Ive been playing quite a bit this year and my wife misses me. So she wants to come play with me this weekend. Shes played in this card room several times before. Twice she won a few hundred playing 1-2. One time she played so solid, people were overfolding to her; it was a joy to watch. And another time she got rivered/stacked in a huge pot defending AA. That was the last time she came with.

She has a basic understanding of pot odds, equity, position and ranges but is not well versed in hand reading, GTO concepts, exploitative play etc. I generally try to give her a few good tips before we go play but she tends to not want to be bothered. We were on a cruise about a year ago and decided to play a tourney. I told her to play tight through the first few levels and she folded a royal draw with 2 all ins on the flop. I dont have exact details cus I was at a different table but it came on the river and she would have been a chip leader. So part of it might be that.

Shes a smart girl, degree in neuroscience, getting masters. Is like 10x better at high level math than I am. I just want her to succeed. I want her to play well and ultimately have fun. I understand that she will ofc lose sometimes and that is inevitable but shes just not as into poker as I am so I dont want to take the fun out of it or give her confusing advice.

What would your top 5 tips be for a 1-2 beginner?

1) if you're playing 1/2 you do not need to concern yourself with GTO concepts
2) if you're playing 1/2 you do not need to concern yourself with GTO concepts

Sounds like she doesn't want tips and just wants to get some play time in and have fun. The play time will be her teacher. At 1/2 she can just play ABC poker.

Just save yourself the trouble and just play some less poker.

MOST players at those stakes just want to have a good time. They do NOT want to be bothered with minutia, which includes all the GTO stuff that is lost on cheezburger stakes.

Top tip, if you want her to remain your wife, would be to just let her do her thing. If she decides that she wants to move to a different level, then she will ask. Until then, don't push it.

1. If you are a recreational player, avoid the advice of overbearing friends who want to beat you down with concepts that do not apply to the game you are playing
2. Play to have fun, and don't fret over mistakes
3. Don't share hand histories with friends who are going to beat you down for making a possibly correct fold just because the board would have run out and hit your hand
4. Play because you want to play, not because someone is trying to get you to enjoy their hobbies
5. Don't listen to unsolicited advice. if you ahve a question, ask it. but if you are getting a ton of advice on how to play, just ignore it and have fun. You will learn, or not, based on your desire.

1) The strength of your hand depends on board texture.

Often in 1/2, there are players who think, "Oh boy I have two pair!" with bottom two-pair on a paired board. Or just last night, a guy shipped it to me (and another player) with a straight when there were trips on the board, and he really thought he was betting for value.

2) Don't try to put people on a single hand. Instead, narrow it down to a range of possible hands.

3) Ignore all tips/advice/criticism/whining from live 1/2 players (and 1/3 and 2/5 and probably higher).

JoseJohnnyJimJack +1 to this post. Time will be your wife's teacher. Let her relax and have fun. Not everyone needs to play to make the most money.

If she ever starts asking you questions about strategy, then that is your cue to share some of your knowledge. But not before then. Let her do her own thing for a while.

She may enjoy playing local tournaments more than cash games. Tournaments seem to attract more recreational players for fun and there is less pressure to "win" and losses are already limited by the buyin.

Hi OP,

I'm not much past a beginner and the five things I found easiest to grasp and most helpful early on were:

1. Starting hands chart
2. The importance of position
3. How to work out "outs" and the rule of 4 and 2
4. Why limping sucks
5. Calculating basic pot odds

Good luck with the teaching. My wife is convinced the chance of any two cards winning is 50:50 because either you will..........or you won't.

Cheers

dont go on tilt

Assign this homework for her: every session she has to articulate to you two interesting hands of her choosing. What position she was in, what she had, what each player did, board, results, everything. If she doesn't remember a specific card but it doesn't matter, have her make one up. She probably will want to take notes. Likewise you do the same, and after the session you tell your stoes and talk about the hands.

The reason I say this is because there really is nothing you can teach her post-flop if she cannot remember what has already happened in the hand. For example, if you make a straight on the river but also the back-door flush got there and someone bets into you, its a huge difference if he's been betting the whole way, or just calling and now bets.

Once she can to this easily, then you can talk strategy in detail. And even if you never teach anything, she's already a better player.

-Louie

If she doesn’t want tips, don’t hassle her with tips. It doesn’t matter how she plays if she plays for fun and you guys have the budget for it.