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Wallpaper your room with this, tattoo your body with it, walk around repeating it until you can recite it by heart and the men in the white coats are coming after you...
If you get these basics down, you'll be well on your way to becoming a winning poker player!
- Don't be a calling station: raise! Punish timid players!
- A raise thins out the field and often forces opponents to fold - and if you're holding something you think is worth playing, then prove it... aggression wins!
- Once you get the cards you've been waiting for, play them aggressively! You have folded a lot of cards to get that pair of Kings, so squeeze every cent you can out of them. If you have the best hand, bet it and force the weak players out. Poker is a perverse game - if you slow play those aces, allowing someone to stay in cheaply, the player opposite with 7-2 offsuit can end up flopping two pair or a full house. It's much better to pick up the blinds or antes, than to throw a ton of chips into the pot on the turn or river, only to lose to a miracle draw from someone who would have folded if you had played aggressively before the flop.
- Make them pay to play! Make your opponents cringe when the action comes to you, knowing they are going to be forced to put more money into the pot while they pray for their miracle card!
- Every rule has an exception: if you've got the nuts (the best possible hand) you can afford to let others limp along, getting a few good cards that will entice them to stay and call you on the last couple of expensive "streets." But do not overestimate the strength of your hand and allow people to limp in and beat you on the river!
- Always pay attention to your position and the positions of your opponents - it's a huge advantage to be on the dealer button, as you receive much more information, seeing how all your opponents act before you yourself must act.
- If you are on the button, you can sometimes raise with any two cards in an attempt to steal the blinds, for example.
- Equally, being first to act in a betting round can also be an advantage in certain circumstances, for example leading out with a large bet after a raggedy flop to steal the pot.
- An "out" is a card which will probably improve your hand to a winning one.
- After the flop, the chances of hitting the cards you need are : outs x 4 = percentage chance.
- After the turn, the chances of hitting the cards you need are : outs x 2 + 1 = percentage chance.
- Example: you hold A-10 of hearts, the flop comes Ks, 8h, 5h. One opponent bets 5000, everyone folds around to you; it looks like your opponent has made a pair of kings. To beat him you need either an ace or a heart: there are three more aces in the deck and nine more hearts, giving you 12 "outs" - a 48% chance of hitting on the turn and a 25% chance of hitting on the river.
- Calculating your outs enables you to make an informed decision as to whether it's justifiable to stay in a hand.
- Pairs, high cards, suited connectors: pretty much everything else should be folded, at least in a cash game or in the earlier stages of a tournament. Dump 9-2 immediately, for example - it's called the "Montana Banana" for a reason...
- However, you also have to mix up your play a bit and occasionally play weaker hands, to keep your opponents guessing - if you only raise with aces or kings, your opponents will soon pick up on it and fold faster than Superman on laundry day!
- As the blinds increase and the number of opponents decreases you can relax your starting hand requirements: any high cards and unsuited connectors become potentially good hands.
- Observe the plays your opponents make and exploit their habits (e.g. Player X will see the flop 99% of the time with any cards, Player Y is an eternal optimist who will hold out until the river if she can afford to, regardless of whether she previously hit a card or not).
- Never give information for free, don't reveal your hand if everyone folds, keep them guessing. There are exceptions to this: for example, deliberately showing a bluff to an opponent if you think it might knock him off balance and put him on tilt; also, if you occasionally show your good hands it can help to build your table image as a tight player, which you can then later exploit by bluffing or playing weaker hands.
- Don't make the mistake of getting so caught up in your own cards that you fail to observe the actions of the other players. What are their starting hand requirements? Do they bet aggressively or typically call, even with strong hands? Do they ever fold when bluffed? In certain games, these powers of observation will win you serious money.
- If you can't bluff, you can't win.
- "Never bluff a donkey!". You can't bluff someone who doesn't fold - it's easier to bluff a good player than a bad one.
- Hold the line: if you bluff and get called, try a quick continuation bet or re-raise to make your opponents think you have a strong hand - keep the pressure on! Of course, if it looks like your opponent really has something you'll have to back down - fold your cards and wait for another opportunity, there's no shame in a bluff which doesn't work out.
- Don't overdo it - if your opponents figure out that you bluff on every other hand, you're going home broke - guaranteed!
- Size your bets according to the size of your own and your opponents' stacks - where is the pain barrier, where will they give up or how much can you extract from them?
- Chips are not money, they're just ammunition - use them to shoot at your opponents.
- If you think your opponent is on a draw (for example, two hearts arrive on the flop and you are already holding one or two pair) make the next card VERY expensive for him/her. A huge bet in such a situation can destroy the pot odds, making it unprofitable for your opponent to risk calling.
- No matter how good you get, you'll eventually run into a card-magnet... You know the scene, you re-raise all-in with AA pre-flop and a braindead maniac with 8-3 off-suit calls and flops a full house, sending you to the rail. There's not much you can do about it, just scream and swear at the monitor for a while, wish that the fleas of a thousand camels may invest his nether regions - and make a note about the idiot's play, he'll pay you off in future! Don't let it bother you, just stick to your game and make the right decisions - you can always rely on a correct decision, but luck comes and goes. Get your money in while you're ahead and in the long-term you'll be a winner.
- Poker players have a term for when a player is no longeremotionallycapable of playing a good game: it's called tilt. Many things can cause you to go on tilt: fatigue andfrustration to name just a couple. If you feel tired, or you have taken several bad beats and are feeling frustrated, it might be wise to call it a night - at least take a break!You need to have your mind completely sharp and focused at the poker table.
- Table image is important - how do other players perceive you? For example, build for yourself a reputation at your table which tells your opponents: "This player only plays good cards!" This can be easily accomplished by simply playing good cards for a while, as in selecting strict starting hand requirements.The other players should see you throwing away junk cards, and winning with good starting hands.
- Secondly, go easy on the bluffs! If you get the reputation as a bluffer, people will call your bluff 100% of the time, figuring they probably have you beat. Work on getting a reputation as a solid player and then when you do decide to bluff, people will often fold, thinking that the majority of the time, you've got the cards to back it up. This can also work in reverse: if you play a very loose style for a while, losing to solid hands and then finally hit a great hand yourself, your opponents will happily call you.
- We all know the situation: for what seems like hours you've been card-dead, every time you look down you're staring at trash and the sum of your pocket cards doesn't even make it into double digits. Be disciplined and throw them away, wait for an opportunity! If you're getting dangerously short-stacked, pick a spot and push with any two cards, but otherwise don't play trash.
- In the game of poker, patience = money.Patience as a poker virtue simply means waiting on a good starting hand before throwing money into the pot. A good poker player only plays about 20-30% of his dealt hands. This means that at least 70% of the time, you'll be folding your cards and watching someone else walk away with a pot.If thiswaiting provestoo much for you, then seriously consider giving up and playing the slot machines... poker is not for you.
- Starting hand selection is the #1 reason players either win or lose money. Develop a clear set of hands that you will "go in" with - see for example our list of the 20 Best Starting Hands.
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If you're new to online poker we recommend that you don't start playing for real money immediately - use play money until you get used to the software and the speed of the game. Use the freeroll tournaments to gain experience as your confidence and ability grow.
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Later, to help you get moving, we also have micro-limits. Cash games start at $0.01-$0.02, Sit'n'Go tournaments are available with buy-ins starting at just $0.10+$0.02 and multi-table tournaments too, starting at $0.50+$0.05.
In the lobby of the poker software you can list the available games by price by simply clicking on Stakes (cash games) or Buy-in+Fee (tournaments).
Some tables are marked as beginners; only players who have signed up in the last 90 days can join these tables, so experienced players are excluded!
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Do not go into a higher limit game because "your" usual tables are all full. Do not stay in a game where you feel you are the "fish" or the worst player.The ideal situation is a table where you are comfortable with the betting limits, and you believe you're one of the top players sitting there.If you ever get the impression that you're the weak link, do not hesitate to get up and find another table - as the old poker saying goes: "If you can't spot the sucker at a poker table after about twenty minutes - you ARE that sucker!". Wait patiently on a table where you can sit down and begin harvesting chips.
- Study your opponents while you play and make notes on their habits and style of play - this will pay off when you come up against them at a later date. You can store information on players by left-clicking on their name-box (not their avatar) at the table, then typing a note.
- The fact that you should fold about 70% of your starting cards gives you plenty of time to study and observe your opponents. Don't sit back and go to sleep, observe your opponents and use the information gleaned against them when you're involved in a hand with them.
- Once you've digested the basics and can see your hard work starting to pay off, it's time to take it to the next level. Read the books which have been written by the poker legends - there are reasons why these people consistently win millions.
- Here are just a few tips to get you started, you'll find plenty more in the way of printed wisdom with a quick Google search:-
- Doyle Brunson : Super System & Super System 2
- Dan Harrington : Harrington on Hold'em Vol. 1-3
- Barry Greenstein : Ace On The River
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