My tip of the day: betting

[adampad]

Betting is THE KEY to poker. If you don't bet well you will never win consistently. You also need to be able to notice when others make poor bets and take advantage of it.

Lets say your in a .10/.25 NL game and you have :7c: :8s: in a late position.

Say the flop comes :td: :3d: :5c: . You have 2 people in front of you that check. What should you do? I would bet the pot. NEVER make a small bet unless you are trying to induce a bluff. Most times you will take down the pot then. If you do have some one to call you can put them on a flush draw or a smaller pair. Most people with over cards would fold at a bet this size. If they bet the next card be careful, but if they don't I'd bet the pot or more again. At that point most players that are not strong will fold.

Now lets say, the same hand occurs but someone bets a very small bet in front of you. This is what I would consider a poor bet. Why would someone make a very small bet? I would say they are on a flush draw hoping to see the next card cheaply or they have a small pair. I would raise this type of bet a good amount (size of the pot or more). If they call I would still have them on the flush draw. If it comes and they bet hard into you, I'd lay it down. If they check, you can bet again and most likely take down the pot.

Of course this doesn't work with extremely loose players, but should for all other types.

[guyonthecouch]

That's a good tip, but I have problems following it. I'm generally a very conservative player. I've lost way too much money to failed bluffs. It seems whenever I try, someone reraises me or calls to the end and busts out the nuts. I wouldn't even call pre-flop with 7/8 offsuit unless I'm in the blinds. Would you consider that playing a too tight?

[card4]

It all depends on the situation. In response to guyonthecouch, I don't blame you for passing on 78 offsuit. In late position you can open up a little but its just asking for too much on the flop to have a chance at making the best hand. Its one thing to raise and steal the blinds with this, but just playing it for no real reason isn't going to be a profitable play. From my experience, in micro NL people will generally stick around and call pot sized bets if they have as little as bottom pair or an inside strait draw. You can still bluff but you have to be careful not to get tagged as an ultra aggressive player who is always trying to steal. It can get very expensive if some of the better players at the table pick up on this and start check raising you late in the hand.

[adampad]

I would never pass on a 78o as long as I got to limp in. Early postion my be a little harder to play it but its still playable, simply for the expected payout for such a hand. You can always get away from it easily unless you flop an open ended draw. Which hand do you think will win you more money if you catch, AK or 78? Very conservative players are the ones I seem to make money from because they won't call me with draws or overcards in the situations above. However, loose newbies will call me to the river and destroy me. You have to get a feel for each player and play accordingly.

Check raises are another pet peave of mine. When people check raise after the flop I think that is such a poor play. Most of the time when I see that, I know the person has a great hand and just doesn't know how to extract the maximum profit from his hand. It is something beginners do.

[1rainbow]

great tip i loved it

[kansaspoker]

Semi Bluffing is a great key, but most people go to the well one too many times.

Once people begin to recognize that you are betting way too often and stealing a lot of people without going to a showdown, they will begin to play back with mediocore hands.