Only a few years ago full-handed limit hold ‘em games were by far the most popular poker games played online and although their popularity may have decreased, with short handed and no limit games becoming preferred amongst players, they are still an ideal testing ground for new players to hone their skills before moving onto the trickier games.

The first area to consider is what hands to start with, and although many new players may not think this an important factor it is actually the point at which most money will be saved or made. There are plenty of hand charts available on the internet for players to use in different game scenarios, following is a basic strategy we suggest new players at the lower limits to use:

AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK – These are great hands, ones that you should raise and re-raise with. They should almost always be played with perhaps the exception of AK and JJ when there have been many raises before you from timid or tight players, and because of this you can be absolutely sure someone is holding AA or KK. When playing these hands it is best not to be tempted into slow-playing them, you will find in full ring limit games at the low levels people will stick with you anyway, and by slow-playing you will lose out on extra bets from them.

TT, 99, AQ, KQ – These are good hands although not as strong as many players believe. They will normally need some help from the board in order to win a pot, so they are more speculative. You should normally play these hands, and preferably in a pot with few players in – increasing your chance of getting the best hand. Raise to try and accomplish this, but if you get re-raised simply call as the other player is likely to have a strong hand himself. If there is a bet and a re-raise before the action gets to you, then chuck your cards away unless it was maniacs making the action. In this situation you can safely assume you are way behind, and even if you do make a decent hand on the flop someone will likely be way ahead of you and ready to take your chips.

88, AJ, AT, KJ, QJ, JT, QT – These can be good hands, but they can also be dangerous and get you into a lot of trouble if not careful. These are best played more often in late position, and also if they are suited as this gives more value to the hand, especially in multi-hand pots. Be prepared to fold these hands quickly if there has been betting action before you from normally tight players, but if there has been just a limper or two it is best to throw in a raise to try and thin the competition.

AJ, AT and KJ are hands that many players, particularly new ones, do badly on. Often they will call raises preflop with these, then hit either an A or a K and continue with their hand, only to lose to a higher kicker. Be very wary with these, and always look at any pre-flop raise in conjunction with the tightness of the player who made the raise.

Ax suited, K9 + suited, 77-22, T9s, 98s, 87s, 76s – These hands prefer a different set of conditions to the others above, and work best in a pot that is not raised and has many players. Most of the time you will not win the pot with these hands, but occasionally you will make very good hands. When this occurs you want lots of players to win bets from.

Tags: poker, strategy

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 25th, 2008 at 3:03 pm and is filed under Poker Tips. Both comments and pings are currently closed.