These are the 8 basic steps you should follow carefully to make money playing poker, which will give you a head start to making great money whether it’s online poker or at the casino.
First of all, as easy as it may sound, you are going to have to study quite a bit of Fundamental Strategy before you even sit down at a Poker Table, this is because no one can actually predict what cards are going to come out and what cards are going to stay.
You should assess your risk, so that you know how much you are willing to potentially lose, or even if you know that you have a really good hand, you should know that you may not be playing the best hand. You should ask yourself “Is this the hand I want to go all in with?”. If you don’t feel confident in doing so, either don’t play, or change your table if suitable, or increase your wager on a good hand.
As I said, you should practise playing before you sit down at the table, but you shouldn’t be doing this in an online poker room. You should either be playing from home, or have somewhere quiet to sit down and rest, if the poker falls into your line of sight.
No matter how confident you are, if the poker tournament starts and falls in to your line of sight, you should fold. Don’t be tempted to stay if you think there may be a chance you could win, but if it’s a blind game you have no such confidence, and fold before you are blinded out.
When making your decision whether to call, raise, or fold, you should be extremely focused on the Magnitude of your hand as well as that of your opponents, and not lose sight of the cards on the table. If you don’t see those cards as they are being played, you will be hard-pressed to make the best decision.
Playing the best game possible means playing the table. Watch a few tables you are not comfortable with, or play with a different set of people than you would otherwise have played with.
The decision of whether to call or raise, or whether to fold should be based on the cards you have. If you have a good hand, you should always raise. You also want to know that if you are re-raised, you will have to seriously consider your position before deciding.
If you have a poker pair, you should almost always raise to try to get more money into the pot, since your opponents will likely sense a weaker pair. If you have two or three suited cards, you should limp in if nobody else has. Suited cards are the best cards available to you, when someone raises, your chances of getting a flush are much higher than if you were playing unsuited cards.
As the blinds increase, it is wiser to play tighter, and bluff less if everyone is playing tight. When there are two players in the hand, you should be more aggressive, since in three-handed games, you have more chance of winning.
As the blinds go up, you need to start playing more hands, and bluff less to get a larger share of the pot. When you do get a good hand, it is advisable to try to flop a big hand, like a high pair onto a board of tens or lower. Be bold, and you will get respect.
And finally, if you’re in late position and nobody has raised the pot pre-flop, you should do the same as you would if you were in early position, only that you’re in late position. That is; you should play with a smaller hand than you would if you were in early position. That’s because you have more players behind you, and more players who could call a strong three bet.
As mentioned in the beginning, these are the basics of online poker. Play responsibly and with internet poker you will soon discover that the skills you learned in the casino don’t have to be learned in the poker room. In fact, you can learn many new skills and improve your existing skills in the practice mode, or in free poker rooms.
To find the most appropriate practice MPO500 rooms, check the craps strategy section on our website. We’ll answer all of your questions about online poker in general, and tell you which rooms to choose exclusively for practicing online poker strategy.