Poker Tips
Always know what the best hand is at the time you make a bet
If you do not know what the best hand is, stop and think it over for a few seconds or minutes until you do understand what is the best hand. You should never put money into the pot before you know where you stand.
For example, if the board shows three cards, A K T, and you hold Q J, you may have a straight, but someone holding 4 7 has you beat with a flush. You might draw out on them if a fourth diamond hits giving you a Jack high diamond flush, but you must realize that your hand is not the best hand at the time if you are going to bet your straight. By taking a moment to look at the board and determine what is the best hand, you also begin the habit of trying to put your opponent on a hand. You should always try to figure out what your opponent may have, before you commit any money to the pot.
Do not make a raise unless you think you can call a re-raise
In other words, if you are going to play strong, don't back down if someone wants to play stronger. You may or may not re-raise, but that's not the point. You have to be to handle being re-raised.
Do not make a call unless you think you could raise
The idea here is that you should only be playing hands where you think you have the best of it, and you want to make others pay to draw out on you. Meaning they have to pay for the privilege of beating you. The trick here is to be in the best of it odds wise more often than not, because you will not win all of the time. Learning what the odds are can be a tricky thing, but that comes over time. (The percentages they display on the World Poker Tour are the odds.)
If someone draws out on you, take note of what they were playing, but don't get upset
Part of playing poker is to have people gamble. If no one gambled, there would be no point to the game. Since it takes no skill to get dealt two Aces, no one would play unless they had the best hand all the time, and therefore, the game would always be determined by the luck of the deal. That is not poker. That is a game called Bingo.
So, pay attention to what people gamble with, and use that to your advantage.
Be a happy loser and a humble winner
If you are playing a tournament, know that as time passes, and the number of players dwindles, it becomes more important to play hands that are less than optimal.
It is better to win a bunch of small pots than to lose a few big ones
Basically, don't get fancy. If the pot is big enough, and you have the best hand, go ahead and push as big a raise as you can into it in an attempt to take it down at that point. Don't feel bad about not making as much as you could have had you let people stay in. The more often you let people stay in by not making strong bets, the more often they will suck out on you, destroying you as you losing big pots.
Some basic starting hand conditions
If you are playing Hold 'Em, here are my recommendations for playable starting hands - the two cards you are dealt before any betting occurs in a hand. You should muck (fold) the hand if it does not fit this criteria.
From either small or big blind: Ace King through Jack Ten or any pocket pair if no one raised.
Examples: AD KH | 5C 5D | KC QH | JD TD | 8S 8H.
If it was raised, only Ace King, Ace Queen and pocket pairs higher than Tens.
From under the gun (first to bet before the flop, and directly next to the big blind): Ace King, Ace Queen and pocket Tens or higher only. This position is where you must play the tightest.
From any middle position: Pocket 5s or higher. Any Ace plus any other face card. King Queen on occasion. King Jack and Queen Jack rarely.
From last position, the dealer button: Everything above, but also add "connected" cards to the mix. Connected cards are two cards with rankings within a range that can make a straight. In this case, only concern yourself with two cards that follow each other by one rank.
Examples: 8D 9S | 5H 6H | QS JC
