A Simple Path to a Winning Poker Strategy

Develop Your Own Winning poker Strategy

If you want to improve your poker play and create a set of poker strategies that have you winning more pots, then there are a number of areas you need to review. In some cases your knowledge may be sufficient, and in others you may have it all wrong, so it’s best to assess your skill in each area.

While it isn’t necessary to know anything about poker history, you should know the rules of poker, and how the game is played today. This would include knowing the ranking of hands just to make sure you know what hand beats what other hand. It’s a good time to also review the terms used in the game, so you don’t feel like a fool at the table.

Next you should become familiar with pot odds, how to calculate them, and how to use them to make decisions. Why is this important? All too often players play a small pair hoping to make it into trips, while staring at a board that could help another make a flush or straight, and they don’t know the odds of making three of a kind are pretty low. Conversely, knowing the odds of your opponents making a hand from what you see on the board can encourage you, if you already have a strong hand. For example, there are only two cards (called outs) that can turn a pair into trips, but fifteen outs that can make an open-ended straight, flush, or straight flush. I have written about it in a previous article, and you should research this important area online.

Now that you know about pot odds, turn your attention to learning what good starting cards are. Here are some basics rules of thumb:

Strong Starting Hands: