good hands

[1ofakind28]

hey everyone i gotta dilema. sometimes i have trouble decidin what to stay in on when. i know to stay in on all the easy stuff like pocket pairs, draws 2 face cards, but i dont know when to stay in on other stuff. could ya help me out?

[skel]

well its hard to answer your question because it matters how many people are at a table, what position your in, whos the chip leader compared to your chips, what limits your playing and on and on. Could you be more specific?

I will say in general...the less people there are the more hands you can play and the later your position the more hands you can play.

[Johnny T]

1ofakind28, I'm pretty new to poker (I've been playing about a month) and I'm hooked... Its a brilliant game.

There's no card rooms near me so I play online at paradise poker. I normally play on the .50/$1 tables and really enjoy the tournaments (no limit).

As I mentioned, I'm completely new to it all but I've noticed somethings already... in low limit, generally if you don't have a decent hand or the prospect of drawing the nuts after the flop then fold. The reason being a load of folk will call all the way to the river with any old rubbish and if you can't "put your money where your mouth is", so to speak, you'll end up getting carried along with it all and losing a lot of cash.

In the No Limit then it's completely different. You can risk betting with anything and if you are raised then you can fold if you like... quite often people will fold at No Limit unless they have the nuts or suspect you are bluffing.

As for good starting hands.. this is what I do generally (please remember I'm a complete beginner and can't be held responsible for you having to sell your house as a result of following this info :D )

I keep pocket pairs. Fold small (under T's or J's) on the flop if there's no trips. Unless I can get a free (or cheap) card on the turn.

I normally see the flop with suited connectors. And obviously all the higher cards AK AQ AJ .. sometimes AT or sometimes even Ax if its a really loose table.

I tend to play any two suited cards, I know this is probably bad form but I've had some good wins from flushes and tend to be lucky with them. You can sometimes earn a lot from a flush on the river if someone thinks they've got top pair or two pairs. If I have two suited cards I tend to fold unless I get those two suits on the flop though, unless its free / cheap to see the turn or there's another drawing hand I might be on for.

And that's about it really...

I'd love to say that is how I play 100% of the time but it isn't. I sit and play some nights and start to drift into crap hands like A 6 offsuit. Calling and even raising all the way to the river in a vain attempt to get the board to give me something. I raise on flush draws and they don't come. I call on 4 5 offsuit because I have a feeling that I'll get a draw... sometimes I do... but more often than not I don't.

As I said, I can't claim to play like I've described 100% of the time, that's because I'm only learning and so I allow myself mistakes and I explore hands sometimes. Its easy for a poker expert to say "always fold 7 2 offsuit" but it's sometimes nice to find out for yourself, especially on low limit tables where you can afford to get a few beats.

I've found when I play reasonably tight as described above I normally come away from the table a little bit richer. I don't mind losing, I see poker as a brilliant sport and a worthwhile expenditure, but I really enjoy winning. Poker is a game of luck, chance and skill, and if you're winning you feel a real buzz.

Don't know if any of my ramblings are any use to you.

Keep playing and stay lucky... :D