GENERAL STRATEGY

BET / RAISE / FOLD
Dealing Cards and Betting Rounds - The Basics

After any initial cards are dealt, players are usually called upon to act in turn, moving clockwise around the table. When it is their turn to act players have the following options:

Check – players can only check when there is no bet during the current round, and the act of checking passes the action clockwise to the next person in the hand. If all active players check, the round is considered complete.

Bet – players may bet if no other players have bet during the current round.

Fold – players who fold forfeit their cards and cannot win or act again during the current hand.

Call – players can call if other players have bet during the current round; this requires the calling player to match the highest bet made.

Raise – players may raise if other players have bet during the current round; this requires the raising player to match the highest bet made, and make a subsequent bet.

Additional community cards which are visible, may be dealt after each betting round has finished, changing the best poker hand that each player may make with the cards available to them.

Showdown - Once the last bet or raise has been called during the final round of betting, showdown occurs; the remaining active players must show or “declare” their hands, and the player(s) with the best ranking hand(s) win the pot.

Players often show their hands in order, rather than all at the same time. Multiple players can share a single pot, with the pot divided in different ways depending on the game rules and how each player’s hand ranks against their opponents.

When should I bet?

Typically you should bet when you have a good hand. Betting enables you to increase the size of the pot you can win and also helps to protect your hand against weaker hands that can improve to become stronger than yours as betting encourages players with weaker hands to fold. Betting can also help you win the hand at any point if every player decides to fold.

When should I raise?

When you are faced with a bet from another player but believe your hand is stronger you should raise to increase the pot size you can win. When you raise it also gives you an opportunity to win the hand at that instant if the other players decide to fold. As with betting, raising is another way to protect your hand if although you are confident it is the best hand at that moment it could still be vulnerable to other hands as the betting rounds continue.

When should I fold?

As a general rule you should fold weak hands or when you are facing a bet and you think your hand has little chance of winning the pot unless you can successfully bluff.

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BLUFFING
Bluffing is an art form, the ability to trick or deceive your opponent that your weak hand is strong, so strong in fact that it will make the other player fold. Bluffing occurs when you intentionally bet an amount which encourages your opponent to fold and you win the pot without having to show your hand.

When bluffing, make sure you choose your opponents and the situation wisely. If your opponent doesn’t seem to be the type of player who scares lightly, perhaps that opponent is not a good target to bluff.

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POSITION
Position in poker refers to the order of which you act in a poker game. The order of betting is extremely important in all forms of poker as by acting after the other players you get important information on the strength of their hands before you have to make your decision on whether to bet, raise or fold.

Acting in late position can be great advantage and a players position in the hand is so important that it almost always dictates the way you should play in each situation. For example if I have Jack / Ten off-suit I may be happy to call with the hand if I am in late position however if I am in early position I may elect to fold as with a number of players still left act after me, there is a higher chance that I will be faced with a raise and either call a raise and be forced to play the rest of the hand out of position at a disadvantage or fold and waste the money spent on calling in the first place. Neither option is favourable and both are due to positional play.

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POT ODDS
Pot Odds is a term used often in poker to help players to make correct mathematical decisions when playing a drawing hand.

An easy way to understand pot odds is asking yourself whether there is enough in the pot to be won to call the bet you are facing.

For example if you are drawing to a flush on the flop when you hold say two spades and there are also two spades on the flop there you have nine spades left in the deck that can complete your flush which we call 9 “outs” which in turn means have a 19% chance of making that flush on the turn. Pot odds will steer you to only call bets where the odds are in your favour. If the bet is 5 pesos then the total pot needs to be roughly more than 25 pesos for it to be worthwhile you calling to make the flush on the next card.

If you follow the table below it will show you the approximate percentages of hitting one of your outs on the turn for your drawing hand given the number of outs you have on the flop.

Flop Outs           F% To Hit The Turn

20                                       43

19                                       40

18                                       38

17                                       36

16                                       34

15                                       32

14                                       30

13                                       28

12                                       25

11                                       23

10                                       21

9                                         19

8                                         17

7                                         15

6                                         13