Play Tight
If everyone at the Texas Holdem poker table plays loose then no one can win. The players will trade pots back and forth while the casino slowly rakes all their money. The better Texas Holdem players will lose less, but in the long run, no one can win. It's also true that no one can win if everyone plays tight. The tight players will trade smaller pots back and forth while the casino rakes all their money. The better Texas Holdem players will lose less, but no one can win.
If everyone at the Texas Holdem poker table plays the same, no one can win. Learning Texas Holdem by playing Texas Holdem is a foolish idea. If you learn to play Texas Holdem poker like everyone else plays, you cannot have a winning edge.
To win at Texas Holdem poker, you must play tight in loose games and play in loose games only. There is no other way. You have no edge in a tight Texas Holdem game and you only have an edge in a loose game if you play tight. It might be possible to play loose and win in the long run if all the other players are complete fools, but nature does not provide enough complete fools who play Texas Holdem poker.
As players come and go during a Texas Holdem poker session, the game will sometimes get tighter. You'll see more players folding on the first round. The pots will be smaller. If your game gets too tight, find a better game or don't play at all.
You want to be the only tight player in a loose Texas Holdem poker game, but often there's one or more other tight players at the table. Sometimes loose players tighten up their play for whatever reason, but that's usually temporary. You'll have to take all of this into consideration when evaluating a Texas Holdem poker game. There's no exact way to measure it, but you can develop a feel for it.
Take notice of how many players call to see the flop each hand. With experience you'll know if your game is too tight and you'll know when a good game becomes too tight. You'll learn which players have never seen two cards they didn't like, and which players fold more hands than they play. Experience will teach you when it's time to leave the game.
Even good Texas Holdem poker players have lost money by playing too many sessions in games that were too tight to be profitable. Even if you play better poker than everyone else at the table, your expectation in a tight game can be little more than break even.
Play tight. Play tight in loose games. Play in loose games only. To get the other 5 winning tips to win at Texas Holdem poker, visit PokerRoomTips.net.
