The Ultimate Texas Hold Em Guide Part 1

Texas Hold Em is one of the most popular variations of poker and is available in both land based and online casinos. As we all know, poker is a game of chance but requires as much skill and mental strategy in order to actually win in it. Poker is possibly the only game in the gambling world where you can lose from a winning hand, in other words, a winning situation. Here you will learn the weakness and vulnerabilities in your game that your opponents will try to exploit in order to gain advantage over you.

This two part guide will help you learn the basics of Texas Hold Em and how to develop a winning style of play!

Choose the Right Game

Whether you want to play on a land based casino or online, take your time in reading the fine rules of the table that you want to play on. Also consider your personal skill level, the funds available, and your style of play against the payouts of the table. If there are more experienced players on a table, or if a table is of higher stakes, then swiftly move down to an easier one. It’s always better to be best on a easier table than look like a fool on a harder one!

Practice Makes Perfect

This cannot be stressed hard enough but it’s something most of the aspiring poker players fail to realize. While someone or a guide can always teach you the rules of the game and some insider tips, but to truly learn how to play poker, you need a lot of practice. This will involve self discipline, critical thinking ability, controlling your emotions and impulse, staying calm while under pressure, and the ability to read the game and determine weaknesses in your opponents’ style of play.

Never be fooled by thinking that you will have to play every day for 5 to 10 years to have the desired skills of a professional player. Jerry Yang, one of the recent winners of World Series of Poker, didn’t start playing poker until two years before the championship. The same situation applies to you provided that you practice often and observe the various movements on the table. Even when you have folded, keep your eyes on the table and observe because poker is after all a game of constant learning.

Have you ever heard of the term poker tell? Well basically it includes the type of behavior and reaction that can possibly reveal critical information about the hand your opponent has. Tells are more psychological than anything and will apply to both amateurs and professional players. Remember that there are many exceptions and inconsistencies, when it comes to tells; so never be certain about anything. On top of that, experienced players can trick you into false tells to deviate you off your track.

Generally speaking, tells involve body language, eye movement, anxiety, and boasting. But do tells apply to online poker as well? Yes they do, as some players can stall, deviate from their regular betting patterns, or alter their size of bets oddly to give away their game.