How to be good at Texas hold'em or less horrible: A beginner's guide

 A beginner's guide to Texas hold 'em.

It's not surprising that, despite our national lockdown, online gambling has seen an increase of 43% and 255% in first-time players in the past month. My game is Texas hold'em. I joined Pokerstars with a few friends to play poker. Some were beginners like me and others were experienced players who had played poker for a living. Because I was familiar with the rules of hold'em, it didn't feel like I was learning something new. Despite being only five games in length, I lost several times during the first few days. . . um . . . I lost almost 40 dollars by spending fake dollars perpiece . . Fake . . dollars. Although it was cheaper than eating out or going to the movies in that time frame, it was still frustrating. Although I consider myself to be a smart man, it was difficult for me to admit that my performance was poor. There was no way around it. I decided to quit after a particularly terrible performance one night.

One problem: as bad as I was, it intrigued me. I was mad that I couldn’t get it to work. I refused to believe it was too difficult or too stupid. I became friends with two very skilled poker players and decided to ask them for their tips. I also watched more closely their play. Within a matter of minutes, I was able to have a series if revelations that totally changed my view on the game. Even more important, it transformed my performance.

Now, I'm not going pretend to be great at hold em after a month. I'm not. I'm now a decent player. I went from being down $40 (fake), up $63(fake), and this was against the exact same group of players. It happened within four weeks. I won a few tournaments, placed second or third in others. At the end of it all, I felt confident that I could win or close to winning each round against a group of nine players. It was even more satisfying to realize that I had finally grasped the game with all its nuances.

I'm not a mathematician or a poker expert. I'm still learning the lingo. These tips are intended for beginners and will help you to move beyond the "very bad" stage to become a "decent" poker player. Here are ten tips I found helpful. These tips are great for anyone who is in lockdown and has adopted hold 'em poker as their entertainment.

(Note that this assumes a basic knowledge about the game. If the rules are not clear and you want to learn more, I recommend studying the rules. These tips are applicable to tournament play, but I believe they can also be applied to cash games.

1. Learn the value of your hands

What's a "good" hand when you hold 'em. There is no simple answer to this question because of the complexity of the game. My problem when I first started playing was that I thought one high card at large tables was valuable. However, it is not. To know that you are weak in a crowded table if you get dealt K4 unsuited, you don't need to be an expert on odds. Even if your flop hit a queen, there's still a chance you will be beat by someone. This was something I did not understand and lost a lot of money trying to make it up. In some ways it was worse that I had a card. It increased my odds of losing more money and I would bet more. texas hold em learn to play and win the right way