A lot of poker players now play poker online for the same reasons we here at Slots Play Casinos advocate for online casino gaming. Among these reasons are:
- No travel costs.
- A wider selection of games.
- No hassles from other players.
- Better promotions.
In addition, we can add that your opponents cannot see your tells!
How Can an Online Poker Player Win More?
The first tip we offer is to win at the lowest stakes possible. If you win at super low stakes, you can move to a higher stakes level. If you lose at lower stakes, maybe poker is not your game at all! If you still like playing, at least you know that your financial risk is small.
It is actually pretty hard to win consistently at super low stakes since none of the players has a large financial risk. A lot of players will call to the flop and as often as not, the flop helps one of the players.
So, consider yourself to be a much better poker player than you thought you were if you do win consistently at low stakes.
Practice Remembering Cards
In any hand in Texas Hold’em, you will see a small percentage of the cards. In fact, you see only 5 of 50 cards since you know your hole cards and no one else’s. So, in Texas Hold’em, it is easy to remember cards.
In stud poker, it is a lot harder to remember cards. This is a skill that you can practice and master. The ability to remember details quickly will help you in many other areas, especially in business. So, practice remembering cards.
Learn How to Control Your Emotions
There will always be bad beats in poker! This is a fact of poker life. If you channel your inner Hellmuth, you will end up losing a lot more than you should. Phil Hellmuth is such a good poker player when his head is on straight that he can on occasion channel his own inner Hellmuth and come back and win.
No one else can!
There is also a second set of bad beats that no one talks about: the bad beat you suffered because you folded. These hurt even more than a winner on the river. When you lose on the river, you know that you played the hand correctly and you lost to Lady Luck. When you fold and flop what would have been a huge hand, it really hurts.
Here is where controlling your emotions really kicks in. every player has both types of bad beats and, if you want to play poker and win, you have to fight through the emotional roller coaster.
Learn How to Identify Players Who Are Out of Their Element
Some people call these players fish. Here at Slots Play Casinos, we try to be a bit more respectful to weak players. We realize that a very large percentage of good players at intermediate stakes levels started out as poor players at low stakes levels.
Having said that, there is still no reason not to crush weak players. But first you have to identify them. Here are a few of the characteristics of a weak poker player:
- They call too many hands. Literally, they are fishing for a hit on the flop or a hit on the turn or river. Judicious folding is the hallmark of a good player.
- They throw their cards down when they lose a showdown. Throwing your cards is a super childish form of tilt and you should quickly recognize it as a major tell for the long run.
- They bluff people who can’t be bluffed. A calling station cannot be bluffed so a player who does bluff this type of player is a really poor player. A lot of poker advisers say that you can’t bluff a fish. This is often because a fish simply does not understand the hand.
- Players who seem scared. This one is hard to read at an online poker room but the type does exist. So, be aware that a player of this type might be in your online poker game.
Try to Never Limp In
Limping in means just calling the big blind in Texas Hold’em. There are other limping bets in games with an ante. The idea is that if you limp in, you are just waiting. This usually means that you have a weak hand. Sure, you could draw a huge hand but it also means that this kind of player does not realize how many hands in poker are won with just a pair.
Respect the Importance of Position
This is a good practice at all stakes levels. A bet in position and the same bet out of position will indicate opposite meanings to a good player. If you limp in out of position and then call a 3-bet, you will be telegraphing both weakness on this hand and a general weakness at poker altogether.
Learn How to Make a Value Bet
A value bet means that your opponent will likely call because his or her expected value is high. A value bet is good for players who know that they have a winning hand and that it is well-hidden.
In a lot of poker hands, there might be both a bluff and a value bet. There are no value bluffs! A bluff means that the player wants you to think his or her hand is better than it is. This is based on what is visible on the board. A value bet means that the player wants you to think that you have a weaker hand than the one you actually have.
Learn Poker Math
This takes time. A math wiz may be able to pick up poker math in just a few games and some study. Other players struggle to learn the math side of poker. Keep in mind that in low-stakes poker, most of the players either don’t know any poker math, aren’t trying to learn the math involved, or are struggling to learn poker math as much as you are.
Slots Play Casinos Recommends Online Poker
This advice is for people who want to play poker at a high level. We still recommend online casino gaming over poker. We feel that most gamers will do well at video poker and may do less well at poker poker. Some players like to play online casino games and poker poker.
In fact, poker is a great and fun game. The best advice we have ever heard about poker is that you should always have fun and, if the game becomes less fun for any reason, you should stop the poker.
This advice is solid for online casino gaming as well!
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