Countless books have been written on optimal poker strategies and there is no shortage of courses, tutorial videos and internet forums relaying all of this information. It’s a lot to cover, but the basics are quite simple when it comes to Live Dealer Poker:
1. Understand Poker Hand Values
This is a prerequisite for all poker players, whether you’re playing in your living room with friends or playing through a Live Casino stream. The good news is that poker hand values are consistent across most variants and there is a lot of common sense at play.
For instance, a Pair (2) is better than a High Card; a Set (3) is better than a Pair; and Four-of-a-Kind (4) is better than a Set. Hold’em is Ace High and higher cards are better than lower ones, which means a 3 beats a 2, a King beats a Queen, and so on.
This is all fairly easy to grasp and remember, but inexperienced players often struggle with understanding the value of Flushes and Straights and how these compare to Sets and Quads. It’s simply a case of understanding, trying to remember, and then playing enough hands for it to be drummed into you, but here is a quick rundown:
- A Straight beats Three-of-a-Kind
- A Flush beats a Straight
- A Full House (a Set and a Pair) beats a Flush
- Four-of-a-Kind beats a Full House
- A Straight Flush beats Four-of-a-Kind
- A Royal Flush beats everything!
2. Budget Correctly
Whatever game you play and however experienced you are, it’s important to set an affordable budget and make sure you stick to it. This is something that all professional poker players do and something that every inexperienced player needs to consider.
By establishing a budget based on your affordability, you can limit risky decisions and prevent losing money that you can’t afford to lose. When used in this manner, a budget is often referred to as a “Bankroll”.
3. Know When to Fold
There are not as many betting rounds in Live Hold’em Poker as there are in PvP games of Texas Hold’em. However, it still pays to know when to quit. This is one of the most basic tenets of playing poker, something that all experienced players know but many newbies overlook.
Professional poker players will consider how likely they are to gain a winning hand and compare this to how much money they stand to win or lose. This is known as Expected Value (EV) and is something they do almost instinctively.
You don’t need to be adept at math to do this, simply be prepared to give up a lost cause and stop throwing good money after bad!
