Poker Tips
Here are some poker tips for playing texas holdem online:
Poker tip # 1, firstly do not automatically assume the odds of 'hitting' cards online is the same as in live games. It is mathamatically impossible to create a 100% random card generating program. Although they try hard this is the most important poker tip you can get online. Expect suckouts and lots of them.
With that in mind poker tip # 2 is play your big hands strong. Don't be afraid to reraise or 3 bet. It is better to win a smaller pot than lose a big one. Make any callers pay for each card as long as you feel you still have the best hand. Don't be afraid of making a pot sized bet as online people will call you more often than not. And if you feel somebody hit and now has a better hand than you there is no shame in folding. People who can't fold always lose in the long run.
Poker tip # 3. There is no shame in being bluffed off of a strong hand. If you can't be bluffed you will be playing hands way more often than you should be. This again translates into a losing player.
Poker tip # 4. Watch the tendancies of other players at your table. Just like in live games you can learn your opponent. Some players tend to bluff more. Others may always raise from the button or from the small blind if there are no raises before them. All these little things are 'reads' or 'tells' you can pick up on. Add them to your notes on a player.
Poker tip # 5. Keep notes on players. Almost every poker room offers you the ability to keep notes. Write in what you learn from other players play. This is information that you simply can't store in your head. There is too much you can forget because you will be playing a lot of different players over time.
Poker tip # 6. In real money games (ring games), never sit down with your full bankroll. 10% of your bankroll at most should be the maximum you sit down with. This way if you lose you can reload.
Poker tip # 7. Patience is one of the biggest keys to playing good and winning poker. If you lack patience, play multiple tables or open a game of solitaire, something, anything! Your main focus must remain on the game but at the same time do whatever it takes to keep yourself patient. Otherwise you'll find yourself being burned more often than not.
Poker tip # 8. Avoid sitting at a table where the big stacks are on your left. Bigger stacks have a tendancy to reraise more often and make your decisions more difficult as well as making you possibly commit more to the pot because you wanted to see a flop with your hand. When they are seated on your right they play before you the majority of the time enabling you to possibly 'limp' into hands more often.
Poker tip # 9. Scouting out a table (watching) before you take a seat can help you get a feel for how this particular group are playing. If you don't feel it is a good match for your style select another poker table. Don't sit at a table where you feel you may be over matched or the play may be so slow you can't focus on the game.
Poker tip # 10. If you are ahead at a table but things are starting to go against you, this may be a good time to leave. Your game could have become predictible to others or maybe your luck just changed for the worse. Either way it's never a bad idea to take profit whenever you can. You can try another table or maybe just take a short break. There will always be more games to play online.
A few Poker Tips for Playing in Texas Holdem Tournaments
There are basically 4 types of poker tournaments online. Freezeouts, rebuys, bounty and sit n' go's. Rebuys mean exactly that. If you lose all your chips you can simply rebuy and get a new starting stack. In rebuys you can take a little more risk early on. The rebuy period usually lasts for the first hour. If you can build a larger stack during this time it will give you a slight advantage moving forward. This doesn't mean playing very loose or stupid though. It simply means you can take a little more risk than you normally might.
Freezeouts are, lose your chips and you're out tournaments. Some people play these overly aggressive early on. These are the people to watch for as they play a wider range of hands trying to build their chip stacks quickly. They can be good targets to win chips from. Overall my best tip for playing in these type of tournaments is play the opposite of how most at your table are playing. If the table is lose you play tight and if the table is tight you play loose.
I hope these poker tips help you improve your game.