Play To Win

Develop your style

Most people who play Online Poker aren't great at it. The standard of play at many tables is pretty low. So if you play sensibly and follow basic Poker advice then you can shift the playing odds in your favour. If you watch high stake tournaments then you will see the rules go out of the window but you must know them first to break them.

Millions of people play online poker everyday. It's convenient and easy to for everyone to play from home. Strategies for playing online is pretty similar to playing poker in real life. There are a few features and strategies that you can use to help give you an advantage over other players. They are Online Poker Tells, Poker Hand History and Player's Notes.

Poker Bluffing

Can you read their minds

To be a good Poker player, you must know how and when to bluff. Poker is about the luck of the cards and sometimes luck isn't on your side. You might not receive good cards, but you can still win the hand by bluffing. Some players do not bluff at all, which makes them predictable.

Bluffing has its pros and cons. To bluff you will need to bet a good amount of Poker chips to force players into folding. A successful bluff can turn a weak hand into a winning hand. An unsuccessful bluff can be costly to your chip stack. To make your bluff work, the following have to be factored in.

Your Table Image
If you're known to be a loose player, then people will normally call your bluffs. A tight player will have more chance of success at bluffing.

Number of Opponents
It is not advise to bluff when there is a lot of players in a hand, especially in limit hold em. The best time is to bluff  when there are 3 or less players in the hand.

Type of Opponent
Do not bluff players will who call with anything. This is especially true with players who are new to poker. You may want to present yourself as having good cards, but they may not know or don't care.

Your Reading Skills
This is probably the hardest skill to master in Poker. If you're good at reading people and think they did not hit anything on the board or are holding a bad hand then bluff away.

The Size of the Pot
The bigger the pot, the more likely someone will ‘call’ you due to pot odds. On the other hand, your bluff will be that much more satisfying if it works.

Your Position
Your position on the table can help you decide if it's a good time to bluff. If you're big blind and small blinds calls, then chances are, that player is limping in with a weak hand to see the flop.

The Board (if any)
You can use the community cards to your advantage. You can bluff when there are high cards on the flop to make people think you're holding them.

Bluffing takes time to master, and you will get caught a few times. Getting caught bluffing isn't a bad thing. You can use that to your advantage too. If someone catches you on a bluff, he might think that you are be too scared to bluff him again. If you are known to bluff, players will start calling your bets more often. That's when you start playing with strong hands and that's when your chips start stacking high!

Online Poker Tells

You may not be able to "read" other players like you can in real life, but there are ways to see if a player has a strong hand or not. In most online Poker rooms, there are buttons which will show up on players screen when it's not their turn. Buttons such as Raise Any, Call Any, Check/Fold and more. These buttons are there for you to make a decision before it's your turn to act. It also helps to speed up the game.

There are a lot of players who will use these buttons. This is where you can use it to your advantage. If you see a player raises the instant it is their turn, that means the player used the "Raise Any" button. Usually that means the player is holding strong cards. If you see a player checking the instant it is their turn, usually that means they are holding weak cards.

You can use these functions to throw off players who are trying to "read" you online. If you're holding a strong hand, you could check the instant it's your turn to act.

Poker Hand History
Many Poker sites will have this feature where you can see the "Hand History". You can use this feature to your advantage by learning what players are calling you with. Usually the losing hands are mucked or not shown. You can find out what that player has by going into the hand history feature and reading it. If they're calling you with only Ace high, then you can use that knowledge to your advantage in the future.

Player's Note
This is a very handy feature that you can use to write down how each players player. Usually if you click on the other players in your Poker table, they will have an option for you to read or write notes. You can easily write down any patterns, tells, or if the player is loose or tight.

What are Pot Odds?

You'll hear the term "Pot Odds" a lot when reading about Poker. Pot odds are used to help you determine if you should call or fold a hand. To calculate pot odds, just take how much is in the pot with how much the bet is. If there is £25 in the pot then you would need to call £5 to stay in the hand, the pot odds are 25 to 5, or 5 to 1.

Why would you need to know pot odds?
Pot odds are useful when you want to know if you should call or fold a hand. Here's an example. You're one card away from a flush, and a player bets £5. Chances of you hitting that last card are 5 to 1. For you to call his bet, the pot should be at least 5 times (£25) the bet to make it worth calling. If there was £50 in the pot, that would give you a pot odd of 10 to 1, which makes “calling” the right decision to make. The card you need might not come out, but in the long run, you will end up winning more by using pot odds.
Another instance of using pot odds is after the river, when the final bet comes to you. If the pot holds £20 and the bet in front of you is £2, you can use pot odds to decide what to do. The pot is giving you 10 to 1 odds. (£20 against your £2 bet). Even though you feel your opponent may have the better hand, do you think he is ten times more likely to have a better hand? If so, fold. If not, call the bet and see his cards.

There are plenty of times at the poker table when you will be asking yourself, "Is it worth staying in this hand?" Being able to use pot odds will help you answer that question with more ease.