If you are the first bet out the gate, your poker strategy will differ tremendously from if you are the last to act. Where you sit in relation to the dealer button is one of the most (If not the most) important thing to consider. Be aware of how you are being perceived as a player, because understanding these perceptions will help you to use them against your competitors. While you are checking out the other players, you should be aware that they are sizing you up as well. This can be a bit difficult if you are new to the particular tournament or casino, but as you continue to enter and participate in Texas Hold’em tournaments, you will get to know other players styles and personality types. Get good at sizing up the competition, because you don’t play your poker hands in Hold’em so much as you play the other players and your position at the table. How many people are at the table with you? What are their personality traits? Are they an aggressive player? A loud and brash bluffer? A silent stack-killer? What are their tendencies? (If you have played with them before, you should be able to pick up one or two ways the other player signals unintentionally.)

This is perhaps the factor you want to pay the most attention to. Remember, there are plenty of other factors to consider in a poker tournament setting than just the cards you’ve been dealt. For the purpose of this journal entry, focus is on no limit Texas Hold’em poker tournaments. When you are playing in a poker tournament like the WSOP, especially a no-limit tournament, your poker strategy should be bold, decisive and well thought out. If you are playing for cash, you might want to play more conservatively, which is not necessarily a winning strategy for this type of poker. You will have to develop a poker strategy that allows you to think past the cards you were dealt. Unlike other casino games, you can’t “hack” Texas Hold’em by counting cards or memorizing a few basic statistics. Like most poker games, Texas Hold’em Poker, especially when played in a tournament setting, is a game of strategy. What poker hands you play are different depending on whether you are playing a tournament or a cash game. There are many aspects of the game that you have to take into account when deciding on which cards to play. In order for you to further develop in the game of Texas hold’em poker you have to think beyond the poker hands that you play. 5.4 Which hands should you play in poker? Poker Hands: Things to Consider

Poker texas holdem order of hands