If I could get you aside and I had only five minutes to give you the most important tips about how to beat this game, this would be it. If you don’t read anything else, make sure you read this list.

Respect Position
This is something that you will have to consider every time you think about playing a hand for the rest of your poker playing life. It is so important that it dictates which cards you can play and which cards you can’t play. It even makes a hand that is playable in one position, unplayable in another position. Generally speaking, you are going to play only very high cards in early position and gradually add more hand that you will call with as the deal rotates and your position improves.

Avoid Playing Low Cards
While it is true that any two cards can win, it is playing the high cards that will consistently win the money, day in and day out. A Hold’em player who consistently plays low cards can not be a big winner in this game. There are times when it is correct to play low cards, but we will talk more about this later. Also, several cards that you might consider to be in the medium range, are really in the low range. Remember the odds favor the high cards in the long run.

Realize That It Is a Showdown Game
and adjust accordingly. You are going to have to consistently have the best hand at the end to win. Realize that some players will play anything and they will often play it to the end regardless of any indications that they are beat.

Forget About Bluffing
A lot of low limit Hold’em players are not sophistacated enough to know that you may have nothing, but are representing a hand. You often will not be able to buy enough pots to make it worth your while to bluff. Somebody will always call to “keep you honest.” There are times when it is correct to attempt a bluff, but it must be done intelligently, for the right reasons, and under the correct circumstances.

Play Rock Solid Before the Flop
The most important decision you make every hand is whether or not to get involved to begin with. A bad decision here can, and will, consistently cost you a ton of money. You have to play appropriately for your position and make decisions based on the odds. It is particularly important that you make the correct decision when the pot is raised before the flop, since you will be investing a double or triple bet on your hand before you even see the flop. Most players play too loose when making this first decision.

Respect a Raise, Especially Pre-Flop
This goes hand in hand with the above advice. There just aren’t that many hands that you can profitably play when the pot has been raised pre-flop. Computer analysis shows that if you can’t beat the raiser head-up at this point, you cannot win money in this situation in the long run. Save your money for thos times when you want to raise, not when others want to raise.

See The Flop as Cheaply as Possible
There a few legitimate pre-flop raising hands in this game. Inexperienced low limit players often like to build a pot before they see the flop. They often win some of the biggest pots in the game, but they are usually the first ones to bust out of the game. There was a time when the conventional wisdom said to raise pre-flop with any number of hands, but recent computer analysis proves that it is often more correct to see the flop as cheaply as possible.

Don’t Stop Learning the Game
You are not going to learn it all from this book. Talk to other poker players and read the Card Player Magazine.

My Overall Plan for Winning
Simple. To win the money. This does not mean that you have to play every hand. What it does mean is that you should be a favorite to win the hand when you do play. There are several general principles that you should keep in mind when your goal is to win the money.

1. Always Make the Correct Decision
Your real job is to make the best decisions you can based on the important information available to you at the time. It actually doesn’t matter if you win the hand or not. Remember, you can do the wrong thing and still win the hand, but that doesn’t prove that you played the hand correctly or that you are a good player.

2. Make Decisions for the Right Reasons
You don’t always have to win a certain amount of money in any particular playing session. When you do that, you start making decisions based upon how much money you have in front of you, and how big the pot is, instead of relying on odds and tells, and you objective evaluation of what the hand is worth to you.
Every Hold’em game has a relative value to you, depending upon the number of players, Who the player are, the amount of money on the table, and how long you can expect the game to last. Use these factors as your guide in determining how much a game is worth to you.

3. Have a Long Term View of the Game
If you play fifteen hours a week for twenty years, you are gong to be dealt about 625,000 hands. You will be dealt (A,A) more than 2,800 times and you will get (7,2) more than 9,000 times. Youre job is to take it all in stride and be rational, not emotional.
You will have your share of bad beats and sometimes they will come at the worst times you can imagine. Don’t get emotional and go on “tilt”. It effects your judgment. Don’t live or die over any one hand of poker. It’s only one hand and there will be another one dealt in just a few minutes.

4. Learn to Recognize a Good Bet
You will learn that certain hands are consistently profitable while others are big losers before the flop. Likewise, there is usually one best way to play the hand after the flop. With practice you will always be able to recognize which flops present good bets and which ones are traps.

5. Be Patient
If you are not getting the cards and you are getting impatient to play a hand just because you want to play, remember that you are going to be tempted to do what you want the other players to do. Don’t give in to the temptation to play incorrectly and make decisions that you know are less than your best.

6. Play Your Hand Straight Up, for the Most Part
That means you should bet when you are strong, check when you are drawing to a straight or flush, and fold when you have nothing. This is an incredibly strong concept that most low limit players have to learn the hard way. Forget about deception and fancy plays. When you make a completed hand, you can even tell your opponents what you have and they will still call you. I do this when I want to be called by a sole opponent who is about to throw his hand away. He will often call me just because he doesn’t believe I would tell him the truth.

From Ken Warren’s WINNER’S GUIDE TO TEXAS HOLD’EM POKER

1. Sit Go Poker – SitNGO – Avoid these Mistakes – Start Making Money
2. Sit Go Poker – SitNGo – Cbet. When should you do it?
3. Sit Go Poker – SitNGo – Know When To Leave The Game
4. Sit Go Poker – SitNGo – Pot Limit Wagers?
5. Sit Go Poker – SitNGo – Avoiding Bad Beats, It’s a Skill