Aces Up - John Reeves (booksvooks .txt) 📗

Texas Hold'em

This is a strategy guide to get the player who is close over the top. It will like wise teach the beginner how to make moves at a table with a professional poker player. I like many people never played before Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP. Some guys started a home game that really took off slow in the beginning, but it too off later going sometime three tables deep, then in 2008 it finally fell apart. Half of the old group stopped wanting to play with the other half so the number of players dropped off. During 07-08 and the a lot more in 2009 I played in Tunica, where I made good money using the strategies in this book. I have wanted to write a book about poker but, I never wanted to put it out there to compete with other great books, like Super Systems still in my opinion the best book ever written. I just wanted to let people in on my method of winning poker games. Enjoy the tactical advantages this book will give you and, Good Luck!





Poker Hand Strength

Straight Poker, Nothing Wild

The list that follows is given in order of strength.

1. Royal Flush. This is the highest-ranking straight flush there is, namely: Ace, King, Queen, Jack and 10 in the same suit. Odds: 1 in 650,000
.
2. Straight Flush. Five cards, all of the same suit, in order. Example: 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of Hearts. Odds: 1 in 65,000.

3. Four of a Kind. Four of the same card, in different suits. Example: four Queens. The fifth card doesn't matter. Four Aces beat every other four of a kind.
Odds: 1 in 4,000.

4. Full House. Three of a kind, plus two of a kind. Example: three jacks and two 7's. The hand with the highest three cards wins over any other Full House. Odds: 1 in 700.

5. Flush. Five cards all of the same suit, not in sequence. Example: 3, 5, 6, 9 and King of Clubs. Odds: 1 in 500.

6. Straight. Five cards in sequence, but of mixed suits. Example: 3 of Hearts, 4 of Clubs, 5 of Spades, 6 of Clubs, 7 of Diamonds. Odds: 1 in 250.

7. Three of a Kind. Example: three Jacks. Naturally, if two players both have three of a kind, the player with the higher three of a kind wins. Thus, three Aces
beats three 4's. Odds: 1 in 50.

8. Two Pair. Example: two Kings and two 3's. Hand with the highest pair wins. If there's a tie, hand with the highest remaining card (fifth card) wins. Odds: 1 in 20.

9. One Pair. Example: two Queens. Odds: 1 in 2.33.

10. No pair. This hand is judged by the highest card held.

Introduction to Limit Poker

Fixed Limit Texas Hold'em is the most popular version of poker in the world today. It is the favored game of casinos, both offline and online, as up to ten players can participate in each game. Furthermore, weak players have a decent chance of winning in the short term and, in general players do not bust out too quickly and tend to pay rake for a good while before they do.

However, Limit Texas Hold'em can prove deceptive to less skilled players. A false notion held amongst players is that you can simply sit and call down the hands whenever you have pot odds, without taking much notice of your opponents. In fact, this is how a majority of Limit Texas Hold'em players act on low limit tables ($2-$4 or $4-$8). In addition, intermediate players are very commonly afflicted with a lack of discipline (tightness) and a lack of applied aggression (strong attack in the appropriate spots).

In general, an overall tight/aggressive style of play is probably the most profitable, especially in intermediate/strong games. As such, the purpose of this guide is to provide you with information on this style. It will advocate playing few starting hands while trying to take command in many pots and using positional advantage. The suggested strategies focus on pre-flop and flop play as it is here that most beginner/intermediate players make their biggest mistakes. If you play correctly until the turn card, you will not face too many difficult decisions and will be well on your way to becoming an expert.

Limit Hold'em Advice

1. Play only premium starting hands: in a regular game you should see no more than 20-25% of the flops.
2. Table selection: beware of tight/aggressive tables (low profit, high volatility) and avoid strong players overall as they will "read you and take your money". Look for loose games where at least 30% see the flop on average and play their hands too far.
3. Make sure to have pot odds when you are drawing: only call a bet if the pot justifies the call see: Texas Holdem pot odds.
4. Always analyze your relative strength in the hand: make a habit of always anticipating the holdings of your opponents and be sure to further evaluate as more information is revealed in later rounds. You will never be truly successful unless you "get under the skin" of your opponents.
5. Try to remember the playing styles of your opponents: questions you should ask yourself include, what kind of hands do they raise with? What hands do they re-raise with? Do they call all the way with weak holdings? How do they play pocket- pairs? How do they play their draws? What kinds of hands do they call/raise with from early position? What type of hands do they check-raise with?
6. Bet or raise when warranted - do not just call: the structure of Limit Texas Hold'em invites drawing hands, which might even bet into you. If you believe you have the best hand you should almost always bet/raise. You do not want to give any free cards.
7. Always have a good kicker: you must have a good side card, or kicker, to your highest card. (Weak kickers create second-best hands, which prove expensive in the long run).
8. Be quick to steal pots when you are in late position: when few players are in and it has been checked around to you, a possibility of taking the pot in last or late position might arise. Only do this if it looks as though the board did not benefit anyone. Also, be sure to consider the type of players left in the pot.
9. Vary your play: occasionally limp on "raising hands" and bet/raise on some "calling hands". Do this both before and after the flop in order to avoid predictability in your playing style.
10. Fold in time: you will save money if you fold in time. Do not draw when you know you are beat and the pot does not warrant a call.
11. Rarely bluff: you must be quite sure that your opponents are not holding strong hands and/or are very weak when you attempt to bluff.


Common Limit Hold'em Mistakes

1. Playing too many starting hands see Limit Texas Holdem Starting Hand Guide.
2. Calling too much with trap hands (see Trap Hands).
3. Not folding with modest holdings, such as top-pair with a weak kicker or middle- pair (fold or raise is often the best play in these cases).
4. Not raising with premium holdings thus letting too many drawing hands in on the flop.
5. Drawing for cards that are likely to give you a second-best hand. For example, the flop is 10-8-5 and you hold K5. If someone bets and a few players call, including you, and you then hit a K on the turn, this card could potentially give someone holding a KT or K8 a bigger two-pair.
6. Paying exclusive attention to your own game and not that of your opponents. How many players took the flop? Has someone raised pre-flop? What type of players are left in the pot? These are all questions to consider during play.
7. Not aggressive enough on the flop (take initiative) and turn (to follow through/protect hand)(see Check-Raise).
8. Calling all the way to the river without proper pot odds (see Pot Odds).
9. Calling too much instead of raising when you have the best hand.
10. Bad table selection.
11. Not having enough bankroll to play at a certain limit, thus making going broke a great possibility (you need approximately 300 times the big bet for optimal play).

Before the flop in Limit Hold'em

Tight or Loose game

A tight game is defined as a game where few players (2-3) see the flop on average and then fold after the flop. In this type of game you seldom see the river card because everyone has folded. There is almost no reason to play in such games, even if you are an expert player. If you do decide to play in a tight game, your starting hand should be very well selected and you might be able to play 15% to 20% of your starting hands.

A loose game, however, is usually where you want to be. In a loose game many players see the flop and tend to go too far with their hands. In these games there exists the possibility of playing more hands, though usually not more then 30% of the hands. Nonetheless, you must still be very selective of which hands you play.

How many players are in the pot before you

If many people see the flop there is a greater chance for you to play more drawing hands, such as 76s or small pocket-pairs, since these types of hands increase in value in multi-way pots. At a short-handed table with only six players or less, big cards increase in value. Even Aces with a lower kicker than Ten usually become playable. In a full ring game, hands like AT, KT, QT decrease in value as these can easily become a trap hand, meaning they make second-best hands (see Trap Hands).

More players generally result in bigger pots since, the more players in the pot, the higher the pot odds become. For example, you can call before the flop with a hand like 76s or small pocket-pairs