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LESSON 2: PRE-FLOP PLAY
So if players can choose to look at and fold the two cards dealt to them without even putting money into the pot (with the exception of the two blinds), how do you decide when your two starting cards are worth paying to play? This section will introduce you to a general strategy for playing your two cards before the flop.
Position
Understanding positional advantages is key to preflop play. In short, its more advantageous to act after other players, because you get information about the strength of their hand (by observing whether they check / bet / raise) before having to decide how to act yourself.
Thus, the dealer position is the strongest position at the table, since that player is last to act on all betting rounds (except the first). In this strategy guide, we will assume a 10-person table, and refer to the 3 seats immediately to the left of the blinds as "early position, the following 3 seats as "middle position", and the final 2 seats as "late position".
When seated in early position, you must be very selective about the cards you play, because you will be at a distinct positional disadvantage on all betting rounds after the flop. You can play a few more hands in middle position, and more hands still from late position.
The blind positions are rather unique, in that you sometimes get to see the flop without putting more money into the pot, and even when it is raised preflop, you only have to put in a fraction of what other players must put in to play the hand. We will talk about "defending your blinds" shortly.
Starting Cards
Nearly any hold'em book you read will refer to starting hands in different "groups" according to their strength. There is nothing "magical" about any particular grouping (and most are quite similar); they exist merely as an educational tool to help players quickly and easily assess the strength of each hand.
As your poker knowledge increases, you'll think less and less in terms of these "groupings", and more about the expected value of each hand, and whether it will play well at your particular table, depending on whether your opponents are generally loose (play a lot of hands) or tight (play very few). For the sake of simplicity, however, we will group hands here.
Notations: 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,T,J,Q,K,A are used here to refer to card values. We will not speak in terms of specific suits, but rather only use the letters "s" to denote suited cards, and "o" to denote unsuited (or offsuit) cards. So AJo refers to Ace-Jack of different suits, and 56s refers to a suited five-six.
- Group 1: Monsters
These starting hands are very strong and should be played from all positions:
AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, AKs, AKo, AQs, AQo, AJs, KQs
- Group 2: Very Strong
These hands are also very strong, but should generally only be played from middle and late positions:
99, 88, 77, 66, AJo, ATs, A9s, A8s, A7s, A6s, KQo, KJs, KTs, QJs, QTs, JTs
- Group 3: Mediocre
These hands are not very strong, but can be played from late position, when the pot has not yet been raised:
55, 44, 33, 22, A5s, A4s, A3s, A2s, ATo, KJo, QJo, QTo, Q9s, JTo, J9s, T9s, T8s, 98s, 97s, 87s
- Group 4: Speculative
The following hands should only be played from late position when you have several preflop callers ahead of you. They dont win very often, but they often make low straights and low flushes, which often pay off very well against a large field of opponents.
K9s, Q8s, J8s, J7s, T7s, 96s, 86s, 76s, 75s, 65s, 64s, 54s, 53s
To Raise or Not to Raise
When the pot has not been raised, you should always raise your Group 1 Monster hands. Many people complain that thevre reluctant to raise hands like JJ and TT when there are already many people in the pot because if a single A, K, or Q comes on the flop, its likely that theyre beaten by one of the many callers.
These people are dead wrong! While its true that medium pairs play better against fewer opponents, they still have a huge "equity" edge over nearly any other hand that your opponents are limping in with, and you want to punish their lack of self-restraint by making them pay double to play.
The bottom line is that when you have the best hand, you want to make your opponents put more of their money into the pot. Yes, its frustrating when you lose with a monster hand, but dont ever lament having put more money into the pot preflop when you had a significant advantage.
When its Raised in Front of You
When an opponent raises preflop before its your turn to act, you have to significantly reduce the number of hands youre willing to play. Your opponent is telling you with his raise that he has a strong hand, and you should only be playing your Group 1 hands, and perhaps the best Group 2 hands.
With your very strongest hands like AA, KK, QQ, AKs, and AKo, dont hesitate to re-raise the pot. Depending on the opponent, you may also choose to re-raise hands like JJ, TT, AQs, and AQo. In weighing your decision, focus on two factors:
- The raising opponents playing style
Is he particularly aggressive preflop, raising many hands? If so, don't be shy to re-raise with any of the Group 1 hands. But if he raises very few hands preflop, then you should be folding the weaker Group 1 hands such as TT, and even AQo.
- The raising opponents position
If your opponent is a decent player, he (like you) will recognize the disadvantage that comes with playing from early position, and hence will only be raising his very best hands from there. An early position raise must be given far more respect than one coming from middle or late position.
Mediocre and Speculative Hands
The name of the game with mediocre and speculative hands is getting in cheap, and hopefully against a large field of opponents. You should hardly ever be playing any Group 4 and 5 hands when its raised in front of you, and you should always fold them from early position, because you can never be sure of how many players will play the hand.
You should never be raising with these hands (except perhaps once in a blue moon to keep your opponents from thinking you play conventionally all of the time). You'll find yourself frequently folding your hand immediately after the flop, but when you do make a straight or a flush with your low cards, or 3 of a kind with your low pairs, your hand will be very well concealed and hopefully earn you a big pot.
Advanced Topic – Defending Your Blinds
Playing from the blind positions when the pot has been raised is a relatively advanced topic, and will be discussed here only briefly. The advantage, of course, is that your price to play the hand is already partially subsidized by the amount of your blind. The primary disadvantages are that you are at a positional disadvantage in every subsequent betting round, and that at least one of your opponents has already announced with his raise that he has a strong hand.
The main determinants of whether to play your hand (called "defending" your blind) should be the position of the raiser and the number of players in the hand. Note whether the raise came from an early position, signifying significant strength, or late position. Are there many other players in the hand, whose presence might justify playing some of your more mediocre and speculative hands? HoldEm Poker for Advanced Players by Sklansky and Malmuth has an excellent chapter devoted to blind defense.
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