Vegas Poker Blog

Texas Holdem is by far the most popular poker game these days, and theres good reason. Its fast, its fun and it encourages all different styles of players.

For most of us, we tend to play a loose game and wait for a strong hand to come along. But as your game skills improve, the ability to know what hands to play out and whether to play loose or tighter becomes apparent. With a good foundation, you will quickly sort these options and put them to good use.

The blind is one of the most difficult aspects of Holdem. Mediocre players lose more in blinds because they either give up too quickly or chase stupid ideas. If youve learned your basics well and pay attention to the styles of others, you will know what players are going to make mistakes and youll seize on those times for your own benefit.

First, you want to think logically with style and attitude. If you have an opponent who is aggressive, play tighter but maintain your own aggression. Its all about learning which hands to play and creating edges for yourself. Remember ¦as long as you get more out of the pot than you put in, youre ahead and the tiny edges you create can mount up to profiting more than you put in.

With blinds, you want to take the position of defending what youve put into the pot because that money is gone unless you can get it back. If youre forced to put in, also remember that your opponent is forced to put in twice that much, and when thats the case, the odds are already on your side. It only costs you one bet to call, and its costing the guy who is raising twice that. So, keep the word Ëœdiscount in your head. Force your opponent to play badly and make mistakes. Even if you lose, you will have lost less than the other guy ¦and thats coming away from the table doing well.

Playing the blind well is one of the most important nuts and bolts of your Holdem game. If youve got good basics, you know big blinds are usually big losers so you just want to cut the amount youre going to lose to as low an amount as you can. What you can do is learn how to encourage the other players inabilities with good offense and defense.

Remember poker is a battle game. Whenever theres a big bet on the turn, you better have a very strong hand to stay in. Anything else is sending good money after bad and we all want to walk away a winner when we can! Theres luck and theres blind luck ¦we all need both!