If you’ve chosen to play poker for money then you have taken plenty of risks already. In fact, the game of poker is full of risks so it’s not even worth going on about this.
But as we all know, the best players in poker will wind up winners in the end so there has to be something to these risks that people take. And this leads up to a good point in that there are both good and bad risks to take in poker.
The first risk that you’ll often find rewarding is going all-in during tournament play when possible. Now this is certainly a very risky move since you put your tourney life on the line every time you go all-in. And there are a lot of pros like Phil Hellmuth who would preach against going all-in as long as you can avoid it. But if you don’t try to double up every so often in a tournament then you’ll rarely be able to win the entire thing. Just make sure to pick your opportunities correctly.
Another solid risk you should take in poker is making pre-flop raises. Pre-flop raises allow you to both find out what other players might be holding as well as knock other people out of a hand who might just be looking to hit something on the flop. Just make sure you’re holding at least high connectors like K-Q or a premium hand before raising.
Another school of thought here is pre-flop raising with a mid-level pocket pair. It can be a sneaky way of hitting trips on the flop – and still leave you an out if you’re grossly overmatched when the flop is on the table.
And while speaking of risks, you should know when not to take them too. Obviously it will sometimes be tough to tell when you’re taking a bad risk, but there will be many times when you do know. For instance, if you’re holding a second rate hand and a rock is raising like crazy then you are probably beat. Don’t take the risk of calling. Avoiding unnecessary risks is immensely helpful. Save your chips for a good risk.
