How To Properly Bet In Texas Holdem

• How To Properly Bet In Texas Holdem Games
• How To Properly Bet In Texas Holdem Card Game
• How Do You Bet In Texas Holdem
• How To Properly Bet In Texas Holdem Poker
• How To Properly Bet In Texas Holdem Golf

Poker revolves around betting. Betting in poker can serve several functions and betting patterns in poker can be very complex. This certainly holds true in no limit games in which you cannot only decide whether to bet or not, but are also free to bet whatever amount you wish to.

Beginning players often aren't aware of the reason why they bet, let alone the best amount they could bet in certain situations. A lot of beginning poker players as a result make big mistakes with their betting strategy and for that reason alone might find themselves losing their money on a structural basis. This article is meant to give you a basic understanding of when you should bet how much and what for; to teach you a basic no limit hold'em betting strategy.

Proper hand selection in Texas Holdem can help you avoid many costly mistakes on later streets, so learning to adjust your opening ranges based on your position and opponents is very important. The best way to quickly learn it is to grab a poker cheat sheet with all of the balanced ranges for different positions.

This video will run you through the basic rules of Texas Holdem Poker and the 1st Round of Betting. Visit our online casino and try. That poses the question of how much? In this case, we will raise to 3x the BB, so $3 and one player calls our bet as shown. We will cover the reason we use 3x later in the article. Three times the BB is a standard raise size which we will go into later in this article under the heading “Texas Holdem betting strategy”. In Texas Holdem, the betting starts with a small blind, to the left of the dealer that is followed by a big blind. These are compulsory or forced bets that must be made before seeing one’s cards. Play runs clockwise starting from the blinds, with each player having the option to fold, call, or raise.

Contents of this betting strategy guide:

Reasons for betting in poker

Besides betting because you feel like it or because it gives you a nice round figure in your chip stack there are several other reasons for betting in poker. The most common reasons for betting are the following:

• Betting to get value for your good hands
• Betting as a bluff

There are also several other reasons why poker players tend to bet, but which are more or less a form of one of the two reasons mentioned above:

• Betting for protection
• Betting for information
• Betting to gain the initiative
• Block betting

The correct amount to bet in a certain situation often depends on the reason why you are betting. This will become clear in the following section where all the above mentioned reasons for betting in poker are discussed separately.

Value betting in poker

Value betting is betting with what you think will be the best hand. If you are value betting your hand, then you hope to get called by your opponent holding a worse hand than yours.

Note that you can only make an estimation of a range of hands your opponent is likely to hold. So, to be more specific, you are value betting your hand when you think it is ahead of your opponent's range of hands. Even if you get called by a hand in the top of your opponent's range that has you beat, you are value betting.

When you want to bet for value the trick is to bet an amount that wins you the most: you don't want to bet too much and scare your opponent off, but you don't want to bet too little and miss out on the money your opponent would have called more with his or her inferior hand either. Therefore it is very important to read your opponents well; to think about the hands your opponents could have and how much they would be willing to call with those hands.

In addition you could also use your bet sizing as a tool to be deceptive to your opponent and to lure your opponent into making big mistakes. An example would be inducing a bluff raise which is further explained in the section specifically about bet sizing.

Betting as a bluff

Bluffing in poker is betting with what you think will not be the best hand at showdown. If you are bluffing then you don't want your bet to be called by your opponent.

Bluffing is basically saying to your opponent that your hand is the better one and that he or she should fold. It is very important in order to bluff successfully and to not be a big donator of chips instead that your story adds up. In addition your opponent has to pick up on this story and he or she should be capable of laying down a second best hand.

The reason that bluffing at the lower stakes is not recommended is that you are mostly dealing with opponents who are not aware of you telling a story to them and who are incapable of laying down hands. You could make the most elaborate and sophisticated bluff in the world, but if you are dealing with such opponents then this bluff will be nothing more then spew or 'fancy play syndrome'.

If you want to bluff, the trick when it comes to bet sizing is to get the job done with as little chips as possible while still keeping up the story of you having a big hand. You don't want to risk more then necessary and you need to be credible. The more you bet as a bluff, the more often your bluff has to work in order to be profitable.

You can also semi-bluff in poker. This is betting when you hold a draw like a flush or a straight draw. This kind of bluff has several advantages: you could pick up the pot right there with your semi-bluff; it disguises your draw; if you get called then you have outs and it helps you build the pot for when you do hit your draw.

Betting for protection

Betting for protection is essentially a form of value betting your hand. By betting for protection you deny your opponents a free card that could give them a better hand when they are drawing.

When you are betting with the intention to protect your made hand against draws there is a minimum amount you have to bet in order to let your opponent make a mistake when he or she decides to continue with the hand. If you bet too little, then you give your opponent the right pot odds to call and try to outdraw you. Note that you can't make your opponent fold a hand. You can only make sure that (s)he makes a mistake when continuing with the hand.

Betting to gain initiative

Betting in poker is seen as an act of aggression. It gives you momentum: other players will have to make at least a decent hand or otherwise collect the nerves to bluff their way out if they want to continue when you keep on betting. Betting to gain initiative and to exploit this initiative (as with a continuation bet) is therefore essentially a form of bluffing as you don't fully rely on the strength of your hands. Although bluffing at the low stakes poker games is not recommended, betting to gain initiative and continuation betting on the flop are very important strategies to incorporate into your game.

Betting for information

Betting for information is probably one of the vaguest reasons you could bet for, yet it is often mentioned by poker players. The problem with betting for information is that when your bet for information just gets called this often doesn't tell you a whole lot about your opponent's hand. At the same time however, the pot is getting bigger and bigger while your hand probably isn't very strong (otherwise you would have just been betting for value). Betting for information is therefore not a very good reason to bet and you might be better of to just check instead.

Block betting

Betting to block is betting when you are first to act with the intention to set the price. This is usually done with weaker hands when players aren't sure whether their hand is good or not. They don't want to call a big bet by their opponent if they check to him and therefore they bet a smallish amount themselves (and hope to not get raised). It can be a valid betting strategy as you get some value from weaker hands and possibly lose less against stronger hands.

Paying attention to bet sizing: how much to bet in poker?

A key concept when it comes to betting in poker is that you should size your bets in relation to the total pot size (just like you should view your opponent's bets relative to the size of the pot). This is very important, because the bet size relative to the pot size determines the pot odds that you give your opponents. A very common range for bet sizes is anywhere between 50-100% the size of the pot.

Another important thing to keep in mind is to not vary your bet sizing based on the strength of your hand. If you would do this, other players might notice and get a 'tell' on you. They will see that you are betting strong only with your big hands and avoid paying you off. Or they might notice that you are betting small with your weak hands or bluffs and push you off of your hands.

Bet sizing when betting for value or as a bluff

When you are purely betting for value or as a bluff then you are very free in your bet sizing. As already mentioned, the trick with valuebetting is to bet an amount that wins you the most. This does not necessarily have to be the amount that gets called the most.

As a general rule betting larger against very loose opponents who don't like to lay down their hands will be more profitable. And because at the lower stakes online cash games you will encounter a lot of those opponents it is very important that you bet strong when you are very likely or even sure to be ahead. Strong betting means that you should be betting around 75% of the pot or even more. You could sometimes consider slowing down a bit when the board is unlikely to have hit your opponent and you are holding a monster like top set or bigger yourself. This should be an exception though.

Example 2: Again you're on the river with the nuts, the same pot size and the same stacks as in the previous example. This time you suspect your opponent might have a missed draw and you also know that your opponent is very aggressive and likes to bluff people of their weak hands. Now you could decide to bet less, say $1.65, to make it look like you are weak and induce a bluff raise by your opponent.

A good thinking player however might see your smaller bet as strength: it looks like you are begging for a call, so you must have a strong hand. In this case a normal or even a large bet size would probably be better. You could save the smaller bet size against this opponent as a bluff.

If your opponent really thinks things through and knows you know him and vice versa, then he could be thinking that you know that he knows that the small bet size would mean strength and are therefore using it as a bluff. Now this could again lure him into calling with very weak hands or he could even bluff raise you. This 'I know that you know' thing is called multiple level thinking. I told you betting can be very complex, isn't poker a fun game? Multiple level thinking is not something you'll have to worry about at the micro stakes very often though.

If you flop a really big hand then you should look for a way to get your whole stack in the middle on the river without making any huge oversized bets at any point in the hand. You would want to avoid betting too small on the flop and the turn and having to bet 1.5 times the pot on the river to get it all-in. It is important to plan your bet sizing over multiple streets of betting.

And now for some bluffing:

Of course you won't be able to calculate all those percentages in the heat of battle, just like you won't be able to calculate exact pot odds and odds of hitting your draws and winning versus a certain hand range. The above examples are meant to give you an idea what you should roughly be thinking about when determining how much to valuebet or bluff. You can save the exact calculations for when you want to analyze your plays accurately away from the poker table.

Bet sizing when betting for protection

The common bet size of 50-100% of the pot also happens to be the correct amount to bet for protection if your opponent could hold potential flush or straight draws. It is advisable to bet closer to 100% the size of the full pot in this case, certainly against opponents who like to chase their draws. This way they will be making bigger mistakes by calling, which means more profit for you in the long run. If you're unsure about why this is a correct amount to bet versus potential flush or straight draws I'd advise you to read the pot odds guide. You'll see that this bet size will deny your opponents the proper pot odds to call with draws that have up to 15 outs.

Of course your opponent will not always have the straight or the flush draw when the board offers this potential with two cards to a straight or a flush. But because you don't know when they do or when they don't have the draw, it is best to just assume they always have it. This way you will never give away free cards where you could have gotten a lot of value from a draw instead.

Pre-flop raise sizing

If you decide to play a hand and you are the first to act before the flop then you might already know by now that raising is generally preferable over limping (just calling the big blind). Raising gives you initiative and it tends to weed out the very weak starting hands. On top of that it will result in getting more value for your good hands.

The general rule of thumb here is to raise 3 or 4 times the big blind and add one big blind for every limper. So if there are two players in front of you just calling the big blind and you find a nice hand like AQ you should raise to 5 or 6 times the big blind. If you raise less, then it will be too attractive for all kinds of hands to come along and take a look at the flop. If you raise more, then you are unlikely to get any action by worse hands at all. If you are dealing with particularly loose opponents, such as at the nano and micro stakes, then raising a little bit more pre-flop could be a valid strategy.

How To Properly Bet In Texas Holdem Games

Common mistakes in a beginner's no limit hold'em betting strategy

Below is a list of the five most common betting strategy mistakes seen at the no limit hold'em micro stakes cash games.

1. Calling too much instead of betting and raising
   Aggression, or rather controlled and selective aggression, is important in no limit hold'em. If you are not aggressive enough, which is characterized by calling a lot instead of betting and raising, you let your opponents outdraw you cheaply. You also won't get enough value for your big hands and you will generally get less information about the strength of your opponent's hands and therefore of where you stand in a hand.

2. Betting and raising too small
   If you only make minimum bets and raises then you are just inviting players to enter the pot and take a shot at cracking your monster hands. Always think of the pot odds you are offering your opponents. In order to let your opponents make mistakes when they want to draw out on you, you have to bet strong: around ¾ the size of the pot will do fine as a general rule of thumb.

3. Betting and raising too big
   This one is actually pretty funny to witness: a very tight player suddenly wakes up and comes in raising 6 or 7 times the big blind pre-flop or reraises someone else's raise by a ridiculous amount of 5 times or more. You have to be really oblivious as an opponent to not have all your alarm bells going off at the same time that you are either facing queens, kings or aces and maybe, just maybe AK. I don't know whether it is the fear to play poker after the flop and to get outdrawn or impatience of getting all the money in the pot with a great hand. I do know that this kind of betting strategy will only scare the majority of opponents off and won't result in becoming a tough and unpredictable player to play against.

4. Betting without a plan
   You should always have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish with your bets and always ask yourself if betting in fact does accomplish what you had in mind. In addition you should start to make a plan early in the hand for several scenarios later in the hand. Think about the possible reasons for betting in poker. Do you want to get value? Do you need to protect your hand against one or more possible draws? How much should you bet now and on the turn to get all-in on the river without having to bet a weird large amount? What will you do if your bet gets raised? And what if the possible draw hits? Does betting as a bluff make sense here at all considering what my opponent thinks that I could have based on the betting in previous rounds?

5. Betting for value when no worse hands will call
   This is basically an example of betting without a plan or betting without thinking about what betting will accomplish. Say you get to the river where you hold a top pair and the board shows four cards to a straight and three cards to a flush and your opponent checks to you. Okay, so your opponent might be weak because he checks, but betting wouldn't really accomplish anything here. You are unlikely to fold out better hands and worse hands are probably not going to call. So a bet will only lose you more money when you are behind and will probably win you the same amount if you are ahead. And that's not what defines a good bet.

Betting in poker - conclusion to this betting strategy guide

I hope that this article has helped you to see what you can achieve with your betting in poker. Betting is much more than just throwing chips in the pot; it can serve several important purposes. Let's conclude with an overview of some take home messages:

• Always bet for a reason. Have a plan for the rest of the hand.
• Always see bet sizes in relation to the pot size. Common bet sizes are between 50-100% of the pot. Bet closer to a 100% of the pot if you want to bet strong.
• Before the flop a raise size of 3 or 4 big blinds plus one big blind for every limper in front of you is a very good starting point.
• Don't vary your bet sizing based on the strength of your hand.
• Selective aggression and choosing the right bet size will help you to protect your hands and to get value from weaker hands.
• There is very little to no need for pure bluffing at the lower stakes if you make sure you get enough value for your strong hands. You can generally bet bigger for value against very loose opponents.
• Always try to think of how your opponent might perceive your betting pattern.

These pointers form the big picture when it comes to betting in poker. If you follow them and try to implement them in your game, then you will likely become a player to be reckoned with at the table. Don't worry about betting specific plays like check-raising, squeezing and isolating yet. These 'details' will come when you have the basic foundation right.

Further reading at First Time Poker Player:

How To Properly Bet In Texas Holdem Card Game

Further reading across the internet:

• The Poker Bank - Bet Sizing in No Limit Poker
• Tight Poker - Value Betting - Advanced Strategy in Extraction
• Poker-Strategy.org - Online Poker Bluffing
• Noted Poker Authority - Betting For Value Versus Inducing A Bluff

You need to be careful of who you take advice from about
gambling. Players have all kinds of systems and superstitions
that can end up costing you a great deal of money over time.

This is as true for Texas holdem advice as any other game you
can find in a casino. So we don’t expect you to blindly follow
the tips and advice on this page, but we do ask that you
consider everything you read here and think about it before you
dismiss what you see.

All of the advice found below will help you improve your
Texas holdem game, and most of it will help you become a better
overall poker player, no matter what game you play.

Have Fun

This may seem like generic advice, and you can rest assured
that you’ll be reading more technical sections below, but
there’s a reason we started with having fun. It can be
frustrating when you’re trying to learn how to play and when
you’re trying to improve. It can even be frustrating for
experienced players when hands don’t go their way.

But the point we’re trying to make is that frustration rarely
helps. It’s always better when you’re having fun, so try to stay
positive, focus on the good things, and try to keep having fun
while you’re getting better. I you start getting frustrated take
a break and try to clear your mind,

Pay Attention

It’s easy to get involved with conversations with the other
players at the table and try to find other things to do in order
to keep your mind occupied. If you play a tight game like you’re
supposed to do, it can get quite boring at the holdem table.

You need to always be paying attention at the table even when
you aren’t involved in a hand.

While there’s nothing wrong with visiting with the other
players, you can visit and pay attention at the same time.

You never know when you’ll learn something about an opponent
while watching a hand that you can use against them later in the
session or in another game in the future. The best players
always watch what’s going on in hopes of squeezing a small extra
edge out of a situation at some time in the future.

Never Stop Learning

This may seem like common sense, but most Texas holdem
players reach a certain point and decide they’re either good
enough or simply stop trying to improve. Poker is a lifelong
game and the best players never stop learning.

We mentioned players trying to squeeze a small extra edge out
of a situation, and that’s what never stop learning is about.
Always be looking for a way to improve and get better. This
requires constant study and effort. Look for new strategies,
books, and web pages that can help you find holes in your game
and learn new techniques to improve.

Focus on One Game

When you start winning on a consistent basis you can play
whatever you want, but as you’re learning to be a winning Texas
holdem player you need to focus on one game. What this means is
play either limit or no limit and play cash games, or multi
table tournaments, or sit and go tournaments. You should even
stick with the same close range of buy in amounts or limits.

When you jump from game to game while you’re learning how to
win it can have a negative impact on your results. Even though
you’re playing Texas holdem in each situation, each different
game requires slightly different strategies and playing
abilities.

The best players are able to play many different games and
limits without missing a beat. And if you focus on mastering one
game before adding a second one you’ll eventually be able to do
so as well.

Don’t Bluff Too Much

Almost 100% of Texas holdem players bluff too often. We know
this may seem like a shockingly high number, but it’s true. The
only ones who don’t bluff too often are the best professional
players, and even they can fall victim to over bluffing.

How Do You Bet In Texas Holdem

Just like it looks on television, bluffing your way to
winning a pot is just about as cool as anything you can do at
the table. But just because it’s cool doesn’t mean it’s
profitable.

The easy way to fix the bluffing too much problem is quit
bluffing. Simply don’t bluff a single time the next 10 times you
play Texas holdem. Then when you start bluffing again, only use
semi bluffs for the next 10 sessions.

You may be quite surprised at how your results suddenly start
improving. We’re pretty sure if you track your play you may
never start bluffing again. Or at least you’ll only bluff a
small fraction of the time that you used to bluff.

Tight Starting Hand Guidelines

Most players enjoy action, so they want to play as many hands
as possible. It gets boring sitting around watching other
players while you wait for a good hand. And it’s fine if you
want to play a bunch of hands. Just realize that if you play too
many hands you lose more money.

If you want to be a long term winning Texas holdem player you
need to practice tight starting hand guidelines. This means you
should probably be playing far fewer hands than you currently
do.

The only players who don’t need to play fewer hands are the
ones who already are posting long term wins.

To understand exactly what you should and shouldn’t play as
far as starting hands requires a much larger discussion than we
have space for on this page. The good news is we have a monster
page in our strategy section that covers everything you need to
know about starting hands. You should check it out as soon as
you finish reading this page.

For a quick idea of how many starting hands you should be
playing, the first thing you need to do is start tracking how
many hands you play now. A full ring game player should be
playing somewhere between 15 and 25% of their starting hands.
You should shoot for 20% or less until you become a winning
player.

Once you learn the ins and outs of winning holdem play you’ll
start recognizing the games where you can play a few more hands
profitably.

As a general rule of thumb, if you aren’t a winning player
you should start playing fewer hands. Keep reducing the number
of hands you play until you start winning.

Action may be fun, but winning money is more fun at the end
of the day.

Controlled Aggressive Play

When you play aggressively, by betting and raising often, it
forces your opponents to make more decisions. They have to
decide if they should call, fold, or raise every time you play
aggressively. Every time they’re forced to make a decision they
have an opportunity to make a mistake.

When your opponents make mistakes it helps you make more
money.

But you also have to be controlled while playing in an
aggressive manner. If you play aggressively too much you end up
making plays that cost you money in the long run. You need to
have a good hand to play aggressively so it’s important you
follow the advice in the last section. Combining strong starting
hands, that come from tight requirements, and aggressive play,
helps you become a winning Texas holdem player faster.

Play Against Inferior Competition

This tip is one that almost no one uses but makes so much
sense that you should consider having it tattooed on your arm.
If you want to start winning more at the Texas holdem table
starting immediately find a bunch of players who can’t play as
good as you.

Fill the table with amateurs, drunks, and whatever else you
can find. Just as long as your opponents aren’t very good,
you’ll look like a professional.

It doesn’t matter how good or bad you are at playing, simply
find players who are worse than you and you’ll start winning
more money right away.

Play Extremely Tight Early

This goes hand in hand with the next section and with the
earlier section about tight starting hand guidelines. Early
position, including the blinds, is the worst place to be in a
Texas holdem hand. You have to act before any of your opponents
and will often have a hard time controlling the hand.

This means you need to have a strong hand when you do decide
to play from early position. The strength of your opponents in
comparison to your skills also plays a part in what range of
hands you can play. But the tighter you play from early position
the better.

In some games you should stick to pocket aces, kings, queens,
and ace king only from early position. This sounds overly tight,
but early position play requires tight starting hand decisions
if you want to turn a profit.

How To Properly Bet In Texas Holdem Poker

Late Position Is for Winners

This might seem like a cute saying or it may have made you
smile when you read the title of this section, but it’s a
serious truth that every Texas holdem player needs to burn into
the front of their mind.

You should be playing around 75% of the hands you play from
late position. Make sure you understand that it didn’t say you
should be playing 75% of the late position hands you see. It
says that of all the hands you end up seeing a flop with, 75% of
them should be from late position.

Late position gives you the advantage of seeing what all of
your opponents do before you have to act and also lets you check
for a free card on the turn or river many times. These
advantages go a long way toward profitable play.

Make the Right Decision – Everything Else Takes Care of
Itself

One of the biggest mistakes made by inexperienced Texas
holdem players is basing their thoughts on how they played a
session on their monetary results. This may seem like the best
way to judge how you play, but it only gives you a true picture
over the long run.

How To Properly Bet In Texas Holdem Golf

The best players understand that they need to make the best
playing decisions in every situation and that no matter what
happens in a given hand or playing session doesn’t matter where
results are concerned. In other words, you can play a hand wrong
and still win it, but over time if you keep playing it wrong
it’ll cost you money. And you can play a hand correctly and
lose, but in the long run you win more by playing hands the best
way.

Example #1

If you have pocket aces, raise from early position, a player
raises, you move all in, and they call, you’ve played the hand
as well as possible. If you can get all in heads up with pocket
aces before the flop you’ll win a great deal of money in the
long run on the hand.

But every once in a while your opponent will get lucky and
you’ll lose with pocket aces. But remember it doesn’t matter
what happens on this hand, as long as you play it right.

Example #2

You have a gut shot straight draw after the flop and face an
aggressive player who keeps betting into you. You keep calling
hoping to hit one of the four cards to complete your straight,
but you aren’t receiving anywhere close to the correct pot odds
to call.

Sometimes you’re going to hit the gut shot straight on the
turn or river, but not enough times to make money if you’re not
getting the correct pot odds. You’ll hit your gut shot on the
turn four out of 47 times and if you don’t hit it on the turn
you’ll hit it on the river four out of every 46 times.

Focus on always making the best playing decisions and let
everything else take care of itself. The higher the percentage
of the time you make the right decision the more you’ll win in
your poker career.

The Simple Formula

It seems as if everyone is always looking for the shortcut or
simple formula. How else can you explain all of the money the
people selling get rich quick schemes continue to make? Some
call this the fast food culture. We want it and we want it right
now.

Texas holdem is fairly easy to play but it requires a great
deal of study and practice to become a winning player. But
there’s a simple formula that every winning player uses. And the
best news is you don’t have to wait until you have more
experience or learn more to start using it. You can start using
it today. Here’s the formula.

When you’re favored or ahead in the hand you need to maximize
the amount of money in the pot and when you’re drawing to a
winning hand or behind in the hand you need to minimize the
amount of money in the pot.

Don’t discount it because it seems so simple. The truth is
that even though the formula is simple, it’s not easy. But when
you combine the advice in the last section about always making
the right decision with this simple formula you’ll be amazed at
how much better your Texas holdem results are.

The next time you play Texas holdem think about every hand
you play in terms of where you are in each hand as it
progresses.

• Are you ahead or behind in the hand?
• How can you maximize the money in the pot or how can you
  keep the pot as small as possible?

Maximizing the amount in the pot isn’t as simple as betting
as much as possible. You have to bet the most possible while
keeping other players in the hand as well. If you move all in
and the other players fold you haven’t maximized the amount you
can win.

Of course if you’re playing limit Texas holdem you simply bet
and raise at every opportunity when you’re ahead in the hand.
And when you’re drawing and / or behind in the hand you check
and call.

The next challenge is determining when you’re actually
leading a hand and when you’re behind. The truth is that
sometimes even the best players don’t know where they stand in a
hand. But they usually have an idea and can make a good guess
using what they know, odds, and percentages to determine the
likelihood that they lead or trail at any point in a hand.

You’ll be able to use the same things to help you determine
where you stand in a hand as you gain experience.

Bankroll

Your bankroll isn’t directly related to your results at the
tables, but it can have direct consequences on your mental state
while playing. The general idea is you should try to have a
large enough bankroll that you can play in any profitable
situation that you run across.

The reality is that most players have a bankroll that
somewhat limits their opportunities. But the important thing is
you have to be able to play at a level and limit where you’re
comfortable. You never want to think about your bankroll or
money while playing Texas holdem.

This may sound funny because you’re playing with chips that
represent money, but when you start worrying about your bankroll
or money it impacts your game in a negative way.

Top Tip

Play at limits below what you think you can beat and use the
winnings to increase your bankroll. Never be afraid or ashamed
of stepping down a limit or two. If you ever worry about your
bankroll you need to play a lower limit immediately.

The lowest limits most live poker rooms spread are 1 / 2 no
limit or 5 / 10 limit. If these are higher than you feel
comfortable playing you can play at an online poker room for
stakes as low as .05 / .10. For $10 or less you can play at the
micro limits and not have to worry about your bankroll or money
at all while playing Texas holdem.

Conclusion

It’s easy to get a feeling of being overwhelmed when you’re
trying to learn how to be a better Texas holdem player. Even
when you’re reading a straightforward list of advice like you
found above it can get complicated quickly.

So to help you absorb and use all of the advice on this page
we suggest either printing it or bookmarking it, or both, so you
can review it again at least once a week until you’ve
incorporated all of the advice into your game.

Take a couple sections and work on them each week and before
you know it you’ll be winning more than you lose on a consistent
basis. We’re confident that any player who can successfully
incorporate all of the advice on this page into their game will
be a winning player.