Poker Lesson

There are three strategies for playing a poker hand/game.

1. Play your cards. This sounds simple, but is not. It requires understanding the math behind each hand, what your chances of having the best hand based upon the cards on the table and playing against the amount it will cost you to stay in a hand, irrespective of what you think the other players may have. One could be a fantastic poker player by simply playing the correct odds on your hand each time. Under this strategy, it is smart to stay in hands when you are behind, if the bets are low enough, because the percentage chance of catching up outweighs the cost of staying in. Phil Helmuth plays this way. It is a "conservative" way of playing and can get you in trouble if you play it too predictably, but in amatuer poker, a player can play this way and win more than he/she loses.

2. Play your opponents cards. This is an entirely different strategy, where you "read" you opponent and by his bets and past bets and facial gestures, etc, you determine what he/she has. Under this strategy, if you sense your opponent is weak and you are weak, you can win hands by making big bets you know they won't match. If you sense your opponent is strong, you fold, etc. Mike Mattasao plays this way.

3. Trick your opponents into misreading your hand. This is a clever way of playing, but no better than one or the other. By representing certain cards that you do not have, you may entice a player to misplay his/her own hand. A common example of this is slow playing a good hand.

All of these strategies are solid if used in the right situation. It is advisable to play different strategies on different hands, never getting into a rhythm that you think your opponents can pick up upon.