Poker Strategies the Pros Use

Poker is not a one-size fits all. There are many strategies that you can use in different situations. The key to being a successful poker player is to recognize these situations and adapt his strategy accordingly. This is the key to being a good poker player. While one strategy may work at one table, it might not work for others.

Everybody likes to play aggressively. Raise, raise, raise. This works well in many No Limit Holdem Games. Limit Holdem will require you to adjust your behavior. The best thing I believe works, and the way pros use it is to choose when to use that aggression. This is the old'start-and-stop' strategy. Play aggressively until someone stops you. Next, turn off the accelerator so that you can step on it again. Let me explain:

Let's assume you raise 4x the bigblind pre-flop and get called by the button. The flop is useless. A player who is aggressive bets here. You receive a call from this button. You are given a turn, which gives you a middle pair. So you place another bet and get a call by the button. This is the point where many amateurs stop betting and just want to finish their job. However, the professional will most likely back off. The button player has demonstrated that he is capable and will stay with you. You can't keep trying to fit a square peg inside a round hole. Recover and find another way to win.

Small ball. You've probably heard this term a lot in poker. It was invented by Daniel Negreanu. This strategy is also used by pros in tournament play. This strategy entails playing for smaller pots and not getting caught up in large ones. If you raise with pocket Qs pre-flop, and someone re-raises all of you, you're folding. You should not get involved with anything that could lead to you losing too many chips.

Also, your bets should keep the pots small. Instead of raising huge amounts to scare someone off you reduce it in case they have something. Instead of raising when it seems like you have the best hand possible, you simply call in case your opponent hits a monster.

This is the essence small ball. Combining this strategy with aggressive play will help you take down many smaller pots while not exposing your entire stack. This strategy is difficult to master but has proven successful for pros to win large amounts of money at the table. It is easy to see in action when you watch the WSOP.