We’ve already discussed that you should play less hands. You should read why here. Now you need to know which cards to play against poker amateurs.
Which cards to play against poker amateurs: Sizing up your friends
Let’s continue that hypothetical game of cards from the previous article. That metaphorical game with six of you drinking beers and one about to be edged out of the group in the coming months for their alarming political views.
If there’s six of you playing Texas Hold’em then 12 cards are being held. There’s 13 cards in a deck so there’s a high chance that one person in your group has an ace or king.
If they’re terrible at poker then you can usually spot who that is. They’ll be the ones who have just lit a cigar and are reclining at 45 degrees in their chair, puffing away with their fingers linked together behind their head. But this doesn’t always happen.
If an ace or a king comes out in the flop, and you don’t have it, bail. Save your chips and fold before you have to bet.
To know which cards to play, you need to learn a card range.
Know your position
Certain card ranges work in certain positions. Don’t worry, this bit is easy.
Much like politics, poker is a game of incomplete information. The more you can piece together about everyone else’s cards then the more informed your decisions will be (satire!).
If you are to the immediate left of the blinds (early position) then you are the first to bet. No one else has betted yet so you haven’t learned any information about their cards. Keep it safe and use a smaller range.
If you are one of the last to bet (late position) then you know a lot about your opponents. Obviously, if others have folded before you then you’re playing against less people so have a greater chance of having a winning hand.
The later your position, the bigger a range of cards you might want to use as there is less risk.
Which cards to play against poker amateurs: Card ranges are your friend
What I’m about to show you looks baffling at first glance. Bear with me, I’ll explain it.
It’s extremely basic and I haven’t used the common poker terms as I want something purely illustrative that’s easy to explain.
How a card range works
I’ll explain how this range works:
- A = ace, K = king, Q = queen, T = ten and the rest are numbers. So, JT means you’re holding a jack and a ten. But you already knew that.
- There’s a diagonal line of pairs running from top left to bottom right. The cards below/left of the pairs are unsuited, i.e. from different suits. The cards in the above/right are suited.
- Play the cards in green when in early position. If you aren’t dealt these then fold at the first opportunity, don’t waste your chips.
- The cards in orange and green are the cards you should play in middle position.
- Play the cards in yellow, orange and green in late position. It’s a wider range, so riskier, but you have a more informed view of the rest of the table.
Using a range
Poker teachers say you shouldn’t follow a range blindly. When I was extremely new to poker I did follow a range blindly to memorise it. Fight the system!
Only follow it blindly to learn it. Play a lot of practice games sticking rigidly to this range.
If you’re bored continually folding then it’s tempting to try your luck outside the range. Don’t! You need to be strict if you want to learn it.
Find your own range
I haven’t put in the hours working out the percentages to craft my perfect range, and I’m not about to reproduce someone else’s hard work here. But there are plenty of great card ranges out there.
Sky Matsuhashi of Smart Poker Study has written extensively on poker ranges. You can visit Sky’s site at http://www.smartpokerstudy.com and he gives away his KISS (keep it simple, stupid) card range when you join his mailing list.
So play hard, play sensible and play restrained. It’s no fun folding but it’s even less fun losing.