If he does, this is a pretty standard play for you to make a continuation bet. Usually this means about half to three quarters of the pot, and usually the hand will stop right there. But what if it doesn’t? Sometimes your opponent will call your continuation bet. He is offering you position with his call, yet on a ragged low card flop, you have to always be aware these are precisely the hands your opponent may have called you with. Of course you don’t know that, as he might’ve called you with an ace king and have your king jack offsuit dominated.

The important thing to note here is he did call you. This call indicates at least some strength, either through catching a piece of the flop, or slow playing. He may also think you are a timid enough antagonist, to be planning a bet or check raise on the turn or river. He could simply be playing on the assumption that this flop completely missed your high cards, and you cannot afford to make this pot grow with an ace high hand. He may also just be playing with a low pair, or draw.

What you choose to do here will depend largely on how you have profiled your opponent. You may want to three bet him if he raises you, but that will mean playing a big pot when you have at best a marginal hand. This is something that you truly must consider as to be a pricy situation long term. Simply put, if you don’t have the balls or the cards to bet out on the turn or river, then you may likely be reconciled to saying to yourself, “that’s all I’m going to put into this hand, I’ll have to check it down or fold”.

It can be hard to handle the feelings of being forced off a hand by an opponent who changes their level of aggression during a hand. This is simply because we are in battle with a human inclination to protect oneself and fight for survival. Folding a hand can feel cowardly and defeatist, but knowing when to back off is a vital skill if you want to be a successful poker player.

So backing away from a bluff never makes you feel good, but for players who realize that it is simply a calculated move and actually has nothing to do with your personality or character, will be able to walk away unscathed – at least emotionally. The good, knowledgeable players will be able to patiently wait for a better opportunity. Denser players, on the other hand may have a chip on their shoulder about having to fold, and may be leaning towards tilt after just a single hand.

So when you have to release your hand as a result of reraising behind you, just know that there will be better times to bluff in less costly situations.

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Since there are many opportunities to outplay your opponents, you have to know which opponents you can outplay. It is difficult to finesse weak players. The slow play often backfires because one of the loose limpers will hit a hand. The bluff does not work, since these players call with any two cards. The following sections demonstrate many of the advanced aspects of the game and how best to play them.

The Art of the Slow-play

The slow-play is when you intentionally under-bet in order to disguise the strength of your hand and attempt to trap an opponent with a weaker hand. Unlike the bluff, the slow-play is effective against both strong and weak opponents. Bad opponents simply bet their hand. They are going to pay you off if they have something or they are simply on a draw,

You should not slow-play when there is a flush or straight draw on the board. You should only do so when your opponent has a poker hand that is not likely to improve enough to beat yours. Suppose the flop is AD-7H-KC and you hold 7D-7C, and you put your opponent on an Ace or King. In this instance, it is usually more profitable to bet the hand aggressively on the turn. This way you can get at least one extra large bet by letting your opponent make the initial raise for you.

The flop is the primary round to use the slow-play. On subsequent betting rounds, your opponents give you action for one of two reasons. Either they improved their hand on the next street and their hand is now worth betting, or they think their mediocre hand is good because you did not show strength the previous round.

If you slow-play the turn, you are sacrificing an opportunity to make money. The only reason to slow-play on the turn is if your read on your opponents is that they will fold with any bet you make. If this is the case, then it may be worth checking to see if you can get a bet from them on the river. Winning a pot with one round of betting in it is better than winning one with no money in the pot.

Some players want to slow-play a monster hand on the turn so they can make the big raise on the river. This is another example of trying to be too complex in betting. Because of their desire to raise on the river, they slow-play the turn and forgo an opportunity to make good money from several opponents. On the river, these plays usually end up isolating a single remaining opponent, who may or may not call a raise.

While another player is thinking of the big river raise, you should concentrate on building the pot at every opportunity when you have the premium hand. Do not attempt fancy slow-plays. They often cost you money from missed betting opportunities or from your opponent hitting a hand on the turn or river.

When Not to Slow-Play

Do not over play the hand if you should hit quads or a full house. Players playing mediocre cards from a good position frequently do not bet the turn or river. Instead, they check or call. If you slow-play the turn, this type of opponent does not start throwing in raises and re-raises on the river. Therefore, just keep betting the turn, despite the improvement. They rarely put you on quads, so try to get some action on the turn. Do not stop playing your style of play and slow-play when you have a great hand. That becomes an easy tell to spot and makes your play predictable.

Remember, the act of betting does not automatically give your hand away. This is especially true if you have been constantly changing gears and mixing up your table image throughout the gaming session. Never overlook the fact that another player with an inferior hand may slow-play the flop with the intent to open up on the turn. Letting them do so allows you to hide the strength of your hand when they do raise or re-raise. As with the bluff, the slow play is not as useful in limit poker as it is in no-limit. With only a small bet needed, most players in the hand are going to stay in the hand for at least one additional bet.

Representing Your Hand

A strong bet can represent a strong hand. This is especially true when betting after the flop. If an Ace or King shows on the flop, you can represent an Ace or King in your hand by betting. Often, it is what you represent that is more important than what you actually have, especially if you have put your opponent on a medium or weak hand.

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an e-zine dedicated to Texas Hold’em poker. He is also the award-winning author of “Winning Blue-Collar Hold’em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments” and three upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMag, where he gives you a daily pokerism.

An obvious tell (subconscious action) can be the amount of force a player uses in placing their chips in the pot. If the player spikes their chips (slamming down a stack past the bet line), they are more likely to have a weak hand.

Also, be aware that fumbling of the chips may betray inexperience at a brick and mortar casino, and belie the fact that the player has considerable experience online. This is very apparent with some players on televised poker tournaments that draw their players from online qualifiers, such as Fox Sports Net tournaments sponsored by major online poker sites.

When a player makes a call or raise and they place their chips closer to themselves, they often have a strong hand. They are often subconsciously keeping their chips within easy reach to rake them back when they win. A player who uses a lot of force in tossing in the chips toward the pot, or flings them away, often has a marginal hand, because this tossing away of the chips can be because they feel they have already lost the hand and the chips as well.

Players with several denominations of chips in front of them can often give away their hand by which chips they use when betting. If they place their smaller denomination chips in the pot, subconsciously giving away their small chips and keeping their big chips for themselves, they are unsure they have the best hand. If they bet with the high denomination chips, they are not expecting to lose them. A player making a move for their chips out of turn is normally indicating that the most recent community card is an improvement.

How players maintain their chip stacks may give an insight into their style of play. Loose-aggressive players often have sloppy, irregular chip stacks. Neat, organized chip stacks are often the earmark of a tight-aggressive player. How a player cuts out the chips can also give insight into the strength of the hand. Cutting out chips is when a player separates the chips from the stack before placing them in the pot to see how many chips will remain after the bet. It is similar to the way a cowboy would cut out a calf from the herd for branding.

This is the key place to look for chip tells. A player who is unsure of the amount of chips needed for a call, or who is having trouble counting out the correct number of chips, is often unsure of the strength of his/her hand. A player counting and recounting chips may also be unsure of his/her hand’s strength. Unfortunately, playing with chip stacks are where most players go Hollywood (Acting at the table, normally with a reverse tell.), so realize that the player may be using a reverse tell to fool you and the other players.

Card Tells

When a player looks at their hole cards can be a tell on their experience level. Instead of watching the other players look at their cards, many inexperienced players look at their own cards as soon as they receive them By not waiting until it is their turn to play they miss viewing possible tells other players may exhibit.

While the dealer places the community cards on the table, you should watch how other players still in the hand react. Their eyes may look to their chips, a look of pleasure may pass fleetingly over their face, or a look of disgust may show they did not hit the card they needed.

If the flop falls with several cards of the same suit, watch for the player who rechecks their hole cards. They may remember the rank of the cards, but be unsure of the suits, and be checking to see if they are on a flush draw. The same tell is possible if the flop cards are connected, since they are verifying their straight draw. Be wary of any strong bets after these tells.

Betting Tells

How quickly a player bets is often indicative of the hand they have. A fast call or raise normally signifies strength, while taking too much time can be a sign of indecision. Make sure you observe the player’s actions for a while to determine the normal speed they play their hands. Be prepared for the false tell, though, as this is an excellent place for an opponent to think long and act weak while holding a premium starting hand.

If you notice that a player always raises with large pocket pairs, you can avoid a confrontation when you hold a marginal hand. If you notice a player continues to bet after a pre-flop raise, then you can safely check to them when you have a big hand, knowing you can get a check raise out of them.

It is important to follow the betting patterns of your opponents through each street. Follow all hands to the river to see what they have bet and how strong their hand actually was. This information becomes invaluable the longer you play with a particular opponent, as you will be able to correlate their betting with their hole cards.

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an e-zine dedicated to poker. He is also the award-winning author of “Winning Blue-Collar Hold’em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments” and four upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMag, where he gives you a daily poker quote.

The fight or flight response is human nature when one faces a confrontational situation. Since poker is often a confrontational endeavor, knowing the key tells (subconscious actions) may provide insight into a player’s hand. Pupil dilation, increase in heart rate, shaking hands, abnormal inhalation, muscle flexing, dry throat and voice modulation are all symptoms of the anxiety response.

One reason to try to get a player to talk while in a hand is to notice a slight change in the voice. A dry mouth or higher voice might betray a monster hand. Looking at the eyes pinpointing is actually difficult, but seeing the chest expand or the vein on the side of the forehead throb might be clues.

Playing in a tournament at a few years ago, an older gentleman placed a significant raise. With a shaking hand, he placed a large percentage of his chips in the pot in front of him. Another player at the table saw the shake and said, “You must really have a big hand.” The older man stared him down and said, “No. Parkinson’s.”

If a player’s hands are shaking as they place their bet, it is often a sign of a monster hand. Just be sure you have paid attention to their hands earlier, for they may simply have palsy and their hands always shake.

Players are more likely to make eye contact with you if they are weak and more likely to avoid eye contact if they are strong. If you find yourself in a marginal situation, look at your opponent. If they are staring right at you, you should be more inclined to call. If they are looking away, you should be more inclined to fold.

“Son, I’ve made a life out of readin’ people’s faces, and knowin’ what their cards were by the way they held their eyes.” – Kenny Rogers, The Gambler

Do not look at cards as the dealer lays them on the felt. Instead, look at the players still in the hand and try to gauge their reactions to the cards. Many players instinctively look down at their chips if the flop helps them, calculating the amount and preparing to bet. You should be less likely to bluff or play marginal hands after spotting this tell.

One classic tell is a player who glances away from the flop when they have hit a monster hand. If this trait becomes consistent, then you can comfortably fold your pocket Jacks when the player glances away from the Ace, King or Queen on the flop.

How a player positions his/her body can often show a lot more than they realize. When the flop hits the board and helps a player, they often move forward, showing more interest in the hand. A slump of the shoulders often occurs when a hand does not improve. Sitting up straighter and showing more interest in a hand can denote strength. A bluffer often leans into the table in an intimidating, confrontational manner. In a similar vein, players who look at their hole cards before their turn, then start talking on the cell phone or showing disinterest, normally have a weak hand and are just waiting to fold.

Body language can also show how a person is feeling in general, not just on a particular hand. Someone having a bad day at home or the office can bring that to the card room and play poorly because of it. A tense player may play more conservatively or may be more prone to go on tilt. A happy player (or one who has overindulged) may become looser and play more hands or bet larger amounts than normal. It is not only the body language of players still in the hand that can provide tells on opponents’ cards.

Watching the actions and talk of players who have already folded can be important. A pained expression or comment following a dealt card might provide an insight into the cards already folded. The use of sunglasses has become a common and controversial feature, from local home games and poker rooms to the televised final tables. Many players feel the use of black or mirrored shades give them an edge by not allowing players to read their eyes. If you feel the player sitting across the table from you can remember what the size of your pupils were from four to eight feet across the felt prior to and after that big flop, then grab a pair of shades and cover up.

While playing in a satellite tournament for the 2009 Wynn Classic, I had the seat to the left of a Frenchman wearing opaque sunglasses. Thinking that his sunglasses protected him from giving away tells, he never realized that his eyebrows arched with a good hand and his forehead creased when the cards on the board did not improve his hand.

You need more than sunglasses to conceal the strength of your hand if your eyes are giving away significant facial tells. Phil “Unabomber” Laak takes this concealment to the extreme when he cocoons himself inside his hooded sweatshirt. The use of these hoodies is often frowned upon, and they are actually banned in some casinos and card rooms.

Sometimes the glasses are more for a shock effect, from 2005 WSOP Main Event Champion Greg Raymer’s hypnotic orange eyes to the holographic bulging eyes this author uses. The use of this type of lens is more to disrupt an opponent’s concentration than to cover up a facial tell.

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an e-zine dedicated to poker. He is also the award-winning author of “Winning Blue-Collar Hold’em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments” and three upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMag, where he gives fans adaily poker quote or pokerism.

Though it is true in Hold’em that, with luck, any two cards can win any given hand, it is not true that any two cards can win consistently. Knowing which hole cards are worth playing pre-flop and which to fold is an important skill. I have seen the types of starting hands played change in the last five years with the predominance of televised poker.

The game of controlled aggression has turned maniacal at times, with many players playing (or praying) with hole cards that should never see a flop. When one plays a tight-aggressive style, sticking to the premium starting hands is the first factor to consider. It is common to go one or two rounds without getting a solid starting hand to bet: Patience is the virtue you must possess if you desire to succeed. You should only play less than premium hands under two circumstances: to enhance your table image or to protect your blinds. For now, you should look at the most profitable of the 169 combinations of hole cards available in the standard 52-card deck and the betting strategy you use with them for each of the three positions on the table.

I use rankings based on percentages (odds of winning) to determine which cards are premium starting hands. The percentages found in the figures are the probability the listed hole cards would win if the hand should go to the river at a full table of nine or ten players. The probability of having Ace-Ace as the hole cards and subsequently winning increases from 31% with nine opponents to over 85% in heads-up play. The reason for this dramatic difference is that in ten-handed play, any of your nine opponents can win the hand. Taking the individual statistics of each of the nine other hands and adding them together, at best, the sum equals 69%.

“Pocket aces win the small pots and lose the big ones.” – Pokerism

There are several criteria for determining premium starting hands. First, it is the cards themselves. The individual ranks and combined strength, as well as the suit(s) are important. Weak players often take inferior hands too far and lose money as a result. Second, one must factor table position into the decision process. Third, the size of the pot and subsequent pot odds play an important part in the decision process. Fourth, the type of game you are in can change how you feel about your pocket cards. A table full of loose-aggressive players makes many premium starting hands less attractive than in a tight game. Finally, the quality of your opponents can strengthen or weaken staring hands. Higher quality players make fewer mistakes and, therefore, do not give as much value when you have a strong hand. Lower quality players often do not believe another player has the cards they are portraying, and often pay more to see that they are holding the second-best hand.

I once read an article that showed that a person could make nearly $25.00 an hour playing in a $150.00 buy-in, $1/$2 blinds, no-limit ring game by going All In with only the top four hands. The rationale was that you would double up once every two to three hours and this would make up for any hands where the top four hands were beat. It takes six to eight hours a day, over an extended period of time, to realize these profits, but it appears possible.

Fearsome Foursome

The strongest four hands in poker are called the Fearsome Foursome. Pre-flop, these hands have the greatest chance of winning. You can play the top four hands found in the table below from any position. The proper no-limit bet is a raise of three and one half times the big blind. With pocket Aces, Kings,Queens or suited Ace-King in a limit game, you should raise and re-raise before the flop until you cap the betting.

Hole Cards Rank Percentage

Ace-Ace 1 31.09% King-King 2 26.02% Queen-Queen 3 22.03% Ace-King 4 20.09%

Elite 8

“The proper way to play pocket Jacks is to bet All-in pre-flop and fold after the flop.” – Pokerism

The next four best starting hands round out the Elite 8. Though these are strong hands, you have to be a bit more careful with pocket Jacks and the suited high Aces, but the chances are still huge that you are top hand before the flop. You should raise and try to drive out the drawing hands if there are no raises in front of you. Depending on the style of your opponents, beware of the flop that shows Aces or Kings. If there is an over card on the board and a tight player raises in front of you, your best decision may be to fold your Jacks.

The interesting thing about the strength of the Ace-King and Ace-Queen is that in tournament situations they seem to bust out more players than any other hand. Though they are very strong pre-flop, they are still just drawing hands. Often, high cards are a coin flip pre-flop, and, depending on the flop, can become very weak, very fast. Players always show amazement when a high pocket pair is beaten, but as you can see in the table percentages, they are easily beat when they do not improve on the flop.

Hole Cards Rank Percentage

Jack-Jack 5 19.09% Ace-Queen (S) 6 18.66% King-Queen(S) 7 18.08% Ace-Jack (S) 8 17.47%

Too many players want to see the flop with a Queen, King or Ace in the hole, making pocket Jacks very vulnerable. The odds of a face card hitting on the flop are high, though the odds of your face card hitting are cut by two-thirds. Hitting the higher pair on the flop occurs often enough to destroy the Jacks, further fueling the loose players’ philosophy that any card can win. In the final analysis, holding on to face cards without a strong kicker, especially when you are out of position, is extremely detrimental to your chip stack.

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an e-zine dedicated to poker. He is also the award-winning author of “Winning Blue-Collar Hold’em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments” and three upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMag, where he gives you a daily poker quote or pokerism.

An observant person can get insight into a player’s hand but observing “tells,” which are subconscious actions made by that player. Mastering the psychology of poker is crucial to winning poker, and reading tells is one of the skills you need. When you first sit at a table, — or, even better, as you are watching a table to decide if it is where you want to play — pay attention to the players. It is easier to observe players actions when you are not in a hand and it gives you time to notice tells. This is one of the reasons that, when you first sit at a table, you choose a seat where you will be waiting for the blind to come to you, rather than paying to start playing immediately.

Both your opponents’ and your own tells are extremely important in Hold’em poker. For more than two decades, Mike “The Mad Genius of Poker” Caro and many others have made a living espousing the importance of players’ tells. His most commonly quoted tell is “Weak is strong and strong is weak.” In simple terms, if opponents, through their words or deeds, act as if they have a strong hand, they very often have a weak hand and vice versa. Since it is such a well known tell, many people try to reverse it, so beware of this tell when it is out of character for the opponent. Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth, winner of eleven WSOP bracelets, says that figuring out just two tells a tournament can make the difference between cashing out and busting out.

Check each of the other players’ mannerisms to spot any obvious tells that may give you an advantage later. You need to know what many of the common tells represent and then attempt to see them in the players around the table. Insure that you yourself are not providing tells to your opponents. You can either stifle obvious tells, or more effectively, do the opposite. The best defense is to mix it up and, from time to time, “make strong mean strong.” Though tells can be important information and a needed weapon in our poker arsenal, it is equally important to realize that tells are only one small part of the entire story and should never be taken in isolation or as an absolute truth.

Not providing betting tells to your opponents is just as important as observing your opponents’ . You do this in one of two ways. One, keep your bets the same size whether you are holding King-King or 5-7 offsuit: Take the same amount of time to bet the monster hand as you do when you fold. Two, constantly change the size of your bet. By making the bets different sizes for the same cards, you portray a confusing pattern to opponents. By being inconsistent, you do not allow your opponents to get a read on your style. Remember that the less information you provide your opponents through your own betting patterns, the better.

About the author: Daniel L. Cox is the editor of Poker Insider Magazine, an e-zine dedicated to poker. He is also the award-winning author of “Winning Blue-Collar Hold’em: How to Play Low-limit Ring Games and Small Buy-in Tournaments” and four upcoming books on poker. He can be found on Twitter at PokerInsiderMagand Facebook, where he gives you a daily poker quote or pokerism.

Losing your temper while playing poker, playing tilt, losing your stance during the game and steaming! This spells out only one result and that’s bad poker!

If your emotions get in the way of logical thinking then you are steaming. Making the right decision depends on your level of mental stability. If you are angry, frustrated and pissed off then go home, you are not in the right state of being to play poker. A discipline poker player controls himself, calm exudes him and he is cool and stable. Check out this example of a player on tilt play.

His supposed to be bride didn’t attend their wedding, he bumped his car on the driveway because his depressed, he got suspended from his job because he disrespected his employer. A person in this situation cannot make better judgment because he is at his wit’s end.

All poker players are vulnerable to steaming. Our problems even on our personal lives really affects our decision making process. So its really best to avoid playing poker when you are depressed.

Steaming won’t stop unless the problems will be solved. You will be in a roll if you are steaming, it seems like that it will get bigger and worst. And that day won’t be yours. Check out a common example of tilting:

It begins with a bad beat and your steaming because you had the superior hand but the winner with a supreme kind of luck won. You’re still thinking about it on the next hand. And then your with a very poor hand this time. And then you try to bet big with a poor hand hoping to get the luck of the guy who win the first hand. And you end up losing! The guy got the pot again for the second row and you’re angry with him and yourself for playing a poor hand to the hilt.

And it did not end there. Your luck was back again and you thought that its only a game, however after a few hours you experience another bad beat. And then you beginning to recall the first dead beat, the poor hand you played, the present beat you had, you’re husband leaving your door and then thinking what to do when you got to the office because you have not finished your job on the deadline.. and so on…

And then after more hands you see yourself playing with your whole savings, betting with a large bet 10 times bigger with your normal bet and having a bad hand.