Online Poker Tips
Though some of poker is luck of the draw, know-how and strategy will absolutely increase your chances of victory. It is important to use every advantage available to become the best poker player you can be. Leveraging a few tools and best practices can go a long way to improving your chances of success:
- Read everything you can about strategies and play styles from established players.
- Utilize hand and play tracking software.
- Experiment while playing low limit betting formats from a smaller bankroll.
- Analyse and learn from the tracking software as you increase your bankroll and limit amounts.
Top 10 Tips For Online Poker
1. Turn the odds in your favour
Know your maths. Poker is essentially a number-crunching game so you need to be able to calculate your “outs†to determine the likelihood that you’ll make the hand you want.
2. Choose your battles
Play tight and aggressive. Choose the hands worth playing and you’ll be ahead of your opponent before the flop.
3. Know your enemy
Make sure you know the players. If they are overly aggressive, let them make their own mistakes and don’t get dragged into the ego game. If not, they will raise you on really good hands.
4. Keep your cool
Poker can be frustrating so it’s important that even when the chips are down, you rise above and remember that it’s still a game of luck.
5. Review and renew
Poker has a lot of luck involved so get a decent sample size of your hands and review them.
6. Turn up the volume
Play as many hands as you can, as often as you can to give yourself the best chance at learning all you can learn.
7. Money for nothing
Many great players build a bankroll from free-roll tournaments. They attract tons of fish so it’s a great place to start.
8. Good sites
Only play at reputable sites that are trusted, safe and secure.
9. Good things come to those who wait
The road is long, as they say. Good players are patient and patience is a virtue. You could go hours without a good hand or a win, you just need to persevere.
10. Manage your money
Manage your money. You can lose tens of thousands in a spell of bad luck so it’s important to cover these dry spells with your bankroll.
Literature
A great source of information, strategy, tips, tricks, and more can be found in the following popular poker literature:
- Getting Started in Hold’Em by Ed Miller
- Killer Poker: Strategy and Tactics for Winning Poker Play by John Vorhaus
- Internet Poker: How to Play and Beat Online Poker Games by Lou Krieger, Watterson
- Winning Low Limit Hold’Em by Lee Jones
- Online Ace: A World Series of Poker Champion's Guide to Mastering Internet Poker by Scott Fischman
Start by trying to understand the core concepts instructed by these books. Don't be afraid to re-read chapters to make sure you've absorbed the information. Some important basics to get a firm grasp of include:
- Betting Strategies
- Relative values of given hands
- Aggressive and Passive Styles of Play
Different authors may give contradicting strategy information. It is important to remember that there are many strategies that people have been successful with. As you grow in experience you will develop your own strategies. Feel free to abandon reading lessons and follow your instincts as you grow in skill.
Software
Several firms offer help software to the online poker player, the most popular being Poker Tracker. This software offers helpful tracking information and detailed records of your play. By using this software, you can learn common trends in your play style and choose the more successful strategies.
Playing Texas Hold'em and Other High Stakes Card Games
It's now time to play the game. Start out at a low buy-in table to get your feet wet. Try to employ some of the basic strategies you've learned to start out. Set a hand or time limit for yourself to stop playing.
When the play session is over, go over it with the Poker Tracker or other software. Consider some of the following questions:
- What strategies worked the best for you?
- Why did your strategies succeed?
- Why did your strategies fail?
- Did you do well in terms of profit?
- Did you do well in terms of what you've learned?
Every game you play can be a positive gambling experience, whether you walk away with more money or having learned something. Always take what you can in this regard from every game. Do your best to take what you've learned and adjust your playing accordingly.
Now that you've gained a little experience, now is the best time to raise your bankroll with sign-up bonuses.Online poker sites offer a wide variety of sign-up bonuses that can suit a player of any means, so consider how much money you are ready to put up for the bankroll yourself. By taking this into account now, you can get the most out of your hard earned pounds.
Take a look at our UK poker site reviews page for a handy list of the bonuses offered by different poker sites. Always consider the qualifying limitations assigned to any given bonus before making your decision.
