Playing Before the Flop in Holdem

Continued from: Tips for Draws in Poker Playing Before the Flop in Holdem is easy. In most cases, the player who starts the hand with the best cards will win the showdown. Therefore, you should only start with powerful hands. I'm going to provide a simple list of opening hands. When I say "opening hands", I am assuming that no one else has raised the pot yet. It's important to note that you need a much better hand to play with if the pot has already been raised.

The reason is simple - a raise usually indicates a strong hand. Therefore, if someone raises in front of you, you will have to rate your hand against other possible raising hands. For instance, if no one has opened the pot you should often raise with AQ, but if someone has already raised and re-raised the pot your AQ is unlikely to be the best hand. So, in these examples, for simplicity's sake let's assume that no one has raised in front of you.

When you decide to play a hand you should almost always come in with a raise. So, how much do we raise? I like the simple 4 times the big blind (BB) rule. If anyone has called the big blind already, go ahead and make it 6 times the blind instead. That should be easy to remember, right?

For example, the blinds are $1-$2, I limp into the pot from third position, and you look down to find AKs. What do you do? Well, I think you should make it $12 total. What if no one has entered the pot yet and you find AKs? Easy, just make it $8. If I already put $2 in the pot and you raise to $8, I'll only have to pay $6 more to call, and with a powerful starting hand like AK, you want to charge me more than that. By making it $12, I'll have to put $10 in to play. Now you'll find out if I'm serious about contesting this pot or not.

Alright, we've already discussed position, so I won't explain why you need a better hand to play from early than late position. Let's just explain what early and late position means and go from there. We're going to assume that we're playing semi-short handed, say 7 players or fewer. Just remember that you need stronger starting hands at a full table, and you have more time to wait for them because the blinds will come around more slowly. If you are first or second to act after the blinds you are in early position (EP). If you are third or fourth to act you are in middle position (MP). If you are one from the dealer we'll consider you in late position (LP). And if you're on the dealer button you're late. Simple enough?

♣ Continued at: The Best Starting Hands in Holdem

♣ Back to the index of resources for playing free holdem poker.