How To Play Middle Pocket Pairs

Many people struggle to play middle pocket pairs. When should you play them and when should you fold them. With a high pair, the answer is obvious, as it is with a low pair but how about a middle pair?

Position

Obviously, position counts for a great deal. If you very late in position then it is almost always worth raising. But what about at other times? Personally, I won’t play them from early position unless I can see the flop for free. Otherwise, proceed as below.

Can You Flush Out Tight Players?

If you know that the other players are mostly very tight, then it is often worth raising just to see if you can flush them out with some aggressive play. At least you will have reduced the number of total players so that your odds of winning will have increased considerably.

If nobody folds then be extremely cautious for the rest of the game. I recommend just calling for as long as you can as you will be unlikely to flush out these players later on unless you risk increasing the stakes and going all the way to the showdown.

When To Limp In

If you’re playing against loose players who will play almost any hand, your best bet is to call before the flop. Everyone will be playing to see flop and, even if someone actually does have a good hand, at least you get to see the flop cheaply and who knows how the game could change at that point?

Through To The Flop

If the cards dealt at the flop are only middle or low cards then it’s best to be aggressive and raise an amount justified by your position. Chances are that everyone will think that you have a good hand that they will be unable to beat.

Even if they don’t believe you, anyone with poor hole cards will probably fold early because they don’t think they have a chance of beating you.

Beware of anyone who calls or raises.

Don’t Blow Your Opponents Out Of The Water

When you have a great hand, it is extremely tempting to play super aggressive.

Why Play Aggressive?

Of course, in any poker game, you want to reduce the number of players participating in the hand to increase your odds of winning. Aggressive play can do that. And when you have a great hand then it gives you the confidence to play aggressive.

But if you play too aggressive then others will just fold. I’ve seen many beginners go all-in at the flop. Obviously, no one will rise to their challenge. Sure they are sometimes just trying to steal the blinds but often they really do have great cards like a pair of Aces.

Overly Aggressive Means Less Money Won

But by scaring off everyone else, they might just win the blinds and nothing else. What a waste of good cards! Good cards sure don’t grow on trees so when you do come by some great cards, you need to make sure that you use them effectively and make the most money that you can in the circumstances.

Remember, bet according to your position. This way, you won’t arouse anyone’s suspicions. They will think that either you have a moderate to good hand or are bluffing. But they sure won’t know that you have “the nuts”.

Overall, it’s better that your opponents call your bets. You can always raise and re-raise them later if you think that there are too many people competing for the pot.

Don’t Step Up Until You’re Ready

This applies equally to both cash and tournament games.

We all start out at the low stakes, as low as 1/2 cents at some poker rooms. But pretty soon, we want to ramp it up and win more money. We see those average pot size values at the higher tables or bigger tournament prizes and want a piece of the action.

The problem comes when you move up and suddenly find that the opposition is much harder. At first you might start to play more tight. But suddenly you are punished and you lose some cash pretty quickly. Many people don’t want to move back down the pecking order. They see it as a hit to their ego (I must play games for at least a dollar, not cents!).

A Progressive Approach Will Pay Dividends

The best way to play is to move up the scales only when you are ready. And if you suffer a big losing streak then move back down the scales. As well as taking this excellent progressive approach to your learning, it is also an excellent way to manage your bankroll. Risk more money as you get better and when more rewards are possible and risk less when you are not on your best game.

Remember again, we need to use logic here and not emotion. Here is a good way to implement it.

How And When To Step Up (Or Down)

Make a pact with yourself to win say 3 tournaments in a row at one level before moving up. Conversely, if you lose 3 tournaments then drop back down again.

Or for cash games, you could set yourself an amount to win before moving up. Equally, set yourself an amount to lose that if you reach it, you will move down a level.

Analogy With Motor Racing

You see this happening all the time in motor racing. There are several classes of motorsport with the rewards higher at each stage (monetary and satisfaction from higher racing speeds). However, the competition is also higher, as is the level of skill required.

Drivers frequently drop back a formula for a year or two to hone their skills before trying again at a higher level. And they are usually better off because of it.

A Quick Way To Calculate Your “Odds” and “Outs”

Poker is all about probabilities. If you want to become a successful poker player and by that, I mean a player that consistently makes money, then you need to understand probabilities.

Now I have a minor in statistics but even I find the whole idea of poker probabilties to be confusing to say the least. But there are some tricks that we can use to make it easier. Here is a way to calculate approximate probabilities.

So let’s say that the flop comes and you have a couple of diamonds and there are two more diamonds in the community cards. Altogether you have four diamonds and you need one more to make a flush. So what are your real chances of making a flush?

First of all you need to work out how many “outs” you have. Outs are the number of ways that you can make a flush. Clearly you can do this if you get another diamond card. And because you already have 4 of them then there are only 9 left (13-4=9).

Then the formula to work out the approximate odds of hitting a flush are:

ODDS = OUTS X CHANCES x 2

Because the turn and the river are still to come then you have 2 more chances to get another card and make a flush.

So let’s calculate the odds:

ODDS = 9 x 2 x 2 = 36%

So you have roughly a 36% chance of hitting a flush.

This might sound difficult but with practice you can easily work out many approximate odds on the fly.

Alternatively, you can use a poker calculator which will work these odds and outs for you on the fly. They are very useful and work with most of the popular poker rooms. The disadvantage with them is that they are obviously useless if you want to play regular offline poker.

When Should You Stop Playing Poker For The Day

It is very easy to play poker for the entire day. What can happen is that you’ll win some, lose some, win some more, lose some more and eventually bust your bankroll! Or worse still, add more to your bank and bust it again!

At the end of the day, it’s always your emotions that let you down. Remember, we must exercise logic over our emotions. We are in this game to win money and also have some fun but not the other way around - never forget that!

Poker Is Like The Stock Market

Poker shares a lot with the stock market and it’s many stories of riches and bankruptcies. Just like stocks, it’s a game of logic over emotion but specifically, it’s also a game of chasing your wins and getting out when you are losing.

For example, the classic bad stock trader will lose 5% and instead of reducing his position, he will pile more money into it! This is consistently losing against some opponents in one poker room and throwing more money into your account to try and “right a wrong”. This is emotions winning again.

Instead you should quit and live to fight another day.

The flip side is the saying “quit while you are ahead”. That maxim has some merit but if your stock rises 5% and your analysis indicates that it can go higher then don’t let the fear of losing what you have already gained take you over. Logic dictates that you should put more money into it.

It’s the same with poker. If you are consistently winning against a few opponents and they are still playing then why would you throw away the potential to win even more? Maybe if you felt sorry for them but, frankly, poker is not the right game to play if you want to be charitable to others!

Live To Fight Another Day

When you cannot get the better of your opponents then leave that room. In fact, the way I personally play is that if I lose my allocated starting money for that room then I will never refill it from my account. I will always go to another room instead. This stops you from trying to “get even” and also gives you more experience of other players. It calms you down and gets you less stressed. It even makes the game more fun!

Play Depending On Your Position

Every experienced poker player knows that your chances of winning depend greatly on your position.

Early position is at a huge disadvantage compared to late position. In fact, many players will nearly always fold from early position unless they have a killer hand.

In general, if you do decide to play from early position, make sure that your game is quite passive. As soon as you start to get aggressive then you will have no shortage of opponents trying to re-raise you to a level that you are not interested in.

The converse of this is that you should take full advantage of being in late position and play aggressively. The odds are stacked much more in your favour so not only will you find other players submitting to you but the risk to reward ratio is also much more attractive.

You should also change how much you bet depending on your position. Bet marginally more the later your position is. This ensure that you are taking the appropriate risk for the appropriate reward (pot combined with probability of winning it). Bet size should always vary depending on your position and definitely not depending on the strength of your hand. As soon as you start betting more when you have a good hand then your opponents will spot this and stop throwing chips into the pot when you basically “tell” them how great your hand is though your playing habits.

Easy Beginner Starting Hand Rules

As you get better at poker, you’ll realise that starting hands can be good or bad not just depending on what they are but also what type of opponents you are playing against and what your position on the table is?

This can sound way too complicated for beginners who just want to start playing and get a few good useful tips from the beginning. In that case, I recommend that you only see the flop when these are your starting cards:

Pairs

Anything higher than 7-7. You might be tempted to play 2-2 but it is simply too risky and you can bet that someone will have better than you if they have decided to play all the way to the showdown. Bluffing will not help you then.

Others

A-K, A-Q. If you don’t even have a pair then you need either the best connector available or the next best thing. At least these cards offer the possibility of getting a top pair from the community cards. And if someone else gets the same pair then at least you will have a game winning high kicker to go with it.

If you play like this then you will appear to be a tight player who is to be reckoned with when they bet or raise. You’ll be able to use this image later and force people to fold. For example, you spot a player who limps in and checks. If you are bold and make a hefty bet of around 4x the big blind then they will be unlikely to challenge you.

Increase Your Hand Value By Bluffing

Many beginners often think that a hand is always good or always bad, no matter who your opponents are.

This could not be further from the truth.

Obviously we know that bluffing is a kind of deceit that we can use to trick people into thinking that we have better cards than we really do. But the real value of bluffing comes from decreasing your number of opponents.

You see, as I have said many times before, poker is a game of probabilities. If you can reduce your number of opponents then suddenly a mediocre hand can become a great hand.

Or to put it another way, the more people who participate in the game, the less chance you have of winning.

This is why all great poker players are aggressive. If you are not aggressive then you will become victim to the aggressive players. If you are weak and always limp in then you will always be punished by raises. On the other hand, if you are aggressive then you can prey on the weak and even if they have good hands, they will surrender them as soon as they start to fear you.

So it is important to play aggressive to reduce the number of competitors. If your hand isn’t actually any good then it is still worth playing aggressive and bluffing if you think that you can force others to fold when they believe your bluff.

The best types of players are what is known as tight-aggressive. They do not go wild with emotions, they use their head and play with logic. And they use aggression to prey upon the weak and turn the odds in their favour.

Know Your Players And Take Notes

In poker, it is absolutely essential that you know who you are playing against. Otherwise, if you don’t modify your style then you will win some games and lose others. You will never truly develop a consistent winning style and in the worst case scenario, you will lose your bankroll again and again.

First, you should know about the basic different types of poker players as most people will approximate to one or two of these - The Different Types Of Poker Players And Why You Need To Know Them.

Secondly, you should pay careful attention to others at your table and take note of their behaviours. You can either do this from memory or you can use the note taking facility which is available at most poker rooms. This allows you to make notes which will be especially valuable in future when you meet these opponents again. These notes are saved even when you log off and log on to the poker room another day.

Third, I highly recommend that you use a room that has avatars (cartoon player characters). These avatars are not just for fun, they are a great way to make a visual association of a player and his behaviour. They really help you to recall a behaviour and allow you to rely less on manual note taking. Some poker rooms do not allow avatars and are still worth playing at but be prepared to have difficulties in remembering what kind of player “superman1574″ is!

Fourth, there are some very good websites out there that keep stats on all poker players at the major poker rooms. They allow you to find out a lot of information about your opponent and his playing habits before you even start to play against him. They are subscription based so if you are just starting out then I recommend you keep your money or put it into learning material instead. But when you get better at it, the cost will be minimal and the information could be highly valuable.

The Two And A Half Second Bluffing Rule

Mike Caro touched on this in his lectures but he is not the first nor the only person to have talked about this rule, also sometimes called the 2 second or the 3 second rule.

Basically, if you want to bluff then you should wait 2.5 seconds before doing so. Why is this? Think about it:

Playing Immediately

If you play immediately then people almost always guess that you are bluffing. Those with a big bankroll especially love to call on these types of “quick draw” players and snuff them out. They never believe that they have a good hand and will risk a little just to find out more about this type of player.

Waiting Too Long Before Playing

It’s pretty well known that if someone is taking a while to decide what to do then they probably have a pretty good hand. After all, if the hand is poor then you will quickly check or fold.

However, if the hand is good and worth playing, then there are many different ways to decide what to do next. When a person becomes really indecisive and doesn’t want to make the wrong decision, then they normally take a while to decide and give away their bluff. If you do this then you can expect to be called by others who won’t want to risk raising.

So remember, 2.5 seconds or near enough is the best strategy to use if you want to bluff.

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