DECISION-MAKING IN TEXAS HOLDEM

"If you are always having to answer a question in a poker hand, then you need to redefine your game. Calling a bet solves very little. Try to minimise this play, unless you are adopting pot control or getting the right price to hit your hand. However, in the long run calling does not pay. Raising and folding does. Confused?  Maybe, you are now, but adopt this stance and your game will eventually improve. I absolutely guarantee it.

In business there is always a certain amount of risk-taking. A calculated risk. It is not about cutting corners, it is about reading a market or a situation and then making a qualified and structured decision. Poker follows the same approach. You always have three decisions. You can fold, you can call, or you can raise. And the biggest faux-pas that all beginners make is to call on a regular basis. It is understandable and so often the safest way to defend a hand, or to stay in just on the off chance that you may make a straight or a flush. However, calling a bet and hoping that you might be ahead is to be avoided at all costs.

We can talk about executing a bluff and the reasons behind this, but before you can develop that string to your bow, purposely think about what you are trying to achieve. When you fold, it is because you have nothing of any significance, or you have a bad feeling about the hand, but you at least conserve chips.

When you call a bet from an opponent, but you are unclear whether your hand is good, then that is not being pragmatic. There is a distinct likelihood that you will be losing the hand. Think about this response. You are not testing the opponent, because you simply match the bet. It simply shows the state of your mind which can be read as conservative and safe. This is an approach we often adopt in life. It requires the least amount of thinking.

So, what about the raise. Whether you have a strong hand or not, the raise is the flexing of the muscles and throws the question straight back at the opponent. It is the strongest form of defence. And the strongest form of defence is to attack!

My ideas and thoughts on poker strategy would take an eternity to explain on here, but try following the simple step of not calling too much. Trust me, it works."