Advanced Strategies in Poker.

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The game pre-flop:

The more you advance your skills at poker, the more you will come to realise the importance of the game pre-flop, in other words, the game prior to the first three communal cards being dealt. It is at this stage of the game that you will be able to eliminate many of your opponents by raising in a forceful way, or yourself be eliminated from the round because you judge the price of calling is too elevated to see the flop. Never forget, especially before the flop, that no cards should be given freely to your opponents, and the fact of letting your opponents see a communal card, moreover, should always imply a bet, in order to avoid a return to a serious situation at the river or the turn.

The pre-flop play is, before everything, the time when players learn how to dominate their fellow opponents. Before the communal cards are dealt, the only cards that are important are the private cards, and the flop can radically change the value of the two private cards; those players who initially hold a very strong hand from the start (e.g. a pair) can find that it becomes marginal in a matter of seconds. Imagine that you hold a pair of Kings (clubs and spades) in hand and that three players follow you into the flop. If an Ace of hearts is dealt at the flop, as well as two other hearts, your pair is no longer very valuable; it can be beaten by a pair of Aces or colours, without you being able to hope for a better outcome.

In general, strong hands of an un-assorted kind (like Ace-King or Ace-Queen) should mean you raise a high amount before the flop, in order to make players with smaller pairs (pairs of 2's through to 6's) fold, without you risking too much. On the other hand, a weak hand should mean only raising a small amount before the flop, in order to be able to fold at the flop without having lost too much, in case no useful cards are dealt.

Which hands should be played pre-flop?

The strongest hands are located at the top of the diagram below. The stronger they are, the more you will be able to play from a weak position, in other words if you are placed just after the dealer. The dealer's position is represented by the number 0. The position number 1 signifies that you are playing to the place to the right of the dealer, etc. therefore, if you are in position number 2, you can play every combination in the table situated on the 2 line and higher. The big blind is not taken into consideration because the player situated in this position automatically pays the bet for the round. According to the psychological profile of your opponents, vary the way you use the tables; the more aggressive they are, the more you should see the original raise you placed; the more tightly they play, the more you should be wary.

 

 

TABLE ONE PAIRS AND ASSORTED COLOURS

Position                    Pair           Assorted Colours

X	A-A
X	K-K
X	Q-Q
X	J-J	A-K
X	10-10	A-Q
X	9-9	A-J
6	8-8	A-10	K-Q
5	7-7	A-9	K-J	Q-J
4	6-6	A-8	K-10	Q-10	J-10
3	5-5	A-7	K-9		10-9	J-9
2	4-4	A-3	K-7	Q-9	9-8	10-8
1	3-3	A-2	K-6	Q-8	8-7	9-7	J-8
0	2-2		K-2	Q-4	6-5	7-5	10-7
SMALL BIND				Q-2	3-2	4-3	5-2	X-X

 

Position                     Non-Assorted Colours

X	A-K
X	Q-K
6
5	A-J
4	A-10	K-Q
3		K-J	Q-J
2	A-9
1	A-7	K-10	Q-10	J-10
0	A-3	K-7	Q-9	9-8	J-9
SMALL BIND	A-2	K-2	Q-2	4-3	5-3	6-3	J-X

 

How to play your hands pre-flop:

Now that you know which hands to play before the flop, it is necessary to select the way you will approach them. We will discuss two principle options; those of an aggressive game play and those of a tight game play. These indications are all the more important as they can dictate the way you play, but they give an especially important indication of how the other players will behave at the table in terms of there psychological profile. For the most part, skilled poker players will use the above decision tables, and their manner of playing and raising will give you a precise indices regarding the quality of their game.

When playing an aggressive game the player can:

Pay the big blind or raise when he has in hand: pair of Queens, pair of Jacks, pair of 10s, or for assorted cards; Ace and Queen, Ace and Jack.

Pay up to three times the big blind/no raise when he has in hand: Ace-10 to Ace-6 (assorted colours), King-Jack, King-10.

Pay up to two times the big blind/no raise when he has in hand: Queen-Jack, Jack-10, pair of 7, pair of 6.

Raise or see a raise two times the big blind when he has in hand: Ace-Jack, King-Queen.

Raise or pay three times the big blind when he has in hand: Ace-3, Ace-Ace, Ace-s (assorted colour); King-Queen (assorted); Ace-Queen.

Raise and re-raise the raises of his opponents when he has in hand: pair of Aces, pair of Kings, Ace-King (assorted colour).

Pay the blind and raise when he has in hand: Ace-King (non-assorted).

Raise two times the big blind (or call) when he has in hand: pair of 9's, pair of 8's.

In a more tightly played game, the modes of the raise will no longer be the same. The player can:

Pay the blind and raise all previous raises when he has in hand: pair of Aces, pair of Kings, pair of 10's, pair of 9's, pair of 8's, Ace-Queen, Ace-Jack and Ace-10 (assorted colour), Ace-King (non-assorted).

Pay two times the big blind when he has in hand: pair of 5's, pair of 6's, pair of 7's, Ace-9 through to Ace-7 (assorted colour), Queen-King (non-assorted).

Raise or pay twice the big blind when he has in hand: Queen-Jack, King-Jack (assorted colour) or Ace-Queen, Ace-Jack (non-assorted).

Raise or pay three times the big blind when he has in hand: pair of Queens, pair of Jacks, King-Queen, King-10, Jack-10 (assorted colour).

To face the players who pay the blinds pre-flop:

When a player who plays tight pays the blind, you have to be very attentive to the comprehensive strategy of the game. Some players go all the way to paying the blind when they have a very strong hand, like a pair of Aces. However, long-term, they have a tendency to under play very strong hands, with small raises, they do this in order to keep other players in the game and then to take them by surprise at the last moment. Very sneaky indeed, and a very good strategy to adopt!

 

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