We now turn our attention to poker strategy and all of the ways we can improve our approach when looking to play games of online poker. This poker strategy guide will provide you with the TOP 10 tips to help you better your game and share specific strategical options regarding unique poker games online.
Introduction to Strategies
Poker is a game that is loved globally by millions of card game enthusiasts. The game comes in many different variants and can be played as a virtual format or experienced as a live game that can see you take the dealer on and play to multiplayer tables. The plan of this guide is to better position you as a player within both of these gaming styles and help you to gain a healthy profit in the meantime.
What is poker strategy? Strategy covers a number of areas, not solely focusing on just providing winning, but also saving money in the process in the grand scheme of playing casino games online.
- Boost your winning ratio.
- Cut unnecessary spending.
- Turning fortunes with soft hands.
- Aggressive play.
- Tournament awareness.
These are just some of the examples of how strategies can play a role in different scenarios from gaming, approach and finances.
Best Strategies to use Online: Top 10 Tips
We have formulated ten top tips for players to use, covering a wide range of subjects all relevant to the game of poker.
Before taking any of these strategies on, we advise players to learn the rules of the game and to become familiar with different variants and styles that the game comes in. We touch more on this later in the guide, as practice itself is the most important of all strategies when it comes to any online casino game.
Tip #1: Low-Stakes Poker
The variants of the game that offer low stakes are the first real money game all players should focus on firstly. There are many low-stake games that are accessible and to become a solid player, you should develop a level of skill that allows you to handle low bankrolls to try and gain maximum profit.
This style of nuance play can then progress through the wagering levels. By starting low you reduce unnecessary stress due to costs attributed to the bets you make.
A key element to playing like this is that it allows for mistakes to be made with the most minimal impact possible on your expendable balance. This helps you as a player to not feel overwhelmed by the rules of the game or by any bad luck or misfortune whilst playing.
Many of the mistakes made by new players, is to focus too much on the money and not enough time focusing on how to control the money they have and making themselves better players.
Tip #2: Adjusting to Online Gaming
There are so many online guides out there that all profess to helping players play poker online, yet all the tactics, tips and words of advice are never actually suited to online games. Many of the projected strategies given by such articles are really focused on land-based games, totally different scenario and dynamic to what is offered by the casinos online.
Playing live table and card games is as close to real as you will experience with the Internet, but it doesn’t provide the same strategical opportunities. The number of times we have discovered card counting is extraordinary, more so because you absolutely cannot card count online because the shoes and decks are replaced frequently, and no-one knows how many decks are involved.
Yes, no one will know you are trying to count cards, but as you will see within a few games, it is a fruitless task and poor online guides are ill-informing players that it is possible. Online gameplay is a whole new field of challenges to overcome.
Tip #3: Single Tables
At any stage of learning, the idea you’re missing out on something better is understandable. Fear not, casinos are going nowhere and there will always be money there to win. You will have the joys of multiplayer games and tournaments all in good time.
At this point in learning, you must adapt your approach and focus on solo games. Multiplayer games and tournaments are indeed very tempting and lively options, but if you are not experienced enough, you may find that your bankroll depletes faster than you can count to ten.
Tip #4: Focus is Golden
When you play poker online, be sure that your environment is suited. Yes, you can play from your mobile, but be sure you have a 100% Wi-Fi connection. Make sure there are no distractions and that you have the time to play and are not rushing bets because you have to get off a train, make it back into work or get interrupted by any other source.
Rushing games only leads to bad decisions, silence is golden for a reason, so full focus on the task at hand is rewarded with clarity on the bets you make and how you opt to raise or fold.
The key around all of this is to develop an attitude towards how seriously you take online gaming. You should dedicate the right time to playing, at the right point in the day so focus isn’t lost. If, for example, you play after work and your day wasn’t so good, you may find yourself chasing a win more to compensate for the day you had, and this is not a wise approach overall.
Tip #5: Professional Approach
It is all about routine and playing poker with a sense of pride. Your set up must be immaculate to provide the best places to play and the right comfort.
Many professional players will tell you that “Unless you play like you are serious about winning, then your seriously unlikely to win otherwise”: Greg Mylan, a four-times online tournament poker player with a $2.3 million win total.
It ranges from playing in the right chair to having the right software and hardware to play on. Players go as far as meditation to improve their focus and in live tournaments be able to start within the game and not to become a spectator.
Tip #6: Long Term Gaming
Poker, like many other classic casino games, are not about landing a big bulk win from one game and then walking off into the sunset. These areas of play are all about the slow progression of profit. Again, you want to bet smart, not to high and stay in the games for as long as possible.
This goes for both the live dealer option and those in the virtual machine realm. Patience is key and should also fall in line with the necessity to play with self-management skills that allow you to control how you play and how you wager your bets in the game.
Tip #7: Reality of Online Games
For all the players that are gaming and betting right now on the virtual machines they play, not many if any will know how they are made. You have to remember that in the online realm of casinos, virtual games are programmed.
Live gaming is fine, in these streaming services the games are played using real and regulated equipment, so winning is purely determined by luck and skill alone.
With virtual games, the programming diminishes the need for skill and purely becomes a case of luck.
Many virtual games are striped basics to how they actually play with a dealer, so be aware of the tools you’re handling to help you win real money back.
Tip #8: Bonuses
For this, you need to recognise that bonuses are handy tools that will help you to preserve the money you bet and the money you deposit.
There are many bonuses online that will assist you in playing games for longer periods of time. Promotional offers are given out to players on regular occasions, either from the online casinos own promotional deals or through loyalty rewards.
The two main bonus allowances you can claim are extra monetary credits and free spins. The free spins are not just attributed to slots, they are also eligible for virtual card games and video poker machines. With free cash credit, you can use the funds across all gaming areas.
Here are some bonuses to look for and take advantage of.
- Welcome bonuses
- Free spins
- No deposit bonuses
- Loyalty rewards
- VIP rewards
- Matched deposit bonuses
Tip #9: Profitable Games
When it comes to this subject, it may seem odd, given that all games payout. Now, this is true, all games will payout, but this is all about the frequency to which these games do payout. When looking at virtual slots, their programming changes from software developer to software developer. The term volatility is common amongst casino games, this is the level of risk games are built with.
As an example, one gaming provider may decide they will make their games easy to win on, but only if you play low wagers, however, the likelihood of gaining a worthy profit is low. Then you will have a developer making their games harder to win, less frequent, but when you do the return is higher.
This is somewhat like the Goldie-Locks effect. You need to find the games that are just right, frequent wins with moderate payouts and being able to make a profit.
Tip #10: Play Responsibly
Yes, this may be the latest buzzword in the industry to encourage responsible gambling, but it is essential to success. Responsible play is part of your self-management approach, and the key is to play within your means. Overdo it and with no focus, then it may be some time before you can play again should your funds diminish.
Poker is a game that must be played with patience, you shouldn’t aim for the big win too quickly.
Online Poker Tournament Strategy
What is online poker tournament strategy? Well, like many other guides on the Internet will explain how to cope with actual ‘real’ land-based tournaments, the focus of this strategy is about how you deal with online tournaments and this is the only guide that plays it straight when it comes to this feature.
Let’s highlight some facts and quash some myths regarding poker strategies associated with tournament play online:
- You will not be able to card count. Online decks are regularly changed throughout play.
- There is no seating advantage like many believe you get in a land-based game.
- Yes, there will be weaker players online than you, this is about calculating where they will play, so most likely at low-stakes multiplayer tables.
- Many tournaments are based on profit margins, the larger the profit, the more likely you will move onto the next round. the key is, therefore, not to be too greedy and pay attention to losses more so than the gains.
- 90% of play is going to be luck in a tournament environment online. This is an environment with no poker-faces, no sly angles to read player’s cards or an ability to read body language. This almost becomes an even playing field where luck will predominately dictate the winner. Use the tips mentioned before to help you, as by reading this guide, you will have already gained an upper hand over those that were too keen to play, rather than keen to learn.
Online Poker Strategy Guide
Adding to this strategy guide, we look at the top two common variants that are played online and expose the strategies for each game to help you when sat at the table facing the cards you’ve been dealt.
Basic Poker Strategy Texas Hold'Em
Here are the top 5 Texas Hold'Em poker strategy tips:
- Make sure that your opening hand allows you to win money regardless.
- Judge your betting at the table to remain in the game longer.
- Avoid limping
- Only fold at the right points to boost profits.
- Always have a higher profit margin over opponents.
Omaha Poker Strategy
Here is the basic online poker strategy for Omaha:
- Only focus on what you know about the cards shown.
- A pair of Aces isn’t always a good hand to hold onto.
- Do not use any Texas Hold ‘Em strategies, though the games are similar.
- Focus on smaller hands that trying to gain bigger ones.
- If you have a solid hand at the start, see it through
Practice: The Simple Poker Strategy that’s Most Effective
The ultimate strategy when learning how to win at poker is, of course, the simplest one – Practice! For every strategy on how to win at poker out there, the core of it comes down to knowing the game inside out.
Though the most effective, it is also the most basic poker strategy going and it offers more than one way of learning the game and analysing the necessities to make you a great player.
When it comes to practice, you do not need to concern yourself with thoughts of performing Semi-Bluff moves and knowing about Right Hands. The game theory is simple, access free demo games and with them, you can practice and learn of the following:
- Rules
- Card hand ranking
- Profitable gaming
- Wagering strategy
- Self-management
- Budgeting
- Skill development
- Experiencing real money games free
These are all your core strategies in one place. Basic, simple and the rewards of practice payoff!
FAQ: Answering the Top Poker Strategy Questions
How do you win at poker?
Regardless of playing the game live or as a virtual machine, whether you play ‘normal’ poker or a variant of poker the law and rule of winning is simple – Have a better hand than your dealer or opponents.
What is the best strategy for poker?
It is and always will be the strategy of practice, it is the foundation of every online strategy, and it is the most basic. Every player has access to real money demo games for free. From these games, you can learn so much. 1. Profitable games 2. The rules 3. Understanding the ranking of hands 4. Self-management 5. Budgeting
How to improve my poker skills?
Improving yourself as a player is all relevant to improving your gaming skills. You can learn more and better your game by knowing how to play lower-stakes games, far more than medium or high-stakes because you’ll be in the game longer to improve your ways of betting, how you budget and getting familiar to how the games play in the online casino.
According to poker strategy, when should you bluff?
Only bluff when you are confident your opponent in the game is likely to fold. This comes down to body language and how they approach each bet. This strategy, however, it’s completely redundant for online casino games as you are unable to bluff anything when you cannot see other players inside the multiplayer games.
Does it matter which poker strategy we use?
Use all the strategies where you find that they are relevant to use. Remember, our guide is solely for online casinos. There are many guides online that only discuss land-based strategies and both are entirely different, with perhaps the exception of self-management and practice.
How do I know that my strategy is good?
The calculation for success is simple. Your profit margins will denote how much you have wagered and how much you have gained. As long as your overall gains outweigh the money spent, it’s a good indicator that the strategy you are using is working.
