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Basic Strategy - Limit Texas Hold'em

Poker CardTexas Hold'em is an extremely difficult game to master. Hundreds of books have been written on the subject, trying to explain how to act in the countless number of situations that may occur at the poker table. But you don't have to be a bwin poker professor to achieve succes. There are some basic guidelines to follow, which will considerably improve your chances of winning.

Step one is to choose a table to play at. If you're facing too good and experienced players it really doesn't matter how well you are playing, you will lose anyway. What you want is a loose game with a lot of pre-flop action. The average number of players that sees the flop should be at lest 35 %. Stay clear of tight and aggressive games; there's a big risk you will lose in them and when you win it probably won't be very much.

You want other players to see the flop, but you should play your own starting hands conservatively. Only really good cards are worth calling or raising with, otherwise the best advice is to fold. The kicker is not to be forgotten. A strong kicker makes a strong hand. With a weak kicker there's a big possibility that your hand will be second best.

When the Limit Holdem game is on, always keep track of the strength of your hand. Use betting patterns, other tells and the cards on the board to predict what the other players are holding. Your opponent's playing styles also come into the equation. What hands do they raise and re-raise with? Are they excessive callers that have trouble folding weak hands? How do they act when holding to pocket-pairs and drawing hands, and so on.

Naturally, the way you treat your own cards is just as important. When you think you're holding the best hand and are up against draws, always bet or raise. Otherwise you're giving away free cards and that's never a good idea. When you're holding a drawing hand make sure you have correct pot odds to call, if not fold. Many poker players have trouble folding, but calling with too many hands will prove an expensive pleasure.

Play your position. Early position generally requires a tight approach. When you have late position you should use this advantage to steel the blinds and win pots through bluffing. However, do not bluff carelessly. Use the bluff when your opponents check and no one seem to have hit their hands.

These are some basic strategies that will help you improve your game. Follow them strictly so that you know them by heart before entering any poker tournaments, but also remember to vary your game. If you always play your hands the same way you become predictable to your opponents. Therefore you should sometimes "limp in" with raising hands and bet, or raise, with hands you normally would just call with. You also have to be able to change gears. If your opponents think of you as a tight player, they are less likely to call your bluffs. If you have a loose table image you are likely to get a good pay off when you have a strong hand.