Evaluate your cards

The first decision you make in Texas Holdem poker is how good your cards are. When you look at your cards, be careful not to reveal anything with your reaction. How do you know if your cards are good? A general rule is that you should seriously consider folding before the flop if you have two non-pair cards, both less than 10.

Discipline yourself

No skills matter if you do not have the capability to follow through. If you know you should not tilt, but tilt anyway, you suck at discipline as well as at playing poker. What is self-discipline? Self-discipline is the ability to control yourself. Work hard on your self-discipline even if it is difficult at first. Here are four winning principles of self-discipline: set yourself a goal, have a strong desire to achieve the goal, persevere in spite of failure and take things one step at a time.

Unplayable Cards

This includes suited cards that can not flop a straight. Both ends of a straight such as 9 5 fall into this very weak category.

Play low pairs

Start from 66 down to 22. Participate not from an early seat and from the late positions, play only when the price is right. If you do not flop a set or quads you should usually fold.

Do not fall in love!

Even though two aces is the best hand to start with, the board may kill them. If you suspect that all the other players now have better cards, you are probably right. Learn to drop them, or it will cost you.

It is all about the odds

Do not play against impossible odds! If there is just one card in the entire deck that helps your hand, well then you loose 51 out of 52 times.

Play Tight

To win at Texas Holdem poker you must play tight in loose games and play in loose games only. You have no edge in a tight holdem game and you only have an edge in a loose game if you play tight. If your holdem game gets too tight, find a better game or do not play at all. Play tight. Play tight in loose games. Play in loose games only.

Bluff

You can bluff once in a while. It is a way to vary your play and not be too predictable. You win pots that you do not deserve when your bluff works. You lose a few chips when it does not work, but it will get you calls from weaker hands down the line when you have a strong hand and need the action.

Pay Attention to Your Opponents

Study your opponents, especially when you are not playing hands and can pay careful attention. Do they find more hands to play than they fold? Do they bluff? Can you trick them? Do they have any "tells" that disclose information about their hands?