Texas Hold’em is a fun game that is easy to learn and very popular. Because of this, the game has been filled with throngs of new players both young and old who sometimes don’t understand the game to its fullest extent. That being said, it can take years to truly understand and master the game, and mastery is very elusive. This elementary taking to the game has been cause for some common misconceptions. It is best that you don’t buy into them if you really want to be successful at the game. This article will cover some of the common misconceptions about the game and the reasons you need to forget about them.

Poker Myth - My aces never win

A pair of aces is clearly the best hand in Texas Hold’em and beginners are well aware of this for many reasons, specifically television. The problem is, they think they should win with them every time and when they don’t, they put the hand off as being poor. There are a few things you have to remember when playing aces. Many times in low limit games players simply don’t fold. The whole table is basically colluding against you to take down the pot so it is more important than ever to raise and re-raise pre flop to drive out weak holdings. If you are aggressive with your aces pre flop, you will see a much higher success rate with them. The other consideration to make is that sometimes aces don’t win. You need to be cognizant of this possibility and when someone re-raises on a scary board, they probably aren’t bluffing and your aces are no good. Fold the hand and move on.

Poker Myth - AK never wins either

Again, the problem here is that the hand is so popular and talked about, that a beginner thinks they are entitled to win every time they get it. Well, you’re not, get over it. Although AK can win unimproved against a few opponents you will usually want to hit the flop in order to really make the hand profitable. You are never entitled to win with a given hand. The flop can completely change the nature of a given hand and with AK you will need to pay attention and make sure you still have a strong hand post flop. Play this hand strong pre flop to ensure that you have few opponents which will increase your chances of winning unimproved. Too many players get attached to this hand after the flop. They didn't hit anything on the flop, but they somehow think their hand is still the best. While this may be true sometimes, it is frequenlty not the case. When you face multiple oppoenents, the odds that someone else actually did hit the flop are greater.

Poker Myth - Any two cards can win

While it is true that any two cards can win, you simply have a better chance of being profitable by only playing holdings of high rank or with intrinsic value such as a pair. Winning a hand is fine, but the goal is to make money by winning many hands. You just can't do that by playing any two cards frequently. The problem with following this kind of strategy is that you will constantly end up with second or third best hands that cost you tons of money. Low ranking hands usually need help from the flop in order to win and this alone is what significantly decreases your chances of being successful with them. Hands of high rank or pairs can often win without getting any help from the flop and this makes them very powerful. Don’t buy into the silly rhetoric that any two cards can win in Hold’em. You’ll be out of money quicker than you can say two seven off suit.

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