How to Become a Better Poker Player

Many of you who love to play poker share my passion. I love the game of Texas Hold Em. When I first started playing, I will admit that I was not winning at all. I was always the first or second person to lose all the chips. Are any of you like that?

First I thought I was just no good at poker, but anybody can be good at poker. One of the keys that helped me was "patience." I would always throw away the game by rushing into it. Do not be afraid to fold your cards. I use to play just about every hand I had, and that is how I would run out of chips in a hurry. There are some cards you fold before you even see the flop. Cards like "7,2" off suit are cards you need to fold and save that big blind. Cards to keep are cards like "King, King," "Ace, Ace," "10, 10," "Ace, Jack," "King Ace," cards like that. If you have a good starting hand pre-flop, raise the blind three times the amount to get players out that could get lucky.

Bluffing is something I did not use to do, mainly because I could not pull it off very well. Over time I figured out how to do it well. Do you play with the same group of people every weekend? I bet that there are people who tell you how they know you are bluffing. I kept having a friend of mine telling everybody, "Oh I can tell everytime he bluffs because he clinches his jaw - Oh yes, I have a read on him." Little did he know he was helping me to get a read on him as well. So the next hand I had it came down to me and him, I knew I had him beat but I bluffed like I was bluffing. I clinched my jaw to appear like I did not have a good hand and he went all in on just two pair. I called and won the pot. I used what he bragged about against him. Always pay attention to what other players do. Everbody has their own pattern. Pay attention to what other players say about how other players play the game of Texas Hold Em.

Know your odds. If there are four diamonds out on the board and you have two of them in your hand but only have the flush "10 high," think of the odds. You are going heads up with somebody who possibly has a flush also. There are thirteen diamonds in the deck along with spades, hearts, and clubs. That means if with the four that are on the board and the two in your hand, there are at least seven left in the deck. Now it only takes five cards to make a flush, odds are he/she may have the flush as well. Now if there were only three diamonds showing, odds are that he/she is not holding two diamonds.

Getting online and playing poker can help as well. The only thing different about playing online is that you cannot read players as well. Another thing with online poker is to watch people's patterns in their playing. Hopefully these tips will help you to become a better poker player. Remember that experience is what you need in order to become a great player. The more you play, the better you become.