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!
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.
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.
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.
Draw Equity vs Float Equity – Part I
What do you get in return for your call?
Playing (Being) Smart
Keys to success in today’s poker world - Today’s poker environment is much tougher than it used to be.
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.
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.
The Danger of Optimism : Texas Holdem Odds
In most things in life, there is little danger in being optimistic. In fact studies have shown that optimists tend to be happier and more successful than pessimists.
Weaving Through 9,999 Opponents
A lucky day! - The $100K Holiday freeroll tournament at Full Tilt Poker ended up being a nice Christmas gift.
Starting Out in Poker : Advice for Beginning Players
If only somebody would have told me this...
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!
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.
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.
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.
Bluffing in the WSOP Main Event Part I
One of the great things I love about the World Series of Poker main event is the big stacks you get to play in relation to the blinds. When starting out with $10,000 in chips, you can find spots to make plays that would be difficult to make in other types of events in which you start out with a small amount of chips.
Improving Your Game
Resources aplenty Do you remember when you started playing poker and read your first poker book?
Continuation Betting & Variable Ratio Reinforcement
<Randomization is in the cards - What follows is an excerpt from Jeff’s books, Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha Volume II: LAG Play and The Short-Handed Workbook.
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.
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.
Hand-Strength Classifications
Categorizing starting hands by playability Editor's note: What follows are edited excerpts from Jeff Hwang's book Pot-Limit Omaha Poker: The Big Play Strategy.
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 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.
Why Do Players Go on Tilt?
Why do poker players go on tilt? It's not an easy question to answer .
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.”
Stack Size is Everything in Tournaments
Keep track of the changing stack sizes I just completed working on the book Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time, Volume I.
Pot-Limit Omaha Hand Quiz 3
Big-blind-versus-small-blind play, small ball, floating, and the bluff-raise - What follows is a special preview from Jeff’s book, Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha Volume II: LAG Play.
Tough Limit Holdem Strategy
We all have an idea of the archetypical bad limit hold’em player or ‘fish’ as they are often called. They are very loose, very passive, chase terrible draws, don’t value bet or protect their hand enough etc.
Bluffing in the WSOP Main Event Part 2
My last column looked at a couple of bluffs that I made during the World Series of Poker main event. One of them was successful and one of them cost me some chips.
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.
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.
Poker Bankroll Management : Will I Go Broke?
Statistically speaking even if you are a very good poker player, with a huge bankroll, there is a chance that you will eventually run so bad that you will go broke. Unfortunately we can’t eliminate that probability completely but we can reduce it.
Poker Tips for Beginners : Three Decisions that are Never Wrong
Some decisions, both game and non-game, are relatively easy to make while others are more difficult. Everyone makes bad decisions from time to time, but the key to being successful is to make as few as possible.
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.
Misapplying Expected Value Calculations
A questionable play - There is a long-standing argument in the poker world between the math guys and the instinct guys.
Who is the Most Confident?
Poker on the internet is in very many ways similar to live poker. It’s still poker after all and the rules, probabilities and everything else that really matters is the same.
Omaha Hi-Lo Tips : Beyond Basic Omaha
So you’ve mastered the basics. You understand the nature of the game, starting hand qualities, the importance of position, how high and low possibilities affect your pot odds, why a dry A2 is not the second coming…etc.
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!
Limit Holdem Bluffing : A Version of the Delayed Bluff
The check and delayed bluff can be a powerful poker weapon
PLO Practice-Hand Quiz No. 2
Raising preflop, the combo float, and value-betting the river It's a $1-$2 blinds game, $5 to bring in.
Playing With the Initiative After the Flop in PLO
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.
Controlling the Turn and River
The check-back range and the float - What follows is an excerpt from Jeff’s books, Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha Volume II: LAG Play and The Short-Handed Workbook.
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.
Isolating an All-In Opponent
A Hand on the Final-Table Bubble at the World Series of Poker - Many players struggle to distinguish between the situations in which they should attempt to knock out an opponent and those in which they should merely try to accumulate more chips.
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.
Gambler or Gamer : What Attracts People to Poker
What is the appeal of poker?
Long Term Perspective
Zoom in Zoom out....I recently tried out that Google earth thing.
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.
Button Play in Tournaments
Evaluating some close decisions
Re-buy Tournament Strategy
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).
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.
The Paradox of Poker – Tournament vs Ring
Tournament versus cash-game strategy Very few players succeed in both tournaments and cash games.
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.
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.
Poker Psychology : Rationalizing Decisions
I’m running badly at the moment.
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.
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.
Tournament Strategy : Continuation-Betting
Examples of when not to do so
Poker Tracker Tips : Tracking Your Progress as a Beginner
Terry Wynn, aka Darvon from the Forum, takes a look at how Poker Tracker can improve your 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.
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.
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.
Limit Hold’em Quiz
Playing the Nuts Most players love to discuss hands when the value of a hand is not very clear.
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.
Mixed Hold’em
A new game form Over the years, there has been a lot of debate over which form of hold'em is the best test of players.
Is he bluffing? A hand from the WSOP
A hand from the World Series of Poker Event No.
Profiling Errors
Be careful! - This is an edited excerpt from Jeff’s book, Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha: Small Ball and Short-Handed Play.
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.
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.
PLO Practice-Hand Quiz No. 3
Three-betting after the flop without the nuts This is a hand from the early days of the now-raging $1-$2 blinds, $5 bring-in ($500 max buy-in) game at Harrah's in St.Let’s Play Poker!
