In No Limit Texas Hold ‘Em, you can lose all your chips on the very first hand you play.  Due to this, it is very important to play premium hands, play them correctly, and defend your chip stack when you don’t have premium hands.

The basic starting hands listed when playing no limit should be followed until you are comfortable with the game, the players at the table, and your own play.  The list gives you the basic strategy for preflop play. 

Once all the bets are in and the top card is burned, three community cards will be dealt.  If you have been following the general poker guides, you should have a general idea of the types of cards the other players at the table play, their style, and how they bet.  As the cards are flopped, use their actions, and reactions to gain more information about the cards they are holding in their hand. 

As bets are made, use the information you have gathered on your opponents as well as your odds of winning the pot.  Use this strategy preflop, post flop, on the turn, and the river.  Below are some basic rules to follow to increase your chances of being a winning poker player when you first start playing the game.

Rule #1: Be a tight, aggressive player.

Waiting for the right cards will help in two ways: it will increase your odds of having the best hand when the hand is played, it will also keep you out of trouble when you make a moderate hand.  Playing aggressive will allow you to win larger pots and keep other plays from getting lucky and winning the hand.

In addition, as the other players see your style of play, they will know that you won’t be bluffing them when you bet and that they will need a stronger hand to play against you.

Rule #2: Raise with premium hands.

Many players won’t raise or don’t raise enough preflop with premium hands because they first want to see the flop before investing too much into a hand.  However, this is the wrong approach.  When you make a raise, you are telling the rest of the table that you have a good hand and that they will need a good hand if they want to play you.  Many times people will play any two cards if it doesn’t cost them much.  When you raise, many of these players will only play if they have good cards – many times you can even win the hand before the flop is even dealt. 

Making the right raise is also important.  A standard raise is 3-4 times the big blind.  This is usually enough to weed out players who are just hoping to see a cheap flop and get lucky.  However, in many games with cheaper blinds, you may need to make larger raises to keep players with bad cards out of the hand.

Rule #3: Respect other tight, aggressive players.

There are enough fish out there for all good poker players to eat well.  Fish are the players you can win the most chips from.  When you see a player who has a style of tight and aggressive play, respect them and only play them if you also have a strong hand. 

Rule #4: Keep bluffing to a minimum.

In the long run, you will end up winning more times than losing if you keep bluffs to a minimum.  Bluffing should only be used once you are a more advanced player and have the ability to know when your bluffs will work and when they won’t.  If players see that you don’t bluff, you will also gain more respect when calling and raising than if you are viewed as a loose, wild player.