Poker Strategy
Welcome to our Poker Strategy Articles section. Poker is a game of strategy. Anyone that tells you differently is ignorant or a losing poker player. If you study the game and the strategies, you will understand the tactics to becoming a winning player, improve your game, and ultimately win money. We at ITH have accumulated the most comprehensive collection of texas holdem articles to help you learn, gain confidence and most importantly WIN.
We incorporate strategiy discussions on everything from playing hands to winning the mental game. Peruse the sub-categories here or browse all our strategy articles below.
For more poker strategy content, visit our Poker Forum Strategy sections and join in the discussions!
PLO Quiz 4
Playing from the Mississippi straddle, bottom set, value-betting the river - Preflop: It’s a $5-$5-$10 game with a Mississippi straddle.
The Many Faces of Poker Tilt
While many players will tell you that they never go on tilt, this is rarely (if ever) true. What they probably mean is they never notice they are going on tilt and/or they don’t tilt very badly.
Draw Equity vs Float Equity – Part II
Float equity Editor's note: The following is a special preview from Jeff Hwang's upcoming book, Pot-Limit Omaha Poker: Advanced Play Vol.
Poker Bankroll Strategy : Wipeout
It is not a comfortable thought, but every poker player might one day have to deal with the possibility of losing their entire bankroll. There are a number of ways that this might happen, but essentially it will boil down to one of the following:
6 Reasons to Start Playing Omaha Hi Lo
When I first started to play internet poker, I headed for the texas holdem tables. One day, while distracted, I accidentally joined a single table Pot Limit Omaha Hi Lo tournament.
Omaha Hi-Lo Odds – Put Tilt in Perspective
Perhaps the biggest reason why people lose money at poker is tilting. And perhaps the biggest reason for tilting is having unrealistic expectations.
Online Tournament Game Selection
Important factors to consider - “You could be the 10th-best player in the world, but if you’re playing against the nine best, you’re the dog.
Why Pot-Limit Omaha Games Must Get Smaller
It’s crucial to the game’s growth “You can shear a sheep many times, but you can skin him only once.
Turbo SNG Tips
Turbos have taken off lately due to their reputation as a quick and exciting way to play tournament poker. In this two-part article, I’ll explain how to adapt your game as you move through the blind levels of a Turbo SNG.
Long Term Perspective
Zoom in Zoom out....I recently tried out that Google earth thing.
Starting Hand Chart
Learn how professional poker player and best selling poker author Matthew Hilger plays his starting hands using our starting hand poker calculator!
Schooling – Playing in Loose Poker Games
You are dealt Ac Kc in early position and you raise your premium holding. Three players cold-call your raise, as do both the blinds.
PLO Quiz 2
Wrap, bare nut straight heads up - It's a 50¢-$1 pot-limit Omaha (PLO) game on the electronic poker tables at Excalibur in Las Vegas, and you are playing heads up.
Limit Hold’em Quiz
Playing the Nuts Most players love to discuss hands when the value of a hand is not very clear.
When to Raise Draws for Value
When and when not to do so Editor's note: This column is an excerpt from the, expanded edition of Internet Texas Hold'em: Winning Strategies for Full-Ring and Short-Handed Games. It includes a new chapter on playing multiway pots, as well as two new chapters for shorthanded games.
The Emotional Paradox of Poker
Remove all emotion from decisions, but …
The Complete Guide to Playing Poker Maniacs
Every player at some point has the experience of playing with a maniac. Nothing changes a poker game quite as much as a loose aggressive player sitting down and taking charge of the game.
PLO: Top Drawing-Hand Structures
Big Straight Draws - Before I discuss shorthanded play in a future column, I should first write a bit about big straight draws and the top drawing-hand structures used to flop them.
Staying in School, and Poker as a Career
Don’t quit school to play poker! - Editor’s note: This column is an edited excerpt from Jeff Hwang’s book, Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha: Small Ball and Short-Handed Play.
Learning Pot-Limit Omaha
A natural transition for hold’em players - Over the last several years, I have felt a little lazy.
How Not to Tilt
Across different poker games, there is one thing that can be counted on: there will be players going on tilt. One often hears hold’em players complaining about losing large pots on the river (“oh man, another suckout, I can’t believe this”).
Playing Sit n Go’s for Profit
When I first started out online, I deposited $50, played for a while and lost it. A few months later, did the same thing.
Heads-up Limit Hold’em : A Complete Guide
I play a lot of heads-up limit hold’em. In fact, it probably accounts for about 30% of the hands that I play on a day-to-day basis.
PLO Quiz 3
A low SPR situation - Excerpt from Jeff’s book, Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha Volume II: LAG Play and The Short-Handed Workbook.
Am I Delusional?
Am I delusional?
Misapplying Expected Value Calculations Part II
Eric “Rizen” Lynch provides a hand analysis - A few months ago, I wrote an article about how some players are misapplying expected value calculations.
Don’t make the Biggest Mistake in Short-Handed Limit Holdem
My real passion is playing in shorthanded games. I don’t play nearly as much online as I once did, but when I do, I play mostly shorthanded.
More Poker Lessons From My Daughter
The expertise involved with calculating odds, surmising hand strength with incomplete information, negotiating with bluffers, and staying within a bankroll all offer lessons that my daughters will eventually learn to apply to other aspects of their life journeys. In this world, I think those are especially valuable lessons and applications for women to have learned.
Are Satellite Tournaments a Good or Bad Value?
It depends on the player - I read an article recently that reconfirmed to me why playing the online Sunday major tournaments is such a good value.
Master the Basics
Sometime in the 90s, I enrolled as a computer science student at a certain Canadian university. The first year was tough enough.
Skills Learned Playing Short-Handed Limit Holdem
In my first article I discussed the merits of single tabling. In this article I am going to look at what you can learn from playing shorthanded.
Pot-Limit Omaha: Game Selection in Live Play
Finding a game that fits the stakes you want to play - Editor’s note: What follows is an edited excerpt from Jeff Hwang’s book, Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha: Small Ball and Short-Handed Play.
Final Table Training for the WSOP Main Event
Preparing Darus Suharto - I had the pleasure of hosting an event to help Darus Suharto prepare for the World Series of Poker main event.
AP Newswire May 24, 2025: Joshua Hilger takes home the 2025 WSOP
This article was written soon after the birth of my first son, Joshua, back in January of 2004. I guess my estimate of the WSOP reaching 5000 entrants was off by about 20 years!
Draw Equity vs Float Equity – Part I
What do you get in return for your call?
Poker Psychology : Logical Fallacies
Everybody likes to think that they are ‘logical’, but in poker as well as every day life, many people show weakness in this area.
Some Mistakes Down Under
The Aussie Millions If there is one poker trip that every poker player should make, it is to the Aussie Millions, held in the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia.
Selecting Good Poker Tables : Finding the Best Fish
If you want to really excel at the poker tables, then the "need for action" that a lot of us have must be contained while you patiently look for a group that appears to have as many loose/poor players as possible. This reminds me of something that I read in a Doyle Brunson book (the man is such a great poker player....
One Year as a Professional Poker Player
On the 5th of May 2006 I left my cosy office job for the last time, in order to throw my hat into the ring as a professional poker player. Long-time members of the ITH forums may remember my plea for last minute advice before I finally took the plunge.
Is Poker Gambling or Skill?
For some reason, poker players love to debate the question of whether or not playing winning poker counts as gambling. Intuitively the answer is yes, but winning poker players often don’t see it that way.
Following Through in PLO
The betting machine - Editor’s note: What follows is an edited excerpt from Jeff Hwang’s book, Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha: Small Ball and Short-Handed Play.
What do you do when you know you are beat?
Most people know that all of the great Hold'em players play their opponents and not their own hands. Most players believe this is just a matter of sensing weakness in their opponent and then exploiting this weakness by stealing a pot.
Limit Hold’em Tips : The Secrets of Success
Before talking about the merits of single tabling, I should give you a brief history of my playing career. I started playing internet poker three years ago after watching it on TV.
New Zealand Blues
When the flops keep missing - I recently returned from a nice two-week vacation to New Zealand.
Starting Out in Poker : Advice for Beginning Players
If only somebody would have told me this...
Online Poker Tells : Spotting the Sucker
“If you can’t spot the sucker within 30 minutes of being at the table then you’re the sucker.”
Heads Up Versus ‘TT’
The bluff-raise Here are two hands that I played in heads-up post-flop confrontations against my buddy "TT" in my weekly 50¢-$1 ($100 minimum/$200 maximum) pot-limit Omaha (PLO) game on the electronic tables in the poker room at Excalibur in Las Vegas.
The Basic Floats in PLO
Naked, weak-stab, and semibluff In my last column, I discussed the basics of floating in pot-limit Omaha (PLO) and identified the key indicators - the weak stab, the continuation-bet, and a possible steal bet - that a float may be in order.
Playing (Being) Smart
Keys to success in today’s poker world - Today’s poker environment is much tougher than it used to be.
Poker Bankroll Mistakes that Cost the Most
The only way to make money at poker is through your opponents’ mistakes. Consequently if you make fewer mistakes than your opponents then you will make money in the long term.
Winning the Full Tilt Poker $750,000 Event
Restealing is important I recently won the Full Tilt Poker $750,000-guaranteed event under the moniker "IonlyplayAA.
Is he bluffing? A hand from the WSOP
A hand from the World Series of Poker Event No.
PLO Quiz
Playing with the initiative, making a combination-call, and value-betting the river - It's a five-handed 50¢-$1 pot-limit Omaha game online (six-max).
Applying ‘Douts’
Hand examples of applying odds and 'douts' when making drawing decisions A column I wrote a couple of months ago, titled "Outs vs Douts," generated a lot of discussion, as I received more e-mail than usual about the topic.
Omaha Hi-Lo Starting Hand Strategy Look-Fors
In the previous article, we discussed how winners play to scoop the pot. Winners always keep an eye out on how well their cards are coordinated.
Small Buy-in Tournaments on the Internet
No-Limit Hold’em is the most popular form of poker in the world. Played in casinos, card-room and at kitchen tables around the world, the ease of learning Hold’em lends to the popularity.
Short Stack Strategy in Limit Holdem
Beware the Short Stack Much has been written on the impact of stack size in no-limit hold’em, including how to play both with and against a short stack.
Raising Draws for Value in Limit Holdem
I read a lot of hand examples and answer a lot of questions in the poker forum at my website, and there are some common errors that I consistently see. Beginning poker players, and even some players with a decent amount of experience, have misconceptions on when they should raise and when they should call.
Luck in Poker : Four Hands
I am a big advocate of reviewing hands in order to improve your poker game. In fact, as internet players, it is one of the most powerful tools we have.
Playing Pocket Pairs in Tournaments
The situation dictates how they are played - Volume II of the Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time series by Eric “Rizen” Lynch, Jon “PearlJammer” Turner, and Jon “Apestyles” Van Fleet was recently released.
Improving Your Poker Game : New Year’s Resolutions
Improving your game - People write to me all the time, telling me their poker history, which inevitably ends up with the same question: “What can I do to improve my game?
Floating – The Key to Advanced Play
Pot-Limit Omaha: FloatingThe key to advanced play Editor's note: The following is a special preview from Jeff Hwang's upcoming book, tentatively titled Pot-Limit Omaha Poker Volume II: Advanced Play.
High Value Limit Holdem Bluffs
Bluffing in limit hold’em is an interesting science. In loose games it is usually inadvisable to bluff because your opponents will call down with very marginal holdings.
Limit Holdem Bluffing : A Version of the Delayed Bluff
The check and delayed bluff can be a powerful poker weapon
Some Pot-Limit Omaha Hands
A strategy analysis - Here are a few hands from the regular $1-$2 blinds, $5 bring-in, $500 max buy-in pot-limit Omaha game that a few locals and I started recently at The Venetian in Las Vegas.
Why Do Players Go on Tilt?
Why do poker players go on tilt? It's not an easy question to answer .
Variable-Ratio Reinforcement
Regulating opponents’ behavior - What follows is a special preview from Jeff’s book, Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha Volume II: LAG Play
Pot-Limit Omaha: The Bankroll Schedule
Flameproof your bankroll - You write a poker book and everybody gets the wrong impression.
Pot-Limit Omaha Hand Quiz
Playing top two pair, and the nut-flush draw - Here are a couple of hands from a $2-$5 game at The Venetian in Las Vegas.Let’s Play Poker!
