Rules and Strategy

Holdem Betting

Texas holdem betting, check, raise, blind steal, poker position
....read on.

Let's first define holdem betting

A)"I have the best hand and i'm betting it"

B)"You have a poor hand, and you will fold if you are forced to bet on it".

Players are supposed to bet when they have a good hand. Players who don't have good hands are supposed to fold. Of course, if it was this simple, there would be no need to read this page.

Lots players play contrary to this idea, attempting to be deceptive. I would advise you not fall into this trap when you are just learning to play.

Your holdem betting strategy should be built upon solid starting hands, however you must know when to bet at times you otherwise wouldn't.

Here are four situations where you may want to stray from the norm:

Stealing Blinds
You are in the dealer's position, and only you and the blinds are remaining to bet. A raise here is often called "blind-stealing". This is because the blinds normally fold a poor hand, whereas if you didn't raise but simply called, the blinds would simply check.

Check-raise
Check raising is probably the strongest play in poker. Check, with the intention of luring players to bet, so that you can raise back. Your intention is to lure them into a false sense of security so that you can re-raise them and increase the pot.

Steal-raise
If you are last to act and all players have checked to you, betting to simply limit the number of players or take the pot is called a steal-raise. Don't over-use this holdem betting strategy, as better players will pick it up, and begin check raising against your poor hand. It is good to use a steal raise when you have an excellent drawing hand such as a nut flush draw. Players will tend to "check to the raiser". If you draw to your hand, you now have a larger pot to win. If you don't, you can always check, and hope the next card makes your hand.

Opening Raise
This dangerous move is often used by people who bluff. It is when first player to act raises, Its intention is to limit the number of players by showing great strength from early position. Basically, this move amounts to a backwards steal-raise. The effect will almost certainly cause many players to fold, but the ones remaining will either be equally aggressive or truly have a great hand. Use this holdem betting strategy only if you are well ahead in the game.

Playing your position correctly

Position is also a key holdem betting strategy, position at a poker table is simply referring to your position in relation to the dealer. The dealer is at the most advantageous position, as he/she gets to see how all the players at the table react before making their own decision.

The person to the left of the dealer is not only the small blind, but must act first after the flop. The person to the left of the small blind is the big blind. This person is already obligated to the game and is in another early position.

The person to the left of the big blind acts first before board cards are dealt. This is often referred to as "being under the gun". The clockwise motion of play allows those who act later (in late position) to be at an advantage. As a result, those in late position can play weaker hands or "gambling hands" with less fear of financial obligation or loss.

The blind positions and the player under the gun (early positions) must be more selective with their hands, as they don't have the privilege of watching other players betting/raising before they must decide if they want to stay in themselves.

For example, let’s say you're under the gun (first to act). You have Jack-Ten, unsuited. The player to bet after you raises, and everyone but you folds. Now you're in a jam. Chances are good that this player has a better hand than you do, with at least an ace or a pocket pair. Unfortunately, you've already bet, because you had no idea or no way to tell what other players at the table had in the pocket.

In addition, you will always, throughout the game, be acting before this player. This positional advantage will continue throughout the hand.

On the other hand, being in the dealers position not only gives you the benefits of observing how the other players are betting, but it also gives you the ability to adjust the size of the pot. After all other players have bet, a raise by the player in the dealers position could potentially double the size of the pot (assuming no one folds). Since the players have already committed to one bet, its easier to commit to a second (or a third or fourth!).

The power of the Check-Raise

The check raise intimidates players, and sometimes puts them on “tilt.” To master the check-raise, you must first understand what the check-raise really is. A check-raise is when a player checks to his opponent who places a bet. Then the player proceeds to raise his opponent. This simple holdem betting poker strategy is extremely powerful for several reasons:

First, a check raise confuses your opponents. A check is often read as a show of weakness and is met by a bet. However, when you raise after checking, your opponent must reconsider his read. Also, this poker strategy often intimidates your opponents. Especially if you are playing against amateurs, you can SCARE players out of hands by using the check-raise.

Another advantage of the check raise is it will often put other players on tilt. For example, you have pocket 8’s and the flop comes 10, 8, 2. If you check and your opponent tries to buy the pot with a large bet, a raise will catch him bluffing and win the hand. Any time that you can catch someone on a bluff, you gain a serious advantage. Since bluffing is so important, if a player is too scared to bluff, he will be playing at a disadvantage.

The final benefit of this check raise holdem betting strategy is that it can be used to win pots no matter if you have the cards or not.

If you have great cards, you can check raise to increase the pot size. This is better than simply placing a large bet because other players will already have money in the pot. So using the check raise, you can drag in more money without forcing out your opponents. You can also use the check raise holdem betting strategy when you don’t have good cards. When you check, players will often sense weakness and try to buy the pot. When players try to buy the pot, they are not ready to be raised or willing to call a significant raise unless they have good cards.

The check-raise holdem betting strategy is therefor somewhat like an ambush. You show weakness with a check, then your opponent chases you, and falls straight into your trap.

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Holdem Betting