Most money in poker changes hands through a small number of repeated decisions. Which hands to play, from which seat, for how much, and whether a draw is worth its price. The pages in this section take those decisions one at a time.
None of them promise results. They set out what the numbers say, where judgement takes over, and which habits cost beginners the most.
The Order Worth Learning In
- Position firstActing last is worth more than any single starting hand. See table position.
- Then starting handsA tight, position-aware opening range removes most difficult spots before they happen: starting hands.
- Then pricePot odds turn a draw into an arithmetic question rather than a feeling: pot odds and equity.
- Then sizingBet sizes are chosen relative to the pot, not to the strength of a hand: bet sizing.
- Then pressureBluffing and continuation betting work when the story is consistent: bluffing.
- Bankroll throughoutStakes are a function of the money set aside, not of confidence: bankroll management.
What These Pages Avoid
There are no systems here, no claims that a pattern can be read from past results, and no suggestion that any approach removes variance. Poker rewards decisions made with incomplete information; good decisions still lose hands.
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Starting Hands
Which two cards are worth playing, why suitedness is worth less than it looks, and how domination explains most of the money lost before the flop.
Distinct starting hands 169, from 1,326 combinations
Table Position
Why acting last is the single largest structural advantage in poker, what each seat is called, and how opening ranges change from the blinds to the button.
Best seat The button, last to act after the flop
Pot Odds and Equity
How to turn a drawing hand into an arithmetic question: counting outs, converting them to a percentage, and comparing that figure with the price the pot is offering.
Pot odds The price of a call relative to the pot it could win
Bet Sizing
Why bets are measured against the pot rather than the hand, what each size offers an opponent, and how sizing changes between value bets, bluffs and draws.
Measured against The size of the pot, not the stack or the hand
Bluffing
What a bluff actually needs to work: a believable story, a hand that cannot win at showdown, and a price that makes folding reasonable for the opponent.
What a bluff needs Fold equity — a realistic chance the opponent folds
Continuation Betting
The bet that follows a pre-flop raise: when the flop justifies it, which sizes to use, and why betting every flop stopped working years ago.
Who makes it The pre-flop raiser
Bankroll Management
Why stakes are chosen from the money set aside rather than from confidence, what the common buy-in guidelines are, and how variance makes losing stretches normal.
Cash games 20 to 40 buy-ins is a common guideline
Cash vs Tournament
The same game with different incentives: chips that convert to money against chips that cannot, fixed blinds against rising ones, and what each change does to strategy.
Cash game chips Equal to money and reloadable at any time
ICM and Payout Pressure
Why a tournament call that gains chips can still lose money: how the independent chip model values a stack, and where payout pressure changes correct play.
What ICM estimates The money value of a chip stack, given the payouts
Live and Online Tells
What physical tells are actually worth, which patterns hold up in practice, and why timing and bet-size habits are the reliable signals online.
Most reliable live signal Betting patterns, not body language