Starting out in online poker

Welcome to onlinepoker.com!

Basically this is a site that can help you become a big poker winner!

If you’ve never played poker at all, we can show you the ropes. And if you’ve played poker in the ‘real world’ but never ventured online, we can help you too. 

Let’s start by looking at what to expect as you start out on your online poker adventure.

Professionals

Ten years ago there were few online poker professionals. Due to the increased exposure of online poker and the speed at which information spreads over the internet, there are now thousands of players making their living from online poker.

You can almost guarantee that every table you sit on will have a number of solid, winning players.

This can be daunting for the beginner, but it’s important to remember that they started from nothing and so can you. For now though, it’s important for you to be able to spot the strong players and avoid them where possible.

The idea is to maximise your profits against the weaker players, while minimising your losses against the better players.

On most sites, there’s a note-taking function that you can use to mark players that you see regularly, especially if they seem to consistently do well.

You’ll also find a search function you can use to see if players are playing on more than one table (multi-tabling.) Most multi-tabling players are doing this because they are confident that their game is good enough to still win while playing several tables at a time.

You will inevitably end up in spots where you can’t avoid playing with these “sharks”. If you find yourself coming into direct competition with players who you think are above your level, then play it safe. Play only the strongest cards against them.

Standards are improving

Not only has the number of serious players increased, but the overall standard of play has improved. The rapid spread of information over the internet allows high level concepts to be filtered down to the lower levels quicker than ever before.

This means that strategies that worked ten years ago may now be considered outdated at best. Although reading older strategy books and articles may give you solid fundamentals, it’s important to keep up to date with newer strategies.

Standards are improving all the time so it’s vital that you constantly keep on top of your game. Adapt quicker than your opponents and you will always be one step ahead.

Software

Increasing standards in software have lead to much more stable, secure and slick online poker sites for you to play on. There’s also been an explosion in software that can help you improve your game.

There are applications to help you learn odds, select the correct tables, coach you in strategy, track your hands and many more. You can be sure that your opponents will be making use of these aids, so don’t be left behind. Use every tool you can to keep up.

Be realistic but ambitious

It’s no longer an easy task to make money through online poker. As thousands of players have proven, however, it’s not impossible. Many people worldwide make a living, or a second income, from playing online poker.

You need to be realistic about your own skill level, play where you’re comfortable and constantly strive to improve.

If you do this, your goal of making money from online poker is easily within your grasp.

If you’ve never played poker before, the next step is to find out about the rules of poker. We’ve got a nice simple explanation in Rules of the game.

If you’ve played poker already, you might want to find out more about the history of the game in The story of online poker. Either way, you're starting out on what we call the poker journey. Keep reading this series of articles and you should become a successful, winning poker player.