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Phil Gordon
July 11, 2005
Once I am involved in a hand, many
of the actions I take after the flop
are automatic, or nearly automatic.
Therefore, the most important decision
I have to make in No Limit Hold 'em
takes place before the flop:
Should I play the two cards I've
been dealt?
When I first started learning how
to play, I reviewed the standard
charts that suggest which two cards to
play from each position. But while
they provided useful guidelines, the
charts don't tell the whole story.
Poker is not a game that is best
played by the numbers. Poker is a game
of situations.
In blackjack, there is always a
correct decision to be made - a
"perfect strategy." Once you
have compared the strength of your
hand against the dealer's
"up" card, the odds will --
or at least should -- dictate whether
you should hit, stand, split, etc.
Poker, however, is a game of
incomplete information. There are many
factors to consider that go above and
beyond what "the book" tells
you to do. Some of them include:
- My opponents' tendencies
- My state of mind
- My opponent's state of mind
- Our respective stack sizes
- My image at the table
Computer programs can look up hands
in a chart. Real poker players analyze
situations and make their own
decisions after processing all of the
available information. I might raise
with A-J from early position in one
game, and fold the same hand from the
same position in another.
A good chart can help give a very
specific set of circumstances, namely:
- You are the first person to
voluntarily put money into the pot
and are going to come in for a
raise of about three times the big
blind
- You don't know much about your
opponents
- All the players at the table
have an average-size stack
- The blinds are relatively small
in relation to the size of the
stacks
When the above things aren't true,
you'll want to look beyond the charts.
If you're a new player, these
tables are a great place to start. The
more poker you play, however, the more
comfortable you will feel letting your
experience and your instincts serve as
your guide.
Phil Gordon
Play Online Poker
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