You've downloaded the poker software, created an account, set your bankroll, and studied the rules and starting hands. Now it's time to start thinking about basic strategy and which starting hands you should play.

The Factors

When determining which starting hands to play, there are more factors at work than just the cards you hold in your hand. Other things to keep in mind include:

• The current position you are in at the table
• Who your opponents are, and how they are playing today
• What has already happened during the hand
• The amount of chips in your stack

If winning at poker only involved choosing the best starting hands to play and nothing else, everyone would be a winning poker player.

Position

Perhaps the most vital factor in determining whether or not to play a starting hand combination is your current position at the table. What exactly does position mean at a poker table?

Position is determined by your seat in relation to the current location of the dealer button. While the person who deals traditionally rotated around the table, it is much more common for there to be a dealer who does not participate in the game. However, the dealer button still rotates clockwise around the table, designating a new "dealer" every hand.

At a NL Hold'em table with six seats, the positions are as follows, starting from the immediate left of the dealer button and going clockwise around the table:

• The small blind (SB)
• The big blind (BB)
• Under the gun (UTG)
• Middle Position (MP, sometime referred to as "The Hijack")
• Cut Off (CO)
• Dealer (or "On-the-button", OTB)

Before the flop, the UTG player is the first to act. In each subsequent round, action begins with SB, unless he or she has already folded, and then action moves to the next player to the left who still remains in the hand.

Playing in Position

The player who must act first on poker is at a huge disadvantage, as they must show information about their hand before anyone else at the table. This is commonly referred to as being "out of position." In this situation it is best to:

• Play only the strongest hands when we are out of position after the flop, for instance as the SB or BB.
• Learn the best starting hands to play out of position from a starting hands chart, and stay disciplined to only play those hands.

A player is considered to be "in position" the further to left he is from the button. OTB and CO are usually the two best positions to be in, as these players have already seen what the other players have done, and can act based on the most information.

Previous Action

Depending on position, many things can happen before a player has to act before the flop. Any of these things could have already taken place:

• All players folded
• One or more players raised
• One or more players limp in, which is when they only call the blind bets instead of raise

If everyone folds, you can make the first raise, which is referred to as "open raising." It is a common misconception that limping, or just calling the blind bet, is a good way to see the flop without risking too much, but it is generally a losing strategy. If you wish to play a hand, it is always recommended that you raise pre-flop because it can induce others to fold, while open limping is a good way to let your opponents see cards cheaply.

A pre-flop raise should be between 3 and 4 times the amount of the big blind bet when playing no limit Hold'em. In late position such as OTB you can raise a bit less, while UTG can even raise 5x the big blind.

If one or more players are limping into the hand, it is still a good idea to raise, which is called "iso-raising." Your raise will cause other players to fold, while enticing the limping player to call your bet, placing you and he heads up, otherwise "iso"lating him. This can be especially profitable if the player is bad, or if you are in late position after the flop. An iso-raise should be same size as an open raise, plus a factor of one big blind bet for each limper. So if there are two limpers, you would raise 5x the big blind (3x for the normal raise, plus 1x and 1x for each limper).

If a player has already open raised in front of you, you can re-raise them (which is referred to as a "3bet") if you have strong cards, or if you decent cards simply call. If you are unsure if your cards are good enough to call with, it is always best to save your money and simply fold. If you choose to 3bet, your re-raise should be about 3x the size of the first raise (or 9x the big blind if the first raise was 3x the big blind).

Additional Factors

Starting Hand Charts are great at providing a rough guideline for which hands to play in which situations. While it should be closely followed by absolute beginners, in just a short amount of time you will learn when to follow it, and when not to.

One of the most important factors that may make you want to deviate from the chart is your chip stack, and the stacks of your opponents. Often times good players will buy in with different stack amounts, as it can affect not only their playing style, but also the strategy of their opponents.

Some of the commonly seen chip stacks include:

• 20x-40x the big blind, or Short-Stack Strategy
• 50b the big blind, or Mid-Stack Strategy
• 100x the big blind, or Big-Stack Strategy
• 200x the big blind, or Deep-Stack Strategy

The more you play, the more you will learn the different strategic variations for each of the different stack sizes, as no matter what stack size you play, you will always be faced with opponents with wildly different stack sizes. At first, Big-Stack Strategy is the recommended strategy for beginners, as it is the most common stack size found at modern tables.

And of course, you should always be paying attention to the other players sitting that the table. Some players are ultra-aggressive, and as such you may not want to raise into them much. However, if you have tight players behind you, you can open raise more often and attempt to push them out of the hand.