Anyone who is brand new to poker will need to access tools and resources to help them develop. Unlike other casino games where you need a cursory understanding to play, Texas Hold’em is more complex. There are multiple aspects to playing even a basic ABC game. This is where a cheat sheet can help you.
A cheat sheet is a visual guide to help the reader grasp concepts quickly and easily. Fortunately for beginners, there you can easily get a free downloadable Texas Holdem cheat sheet from reputable poker strategy websites. In this article, we’re going to share a few things you can expect to find in a good cheat sheet.
Hand Rankings
The hand rankings break down the strength of poker hands. This ranges from no pair (high card) to royal flush. Don’t worry too much about the best hands as they are very rare. Most professionals can count on one hand the number of times they make a straight or royal flush.
Basic Odds
Texas Hold’em is a numbers game at its core. A poker player needs to have at least a basic appreciation of the math involved in order to make good decisions. This will usually be hand matchups e.g., ace-king vs pocket twos, or computing the percentage of hitting a flush by the river.
Positional Tips
All experts know that position is power in poker. Acting after your opponents is an advantage that will always be shared with readers. Any cheat sheet you read must hit on this key concept otherwise they don’t know what they’re doing.
Hand Selection
With so many hand combinations to choose from a newbie needs to filter the trash from the worthy hands. All the best cheat sheets will give tips on the types of hands to play and more importantly, what hands not to play too. Most beginners fall victim to overplaying any hand with an ace in it.
There is a distinction between what hands to enter the pot with and what hands to play when facing a raise. Most poker cheat sheets will highlight this as it generally takes a stronger hand to call a raise than to make a raise yourself.
Summary
For new players entering the poker community, gaining practical knowledge quickly is vital. That’s why a cheat sheet will give you some quick wins. If you download one from a poker training site that has information on the topics in this post you can expect to have a fair crack of it. Just make sure you gamble responsibly by playing low stakes and with money you can afford to lose.