In the last, adrenaline-filled, days of a Texas No-Limit Hold ‘Em tournament, when the blinds are slowly eating up your stack and your fingers are about to fall off into poker oblivion, it is understandable why a lot of players cringe when crunch time finally comes. Don’t let that happen to you. Remember that your emotions can totally shatter your hopes of winning and sticking to rather mechanical yet logical approaches to the game will get you the top.
Aggression should start to show up here. Waiting for premium or good cards like A-10 and K-Q will munch up your stack. And once you do get them, you’ll probably only have about three to eight rounds left to play! That’s why you should be bold and keep on hammering those chips on the table!
With only four to six players in the table, it is highly unlikely that someone will have good holdings when you call. And when you do land a good hand, the chances that you alone will be able to double up are slim. That’s why you should throw out high cards looking for tight players or those who are not afraid to fold.
Apart from the high cards, you should also bet aggressively when you get a good set of cards (even if you have only a pair of cards cinched to sight). Tilt only occurs when you bet significantly and excessively (acts more than normally) when you have a good hand. When you do this, you drive out your competition and then get to the flop to make your move.
Once you win the pot, you should never, ever call to “Keep the pot moving.” Your decision is final. Once you’ve won the pot, you should immediately expend it to bet again, even if you missed on the turn or the river.
There is an exception to this rule however. If you have pocket jacks, and thus a strong hand, you should call a bet on the flop even if you have bet out in the previous round.
Before entering a Texas No-Limit Hold ‘Em tournament, you should study the dewabet play, the players, and their styles. But most of all, you should have a general awareness of the cards being dealt, and what high cards are likely to be dealt in the next hand, and you should keep in mind that even underdog players will tend to play their hands in a similar style.
Texas No-Limit Hold ‘Em uses a 52-deck of cards. The broad classification of hands is in the following list:
- hands of 10 or Ace – these are the strong hands.
- hands of Ace and Ten – these are strong hands.
- hands of Two of Ace – these are strong hands.
- hands of Queen of Ace – these are strong hands.
- hands of Jack of Ace – these are strong hands.
- hands of 10 of Ace – these are strong hands.
- hands of 9 of Jack – these are strong hands.
- hands of 8 of Jack – these are strong hands.
- hands of 7 of Jack – these are strong hands.
- hands of 6 of Jack – these are strong hands.
- hands of 5 of Queen – these are strong hands.
- hands of 4 of Queen – these are strong hands.
- hands of 3 of Queen – these are strong hands.
- hands of 2 of Queen – these are strong hands.
- hands of jacks – these are strong hands.
- hands of seven of the spades – these are strong hands.
- hands of six of the threes – these are strong hands.
- hands of five of the fours – these are strong hands.
- hands of four of the fives – these are strong hands.
- hands of four of the tens – these are strong hands.
- hands of three of the ones – these are strong hands.
- hands of two of ones – these are strong hands.
- hands of one of the twos – these are strong hands.
- hands of one of the tens.
Do not play if you have a hand that is beatable, such as a six and a seven of the same suit, or an ace and a queen of the same rank. When you have such a hand, you should surrender, and you will lose your bet. But if you are not beaten, you should stand.