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Are you ready for some advanced poker tips that will improve your game?

We combed through an extensive archive of strategy articles for you and culled the five most valuable tips. So if you want to increase your winnings in Texas Hold’em games, you should incorporate each of these tips into your overall strategy.

As implied by the title, every suggestion is at least somewhat advanced, so you are probably an experienced gambler. If not, consider learning the fundamentals of poker first, then come back to this article. 

Keeping this in mind and let’s begin.

#1 Backdoor flush can be bluffed by using unmade hands. 

You should strongly consider betting if you have an unpaired hand with a backdoor flush draw and the betting initiative. This is especially true if you have the positional advantage over your opponent.

For instance, 8♥ 7♥ is an excellent bluffing hand on a K♣ Q♣ 6♥ flop.

These backdoor flush draw hands are often profitable to bet with on the turn because they become effective bluffs, especially in these 2 situations:

• When the turn gives you a draw to a flush: You have significantly increased your equity, so you should typically maintain your aggression with a double-barrel wager. Moreover, you have a chance to win a large pot if you hit a flush on the river.
• When the turn concludes with numerous draws: Betting on frightening cards that complete draws (like the 9 in the preceding example) may cause your opponent to fold. These opponents frequently believe that “all the semi-bluffs have been made, so it’s unlikely he’s bluffing.”

#2 Check-Raise from the Big Blind More Frequently

If you do not pressure your opponents with check-raises, you make their bets significantly more profitable than they ought to be. This is particularly important if your opponent c-bets with too many weak hands. Despite being weak, these hands have equity, and if you do not check-raise, you allow your opponent to realize that equity. Here are two hands you should check-raise.

Value Check-Raising

You should strongly favor check-raising with strong hands, including two pairs or better. On low boards, check-raising with the best pair and kicker can also be advantageous (e.g., A9 on a 9-3-2 flop). But you shouldn’t stop there: after selecting the hands you intend to raise for value, you should choose your bluffs.

Bluff Check-Raising

The best bluffing hands are those with decent equity and the possibility of improving to a straight or flush. Typically, these are straight gutshot draws, consecutive open-ended draws, and flush draws, but having one or two overcards is advantageous.

However, you should not check-raise all draws. Find a way to randomize them instead. For instance, you can only check-raise straight draws with a backdoor flush draw, while you must check-call straight draws without a backdoor flush draw.

Read How to Check-Raise Like a High-Stakes Juggernaut to learn more about check-raising strategy.

#3 Pocket Pairs and Suited Connectors Are Profit-Generating Components in Multiway Pots

It is intuitive that as more players enter the pot, the likelihood of someone hitting a very strong hand increases (like two pairs or better).

How should this affect your preflop hand selection? When a pot is likely to go to multiple players, you should primarily play hands with a high likelihood of improving to two pairs or better by the river.

And which hands are more likely to hit mighty hands?

• Pocket pairs
• Suitable and linked hands

Pocket pairs are powerful multiway pot hands because they hit a set on the flop 11.8% of the time. Compare this with a hand such as JT offsuit, which becomes two pairs or better just 4.8% of the time on the flop.

Don’t be afraid to check-raise after calling a 3-bet with draws

After calling a 3-bet, playing too passively out of position is detrimental to your win rate. Instead, you must check-raise with the majority, if not all, of your strong hands while maintaining a balanced range with draws.

Check-raising with a balanced range makes it difficult for your opponent to determine whether you have a strong hand or are bluffing. In contrast, being unbalanced can make your plays obvious and prevent you from maximizing the value of your strong hands.

Consider overbetting whit the “nut advantage” 

Overbets are effective on boards that favor your range over your opponent’s range, especially when you have the best hand. In poker, this is known as having the “nut advantage.”

Suppose, for instance, that you raise from a late position preflop, your opponent calls, and the flop reveals Q-J-T. Your opponent should not have AK, QQ, JJ, or TT on this flop, as he would have likely 3-bet preflop with these hands. All of those hands are currently within your range.

Your overbetting range should consist solely of strong hands and bluffs. Using a bet size of this magnitude maximizes your value hands and generates maximum fold equity with your bluffs.

The most effective overbet bluffs involve blocking your opponent’s likely strong hand. The best illustration of this is the use of the nut flush blocker on a three-to-a-flush board (A♦ K♠ on Q♦ 8♦ 2♣ 6♦ 3♠).

What is the most effective advanced poker strategy?

Vote in the comments section below what you think! I hope you have enjoyed these advanced poker techniques from the Upswing Poker library. Good luck until next time, grinders!