Source: Poker Host

Some people when playing Texas Holdem poker will play any ace at any time. Those who are experienced players though, know better. Just because you are playing Aces does not mean you will win the pot.

Let’s say you are in first position, that is the seat directly to the left of the big blind and you are dealt Ace of hearts and 3 of clubs. You decide to go ahead and call the big blind.

Fortunately for you, no one raises. Now what are you routing for? If you say an ace, maybe you better think again. Let’s say an Ace does hit the board. You know have top pair with a 3 kicker. How confident are you? It is fairly obvious that if another player is holding an ace you could be in huge trouble.

If another player has an ace with any card besides a 2 or a 3, you are behind even though you hit top pair. You could be thinking to yourself that because you have one ace and another one is showing that the likelihood of someone else holding another ace is poor. You would be wrong. The math shows that there is a sixty-two percent chance that at least one other player was dealt an ace. That is the math based on a full table of 10 players. You could feel a little better, not much though, if the table was shorter.

In this particular example you hit top pair, but you don’t feel really good about it. If you decide to fold if someone else bets, then why did you play the hand to begin with? Let’s take this example further and say that instead of A-3 unsuited you have A-3 suited. You now have a better chance of getting the nut flush, but you had better hit the flop if you intend to stick around.

For example, if you have a four flush then your chances of getting the flush are about 35 percent. Now at least you have something to feel somewhat confident about. Just having a pair of aces with a weak kicker is nothing to get excited about. Having that same pair, however, with a flush draw is another story.

The bottom line when talking about an ace and a weak kicker is to not play them unless you are in late position or suited. And remember even when suited, if you miss the flop, to really be careful. Just because you have an ace does not mean you will win the hand. If your kicker is weak you can run into a ton of trouble calling hands all the way to the river. If you can keep from playing the Ace-weak kicker hands, you will save yourself a ton of grief, and probably save yourself a ton of money as well.

Source: Poker Host

In today’s online poker world more and more players are becoming very aggressive. They take a lot of chances and continually put pressure on you. How do you counter this aggressive style of poker?

Even though aggressive poker can be winning poker it doesn’t always work out that way. When you are playing at online poker sites and encounter aggressive players you do have ways to fight them.

One of the more effective ways for an online poker player to answer aggression on poker hands is to not go off the deep end and play back without holding the nuts. A player that delays his aggression and waits for the big hand to fire back will make the aggressive player think twice before firing out big raises.

What is very important when you are playing aggressive players is not to allow yourself to fall into the trap of becoming pot committed on hands that are good, but not great. You can’t counter aggressive poker by playing weak hands. That does not work. In today’s Holdem world you can usually expect that someone will call you down and you will lose a lot of hands. You must counter aggression by waiting for a good hand and then strongly firing back over the top. This will slow the aggressive player down.

In a typical loose online casino poker game, poker hands such as top pairs will often get outdrawn by other players at the poker table if you leave people in the hand. If you have a top pair you must bet aggressively over the top and drive players out of the hand. Strong starting hands are where you fire back at the aggressive player before the flop. After the flop you may not be in a position where you can make such a raise but before the flop you can get aggressive and fire back. Usually the aggressive player will fold because most of the time he is raising with nothing.

The strategy we are talking about for Texas Holdem is called tight-aggressive. This means that you aggressively play strong hands and fold weak ones. This is the perfect way to counter aggressive maniacs at the poker table. Tight aggressive players usually don’t get pot committed without great hands and they rarely get stuck calling raises without the goods.

If you want to counter today’s aggressive online players then adopt the tight-aggressive poker playing style. That should slow down the maniacs and win you some money in the process.

Source: Poker Host

The best hands in Texas Holdem start with the obvious ones of Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, or even Ace-King, Ace-Queen, or possibly even Ace-Jack. What if you have a pair of tens, nines or eights when playing online poker? What do you do with these hands?

A big part of playing these hands is position.

Your place in the betting order or position becomes important, as you must combine your hand strength with reading the actions of the players who bet before or after you. The later you have to make a decision (the later your position at the online poker table), the better prepared you will be to make the correct decision. That is why position is so critical at an online poker room.

It is also important to get a read on the other players at the table. You don’t necessarily know how to play strong hands if you don’t know the playing style of your opponents. For example, if you are sitting at a table with aggressive players then you don’t necessarily have to bet a strong hand because you know they will bet for you.

That disguises the strength of your hand and it was done by knowing the tendencies of other players at the table. You must also respect and take into account that if players in front of you are betting, they probably do have some sort of a hand and you need to have something to play back with. If you happen to be playing with conservative players who play only top power hands you will want to raise with your own power hands because these players won’t do the betting for you.

You also need to remember when playing Holdem at online poker sites that just because you have a great starting hand does not mean you will always win. You need to be aware that starting hands are definitely important, but they are not everything. You still have to observe the table, react to bets, and fold when necessary. Texas Holdem has a lot of nuances to it even though it looks very easy to play. It is a game that requires you pay attention to things all the time. It is a game where position is very important and where playing styles influence the game a great deal.

As you look at playing Texas Holdem at online casinos remember that starting hands are important but other things like position, playing styles and betting are sometimes even more important. Keep those things in mind the next time you are playing at an online poker site.

Source: Poker Host

At first glance, small pairs as pocket poker hands don’t seem like much of a threat in Texas Holdem but players that handle such hands the right way can end up making a lot of money off of them, as sometimes the weaknesses of these hands are actually their very strengths.

“Wired” small pairs, (pocket hands of sixes or lower), are obviously subject to possible over-pairs and of being outdrawn.

At the same time, one of the better rules of thumb to keep in mind, especially when playing online poker, is that wired small pairs are excellent drawing hands. Another thing to remember about these hands is the pot odds. Since wired small pairs should be considered drawing hands rather than made hands, much of the rationale and reasoning behind a Texas Holdem player betting on his small pair is in direct relation to the size of the pot at the center of the table.

Online poker is a much more of an action and drawing oriented version of Texas Holdem and players with wired small pairs will often end up calling a raise before the flop if a lot of other players joined the pot because the pot then has value and is worth paying and playing for. The bigger the pot, the more potential small pairs have as drawing hands.

Ultimately a Texas Holdem player with wired small pairs is trying to draw that extra card to make a set. If a player makes his set and notices an ace on the flop he might start licking his chops and consider an “all in” bet as the rationale behind this would be that one of the other players has drawn top pair with that ace and will come out firing with his chips, much to his detriment against the small trips.

Remember though that in online poker it is oftentimes better to let the action come to you when holding small pairs. Wired small pairs are not hands to get overly aggressive with but perfect when the pot odds are right or when the other players are limping in with their hands. The goal with small pairs is to flop a set. That won’t happen that often but when it does you can get paid off in a big way. The best way to play small pocket pairs is cautiously before the flop and aggressively after the flop if you hit a set. You must remember that sets are still vulnerable to straights and flushes, so betting is oftentimes a good choice.

Source: Poker Host

The Texas Holdem poker dream starting hand is two aces. Pocket rockets, two bullets, whatever your nickname for them, having two Aces as your two hole cards is the best Texas Holdem poker hand you can have.

In Texas Holdem they are supposed to show once in every 220 hands. Those are the official odds, but obviously some players are luckier than others. The big question in Texas Holdem poker is how to play them?

Some players when playing No Limit Holdem make the mistake of going all-in when they get pocket aces. Did they do the right thing? Let’s see what could happen. If everyone folds after your all-in bet you miss out on a great chance to win a big pot. Your Aces are the best hand and you want to get the most out of them, but by going all-in you very often miss that chance.

If everyone folds there will be very little money that you pick up from your great hand. Another thing that can happen when you go all-in with pocket Aces is that you get called and lose. I know it is not supposed to be that likely, but I can’t tell you how many times I have seen it happen. If you do get drawn out on, then all of your money is gone and you are out of the game. That is a pretty big downside to going all-in with pocket Aces.

What are some other options for you besides the all-in? If you have the Aces in early position you definitely want to raise the pot. You are probably only going to get calls from pairs which you already have beat and perhaps hands like AK, AQ, AJ, or A10. Those hands you have a big advantage on and want the call. You probably won’t see many of those hands though since you already hold two of the aces.

The more likely hands you can put your opponent on are pairs or possibly suited connectors if you run into a loose player. When you have Aces you want people to call and to re-raise you. When you are in middle or late position you want even more action. Remember that position is still the key even when you have the best starting hand when playing Texas Holdem poker.

Another option is just to call when you have Aces. I don’t like this option because it lets everyone with crap hands into the pot and they will try to outdraw you. If someone wants to go against your Aces, make them pay a price to do so. You do want callers, but you don’t want the garbage hands that turn into potential disasters for you when they hit the flop. Pairs are much better for you than the possible straight and flush draws. Most of these tips are for when you play No-Limit Texas Holdem.

In Limit Holdem your play is a little bit different. You still want people to call and to re-raise you, but you have to be more careful on the turn and on the river because some people will just call with anything trying to draw to something. That can be dangerous to you, even though you started with the best hand. Aces are not nearly as powerful in Limit Holdem as they are in No-Limit.