Texas Hold 'Em: Straightforward Hands
The term “Straightforward Hands” in Texas Hold ‘Em can refer to several different things (just like subtle hands can), all of which this article will discuss.
- First of all, the phrase can mean a hand without wild cards. It’s a straightforward hand. Actually, that’s about as straightforward as a definition can get, huh? (and please pardon the pun!)
- Secondly, straightforward hands can mean to play your hands without overly worrying about masking your playing style and tells to the other players. In other words, you’re being “straight forward” with your playing, like the name suggests. You’re still going to hide your hole cards (obviously), and the fact that you have a good or bad hand from other players, but you’re just not as worried about people analyzing your playing style and picking up on your body language.
But, poker is a game of bluffing and psychological warfare! Am I telling you to be open and honest with your hands? No, because you still want to fool your opponents into making moves that are beneficial for you and hurtful for them. Here’s the thought behind playing straightforward hands.
Most poker players have to be good at reading other players, determining the probability of remaining cards being dealt, and chances for winning hands. Plus, they look for tells, and hide their own. That’s a lot of work to ask from your brain! So if you don’t have to worry about hiding your body language and hiding your playing style then you can concentrate more on other aspects.
Playing straightforward allows you to do just that. You just play your game, and don’t worry about being read. This is an especially effective tactic when you aren’t going to be at a table very long, and don’t know the other players.
- Lastly, the term can refer to the hands themselves. If the community cards are K,4,5,6,7, and someone is betting heavy, well, it’s not all that hard to figure out what they have. They likely have the straight – pretty straightforward, isn’t it? This is especially easy to figure out if they didn’t bet all that much on the flop (K,4,5), but then bet more once the 6, and especially the 7, came into play. Perhaps they have an 8, and think they will split (at worst).
Knowing about straightforward play (and hands) can yield you a big advantage at the table (by either allowing you to play loose, or even knowing when to get the heck out of Dodge!) Good luck out there!
