Beginners Strategy Guide to Online Micro Limit Hold 'Em

Written by Mike Hellmer


It's hard to missrepparttar fact thatrepparttar 116169 last two winners ofrepparttar 116170 World Series of Poker were not professional poker players and that Chris Moneymaker (2003) and Greg Raymer (2004) are online players. It's no wonder that online poker is exploding. With so many new online players it's feeding frenzy forrepparttar 116171 skilled player, or evenrepparttar 116172 player with a modest amount of skills.

So for allrepparttar 116173 new to limit Texas Hold 'Em players who would like to improve their chance of winning atrepparttar 116174 micro limit tables, I've put together some very basic tips which should help you to win consistently. These tips will work for most online tables with limits of $0.50/$1.00 and lower, which are excellent limits for honing your skills.

It's important to realize that strategies vary for different limits, due torepparttar 116175 amount of money involved andrepparttar 116176 general skill ofrepparttar 116177 players atrepparttar 116178 table. Micro limit poker has interesting dynamics and culture due torepparttar 116179 fact thatrepparttar 116180 amount wagered at any time is not a lot of money. Many ofrepparttar 116181 significant cultural differences between micro limit andrepparttar 116182 higher limit tables can be broken down into these key observations. (Throughout this article I will use common shorthand to representrepparttar 116183 cards. AK means an ace and a king. T8 means a ten and an 8. QJs means queen jack suited, while QJo means queen jack off suited. Kx means a king and a card of no significance torepparttar 116184 hand. A common term used will be connectors, which means cards connected in rank, such as 76 or T9.)

 Typically 50% or more ofrepparttar 116185 players at a table will pay to seerepparttar 116186 flop. This is due, in part, torepparttar 116187 very low limits causing many players to always callrepparttar 116188 big blind since it doesn't cost too much; it's low risk. The other reason is that these micro limit tables have many more players of lower skill levels. They often call with lousy starting cards when they should fold.  Raising preflop does little to chase out players. Players who have not contributed torepparttar 116189 pot yet may still call. Players who had already called will not typically fold after they've been raised.  Very few players will fold an Ax (ace and a low card) or a hand with a face card.  Afterrepparttar 116190 deal there are 20 hole cards. Probability says that there is approximately 1.5 of each card rank. There will be 1.5 Aces, 1.5 Kings, 1.5 Queens, etc.  Unskilled players will hold any two suited cards in hopes of a flush, even something as bad as 72.  Unskilled players will call torepparttar 116191 river with a weak pair no matter what.

Now thatrepparttar 116192 observations are out ofrepparttar 116193 way, I can get on withrepparttar 116194 strategy of how to win playing at these micro limit tables.

Preflop The objective here is to go intorepparttar 116195 flop with a strong position or fold. Unless you are getting a streak of good cards, you should be folding preflop 60-70% ofrepparttar 116196 time.

1. Fold all but strong hands preflop. Strong hands are any pair, AK, AQ, AJ, AT, Axs, KQ, plus high suited connectors. The more players who seerepparttar 116197 flop,repparttar 116198 lower your odds are of winning. So if you are going to put money intorepparttar 116199 pot, put it in when you have a strong hand.

2. Don't protect your blind. If you are inrepparttar 116200 small blind or big blind and you don't have a strong hand don't call a raise. Too many players inrepparttar 116201 blinds will call a raise because they've already investedrepparttar 116202 blind. But since most players like to limp in (callrepparttar 116203 big blind) preflop, a raise is a good indicationrepparttar 116204 player is sitting on a strong hand, like AK or a pocket pair.

3. If you have a very strong hand preflop, raise. First of all, if you do happen to chase out a player or two withrepparttar 116205 raise thenrepparttar 116206 odds of your strong hand winning have improved. Second, a strong hand has a good chance of winningrepparttar 116207 pot, so you want to get as large a pot as possible. Third, you show strength, which can help you to chase out players later on.

Postflop So now you've made it torepparttar 116208 flop with a strong hand. Doesrepparttar 116209 flop help you or hurt you? Arguably there is not much in between because with five or more players seeingrepparttar 116210 flop there's bound to be someone that benefits fromrepparttar 116211 flop, and if someone else benefits and you don't, thenrepparttar 116212 flop hurt you.

4. Know what a draw drawing hand is. For example, a flush draw or a straight draw means that you need one card to completerepparttar 116213 flush orrepparttar 116214 straight. Many unskilled players makerepparttar 116215 mistake that needing two cards to complete your hand is a drawing hand. This is called a runner-runner draw, and is not a drawing hand. If that's all you got then you should fold, otherwise you can typically call when you have a drawing hand. For example, you have KQo andrepparttar 116216 flop is JT5. You are sitting on an open ended straight draw where an A or 9 will give you a straight. You can bet out or call with this hand, but be very careful about calling raises. The reason has to do withrepparttar 116217 odds of making your hand andrepparttar 116218 amount inrepparttar 116219 pot, which is called pot odds. There are many fine poker books that explainrepparttar 116220 details of pot odds. (Pot odds are a very import part of winning a poker, and I suggest that while you are cleaning up atrepparttar 116221 micro limit tables that you read a good poker book in preparation for moving up torepparttar 116222 higher limits. Atrepparttar 116223 end of this article I list a few ofrepparttar 116224 better ones.)

5. Know what a check-raise is. A check-raise is when a player has a good hand, e.g. a set (three of a kind) afterrepparttar 116225 flop and he checks hoping that someone will bet out so that he can raise to get more money inrepparttar 116226 pot. Micro limit players overplayrepparttar 116227 check-raise. Most ofrepparttar 116228 time a player who check-raises in micro limit has a great hand and they want to exploit it, but this is a tip to you that perhaps you should fold. You should check-raise when appropriate, but mix up your play or else you will be seen as predictable and will have trouble drivingrepparttar 116229 pot up.

6. Know what slow play is. Slow play is when a player has a likely wining hand but calls or check-calls, trying to keep as many players in, hoping they make what they believe is a winning hand. Many times a player will slow play onrepparttar 116230 flop and turn, but then springrepparttar 116231 trap onrepparttar 116232 river where many players will not fold after coming this far. For example, you have AKo andrepparttar 116233 flop is QJT. You have maderepparttar 116234 nuts --repparttar 116235 best possible hand so far. You could slow play this by checking or calling hoping to keep players in. If you raise thenrepparttar 116236 better players will probably put you on a straight and may fold. What you are hoping is that one or two other players have paired or maybe someone has 9 for an open ended straight draw. Ifrepparttar 116237 table checks around onrepparttar 116238 flop then consider betting out onrepparttar 116239 turn, otherwise you can continuerepparttar 116240 slow play onrepparttar 116241 turn and then onrepparttar 116242 river springrepparttar 116243 trap. Some players will think your made you hand onrepparttar 116244 river card and maybe they think they have you beat. Onrepparttar 116245 other side ofrepparttar 116246 coin, now that you know about slow playing, try to identify if someone else is slow playing and avoidrepparttar 116247 trap. Look out for scary boards. Ifrepparttar 116248 board has three, and especially four, connectorsrepparttar 116249 pot most likely will be won by a straight. Three or four cards ofrepparttar 116250 same suit might indicate a flush is going to winrepparttar 116251 pot.

About Inflatable Boats - Enjoy water sports without breaking the bank.

Written by Andrew Constantine


Learn More About Inflatable Boats and Kayaks - They're Easy On The Wallet

Inflatable boats might just berepparttar most amount of fun you need for your water sports activities. Just imaginerepparttar 116168 possibilities of taking an enjoyable cruise across your favorite water spot. Just being able to relax on a warm, sunny spring day while other inflatable boats are giving their owners a difficult time is well worth shopping for justrepparttar 116169 right boat.

While people are spending ten to twenty thousand dollars for a metal or fiberglass boat, you can find that an inflatable boat is easy onrepparttar 116170 wallet and lots fun for those that like to enjoy getting out onrepparttar 116171 water for personal fun,  fishing or hunting. If you like to fish, but dread dragging that clunky old boat down torepparttar 116172 lake, considerrepparttar 116173 benefits of an inflatable small fishing boat as an easy and simple option.

Some other tremendous benefit of inflatable boats are that you can store them in a small corner of your garage or even an extra bedroom when its not inflated. This is a fantastic option to be able to get out onrepparttar 116174 lake onrepparttar 116175 weekends withoutrepparttar 116176 need of a lot of space to store a solid hull boat. Keep your car in repparttar 116177 garage and put your boat on a storage shelf!



Cont'd on page 2 ==>
 
ImproveHomeLife.com © 2005
Terms of Use