Poker Strategy: Beginner Poker
Basic strategy concepts to teach new players how to play poker.
Whether you’re new to poker, a beginner player looking to sharpen your skills, or just new to FlopTurnRiver.com, this beginner’s section will get you acquainted with all of the above. Poker is different from other forms of casino gambling games because you play against the other players, not the house. The house takes a rake out of every pot, and that’s how they make their money. They couldn’t care less how each player plays their hand or how much each player wins or loses. Out of this unique structure, strategy is born. If you make fewer mistakes than your opponents, over the long run, you will make money. It’s as simple as that.
If you’re new, everything may seem overwhelming. But the best way to approach becoming a poker shark is to take it one step and one hand at a time. Browse all of our beginner poker strategy articles below, or signup for our poker forum and introduce yourself in the Beginners Circle. There are many winning players who are willing to give you advice to help plug your leaks and improve your game. Poker is a game of skill, anyone can get lucky in one hand or session. But it takes the people who become students of the game to become a consistent winner. Start your poker education now!
Featured Beginner Poker Articles
Most Recent Beginner Poker Articles
Breaking Down the Non-Hold’em Games Part 2
In Part 1 of this series we looked at the more common non-Hold’em games like Omaha and the Stud variations. Now it’s time to dive into some of the more obscure games, including all of the draw variations like 2-7 Triple Draw, 2-7 Single Draw, Badugi, and...
The Importance of Bonuses and Rakeback
This month at 100nl on PokerStars I’ve paid $0.056/hand in rake after a sample of ~50k hands. Since I get about 750 hands/hour, this amounts to about $42/hour. This is also 2.8 ptbb/100. To make sure the peoples of the Beginner’s Circle understand this...
Cbets, HUD Reads and Problem Solving
It’s possible to apply classic decision-making processes to poker games. For example, by understanding your c-betting leaks, coming up with a plan to fix them, implementing that plan and observing the results, you can make drastic improvements in your c-betting game.
Continuation Betting in NL Hold’em
An easily digestible explanation of continuation betting in No Limit Texam Hold’em. This article demonstrates which hands are ideal for c-bets, which aren’t and how, when and against whom a c-bet should be used to maximize winnings. It also explains how much you should bet in certain situations.
No Limit Betting
Beginners generally have trouble knowing how much to bet when they hit a hand. For the most part they know to “take away the other guy’s pot odds,” but there’s more to betting than that. Because… tell me if this happens to you… You...
Revisiting the EV Calculations Tutorial Series
This week’s column details not one but two of the most critical poker training series I have ever put together.
Apply Yourself at Learning Poker
Whenever you read poker strategy guides or books, you must be prepared to study them carefully. Merely skimming the contents will not advance your game very much at all. You should always consider the strategic implications of anything you read to get the maximum value from it.
Pointers for Micro Stakes No Limit Holdem
(This is a post I wrote a while back which I hope will be useful for newcomers to micro-stakes NL. It should be useful up to 25NL, but it’s specifically aimed at the player of a few weeks’ experience, who understands the basics, but doesn’t know much...
NLHE Foundations #05: Putting Opponents on Pre-Flop Ranges (Part 2)
Introduction This is the fifth part of the NLHE Foundations Series. This series is designed to give a clear set of topics to study and methods for studying that will bring players up to the intermediate levels in no-limit hold’em. People who are signed up in the...
Tactical Thinking – Is It Enough?
Wherever you go these days, be it on poker forums, poker websites or poker magazines, you will be confronted by a myriad of information concerning how to play certain hands in certain situations. Now before I go any further, there is absolutely nothing wrong with...
Should You Multi-Table?
If you were to ask this question to any player who is a successful multi-tabler, then they would probably laugh you out of the room. Anyone who successfully plays multiple tables and plays them very well without making stupendously dumb plays and who makes good money...
Building Your Bankroll
Even if you’re an experienced player, you should still give some thought to how you can build your bankroll so you can move up in stakes and increase your winnings. From avoiding tilt to taking advantage of bonuses and rakeback, this article gives meaningful advice about building your bankroll.
NLHE Foundations #04: Putting Opponents on Pre-Flop Ranges (Part 1)
Introduction This is part four in the NLHE Foundations Series. I’ve designed this series to give players a clear path from the beginner to intermediate levels in no-limit hold’em. There’s a lot more to this series than these posts because...
The Basics of Thinking Ahead in Poker
Making things as easy and effective as possible is a major part of being a good poker player, and that’s exactly what you’ll be able to do with planning your hand after you read this week’s column.
Raising Behind Limpers
I’m going to try to tie this in as much as possible the points I made in my post on blind stealing, Blind Stealing 101. I think that for the people who don’t already raise behind limpers often, it will be best if they think of it as an extension of blind...
