One of the first principles a fledgling poker player learns is that if you think you have a big hand that you can work with, you should raise.

It seems only to be common sense and is a mantra that sticks with new poker players for quite some time.

However, like most thing in life, things are rarely so black and white and a new player who is quickly progressing to being a not so new player should realise that there are times when it is necessary to go against the aforementioned mantra, in order to get the best out of a game.

It is often more valuable to quickly take stock of whether three out of the following four conditions are satisfied when contemplating a raise.

The first to consider is whether or not you have a big hand but feel that if you were to raise this would be a signal to your opponent, leading to him throwing away his hand.

A second factor, similar to the first but worthy of vigilant consideration is whether or not there is some chance that a stronger hand than yours is held, this should usually be contemplated upon the strength of the betting from your opponents.

The next consideration is how much of your chip stack you are committing to the pot if you continue to raise, if it is markedly less than your opponents you may be committing chip suicide.

And the final factor is, naturally, giving a free card which must leave little risk that your opposition can draw to a better hand off a flat call.

If you note that three out of four of these criteria are satisfied during a hand, it may be worth your while to simply opt for a flat call.

It is always worth remembering that with big raises come big risks, the only difference between the professional and the novice is knowing when to take the big risks…

In the world of Texas Holdem, Pocket Aces is the best hand which you can be dealt. Though according to statistics they are dealt only once in every 220 hands.

However, this is not a steadfast rule you, you may end up coming across them a lot less if you are having a bad run, or maybe more if you’re on a streak!

A big mistake amongst less experienced players is to push your entire stack into the pot straight away.

This mentality can also affect the seemingly more experienced players too, players see the enticing pocket pair and instinctively, though despite initial reactions, this is not a smart move…

This is because the ultimate aim of playing poker, whether online, a cash game or a tournament, is to play your hand as profitable as possible.

Players tend to seldom utilise the power that Pocket Aces provide, that power lies in the ability the chance to build up the pot early, or take down the pot quickly.

When viewing the game logically, if you’re dealt Pocket Aces in early position and raise, you should therefore have been called only by players who are holding perhaps Ace/King or Ace/Queen or a paint pair.

With Pocket Aces, you already hold two ace cards so the likelihood of your opponent having an ace is low, so it’s a safe assumption to say they are holding a paint pair.

So the idea with Pocket Aces is making players call you, and even re-raise, thereby building up the pot and making your surefire hand all the more profitable…

Unfortunately it seems, most players don’t often feel like playing poker and will simply push all their chips in pre-flop, squandering a golden opportunity to earn themselves some chips.

It may just be a few chips and one hand but it all adds up, and getting into the right habits on surefire hands is what separates the men from the boys.

 What I want to say is, the best players will realise that everyone has troubles when playing a round, so its up to you whether you want to share your troubles with people you are trying to beat, or dump them on your opponents. Even a 3 can win a hand, and they don’t know what you have, so why not just play it? You are trying to play a battle of wits, fair enough some times you know someone has the ‘nuts’ (unbeatable hand) then fold away. But for all your opponents know you have a flush, straight or whatever.

 Players need to realise a hand is only as bad as it is played, professional players can win with 3, 7 or 2,6 purely because they are putting their trouble hands on the heads of their less experienced players. I can see what a lot of people will be thinking, O.K so I play this rubbish hand and get called then I get called an idiot for playing that hand. But then my argument would be that it is my money and I will play whichever hand I like, and also it did make you think twice, or it did win so it clearly wasn’t that bad.

 In summery, I would like to suggest to up and coming players that before you fold you trouble hand, think, you are playing a percentage game, not only for what comes down on the flop, but how likely your rivals are to call your cards. I would suggest that this tactic works best in live games rather than online lounges, purely because you don’t know if your playing a pro or a novice. The aim of poker is to convince your opponents that you have the ‘nuts’, not that you do, you just need to make them think you do.

It is only natural that you get different starting hands on each round. Being able to compare these starting hands with other possible hands and know exactly the kind of odds you are dealing with can surely help you make better betting decisions and improves your overall profitability. In fact, you will actually play better poker because you can decide whether or not you should play the hand according to the odds you have.

The first step to counting the odds your starting hands have is counting outs. Outs are the numbers of cards on the deck that can help you construct a possibly strong, winning, hand. For example, if you get same suited A-K, you can actually count at least 9 outs from the suit, 3 outs from the remaining Aces and Kings — count ½ outs for possible strong pairs — giving you 12 outs in total. You can count additional outs on the possibility of constructing a Straight, but use “the number of cards needed” approach instead. In this case, you need 3 additional cards to make a straight so the total number of outs you have now is 15.

Not it is time to consider the odds of your hand winning the round. With 15 outs pre-flop, you enjoy the luxury of having 54.1% chances of hitting the hand combination on the flop, the turn, or the river. The odds don’t actually change after the flop unless your hand improves. However, the odds decrease greatly after the turn to only 32.6%. With these calculations in mind, you can actually make your moves more effectively. You will end up making better decisions on your plays making you that much more profitable at the end of the day. These calculations are approximates, so use it as part of your strategies to give confirmation instead.