Zynga poker for noobs

So, you know that a straight beats three-of-a-kind (trips). Well, good for you. You know the rules of the game. But can you play poker? I mean, really play poker?




Let me ask, if your hand is pocket eights (8-8), and you rightly decided to invest in the blind, out comes the flop and it's 8-A-8, what do you do? You are starting the betting round, do you (a) raise, (b) bet pot, (c) go all-in, (d), check, or (e) fold?


If you answered anything other than (d) check, then you would be wrong. You do not know how to play poker, yet. 


Poker is not about winning the hand. Poker is all about winning the most out of a hand. Why raise any amount and risk making anyone fold at this point? By the way, if you answered (e) fold, get out of this blog, you are hopeless.


CHECK-RAISE


The proper way to play a very strong hand is to check-raise. Keep checking and/or just calling bets on all betting rounds until the river. This way you hide your hand's true strength until it is pay-up time. Alright, it's forgivable if you choose to raise blind (bet the value of the blind) at the turn if no one raised after the flop. I, personally, wouldn't play it that way, but sometimes doing that instigates a raising war with the more aggressive players on the table. Just keep calling.


So ok, now you've taken a few (or maybe all of them) to the river with you. You know you have the winning hand. Now comes the tricky part -- how much to bet. Raising all-in might come on too strong and just make everyone fold. You do not want that. You want them to call you. You've got the winning hand.


What I do all depends on whose on the table with me. Generally, I'd just bet pot (the current value of the pot at that point). I find that betting this much gets more people to call my bet. Sometimes aggressive players would even re-raise me, thinking that I am just bluffing. Of course I'd re-raise them back, all-in this time around.


If I am starting the betting round at the river, and I've been raised on both the flop and the turn, I check. Chances are,  the fool would make one more raise. Again, this time, I re-raise all-in.


All in all, the biggest pots I've won at the Zynga tables, are the pots I didn't even raise one time. Just called all the way to the river. Because Zynga poker chips aren't real, players tend to throw their chips away like that.