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 Practice-Hand Quiz No. 1
An interesting, complex hand What follows is the first of what likely will be a series of pot-limit Omaha (PLO) practice-hand quizzes, similar to those found in my book, Pot-Limit Omaha Poker: The Big Play Strategy.
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.
Automated Poker
Is the future here?
Online Poker Tips for Beginners
Matthew gives beginning poker players a few online poker tips - I receive lots of questions by email and in the Poker Forum from beginners asking for poker tips on getting started with with online poker.
Pot-Limit Omaha: The PokerTek Angle
The future of Las Vegas pot-limit Omaha - Last issue, I mentioned the 50¢-$1 ($100 minimum/$200 maximum) pot-limit Omaha (PLO) game I am hosting on PokerTek's electronic poker tables (PokerPro) in the fully automated poker room at Excalibur in Las Vegas.
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.
Positional Advantage in Pot-Limit Omaha
The ambiguity of the bet - This is an edited excerpt from Jeff’s book, Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha: Small Ball and Short-Handed Play.
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).
Quiz: Wrap, Bare Nut Straight Heads Up
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.
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.
The Reverse Float
Floating from out of position Editor's note: The following is from Jeff Hwang's upcoming book, Pot-Limit Omaha Poker: Advanced Play.
Poker Stop Losses : When Should I Stop Playing
So what is a good reason to stop playing? If you think back to your last twenty or so sessions, you have probably quit for all kinds of reasons.
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.
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.
Why Do Players Go on Tilt?
Why do poker players go on tilt? It's not an easy question to answer .
Starting Out in Poker : Advice for Beginning Players
If only somebody would have told me this...
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 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.
Floating in Pot-Limit Omaha Eight-or-Better
Slightly different parameters, but the same principle I spent a few days playing in Downtown Las Vegas during the World Series of Poker this year.
Las Vegas Pot-Limit Omaha
Small-stakes game officially born - On Wednesday, July 22, I walked into the poker room at The Venetian with a plan.
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.
Is he bluffing? A hand from the WSOP
A hand from the World Series of Poker Event No.
Playing Trash Hands in Limit Hold’em
The situation has to be right My last column looked at how to play the nuts in limit hold'em.
The Nut-Flush Draw
A strong pot-limit Omaha hand - Editor’s note: What follows is an edited excerpt from Jeff Hwang’s book, Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha: Small Ball and Short-Handed Play.
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.
A Proposal for the World Series of Poker
There has been a lot of talk within the poker community about the future of the World Series of Poker. The central debate has focused on whether or not the main event is too big in terms of the number of entrants.
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.
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.
Don’t Forget About Passive Play
Sometimes consider it as part of your arsenal - My moniker at a couple of online sites is “IonlyPlayAA.
The World Series of Poker Bubbles
Take advantage of them I've been fortunate enough to cash in three of the last four main events at the World Series of Poker.
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.
Working in Your Underwear: The Pitfalls of Comfort
Troy Headrick, aka BernardDogs in the Forum, gives some tips in how to avoid online habits that are not conducive to live play When I ran Cross-Country in High School, our coach would video tape us as we ran so that we could then view the tape and critique our form.
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.
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.
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”).
Improving Your Game
Resources aplenty Do you remember when you started playing poker and read your first poker book?
The Combo Float
Floating with part made hand, part draw, and part air - A lot of times, you will find yourself floating with part made hand, part draw, and part air.
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.
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.
Poker Emotions : Is Poker Controlling You?
Anyway, something that really stood out to me was a subject that had nothing to do with actual trading: most of these rare extremely successful traders (including the ones who had families) were completely immersed in the world of the markets. A lot of them were into currencies or foreign markets and would often be in and out of bed during the middle of the night as they glued themselves to their monitors.
The Mississippi Straddle
To straddle or not to straddle on the button Editor's note: The following is from Jeff Hwang's book, Pot-Limit Omaha Poker: Advanced Play Vol.
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!
Playing (Being) Smart
Keys to success in today’s poker world - Today’s poker environment is much tougher than it used to be.
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.
The Journey : Stages of Poker Development
We begin the journey the first time we play poker.
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.
The Realities of a Re-buy Tournament
One of the most important things to keep in mind while playing an R&A tournament is that the first hour offers a very different style of play than just about any other possible Hold ‘em table. Typically, you’ll have a fair share of opponents playing a loose/super-aggressive style (LAGs).
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.”
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:
Fixing World Series of Poker Structures for PLO
Pot-limit Omaha players are getting shortchanged - A few issues ago in my column on the bankroll schedule for pot-limit Omaha, I mentioned that while a typical buy-in for no-limit hold'em might be 100 big blinds, in order to be reasonably deep in pot-limit Omaha, you should buy in for more like 150 times the big blind.
Playing Against the Blinds in Pot-Limit Omaha
To continuation-bet or not to continuation-bet - Editor’s note: What follows is an edited excerpt from Jeff Hwang’s book, Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha: Small Ball and Short-Handed Play.
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.
Multiway Pots in Limit Holdem
Test Your Skills
Don’t Be Afraid to Make Mistakes
Focus on your poker instincts Beginning players are afraid to make mistakes because they don't want to look like a beginner.
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.
Poker Psychology : Rationalizing Decisions
I’m running badly at the moment.
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.
Are you prepared? A look at poker tournament training
Play different-structured tournaments Last fall I wrote a column titled "Improving Your Game.
Dominating Draws in PLO
A game of draws - The truth about pot-limit Omaha (PLO) is that about 99 percent of the game is played on the draw.
A Shorthanded Limit Hold’em Hand
Breaking it down I recently played an interesting hand online during a shorthanded six-max limit hold'em game.
Leaks in Limit Holdem : Plugging the Right Leaks
This article will not tell you what is wrong with your game; there are plenty of resources out there to help you with that. This article will suggest ways that you can assess how important leaks are and prioritise accordingly.
The Paradox of Poker – Tournament vs Ring
Tournament versus cash-game strategy Very few players succeed in both tournaments and cash games.
Poker Table Chat
Table chat is a long-standing and accepted part of poker, both online and in live card rooms. When playing online, the amount of chatter varies greatly from table to table.
Beating Fish in Limit Holdem
Now, onto some thoughts about the best ways to profit from these subpar players. What are the best ways to accomplish this?
Gambler or Gamer : What Attracts People to Poker
What is the appeal of poker?
Lose Weight while Playing Poker!
How do you lose weight and gain pounds at the same time? OK…maybe I have played a little with the word pounds (except for those in the UK) but read on a little further.
The Emotional Paradox of Poker
Remove all emotion from decisions, but …
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.
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.Let’s Play Poker!
