Poker tips that take your basic poker strategy to the next level 

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When you first start playing poker, it’s all about the fun of playing, but pretty soon anyone serious about the game wants to improve and win hands of poker. What sets poker apart from most card games is that is more than simple luck. Poker is a game where the hand you are dealt is important, but good strategy can allow you to win games of poker even if players may not have the best cards.

So, for most players who want to take poker seriously, learning stratagy is the next step once the basic mechanics are mastered. However, getting poker strategy explained is not as easy as it sounds, because there are hundreds of opinions on the subject.

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Is there an essential basic strategy for playing poker?

The best poker strategy is to maximize your winning opportunities, and minimize your weaknesses. This is easier said than done, and there are hundreds of books, poker articles and millions of poker sites dedicated to explaining how to achieve this.

Because you can never really know what other players have in their hands, with very few exceptions there is no such thing as a sure thing in poker. So, a basic strategy is to be aggressive when you have an advantage, so you make the most of the opportunity, but be defensive when you are in weaker positions, don’t be afraid to fold if the hand is not going your way.

This is complicated by the playing style of your opponents. A professional poker player will approach things very differently to someone just trying to learn poker, for instance. It also requires a good understanding of the poker rules, something many poker players seem to skip over. The more you know when you play online poker, from strategy articles that help you improve to getting comfortable with how poker rooms work so you know your way around the table, all provide the foundation for you to crush poker and build a successful poker career. 

Building on these basic ideas is how you go from average player to tournament god, and while it can seem like that is impossible to do, the reality is that practice and study can take you much further than you think. Here are some ideas for your winning poker strategy.

Poker Tips to improve your online poker strategy 

Your strategy should always be evolving, as you see better approaches, refine your ideas or learn new techniques through paying the game. As you play poker, you gain experience of opponents, of spotting opportunities and gain confidence in your own play.

Building on that with additional strategy choices makes you a better player, and the more strategy options you can choose from, the more flexible you can be to the ever changing situations you find yourself in during a game. Our poker strategy guide includes some ideas to take you from basic strategies to someone with a toolkit to be a better player.

Think about ranges and frequencies, not specific hands

When you first start playing poker, one of the bad habits nearly every player falls into is in assessing what other players have in their hands. What tends to happen is that you have an idea what hand they may have based on hole cards and how they are playing, but that idea of a hand turns into certainty. The result is you make your in-game decisions based on this imagined single hand that your opponent has.

The problem is, you cannot be certain what hand your opponent has. The very nature of poker as a game means it is always an unknown, and bar some extremely rare situations, who has what hand is always a guess.

The answer, then, is not to choose a specific hand and base your strategy on that, because you will often be wrong, and that means you are often not playing the actual game but instead an imagined one, with predictably bad results. However, if you look at your opponents in terms of range of hands, things will go better.

Looking at the hole cards, you can usually see the kind of hand your opponent may have, say, from a flush to a pair, and work accordingly. How the player responds with their bets and strategies can help you know whether their hand is at the higher or lower end of the range, or if they are simply bluffing, and you can adjust your strategy as you go to keep yourself in the best position possible in the game.

You can never know exactly what cards someone has or which player has the best hand, but you will be able to spot premium hands, usually in a tight range, which can help you win the big pots.

Play fewer hands, but play your strong hands aggressively and preferably in position

One of the things that all of the best players have in common is knowing when to fold, and not being afraid to do it. If the hand is not going your way, as a new player it can be tempting to stick with it, or simply try and bluff your way through. But against good opposition, these approaches will be found out and cost you. For newer players, overplaying is one of the core reasons why they lose at poker so often, and choosing when to play is one of the most basic skills to master. 

Instead, be patient, fold when things aren’t there for you, and only play hands where you have an opportunity or advantage. But that is only half the story, because when you do play, you must make the most of the advantage or opportunity you see. That means aggressive strategies that enable you to maximize the potential of any situation during the hand.

Know the real two reasons for betting (no, they’re not value betting and bluffing!)

Understanding WHY you should be betting is just as important as knowing when to bet, and what to bet. The common misconception is that you bet to find value or to bluff, but that is not really the case.

Successful players bet for two reasons:

  1. To build a bigger pot
  2. To prevent opponents from gaining their equity

Building a bigger pot makes sense, after all, if the goal is to win the hand, then why wouldn’t you want to win as much as possible? By betting you force others to add to the pot to stay in the game, and that means a bigger prize for you at the end.

In terms of equity removal, betting forces opponents to make choices. Checking on a play allows others to take a breather, bluff their way through, but betting keeps the pressure on and forces them to make choices. This aggressive approach will make your opponent fold in uncertain situations where they may actually have the stronger position but cannot really be sure.

Fast-play your monsters and semi-bluff with your draws to secure the pot

Remember the basic strategy of poker? Make the most of your advantageous positions, minimize the cost of the weaker ones. When you have a monster hand, be aggressive, push hard and maximize the pot to win big.

Bluffing too often can be a big mistake, one that many newer players make, but using bluffs in draws, where you still have the chance of building a hand, is a good middle ground for risk. Here bluffing doesn’t just deceive an opponent, it lets you stay in the hand long enough to know whether you can build a winning position. These semi-bluffs are a great strategy when you have a weaker hand with potential.

Defend your Big Blind frequently preflop

The big blind means you have a heavy investment in the pot by default, but that early position also means that you won’t really know your pot odds until later in the game than usual as well. As a result, you should defend your big blind more frequently than you would other positions.

That doesn’t mean every time, being predictable is an easy way to losing hands, but you should definitely become more aggressive in maintaining your position here.

Fold when you’re likely to be beaten – Py attention to pot odds

Don’t try and force things. If you are in a bad position in a hand, then walk away. Nothing good can come of sticking with a losing position, just more losses. If the hand goes against you, or you have nothing, don’t be afraid to fold. The best players tend to play surprisingly few hands, they wait for opportunities and then take as much from them as possible.

Play in a good state of mind to make the most of your poker strategy tips

To play a good hand of poker you need to be focused on the game, and be able to assess every situation dispassionately and logically. If you have issues you are thinking about, they can cloud your judgement and lead you to make wrong choices in a game.

Any situation that causes emotional turmoil can cause these problems, the same with beginning a game when you are too physically tired or under the influence of alcohol or drugs. All of these will lead to bad choices and lost games.

Table selection – only play in good games to make themost of your poker skills

One of the most effective strategies for poker begins before a card is dealt. Choosing the right game to play and the table to play it on. You want to focus on just one or two types of poker to play. This allows you to learn them as well as possible, rather than dabble in different types. Winning poker means being an expert at poker, so stick to something that offers multiway pots that give you more options to win.

When looking for tables, try and stick with weaker players and avoid tables full of highly experienced opponents. As you progress, you will find your table choice widening as you can beat players at higher levels.

Realize tilting will only hurt you

Tilting is the way poker players describe the effects of playing a game when you are angry or upset, or getting frustrated with the way the game is going. This kind of turmoil means that you tend to throw strategy out the window, playing when you should fold, bluffing in the most obvious ways and simply playing poorly.

This leads to losses of course, which only increases the anger and frustration, leading to a spiral of bad play and losses that can quickly escalate and leave you with an empty bankroll. Playing when you are in a suboptimal state only hurts you, in fact the players around you tend to do well from it, mostly taking your money.

If you find yourself tilting, stop and walk away from the table for a break. Have a rest, listen to some music or drink some water, go for a walk, whatever you need to take your mind off the problem. When you return, go back to basics and focus on strategy, let the hand unfold and stick to your usual strategy rather than trying to overthink everything.

FAQ: 

 Is There Really a fundamental theorem of Poker Strategy?

Yes, there are hundreds of strategies to adopt, some work better than others, some suit people better than others. The best players take elements of other strategies and build a way to play that is unique to them.

Is It Possible to Win at Poker Consistently?

Yes. While poker can seem like a game of chance on the surface, the application of good strategy can help players win, and win consitantly.

What is the Optimal Poker Strategy?

Game theory optimal, or GTO, is the strategy of playing perfectly to the various probabilities in the hand of poker. A perfect GTO approach doesn’t necessarily win lots of money, but avoids larger losses.

What can help a beginner improve his poker strategy?

Lots of practice and studying the game. Experience and understanding of the game and other players, more than anything, will help improve any poker player.

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