Pre flop Strategy and Starting hands in Texas Hold 'em

After 2 callers limp in from early position, you limp in from middle position with AK offsuit. Everyone else folds to the button, who also limps in. The Small Blind also calls, and the Big Blind checks. The flop comes down a beautiful 2 K 7 rainbow; the perfect flop for AK. Everyone checks to you, and because there are no draws out there to worry about, you bet out only half the pot. The button folds without a second thought, but to your surprise, the Small Blind calls.

Then all hell breaks loose when the Big Blind raises 4 times your bet. Now you're facing a potentially troublesome situation. The Big Blind could be bluffing (though not likely with a check-raise maneuver, it is possible that someone may use this technique as a bluff), he could be getting over-excited with his K4 in the hole, or he could even have the worst starting hand in Texas Hold 'em: 2 7 offsuit. If the last option is the case, then he just flopped a lucky two pair against your one pair, and you're in pretty bad shape in this hand.

And that's just one big problem. The Small Blind may also be a problem. He checked and only called. He did not bet out or raise. The check-and-call is often the sign of a player on a draw, but there are no possible draws on this board, so it's more likely that this player may be trapping you. Perhaps he hit a set if he's got pocket deuces. Since he was getting 11 to 1 pot odds to call preflop, he could realistically have any given two cards: 22, 77, K7, K2, 72.

Of course this is a hypothetical situation, but similar to many situations that poker players have faced or will face at some point in their poker career. But don't worry too much; this situation can be avoided. The trick to avoiding these types of scary and sometimes expensive scenarios is a simple technique known as the preflop raise.

A preflop raise, simply defined, is a raise that a poker player makes after being dealt their hole cards and before the flop is dealt. The preflop raise is a way of alerting other players that you have a strong hand, like Aces or Kings. Not that you always will necessarily have these starting hands when you raise preflop, but it will make other players stop and think that you might before they decide to put a large portion of their own money into the pot. Often, this is enough to scare most players out of the hand, and you'll likely only be called by one or sometimes maybe two other opponents with decent strength hands of their own. This will usually eliminate the worry in the above mentioned scenario because the blinds would not have been likely to call your preflop raise with a hand like 27, K4, or K2.

The Advantages to the Preflop Raise

Advantages to preflop raising are many. One advantage is that you narrow the field. Playing against one other player in the hand is always simpler than playing in a multiway pot. You only have to figure out what one player is holding versus trying to figure out many hands. The more players there are in a hand, the higher the odds of being outdrawn by an opponent become.

Another advantage is that when you let off a preflop raise, you give your opponent or opponents the impression that you have Pocket Aces. So in a situation where you raise with AK and miss the flop, you can follow through with a continuation bet after the flop. Since your opponents realize that you could very realistically have a big overpair, they'll fold to you roughly 70% ( the percentage of the time a player misses the flop with 2 unpaired hole cards) of the time.

Still another advantage to the preflop raise, is that it gives you a better idea of the range of possible starting hands that your opponent may be holding. For example, if he does have AA or KK, he'll likely re-raise you before the flop. You can then fold hands like AK, AQ, or JT and save yourself some chips. If they do call you, you can be reasonably sure that they may have certain types of starting hands and are unlikely to have other holdings.

The Disadvantages of the Preflop Raise

Preflop raising can work to your disadvantage if you are too predictable about it. If you only raise with Aces, a player may call you with anything just for the opportunity to hit a set, 2 pair, a straight, or a flush and take your whole chipstack. Of course if they miss the flop, they'll just throw their hand away and not pay you off. Limiting preflop raising to only big pairs will typically end up in either winning small pots or losing large ones when your opponents catch on to what you're doing.

Raising out of position can lead to big problems when you get alot of callers. Also, raising with marginal hands can result in catastrophic losses if you can't control bluffing off your stack or being trapped by a player with a better starting hand.


Effective Preflop Raising

The most effective way to utilize the preflop raise is to use it sparingly. That's not to say that you should only raise with big pairs, but you should take all of the factors at the table into consideration before deciding whether or not to raise. Consider the following before raising:

Your own table image - If you just caught a couple of big starting hands and raised the last couple of times out, another preflop raise here isn't usually going to be effective. Other players will believe that you are simply trying to bully the table, and will likely call you down or fight back with a re-raise of their own.

The image of the other players in the hand - If the player in the Big Blind never folds to a raise, no matter what kind of rags he's holding, then the purpose of the preflop raise has been eliminated, unless your only goal is to get lots of money into the pot.

Your hand strength - If you raise with raggedy starting hands, you're likely to get beat by someone with a bigger hand. The higher winning percentage hands you raise with, the more profitable the play will become over the long haul.

Your position in relation to the button - As a general rule of thumb, the weaker your table position is, the stronger your starting hand should be to raise with. When you have superior position, you can effectively raise with a wider variety of hands including suited connectors, one gappers, weak aces, and other suited cards.

As a rule, I will always (well maybe only 99% of the time) raise if I am the first player to enter a pot. This serves multiple purposes. If there are already a lot of limpers ahead of me, a preflop raise will often still end up getting called by multiple players, making a difficult multiway pot. At that point I can seriously re-evaluate my hand and determine how good of a chance this thing really has of winning in a multiway pot. If it's less likely to win, I'm more likely to throw it away. Additionally, this strategy helps me to throw away weaker drawing hands from out of position. If I'm afraid to throw a raise out there, it's usually a sign that my hand and position is weak and I should just toss my cards into the muck.

When I do raise with a drawing hand, such as a suited connector or a suited Ace, I improve my chances of either winning the blinds preflop or being able to set good prices for myself if I do hit a draw, because it will be done from position. Typically though, I like to wait to play my drawing hands against multiple opponents because I'll end up with better pot odds to draw to, so in those situations, since I'm not the first to enter the pot, I can go ahead and limp in.

By always raising when I'm first in, I tend to play tighter and throw more hands away when I take a 2nd look at them and say, "Nah! If it's not good enough to raise with, it's not good enough to play." Also, I don't fall into the trap of only raising with big pairs and becoming predictable to my opponents. Since I stick to a tight aggressive game, my raises are respected and feared. After all, am I raising with 78 suited just because everyone else folded, or am I really holding Aces? It's enough to make opponents a little nervous.


Click here to view some general Texas Hold em poker starting hands charts.

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Vanessa Rousso - The Lady Maverick of Poker

Poker beauty Vanessa Rousso, also known as The Lady Maverick of Poker, has been taking the poker world by storm while still attending law school. She graduated as valedictorian in 2001 from her high school in Wellington, Florida, and went on to receive her bachelor's degree in economics from Duke. She attributes much of her poker success to the focus on game theory during her studies in economics.

During one year on the World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour circuits, Rousso has already become one of the top-25 female money earners of all time. In 2005, she finished seventh in the WSOP Tournament Circuit event at Harrah's New Orleans and sixth in the 2006 WSOP Tournament Circuit event at Harrah's Atlantic City. Also in 2006...

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Improve Your Poker Game Through Post-Flop Play

In order to improve your chances of making money playing poker, you must be able to capitalize on the money lying in the pots after the flop comes down. While stealing the blinds pre-flop is an important part of any poker game, post flop play will typically yield the biggest pots.

Post-flop play stems from 3 basic scenarios that are a result of the pre-flop action. Those scenarios are:

* No action - This scenario is a result of everyone at the table folding to the pre-flop raiser or re-raiser, or of everyone folding to the Big Blind.

* Heads up action - When only 2 players see the flop, the resulting action will be heads up.

* Multi-way action - When 3 or more players see the flop, this results in multi-way post flop action, or a "multi-way pot."

No Action

No action - Nothing much to explore here. No post-flop action is the result of pre-flop play where all but one player folds. In this case, no flop is dealt, and therefor there is no post-flop action. Congratulations, you just saved some chips!

Heads Up Action

Heads up action - When there is post-flop action, this type of action is the preferred scenario of any professional or serious poker player. Heads up action is simply easier to play. Bluffs and semi-bluffs are successful a higher percentage of the time than in multi-way pots. It is easier to get a read on your opponent's hand strength. Often in heads up action, pots can be won with low to middle pairs or even high-card hands.

The keys to successful post-flop play include position and aggression. Successful post-flop play will depend largely in part on your pre-flop choices. You will win more pots playing from position than you will out of position. You will win more pots when you are the aggressor (the bettor or raiser) than you will by checking and calling. Therefor, one of the most effective improvements you can make to your post-flop play may be an adjustment to your pre-flop stratgey. Open with aggressive raises from superior position to improve your post-flop winning percentage. By coming out aggressively pre-flop and playing from position, a multitude of different ways that you can win the pot will open up to you.

The most important tool you will have at your disposal will be the continuation bet. This is when a player raises pre-flop, and then fires another bet into the pot after the flop, whether or not the flop improved the raiser's hand. When you enter into a heads up pot with a preflop raise, you should follow through with a continuation bet 75%-90% of the time, regardless of what flopped. Your opponent will completely miss the flop roughly 70% of the time, and your continuation bet will win you the pot the in most cases.

Another tool that a pre-flop raise from postion will give you is the semi-bluff. This is when you flop a draw, such as a straight or flush draw, and bet or even raise as though you have a made hand. If you get called and then hit on the turn, you are likely to get paid off in a big way! Even if you miss on the turn, you'll still have a free shot at the draw most of the time. Your opponent usually will not bet on the turn because either (a) he will be afraid of facing another big raise, or (b) will have the best hand, and will be anticipating (and probably hoping for) another bet from you on the turn. Take advantage of this oppotunity to see a free river by checking the turn if it's a blank.

You can also utilize "feeler bets," which are bets or raises to determine the strength of your opponent's hand or the strength of your hand in relation to theirs. While you are spending some chips in this situation, try to avoid thinking to much about your "lost chips" when facing an opponent who is giving you clues to the fact that they have you beat. The reason you are putting out small feeler bets is to save yourself large amounts of chips if you're hand is beat.

Multi-way Action

Multi-way action - Multi-way pots are typically the most difficult to play, and should be avoided in most situations whenever possible, especially if playing from out of position. Multi-way pots can be good to play in, however, with drawing hands or small to medium pocket pairs. The reason is that if you flop a monster with a disguised hand, you're more likely to get paid off as someone in the hand is likely to have a hand that is strong enough to call you with, even if it is 2nd best. If you were to flop a set with a small pair or a a flush or a straight with a suited connector, you'll have plenty of players in the hand who might have top-pair-top-kicker, 2 pair, or a draw that may be willing to pay you off even if you fire a huge bet.

If you do flop a draw in a multi-way pot, tricky plays aren't as likely to work. Stick to good pot odds to chase a draw. If the price isn't right, throw the hand away. You will find good pot odds often enough in multi-way pots to make it worth throwing away a few draws when the odds are against you.

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Bankroll Management

By Mrs. Sinner

A poker bankroll, simply defined, is money set aside strictly for the purpose of playing poker that the player can afford to lose. The idea though, is not to lose it. The idea is to build on that bankroll to either move up into higher stakes or to make a profit and keep the winnings for personal use.

Now if your just playing poker for fun, don't bother reading this article. Take whatever amount you feel comfortable with to the table now and enjoy a friendly game of poker!

If you're interested in building on your bankroll for the purpose of adding to your income or even playing poker professionally, read on.

Play poker with your poker bankroll, and only use your bankroll for poker.

An important part of bankroll management is that your poker bankroll should be used only for poker. In order to play your best while at the tables, you should never be playing with more than you can afford to lose. If the idea of losing the money you have on the table scares you, you will play scared poker. Anyone who's ever played scared poker knows that scared poker is not winning poker. In any game of poker, you must take risks and play aggressively in order to win. A player who cannot afford to lose is far less likely to take those aggressive chances.

Always keep your money for important things such as food, rent, etc., separate from your bankroll.

Your bankroll should determine the stakes you are playing

Always let your bankroll dictate the stakes you are playing for, every single time you play. The purpose of this is so that when you take a big downswing (yes, I said "when," not "if"), you won't end up bankrupted. Your bankroll can start at any amount that your feel comfortable with. With the popularity of online play, it's easy to find games with stakes as low as 2¢ to 10¢, which is low enough to start off your bankroll with even a small deposit.

Buying into the ring

When playing no-limit or pot-limit ring games, you should always buy in for the maximum amount allowed. The exception would be if your bankroll does not support the max buy-in for the lowest stakes available. If you don't have the max buy-in for the amount you would like to play but there are lower stakes games available, you should move down in stakes to a game that your bankroll can support the full buy-in amount. Your bankroll should be enough to support 20 max buy-ins.

For limit ring games, the general consensus is that you bankroll should have at least 300 Big Bets.

Sit and go and multi-table tournaments

For sit and go tournaments (or SNG's), you should also have at least 20 buy-ins in your bankroll when deciding which game to play.

Multi-table tournaments (or MTT's) are generally considered high risk investments. A very good player is very likely to only cash in about 15-30% of these large tournaments. However, the amounts for cashing can be rather large. If playing MTTs regularly for long term profit is your thing, your bankroll should be able to support at least 50 buy-ins to the tournies you choose to enter.

Moving up

At some point, if you are a winning poker player, your bankroll will grow to the point where it can support buy-ins into higher stakes games. When you reach that point, go for it! Many players are under the misconception that moving up in stakes may be moving out of their skill level, which is simply not necessarily true. Remember that anyone can start off with any bankroll. Some deposit $50, some deposit $500, while others start off with thousands of dollars or more. You will notice some differences in gameplay at different stakes. Generally, higher stakes games have more skilled players per table, while lower buy-in games have more donkeys per table. Still, there are donkeys and skilled players at every level. A couple of times in Chris Ferguson's professional career, he only played freerolls, dollar tournies, and 10 cent ring games. He was utilizing a bankroll management strategy. The stakes he was playing had nothing to do with his level of skill. You'll also see plenty of people pulling the hardest donk moves in even the highest stakes games.

If you have already reached a level where you are comfortable with your winnings from those games and not looking to move up any higher, you can cash out those winnings for personal use.

Moving down

When your bankroll takes a hit that necessitates moving down into lower stakes games, you must move down in stakes if you are to remain in control of your poker bankroll. It can be difficult after playing for the big money to move down into games where the winnings are only fractions of what they were in the higher games. Even many pros who are forced to move down often are battling with the boredom of the smaller prizes. It is important to avoid the tilt that can be caused after taking a hit. Stay focused on the fact that you need to rebuild your bankroll so that you can get back into the higher stakes games. If you find yourself bored in lower stakes games, try to think of them as "play-off"" games to your Super Bowl, World Series, higher-stakes game.

Make a chart

Once you have committed to a bankroll management strategy, create a chart and log your progress after each game. Keep it somewhere you can always see it so that you never stray from it when buying into a game.

View the bankroll limits chart.

Stick to your bankroll management strategy, no matter what. Play winning poker. Watch your bankroll grow.

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