Learn it

Probably one of the easiest stages of Texas Hold’em, the Pre-flop is when each player has been dealt their two hole cards. The player lucky enough to be holding two Aces obviously holds the strongest hand. If you are lucky enough to be that player, then you can confidently raise as much as you like because no one has got you beat.

In the beginning

There was light! And of course the real skills needed to decide what hands are worth entering the pot. While wagering with a lovely pair of Aces is automatic, real skill in Hold’em comes from quickly and accurately deciding what’s worth it and what should be dropped like a hot potato!

There are starting charts available online to help guide you in deciding what hands are worth keeping and which ones to drop. For new players the guides are fine for the first while until you get a real feel for Texas Hold’em. So, you may want to think of the guides as your Poker training wheels so to speak. When the training wheels come off the pure joy of feeling you are wearing big boy pants will kick in and you’re on your way to Poker greatness!

 Who’s in the game?

Two important aspects remain on the pre-flop:
1.    The position you are in, and…
2.    The people who are sitting at the table with you

Generally after a few hands of play, you should start to get the feel of your opponents. You will soon begin to see who likes to throw their money around, who likes to talk a lot about crap, who is nervous and timid and who is the shark waiting to bite.

If you really want to know whether to play your hand or not, it comes down to who is the game with you. It is imperative you know your opponents and pay close attention.

The scenario:

Lets say you pick up a pair of twos. This is by far a crap and weak hand, but if the only other player still in the pot is timid or weak themselves, good old common sense needs to kick in. The facts are he cannot see your cards, nor does he know what you have. This is the time to use your aggressive shark behavior and quickly get him to fold. What’s your reward?
Oh, nothing much – just free money!

Position is the key

We can’t stress enough how important position really is. But we will say this – position is vital. If you are the first to act, then you should stick to playing very strong hands. You will have to act without having any information from your opponents, so holding a strong hand simplifies your decisions.

If you are coming in late, you have a weaker hand to wager with. This gives you an advantage to seek out plenty of information before acting. Thus any decision you make is easier and you get to play more difficult hands with some comfort.

 Size Matters

When you are playing in a tournament, the size of your stack is also a major factor to whether or not you are going to play. Once the blinds start growing in size, you are forced to make an easy decision - what hand do I put all my chips into the pot with?

Check out this scenario:

You want to go all-in pre-flop to simplify your play. So, lets say for example you have $500 remaining where the blinds are $50/$100. You could make a standard raise to $300, leaving you with $200 in your stack. Lets say for example that two opponents call you out. That means there is now a total of $900 in the pot.

After the flop you bet your last $200. What player would not really call that bet and risk $200 to win $1,100? This gives your opponents the fantastic odds of over five to one. They will call so fast you could blink and miss it.

Scenario two sees you shoving $500 into the pot before the flop. This tells your opponents they have to raise five times the big blind. If you win the hand you double your chips, but many will fold if they don’t have a strong hand letting you pick up $150 in blinds; which increases your stack of chips by 33%.

 Cards don’t always matter

Just because you got dealt two Aces doesn’t mean you have to fall in love and marry them – there are more important issues at hand. You need to watch your opponents, learn their plays and strategies keep an eye on your table position and use those to your advantage on the pre-flop.

Better to take the pot down here, because after the flop is dealt, things get a whole lot more complicated.