Control Hand

By Reginald Vel Johnson

How to best control a poker table.

One concept that escapes a lot of novice poker players is controlling hands. By controlling a hand, you dictate how big or small the pot gets based on what you hold.

The first thing you need to do to control a poker hand is make sure you have good position. This guarantees that you’ve already seen the action, and can tell if somebody else is trying to control the hand with a raise. If nobody has taken control, you can either check, call, or raise depending on your situation.

One other important aspect of controlling a poker hand is that you should already have plenty of information on your opponents. This allows you to determine how much to bet based on your opponents’ actions. For instance, if your opponent is a rock and only raises a small amount, you can re-raise them a little bit without pushing them out of the hand.

While this all isn’t fool proof, getting control in a hand, by waiting or taking solid position, you can maximize your profits and wins. After controlling hands, you can use that to establish a dominant table image that can intimidate less experienced players.