Common Sense for Solid Betting

Texas Holdem is all about making sound bets in a timely manner, whether you have a strong hand or none at all. A hand of 2 aces could amount to nothing if the table folds due to some poor bet on your behalf. Because there are so many complexities in Holdem, you must learn to distinguish between the risks you can and cannot afford.

Risking Too Much

When you are going for the blinds, you'll be required to make a bet that might just be too risky. For instance, if the forced bets are 75/150 and you are the first player up, you'll need to place your bet at least 3 times over the big blind, which would put you at 450. If the table has only 225 and you add another 450, you'll risk twice the sum of your potential wins. Since the chances of victory are low with such bets, you should never do them with a weak hand.

Timing Your Bets

You might feel over-confident about going all in with a strong hand, but that might only scare your opponents into folding, which would leave you with fewer chips to collect. Sometimes it's better to play as though you have little and gradually raise your bets as the game intensifies. Playing conservatively decreases the likelihood of your opponents starting too high, which can lower your risks whenever you do see a flop. The main risk here is that your opponents will have time to take cards from the flop.

Solid playing relies on experience, but you should first know what to do in certain positions before you place your bets on the line.