Of the 6 major player types, TAG is the most important. The average grinder employs a TAG poker strategy and many players should learn a TAG style before doing anything else. TAG is an abbreviation for “Tight Aggressive” and is in between a nit and a LAG. In this guide you will …
I recently started playing in a tournament series that meets every 2 weeks for about half the year and plays eleven $50 tournaments. There are around 55 players in the group, and I had played with only about half a dozen of them. It is a long-standing group and the skill level …
Many Hold’em articles and training videos will stress the importance of paying attention to the action at the table, even when you are not involved in the hand. Getting clues to your opponents’ playing styles can often help you maximize EV in future hands against them. Here is a concrete example of …
It’s been a frustrating $1/$2 session for our Hero today – few cards worth playing, few chances to get involved. Then, from the big blind, the dealer deals him a six, and then another six. A pocket pair – not great, but at least worth seeing a flop…for once. The action goes …
The whole point of observing other players at the poker table is to figure out their motivations for playing the way they do. Players often make incorrect poker plays, but they have reasons for doing so. If you can figure out the reasons, you can zero-in on their cards, and sometimes this …
Poker is just like American real estate – both are all about location, location, location. In poker of course, your location at the table relative to the button is called position, and every poker book, article, and hand history conversation will bring up both your and your opponents position as part of the …
There’s a very common mistake that I see beginner NL players make all the time, in my conversations with them, on the forums, and at the table. When asked why they made a bet or raise, their reasoning is along the lines of “I knew I had the best hand”. Some of the …
The old joke is that everybody always assumes that we’re holding Ace-King, and I have found that there is some truth to the saying. While this tends to be a problem when we actually are holding Ace-King, we can use it to our advantage when we are not. One of the ways …
So, you’ve decided to host a home game, now you need a table to play on. Playing at the kitchen table is fine for a family game night, but a serious home game needs a real poker table. Fortunately, there are many options in many price ranges to take your game to the …
Good poker players are always paying attention, even if they’re not in a hand. Players are always giving off clues as to their playing style, their thought process, and therefore their holdings. Things learned while not in a hand will often be useful when you find yourself up against these same villains …
