This article is going to teach you five must-know facts about Texas Hold’em. If you are a new player you will gain a wealth of information from this post, and even old grinders should find an interesting point or two. By the way, if you are brand new to the game, learn the rules of Texas Hold’em before you read this article., or most of it won’t make sense. Ok, enough fluff – let’s get into it:

#1 – Grow a Pair

Texas Hold’em (especially when played in the No Limit fashion) is not a game for the faint of heart. There are a lot of raises, bluffs, all-ins, and monstrous pots that require aggressive, precise decision-making. Because of this, if you are a timid poker player you may as well not even sit.

Playing carefully may work well in Seven Card Stud or Five Card Draw, but you have to get in there and mix it up at the Hold’em tables or you will get muscled out of pots and the blinds will eat your stack alive.

#2 – Limit and No Limit are Far from the same

Hold’em is normally played in either Fixed Limit (usually called “Limit”) or No Limit form. Fixed Limit games require an entirely different skill set than No Limit games. To be a successful Fixed Limit player, you have to be extremely quick on your feet, have good mathematical skills, and not be afraid to make seemingly foolish plays.

Fixed Limit is a very mechanical game, because players use pot and implied odds to make their decisions more so than betting patterns and bet sizes.

On the other hand, No Limit requires more heart, courage, and feel to win money. One wrong decision can cost you your entire stack, so you have to be very careful about getting all-in. Also, if you play too passively, the other players will pick up on this and hammer you out of pots non-stop.

#3 – Air Bluffs (for the most part) are Foolish

An “air bluff” is when you completely miss a draw, have nothing more than a high card, and make a large bet in an attempt to steal the pot. The reason air bluffing almost always fails is because when an amateur player air bluffs, an experienced player can almost always sniff it out because the amateur’s betting patterns don’t add up. When a player check-calls on a drawing board all the way, then fires a huge bet when a blank hits on the river, it is almost a guarantee that the player is bluffing.

Of course, once you gain more knowledge of the game you will recognize good spots for total bluffs, but until then, keep the chips on the rack when you have rags.

#4 – The Continuation Bet Makes or Breaks Tournament Players

If you are a tournament Hold’em player, the continuation bet is the most important weapon in your arsenal during the early-middle stages of the tournament. Players rarely have a 100BB+ stack during a multi table tournament, so there isn’t much room for post flop play in a raised pot.

If you are in a raised pot and don’t have many chips behind, the continuation bet will either make or break you. If you miss the flop, you have to make a very tough decision on whether to C-bet and try to take the pot, or check-fold and give up the preflop raise. Knowing the best times to C-bet and the best times to let hands is what separates the men from the boys in MTTs.

#5 – Tools are huge in Texas Hold’em

If you are an online Texas Hold’em player and are having trouble moving up from $1/$2 NL to the higher levels, it is time to start analyzing your play a little more in depth. Instead of just remarking to yourself when you make a bad play, wouldn’t you like to have data and statistical reports that will show you your errors?

This is where the new generation of poker tools comes into play. Hold’em players have access to statistical trackers such as PokerTracker and PokerOffice. Both of those tools track every single one of your hands, and spit back gobs of data about your play. Then, you can analyze the numbers to see where you’re losing money, where you’re winning money, and how you can increase your win rate. We highly, HIGHLY recommend getting PokerTracker or PokerOffice if you are serious about online Texas Hold’em.

Thanks for reading our article, I hope you now know more about Texas Hold’em, and win more money at the tables. This article was provided by our friends at PokerRules.net – the best place for learning dozens of poker rules.