Learning to Play Poker with Flop Percentages

When trying to isolate weak competition, a poker player should begin by studying the flop percentages of his opponents. Poker games that have flop percentages at over 50% are a good place to start but there is more information necessary to label a player as weak. Not only is a smart online poker player looking for a Texas Holdem opponent with a flop percentage at over fifty-percent but he is also looking for opponents that overplay their poker hands; that bet too many chips on too many hands at the poker table.

These are players that will call with pretty much any kind of hand and often not just call but also raise. The reason that such players make for ideal Texas Holdem opponents is that not only will a selective poker player be the prohibitive favorite against these loose maniacs; he will rake in significant chips when he does play. When you have a Texas Holdem player that is playing half of his poker hands against another player that is only playing twenty-percent of his poker hands, the player that plays more is decidedly less selective and will therefore be holding weaker poker hands more of the time against the more selective players that play only solid poker hands.

One of the traps that newer Texas Holdem players fall into at online poker games is to follow the lead of more experienced players, even if that lead is incorrect and destructive. Many newer players will become intimidated and bullied into playing more poker hands, (increasing their flop percentages), because some of the other more experienced players had some early success doing so, thus setting an impression on these newer online poker players.

The smart online poker player will let the looser Texas Holdem players beat each other up at the poker table, and just be patient by playing only the stronger poker hands. One of the rules of thumb is that you should never get in the way of a player bent on destroying himself, which is what the maniac will oftentimes do. Contrarian action against Texas Holdem maniacs is one of the more effective poker rules of thumb and, more often than not, leads to profits in poker games. Conversely, following the lead of a maniac is like jumping off a bridge because you saw someone else do it. The next time you are playing online poker don’t forget to look at flop percentages and scout your opponents in advance.