Winning at Online Poker & Valuable Tips

My first suggestion is to test out the free tables.  There is not a lot of competition on them and they are a good place to learn the speed of the game and the overall basic play of the site.  Once you are familiar with the site and the navigation you are ready to begin playing for real money.  

There are many different types of tables to play here along with types of games.  PartyPoker offers No Limit Texas Holdem, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo and 7 Card Stud.  We will focus on No Limit or Pot Limit Texas Holdem.  There are many different types of tables also to play.  You can play tournaments or real money tables.  Tournements are good when you are begining because you can only lose your entrance fee.  They start at $5 a tournament and you can play for an hour.  Those usually have 10 players so you get good experience.  There are also multi table tournaments.  Those have more than 10 people , usually 100 to 1000 players.  The entrance fee is similar, starting at $10 going up to $1000, but you can win a lot more money.  However, if looking to make money, I would stay away from these.  They are hard to place in the money and also take a real long time to play.  They can be fun to play if you have the time and are interested in learning, but they wont make you the big money unless you happen to get lucky and win or place in the top few positions.  While Texas Holdem is based on skill, there is a LOT of luck involved.  Especially in large tournaments.  You can be the best player in the wolrd, and that doesn't guarantee you a top spot if you get unlucky on a draw.  

We are going to focus on Real Money tables.  This is where you can make the most money if you play conservatively and are patient.  The best tables to play are the $25 No limit or Pot limit tables.  The Regular limit tables keep you from making the big win, which is where you will make you money.  Also, try to avoid larger than a $25 table.  They have tables up to $200, but the better players play on the $50 and up tables.  You will make your money off of the less experienced players on the low limit players.  Everyone these days is learning to play Holdem and there are a lot of inexperienced players out there and this is where they start to play.  

The name of the game is conservative.  You will not make money bluffing people.  You will not make money playing 3-8 offsuit in the long run.  Sure, you might make a quick few dollars here and there, but remember, you are playing for the long run.  What you want to do is play only the best 10 to 15 hands.  Pretty much, if your lowest card is a 9 or a 10, then you want to play it, as long as the blinds are not raised.  When you have one of the top 3 hands (AA, AK or KK) we suggest raising slightly.  Most of our wins come from getting say KK on the flop, raising to $1.50 and then someone re raising to $3 or $4 dollars.  They feel their hand is strong but odds are, its not as good as yours.  Then you go on top of his raise and bet $10 or $15.  That will either take him out or get him to go all in.  You will make your money on the big wins.  You might lose 40 hands in a row and only be down $5, when you get a pair of Kings and you can double you money on one hand. 

Slow Play

Most people bet big when they have a good hand.  A trick I use sometimes is to slow play a good hand.  Say you are on the blind and you have 5-9 and the flop is 5-7-5.  You have 3 of a kind and probably the best hand.  I usually check in this position.  People might think you have nothing and bet to try to bluff you out or they might have a 7 and think they have the best hand out there.  There always is the possibility someone will catch something later on and pick up a flush or straight to beat you, but in the long run, this will win.

Don't chase

If you have something decent, like A-Q and the flop is J-J-10, I do not suggest chasing this,looking for a King.  When you are looking for one card, this will not get you money in the long run.  The odds are about 9% of hitting this.  That means 91% of the time you will lose.  If no one bets, you can place a small bluff to possibly knock people out, but small is the key word.  If someone bets strong, then fold.  There will be many more hands.  Don't get suckered into betting with A-K, even if you have nothing.

Study your Opponents

Another thing we suggest is to watch the players you are playing against.  Do they bet high off the flop and you later find out they have nothing.  Do they only bet once every 15 hands, showing they only play the best hands?  You can learn a lot from watching how your opponents bet.  When someone takes a long time, they usually don't have the best hand.  If you just bet something and they are real slow in calling but then eventually do call, then the next time, you raise your bet.  They probably are chasing something.  If a player bets a lot real quickly, get out.  They probably are not bluffing.  The bluffing I have seen has players taking a while to bet, then thinking they will bluff and then eventually bluffing.  That isn't always the case, but in the long run, it is.

Watch the big stack when he bets.  When someone wins a big hand and they get a lot of money in their account, they get cocky.  They will more likely try to place a larger bet to bluff because they have the money.  Never try to bluff the big stack.  They will almost always call.  

 Pay attention also to the little stack.  If someone is down to $3 or 4 left on the table, the will go all in when they get a real good hand.  They will probably fold all their marginal hands, just trying to double or triple up. 

Multiple Tables

We suggest also playing 2 or 3 tables at once.  One table can get real slow if you are only playing the top hands.  You might only play 1 in 10 hands, so if you play 2 or 3 tables at once, you can double your profit potential.  however, do not do this if it is too confusing to you.  This will take some time to work up to but the rewards can be great when you do this.

Final Words

Finally, we'd like to say, good luck and stay conservative in your play.  When you are the little blind, we suggest almost always calling the $.25.  If there is a raise though, drop.  Poker is a game of ups and downs.      Some days you will lose.  But remember, you are playing for the long run.  Stay conservative, never chase anything and stay within your limits and we guarantee this approach WILL make you money.