Ultimate Poker Cheat Sheet 2024 (Free Download)

Learning how to play consistent winning poker isn't always so easy these days. 

So that is why I decided to put together this ultimate poker cheat sheet for you.

And it is totally free, no signup, no email, no nothing.

This guide below is going to give you everything that you need to know in order to start winning big right now at the lowest stakes online (NL2 or NL5) and live ($1/$2 or $2/$5).

This also goes for low stakes tournaments like $10, $20, $50 buyins and so on.  

Now, let me be clear though that this guide is NOT going to turn you into the next Daniel Negreanu or some other high stakes pro by next week.

That takes years and years of practice and dedication.

However, you are going to learn exactly what hands to play for example (just memorize the charts below).

Or if you prefer, I also show you exactly what hands to play in my new video: 9 PREFLOP Poker Tips For Beginners (Just Do This!)

Never miss my new poker videos, join 100,000+ who are already subscribed.

So, what you will find instead below is instead a simple set of guidelines to get you beating the lowest limit games right now.

If you follow everything in this guide and apply some patience as well (remember that results don't always come right away in poker), then I promise that your winnings will start improving dramatically in low stakes games.

How can I be so sure? Because I have used these same strategies myself as a 10+ year online poker pro traveling the world and making money from my laptop.

Your Poker Cheat Sheet

So here is your poker cheat sheet. All you have to do is right click and save.

You can also just click on it to view full screen.



Now don't worry if some of this poker advice is still a bit confusing for you.

Because all of the details of this poker cheat sheet will be explained step by step throughout this article.

Let's get started!

1. Poker Cheat Sheet - Play at the Right Poker Room

The first thing that you need to do is make sure that you are playing against poker fish. So you have to pick the right poker room to play at. Now there are countless options if you play online.

But the #1 criteria that I always have is the number of fish (bad poker players). And the reason why is because the fish are how we make money in this game.

By the way, if you want to know the exact strategy I use to crush the fish (what hands to play, when to bet and raise etc.) just grab a copy of my free poker guide.

You also need to make sure that there are enough games available. For example, do you play tournaments or cash games?

It is important to make sure that the poker room you choose to play on has enough games running at the stakes you play.

Having a big player pool will also help you find the fish because it gives you more tables to choose from. This increases the chances of playing against the bad players.

Lastly, choosing the right poker room to play at will also depend on where you live. For example, both America and Australia currently have government regulation surrounding this.

If you have any doubts surrounding this, your best bet is always to just email the poker site directly and ask them about it.

If you are brand new to poker, I would also recommend that you watch my free poker course on YouTube.

Never miss my new poker videos, join 100,000+ who are already subscribed.

2. Poker Cheat Sheet - Have the Right Poker Bankroll

The next thing that you need is the correct poker bankroll. This is the total amount of money that you have available to play poker with.

I recommend having at least 30 buyins for any limit that you choose to play these days.

1 buyin = 100bb (big blinds).

So for example, if you play at the lowest limit online, which is typically 1c/2c with a $2 buyin, then you should have around $60 in your account before you play this game.

The reason why you need to have such a big bankroll is because of variance. "Variance" is the technical term that we use in poker to describe the natural ups and downs of the game.

Many people are surprised to learn that you will often need to play as much as 100k hands before you can really know your true results in poker.

As I said before, results don't come overnight in poker and sometimes you will lose for days or even weeks even though you are making all of the right decisions.

This is why it is so extremely important that you are adequately bankrolled for the games that you are playing in.

For more on bankroll, download my free poker cheat sheet, right here.

3. Texas Holdem Poker Hand Rankings Cheat Sheet

Also, before I get started with the poker strategy cheat sheet it is important that you know all of the poker hand rankings in Texas Holdem.

This is because I will be discussing them frequently throughout this article. If you are brand new to the game of poker then make sure that you study and memorize the chart below.

Source: www.wsop.com/poker-hands

4. Texas Holdem Starting Hands Cheat Sheet

Alright, so now that we got that out of the way let's get to the real important part which is the Texas Holdem Starting Hands cheat sheet.

I am basically going to give you the keys to the vault below to beat the lowest stakes games online or live. If you follow everything that I say, I can guarantee that you will win.

How can I make such a bold claim? 

Because I have been a poker pro for 10+ years now and I have made over 6 figures playing in these games using the exact same strategy.

I want to stress once again though that these strategies are for the very lowest stakes games only. You should absolutely NOT use these strategies in mid or high stakes poker games.

My strategy is also very simplistic and will have you playing very tight. It is purposely meant to be that way.

And if you don't believe me that playing tight is the best approach, even the great Phil Ivey discusses this in his new advanced poker training program.

He has made $45,000,000 playing poker, enough said.

What Poker Starting Hands Should You Play?

Here are the positions at the poker table in Texas Holdem.



EP = early position
MP = middle position
CO = cutoff
BTN = button
SB = small blind
BB = big blind

The action always starts before the flop in poker with EP and ends with the BB. After the flop, the action will always begin with the SB and flow clockwise to the BTN.

Here are the Poker Starting Hands You Should RFI With From Each Position

RFI stands for "raise first in." This means that you are the first person to enter the pot.

I recommend always raising when you are the first person to enter the pot. Why not limp (just call) though you might be asking?

Because it is simply a proven fact that raising is more profitable than limping over the long run.

Here are the results taken from my own database over very large sample sizes. They were published in my first book and they prove this point beyond a shadow of a doubt.


My Winrate When Limping



My Winrate When Raising



Conclusion: If you like money always raise, never limp.

So How Much Should You Raise It?

You should raise it to 3 times the size of the big blind as a default strategy. For example, the big blind is $1. You should make it $3 to go.

However, in low stakes live games or extremely loose online games you will often want to raise it more than 3x with your really good hands. After all, you don't want 5 callers when you have AA!

One last quick point. If there are limpers before you get a chance to act, you should raise with all of the hands listed below, just add an extra big blind to your raise size for each limper.

Note: If you see an "s" below it means to only play that hand if it is suited


EP - AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22, AK, AQ, AJ, KQ

MP - AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22, AK, AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ, QJ

CO - AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22, AK, AQ, AJ, AT, A9, KQ, KJ, QJ, JTs, T9s, 98s, 87s

BTN - AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22, AK, AQ, AJ, AT, A9, A8, A7, A6, A5, A4, A3, A2, KQ, KJ, KT, K9, QJ, JTs, T9s, 98s, 87s 76s

SB - AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22, AK, AQ, AJ, AT, A9, A8, A7, A6, A5, A4, A3, A2, KQ, KJ, KT, K9, QJ, JTs, T9s, 98s, 87s 76s

BB - You can't RFI from the BB. If it folds to you in the BB, then you win the pot (this is also called a "walk").


Special Note: If you play full ring (9 or 10 players at the table), then there will be 3 seats before EP which are often referred to as UTG or "under the gun."

From these seats you should RFI with these hands: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, AQ, AK

My Free Poker Book Teaches You How to Make $1000+ Per Month From Poker

Are you struggling to beat the low stakes poker games? Do you want a simple step by step guide to show you exactly how to start winning consistently right now?

That is why I recently wrote this free little 50 page no BS guide to teach you exactly how to start crushing these games right now.

In this free poker book I teach you the exact strategies I have used as a 10+ year poker pro to consistently make $1000 per month (or more) from poker.

Enter your details below and I will send my free poker book to your email right now.

Name

Email

Here are the poker starting hands you should call a preflop raise with from all positions.

• TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22, AQ, AJ, KQ, QJs, JTs

Here are the poker starting hands you should re-raise (3Bet) with from all positions.

• AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK

Here are the poker starting hands you should call a re-raise (3Bet) with from all positions.

• QQ, JJ, TT, 99, AQ, AK

Here are the poker starting hands that you should re-re-raise (4Bet) with from all positions.

• AA, KK

5. Postflop Texas Holdem Cheat Sheet

Alright, let's get to the real heart of this Texas Holdem poker cheat sheet now and talk about what to do after the flop.

This is the most important part of the game because what you do on the flop, turn and river is what will have the largest impact on your winnings.

This is why most advanced poker training programs these days focus almost exclusively on postflop poker strategy.

Preflop poker is pretty straightforward and easy once you get the hang of the basics above. Postflop poker however is a lot more complex with many more moving parts.

That is why postflop poker is where the biggest winners truly get ahead!

I discuss this in my latest video: 5 Easy Poker Strategies EVERY Beginner Should Know

Never miss my new poker videos, join 100,000+ who are already subscribed.

When Should You Bet on the Flop in Texas Holdem?

If you followed my advice above then you should be the preflop raiser the majority of the time heading to the flop. This means that you are in control of the pot.

Always a good thing in poker.

You should make a continuation bet (CBet) in most situations against a single opponent. You should bet around 60% of the pot.


For example:

The pot has 10 cents in it on the flop. You should CBet 6 cents.

You should be making a CBet on the large majority of flops no matter what your hand is. Here are a few example flops that you should almost always CBet on versus one opponent:

• AQK
• KJ5
• QQ6
• K72
• 888
• T53

I think you get the idea, most of them.

This is why it is much better to focus on the flops that you should NOT make a CBet on when you have nothing.


These are:

• 678
• 89T

You want to avoid CBetting highly coordinated flops with all middle cards like these (when you have nothing) because the chances that you get called are just too high.

The reason why is because there are so many hands that hit these boards in some way with a pair, draw, pair + draw and so on.

The final note here is that if you are facing multiple opponents on the flop (two or more), then you need to have a much stronger hand to make a CBet. Top pair or a good draw (flush or straight) at least.

By the way, I discuss this in much more detail in my new Elite Poker University training. 

Learn EXACTLY how to start crushing small and mid stakes poker games, play semi-pro or even full time pro. Use my proven elite poker strategies to start winning fast.

Enroll in BlackRain79 Elite Poker University

Get $100 OFF Use Code: ELITE100

When Should You Call or Raise on the Flop in Texas Holdem?

What if you were the preflop caller though or somebody bets into you first on the flop?

Well, there are a few situations where you should just call.

Here are the Poker Hands You Should Call a Flop Bet With

• You have a good draw (flush or straight)
• You have top pair
• You have middle pair

You should fold everything else.

Ok. So what about raising though?

Raising also has it's place in a good flop strategy. You only want to do it with really strong hands though.

Here are the Hands You Should Raise a Flop Bet With in Texas Holdem

• Overpair
• Two pair
• 3 of a kind (trips or a set)
• Monster draw (12+ outs, pair + flush draw for example)

I should also note that on the rare occasion you flop something ridiculously strong like a straight, flush, a full house, quads or better, then you should usually just call on the flop (slowplay).

Turn Poker Strategy Cheat Sheet

The turn is where things start to get really interesting in poker. I call the turn and the river the "big money streets" because this is where the bet sizes start to get significantly larger on average.

That is why it is very important that you make smart decisions on the turn and river.

I recommend that you only bet again on the turn with really strong hands such as:

• Top pair (with a good kicker)
• Overpair
• Two pair
• 3 of a kind

And so on.

Against weak/tight poker players (people who fold too much), you can also bluff sometimes if the turn comes with an Ace or a King.

These are called "scare cards" and you can often take down an easy pot against a weak player with a simple bet.


What if they bet into you on the turn though?

If they bet into you on the turn, then you should call with hands like top pair and legit draws like an open ended straight draw or a flush draw.

You definitely need to be folding everything else at this point though. I really cannot stress this point enough. Do not try to get fancy. Winning poker at these stakes is all about staying disciplined.

Lastly, you should only raise on the turn with extremely strong hands (two pair or better).

By the way, in case you were wondering how I keep reads on everyone like this while multi-tabling online poker, yes, I do use several software tools and aids.

For the complete list of all the poker software and tools I use at the tables, click here.

River Poker Strategy Cheat Sheet

The strategy on the river is very similar to the turn. The bet sizes are often very large on this street and so you need to be extremely careful with your decision making once again.

You should often only be betting again on the river for value. This means hands that are very likely to be the best hand, usually top pair or better.

It is ok to bluff the river once in awhile against the weak/tight players but once again it needs to be done on the right river scare cards.

For instance, you DON'T want to bluff the river on a board runout like:

• J9642

Because that 2 on the river is not going to scare anyone from calling you down!

If the river was an Ace or a King instead though, then this can be a good card to bluff against a weak/tight player who folds too much.

I want to be very clear that you should never try to bluff the recreational poker players or even most of the regular players because they like to call too much at these stakes.

By the way, if you play online and need help quickly getting reads on all the bad players, I highly recommend getting a good free poker HUD.

River Value Betting Poker Strategy

With all that said, value betting is really the biggest key to your success at the lower limits. When you are playing against a bunch of players who like to call too much, making them pay when you have the best hand is how you crush them.

So you should be consistently trying to get value out of them on the river with all of your strong hands like top pair or better, but also with hands like 2nd pair, 3rd pair and sometimes even worse.

And remember that you do not need to make a big bet in these situations. In fact this is a very common mistake that people make, sizing their value bet too high.

As I discuss in multiple examples in Modern Small Stakes, often a value bet size of 1/2 pot or even 1/3 pot is optimal versus their calling range.

6. Stop Tilt From Ruining Your Poker Strategy

The final part of this texas holdem poker cheat sheet, which honestly is more important than anything else, is learning how to maintain your composure at the poker tables. Or in other words, stopping yourself from tilting.

Here's the thing:

When you are playing at the lowest limits you are going to encounter lot's of wild and unpredictable players. 

They are going to hit their suckouts, their coolers and their bad beats.

I discuss this in my latest video: 5 Things You Will NEVER See Good Poker Players Do

I even break down the math for you near the end of this video.

They simply will get lucky against you sometimes.

This is just a mathematical fact of the game. You can't change it. You can change how you react to it though.

You always need to remember that the long run is the only thing that actually matters in poker. Once again, 100k+ hands.

If you follow all of the advice given above in this poker cheat sheet, then I can pretty much guarantee you that you will win in the long run.

But if you get frustrated and go on tilt every time your aces get cracked or they hit that flush on the river, then you can ruin your entire poker career.

Believe me, I have seen it happen to so many people over the years. Even really talented players who may have been great one day if they could just learn to control their emotions a bit better.

It extremely important that you learn how to take these natural ups and downs of the game in stride or at the very least learn how to quit when you feel the frustration building.

You've worked too hard for this. Don't allow yourself to go on tilt and throw away all of your profits because of a few bad beats.

To learn more about how pros prevent themselves from going on tilt, grab my free poker cheat sheet, right here.

Texas Hold'em Poker Tournament Cheat Sheet

Now, everything that I have talked about so far in this Texas Hold'em cheat sheet is mostly geared towards cash games, because I am primarily a cash game player.

My main online poker "office"

I have played 10+ million hands of poker in cash games and 1 million hands of tournament poker.

In a cash game you buy-in to the game with your own money and the blinds never change. You can also quit at any time.

A poker tournament is different though.

When you buy-in to a poker tournament you get chips instead. The goal of the tournament is the accumulate everyone's chips.

Usually the top 20% or so of the field get paid according to final finishing position, with most of the money going to the top 3 finishers at the final table.

The blinds go up at regular intervals and you cannot just get up and leave like in a cash game, or your chips will slowly get blinded away and you won't win.

Now, the great thing about Texas Hold'em poker tournaments though (compared to cash games), is that you can potentially win a huge amount of money.

My first big poker tournament win was for $800 and the buy-in was only $2. Not a bad ROI! (return on investment).

Early Stages and Middle Stages Poker Tournament Cheat Sheet

The best poker tournament strategy for you to use varies greatly depending on what stage of the tournament you are in.

Typically in the early going the average stack size is about 70bb-100bb which is the same as most cash games. BB stands for "big blinds" by the way.

Therefore, you can just use all of the same strategies that I already outlined above in this cheat sheet in the early stages of a tournament because the stack sizes are basically the exact same as a cash game.

However, by the middle stages of a Texas Hold'em poker tournament, the stacks are often 50bb or less. This means that you have to tighten up your ranges a bit.

You can't be playing a lot of suited connectors or suited aces for example anymore:

J♥T♥
A♣6♣

And the reason for this is that any time the stacks are shallow in Texas Hold'em, your implied odds go down, big time.

And what this means in plain English is that you can't fish around with speculative hands like this anymore, because the potential payoff just isn't there anymore.

It is better instead to stick to stronger hands like:

K♥Q♣
9♦9♣
A♦J♥

As these hands have a better chance of either making a strong top pair or even winning at showdown unimproved.

Bubble Tournament Poker Cheat Sheet

The "bubble" in a Texas Hold'em poker tournament is when the last few people (who won't get anything), are being eliminated.

Therefore, the play slows down tremendously as people sometimes stall and basically play extremely tight in order to try and make it "into the money."

So that is why this is a perfect opportunity to abuse the bubble in a poker tournament and make a lot of shoves with decent hands like:

A♠T♣
K♦J♠

Especially if it is folded to you in late position (button or the cutoff).

It is extremely important that you check who is in the blinds first though. You don't want to be shoving light if one of the big stacks (50bb or more) happens to be there.

You want to instead shove all-in versus the shorter stacks (especially the medium sized ones ~20bb). The reason why is because these guys are folding everything but AA or KK trying to make it into the money.

You this means that you can often profitably get away with shoving their blinds with a much, much lighter range.

Hands as weak as:

Q♦9♦
K♠4♠

Because if they literally are only going to call you less than 5% of the time, you can make an absolute killing by stealing their blinds again and again.

Daniel Negreanu actually talks about this at length in his new Masterclass poker training.

He discusses how he has won many poker tournaments by building a big stack during the bubble by shoving on all the medium sized stacks who were too afraid to call.

It's a brilliant tournament poker strategy and I highly recommend it!

Final Table Tournament Poker Cheat Sheet

Ah the final table in a Texas Hold'em poker tournament, this is where dreams are made! This is usually the final 9 players still remaining in the tournament.

This is where a little known amateur named Chris Moneymaker for example won $2.5 million USD at the WSOP in 2003 to kick off a worldwide poker boom!

So if you have made it this far in a poker tournament, congratulations. But please study this part of the my poker tournament cheat sheet the most closely.

Because the difference between 9th place and 1st place can often be thousands of even millions of dollars!

Therefore, it is extremely important that you approach the final table with a winner's mentality and not "just happy to be here" like everybody else.

This is the time to go for the jugular, take chances and play like a beast.

The first thing to remember about the Final Table in a Texas Hold'em poker tournament is that most people will come into it with a short stack.

That is, they will have a stack size between 10bb-50bb.

This will change the nature of the way the game is played. Just like I mentioned before, you can't be playing all sorts of speculative hands like:

4♠4♥
8♥9♥

And this is because when the stacks are shorter like this, most of the action will take place preflop and on the flop.

In other words, there is very little postflop play on the turn and the river.

This means that you mostly want to only play strong hands like:

A♣Q♠
T♠T♦

That have a strong chance of making a good top pair or winning the hand unimproved in the case of a pocket pair.

Now with all of that said, like I mentioned before, there is typically a vast difference in prize money between 9th place and 1st place.

There is an entire theory behind this called ICM poker strategy (independent chip model), which I have discussed in detail before.

But basically, like I just mentioned, you must play to win. So this is why my main advice for you in this tournament poker cheat sheet is to go for it at the final table.

You need to be aggressive and you need to take chances. If you just sit there waiting for pocket AA like everybody else, then you are going to get blinded out and finish in 8th or 9th.

The Final Table is when poker champions are born. This is where you need to unleash that inner poker beast and make it your mission to absolutely dominate the Final Table.

So whenever I make it to the final table I will be shoving preflop (especially in late position), with most reasonable strength hands:

A♦9♠♥
K♣T♠
6♥6♣

And so on.

If I know somebody is playing extra cautious and has come to the Final Table to play it passive and wait for AA or KK, then I will be attacking them non-stop with even weaker hands than this.

You get the idea. I am not there to be a spectator like everybody else. I am there to win.

Basically, if you want to win a poker tournament, then you must be brave. You must have no fear. You need to play for 1st place money!

Final Thoughts

The poker strategies in this article and the Texas Holdem cheat sheet is extremely basic for the most part, and they were meant to be so.

There is tons of advanced poker training available these days to help you learn the elite strategies to crush good players once you start moving up.

But the reason why I kept it simple in this article is because if you follow the advice that I outlined above in the lowest stakes games, then you will turn a profit over the long term, guaranteed.

And that's the whole point. To get you turning a profit right now, no matter how unimpressive the results are. Winning is simply winning.

Some might complain that the advice above will have you playing too tight and it will be "boring." Well, I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news but winning poker was never meant to be fun or exciting all the time!

It requires discipline and dedication to the fundamentals no matter what. This is what winners do. And this is how I made a career out of this game and travel the world.

Now of course there is a lot more deeper level strategy that you need to know especially if you want to truly crush these stakes and move up to the higher limits.

So that is why I have actually put together a free poker strategy guide with my complete strategy on how I have crushed the micro stakes for the higher winnings in online poker history.

You can download my free poker cheat sheet right here.



Let me know your thoughts on this poker cheat sheet in the comments below! What poker strategies do you use in Texas Hold'em poker games?

Lastly, if you found this poker cheat sheet helpful do me a quick favor and hit that "Like" or "Tweet" button below. Thanks!