Before You Commit to the Pot

If you play online Poker, you will often find players losing a great deal of money, simply by putting too much cash into the pot with weak and marginal hands. Because of the investment they made, they feel compelled to play on, even with weak hands.

If you want to get the most out of your money, a great deal of your Poker strategy must include ways of managing your money, so that if the hand goes south, you will still be able to fold without losing too much.

One of the first things that you must do is learn to play by the Poker pot odds. At its most basic, it simply means that you should only put in money in the pot if there is a suitable return that can be made. A 3:1 odds means that for every $1 that you lose you can win $2, so that in three hands, you only need to once to make a profit.

Something else that you should consider before committing to the pot, especially when playing in high stakes games, or a loose Poker table, are implied odds. In Limit Holdem games, the betting structure means that players can make a fairly accurate assessment of how much one can make if the other players raises or calls.

In No Limit games, this situation is different. Here you need to get a read on the players who will come after you. If you feel confident that they will make a raise, then you should feel secure in making a substantial bet, knowing that if you hit, you will get more money.

Other things that you need to take into account before putting your money in the pot are your hands. A lot of players unable to let go of their Poker cards end up chasing hands or just hoping for the best.

If you are holding a J high straight draw, and the board shows an Ace, Queen or a high flush potential, you should fold. If other players make a raise, then that is the final sign that someone is holding a higher straight than you, or has made a flush. Yet a lot of players still make this mistake.

The point is that making a commitment to play and pay a Poker hand to the end means that you should factor in all of these elements. Once you learn to discern when to push in your chips, and when to fold, you will be a better and more profitable player for it.