Begin with Play Money (free chips)
Most people's strategy is to start out playing with the play money, while considering making the change over to the real money poker games. If you are one of those players, making the change to real money is not a hard task, but you must alter your style of play a bit if you expect to win or at least to not lose too quickly.
First of all, recognize the fact that being a winning poker player at the play money tables means practically nothing. Play money poker players don’t usually play well because they are not playing for anything. People who play at the play money tables generally just want to see if their hand will win. There is little to no incentive for them to fold because they do not lose anything by calling. So… be careful.
If you are an online poker rookie, we recommend playing at the play money tables so you can get accustomed to the software and the rules, it also will make online poker more user-friendly for you, that way you will feel less anxious if you go and play at real money tables.
Online Money Management, Limit Selection, and Poker Fundamentals
Once you are used to the software and are ready to play for real money, you really just need to understand three concepts to have an enjoyable and even profitable online experience playing poker: online money management, limit selection, and poker fundamentals.
Learning to control your "online money" or e-cash is pretty simple online poker strategy. While in the past most people deposited with their credit cards and withdrew money via check, poker room school has much more expedient methods of depositing and withdrawing money from your account.
Once you comprehend how deposits/withdrawals work, you must then understand which games/limits to play. It’s best to start with low limit Texas Hold’em Poker, as there are plenty of games and the games are generally easy.
Now you really just need to understand poker basics. These include starting poker hand selection, game selection, and pot odds.
Starting hands (Initial cards dealt)
This is a very good online poker strategy. Poor starting poker hands have very little chance of winning. More than likely, you will just end up being strung out for a lot of small bets if you hit a pair.
Over the course of time, you will lose a large amount of money with these poor poker hands. Based on this, it is very clear that the first thing you must understand when you play is which hands are good and which are bad.
These are some tips that will make your decision easier: you can raise if you get this hands: AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ, AQ, 10-10. And you might see the flop and then decide with AJ, KQ, QJ, J10, 109 only if they are of same suit, 99, 88, 77, Ax (same suit), but do not call three bets with these, call only one or two.
Game selection
The second poker primary rule you should understand is game selection. You want to find a poker game where other people are making a lot of mistakes. Poker is a game of virtual skill, so look for a game where there is a lot of calling all the way to the river because chances are you are superior to these poker opponents.
Don’t confuse game selection and limit selection. Game selection is the actual table at which you would play, while limit selection is the poker limit in which you would play (e.g. $1-2 limit Texas Hold’em Poker).
Pot Odds
Finally, pot odds are a very important model you should understand if you want to apply this strategy. Simply put, if you think you do not have the best poker hand but your hand may perk up to be the best poker hand, these are the odds you need to have in order to call. If the percentage chance of bringing up your poker hand is higher than the percentage bet you are placing in the pot, you should call. A tougher way to figure out the percentage chance your hand will improve is to multiply your number of "outs" (the cards that will develop your hand) by two.
Playing for money is what poker is all about. While playing for play money (free chips) can be enjoyable, it is generally not as satisfying as playing for real money because poker players are not playing as rigid when there is nothing at stake. If you understand e-cash, limit selection, and poker fundamentals, you should be in good form to start out at the real money poker tables. Apply this strategy and go for it.
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