Online poker is a simple game to learn but the strategy can be extremely deep and complicated.
Fortunately it’s quite easy to get a grasp of the fundamentals and build a solid game-plan.
We're going to recommend a basic strategy based on the four main advantages you can have when playing a hand: card strength, initiative, position and skill advantage.
Card strength – tighten up
The biggest mistake that most novice players make is playing far too many hands.
Most winning players only play between 10-20% of hands dealt (assuming a 9-player game). A lot of beginners will play upwards of 30-40% of hands.
While it is true that any two cards can win, it is also a fact that the better your starting hand is, the more chance you will have of winning the hand. If you’re playing all kinds of junk hands, then you can be pretty sure that most of the time you enter a pot, you will be giving up card advantage to your opponents, and you'll end up losing money.
Most players would benefit greatly from tightening up their starting hand selection. This follows through to the flop. If the cards in the flop don't help you, and you don’t think it’s a good betting opportunity, then there’s no shame in giving up.
Many players also pay too much to draw. In other words, they make big bets on hands that probably aren't the best at present but have the potential to improve. Draws can be hugely profitable if they work out, but if you’re routinely paying too much when drawing, the times you win won’t be enough to outweigh the times you lose.
Initiative – be aggressive
The second biggest mistake that most players make is that they are not aggressive enough with their betting.
Each hand can be won in two ways: Having the best hand at showdown (which is where card strength comes in), and making everyone else fold. If you aren’t betting and making people fold, then you are severely restricting the ways in which you can win hands.
The other reason to bet more follows on from our earlier discussion – most people play way too many hands. If you have a decent hand then bet more and bet bigger. People will call you far more often than you expect. A lot of players lose way too much value from players holding weaker hands by not betting enough. Read more in Why aggressive poker is winning poker.
Position
Having position is one of the strongest principles in poker and is often underestimated. Having position means that you are last to act in the hand. This gives you several advantages over your opponents.
Firstly you have gained information from your opponent because he has acted before you. Any information you have in poker is useful and helps you to make better decisions.
Secondly it is your decision whether you close the betting or not. If you’re last to act, you can choose to check behind or just call a bet, ensuring that no more money goes into the pot until the next betting round.
You should always try to play more pots in position than out of position. Playing pots in position is simply more profitable as it’s easier to make correct decisions and you can manipulate the size of the pot much more easily. Read more in Why your position matters.
Skill advantage – know your opponent
Profits in poker come from playing against weaker opponents. If you're on a table with a stronger player, it's important to be honest with yourself about your ability and move on. There’s no point in battling with a better player when there are easier targets available. Instead try to target the weaker players and play more pots with them.
If you haven't played any cash games or tournaments yet, now is probably a good time to have a go. The first time you play with cash will almost certainly teach you a lot.
Then once you've done that, the journey continues with Slightly more advanced poker strategy.
