Playing Poker Against Beginners
Learn the rules, positions and poker hands ranking. Naturally, this is the first step you want to take. Every expert poker player was a beginner at some point, and starting with the right strategy. Try our 'normal difficulty' Texas Holdem free poker game. It's single player, so you don't have to worry about looking the fool in front of your friends and family-and it's difficulty is just right for novice poker players! Master the odds of real Texas Holdem by playing this free poker Texas Holdem.
Welcome to Poker 101 for dummies – where beginners learn to play poker.
Poker 101 will give you a grounding in the mechanics of the game and get you started with some winning strategies. Read through the following pages to get an understanding of all poker related info plus lots of extra tips and tricks.
If you are unsure of the Rules of Texas Holdem or the Hand Rankings of Poker, make sure you check them out too.
Beginners Guide To Poker
Poker 101: What We Will Cover
- Terminology (below)
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Use the terminology section below as a dictionary – there is no need to read through it now. Refer to back to this page if you come across a word you don't understand.
Check out the next poker 101 page – Basic Preflop Strategy – to find out more.
Poker 101 – Terminology
We will link back to this page throughout Poker 101 for any words you may not understand. Keep an eye out for the hyperlinks!
6-max: A table with a maximum of 6 players allowed to sit down- see 6max vs fullring. This type of game type is more typical to online play. An example of a 6max table shown below:
Ante: An ante is an other forced bet, typically smaller than the blinds which are used late in tournaments to increase the size of the starting pot.
Backdoor: A draw which requires two cards to complete. For example, AK of hearts on a Th6s2d has two backdoor draws – two consecutive hearts for a flush and consecutive Queen and Jack for a straight.
Bankroll management: Bankroll management is a process which all successful poker players undertake. It involves managing the amount of money available for you to play poker to ensure that you have sufficient funds that you do not go broke. See the post on bankroll management which delves into more detail.
Big Blind: The big blind is the forced bet which the player two seats to the left of the dealer has to put in before seeing his cards. The rules fix the big before the game has started. The BB is the minimum bet size for the poker game. For more information see Position is King.
Board: The community cards which everyone shares i.e., the flop turn and river
Blank: A hand which does not change the board or the strength of many of the types of hands players is likely to hold. For example, on a T96 board, a two would be considered a ‘blank.'
Blocker: When you hold a card which your opponent needs to make a strong hand. For example holding the Ace of hearts on a board with a heart flush possibility.
Broadway: The cards from Ten through to Ace are called Broadway cards.
Chase: To call a bet with a drawing hand with the correct pot odds.
Chop: To split the pot between two or more players due them all having similar holdings.
Coin flip or flip: When two players end up all in and their hands have roughly the same equity i.e. it is 50:50 for either to win. AK vs. QQ all in preflop is considered a flip despite QQ having slightly more equity.
Combo-draw: A powerful draw with a lot of outs to win. For example a flush draw and a straight draw.
Continuation bet: The act of following up your aggressive action on the next street. For example, raising preflop and then betting on flop. See more on continuation betting here.
Cutoff (CO): The cutoff is the position to the right of the dealer button (acts before the dealer). For more information see Position is King.
Domination: You are said to dominate your opponent when you each share one card of the same rank but your second card is of a higher rank. For example, AK dominates AQ as it will win a large percentage of the time (71%).
Downswing: A period of a bad run of luck where a poker player finds it difficult to win. A part of poker which every player must expect. The opposite of an upswing (or hot streak). See an example of a downswing below (after 7500 games).
Double Barrel: To bet two streets in a row, for example, bet the flop and follow up with another bet on the turn.
Draw: A draw is when you are waiting for particular cards to help improve your hand. For example, if you have four cards to a flush you are said to have a flush draw. Similarly, you can have a straight draw when you have four cards to a straight.
Drawing dead: When a player can no longer win the pot no matter what cards come on the turn and river. AK would be drawing dead vs. 99 on a 962 board as even hitting two Aces or Kings in a row wouldn't make the best hand.
Equity: the percentage chance you or your opponent have of winning the pot. For example, AA has over 80% equity vs. a lower pocket pair such as QQ or TT. See our pot equity tutorial for more details.
Equity realization: Having equity is great but in some cases with difficult to play hands (for example K8o) you will not be able to realize that equity because the hand is difficult to play. See equity realization for more info.
Expected value: expected value is the predicted value of a particular move (such as calling or raising). It is calculated using the value of each outcome multiplied by the probability that each outcome will occur. For more information see Pot Odds, Equity And Expected Value.
Floating: Calling a bet with a speculative hand with the plan to bluff to win the pot on a later street. Typically this strategy is use to exploit weak opponents who will only bluff once before giving up on the pot and folding to a bet. Floating is more successful in position as you have the opportunity to apply more pressure to your opponent plus you will have more information while action in position.
Fold equity: The percentage chance you have of winning the pot due to your opponent folding to a bet or raise. For more information see this detailed article.
Full ring: The classic Texas Hold'em format. A maximum of 9 players may sit as this table type.
Freeroll: A tournament which is free to enter and offers a prize to the winner(s). A freeroll can also be used to describe when two hands of the same rank are all in but one hand has an additional way to win. For example, both players have KQ and are all in on a JsTs5c board. However, one player has a flush draw to complement his straight draw and thus is said to be freerolling – he can only draw or win, not lose.
Gut-shot (inside straight draw): A draw which has four outs to the straight. For example 76 on A53 board – a four will complete a straight.
GTO – GTO or game theory optimal is an unexploitable poker strategy based on mathematics and Nash Equilibrium that has arisen in the last number of years. When playing a GTO strategy you cannot be beaten in the long run, only break even against another GTO strategy. The use of unexploitable strategies have been accelerated by the use of GTO solvers such as PIOSolver. For more on GTO strategies and solvers see PokerNerves article.
Hero: When discussing the hand online, the player whose cards are known is said to be the hero.
Heads Up Poker: Playing poker against one opponent in a 1vs1 situation. For more on heads up poker see heads up poker strategy- adjusting to your opponent.
HUD (Heads up display): A HUD is a display which is used in online poker which provides information on opponents.
Isolate: To raise with the intention of singling out a single player after they have entered the pot. Typically isolation moves are performed vs. weaker players after they have limped into the pot.
Kicker: A kicker is used to break ties between players when they have hands of the same rank. For example, the kicker for the hand AK on an A72 board would be the king. The king kicker means that AK would be a stronger hand than AQ – in this case, AQ hand is out-kicked. See this article for more on kickers.
Limping: Limping is the act of calling a pre-flop bet when the pot is unopened. For example, a player is first to act under the gun (UTG) and calls the big blind. See this article for why limping is a bad strategy.
Middle position (MP): Middle position is the 2nd position to act after the cards are dealt in 6max (after UTG) and the 3rd and 4th position to act in a full ring game (9 players). For more information see Position is King.
Nuts: The nuts is the strongest hand possible. The ultimate nuts is the Royal flush as this can never lose. However, some hands won't always be possible, and therefore the nuts is referred to the strongest possible hand on the current board. For example, the nuts on a KT9 board without a flush possible would be QJ.
Offsuit: Two cards which are not of the same suit. For example AK with Ace of Diamonds and King of spades (often shortened to AKo).
Open-ended straight draw (OESD): A draw which has eight outs to the straight. For example 76 on A54 board – a 3 8 or will complete a straight.
Outs: The number of cards which could potentially improve your hand strength. For example, with QJ on a T92 board, we have eight outs to a straight (4 Kings and 4 Eights) and we have six outs to top pair (3 queens and 3 jacks).
Outdraw: When your opponent had a worse hand than you, but his hand improved to one better than yours on future streets. For example, a flush draw would ‘outdraw' a one pair hand if the turn or river completed the five card flush.
Overcard: this is when you have a card which is greater than the highest card on the flop or turn. For example, AQ has one overcard on a K52 flop and has two overcards on a T52 flop. Overcards are important as they give us an opportunity to make good a hand on later streets.
Overpair: When you have a pocket pair which is larger than the highest ranking card on the board. For example, KK is an overpair on a Q52 flop.
PFR (pre-flop raise): A HUD stat which shows how often a player raises when entering the pot. Typically range from 12-22% for winning players depending on the game type.
Postflop: The later rounds of betting which occur after the flop is dealt. See Texas Holdem strategy for more on playing postflop poker.
Pot Equity: This is the percentage chance that you will win the pot at any given point in the hand. It is how much of the pot ‘belongs' to you. For example with KK pre-flop, you will have approximately 80% chance of winning (equity) vs. QQ. For more information see Pot Odds, Equity And Expected Value.
PLO: PLO or Pot Limit Omaha is a poker game type similar in structure to Texas holdem although you are dealt 4 cards instead of two and are limited in bet size to the pot. Check out PLOQuickPro for pot limit omaha strategy.
Pot Odds: This is the odds that are being offered to you to call when facing a bet or raise. If you are confronted with a half pot bet, you are offered odds of 2:1 (you have to call 1 to win 2). See our poker books page our review of Essential Poker Math by Alton Hardin for all the basics of poker math, including pot odds.
Preflop: The round of betting which occurs straight after the card have been dealt. See Texas Holdem strategy for more on playing preflop poker.
Rainbow: When there is no possibility of a flush draw on the flop or turn due to all cards being different suits.
Rake: Rake is a percentage of the pot that a poker room or casino will take to play for the dealer, services, etc. Rake is how the poker room or casino generates profits from poker games. See this page for how rake works in poker.
Rakeback: This is the refund a poker play may get from a poker room or casino when a certain amount of play has been completed (hours or hands played). Rakeback is similar ‘tax-back' which is returned to good customers of the poker site.
Range: A group of holdings you think your opponent may hold. See poker hand ranges for beginners.
Shorthanded: When the number of players falls below five on a table, it is considered to be a shorthanded table.
Set: A set is three of a kind with a pocket pair in the hole. For example, a set of sixes would be 66 on a KT6 board. Sets are stronger than a standard three of a kind because you cannot be outkicked.
Sit ngo: A tournament which begins when enough players sit down on the table (rather than starting at a specific time of day).
Small blind: The small blind is the forced bet which the player one seat to the left of the dealer has to place before seeing his cards. The value of the small blind is typically half that of the big blind. For more information see Position is King.
Suited: Two cards which are of the same suit. For example AK of hearts (often shortened to AKs)
Tell: Unconsciously giving away a piece of information to your opponent. For example, a shaking hand may mean a good holding.
Trap: To play in a manner which disguises the strength of your hand. For example calling preflop with AA instead of raising. See examples of traps here.
UTG: The first player to act after the cards are dealt. For more information see Position is King.
Villain: Often used to denote out an opponent in an online discussion. For example, the villain makes a big call with a weak hand.
VPIP (Voluntarily put in the pot): A HUD stat which shows how often a player puts money into the pot by raising or calling voluntarily. VPIP is a measure of how many hands a player plays. Typically range from 15-25% for winning players depending on the game type.
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That's it for poker 101 terminology. Check out the next poker 101 page – Basic Preflop Strategy – to find out more.
Over recent articles, we've looked at how to make money in your home game by exploiting the tendencies of loose-aggressive players, tight-passive players, and loose-passive players.
But what about that other variety of home-game player we occasionally encounter — the complete newbie who is more or less clueless about strategy and/or playing styles?
I'm referring to players who know the rules of poker but very little else. What's the best approach when playing against these players, both in terms of your own profit and other, larger goals associated with keeping a good home game going?
Let me give you some ideas about how to best deal with such novice players. Here are five considerations.
1. Consider the Long Run
You really have two objectives with new, inexperienced home game players. Sure, you want to win money from them during the poker session. But you want them to continue to be part of the poker world as well.
Regarding that latter goal, you don't want to make new players feel so miserable about losing that they don't ever return to your game. Sometimes these two objectives may seem at odds with each other, but they need not be. Go ahead and win their money, but be aware of how you are winning it.
The worst thing you can do is to appear rude, condescending, unhelpful, impatient, or overly aggressive. This will make new players feel either repelled or completely overmatched, disliking you in the process and vowing never to return (at least not to your game).
It's much better to be genuinely warm and easy to deal with, especially about the things that new players are apt to have difficulty with such as acting quickly or understanding the less obvious rules of play. Be a welcoming and friendly player.
In games with newbies, your best poker face is a welcoming smile. You'll probably end up enjoying the game more as well.
2. Be Helpful and Easy on the Rules
New players often won't know what they don't know. They may not understand the importance of acting in turn, of protecting their hands, of placing their bets in one motion, or even of the nomenclature of poker. They may say 'raise' when they mean 'bet.' They may fold when they can check.
Don't scold or chastise them for their mistake. Be their guide and helper instead. When they make a misstep — perhaps betting out of turn, for example — smile or laugh as if it is a common and unimportant mistake that is easily corrected. Humor goes a long way toward relaxing people who are new to a game, and will encourage them to see the experience as a good time, as opposed to a humiliating defeat.
3. Expect Them to be Afraid
Most new players enter a game afraid. What they are primarily afraid of is looking foolish — we've already addressed that somewhat above. But they're also afraid of losing their money, which leads us into some strategic considerations for how to play against such players. You can take advantage of their fear of losing money in two ways.
First, you should respect their large bets. Newbies tend to be very cautious because they are afraid of the consequences of losing, so when they do get up the courage to bet big, be wary.
Second, you should keep in mind the fact that new players often don't trust their judgment regarding the strength of their hands, and they surely don't have much (or any) confidence in their ability to read that you are weak. This combination sometimes will allow you to bully them — not by looking tough, mean, or intimidating, but by looking sincere when betting your weak hands.
Ironically, it's the friendly, earnest player who is most respected by the new player, not the tough and aggressive looking one. So when you're stealing, be smiling warmly!
4. Recognize When They Have Given Up
There is a threshold of misery, beyond which new players will be ready to just throw in the rest of their chips and concede that they have lost what they brought to the game to lose. Pay attention and take note if it appears that moment has arrived.
Imagine the following scenario. Charlie, very new to the game, bought in for $100. He has been guarding his stack very carefully, playing very few hands. Even so, his stack has diminished. He has recently lost another $40 in a hand and has only about $20 left in his stack after about two hours of play.
Based on comments he's made, you don't think he is planning to buy in for any more. You might be tempted to bluff him out of the next pot you're both in — figuring he is guarding what little he has left. Rethink that strategy! It may very well be that he's given up on the game, at least for now, and is ready to fling his remaining $20 in with just about any hand. Wait for his aggression, and then tend to call when you have a moderately strong hand or better.
5. Don't Squeeze Out Everything
There's a famous poker expression, 'You can shear a sheep a hundred times, but only skin 'em once.'
With that in mind, there's no requirement that you completely clean out a newbie when he is unfortunate enough to sit in your game for the first time. You should always have an eye on inviting him back to your game. I'm not suggesting that you deliberately lose, but when you sense that your opponent has had enough and is getting discouraged, you don't have to be the aggressor to win his last buck.
Let him decide when he wants to play for his remaining chips, going out as the product of his own aggression. He'll feel better about you and your game if he busts out on his own terms.
Conclusion
There will be plenty of opportunities to win money from new home game players. The key is to make sure that you avoid humiliating him when you do so. Be warm, welcoming, smiling and helpful, so the new player genuinely enjoys your game, even while he's losing.
In the process, you may encourage him to return — and you'll enjoy the experience more yourself!
Ashley Adams has been playing poker for 50 years and writing about it since 2000. He is the author of hundreds of articles and two books, Winning 7-Card Stud (Kensington 2003) and Winning No-Limit Hold'em (Lighthouse 2012). He is also the host of poker radio show House of Cards. See www.houseofcardsradio.com for broadcast times, stations, and podcasts.
Photo: 'Poker Game' (adapted), slgckgc, CC BY 2.0.
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