Texas Holdem Best Strategy

1. Best Strategy For Texas Holdem
2. Best Texas Holdem Strategy Books
3. Poker Betting Strategies
4. Cached
5. Ultimate Texas Hold Em Strategy
6. Best Texas Holdem Strategy

Because I know that the best Texas Holdem strategy is to play aggressive and with absolute confidence in your abilities. I know I am the best poker player at the table every time I sit down and they are all going to be reacting to me, not the other way around. The follow-up articles, which you will be able to access after you receive the free poker money from PokerStrategy.com, will go into further detail on how to play texas hold'em and introduce you to the mathematics of poker. You will see how the strength of your hand, and the way you play it, can vary - sometimes radically - depending on the. Play Good Cards and You Will Win. My #1 Texas Holdem tip is one of the very first lessons in poker.

There was an earlier thread I posted on here, on finding - searching, actually, - for the most 'elegant and easy' strategy for Playing UTH, Ultimate texas Hold 'em. (That thread is here.)
So many players play UTH quite poorly, - so very poorly - (and everyone here agrees...) - but UTH strategy shouldn't be hard to do.
So far, NO one here at this place could come up with a one-sentence, one-line Holy Grail of 4x UTH strategy, in a nutshell. No one, - not even CRM or Mike.
So...I HAD to bounce THIS one off of 'old school casino bastard' Frank Rajek himself. And he gave me a concise, terse, and VERY accurate strategy for the game, something akin to Mike Shackleford's 'Wizard's simple Strategyfor Blackjack.' I had to post this, because Frank showed up old' Danny Boy on this one - I had missed it!!!!
I was telling Frank recently over dinner at Sergio's Italian Restaurant that my wife plays the sh]t out of Three Card Poker every time we go the Orleans - but SHE CANNOT seem to get the BASIC 4x play move in UTH!
Frank said UTH raising is the same thing as three card poker, and that is actually it:
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If you would PLAY a three card Poker hand with Q-6 or better, then you would also Raise it 4x on UTH with the same hand! Just do it, it's perfect.
Takes balls, though, but you gotta do it, as the 4x raise is where it is at. He argued that Q-6 is almost the same as Q-8, - and lowering to Q-6 accounts for dropping the J-10 4x bet anyway, and is essentially the same, statiscally. Different games, but same 'accurately ballpark' strategy.' I disagree with that fine-tuning logic, but as a simple strategy, it seems very accurate.
I love it: my old school friend/pit boss Frank Rajek giving ME the Strategy for Ultimate Texas Hold 'em: Raise 4x with a Q-6, - just as you would in three card poker, else check. Fucking Simple, and SO close to all 4x strategies on this game - just nuts!!! I am pissed at myself - and CRM - for not seeing this nutshell!At the VERY least, it is one hell of an easy strategy point.
Maybe you do learn something in the pit!!
Q-6, chunk 4x, else check - just like Three Card. That is it. How the f*ck didn't I see this??!! This is 90% of the player's side of the game.

Maybe easy enough for the people on here but 99.9% of all the other UTH players wont play this way. Most players have no poker sense what so ever. Hell, they won't even raise with a big ace let alone Q,6. For these people aren't trying to beat the dealer. They think they need to make a good hand to win. They simply want to win the trips bet because, 'thats where the money is.'

Most players think like they're playing against the table, not the dealer. Once you get comfortable with the understanding that you only have to beat one guy, it gets easy to follow the correct strategy. From there, the biggest problem is bankroll management: bring enough money to weather the strings of x-x and the bad beats!

Most players think like they're playing against the table, not the dealer. Once you get comfortable with the understanding that you only have to beat one guy, it gets easy to follow the correct strategy. From there, the biggest problem is bankroll management: bring enough money to weather the strings of x-x and the bad beats!

I think Bad beats are key in making the Average Joe mistrust the strategy. My wife had an A-9, chunked 4x (while giving me this 'you better know what you're doing' eye), paired the ace on the flop, - and then lost to a straight. I checked, and lucked out with the same straight. But Her reaction? 'You see, the strategy is WRONG - I lost! And There's the PROOF! You gotta go with your gut!'
yikes....

If you would PLAY a three card Poker hand with Q-6 or better, then you would also Raise it 4x on UTH with the same hand! Just do it, it's perfect.
Takes balls, though, but you gotta do it, as the 4x raise is where it is at. He argued that Q-6 is almost the same as Q-8, - and lowering to Q-6 accounts for dropping the J-10 4x bet anyway, and is essentially the same, statiscally.

I don't know that I'd say that it 'accounts for' it. These errors compound; they don't cancel out (ie, raising hands that you shouldn't costs money, just like not raising hands that you should costs money)
I agree that this is a WAY better strategy than most players follow. You are only misplaying a few hands (raising Q6o, Q7o, K2o, K3o, K4o, 22, and not raising JT, J9s, J8s). Having said that, the correct strategy is pretty simple to learn, too.

Best Strategy For Texas Holdem

It doesn't matter. Anyone who cares to play well will learn the correct strategy and play properly. It's not hard, and you can always just get a strategy card. Most people don't understand math, and just don't want to risk the big bet on a hand that wins barely more than 50% of the time. They think that they are being smart by betting conservatively. They don't understand how much money they are giving away by playing this way, and they never will. They win the hand anyway, so they get positive reinforcement for their terrible play.
FWIW, this is a good thing. UTH is a slow game. The HE is too low for a game that has that few hands per hour. I suspect that most players give up a 10% edge, or more. If everyone started playing properly, and so the house profits dropped by 80%, I suspect that the game would get removed from most casinos. Plus, they would stop comping it so well :)

If you would PLAY a three card Poker hand with Q-6 or better, then you would also Raise it 4x on UTH with the same hand! Just do it, it's perfect.
I don't know that I'd say that it 'accounts for' it. These errors compound; they don't cancel out (ie, raising hands that you shouldn't costs money, just like not raising hands that you should costs money)

Yes, they [the errors] do compound, but it is still very close, extremely close, to the full strategy - which is ALWAYS worth fully learning. I find that learning the 'easy and close' strategy helps lead a person seek the full, correct strategy, when hooking into a new game - IF they have the courage to bet.

..Most people don't understand math, and just don't want to risk the big bet on a hand that wins barely more than 50% of the time....
FWIW, this is a good thing. UTH is a slow game. The HE is too low for a game that has that few hands per hour. I suspect that most players give up a 10% edge, or more.

Best Texas Holdem Strategy Books

Yes, I think they give up a HUGE percentage, - moreso than 'hitting or not hitting 16 vs. 7' in blackjack by comparison, as giving up the 4x raise is huge. But It does take courage to chunk 4x on K-3 suited, but the real problem with so many UTH players is that they 'trust their gut more than they trust the math.'

Poker Betting Strategies

I think it is far more a 'gambler's gut and courage' issue, than an 'understanding the math issue,' - or obeying the best strategy dictates. A gambler's nerves may rule him in the end, and in many situations. The nature of the game can make any lesser gambler hesitate and fail.
NO other game has this problem to this extent. Here, in UTH, having 'the heart,' or having the Gambling Cojones to actually TRUST the strategy is so VERY hard to do; you're betting a quarter on the ANTE and the Blind, and you get K-10 offsuit. 90% of the UTH players will say, 'Aw, sh]t, now I gotta bet $100 by best strategy? I can't DO it!! CHECK!' I've seen CRM whip it out 4x on the PLAY bet without batting an eye at any level, and I do so, too - (and with my wife yelling at me, 'Jesus, Dan, R U F-ing crazy??') The fact of the matter is that I'd be crazy NOT to, but so FEW see it, - that the ballsy play is actually the brainy play in this case; they coincide.
And you are right - with UTH having a 0.53% house edge (when accouting for the element of risk, with RARE proper play!) UTH would be unsupportable. But I can tell you this, - and I believe it now - no WAY will the vast majority of players put their cash and cojones on the line as needed - when real push comes to shove. The mistakes in UTH are NOT like minor cover play mistakes in Blackjack, a fraction of a fraction of a percent. A mistake at the 'Raise Four Times on the hole cards alone' level in costs a LOT in percentage, but costs even more in terms of player courage, and so it will not be done. I don't know HOW many times I've seen a UTH player quietly utter, 'I just can do it....' - and Check.
When you add in strategy complexity after the flop, it now becomes a matter of brains - and after the potential 4x raise was a matter of balls, so to speak. Between the two, UTH operates as a 3%+ House edge game because of these factors.
Got to hand it to Roger (Pacman) on this one. just brilliant. Roger Snow understands more than just the casino math of his games. He also fully understands the casino player.Matter over both mind and math.

Casinos are always looking for new games to offer bored gamblers. Over the last decade or 2, these games are more commonly related to poker than anything else. But games like these—including Scientific Gaming’s Ultimate Texas Holdem—are more akin to blackjack than to poker. In fact, dealing Ultimate Texas Holdem is considered dealing a novelty casino game. The College of Southern Nevada covers how to deal Ultimate Texas Holdem in their blackjack class.

What’s the big difference between Ultimate Texas Holdem (and games like it) and “real” poker games? The main difference is who you’re competing with. In a so-called real poker game, you’re competing with the other players at the table. If you win money, you’re winning it from them. If you lose money, you’re losing it to your competitors at the table.

This isn’t a value judgment. It’s perfectly all right to play house-banked casino games. Gamblers do it every day. I’m pointing out the distinction because it’s important to know what you’re getting into when you play a casino game.

With that as a premise—understanding in detail what you’re getting into when you’re playing a casino game—I offer you this post: “The Definitive Guide to Ultimate Texas Holdem.” The idea is to share everything you would ever need or want to know about Ultimate Texas Holdem. Luckily, it’s not that complicated a game. There’s no need to write an entire book about it, like you would do with blackjack or poker.

Ultimate Texas Holdem is a card game where you play heads-up against a casino dealer. Other players at the table are also playing heads-up against the dealer. It features a progressive jackpot, among other payouts.

You start by making 2 equal-sized bets:

• The Ante Bet
• The Blind Bet

At most casinos, the minimum bet is either $5 or $10. The maximum bet is usually between $50 an $500.

You also have 2 optional bets you can make:

• The Trips Bonus Bet
• The Progressive Bet

You start by getting 2 hole cards from the dealer—these are 2 cards that are dealt to you face-down, just like in regular Texas holdem.

When you get those cards, you can choose from the following actions:

• Check
• Bet 3X the Ante (A “Play” Bet.)
• Bet 4X the Ante (Also a “Play” Bet.)

Cached

After you’ve made your decision, the dealer reveals 3 face-up cards—the “flop.” (This is also how regular Texas holdem works.)

If you checked when you got your hole cards, you have the option now to place a bet of 2X the Ante (another example of a “Play Bet.”) After that decision is made, the dealer turns over 2 more face-up cards—the turn and the river, in Texas holdem terms. Note that the action here is different than in traditional Texas holdem. Normally you’d have a turn, followed by a betting round, then the river, followed by another betting round.

Once you’ve made your decision, the dealer reveals her hole cards and announces the final hand. If your hand beats the dealer’s hand (using the standard poker hand rankings), you win even money on your Ante bets and the Play bets. On the other hand, if the dealer’s hand beats yours, you lose your Ante, Blind, and Play Bets. If you tie, then these bets are all treated as a “push.” (A push is when your original bet is returned to you, but without any winnings. You have neither a net win nor a net loss.)

The Blind Bet is handled differently. It pays off if you win AND if you have a straight or better. If you have less than a straight but still beat the dealer, the Blind Bet is treated as a push. The Blind Bet is paid off based on a pay table. The better your hand, the more it pays off. (It’s like video poker in this respect.)

Casinos generally use a shuffling machine called an “i-Deal single deck specialty shuffler.” That’s because this game was created by Shufflemaster, which is now a division of Scientific Games. Shufflemaster’s reason for existence is to sell shuffling machines to casinos, so creating new cards is something they do in service to this goal.

The Blind Bet and the Trips Bonus Bet have 2 different pay tables.

Here’s a common pay table for the Blind Bet:

Hand	Payout
Royal flush	500 to 1
Straight flush	50 to 1
4 of a kind	10 to 1
Full house	3 to 1
Flush	3 to 2
Straight	Even money

Keep in mind that the Blind Bet pays off regardless of whether the dealer qualifies. Also, notice that 3 of a kind doesn’t pay off for the Blind Bet, which is an interesting quirk of the game. The pay tables can vary—the casino gets to choose from multiple options. For example, some casinos pay off 40 to 1 instead of 50 to 1 for a straight flush. This changes the house edge for the game, of course.

Here’s a common pay table for the Trips Bonus Bet:

Hand	Payout
Royal flush	50 to 1
Straight flush	40 to 1
4 of a kind	30 to 1
3 of a kind	8 to 1
Full house	8 to 1
Flush	6 to 1
Straight	5 to 1

Here are a couple of facts to keep in mind about the Trips Bonus Bet:

• Your hand doesn’t have to win. It pays off regardless of whether you or the dealer wins.
• It wins even if you don’t have to use your hole cards. You can just play the board (the flop, turn, and river.)
• It wins even if you fold.

How the Progressive Bet and Jackpot Works

The progressive bet in Ultimate Texas Holdem is also an optional side bet. At most casinos, this bet is a flat $1 bet. But at some casinos, the Progressive Bet is $5. You can win 1 of 2 progressive jackpots in this game—the smaller jackpot, or the larger jackpot. To win the smaller progressive jackpot, you must use at least 1 of your hole cards. The smaller progressive pays off for hands that are a full house or better.

To win the bigger progressive jackpot—which is 100% of the jackpot—you must use both your hole cards and the flop to form a royal flush. If you hit the royal flush on the turn or the river, you don’t win the bigger progressive. You can also win a percentage of the full big progressive jackpot

Casinos also feature something called an “Envy Bonus.” This is a bonus paid to any player at the table when one of the other players wins the progressive jackpot.

Casino games where you make decisions usually have a house edge that varies based on how well you make those decisions. In other words, your strategy matters. There’s always a mathematically correct play in every situation. In Ultimate Texas Holdem, your strategy is limited to whether you make Play Bets during the various stages of the game. For me, this isn’t an intuitive decision. You can find various websites offering strategies for this, but I have another recommendation:

The house edge is the amount of each bet that the casino projects you’ll lose on average based on the probabilities behind the game. Obviously, the lower the house edge, the better for the player. You should do everything you can to minimize the house edge on any casino game you play.

If you use perfect basic strategy on Ultimate Texas Holdem, the house expects to win a little over 2%. Let’s assume that the house edge is 10% if you don’t know basic strategy. What does that do to the cost of playing the game in the long run?

There’s an interesting post at Two Plus Two from a gambler describing his basic strategy for Ultimate Texas Holdem. I don’t know how close it mirrors a mathematically perfect strategy, but here’s what “nonprofitgambler” says is the correct way to play:

Preflop, he suggests raising with any of the following hands:

Ultimate Texas Hold Em Strategy

• Any ace
• Any k5+, and any king suited
• Q5s+, Q8+
• J8s+, JT+
• 33+ for pocket pairs

That small “s” after the number means that the cards are of the same suit (they’re “suited.”) On the flop, he says most people play the same, and that it’s correct—if you pair anything, you raise. But those obviously aren’t the only hands you should raise with here. You should also bet flush draws, straight draws, and combination draws. This means you have 4 cards to a big hand. On the river, you should bet any kind of made hand, but some boards are scarier than others.

Finally, I’d like to point out that the house edge on Ultimate Texas Holdem isn’t outrageous, but blackjack is still almost always a better deal. With perfect basic strategy, many blackjack games have a house edge of just 0.5%. This means you get the same kind of entertainment for closer to $2/hour instead of $8/hour.

You can play a nice, free version of Ultimate Texas Holdem at this site. It has a place where you can toggle the sound on and off. You can also toggle the “give advice” button off an on. If you’ve never played Ultimate Texas Holdem before, this page is a great way to practice. It’s refreshingly free of advertising, too, which is rare and unusual in this industry.

Also, if you like Ultimate Texas Holdem, I suggest you give multiplayer Texas holdem in the poker room a try—if you haven’t already. It’s a lot more fun, and you have more of an opportunity to get an edge, since you’re competing against other players.

Best Texas Holdem Strategy

That’s it for my “Definitive Guide to Ultimate Texas Holdem.” I can’t imagine any information you could want about the game that I’ve left out. But if I did miss something, or if you have questions about Ultimate Texas Holdem that remain unanswered, please put a note in the comments.