The History of Poker

From the 19th century – its origination – till today, Poker has travelled a lot in time with an ever-growing popularity. So much so, it has penetrated every household in the form of Poker nights and the top players with the best Poker strategy are today considered as celebrities. The game has come a long way from historically being a form of recreational gambling to being considered a mind game which yearns brilliant Poker strategy, thanks to the marketing initiative by the International Federation of Poker.

Strictly speaking, Poker is a generic term for many forms of card games like seven-card stud, low ball, razz, Texas hold’em and many more. However, poker is synonymous with Texas hold’em variant today. All major tournaments, online competition and first learners take up hold’em as their choice in Poker. This hysteria of the game has inspired innumerable books on Poker strategy and tactics across many languages in the world.

Poker Gameplay

Texas hold’em poker is a combination of high card and community card game, the highest ranked hand has to be the amalgamation of 2 dealt cards and community cards at the table. Generally, 3 community cards called ‘flop’, ‘turn’ and ‘river’ are dealt with in this order. A standard 52 playing card deck is used among two to ten players on one table.

The gameplay begins with dealing two cards face down to all the players in an anti-clockwise manner. This is done by the dealer who himself gets the last card in the distribution. Betting begins before the first 3 community cards are dealt, which is also called the pre-flop phase. Blinds, which are essentially chips that add more cash to the pot, are placed in pre-flop and consist of small and big blinds, with the big ones double that of small blinds. The first player to the dealer’s left pays the small blind while the second player on the left pays the big blind. The dealer’s button rotates left around the table so that small and big blind payers change after every game.

Although betting is the most crucial aspect of Poker strategy, the gameplay is considered incomplete without a ranking of the hands dealt with players. A table with Poker hand rankings is easily available as a quick reference guide, with Royal Flush as the highest ranked hand and One Pair being the lowest.

Continuing with the gameplay, betting can be done in various ways like a check, call, raise, re-raise and all-in bets. As an example, the first player to get a chance (usually the player of the right of the big blind player) can bet any amount or can also check and bet nothing. If there is a bad hand, the player can fold it. If you bet, then, other players can call it and bet the same or higher amount, called raise. Theoretically, each round like this can go on indefinitely until players go all-in or everybody calls or folds.

Be a Poker Strategy Master

Besides the obvious mentioned before, there are innumerable ways to calculate probabilities and player psychology that constitutes a part of Poker strategy. Pot-to-stack ratios, bluffs and aggression are all part of a professional player’s strategy, some of which are detailed below:

Higher Than Normal Aggression

Poker is also called a game of timely and focused aggression. Not a blind aggression without thought, but a calculated aggression when you have solid opening hands like high pairs or hands made up of A, K, Q or J. This stance will force players with weaker hands to fold out, or if they want to stay, put up enough money to significantly enhance the pot value. You need to make players with number cards pay for looking at the community cards or get them to fold, lest that they pull off a miracle by catching a straight hand. It is helpful to remember that aggressive play builds large pots and avoids you getting marked as a weaker player, but all this applies only if you have a solid hand.

Patience Also Pays

If you recall the law of averages, most hands dealt with you in the game will be losers. So, if a strong hand deludes you, the best Poker strategy is to fold and that too immediately without costing yourself a chip or two. Players should use this time to watch the gameplay of others, study and focus closely on everyone else and their strategy. Once you get the odds in your favour, the pent-up aggression combined with insight on other player’s gameplay will sail you through to victory.

Long Term Player

Poker strategy is not a short term recourse but a long term one. This game is a project that needs playing hundreds and thousands of hands on a real-time basis. It is the only way you can get a hold of the basics and conditional to being persistent and also become an expert with a pulse on the game. Keeping a few points in mind will help: Set a budget for each session and over the longer period and stick to it, play cautiously, read and study the table and other player’s like your favorite TV show and last but not the least, be aggressive when required to knock off the weaklings and snatch the pot in your favour.

Skill Development

Perhaps the most important aspect and often the one ignored by the majority of players is to develop your skills to better your Poker strategy. Apart from the table with live gameplay, reading books and blogs about poker strategy will greatly improve your knowledge and refine your approach according to the table. Playing online is also one of the steps in this direction. Sticking to disciplined play, taking notes of poker strategy used, and participating in lower-stakes tournaments is key to mastering the game while also protecting your bankroll.