How to Win Texas Holdem

Texas Hold'em...minutes to learn, life time to master. One of the most important things that you need to do in order to win, is to be patient. Most people that are unsuccessful are the ones that like to play every hand and chase cards. Be selective on the hands you play and you will increase your odds greatly. Get an understanding of how the other players at the table are playing, loose....tight? This is important to know because the person playing loose is very hard to bet out of a hand and the players that are tight usually only play when they have a monster hand.

A few tips to remember. A loose player likes to bluff alot, one way to feel a loose player out is to raise his bet or check raise him and watch how they react. Remember mentally how they reacted in each betting round, so if it does come to the show down and you see their cards, you have just been given a great read on their style of play. A tight player generally only plays the "nuts" early on, but then they know you have a read on them and their style of play, so in the later rounds they try stealing the pot with a big bet. If you have a feeling they might be trying to steal the pot, again raise their bet. If a tight player is quick to call, more than likely they have a hand so fold. Otherwise with your raise, a tight player will put you on a higher hand, fold and wait until their hand comes along.

Watch how players are betting and remember that, so if it comes to a show down and cards are turned over, you'll get a good read on their betting sytle. What I mean here is; did they have a made hand or were they on a draw? Did they bet on the flop, turn and river, or slow play their hand? It's very important to learn how others play in order to win in the later rounds when the blinds are higher.

Playing Pocket Pairs. a couple things I suggest, if its early in a game wait to see a flop. The more players at the table, the riskier it is to go all-in. Wait until you see the flop and then if you pocket pair is higher than the board, bet aggressivly and see how others react. If over cards come out and someone bets big, do not be affraid to fold. Be cautious to what the board gives you, does it give other players an opportunity at a straight or flush? Several times I have had my Aces cracked going all in pre-flop. Later in the game and with less players, pocket pairs increase in strength, becasue you are not on a draw, unless someone else has a pocket pair that is higher than yours.

Bluffing, this is a big part of the game. Alot of players seem to be bluffing more (more so online). Here again, you need to get a feel on others playing styles in order to get a read on them to determine if it is a bluff or strong hand. All players bluff to win a pot, you have to. I think you need to bluff a win, maybe one an hour. If you are a player that doesn't get caught in bluffs early on, it makes it that much easier to bluff a win once the pot is larger in the later rounds. If you do get caught early and often, players are more than likely to call your bets and get tells that you may not know you have.

On TILT? Another important part of this game is to control your emotions. We all take bad beats or fold a winning hand, it's a part of the game, but if you get upset or go on tilt, you will not win! Stand up for a minute, sit out a hand, get your thoughts together, put it behind you and get re-focused.

Always remember to be patient and play solid hands. It's a marathon not a sprint. A Thought to play by; it's aways better to rake a small pot than to lose a big one.

Philip Perkins
http://www.thatsnolimit.com

In The News:

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President-elect Barack Obama listens to a question at a news conference in Chicago, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)AP - Democrats are growing impatient with President-elect Barack Obama's refusal to inject himself in the major economic crises confronting the country. Obama has sidestepped some policy questions by saying there is only one president at a time. But the dodge is wearing thin. "He's going to have to be more assertive than he's been," House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., told consumer advocates Thursday.



Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard during heightened security checks at Chennai International airport in Chennai, India, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008. Indian airports were put on high alert after the government received warnings of possible airborne attacks. (AP Photo)AP - A Pakistani militant group apparently used an Indian operative as far back as 2007 to scout targets for the elaborate plot against India's financial capital, authorities said Thursday, a blow to Indian officials who have blamed the deadly attacks entirely on Pakistani extremists.



Auto executives, from left, General Motors Chief Executive Officer Richard Wagoner, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger,  Ford Chief Executive Officer Alan Mulally, and Chrysler Chief Executive Officer Robert Nardelli testify on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008, before a Senate Banking Committee hearing on the auto industry bailout.  (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)AP - Desperate U.S. automakers ran into fresh obstacles from skeptical lawmakers Thursday as they appealed with rising urgency — and a new dose of humility — for a $34 billion bailout. Without help, said one senator, "we're looking at a death sentence."



In this March 31, 2004 file photo, the entrance to the Blackwater Security Consulting Firearms Training Center is seen in Moyock, N.C. Blackwater Worldwide guards involved in the deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting of Iraqi civilians could face mandatory 30-year prison sentences under an aggressive anti-drug law being considered as the Justice Department readies indictments, people close to the case said Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008.  (AP Photo/Yoon S. Byun, File)AP - Blackwater Worldwide guards involved in the deadly 2007 Baghdad shooting of Iraqi civilians could face mandatory 30-year prison sentences under an aggressive anti-drug law being considered as the Justice Department readies indictments, people close to the case said.



In this Monday, Dec. 1, 2008 fiel photo Secretary of State-designate Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference with President-elect Barack Obama, not pictured, in Chicago. With just over six weeks to go before Obama is sworn in as president, Clinton is scrambling to pay down some $7 million in campaign debt before federal ethics rules prohibit her from taking contributions to do so. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)AP - With just weeks before President-elect Barack Obama is sworn in, his choice for secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is scrambling to reduce massive campaign debt before federal ethics rules prohibit her from doing so.



AP - A romantic marriage proposal on the Oregon coast turned deadly for the bride-to-be when a wave swept her out to sea. Scott Napper had taken 22-year-old Leafil Alforque to Proposal Rock near Neskowin Beach to pop the question at a place that got its name from couples ready to marry. Napper and Alforque had been dating since they met on the Internet in 2005.

AP - When you're smiling, the whole world really does smile with you. A paper being published Friday in a British medical journal concludes that happiness is contagious — and that people pass on their good cheer even to total strangers. American researchers who tracked more than 4,700 people in Framingham, Mass., as part of a 20-year heart study also found the transferred happiness is good for up to a year.

In this April 19, 2007 file photo, Erik Estrada poses on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.  (AP Photo/Nick Ut, file)AP - Erik Estrada has returned to Muncie to take part in overnight police patrols in the city where he starred in the short-lived reality series "Armed & Famous." The former star of the 1970s motorcycle cop drama "CHiPs" is a reserve officer on the Muncie Police Department.



AP - A 26-year-old man faces criminal charges after being accused of using a pickax to attack a speed enforcement camera recently installed along a Phoenix-area freeway.

New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce listens to a question during a news conference at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008. Pierce didn't know New York Giants teammate Plaxico Burress was carrying a gun last weekend until it accidentally discharged, injuring the receiver in the right thigh, Pierce's attorney said.  (AP Photo/Mike Derer)AP - Antonio Pierce and the doctor who treated his New York Giants teammate Plaxico Burress after he accidentally shot himself at a Manhattan nightclub will talk to investigators Friday.



Christopher Dodd (L), chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and Senator Richard Shelby listen to testimony from the leaders of the big Detroit automakers during hearing on a financial assistance package for the companies on Capitol Hill, December 4, 2008. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)Reuters - The chief executives of General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC said they would consider restarting merger talks if needed to win their slice of up to $34 billion in emergency U.S. government aid.



The AT and T logo in an undated photo. AT and T said on Thursday it would eliminate 12,000 jobs, about 4 percent of its workforce, as it joins a raft of corporations trying to slash costs in the face of the economic downturn. (Handout/Reuters)Reuters - Top U.S. phone company AT&T Inc said it will eliminate 12,000 jobs, or about 4 percent of its workforce, in a fresh wave of cuts to cope with an economic downturn that has exacerbated a decline in traditional phone sales.



European Central Bank (ECB) President Jean-Claude Trichet (L) and Belgium's National Bank Governor Guy Quaden arrive for a news conference at the end of an ECB Governors Council meeting in Brussels, December 4, 2008. (Eric Vidal/Reuters)Reuters - Central banks in Europe slashed their benchmark interest rates by record amounts on Thursday to fight the global economic crisis, while U.S. automakers pleaded for a bailout to avoid collapse.



People light candles during a protest rally against last week's militant attacks, outside the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai December 3, 2008. (Punit Paranjpe/Reuters)Reuters - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday Pakistan had given assurances of its commitment to root out terrorism and round up anyone connected to last week's attack in the Indian city of Mumbai.



U.S. soldiers of 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division stands guard outside a mosque in the Hurriya district northwest of Baghdad December 3, 2008. (Erik de Castro/Reuters)Reuters - Iraq's Presidency Council has approved a security pact with the United States that paves the way for a complete U.S. troop pullout by the end of 2011, a spokesman for the council said on Thursday.



A shopkeeper is seen at an electronics shop in Moscow during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's annual question-and-answer session with the Russian people, December 4, 2008. (Denis Sinyakov/Reuters)Reuters - The United States will quickly feel a change in attitude from Moscow if President-elect Barack Obama transforms Washington's policies toward Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.



Thailand's revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej attends the annual Trooping of the Colour, an annual military parade, in Bangkok's Royal Plaza, December 2, 2008. (Adrees Latif/Reuters)Reuters - Thailand's revered and influential king missed his traditional birthday eve address due to illness on Thursday, a speech many Thais had hoped would provide short-term relief to the country's intractable political crisis.



A still from a 2002 advertising campaign launched by the U.S. government to persuade Muslims around the world that U.S. Muslims are free to live and worship as they wish. (Handout/Reuters)Reuters - Hate crimes against Arab Americans have decreased steadily since the September 11 attacks but are still more common than they were before the hijackings, a civil rights group said on Thursday.



European Central Bank (ECB) President Jean-Claude Trichet gives a press conference after a meeting of ECB governors in Brussels. Leading European central banks took historic action Thursday to ward off spreading recessions, slashing their key lending rates to boost businesses and consumers.(AFP/BELGA/Dirk Waem)AFP - Leading European central banks took historic action Thursday to ward off spreading recessions, slashing their key lending rates to boost businesses and consumers.



A map locating the western Iraqi city of Fallujah. Car bombers killed at least 15 people in a former rebel bastion on Thursday as Iraq's security pact with Washington won final approval before its launch at the end of the month.(AFP/Graphic)AFP - Car bombers killed at least 15 people in a former rebel bastion on Thursday as Iraq's security pact with Washington won final approval before its launch at the end of the month.




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