Beginner poker players often find that after getting to grips with the basic rules of the game, it can be a good idea to focus on mastering easy poker strategies before progressing to more advanced ones.
In this article you’ll learn one of the easiest poker strategies around, which makes it ideal for beginners. And because, this strategy is also quite powerful, it should therefore be made good use of for years to come.
The Starting Hand Strategy
This easy poker strategy involves restricting yourself to playing only a small percentage of the starting hands that you’re dealt – namely, the very best starting hands – unless you’re the big blind and you have the option of seeing the flop without any additional cost.
Whilst any starting hand in a game of poker could be viewed as a potential winner, especially if a player has mastered the art of bluffing, beginners usually fare best when they only play starting hands which give them a genuine edge over their opponents. And that’s exactly what this strategy advocates.
The Starting Hands to Play
The starting hands that you should focus on are all pairs of tens or better (TT, JJ, QQ, KK or AA), and suited AQ or better (AQ or AK). If that starting selection seems too restrictive for you, then you could also expand the list to include offsuit AQ or better, as well as suited AT and AJ.
Of course, these are hands which are usually worth paying to play, so do remember that if you’re in the big blind position and you can see the flop without paying, you should do so, no matter what your starting hand is. However, if the flop doesn’t build on any inferior starting hand, you should fold it unless you can simply check your way through the game.
Bet Aggressive or Fold
Restricting yourself to the best possible starting hands means that you’ll be in a strong position from the outset, and so you should therefore bet fairly aggressively. That means raising instead of checking, and if your hand has improved after the flop, re-raising instead of calling.
This aggressive stance will tend to force players with weak hands out of the pot, but beware: any player who responds to your aggression with confidence or defiance may well have an equally strong, or even better hand than you, so don’t allow yourself to overlook that possibility. It’s better to fold a strong hand to a stronger player than it is to be overconfident and see your full house get beaten by an opponent’s four of a kind.
Expanding Your Starting Hand Range
Adhering to the restrictive range of starting hands given above will mean that you have to fold far more often than you play, but that’s the perfect situation for those of you who are just starting out, because it will allow you to watch the game and learn more about it – and about your opponents – without putting any of your bankroll at risk.
As you learn more about the game and your confidence grows, you can gradually start expanding your starting hand range to include more pairs, suited connectors, and so on. Do bear in mind, however, that the less powerful your starting hand is, the less aggressive you should be until you’ve improved it.
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