Every second of the day there are thousands of players playing online poker all around the world. Almost all countries have both amateur and professional poker players so this is great news for the online poker industry.
But poker is far from what it used to be, with the poor and average players suffering a huge wipe out in the industry.
- Most players new to online poker sites are advised to practice their craft on sites such as rat sites, or use free online poker sites to help them get a ‘ feel’ for the games. In the process of getting a feel for the games, players can also practice their poker hands which can be of great benefit in later played games against more experienced opponents.
- Once you find yourself feeling comfortable with the game, you can move onto playing for small stakes, and transition your skills from those small stakes to higher ones. Sohow you are a beginner, you may want to practice at the poker rooms which offer lower limits, such as the 2p and 3p tables.
- But if you think you’re ready to take on the world champions, you’re gonna need a little bit of magic, if you’ve been watching all those poker tournaments on TV, and saw guys who seemed to be on a hot streak, you’re gonna need a little bit of a miracle to win one of those tournaments.
- Besides luck, the other most important element to winning a poker game is the knowledge of the game. And by knowing the game, you have at least a preliminary idea of what cards you are going to deal with, and what is a premium hand and what is trash.
One of the best ways to learn the game is to watch all the famous poker tournaments and TV showdowns.
- These TV shows are also great for learning the art of playing poker, since they show you the actual poker action, minus the usually hectic minimal noise of modern day poker. The classic TV shows some of the most pure poker lines, like when Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu or Chris Moneymaker changed their minds on calling big bets with second thoughts.
- Often, the most compelling part of a poker hand is not what cards you hold, but which hand you don’t hold. While you’re holding obviously doesn’t determine how successful you are, seeing how the other person bet as if they had different hands gives a good idea of the current power level of their hand.
- The problem with trashy hands is that they are inconvenient to both you and your opponents. First, you don’t know what they had to do in order to make those hands, and second, if you ever fold the trash hand, you’re suddenly controlling the hand for the entire hand.
However, if you are making a attempt to bet with a trash hand, you want to make sure that your bet is justified.
First, you want to try and get value for your hand, meaning its better than the hand of the person trying to make a move on you, or trying to put you on a hand. In other words, you want to make your hand better than your opponents’ hands, or at least as good as middle or bottom pair.
The only way to accomplish this is to bet aggressively. Betting with a trash hand lets you do this, but betting with a junk hand is useless unless you’re willing to bet aggressive, which is going to lead to some pot odds situations.
An example:
- You have six outs. Next card, the river card. You’re hoping for a straight draw, but there are two other people in the hand who want to make the same exact move. Therefore, you’ll bet half the pot. Only half the pot, because if it’s a limit game, the blinds are likely to multiply that by five.
- The flop comes Qh-2h-3h. There is a small bet, and a big bet. You have the top pair, but everyone else has middle pair or worse. You’re risking $500 to win $1,000. You may want to fold, but you’re not sure if you want to call.
- You have $4,000. The first player bets $500. The second player calls, and the small blind checks. What should you do?
- You don’t want to call unless the player to your left is crazy. He’s willing to bet the pot on the flop and probably wait for a better hand than yours. If he bets the pot, you can call. If he raises, you fold.
This seems obvious, but it’s not so simple. You’re not going to win every time.