In a previous article, I gave you the tell-tale signals of all good holdem starting hands. In this article, I’ll show you how to draw through tight lines of play in Texas Holdem.
Completing your draw is the most difficult part of pre-flop play. It’s the factor that confuses a lot of players. They try to figure out if it should be checked, raised or called. It should be checked and it’s your call. It’s your call because you need to complete your draw.
A great example:
- You’re in middle position and you have Ac 8c. It’s folded around, so you make a raise 3 times the big blind. The big blind calls after everyone else.
- The flop is 2s 7s Kd and everyone checks.
- You make a continuation bet of ½ the pot, or $10. The big blind calls.
- The turn is a 5h. Everyone checks.
- You make a third raise half the pot, or $20. The big blind calls.
Now it’s a choice. You can call the original bet, but you also have to move all-in. If you move all-in, the big blind will have just about a 50% chance of winning the hand and a 50% chance of losing. (By calling, you’re assured that he has a better chance of winning.)
If you do nothing and lose, you’re done.
That was the cost of playing. It doesn’t matter how much you raised before the flop. You’re out of the tournament.
But now you can say, “I’ve made a profit.” Yes, you have made a profit. How much profit is a profit you make when you make a profit? Is it $10,000? Ten thousand dollars? Ten hundred thousand dollars? You can’t say. You can’t tell. But for Ac 8s, if you paid $1,000 for this hand, would you be willing to throw it away for a profit of a hundred dollars?
If you answered “yes,” then stop reading this article. If you answered “no,” leave it be.
- But if you didn’t answer “yes,” to stop reading this article, then read the following paragraph several times, because I am about to reveal a secret that you may not know.
- The secret to making money playing poker lies in this next point. No matter how much profit you make, you must increase your bankroll.
- When you make a profit, you want to win even more. When you make a loss, you want to recover your losses as quickly as possible.
- You cannot do both. You can’t do losing and winning in the same day. It’s too easy to start thinking about what you are going to do with your winnings rather than realizing that your profits were lost.
- So, the secret is this. Increase your bankroll when you make a profit and decrease it when you lose a hand.
- Why?
If you are making a profit, you want more.
If you are losing, you want to get your losses back so you can win again.
So, you need a bigger bankroll. If you are losing, you want to get your winnings back so you can keep playing.
- So what does this mean?
- If you are playing with an entry-fee of $100, you will make a profit of $100. If you lose, you break even – for the time being. Once you have a profit, you will be happy to make the entry-fee again.
- Why does this work?
- Because the laws of probability state that if you happened to win, then probability says you will win again.
- And since you are going to win, probability says that you will win again.
It’s absolute common sense, actually. But the flaw in this theory is that it is unable to explain why casinos make money and players lose.
I will reveal why in a later article.