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Message: [QUOTE="t1riel, post: 354279, member: 3913"] Here's an interesting article: [size=3][color=#222222][b]Here's help for beginning player[/b][/color][/size][font=Verdana, Geneva, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][size=2][color=#000000]I'm assuming that many of you reading this column would consider yourself a beginning or novice poker player. If so, then the following No Limit Texas Hold'em advice might just be perfect for you. The various poker books out there offer lots of thoughts on dealing with what hands you should be starting with in tournament poker, but there isn't enough talk about how and how much you should be betting on those hands. Well, I'd like to introduce the five-times-the-big-blind rule to you. It's basically as simple as it sounds. You should be raising five times whatever the big blind is. If the blinds are $25-$50, and you are the first one to enter the pot, you should raise the bet to $250 if you decide to play the hand. What this maneuver will do is give you a chance to really protect your hands by making your opponents pay a heavy price to see the flop. Strangely enough, it's the exact opposite advice I'd give to an advanced player. For the advanced player, I'd recommend raising to just 2 1/2 to three times the big blind. Why? It's simple. A more skilled player makes better decisions after the flop than does a novice. As a beginning player, you want to see less flops for that very reason. Try not to let a more experienced player get to the flop, because his skill advantage will then come into play. Now what if someone else has called the big blind in front of you? What then? Well, the five-times rule should now become the seven-times rule. If a player limps in for $50, you'd want to make it even more expensive to see the flop by making it $350. This betting system isn't without its holes, mind you, but it will help less experienced players avoid getting involved in too many complex decisions after the flop. Raise or fold poker is the best approach for a new player. On that note, what should you do if someone has raised the pot in front of you? If the blinds are now, for example, $50-$100, and another player comes in for a raise of $300, you should still use the five-times rule. Only this time, you'll be raising it to five times the last bet. Five times the last bet of $300 is $1,500, and that's the bet I'd advise you to make. This strategy might seem a little too aggressive, but, I assure you, it will give a beginning player the best opportunity to succeed. There is one last rule I'd like to share with you that deals with pre-flop betting in tournament poker. It's called the 30 percent rule. If your standard raise - five times the big blind - is more than 30 percent of your total stack, then just go ahead and move all in. This is one of the deadliest weapons in your arsenal, as it's extremely difficult to defend against. In order for your opponents to call such a large bet, they'll have to have a premium hand. It's important to remember that following these rules isn't necessarily the optimal strategy, but they will help any beginner go further in tournaments and give him or her a much better chance of actually cashing in. It's certainly not how I, as a professional player, choose to play, but it is a style that gives me fits to play against! It forces a pro to rely more heavily on the luck of the cards. As a novice, that's exactly what you want to do.[/color][/size][/font] [/QUOTE]

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