No matter what sort of poker you play, free poker online or for money, it’s a fact that you really get a buzz when you get a good starting hand such as a pair of kings. The problem is what to do, for example, if you go all-in might not all the other players fold and leave you with a lost opportunity?

This happens a lot, especially in higher quality games where people don’t throw chips around wildly, and can be very frustrating when you have such a good hand, in this article I’m going to tell you what you need to do to be able to win in situations like this (and many other situations for that matter). Sadly there is no secret pill or magic bullet, the “not so secret” is experience, knowing about playable pockets, implied and pot odds and, in the all in pockets type example, playing your game in such a way that the others may think you’re bluffing and not fold.

At the start of a hand, in most cases having a pair is great and if you play according to the cards which open on the table, then you will definitely have chances to win. Lets look at an example, you get a great pocket pair to start, Kd and Ks, this pair gives you some good early winning opportunities.

Your options at this point are to either go all-in or wait for the flop cards to open. If you wait you must keep in mind that if a Ace opens on the flop then your winning chances are greatly reduced.

In such a case going on and betting more could be a waste and you would be advised to fold, because if someone else is betting then it’s likely they have an Ace in their hand. Or of course they might be bluffing or are maybe just a donk player hence the importance of learning to observe other players.

You might think that it would have been better to have gone all-in but you need to remember that in that case too the person having an Ace might have gone ahead and bet and you would have lost more money. As of now you are down but not out.

Now lets again take the above example of you having Ks,Kd, but this time the flop cards are 6s,6h, Qh. Well now you know that if anyone has a 6, you will face defeat.

The way to go is not to lose hope because it’s a small value card and chances are that the person having a 6 might have already folded. So just raise the stakes and see how the others go about it. If someone goes all-in then he could be having a 6 and the best option is to fold and minimize the damage.

Don’t be disheartened by the examples above, they are meant to give the impression that it’s not possible to play to win! What they are meant to convey is that unpredictable probability (also known as luck) is part of poker so you need to remember, if you are not winning, be smart enough and do not lose too much.

If you keep playing good cards in a solid way then probability is on your side and you will come out on top in the long run and as you have minimised your losses in the bad patches you will have money to bet when things are better.

To develop the poker smarts and experience needed to exploit good as well as weaker hands, start by learning poker online in quality yet lower risk games,learn by your mistakes but keep your mistakes cheap! Micro stakes and play free poker games are the way to go in the early stages and be sure to read up on lots of free poker lessons too in order to learn about things like pot odds and playable pockets.