Cardz, truth or dare? Simply put. Is playing cards a complete losing bet or can you actually play and win without being a poker wizkid. The answer is NO its not a complete losing bet and YES you can win easy enough.

First let me tell you this, there is alot of books and poker magazines out there some cost money others are free ( rent from a public library, look up on the internet or even some of the ads or what not all over my blog) that you will find this information on if you do the reading and trust me there is a lot of it. This blog is a short page on all i know about playing TEXAS HOLD’EM, but if you read the books you will find that a good portion of it helps in the other card games as well. I could and will give you some tips to help improve your game that will save you the time and effort of going to a library or reading through a bunch of needless information.

Second is texas hold’em is fun game that is “easy to learn and takes a life time to master” or so the saying goes. I am hoping to shave some time off the learing part.

TIP #1 Something I said?… you dont have to say anything in a game of watchful players to win little or lose alot. Your poker face will determine everything so play with a straight face, and dont forget those idle twitches and movements…relax have fun and be aware of your signals. Remeber that it works both ways.

TIP #2 Trash or Treasure… dont play bad hole cards I know your thinking duh, well thats the eazy part, the hard part is sticking to it. If you have ever played for fun or otherwise you’ll find that after awhile you will start playing bad cards wether its because you are in a losing streak and want to try and win back your loses (aka tilt) or your tired of just sitting there after all the fun of poker is playing it right? Only if you are playing poker for fun. If you are playing for money you need PATIENCE and a bit of it to be honest.

Good hole cards to start out with are PAIRES: 9s thru aces (9/9, 10/10 thru A/A) , SUITED: 10 thru aces (cards within 3 spots of each other are best..ace/jack…so on and so forth) and UNSUITED: only the best will do here…A-J no lower. These cards should and probably will last in any position.

TIP #3 Let the flop work for you, dont work for the flop… The flop is about 70% of your hand meaning if the flop doesnt help your hand then fold and do it now. Do not chase after your hand unless the flop has helped. EXAMPLE: you land a pair of kings and a king flops talk about helping right? slight help with a hint of chase is if your hole cards are 2 hearts and 2 appear on the flop, your hole cards are any 2 cards and the flop puts you 1 card away from a straight ( inside,gut,or open ended) or even a straight flush draw then its probably a good idea to see the turn if its cost effective.

TIP #4 know your hand.. all this means is know where your cards stand what you need to win. there are times when you will only have one out, either landing a high pair or catching that 1 suite to make a flush and others will give you multiple outs…(suited cards with in 3 of each other and not close to the ends… K/Q, J/9 suited which gives decent pair, flush and straight draws.

Ok thats the end of that basics….this will help your game out if you didnt know it already. word of advice..if you want to make money at it you have to love it learn it and practice.

Want more then the basics? want to know a little more about what they do and you dont? then please continue. There are 3 other things to know if you want to step up your chances of making money. these arent really about playing the cards as much as its about when to play what and if its worth it

TIP #5 Know your place….. position tells you when to play what cards. Remember tip #1? those cards are best for early position and you should play them well, but they will work for all positions. the three positions of texas hold’em are: early, middle, late. if your dealer ( or holding a dealer button at a casino) the first four people to your left are EARLY position 5th 6th and 7th players are MIDDLE position and the 8th, 9th players to act are in LATE position. Importance of position in a nutshell: First position must be played with really good cards because you have so many people ahead of you that may call or even raise you. so if you are going to be put in that position you wanna be as sure as you can be that your cards will win. the farther from first position you get and depending on others bets/raises the slightly lower cards you can get away with playing. I feel position only effects how you through your money around and is used alot to leverage people and or bluff with. Cards matter only because you have to decide if you think your cards are good enough to win regardless of what they bet, if you don’t think so dont stay in at any position. I’ve found position is more important to higher stakes of game play or when playing agianst people that know how to play.

TIP #6 Is it worth it?.. Here we talk breifly about pot odds. Pot odds = the amoutn of money in the pot divided by the amount of the bet ut gonna make if your paying more to see the cards then you’ll win then it may not be worth it. Example: pot is $90 and its a $30 call to you or bet its a 1/3 pot odd and if the cards are worth it then go for it.

TIP #7 Bluffing……. easy, dont if you cant hold a straight face. bluffing is trying to lie about what you have. Ussualy to play up bad cards without having a leg to stand on. and semi-bluffing (which I like, face it if everyone played without bluffing the lucky dealt would win if the game went anywhere at all.) which is betting big on hands that are good but arent so great and if your called and you see more cards there is a good chance it will win.