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Reading your opposition should be a key factor in any good poker strategy. Learning to read your opponents is not difficult, but can take some time to master. The first step is to learn the most common poker tells.

A ‘Poker Tell’ is a characteristic behavioral pattern shared by most poker players, especially those with less experience. The most skilled poker players will keep a straight face at all times, even going so far as to wear sunglasses or in as in the case of one pro poker player, a hoody sweatshirt to avoid being read by their opponents. Needless to say, this is the strategy you should be using.

Common Poker Tells
1. Eyes: The eyes are the key to the soul, as they say, and this is very true in a home or college poker game, in casinos, anywhere but online; the eyes never lie. When a player spends a longer than usual amount of time looking at their hole cards, this usually means they have a great hand, such as a pocket pair. If a player in late position is stealing glances at the players before him who have not yet bet, he is likely watching them to see if he should bluff/raise to steal the blinds. (more…)

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Successful bluffs, particulary in a high-stakes game, have great drama. Furthermore, people who do play much poker often thing that bluffing is the central element of the game.

It’s true, bluffing is an important aspect of poker, but it is only one part of the game, certainly no more important than playing your legitimate hands correctly. Though a player who never bluffs cannot expect to win as much money as someone who bluffs the proper freguency, most average players tend too bluff too much, particulary in limit games. When it cost an opponent only one more bet to see your hand, it is difficult to get away with a bluff, for with any kind of hand our opponent is usually getting suffucient pot odds to call your bet-especially if he has seen you trying to bluff several times already. Recollect the Fundamental Theorem of Poker and you will understand that an opponent who knows you never bluffs is much less likely to play his hand incorrectly. Any time you bet, he will know you are betting for value. He will play only when he figures he has a better hand than yours or when he is getting sufficient pot odds to call with more cards to come. Bluffing, then, or the possibility that you might be bluffing, is another way of keeping your opponent guessing. Your occasional bluffs disguise not just the hands with which you are in fact bluffing but also your legitimate hands, with which your opponents know you might be bluffing. (more…)

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Texas Hold’em is a game of decision making based on partial information. Since we can’t know for certain what cards our opponents are holding, or the cards that are coming on the flop, turn, or river, we have to gather as much information as possible and then try to make the optimal decision based on our conclusions. Successful players go through a deep thought process to gather as much information as possible, to narrow down hand ranges and determine what his or her opponent is thinking. However, too often poker players think the wrong things during a hand. Amateur poker players think about trivial things such as “I have Kings, please no Ace on the flop!” or “Club! Club! Club!” I would like to use this article to give some insight into what I believe a poker player should think about during a hand, and the thought process that can make someone a successful poker player.

Surprisingly, the thought process for a hand begins before the cards are even dealt (The more you play the more you’ll realize that your own cards are almost irrelevant but instead, the focal point should remain on your opponents’ cards and their tendencies). Amateur players think, “Gosh, I hope I get a good hand” while strong players begin to analyze their current situation in the tournament. The first thing that you should consider is the tournament that you are playing in. Is it the $25k WPT championship or is it the $10 rebuy? The answer to that question will drastically affect how you will proceed with the hand. So many people use hand histories that don’t even include the site/tourney/buy-in at the top, when it’s the first thing you should consider before making a decision. Are you playing a table full of professionals or does everyone pretty much suck? (more…)

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You know there is a Fundamental Theorem of Algebra and on of Calculus. So it is the right time to introduce (by David Skolansky) the Fundamental Theorem of Poker:

Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents’ cards, they gain; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose. Conversely, every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain; and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards, you loose.

Example: suppose your hand is not as good as your opponent’s when you bet. Your opponent calls your bet, and you lose. But in fact you have not lost; you have gained! Why? Because obviously your opponent’s correct play, if he knew what you had, would be to raise. Therefore, you have gained when he doesn’t raise, and if he folds, you have gained a tremendous amount! (according to David Skolansky)

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Today I have been given one book I’m going to read very carefully. It is “Introduction to the Theory of Poker” by David Sklansky.

David Sklansky (born 1947,in Teaneck, New Jersey) is a professional poker player and author.
Sklansky grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, where he graduated from Teaneck High School in 1966. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, but left before graduation. He returned to Teaneck and passed multiple Society of Actuaries exams by the time he was 20, and worked for an actuarial firm.
Sklansky is generally considered a top authority on gambling. He has written many books on poker, blackjack, and general gambling. His book, the Theory of Poker, is considered to be a quintessential poker primer. (more…)

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