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Online Poker Advices

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When you play poker (especially in the online world, where you don't have to even pretend that you can act), your adrenaline flows and your impulses fire heavily in the "hunter" (versus "gatherer") part of your brain. We provide some online poker tips here that, we hope, can keep those annoying license plates out of your gums.

1. Don't bluff lesser opponents.
If you run up against an opponent who plays worse than you — especially if he has a tendency to call most bets — don't try to bluff him. Your dunderheaded opponent may think you have the hand you try to feign and call anyway because he thinks he can get lucky. As a result, you end up losing because of his loose play. And that's not good.

2. Don't make a 50/50 bet against an inferior player.
Sure, pushing all-in in a no-limit Hold'em tournament with a 2-2 is a mild favorite against an A-K suited, but why reduce your skill level to a mere coin flip against a player you can beat in the long run?

Conversely, don't be afraid to push all-in against a superior player in a tournament. You want to have the odds on your side, no matter how slim, for one go rather than to sit and battle it out for hours on end with a player who holds an edge against you.

3. Don't insist on winning every hand in head's-up play.
Something about the super-competitive nature of head's-up play really brings out the beast in people. We've seen an endless number of players who insist on trying to win every single hand, as well as their more mild cousins who push all-in every time they have a dominating hand.

When you play head's up, the whole point is erosion of your opponent. You don't have to move your opponent's chip stack to your side of the table in one svelte move. Slowly but surely also does the trick.

You don't have to win the majority of hands either — just the important ones.
When you get an unbeatable hand, try to place a bet small enough to stay within calling range of your foe and large enough to get the maximum amount of money out of your cards.

4. Drop marginal hands.
It gets frustrating if you keep seeing marginal holdings hand after hand. The temptation to play them becomes nearly overwhelming. Don't.

The only time you should feel pressured to even consider playing marginal hands is when you begin to get short-stacked in a tournament. Any other time, especially in ring games, keep clicking your hand straight to the trash heap.

Chant it like a religious hymn in the key of "A" (because it is): My cards will get better.

5. Take your time.
The speed of online poker can whip you into a frenzy. Take your time to make the right decisions, and ignore the incessant beeps, buzzers, and bells of your poker site. You can make the correct play in the allotted time. Take your time and don't worry about it.

6. Don't give up prematurely.
Players who throw in the towel before being eliminated commit probably the most common error we see in tournament play. Many players see their chips dwindle down to 20 times the big blind and seem to go mildly insane and start making extra-large bets or calling with long-shot draws. Although a 20 times stack may seem small in relation to the number of chips you started with, especially if you catch two bad beats in a row, you still have plenty of chips (if there can be such a thing). The game is far from over. Hunker down and play the good cards. Let weaker mortals panic and run. The time to get a little more frenzied is when you get down to 10 times the big blind size.

7. Play when you're at your best.
The beauty of online poker is that you can always find a game. But this doesn't mean you have to play. If you don't feel well, you just had a fight with your significant other, you seem overly tired, or even if you just find your attention wandering, wait and play later. You can always find opponents; make sure to be on top of your world when they find you.

8. Pay extra attention to unusual behavior.
If your opponent has acted the same way for most of the game, and then he suddenly shifts to something different, stop and think hard before you react. This behavior often signals a trap. Examples include betting the minimum after raising aggressively all night, an unusually long pause before calling (or especially raising) a big bet, or a push all-in from a seat that played extremely timid all night.

If the situation doesn't feel quite right, it probably isn't. Fold and play another hand. Better to take a detour and find another path through the jungle than to charge along on a path that may have a pit.

9. Shake up your play.
Due to the speed of online poker, you can easily exhibit a betting pattern in just a few minutes. If you have a tight style and often check and fold when the board misses your hand, you should be aware of how obvious your behavior is to your opponents. If they saw you do that in seven of the previous ten hands, they may start to take advantage of your predictability. Occasionally change your behavior with little strategies, like alternating between flat calling and variable raising a big blind pre-flop in Hold'em or varying your betting style on third and fourth street in Seven-Card Stud and Razz.

You want to keep your opponents guessing as much as you possibly can, but don't get carried away. Make opponents pay to see drawing cards if they have a chance to beat you. Don't play hands that may easily be out-matched.

10. Reflect.
Win, lose, or draw, always take some time to consider your recent session. What did you do that worked? What could you have done better? What was your worst mistake? Did you see a play by an opponent at the table that you thought was spectacular? Answering these questions and refining your play as a result are probably the best things you can do for your game.