How to play pre-flop at Holdem Poker

One of the most valuable skills a player needs to pick up is how to play pre-flop at Holdem Poker. The secret of acquiring this skillis based on the player's ability to be selective about the hands they decide to play with, as well as assessing how the rest of players at the table are handling themselves. The principal factors that need to be taken into account is how many players are still in the game, how many of them have played their hand before your turn comes round and how many will be left in the hand after you have made your play. Depending on the strength of the player's hand, if they want to stay in the hand, they will need to decide if they want to check, bet or raise or fold

The player who is sitting immediately to the right of the "big blind" is known as being "under the gun". The reason they are given this title as they are sitting in the worst strategic position on the table as they have no idea what anyone else in the hand are liable to do. Most players under the gun will try a minimum bet, even if they are holding a strong set of hole cards. After the under the gun, players have a much better chance of assessing play, and are more inclined to bet or raise with weaker hands, till it comes down to the player who is on the button, who knows what every player before them in the sequence has done, and what the little blind and certainly the big blind is liable to do.

The more players who in the hand, the higher the pot odds become. Going into the flop most players prefer not to bet too heavy, preferring to see what the flop holds for them before making high value bets. There are always exceptions to the rule, for example players who are short stacked and come in with a strong hand. They are liable to go "all in" meaning that they bet all of their remaining chips. A player going all in can cause one of two few effects. Other players will fold their hands, or maybe one or even two players will feel that their hands are strong enough to call the all in player's hand. If only one player has called, then both players show their hole cards. If there are three players still in the hand, then only the player who has gone all in is obliged to show their cards, as there is a strong possibility that the other two players remaining in the hand will raise each other

In general, the whole strategy on betting pre-flop should be based on the strength of player's hole cards, their position on the table and the state of their chip stack.