Starting Hand Tactics

Knowing what to do before the flop is a commonly thought through practice by poker players. And with good reason too - whatever actions you take here will affect you for the rest of the game.

Remember that unless you are a loose cannon, most of your plays here will be to fold. You must be patient and wait for a decent hand with which to progress. You don’t necessarilly need to wait for pocket pairs but you should have a good hand which is also determined by your position.

When you have a great hand such as a pair of aces or kinds, you should definitely raise. But remember, you should be consistent in the amount that you raise dependent on your position. The strength of your hand should merely dictate whether you raise or whether you fold.

The more players that are in the game, the more often you should pursue “weaker” hands. This is because the price of entry compared to the potential winnings is very small. Therefore, the risk to reward ratio is the same as it would be for a better hand in a game of fewer players. However, if there is a lot of betting from early position and many others fold then not only is there a likelihood that those betting players could have good hands but also the size of the pot will be much reduced. If you hold weak to marginal hands in this case then it is better to fold.

So basically, you should raise or even re-raise on a very good hand such as AA or KK - QQ, JJ and TT following behind. If you’re in middle position then consider also playing medium pairs down to the likes of 77 and good high straight and flush draws. In late position, this can even be extended to the lowest pairs, connected straight flush draws and ace high flush draws.

Anything else - dump it!