In this article, I will just teach you quite an easy way to calculate poker odds at the table. This will give you a fairly accurate idea of what your odds will be. The downside to this shortcut is that it is not 100% accurate, but it is very, very close to the real odds if you were to calculate them the long(er) way.

You may be asking why knowing your odds is so important. This is simple really, by knowing your chances of completing your hand and winning the pot, this will give you good information so that you can make informed decisions about when to call, and in the long run make you a consistent winner.

As an example, if you were to gamble at FullTiltPoker on something as simple as a flip of a coin, you would be expecting 1:1 on your money as there is a 50% chance of it being either heads or tails. If you played this all night you should break even. Now for arguments sake somebody offered you 2:1 on your money based on a coin flip this would make it a very profitable thing to play. In theory you should lose half of the flips – but the ones that you do win, you will be making 2:1 on your money and, in the long run, come out in front.

The first thing you will need to know when calculating the chances of making your hand are your outs. What cards will make my hand?

For instance if you are holding two hearts, and the flop also contains to hearts you are drawing to a flush with two cards still to come. Now there are still 9 hearts in the deck that can complete the flush for you.

In the short cut method I am about to teach you consider each of your outs to be worth 2% then multiply that by how many cards are still to come. So for your flush draw you calculation should be as follows

9 outs X 2% = 18% 18% X two cards to come = 36%

As you can see you have about a 36% (By calculating the long way you will find your odds are 35%, so you can see the shortcut is very close) chance of making your hand, which means you will make it about 1/3 of the times you play it.

Does this mean I should only call one in every three times I flop a flush draw?

No, the answer to that question is you should call based on the pot odds.

Pot odds sound scary but are very simple, they are merely just the money in the pot (plus the bet) in ratio to how much it will cost you to call.

For instance, if there is $40 in the pot and your opponent bets $10 the pot odds are 5:1, which means you will need to win the hand 1 out of every 6 times to break even.

Now you know that you are going to make your flush and win the pot 1 out of every 3 times, so in the long run you will make a tidy profit if your opponent offers you odds like this.

So as you can see if the pot odds are greater than the odds of making your hand you should call as in the long run this is profitable. But if the pot odds are shorter than your hand odds you should generally fold.

Of course this is just a quick guide so that you know how to calculate poker odds for your own use. You will need to consider many more aspects of the hand at Poker Stars.com before deciding whether to call, fold or raise. Things such as “implied odds” need to be taken into account, and of course the obvious things such as if your opponent is bluffing.

I will go into more depth about pot odds and ‘implied odds’ in the coming weeks, but for now I want you to get just a general idea about how to use pot odds and give you the basic calculation to assist you in your game play.

Keep updated for more articles about pot odds and ‘implied odds” in the coming weeks

Ever been in a friendly free game of poker with a few friends and thought “well stuff it, its only a freepoker game what do I have to lose by calling this raise with 2 5 off suit?”

I’ll tell you exactly what you have to lose, and more importantly what you don’t get the chance to gain.

First and foremost, if you are serious about improving the way you play poker online and refining your poker skills, play every game, ever set of cards, as you would if there were real stakes on the line. Although there may not be an immediate reward for playing your hand well, like a nice juicy cash pot; in the bigger picture the reward can be much greater, it will be experience, and that isn’t something you can win or buy!

What better way to improve your game than when there is no money on the line? For this reason free games can be invaluable. Free games of poker are a great way to fine tune your skills and try to make plays you wouldn’t other wise have the guts to make.

Knowledge is another great asset that you stand to gain from playing in free games. You can work on learning to read your opponents at no cost to your hip pocket.

When I first started playing at PokerStars.de I focused only on what cards I had in my hand and the cards on the board. After a while I realized that poker was much, much more than just what cards I had, its also what my opponent is holding (which can be even more important than the cards that you hold in your own hand). So I figured I had to learn how to read players and put them on a hand.

Now how did I go about learning these skills that I needed? Free tournaments of course! I would go down to one or two free poker tournaments per week and do something that may seem a bit strange at first but ended up teaching me a lot. I would play my hands as I usually would, but every fourth or fifth I would play my hand without looking at my cards! I would be playing the other players in the pot, if I thought someone was bluffing I would call them regardless of my two faceless cards, if I put them on a genuine hand I would fold. This cost me no real money to do, and it allowed me to see if my read was correct when the other player was forced to open his hand. By doing this I gained valuable skills that I will have with me for the rest of my life.

Secondly have you heard the saying “you play as you train”? well think of free games as your training! if you fool around calling on long odds, entering pots with hands you usually wouldn’t, and in general just playing poor poker you will teach yourself bad habits and these could be the difference of coming out a winner or a looser when it counts!

Poker is a game that can never be mastered, and there is always something to learn no matter how many years you have been playing at PokerStar.de!

So don’t dismiss a free game as just a waste of time, and just fool around. Instead see them as a great opportunity to improve your game, fine tune your skills and perhaps make a great play or two that you other wise wouldn’t have the courage to make.

Suited connecting cards are fantastic hands to draw with especially if they are high cards such as AK, KQ, OJ, I would suggest you raise with these hands and obviously if someone else raises first you should call (unless you know your opponent well and know he/she would seldom raise with any hand smaller than AA, KK, QQ and perhaps AK)

Whilst these are fantastic hands to draw with, they are not fantastic hands in themselves. Yes they have the potential to grow into very powerful hands, but if the community cards don’t help you improve, your hand could quickly become worthless. Its important to realize this and be prepared to lay these cards down if its necessary to do so. I’ve played against a lot of players who also fall in love with these hands and are very reluctant to let them go regardless of what comes on the flop, turn and river.

When playing the lower and middle connected suited cards 8-7, 7-6, 6-5; these hands you should aim to see the flop as cheaply as possible and if not aided by the flop get out, also keep in mind that even though you may improve your hand other opponents can also improve their hands.

Alternatively when being dealt suited cards on BodogPoker they may be gapped/ spaced; obviously the smaller the space the more chance you have of making a strait with these hands. For example to use both your cards in a straight when they are gapped by 3 eg. 9-5 the only possible cards to make this straight would be 8-7-6. Whereas to use both your cards and they were for arguments sake 9-7 there are many more possibilities (J-10-8, 10-8-6, or 8-6-5).

Other tips: While pre-flop suited cards have no more worth than unsuited cards of the same rank, they do have one thing that the unsuited cards don’t have, and that is the potential to make a flush.

With suited cards its much more acceptable to play them with larger gaps than the unsuited cards for the exact reason above. Particularly if one of them is an ace. In late position you may even want to enter a pot with Ace-2 suited just for the pure fact of the flush potential. Note: when playing the ace with a suited low card beware of any aces that my fall on the community cards, because you could run into kicker problems if you are not careful. On the upside though you could always pair your low card as well which can often pay huge dividends as players with ace and a large kicker (such as a king) will problem think that he/she has the best hand and will be very reluctant to lay it down.

How many times have you heard players on PartyPoker.net complain that their “aces got cracked” or how much they hate getting pocket aces because they always loose?

There are two main reasons that this happens to poker players

A) They don’t raise (or raise enough) pre-flop in the hope that more players will enter the pot and that they will be able to slow play their aces to win a larger pot.

B) They fall in love with their cards. (See Falling in love with your cards)

If you are lucky enough to be dealt pocket Aces it is mandatory that you raise no matter your position. If someone re-raises you, re-raise them right back with no fear because at this point at time there is no other hand that can possibly beat yours.

If you fail in an attempt to slow play (which is also a very successful strategy), don’t be too disappointed if someone outruns you on the flop, turn, or river. Also as explained in Falling in love with your cards on Full Tillt Poker, you must always keep an opened mind to what other players might be holding, and if it is obvious that you are probably beat fold your hand; this will not be the last time you get dealt pocket aces and you must realize that although they are the strongest starting hand, they are not always the hand that will eventually win the pot.

Kings

Pocket kings are the next strongest hand you can be dealt in Texas hold-em poker. As with aces you should raise from any position at the table, and re-raise if someone else raises. The chances that one of your opponents holding pocket aces is very slim so don’t be afraid to re-raise someone if they raise the bet first.

The main thing to be wary of when playing pocket kings is the community cards. If the community cards hold an ace this could be a large danger for your kings; many players, particularly armatures, will call raises with any ace no matter how small their kicker may be. For this reason an ace on the board is always a large threat, particularly when multiple players have entered the pot.

Queens Jacks and Tens

When holding these cards you most likely have one of the strongest if not the strongest starting hand at the table. The main thing to worry about when holding these cards is once again the community cards, but this time its much more of a danger as there are more over cards that opponents could be holding. You MUST raise large enough to push players holding aces and kings with weak kickers out of the pot, this will increase the chances or your pair holding up. You must also be prepared to lay down these pocket pairs if the flop contains over cards and you believe that an opponent could be holding one of them!

Middle and low pairs (9-2)

These middle and low pairs are best played in a late position; or only play in an early position if it is cheap enough to see the flop.

With middle pairs like 9 8 7 on a site like Ful Tilt Poker you may play these in any position (obviously the later the position the better as having other players act first will give you valuable information in aiding you to make the correct decisions). With these pairs you may be lucky enough to flop a set (three of a kind) and hopefully one or more of your opponents is holding over pairs, as this tends to be a very profitable play in Texas hold-em. Alternatively all the cards may be lower than your pocket pair leaving you with top pair (ruling out another play holding higher pockets), the main risk of this low flop means that the cards will be very close together which could potentially give an opponent a straight.

With the lower pockets you are almost certainly aiming to make a set and trap an opponent with a high pair or two pair. When this comes off it is very effective, but keep in mind the odds of flopping a set are only about 1 in 10 times. I would advise you to call in a late position, and if an early position (such as the blinds) call if it is cheap enough to do so.

Remember: you can always fold your hand once you have seen the flop, so seeing a cheap flop with low pockets can be quite profitable.

Considering that poker is a game where winners are decided by the decisions that they make, by simply refining the hands that you enter a pot with will decrease the amount of pots you lose, and also increase the amount you win. Choosing which hands to play at TitanPoker.com is the first decision every poker player will have to make every single hand, so it is a much more important decision than you may think.

Obviously your position on the table will greatly determine the range of starting hands that you will be willing to play. Also the size of the blinds (typically if in a tournament where blinds are continually increasing) will help determine the cards that you should consider entering a pot with.

In general you will be able to play a much broader range of cards at Titan Poker.com when in a late position (such as on the button) because the chances of there being a raise from this point is much slimmer. In an early position the range of cards you should play will be substantially smaller than a mid to late position (especially if in a poker game where players are raising quite frequently)

There are 169 different combinations of hole-cards that you can be dealt in Texas hold-em;

These hands can be grouped as

Pairs

Suited cards (connected and gapped/ spaced)

Unsuited cards (connected or gapped/spaced)

For strategies and tips on how to play each of the above types of combinations simply click on them.