Party Poker
Texas Hold'em Strategy Adjustments

If the emails we receive are any indication, most of you have put up shop at Party Poker. Because of this we've decided to devote an article to detailing the strategy adjustments that the Party Poker games require. If you're currently ‘in the red' at Party Poker these adjustments will help get you on the right track. If you're already beating the Party games these tips should help you pocket a few extra bucks after each playing session.

Before we begin let us say that we're assuming you're already an experienced Texas hold em player. If you're still learning the game we urge you to go through our Texas Hold em Tutorial, which will give you a good idea of the basic precepts that guide winning play. Also, we're working under the assumption that you're playing 3-6 or smaller. These tips also translate to the larger Party Poker games, although further adjustments typically need to be made in the Party Poker ‘red chip' games.

Texas hold em players who have played primarily in ‘brick and mortar' card rooms will want to make a few adjustments to their game before tackling the Party Poker games. The following adjustments account for the fact that the average Party Poker player plays more loosely and more aggressively than the typical land-based card room regular. We've broken down the adjustments in three categories: pre-flop, flop and post-flop.

•  Party Poker Pre-flop. There's actually not much to say here, except that you'll want to really button down your game in early position since so many pots will be raised pre-flop. Limping in early with hands like Axs, 98s, etc. etc. will prove very costly, even if these hands have shown you a significant profit in more passive brick and mortar games. As your position improves you can start to add more of these multi-way hands, though be warned—Party Poker players loooove the ‘button raise', so even if you're in middle or late position you could still be stuck paying two bets to see the flop.

By extension, you should be more liberal with your three-betting requirements. It's a sin against nature not to three-bet a Party Poker player with pocket T's or J's, and you absolutely must three-bet pre flop with pocket Q's. Also look out for opportunities to value-raise on the button or in the blinds with small pocket pairs when six or more players have already limped in. And be sure to raise your big suited hands in late position (for more on this see our article Texas hold ‘em: Big Suited Connectors).

•  Party Poker--On the flop. Check raise, check raise, check raise. The typical Party Poker player goes into auto-bet mode if he's on the button and the action is checked to him on the flop, which means you'll have ample opportunities to check raise from early position when you flop a pair of aces, kings or queens (anything smaller than that and you're probably better of lead-betting, since a free card is so dangerous with smaller pairs). Also, don't be afraid to really pump up your legitimate draws—hand like open ended straight draws and four-flushes. You'll often get three or more players to go to the turn with you, no matter what the price, and by pumping the pot you'll frequently get Party Poker players—who are not renown for their hand reading skills—to misread your hand.

One other thing—all the proper conditions must be in place in order for a slowplay to be correct. I make a habit of virtually never slowplaying in Party Poker games, and I think that's close to optimal. You will get called, even when you flop a monster. (for more on slowplaying see our article Texas Hold'em: The Art of the Slowplay).

•  Party Poker-Post flop: At some point with every hand you have to decide whether it has enough value to take to the show down. At Party Poker this decision is almost always best made on the turn. Folding a mediocre—but still possibly best—hand on the river is usually a bad move, since you only have to have a winning hand a fraction of the time for the call to be correct, and you don't have to worry about any future action. Example: You have the Qc Qd and the flop comes king high. If someone bets the turn you cannot just call with the intention of folding the river if you don't improve and he bets again. If you call the turn you're committed to calling the river.

On a related note, do NOT be afraid to three bet the turn with non-nut hands. In a passive brick and mortar room you may freeze up with a six high flush if someone raises your turn bet. On Party Poker any kind of flush is typically worth a three-bet (provided both of your hole cards play); especially if the flush card hit on the turn and could have easily made someone a straight or two pair. I've been raised countless times in this situation by players holding Axo (where the ace is of the appropriate suit), and this, along with all the fairly legitimate hands with which your opponent could be raising, makes a three bet in these spots nearly mandatory. To sum it up---when you make your hand, play it strong.

And now to our final point: It is almost never correct to fold an overpair at Party Poker simply because you've been check raised on the turn. I'm convinced this play will save you money long term in brick and mortar games (provided the pot isn't huge), but I'm equally convinced it's a money loser at Party Poker. The play at Party Poker can be so loose, and so erratic, and the pots can get so big, that even folding the best hand occasionally is a mathematical disaster. Obviously there will be times when you can dump an overpair, but make sure these moments are the exception and not the rule. I promise you your bankroll will thank you for it.

Additional pages of interest: Party Poker: An Unbiased Review

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Other Poker Strategy Articles:
Three Mistakes on the Turn
Three Mistakes on the River
Poket Pairs vs. Suited Connectors