The 3 most important poker decisions you will make every hand

During any hand of poker there is the potential for literally dozens of decisions to be made by each player. Each of these decisions will have a varying impact on the outcome of the hand, ranging from how much money you win or lose, to whether you win or lose the hand at all. Despite the sheer number of decisions you will need to make, these decisions can be boiled down to just three generalized decisions. These are the three decisions that will guide all of your other decisions, and getting these three decisions right is one of the keys to playing winning poker.

So what are these three grand decisions you will have to make? That’s precisely what you’ll learn in this column!

Decision #1: Play the cards or play the man

The first decision you will have to make is whether this is a situation where you are going to play your own cards based on their strength, or if this is a situation where a particular weakness of your opponent(s) can be exploited.

A lot of this will be dictated by your cards. Obviously when you are dealt Pocket Kings you will always be playing your cards more so than your opponent (although your opponent will dictate how you play the hand), but when you are dealt 8T your decision to play (and how you play the hand) is dependent on your opponent more than the actual strength of your hand.

Decision #2: Logic or intuition

Once you’ve decided if this is a situation where you are playing your cards or playing your opponent you’ll need to determine whether you are doing so based on logic or if your decisions are predicated on intuition.

Logical decisions are rooted in the math of the game, I have a 12 Big Blind stack and have AT on the button, and a somewhat loose player has opened from the cutoff, so I will raise all-in. Intuitive decisions are based more on your reads and your experience (not on whims like most people think when they hear intuition); your Spidey-Sense of sorts. Perhaps you can’t work through exactly why you think the cutoff is weak, but your experience tells you that something about his mannerisms or bet-sizing is screaming weakness, so you move your 12 Big Blind stack into the middle with just 93 offsuit.

Decision #3: Play for value or be deceptive

The final decision you will need to make during a hand is whether you want to bet your hand based on its strength (play your hand face-up), or if you want to play your hand deceptively to try to trap your opponent.

When you play your hand “face-up” you are basically betting your good hands when you know your opponent is going to pay you off regardless. So if you open with AA and get three-bet, when you move in for your final 15 big blinds you are essentially playing your hand face-up, saying to your opponent “I have a good hand.” You may not necessarily be saying “I have AA”, but for all intents and purposes you are saying you have the goods.

On the flipside, you could also call your opponent’s three-bet with AA, playing your hand deceptively. Perhaps you feel he will fold to a four-bet, or that you can get him to shove the flop, which makes playing deceptively a better line.