Ask about every aspect of their game only as you face each person, on each and every round, as you are apparently deciding how much to bet or whether to fold. Especially against shorter stacks, never-ending but seemingly sensible questions while you decide. "You want me to bet? Or, do you want me to fold?" so then "If you want we to bet, I might have to fold. Honestly, what do you want -- me to do, fold? Yeah, fold? Fold right..." Then your opponent folds with a much better hand, than you... and you only show your low card. Steam will come out of the folder's ears. You put your opponent on tilt.
• Take "forever" to fold, being careful, then say, "I think you got the nuts, right? So, you have queen or better, okay, I fold." If that feels right, and you are not already all-in... "Every time you play your hand the way you would, if you could see your opponents' cards, you gain, and every time your opponents play their cards differently from the way they would play them, if they could see your cards, you gain." , per David Sklansky author, considered an expert on gambling. Which is like "Play to 'what the opponent most likely holds from their time/position/size of bet and based on past pattern of play,' and get the other to play to 'whatever you suggest that you have and know what they have by your chatter and leading questions while you were deciding how to bet.' " -- then the opponent quite often folds the better hand because you've put so many confusing/spinning thoughts in his/her mind (tilt!).

5

Get into the mind of your immediate opponent, heated to distraction. Don't expect many answers. Ask for various counts: "So, how much is your stack?" "I may just put you all in!" "I'll show you my hand at the end, okay." then say "if you show me yours, I'll show you mine"... "Do want me to count my stack; well, (taking some time) I have about ___." Be serious, "I need to know ____" asking "how much is in the pot?", "how much is the current bet"", etc. -- anything theoretically worth knowing. As if you don't know. "Hey, so you have a bottom pair. No, it's top pair." "Now, I think you're on a queen... Yeah, yeah, you do have a face card. You do, right?" You can say such guesses, and ask about your guess, about their hold; now, change your mind; guess again, etc. Get the table hot, angry or exasperated, so they may over-bet on weak hands to try to get back at you. But they end up folding or losing hands, stuttering, muttering and confused.[28] X Research source Go to source

• Tone it down to be less hated. Don't talk while they are deciding what to bet or to fold. Be, "Mr. Nice Guy" in words. Say, "Nice hand!" even if you win it. Say, "good player, nice round", but not letting up on the quiz.

6

Check-raise. If you have a reasonably good hand, but not a monster (in early position like the one under the gun or the next player), say you have top pair (paired the top card on the board), and top kicker (strong kicker) after the flop, you probably have the best hand. You could bet out in front, but everyone might fold and you don't win more money than what's already in the pot pre-flop. Alternatively, check early, and hope that someone else bets later so you can see who has something. Then when it comes back to you to make the call, raise instead! Now if your opponent bet with something like middle pair, he will likely fold here and you win an extra bet. If you get called or re-raised, you need to consider folding if facing a [strong] tight-player. When you don't have a hand, the check-raise bluff works best against a weak tight player (playing weak). The check-raise bluff is a high risk play because you may seem weak and not scare the opponent, so you probably want to have seen that opponent fold to someone's raise before you attempt this ploy against him especially with a draw or weak made hand.[29] X Research source Go to source

7

Read your opponents. Poker isn't just a game of chance—it's a game of psychology. Watch your opponents carefully for "tells"—involuntary ticks of body language that reveal when a player is either bluffing/or holding a good hand. Also learn your opponent's attitudes and habits. You don't want to try to bluff against someone who will call every time; on the other hand, you don't want to slow-play someone who only bets with the nuts.[30] X Research source Go to source

8

Juice the pot. If you have a hand you are positive is going to win, you want to get other players to bet as much as possible. To do this, don't bet too aggressively but slow-play it. Thus, make your raises incrementally to string the other players along. Don't go all-in; let your opponent go all-in.[31] X Research source Go to source

9

Do the math. Poker is also a game of statistics. If you can, calculate the chances that the next card or cards will be one of the "outs" that makes your weak hand a winning one—or that makes your opponent's potential hand one that beats yours. A good rule of thumb is that the probability of catching your draw with two cards to come is equal to 4 times the number of outs, minus the number of outs in excess of eight. For example, if you have 9 outs (e.g. flush draw on the flop), you have 4*9-(9-8)=35% chance of making your hand, or slightly better than 2:1 odds against. So if you are offered 2:1 odds or better, you should call; otherwise, fold. Don't bet when the odds are far against you like you need to draw two running cards, or draw to inside straight, or on a showdown where you need only one certain card on the river.

10

Fold often. If your pocket cards are notably bad (2-7 off suit is considered the worst hand) or if you have no notable combinations after the flop, just fold immediately if drawing dead on the flop. Realistically you should only be playing about one hand in four, and the more players in the game the more conservatively you should play. If you've seen a poker game on TV, it can seem like the pros are playing every hand, but that's the magic of television—they may not show several hands where all or a vast majority of players fold immediately. At a full table, many players will fold immediately (without even seeing the flop) unless they have a pair, suited-connectors, or AJ or better as reasons to see the flop.[32] X Research source Go to source