Tip: Avoid Being a Calling Station
A "calling station" is a player who calls with anything. They typically play too many hands, if not all of them, and they generally do not raise. They call, and call, and call, regardless of what they hold. They will then wait and see at the end if they won or not.
The first problem of being a calling station we covered in the last tip, learning to be selective in your starting cards. Fold hands that don't have strong potential. Don't get in the habit of calling with anything. When you call with a hand that is not as good as someone else's, you are hoping to get lucky.
When you have a better hand than someone else and you simply call, you are giving them a better a chance to get lucky against you. Generally speaking, when you have the best hand, you need to make any other players pay more to keep playing their hand. Make it more expensive for them to get lucky against you. By raising in these situations, not only do you help reduce the competition, but you win more money when they don't get lucky and beat you.
Another key reason to consider raising a hand, rather than calling with it, is the added chance you have to win the hand. If you call another player, you only have one way to win the hand and that is to be holding the best cards. If you raise, you now have two ways to win the hand; hold the best cards or your opponent(s) fold.
The key factor to all of these suggestions is that you must be thinking about your opponent's cards. Most beginner players think only about what cards they have themselves and they really have no idea what their opponents hold. This is what leads to becoming a calling station. To progress in your game, you must start considering what each of the other player might have based on their habits, betting, and other information. There are certainly times to call, but it's not a bad way to go to put yourself in the mindset that you should nearly always fold or raise.
Tip: Starting From Early Position
Position is a key factor in the game of poker. Position is the determination of when during the betting round you must act. The first players to act are in early position, followed by the middle position players, and then late position. The "button" gets to act last. The later your position the better off you are, because the more information you have about the other player's cards.
Generally speaking, you need to play tighter from an early position where you are at more of a disadvantage. Since everyone else still has yet to act, there is a greater chance you will be raised or re-raised when in early position. Of course, because of this fact, observant players will also be aware that when enter a pot from early position, you are more likely to have quality cards. If you are up against a table full of tight players who are aware of position, you can actually use this to your advantage by playing a weaker hand very aggressively.
When you are in early position, you should be wearier of playing drawing hands, such as suited connectors. You ideally want to see a flop cheaply against several players with this type of hand. Being in early position, you do not know if the betting will stay cheap or if there will be enough callers.
Basic, quality, ABC poker from early position is to play only premium starting hands and to raise with them to try and limit the field. There are certainly other strategies to take, but you should have a better feel for your table and your own play in latter betting rounds before you stray to far from this principal.
A "calling station" is a player who calls with anything. They typically play too many hands, if not all of them, and they generally do not raise. They call, and call, and call, regardless of what they hold. They will then wait and see at the end if they won or not.
The first problem of being a calling station we covered in the last tip, learning to be selective in your starting cards. Fold hands that don't have strong potential. Don't get in the habit of calling with anything. When you call with a hand that is not as good as someone else's, you are hoping to get lucky.
When you have a better hand than someone else and you simply call, you are giving them a better a chance to get lucky against you. Generally speaking, when you have the best hand, you need to make any other players pay more to keep playing their hand. Make it more expensive for them to get lucky against you. By raising in these situations, not only do you help reduce the competition, but you win more money when they don't get lucky and beat you.
Another key reason to consider raising a hand, rather than calling with it, is the added chance you have to win the hand. If you call another player, you only have one way to win the hand and that is to be holding the best cards. If you raise, you now have two ways to win the hand; hold the best cards or your opponent(s) fold.
The key factor to all of these suggestions is that you must be thinking about your opponent's cards. Most beginner players think only about what cards they have themselves and they really have no idea what their opponents hold. This is what leads to becoming a calling station. To progress in your game, you must start considering what each of the other player might have based on their habits, betting, and other information. There are certainly times to call, but it's not a bad way to go to put yourself in the mindset that you should nearly always fold or raise.
Tip: Starting From Early Position
Position is a key factor in the game of poker. Position is the determination of when during the betting round you must act. The first players to act are in early position, followed by the middle position players, and then late position. The "button" gets to act last. The later your position the better off you are, because the more information you have about the other player's cards.
Generally speaking, you need to play tighter from an early position where you are at more of a disadvantage. Since everyone else still has yet to act, there is a greater chance you will be raised or re-raised when in early position. Of course, because of this fact, observant players will also be aware that when enter a pot from early position, you are more likely to have quality cards. If you are up against a table full of tight players who are aware of position, you can actually use this to your advantage by playing a weaker hand very aggressively.
When you are in early position, you should be wearier of playing drawing hands, such as suited connectors. You ideally want to see a flop cheaply against several players with this type of hand. Being in early position, you do not know if the betting will stay cheap or if there will be enough callers.
Basic, quality, ABC poker from early position is to play only premium starting hands and to raise with them to try and limit the field. There are certainly other strategies to take, but you should have a better feel for your table and your own play in latter betting rounds before you stray to far from this principal.