How to Develop Elite Poker Strategy to Win at Poker Online?

If you play online poker you know how much fun it is, but no matter how much you enjoy just playing, it is even better when you win. Whether you are just starting out with free poker or looking to join the high stakes poker players, winning at online poker makes it more fun. Even if your goal is to be a million dollar a year poker pro, you have to start somewhere, 

With that in mind, here is our dedicated step by step guide featuring 12 advanced online poker tips to help you go from beginner to winner, and remember, if we can do it, you can too.

Learn to Play Online Poker

If you want to win at online poker, you first need to learn how to play poker. From learning what is the best hand, through to poker strategy for bets and bluffs, you need a solid foundation to be able to start winning consistently.

The best way to start is with free poker games, as here you can concentrate on learning basic poker strategy without the pressure of winning or losing money to get in the way. Most online poker sites have free games that allow you to play your poker hand without cost. Use these to learn the basic strategies to start, when to raise, when to fold and so on. From here you can progress to low stakes poker games when you feel confident in the basic ideas because adding money to the mix does put a new kind of pressure on you, and dealing with that is another skill to learn.

How to Improve your Poker Skills

Online poker means being able to play wherever you are, whether sat with your laptop at home or playing on your phone on the beach. But while you can do those things, and part of the attraction of playing poker online is that freedom and accessibility, if you want to win regularly you need to focus a bit more. That means creating a distraction-free poker zone where you can play. This allows you to learn faster and will have a positive impact on your progress.

There are a number of things you can do to improve though, with endless online poker tip blogs and videos it can almost be information overload. However, while you may find useful information, and there are guides from a professional poker player or two to look at, there is no substitute for playing online poker consistently, especially against opponents that stretch your skills. While early on you may miss the flop raise and make some obvious mistakes, which is why starting off with a free game makes sense, you will see the consequences and soon learn how to avoid them.

Poker bots are a really useful option here. Some have beaten the pros, so can give anyone a challenging game. Sit down to play poker against a poker bot and you will be able to learn, build strategies and begin to develop the key skill for success, reading and understanding your opponents. This helps you gain an understanding of what hands you should play and when, and you are not throwing good money after bad on poor quality guides, or guides that you find don’t really help in the way you wanted.

Play every hand as an exercise to improve your poker game, and try and understand the exact poker strategies the bot or opponent is using to beat you.

Poker Strategy Tips to Improve your Play

Online poker is a game that you can play all your life and still learn something new in your next game. For every elite poker strategy, there are ways to combat it, so from when you start playing to your first tournament, there are ways to win as an online poker player.

Here are some poker tips for beginners and advanced players that will boost your confidence and your performance and win big when you play for real money.

Be Selective with Your Starting Hands

If you are new to playing poker, and this applies to players playing both live and online, the biggest hurdle to overcome at the beginning is understanding that you don’t have to play every hand. Many poker players never really get to grips with this, and they are often the people you are beating later on in your poker career.

If there is nothing in your hand, and especially if you are on a table where players are reluctant to fold and play for the showdown, then know when to walk away. The buy-in is not worth losing more money over, your strategy to get consistent wins is built over 30 or 50 hands, not one or two.

Learn to be Aggressive

Aggressive play puts opponents on the back foot, makes them think and can often keep them second-guessing their own strategies. Take control of the pot early with a raise pre-flop, that can often help you isolate weaker players. People who become the calling station, that is rarely raise and always call, are great targets for aggressive play. 

Another strategy to get aggressive with is to re-raise when the opportunity arises, as raises and continuation bets can push uncertain players to fold and with that increase your chances of being able to win the pot.

Learn the Art of Bluffing

While the cards dealt dictate how good a hand you have strategy, and especially skill with bluffing are key to winning online poker. Bluffing is incredibly important, because it can help you win even if your hand is not the best.

The goal of bluffing is to convince other players your hand is much better than it is, and lead them to fold before the showdown and you have to reveal your cards. Top poker players are experts in bluffing, which is why the winning poker player at any tournament is not the one who had the best hands all the time, but the best poker player.

Don’t Bluff Too Much

However, while bluffing is essential for a game like poker, it shouldn’t be the thing you do every hand. Poker requires some nuance, varying strategies to be a success at the poker table. If you use it every hand, opponents will beat you in the mental game and you will find it difficult to win any poker cash game.

People do not win consistently through one strategy, instead good poker strategy means whenever you get to play, try something different and mix up your approach.

Understand Hand Rankings & Odds

Bluffing and aggressive play can be an effective online poker strategy, but even with poorer players, you will eventually have to reveal your hand in a showdown. It is important then, to understand hand rankings so you know what you have and what can beat it.

Just as importantly, as any multi-year poker pro can tell you, those rankings give you the odds of someone beating your hand. This is especially true in poker variants where you can see some of the cards a player is using, such as Texas hold’em.

The best way to win online poker tournaments is to know when to be aggressive, and by understanding the odds of each hand and the probability of winning a showdown, you can be more targeted with your aggression, and as a result, more successful.

Defend Your Blinds

Calling a pre-flop raise to defend either a small or big blind helps you play with optimal efficiency when the game forces you to put money into the pot when you are in an early position. To know when to defend and when to fold is part of the game theory of poker, and is especially important in buy-in tournaments.

By knowing which hands to play through odds and analysing your opponent’s strategy, you can build a successful time at the poker table through defending blinds where appropriate, as this puts you in a stronger position where your hand, or your bluffing strategy, is likely to be successful. This applies to live games and online poker, so make it a strategy whenever you play.

Don’t Be Afraid to Fold

If your early position isn’t good, even during preflop betting, don’t be afraid to fold. If you watch the very best players at any online poker table, they don’t feel the need to force a hand or position if it is not working for them. In fact, playing when it is not optimal is an almost guaranteed way of ending up on the losing side whether you play cash games or tournaments.

Be Aware of Your Table Position

Players of a live poker game or online poker tournament strategy are influenced by every aspect of the game itself, and that includes their table position. We define table positions in relation to the dealer’s location, from on the button (the dealer), through early positions and on to the late positions.

Where you are here will impact your overall strategy. As the dealer, you go last in the betting round, so you can see everything all other players do before making your move. Conversely, being in the small or big blind positions leave you setting the path for each hand, and can leave you exposed.

Always adjust your strategies as the dealership moves around the table depending on what position that puts you in. Players who fail to take this into account will end up losing.

Don’t Play Beyond Your Bankroll

No matter how much you learn about poker rules, how much you improve your game and implement any strategy, if you don’t manage your bankroll effectively, you won’t win at online poker. Good bankroll management means having around fifty buy-ins, so a healthy amount of spare funds to take you through any losing streak.

The key is to keep it at that, so start off playing games that fit your initial bankroll, and as it grows through winning, only then move to mid stakes poker games and eventually to high stakes tournaments. Always keep it at that minimum fifty buy-ins, and avoid the temptation to switch to much higher stake games too early.

Invest in Poker Tracking Software

For any new player, poker is a fun and enjoyable game of cards, but you soon realise that there is much more depth than you expect. Crucially, a big part of improving you’re your game is to understand your previous performance and see where you can change things.

The best online poker tracking software will record your games while also providing a display of how your opponents at the table play the game. they work like an advanced poker training program, giving you guidance on the best approach for each game. The more you use the software, the better it becomes too as the database of games grows, providing valuable insight into any holes in your game as well as valuable information about opponents. This is an easy poker solution for improving your playing performance.

To really improve your game and also win more often, poker tracking software is probably the best value around.

Invest in a Coaching Program

The other way to gain new poker skills is by joining a coaching program. Often run by professional players, they can help you improve your overall gameplay and learn new skills that will allow you to win more often. You can often find previews of the best coaching systems, with free little 50 page guides and other poker tips to help you see the quality of what is on offer before parting with any money. Look out for a free poker cheat sheet too, as these can be full of tips that will boost your win ratio and also be a great reminder of the things you should be considering during a game.

Poker is also an evolving game, and new coaching programs often show you how to approach the latest trends in strategy in a more effective way, giving you an edge. By regularly investing in programs over time, you can always stay one step ahead of the latest trends in the game.

FAQ

How to improve your poker skills?

The easiest way to improve your game is to play more. Experience in games will help you better understand strategies and learn to spot what other players are doing. However, poker tracking software can have a massive impact on your poker experience, and should be an essential tool for anyone serious about winning online poker games. Coaching can also help improve your skills, and playing against skilled bots allows you to learn without risking your cash.

What software can help you improve your poker skill?

Poker tracking software provides insight into your game, helping you analyse your strategies and find areas of weakness you can improve on. The best tracking systems also build profiles of your opponents to help you understand how they play and what they are likely to do in any situation.

Is It Illegal To Use A Poker Bot?

It is not against the law as such to use a poker bot. However, it is against the terms and conditions of every online poker platform to use them, so getting caught with on could result in your account being closed and leave you unable to play online poker with that provider again.