Texas Holdem Strategy Tips for Beginners

Okay, so I thought it might be fun to launch a blog about my experiences playing Texas holdem. I've been playing Texas holdem since 2003, mostly online, but I do have some live experience too. I was originally a seven card stud player, but I had some buddies who encouraged me to get involved in a weekly private poker game online, so I learned the basics, then I started picking up some strategy. I'm not what you'd considered a professional level player, but I play well enough that I break even. And when I do lose, I don't lose so much money that it wasn't a fair trade for the amount of fun I had at the tables. So anyway, for my first post here, I thought I'd offer some Texas holdem strategy tips for beginners. (I don't feel like I'm a good enough poker player to offer strategy tips for experts.)

1. Have starting hand requirements. When I first started playing Texas holdem online, I had no starting hand requirements at all. In fact, I wasn't even sure what a good starting hand was. And I had no idea that starting hands differ in value depending on how many people are playing in a given hand. You can read more about Texas holdem starting hands here.

2. Learn how to fold on the flop. At least 50% of the time, you should fold on the flop. Most flops miss most players. That being said, aggression can work wonders on the flop too. You just have to take into account how many players there are and how likely they are to call. I like to semi-bluff on the flop, but I'll seldom try to semi-bluff more than 2 players at a time. It's just too unlikely to get more players than that to fold. (The good cards have to be out there SOMEWHERE.)

3. Don't tilt. This was the hardest thing for me to learn. But if you're going to play emotional poker, you're probably going to lose more often than you win. That's fine if you're a recreational Texas holdem player with a lot of money to blow. But otherwise, you need to learn how to make decisions based on mathematical reasons, not emotional reasons.

I'll write another post offering more Texas holdem tips for beginners one of these days, but that's a pretty good start to a brand new Texas holdem blog, I think.