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!
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.
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.
NFL Betting Tips – One More for the Road
Before I go....I promised some NFL advice that so many of you were anticipating.
Winning the PokerStars Nightly 100K
A mission to beat 900 players begins This article looks at some of the more interesting hands I played while winning the PokerStars Nightly Hundred Grand tournament.
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.
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!
Starting Out in Poker : Advice for Beginning Players
If only somebody would have told me this...
The Paradox of Poker – Tournament vs Ring
Tournament versus cash-game strategy Very few players succeed in both tournaments and cash games.
Moving Up Too Fast in Stakes
Staying within your bankroll - Note: This is an edited excerpt from Jeff’s book, Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha: Small Ball and Short-Handed Play.
Is he bluffing? A hand from the WSOP
A hand from the World Series of Poker Event No.
Poker Luck and Skill : Variance or Bad Play?
“Your upswing was obviously pure luck (variance) and the downswing was obviously mostly caused by terrible play... at least that's the opinion I've been reading in other threads around here.
Button Play in Tournaments
Evaluating some close decisions
Profile of a Typical Omaha Hi-Lo Fish
In this article, we will look at some of the most common characteristics that poor omaha players share.
Why Do Players Go on Tilt?
Why do poker players go on tilt? It's not an easy question to answer .
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.
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.
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.
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.
Shorthanded Pot-Limit Omaha
The five biggest mistakes that average players make Editor's note: What follows is a special excerpt from Jeff Hwang's upcoming book, tentatively titled Pot-Limit Omaha Poker: Advanced Play Vol.
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.
Learning Pot-Limit Omaha
A natural transition for hold’em players - Over the last several years, I have felt a little lazy.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Weaving Through 9,999 Opponents
A lucky day! - The $100K Holiday freeroll tournament at Full Tilt Poker ended up being a nice Christmas gift.
Playing Poker Online
by: Kathy Watterson and Lou Krieger©
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!
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.
Improving Your Game
Resources aplenty Do you remember when you started playing poker and read your first poker book?
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.
Calculating the Probability of Losing your Bankroll in Texas Holdem
When I started learning about poker I was less than impressed that there was a section called “bankroll management”. I wanted to play poker, have fun and win.
Multiway Pots in Limit Holdem
Test Your Skills
PokerTek, Excalibur, and the PLO Revolution
The pot-limit Omaha revolution has begun Toward the end of October, I got a call from Lou White - vice chairman, co-founder, and former CEO of PokerTek, makers of the PokerPro electronic poker table.
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.
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.
Omaha Hi-Lo Hands : Close in Value
Sometimes players say that Omaha hands “run close together in value”. Others disagree with that statement and claim that they do not.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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....
Variable-Ratio Reinforcement
Regulating opponents’ behavior - What follows is a special preview from Jeff’s book, Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha Volume II: LAG Play
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.
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.
Are you prepared? A look at poker tournament training
Play different-structured tournaments Last fall I wrote a column titled "Improving Your Game.
C-Bet Frequency in PLO
It depends largely on your opponent - What follows is an excerpt from Jeff’s books, Advanced Pot-Limit Omaha Volume II: LAG Play and The Short-Handed Workbook.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Tournament Strategy : Continuation-Betting
Examples of when not to do so
Draw Equity vs Float Equity – Part I
What do you get in return for your call?
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 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.
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.
Beginning Poker Tips : Little Things to Succeed in Poker
At the time of this writing, England has just beaten Ecuador 1-0 in the soccer World Cup to progress to the quarterfinals. It was a scrappy game, in which England was on the better side but was unable to really put the game away.
Beginner Poker Mistakes : Misunderstood Concepts
As I sift through the ITH forums, it seems there is a recurring theme, whereby beginning to intermediate players make play errors due to misunderstanding certain concepts. After a long time noticing this, I thought it was time to compile an explanation for some of the most commonly misunderstood concepts in poker.
Reflections on My Results at the 2008 World Series of Poker
A disappointing tournament The 2008 World Series of Poker was extremely disappointing for me.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.Let’s Play Poker!
