7 Proven Poker Strategies Beginning Gamblers Can Use

If you want to learn how to be a winning poker player, you need to learn how to do things that winning poker players do. This list of 7 proven strategies for beginning poker players is a great place to start.

Playing winning poker is more about doing 100’s of things well than doing a few things really well. Once you master the 7 proven strategies listed in this article your work isn’t done.

Use these strategies as a foundation and keep building your knowledge and poker skills.

1 – Occasional Semi Bluff

A good semi bluff is 1 of the most powerful strategies that you can use at the poker table. A semi bluff is when you have a hand that may or may not be the best hand, but you also have a draw to a better hand, that is likely to be the best hand if you hit it.

When you have this type of hand it often pays to be aggressive. This means betting and raising instead of calling or checking.

When you’re aggressive with a hand like this you have multiple ways to win the hand. You can win by having the best hand at the end, whether it’s your current hand or when your hand improves. You can also win when you opponent folds when you make a semi bluff.

This is completely different from when you play passively. When you call and check you have to have the best hand at the end to win.

It’s also helpful to know something about your opponent. Is your opponent likely to fold to a semi bluff, or are they likely to call until the end with any type of hand?

Semi bluffs are powerful, but you can use them too often. And when you’re up against a powerful hand they can also cost you quite a bit of money. What do you do when you make a semi bluff and your opponent plays back at you? At this point you have to revert to pot odds to determine if you should stay in the hand.

2 – Bluffing Is Not Semi Bluffing

Semi bluffing is powerful, but don’t confuse it with bluffing in poker. A well timed bluff can also be powerful, but bluffing is much more dangerous than semi bluffing.

When you bluff you’re making a wager when you don’t have any other chance to win the hand except making your opponent fold. This is dangerous, because many poker players call f they have anything.

You should use a semi bluff occasionally. When it comes to a straight bluff, you should only use this strategy in the perfect situation. And you shouldn’t bluff often. In fact, almost every poker player tries to bluff too much.

I try to bluff no more than 1 time in each playing session. This means that even if I’m playing a 7 hour marathon session, I only bluff once. This forces me to pick the absolute best time to make a bluff.

3 – Effective Check Raising

Another powerful poker play is called a check raise. This is usually done on the flop, but it can be done on the turn or river. You have a hand that you think will win the hand and you’re facing an aggressive opponent.

You check to your opponent in hopes that they bat. When they bet you raise. This is how a check raise works.

Remember that your purpose when you play real money poker is to make as much profit as you can. Your purpose isn’t to make as many fancy plays as you can.

This means that you should only use a check raise when it’s the best way to increase your profits. If it’s more profitable to bet into your opponent then you should avoid trying a check raise.

4 – Pick Your Poison

You have quite a bit of control over who you play against when you play poker. Most poker players don’t think they have any control over their opponents.

I’m always looking for poker games filled with players who’re worse than me. I win more when I play against bad players.

This means that you need to learn about your opponents when you play and remember how good they are the next time you see them. This helps you identify tables with bad players.

You can also create poker games with bad players with a little bit of imagination. Start your own game and invite bad players.

Once again, your goal is to win as much as possible. You don’t get bonus points for competing against better poker players. You get bonus points when you can buy things you need and want from your profits at the poker table.

5 – Position Is More Important Than You Think

Position at the poker table in relation to the dealer button is usually ignored by most players. But smart poker players understand how important position is. You can play more hands from late position than early position.

The power of position comes from gaining more information before you have to play. When you have position you know what your opponent does and you have more control.

Start paying attention to position. Avoid playing out of position with weak hands and take advantage of position to maximize your profits.

When you have position and the hand is checked to you, you can take a free card if you’re on a draw or bet to maximize the pot size when you have a good hand.

6 – Build a Starting Hand List

This is a poker strategy that I used early in my poker career and it helped me a great deal. Use everything that you’ve learned so far to build a list of starting hands that you can consider playing.

Now that you know how important position is you can build a list of possible starting hands based on position. Create a list for early, middle, and late position, as well as 1 for the blinds.

The actual hands you play will vary slightly based on how many players are at the table and how good the other players are, but the lists that you’re building need to be tight. You don’t want to play too many hands.

Over time your lists will change as you gain experience. Eventually your lists will be automatic and you’re going to automatically adjust them based on game conditions.

7 – Read This Until You Get It

I’m a big reader, so when I got serious about playing poker I read as many books as I could find. I’ve read well over 100 poker books over the years. And reading helped me eventually become a winning poker player.

One of the first poker books I read is a book titled The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky. It turned out to be the most important book that I’ve ever read about poker. But the first time I read it I didn’t understand it at all.

It’s often recommended on lists of good poker books, and many of the winning poker players I knew of at the time recommended it. But after I read it I couldn’t understand why so many players thought it was so good.

I put it on a shelf, forgot about it, and kept playing poker. A couple years later I saw it and started reading it again. And suddenly a light came on and my poker results instantly improved.

The fact is that I wasn’t ready for the advanced concepts in the book the first time I read it. By the second time I read it I had enough experience for the lessons to make a big difference.

You should buy The Theory of Poker and read it until you completely understand it. If you don’t get it the first time, keep playing and read it again in 6 months. Keep reading it every 6 months until everything falls into place.

Conclusion

It takes a long time and a lot of work to become a good poker player. But you can use the 7 proven strategies listed in this article to shorten your learning curve.

The best poker players understand that they’re learning is never done. No matter how good you play, you can always learn how to improve in at least 1 area.

Use everything you can to get an edge, including check raising, semi bluffing, position, and table selection. The more things you do right the better you’re going to do.

Finally, remember that your goal is to win as much money as possible. You don’t get a bonus for making fancy plays that aren’t as profitable.