Strategies: Winning at Online Poker:My first suggestion is to test out the
free tables. There is not a lot of competition on
them and they are a good place to learn the speed of the
game and the overall basic play of the site. Once
you are familiar with the site and the navigation you
are ready to begin playing for real money.
There are many different
types of tables to play here along with types of games. Party Poker offers No Limit Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha
Hi/Lo and 7 Card Stud. We will focus on No Limit
or Pot Limit Texas Holdem. There are many
different types of tables also to play. You can
play tournaments or real money tables. Tournaments
are good when you are beginning because you can only lose
your entrance fee. They start at $5 a tournament
and you can play for an hour. Those usually have
10 players so you get good experience. There are
also multi table tournaments. Those have more than
10 people , usually 100 to 1000 players. The
entrance fee is similar, starting at $10 going up to
$1000, but you can win a lot more money. However,
if looking to make money, I would stay away from these.
They are hard to place in the money and also take a real
long time to play. They can be fun to play if you
have the time and are interested in learning, but they
wont make you the big money unless you happen to get
lucky and win or place in the top few positions. While Texas Holdem is based on skill, there is a LOT of
luck involved. Especially in large tournaments. You can be the best player in the
world, and that
doesn't guarantee you a top spot if you get unlucky on a
draw.
We are going to focus on
Real Money tables. This is where you can make the
most money if you play conservatively and are patient. The best tables to play are the $25 No limit or Pot
limit tables. The Regular limit tables keep you
from making the big win, which is where you will make
you money. Also, try to avoid larger than a $25
table. They have tables up to $200, but the better
players play on the $50 and up tables. You will
make your money off of the less experienced players on
the low limit players. Everyone these days is
learning to play Holdem and there are a lot of
inexperienced players out there and this is where they
start to play.
The name of the game is conservative. You will not make money bluffing people. You will
not make money playing 3-8 offsuit in the long run. Sure, you might make a quick few dollars here and there,
but remember, you are playing for the long run. What you want to do is play only the best 10 to 15
hands. Pretty much, if your lowest card is a 9 or
a 10, then you want to play it, as long as the blinds
are not raised. When you have one of the top 3
hands (AA, AK or KK) we suggest raising slightly. Most of our wins come from getting say KK on the flop,
raising to $1.50 and then someone re raising to $3 or $4
dollars. They feel their hand is strong but odds
are, its not as good as yours. Then you go on top
of his raise and bet $10 or $15. That will either
take him out or get him to go all in. You will
make your money on the big wins. You might lose 40
hands in a row and only be down $5, when you get a pair
of Kings and you can double you money on one hand.
Slow Play
Most people bet big when they have a
good hand. A trick I use sometimes is to slow play
a good hand. Say you are on the blind and you have
5-9 and the flop is 5-7-5. You have 3 of a kind
and probably the best hand. I usually check in
this position. People might think you have nothing
and bet to try to bluff you out or they might have a 7
and think they have the best hand out there. There
always is the possibility someone will catch something
later on and pick up a flush or straight to beat you,
but in the long run, this will win.
Don't chase
If you have something decent, like A-Q
and the flop is J-J-10, I do not suggest chasing
this, looking for a King. When you are looking for
one card, this will not get you money in the long run. The odds are about 9% of hitting this. That means
91% of the time you will lose. If no one bets, you
can place a small bluff to possibly knock people out,
but small is the key word. If someone bets strong,
then fold. There will be many more hands. Don't get suckered into betting with A-K, even if you
have nothing.
Study your Opponents
Another thing we suggest is to watch the
players you are playing against. Do they bet high
off the flop and you later find out they have nothing. Do they only bet once every 15 hands, showing they only
play the best hands? You can learn a lot from
watching how your opponents bet. When someone
takes a long time, they usually don't have the best
hand. If you just bet something and they are real
slow in calling but then eventually do call, then the
next time, you raise your bet. They probably are
chasing something. If a player bets a lot real
quickly, get out. They probably are not bluffing. The bluffing I have seen has players taking a while to
bet, then thinking they will bluff and then eventually
bluffing. That isn't always the case, but in the
long run, it is.
Watch the big stack when he bets. When someone wins a big hand and they get a lot of money
in their account, they get cocky. They will more
likely try to place a larger bet to bluff because they
have the money. Never try to bluff the big stack. They will almost always call.
Pay attention also
to the little stack. If someone is down to $3 or 4
left on the table, the will go all in when they get a
real good hand. They will probably fold all their
marginal hands, just trying to double or triple up.
Multiple Tables
We suggest also playing 2 or 3 tables
at once. One table can get real slow if you are
only playing the top hands. You might only play 1
in 10 hands, so if you play 2 or 3 tables at once, you
can double your profit potential. however, do not
do this if it is too confusing to you. This will
take some time to work up to but the rewards can be
great when you do this.
Final Words
Finally, we'd like to say, good luck
and stay conservative in your play. When you are
the little blind, we suggest almost always calling the
$.25. If there is a raise though, drop. Poker is a game of ups and downs. Some days you will lose. But remember, you are
playing for the long run. Stay conservative, never
chase anything and stay within your limits and we
guarantee this approach WILL make you money.
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