Basic Poker Strategy Points

March 22, 2009

Poker strategy in the general sense is a challenging subject, because it takes a real determination to find similarities between
It can be done however as many of the different articles regarding general poker strategy illustrates.
To get you started down the path to good general poker strategy and to help you develop your toolkit, here are some general strategy points that can be used in crafting a good basic poker strategy.

Point #1: Avoid Calling Too Much

One of the biggest mistakes that a online poker players tend to make
is that they call too much.
A fish is a poker player that calls too much and a calling station is a specific type of fish that will call
with everything and anything imaginable. In addition to that however,
there are overvalue players that still call too much, even though they
express a better hand selection than a calling station. Finally, there
are some great players out there that would be world class because of
their skill but their problem with poker is that they still call too
much of the time. It is very difficult to get out of the habit of
calling too much and that is why this is the first basic poker
strategy point that you should digest. If you are torn between calling
and folding, make sure that you fold (especially when you are a novice
at the particular poker variant in question). It is always better to
fold than to call if you are not sure that your call is a good one.

Point #2: Use Position as a Battering Ram

Position is not something that should be dismissed lightly because it
can quite easily become your key to success when you are playing
poker. Success in poker depends on you taking advantage of every
little extra bit of luck and skill that you have and position is a
major element of advantage that you should be aware of. In games where
the position is fixed throughout the game like Texas Hold ‘Em you
should pick your starting hands based on position and always use it to
your advantage whenever possible. In online poker games where the position changes
throughout the hand such as Seven Card Stud you should still think
about utilizing position as your battering ram when you are in a good
position. Bet or raise with position and a decent hand in order to try
to get as many people out of the hand as possible.

Conclusion

General poker strategy cannot be summed up in a single page of text,
but it is something that you should always be thinking about. Being
proficient with general poker strategy will allow you to quickly
adjust to any poker variant that becomes popular and in doing so win a
lot of money while other players are trying to learn the new set of
ropes. There are few ways to make better money than being an average
player playing against a bunch of complete novices.