4 Quick Poker Tips to up Your Game
With the rise of popularity of poker, there are many opportunities to play against real-life opponents who would love to put their skills to the test. Thanks to frequented platforms like Guts online casino, finding a poker table is easy as pie. But if you truly want to dominate the opposition, you’re going to need to demonstrate an extensive knowledge of the game and play your hands well.
We’ll give you 4 quick tips to integrate into your poker game today:
1. Adopt the tight-and-aggressive playing style
The idea behind the tight and aggressive (TAG) playing style is to put your chips in while you’re ahead of the curve. This means that you need to tighten up on the range of hands that you’re going to play pre-flop and re-raise only with the strongest hole cards. Too many players call when they should be raising. In general, the best poker players rarely call – most of the time their moveset is to either raise or fold. By doing so, you can win the pot by scaring your opponents into folding, even if you technically don’t have the strongest hand.
2. Learn to sniff out an opponent’s weaknesses
In poker, there’s a saying that every player has a tell. Granted, these are going to be easier to spot in a live setting, but even online, there are certain patterns you can learn to recognize. For instance, some players rarely bluff, and tend to either check or call when they have a weak hand. Learn to spot these, and, most importantly, capitalize on their weaknesses. For instance, against tight players that tend to fold more often than call, you can get away with bluffing more (and less so when up against a so-called calling station).
3. Know when to defend your big blind
Some big blinds simply aren’t worth defending. However, with the right pot odds, it makes sense to enter the pot with the kinds of hands you’d normally be folding. In essence, when up against 3 or more limpers, you’re entering the pot at a discount. An example of such otherwise garbage hand strengths would be K6o. Of course, if someone comes out with a massive raise, you should be folding hands like these, as defending your big blind with a weak hand puts you at too much risk.
4. Sometimes, it’s better to be aggressive when you’re on a draw
Remember what we said about the tight-and-aggressive playstyle? Most people think they need to play their draws passively by calling, but that’s not always the case. The reason being is that, by displaying strength, you can get another player to fold purely based on that. If, on the other hand, you decide that you want to chase your flush or straight draw, you’re effectively putting yourself at the mercy of whatever cards are going to be dealt in the later streets. Since you’re not bluffing with complete air in instances like these, this move is also referred to as a semi-bluff.
Conclusion
Although poker can be easy to get into, it requires years and years of study before you can truly master it. By implementing the tips laid out above into your gameplan, you’ll be one step closer to beating the competition.
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