We can’t even tell you how many beginners make the mistake of playing loose with all of their hands. Of course you’ll win some, but mostly that’s because the good players are too smart to play with you. If you want to become one of the good players, you need to learn how to avoid those beginner mistakes and really learn the ways of the game to improve your online poker skills. That’s why we’re offering helpful tips and guides to help you become the best poker player you can be.
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Improving your Poker Skills
Poker is a game of skill. Sure there are the lucky guys who play fast and loose with their money and see short-term success, but if they continued playing that way, they’d end up losing a lot more than they bargained for, often their entire bankroll and more. That’s why you need to master a good playing strategy, we recommend playing tight rather than loose, but even before that you should start with studying strategy by position. This is easy to do online since everything is automated and you’ll be given instruction on big blind, small blind, minimum bet and overall position. This is amazingly helpful if you’re a beginner since you can start right away playing.
Practice Makes Perfect
At first we suggest playing in free money games online at first just to get the hang of things, but it’s important to remember as you’re playing to treat the money as if it were real money. And even better than the free fames with play money are the free rolls which give you great experience playing online tournaments at no cost to you. No cost for buy-ins or bets and you have the chance to win real money. Just ask Annette Obrestad, the Norwegian player who rose to fame playing free rolls from her home computer at the ripe old age of 15 years old. Speaking of Obrestad, anyone can take a lesson from the girl who won an entire online poker tournament by playing by position and never looking at her hole cards. Talk about mastering strategy.
Starting off playing online poker can be fun, but it can also be stressful if you’re unprepared for the challenge. Once you start playing, you will not only compete with other beginners, but professional players as well. Keep in mind that some of these people are playing online poker for a living, spending up to 10 hours a day playing it, so don’t feel down if you realize that you’re not doing as great as you expected. Kicking your friends’ butts is one thing, but the world of online poker is a completely different thing. To make things easier for you, we’ve got you some cool tips and tricks that can improve your games, but be prepared for days and days of practice and nerve wrecking games until you see some real results.
Keep your emotions at bay
It’s fairly easy to get over emotional while playing poker. Who could blame you? There’s the heat of the game, your ego (especially the “macho” moment if you’re a guy playing against other guys), money at the stake…That’s why most beginners make this mistake and lose their head in the middle of the game. Remember that getting emotional will lead you nowhere, and there’s no place for passion if you’re serious about winning some cash. You need a cool head and the ability to focus and analyze your opponents, waiting for crucial signs and playing smart. If you catch yourself getting irritated or still thinking about the previous game, take a break and cool down.
You need to learn and practice
If there’s one thing we keep hearing from fresh players, it’s “I’m a natural”, and there’s nothing more annoying than this statement. Although you might be talented for poker, that makes just one tiny bit of the whole picture. Even the most talented of athletes have to sweat their way to success with hard practice, and online poker is no different than any other sport. There is a whole lot of literature on online poker as well as online sources and forums where you can learn a lot of useful stuff. Of course, pro players will always keep their little secrets to themselves, but getting informed and learning about poker strategy is essential.
Focus on the players, not cards
There’s an old poker saying that goes something like “play the players, not the cards”, and it’s one wise piece of advice you should stick to. Many beginners’ focus on their hand too much, missing the whole picture and their opponents’ moves. Carefully observe your opponents, try to find a pattern in their behavior and predict their moves, attacking them when they least expect it. Even if you don’t get a great hand, you can bluff your way out of it if you break the pattern in your opponent’s moves and predict whether they would fall for the bluff or not. Remember that it’s all about the right moves as you’ll rarely get a winning hand that guarantees you 100% success.