If you are going to play a cash game, buy into a table with the maximum, not the minimum or any random number.  If you sit down at a texas holdem poker table (say 1/2 NL) with $40 instead of the maximum $200 – you are automatically going to be tagged as a fish by your opponents.  This may be what you want (so you get action) but the reality is, there are more efficient ways of tagging yourself as a fish!  If you want to get the maximum out of the table limit you are playing, then you have to have the maximum amount of money at the poker table!

There are many reasons for betting…You can bet to see where you are in the hand, bet for value or bet to bluff someone out of a hand.

With all the intricate ins and outs of how people play Texas Holdem Poker you are not always going to be right. Like I was always told when I was growing up: that is why there are backs on the cards!

The key in this game of incomplete information is to use your tools (chips) to make the best decision as possible to maximize your profits. The decision in the end may have you folding, even if you have raised to see where you are. You have to just remember that you need to follow your plays and trust what you think your information is telling you.

We all love to look at our cards a see AA! Yes this is the best STARTING hand in Texas Hold Em poker, but this hand can be beaten (and yes people, even on the flop!).

I hear all the time “I had a bad beat, I had AA and some guy called my pre-flop raise with 10J and hit two pair on the turn”. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t bet your hand, I’m just suggesting that AA is only one pair and if you have been called you have to think of the possible hands that someone else could have to beat your AA. If you keep betting and are getting called and your hand does not improve, then maybe you should think about slowing down.

You can always win another pot if you still have money in front of you!

Have you ever heard the phrase “there is more than one way to win the pot”?  While I do believe in this, I also believe that you should have a reason for your action.

If you are going to play poker and do it to make money you should not call, bet or raise without a reason for doing so. I think that the game of Texas Hold’em Poker is getting to the point where there are many good poker players that know how to play the game well. If you are asking yourself why this post is called what it is, it is just a question to ask yourself the next time you are playing poker and you are thinking of raising, you should always have an answer.