Poker Articles from Poker Odds Calculator

Playing Low Limit Shorthanded Holdem Online
By Greg Dwyer

When it comes to playing shorthanded games online, one size definitely does not fit all. Certain concepts, aggression being the most important, are paramount no matter WHAT level you are playing; but the low limit games with its preponderance of loose, passive opponents mandate a slightly different style of play be used to maximize profits.

As at any level of poker, starting hand selection is key. At Party Poker's lowest level, the six seated tables are littered with players who see 60 to 70 percent of flops. We advocate that you keep your percentage somewhere around 30. While you are ditching your long term losers, most of your opponents will be bleeding money by playing negative expected value hands.

While position is important in Texas Holdem, it is much less important in low limit shorthanded play. Pre-flop raising is infrequent, so you will rarely be “punished” for limping with a hand of moderate strength. We advocate the following starting hands recommendations: Raise with pairs down to Nine, Ace-King to Ace-Ten, King-Queen, King-Jack and Queen-Jack suited. Limp with any suited Ace, Ace-nine and Ace-eight, Queen-Jack, King-Ten, Queen-Ten and Jack-Ten. King-nine can be played late, and Queen-Nine and Jack-nine are optional in late position. Play pocket sevens and sixes anywhere. Lower pocket pairs can be played if there are two limpers ahead of you. Suited connectors down to seven-six should also be played in an unraised pot. Other suited hands to be played are Queen-Nine, Queen-Eight, Jack-Nine and King-Nine. Jack-Eight and Ten-Eight can be played late.

Beware of playing too many hands in the blinds. Even tight players get caught limping in the small blind with poor hands. This is a long term money loser. Stretch your opening hand list only slightly in the small blind, and don't be too eager to call raises in the big blind. Remember, most of these players raise only with top-notch holdings, so you'll probably be at a disadvantage if you call a raise.

Shorthanded Poker is typically characterized by raising and aggression. However, this is often less effective at the lowest limits. Your pre-flop raises will typically be called in several places. At higher limits, raising with hands like pocket sevens is an effective strategy, as against a single caller you will probably be a favorite. However, this play is a loser at low limit shorthanded holdem. You will not be able to bully your way to pots very frequently. When you have raised with your big cards and missed the flop, position becomes most important. Frequently you will be up against three or more opponents. If you've missed the flop and are last, take a free turn card if possible, or fold to an opponent's bet. Against two opponents, bet the flop and use your judgement on future streets as to whether you think you can bet them off the hand. Low limit players will generally call you down with any pair, so bluffing them on the river is a long term losing play. If they've stuck with you that long, checking (and then folding) is probably your best course of action.

If you've hit your flop, whether you raised or limped pre-flop, you must be extremely aggressive. Your starting hands are more solid than everyone else's. The low limit players' tendency to chase to the river with poor holdings must be punished. Bet and raise with impunity. If you are in the blinds and flop top pair, even with a weak kicker, by all means check raise. Punish other players for trying to steal pots or betting their middle pair. This will pay off handsomely, as they will remember being check raised and give you free cards later on. Remember also that top pair is a stronger hand in shorthanded games than it is in ten player games, so treat it as such. If you've flopped top pair, it is unlikely that one of the other two cards to make top pair landed in the other ten cards dealt to the table. Raise any bettors with top pair, regardless of the kicker, unless there was a preflop raiser. One last note on post-flop play: If you are heads up with someone, throw in a bluff raise occasionally. Many of your opponents are inexperienced and will drop their hands in the face of a raise.

With the plethora of poor players at the lowest limits of shorthanded poker, the game is ripe for the picking. Aggression, while still very important, must be toned down a bit, however, in the face of the numerous calling stations you're likely to find at these tables. So remain tight, play VERY aggressively when you've hit something, but don't try to bully your way to too many pots and you'll build a big bankroll by swimming with the fish.

Greg Dwyer is a professional poker player and shorthanded holdem specialist. Read more of his poker strategy at his websites: http://www.HitTheFlop.com and http://www.pokercentral.us

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

Holdem Starting Hands

Top starting hands should be raised and played aggressively. AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ, AQ, these hands are most likely to be the best before the flop. By raising and eliminating other players early you reduce the risk of getting outdrawn. These hands will hold up the majority of the time against 2 or 3 opponents. So it is important to reduce the number of opponents you face early by betting strong. Other factors when deciding on how much to bet is your position. If you are first to act then you should be folding all but top hands. If you are near last position you have the advantage of seeing what your opponents bet and can make your decision on how strong you feel they are based on there actions.

Top hands are so important and new "rookie" players lose more often by playing too many hands. Its dificult to fold so much, but if you do you will see how profitable it can be. Watch the poker players on TV. These players beat hundreds of opponents to get to the final table, and they do it time and time again. These are great players and most of them play premium hands or are at a level much higher than this and are experts at playing there opponent and not there hands. So as a new player dont try to play hands you shouldn't because you see it working on TV. Playing your opponent and not your cards is what makes the poker greats masters. But it takes much longer to master these skills, and you need the building blocks to get there.

These hands look good to start with, but will trap you and cost you money if you do not improve or if you are dominated. Hands like AJ, KQ, KJ, QJ, K10, Q10 and J10 . These hands should not be played after a raise and not played at all in early position. You want to have your money in the pot when you have the best hand, playing these hands will cause you to lose money in the long run.

Meduim pairs are great to start with, but if after the flop you haven't tripped out you should fold them. A single pair will rarely win in a multi-opponent game.

Suited connectors are a decent starting hand. If there is a bet and a call before you fold them. They are best played in late position.

Top Ten Starting Hands
1. A-A (Pocket Aces)
2. K-K (Pocket Kings)
3. Q-Q (Pocket Queens)
4. A-K (Ace King)
5. J-J (Pocket Jacks)
6. 10-10(Pocket Tens)
7. 9-9 (Pocket Nines)
8. 8-8 (Pocket Eights)
9. A-Q (Ace Queen)
10. 7-7 (Pocket Sevens)

Top hands to raise with preflop
A-A (Pocket Aces)
K-K (Pocket Kings)
Q-Q (Pocket Queens)
A-K (Ace King)
J-J (Pocket Jacks)
10-10(Pocket Tens)
A-Q (Ace Queen)

Hands you want to see a flop with
A-J (Ace Jack)
K-Q (King Queen)
Q-J (Queen Jack)
J-10 (Jack Ten)
9-9(Pocket Nines)
8-8 (Pocket Eights)
7-7 (Pocket Sevens)
A-10 (Ace Ten)
10-9 Same Suit (Ten Nine Suited)

Kerry Mann is an online poker pro. His website http://www.pokerliving.net tells more about him and how he makes a living at online poker.

Poker Tournament Fundamentals

This is the second in the Texas Holdem Strategy Series, focusing on no limit Texas Hold’em poker tournament play and associated strategies. In the first installment, we examined a real-world tournament scenario and how to handle a particular class of difficult players – the "maniacs", aggressive, wild players that are commonly encountered in today’s poker tournament venues.

In this article, we’ll examine the techniques that were used more closely to best these players, along with stitching a Texas Hold’em tournament poker strategy together with some good poker tournament fundamentals.

Let’s begin with some foundational elements of any winning tournament poker strategy – clearly understanding our priorities. In poker tournaments, each player's primary objectives are:

1. Survival – first and foremost, surviving to play at the final table, and ideally to be the last surviving player (the winner!) is of paramount importance.

2. Building and Protecting that Chip Arsenal - to survive increasingly large blinds and tougher competition at the latter and final tables, a player must build up and sustain a "chip arsenal" - a substantially large stack of chips - early enough in the competition to be capable of surviving and taking various necessary, calculated risks from time to time.

This must be accomplished without risking the entire tournament and building that chip arsenal in the process. Failure to build an early chip lead is a sure ticket to being eroded away once the blinds and antes increase, chewing away at your stack until you’re cornered or dead.

3. Sustained Focus – concentrating on your game plan, attacking when the right cards and situations present themselves and converting those opportunities into “profits”, while avoiding killer momentary lapses of reason (i.e., making occasional mistakes by not paying close enough attention). Focusing like this over an extended period of time is much more difficult than it seems, requiring a constant vigil, self-awareness and self-discipline.

4. Adaptability – as the tournament progresses, it’s critical to recognize when the game dynamics change and quickly adapt to new conditions such as:

Since Texas Holdem tournament events are specifically designed to progressively eliminate players, your foremost objective must be to survive and protect your stack of chips. Taking unnecessary risks is a formula for disaster and an early trip home…someone can always get lucky against you.

Demonstrating the patience to hold back and attack at the most opportune moments, when the odds favor your success, and with a proper battle plan in mind is critical. While others are visiting and socializing, daydreaming, watching the waitresses, and otherwise taking their eyes off the ball, when you’re at a tournament table, it’s time for your focused attention on the game at hand. This kind of extended attention span becomes increasingly difficult to maintain, so rest up before playing in a tournament – do not play when tired if you can avoid it.

I also recommend against alcohol while playing, as it leads to impaired judgment and fatigue.

Here are some basic guidelines to use when playing in poker tournaments or at any table where there are many players that you don't know well:

1. Prepare and Refine your Battle Plan – when you enter a tournament, you're going to be fighting a "battle" for survival - against the blinds, the antes, fatigue, as well as against the other players. Would any good military commander go into battle without having first surveyed the battle field, understood the enemy and its tactics, and without having a well-conceived battle plan which takes these facts into account and ensures success? Of course not! If they did, they probably wouldn't live to tell about it.

You shouldn't go into a poker tournament without having completed some pre-planning for the battle ahead either. Think about your plan and several things you’ll do in each typical situation ahead of time. Refine this once you’re at the table as your battlefield unfolds before you.

2. Start out slowly. Be patient. Use the early tournament period, while the blinds are still low, to study everyone at your table, identifying the most likely prey, understanding their habits and play styles. Use this time to mentally prepare and refine your "battle plan" for transferring their chips into your stack. It’s best to formulate several strategies during your pre-tournament planning, and then refine each one as you see how the game is actually shaping up, the types of players at your table and how you’ll approach each situation.

3. Set the Stage – play a few “ugly” hands early, limping in occasionally and feeling your way around the table with the other players while the blinds are still low, playing a few hands you wouldn’t normally even consider. This prevents you from starting out with a table image as a solid or tight player; otherwise, you may not get the action you’ll need when you do get those pocket rockets (AA) and great opportunities later.

4. Know Your Own Table Image - Everyone develops a "table image". Be aware of your own table image, and be careful to mix your game up along the way so that you can't easily be "typed". Once others can predict your behavior and your likely reaction to a given situation, they'll definitely use it against you. For example, if you play mostly premium hands and fold at the first sign of trouble, other players will quickly type you as “weak” and will steal you blind, taking advantage of that knowledge by representing hands they don’t actually have so you’ll fold. If you project that image, know it, so you can trap them with a good hand – make the most of it, since that will definitely destroy your weak table image…

In the first article, I let several aggressive players push me around a little early on, then limped in and dropped out on a few draws, so they all thought I was a tight, weak player and a good target for their aggressive style of play. Letting them push me around some, while not losing much to them, conditioned these aggressive players to push me even harder when they absolutely shouldn't have – a huge error on their part that I converted into a chip leadership position.

5. Be Careful, Protect Your Stack – You must protect your stack and survive until you get some good hands you can use, so be careful to expend that chip depot deliberately and judiciously – always with purpose. When a player raises you significantly, you must think: 1) how much of my stack can I afford to invest in this one hand, 2) can I win this hand if I play it fully, and 3) what kind of play will yield me the most chips and give me the best overall odds to win against this particular player.

6. Get a Real Hand and Extract Its Value - don't go up against maniacs and aggressive raisers without a real hand - and definitely, do not challenge them while you’re chasing a draw! Their strength is their bravado and wild, aggressive betting style - it's also their biggest weakness. When you do get a real hand that you believe is a winner, you must get the most value for it by extracting as many chips as possible from the other players:

• Hit aggressive players head-on, triggering their aggressive response systems, and be willing to stick it out with them, re-raising them all-in if necessary since you know you’re likely in top position, or

• Trap them with a check-raise play. You can often just let aggressive bettors take the initial lead, betting into you and thereby become pot-committed, leading them to putting many or all of their chips at risk. That’s another reason you'd better have a real hand whenever you challenge the aggressive players – they typically just will not fold or back down, and

• Bet enough to extract a significant chip “profit” from the opponents, without forcing them to fold, if you’re sure you have the winning hand.

7. Pay Attention and Focus Outwardly - watch everyone and everything that's going on at your table. Don't daydream, and for Pete’s sake – do not focus on your own hand! As a general rule of thumb, spend 3 times as much energy and time trying to determine what other players are holding (especially when you’re not in a hand), gauging their play and betting styles, and refining your battle plan - than you do thinking about your own hands and play. You won’t be playing that many hands if you’re a good poker player, so use this available time wisely.

8. Play the Pot Odds - most people think too much about their own hand and what they might draw next. That's because calculating and playing the pot odds isn't yet second nature to them. If that's you, then you definitely need to get the poker odds ingrained into your subconscious mind, so they’re second nature and you don't even need to think about them while you’re playing. Find yourself a good Texas Holdem poker odds calculator, practice with it, and you’ll learn the odds of drawing each type of hand and find that you don’t need to think about them.

9. Bluff for the Pot from Good Positions - as the blinds and antes increase, the size of each hand’s pot becomes substantial. Bluffing for these pots from proper positions (e.g., acting late with a big bet, acting first with a semi-bluff hand and bigger bet) is a good way to hold your own while everyone else struggles against the blinds.

10. Play the Player – the key to winning in poker is to get other players to make the wrong play, which you then profit from. To do this, knowing your opponents, understanding what kinds of hands they play, whether they’ll fold when bluffed, and knowing when it’s time to lay down your hand to simply survive and play another is crucial.

The alternative is to do what many players do - just leave most everything to chance and play the game in a random, unpredictable fashion with whatever hands you’re dealt; a.k.a. “gambling”.

They say "those who fail to plan, plan to fail", and that “hope is not a strategy” – a couple of my favorite sayings that come to mind…have a plan, and execute it.

You must be prepared to mix up your play enough that players aren't sure what to expect from you. It's helpful to "shift gears" from one mode of operation to another from time to time. It's also recommended to play the opposite from everyone at the table; e.g., if most everyone is playing tight overall, then loosen up your play and take advantage of them by overplaying some hands, going on some draws, and a few semi-bluffs. If the table becomes loose, tighten up and attack with a good hand or trap them.

Remember, aggressive players' egos usually can't handle being overtly raised or publicly challenged. They expect to be the preeminent raisers and dominate the game, so they'll often re-raise or go all-in in order to leverage their aggressive position against you. Be ready! You can just about count on it. When they push you at the wrong time, sock it to ‘em! You can use these types of players to build up your chip arsenal and possibly earn yourself a seat at the final table.

There aren’t any absolutes in no-limit Texas Holdem tournament strategy, which is one of the things that make it so entertaining and challenging. These are just a few good tips and techniques that will help you get started and do reasonably well against some good players and some aggressive ones.

Finally, it's been said "if you can't spot the sucker at your table, it's probably you!" I love this saying, because it's so true. If you do your pre-planning and have confidence in your game plan, along with an ability to observe the opponents and apply the proper techniques against different kinds of players, you’ll go far in Texas Holdem poker tournaments.

So, there's your first set of Texas Holdem poker tournament strategies. I sure wish someone had condensed things down like this for me when I first started playing. It would’ve saved me years of learning it the hard way. Enjoy.

Rick Braddy is an avid writer, Texas Holdem player and professional software developer and marketer for over 25 years. His websites and software specialize in helping people become better Texas Holdem poker players. If you're a poker player, be sure to visit his BetterHoldem.com website today and learn how you can play better Texas Holdem, too.

Texas Holdem Tournament Strategy - Winning vs. Aggressive Players

Texas Holdem Tournament Strategy - Winning vs. Aggressive Players
By Rick Braddy

The Texas Hold’em poker phenomenon has taken the country by storm. There are reportedly over 100 million active poker players worldwide. Poker’s popularity is largely the byproduct of technology and several recent trends: 1) online gaming, where players engage and socialize in real-time over the Internet, and 2) the broad publicity created by high profile TV shows like the World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour.

With all the poker-mania, there’s an amazing shortage of quality information to help people learn how to play properly and become great players quickly. This is the first in a series of Texas Holdem strategy articles aimed at helping players learn how to win at Texas Hold’em poker. Tournament play is a popular, fun sport. These articles will help players understand how to approach tournaments, which differ greatly from regular “ring game” play.

This installment deals with the most-asked question: “How do I deal effectively with aggressive players?” Many players struggle against "maniacs", the aggressive, wild players who play most every hand, somehow seem to pull cards out of thin air, and often manage to dominate the table.

Here's what actually happened in a recent poker tournament. I entered a tournament at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, about 20 minutes from my home in South Florida. This weekly $300 entry-fee tournament fills the poker room with 220 players every Monday night.

The blinds start at 50/100 and go up every 15 minutes. I spent the first 30 minutes just hanging out and occasionally limping in to see a flop. The reason for "treading water" was to study my opponents and their playing patterns very closely. There were a number of solid poker players, but right away I spotted the aggressive ones.

I was sitting in the middle, directly across from the dealer. There were two "wild men" to my right. These two participated in most every hand, and agonized with themselves whenever they had to throw a hand away. This was hilarious to me, and it was also very telling. I knew these dudes were doomed from the onset, yet they were extremely dangerous if they caught something with one of their trash hands. These types are great targets, but only when you know how to play them correctly. If you do, you’ll end up with most or all of their chips in your stack. The key is to get to their chips before someone else does.

There were some squeaky-tight and solid players, as usual. Finally, there were two other players to my left who knew one another very well and spoke what sounded like Russian. These two played very aggressively. They rarely called or checked. They would bet or raise the pot significantly, so if they played a hand, you knew they were going to bet it big and you’d better be prepared to push a bunch of your chips into the middle. As a result, the table became tight overall, except for these four players who controlled the early action and dictated the table tempo for the first hour or so. They gambled with wanton abandon, trading chips with each other as the rest of us just observed and wished for a real hand to materialize.

It became apparent that our maniacs were playing mostly garbage hands, and using assertive chatter in an attempt to intimidate everyone. They were enjoying pushing everyone around with their aggressive betting and raising style. Humorously, they got into a number of showdowns, causing all of their trash hands to become openly exposed; e.g., 69 off-suit, Q3 suited, etc. I definitely had these guys pegged now – if only I could get a strong hand…

Later, one of my Russian "friends" came in over the top of a bet I’d placed with a huge raise, then smiled at me as he leaned his head back as if to say “Go ahead. I dare you”. My middle pair just wasn't strong enough to engage with him, but I remembered this little "lesson" and my mistake. He'd used this tactic many times against the others and I should’ve expected it. I also realized that we had not seen any of his supposed "big hands", as he always mucked them. Whenever you see an aggressive player dominating, and then mucking all those supposed "great hands", you know you've spotted a target.

We played on, with the two maniacs to my right getting busted out by the Russian contingent. It’s been an hour and fifteen minutes - and I still haven’t seen even one decent hand yet! This is, unfortunately, typical poker.

After about an hour-and 45 minutes, I finally pick up a pair of wired 9's (99). Now I was hoping the flop would yield a set (trips). Sure enough, it came: 9, K, 5. I was elated and jumping up and down (inside). I was finally in a position to make my move, and hoped it would be against one of my aggressive Russian friends with their big stacks.

To prepare my trap, I delayed and muddled around for about ten seconds, and then casually "checked" verbally and using my hand in a chopping motion, with a slightly disgusted look. Next, the younger Russian moves in with a big bet of 3,000 chips. I was sure I had him now. As expected, everyone else quickly folded and got out of his way – except me. This fellow had pushed everyone around and I was finally properly armed and ready to do battle on my own terms. Note that this had been my "battle plan" all along. I was deliberately targeting these aggressive characters, knowing that when the time was right, their ill-gotten stacks would become mine!

The action came back around to me, so now it was just the two of us heads-up. The two Russians said something to each other that the rest of us couldn’t decipher. I delayed and bobbed my head around as if to be struggling with my decision. Then, I motioned with both hands and uttered “I'm all-in". I knew this series of actions would likely trigger an aggressive reaction, since my “check-raise” made it appear as if I was trying to steal this pot! A check-raise almost always triggers a full-tilt response from an aggressive player.

He immediately called me - he was so aggressive (and pot-committed) that it was like a fish taking the bait and running for deep waters - hook line and sinker! I threw my pair of 9's over, revealing the trip 9's. There was a low murmur around the table from the other players. My young Russian friend reluctantly flipped his five/trash hand over - he had a pair of fives (with a King over-card showing on the board!). He was definitely angling to drive me out of this pot with his ascertive play – one too many times…

You see, no one actually gets that many great hands in poker - nobody. If someone plays 30% to 40% or more of the time, they're just "gambling" and bluffing. This guy thinks he has a "good" hand, because he actually had a real pair – something he doesn’t often have when pushing everyone around with mostly aggressive betting as his only real weapon.

The turn came and it wasn't a five - then someone pipes up and says "he's drawing dead". Believe me, you never want to hear that when you're in a showdown! I looked over as he said something in Russian to his buddy - another violation of tournament rules, as everyone is compelled to speak English at the tournament table. It wouldn’t matter, as he stood up, grabbed his jacket and left after receiving some consolation from his friend.

His older friend glared over at me and uttered something derogatory in Russian. I had no clue what he said, but I knew from his tone that I didn't like it. I also knew I'd gotten under his skin by taking down his buddy and raking in all of his chips. I responded with "what's that, I don't understand what you're saying since you're not speaking English?” loudly so everyone at the table could hear me.

He mumbled something about his friend...I smiled and said politely with a smile "I deliberately laid that trap for your friend and he fell right into it!", pushing the knife in deeper, knowing he'd be gunning for me anyway - might as well make sure my next trap was fully set. This also signaled to everyone else at the table that whenever I checked or limped, it could be extremely dangerous if assumed to be a sign of weakness - something I’d leverage later as the blinds and antes rose and the proper time to bluff and steal blinds actually arrived.

After a slight pause, my Russian friend noticed that everyone was now looking at him. He looked down at his chips and said "nice play" with a reluctantly polite tone.

Boy, I was elated! My battle plan was definitely becoming field-proven here - and my next target was clearly sighted. It had taken careful observation, planning and a lot of patience to wait for the right hand, and then play it correctly to take this highly-skilled, aggressive player out and rake in all of his chips.

About ten minutes later, it was tournament break time, after two hours of play. I counted my chips, which totaled 14,900 (we started with 5,000 each), then grabbed a quick bite to eat, reflecting on what had just taken place.

Within ten minutes of returning from break, I finally picked up a serious starting hand: Cowboys (KK). I knew it was time for my new Russian friend and me to tango, so I fired out a bet of 3 times the big blind: 3,000 chips, bait that I was sure he couldn’t turn down. Sure enough, he bit - big time. His all-in raise came almost instantaneously, before I could even get my bet onto the table. He was totally ready to engage, and had been laying in wait for me - just like I had planned. I had set him up by taking out his friend and then challenging his poker ego in front of everyone. He just had to retaliate against me – it was a totally predictable “full-tilt” response from this kind of player.

This is what the game of poker is really all about – having a well-defined strategy, the patience to wait for the right hand, and then executing properly. It’s what makes poker a game of strategy instead of a game of chance (for some of us).

He raised by going all-in with around 8,000 chips to my roughly 14,000. I quickly called his all-in bet. Everyone else quickly folded and got out of our way.

I flipped my pocket kings over, then looked him straight in the eye and just smiled. Then someone says "Yeah! Now we've got some action!" He sighed and flipped over QQ - he actually had a real hand for a change. That's one of the problems with these kinds of "semi-solid, aggressive" players, like my Russian friend here, and other poker greats like Gus Hansen. You never really know exactly what to expect from them. Of course, my opponent could've held pocket rockets (AA), but I'll play those KK cowboys strong each and every time I get them, since there’s only one hand that can beat them heads-up. I also knew this aggressive player on tilt was likely to be overplaying his hand, improving my odds significantly.

The flop, turn and river came and went without another Queen and it was done - my cowboys stood up and I had all of both Russian’s stacks, which included most of the other two poor maniac’s chips (who lost to the Russians earlier). This instantly made me by far the chip leader at our table with well over 22,000 chips!

I went from having an average chip stack to being the table chip leader, against tough, aggressive opponents, within less than half an hour by:

f) Executing this plan with precision against a predetermined opponent, and on terms of my choosing – not the opponent’s.

There was no luck involved at all – except that my opponent didn’t hold AA or pull some lucky cards with a trash hand – which was simply playing the odds in my favor.

I started out with a high-level strategy to target aggressive chip leaders, and go after them with strong hands from the right position. I planned this before I ever arrived at the casino that day, or knew who these players would be. Then, I refined my plan once I knew for certain whom the evening’s targets would be and how I’d provoke them. It certainly helped that I caught two decent hands during those first hours of play.

Unfortunately, I later lost to a legitimate full house, but made it into the top 40 – it happens…

The key to playing against aggressive and maniac players is having a viable Texas Holdem strategy you can profit from when you get some good hands. If you have a good plan, you can convert it into a formidable stockpile of chips - a stack that you‘ll definitely need as the blinds and antes increase and the tournament field narrows in the latter stages.

This is how I approach Texas Holdem strategy for tournaments now - at least when the tables are full with 8 or more players, some of them aggressive and maniacs. So, the next time you encounter wild and aggressive players at your poker table, get ready to have some fun! It's like Tae Kwon Do - using the opponent’s own energy and momentum against them.

In the next installment, we’ll detail this Texas Holdem strategy more formally, along with exploring some other tournament tips for playing better Texas Holdem poker.

Rick Braddy is an avid writer, Texas Holdem player and professional software developer and marketer for over 25 years. His websites and software specialize in helping people become better Texas Holdem poker players. If you're a poker player, be sure to visit his BetterHoldem.com Poker Tournament Strategy website today and learn how you can play better Texas Holdem, too.

Poker Odds Calculator

Poker Articles

Texas Holdem Tips

Poker Tournament Fundamentals

Texas Holdem Tournament Strategy - Winning vs. Aggressive Players