Phil Hellmuth Quotes

In order to maximize your profits at the poker table, your goal should be to play completely opposite of the way other players at the table perceive you. Simply put, if opponents label you a conservative player who never bluffs and only plays premium hands, you'll do better playing aggressively and bluffing frequently.

Bluffing is most effective when done sporadically; bluff too often, and you'll blow your credibility.

By folding often, I give other players the false impression that I'm a weak player - a player who can be easily bluffed. Trust me; I'm not a weak player.

Texas hold 'em is all about folding and waiting for that time that comes up every hour or two where you actually have an advantage and you can press it.

The goal of hyper-aggressive poker is to create a wild and crazy image that will return dividends when you're eventually dealt a monster hand.

When you play No Limit Hold'em, the ideal strategy is to take minimal risk, do little bluffing, and hope that weaker players call you when you have a strong hand. But that's the perfect world. Sometimes you'll face opponents that play very conservatively and will rarely pay you off when you have the goods.

Hyper-aggressive poker is most effective in games where players are happy to just call rather than reraise.

Always keep in mind that poker is about limiting your losses and maximizing your gains on every hand you play.

I seldom reraise before the flop no matter what my hand is. By so doing, I'm able to disguise the strength of my hand and can trap unsuspecting opponents who interpret my smooth call as a sign of weakness.

Poker isn't the roulette wheel of pure chance, nor is it the chess of mathematical elegance and perfect information. Apart from the underlying mathematics, poker depends on the nuanced reading of human intention, interactions, and deceptions.

Hold'em is a game of calculated aggression. If your cards are good enough for you to call a bet, they are good enough to raise with.

Ultra-aggressive players have a knack of making otherwise sound players commit huge stacks of chips with relatively weak hands, like A-Q.

I typically don't bet out on the flop because I've been in the business of trapping my ultra-aggressive opponents so much that I've simply forgotten the benefits of a simple flop bet!

Limping in - entering a pot by calling rather than raising - is more complicated than raise-or-fold poker because you'll end up playing more hands. Also, it's difficult to put players on a hand when they're in the pot without making a pre-flop raise.

The correct strategy in heads-up poker is based on identifying and acting upon your opponent's strengths and weaknesses.

Players talk about pot odds all the time, especially when they try to justify a call that they made. Whenever I hear this line of reasoning, though, I can't help but wonder if they properly thought through the consequences of their call.

What gets lost is that half of poker is reading people. When you're reading well and you're making counterintuitive plays, a strictly math player will get scared and start making fewer moves, and then the person is even easier to read.

As a general rule, the more precious the chips you'd consider betting, the more you should lean toward playing it safe. Check it down; cautious play is usually the recipe for long-term success in poker.

Blind stealing is not exclusive to late position play. You can steal blinds from any position, and you should!

When I don't reraise with a premium hand like K-K, I'll just smooth-call. Sometimes I just don't want to announce the strength of my hand to the entire table.

The world's most successful tournament competitors - like me, Phil Ivey, Erick Lindgren, Phil Hellmuth, and countless others - like to play small ball poker. It's a style that we use to steadily increase our stacks in no limit hold'em tournaments without having to assume significant risk.

In poker, you want to play the weaker guys. In chess, it's the opposite.

In tournaments, you want to steal the blinds as cheaply as possible without risking a high percentage of your chips.

Check-raising with a drawing hand on the turn is simply a kamikaze gamble. It might work once in a while, but if you consistently attempt it, too often you'll find yourself watching the rest of the tournament from behind the rail.

Protect your hand when you're confident you're in the lead. Don't be greedy and try to milk your opponent for a few more chips when the pot is already large.