Don't just Play Your Cards

Poker Tip 12: Don't just Play Your Cards

Playing a lot of low limit Holdem games at the casino's I find that almost all beginners only focus on thier own cards,they don't think about the cards their opponents might hold.You see all the time player's call with low and medium pairs after there has been a raise and a re-raise in front of them.These players are so fixated on their own cards that they don't stop to ask what hands they're likely up against.If there is a raise and a reraise in front of you if you have a medium to small pocket pair you will be a huge under dog and will be up against A large Pocket pair Pocket Aces or Pocket Kings.A reraise That's an indication of serious strength. At that point, a player should look at his pair and figure that, in all likelihood, he's up against a higher pair, making his smaller pair a big underdog. Folding is the only proper action.

A winning poker player won't just evaluate a situation at the start of the hand. He will constantly reassess as more information becomes available. I always try to determine what my opponent might have, I have to move beyond the cards that I'm currently seeing. I need to consider the actions throughout the hand.Most new player's with a flush draw or a straight will try see the turn as cheap as possible and if they don't catch it on the turn there odds to catch on the river goes down in half again for the river.A really good player alot of times will raise after the flop to try to show strength that he has caught trips or top pair with a good kicker,so the new player will not think he is on a straight or flush draw.And if he does not catch his draw on the turn there is a good chance that it will be checked to him where he will get a free card to see the river,By raisig one the flop it is cheaper then betting the flop and having to bet on the turn plus you might drive some players out of the hand.

This sort of thinking applies to all poker games. Moving beyond your own cards is a key step in coming to think like a winning player. The most sophisticated players in the game think a level deeper still - they consider not only what their opponents hold, but what their opponents think they hold.

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