Poker players adopt lots of different strategies to improve winning chances. We are not going to give you any sure fire poker tips here but can detail a few general techniques that successful poker players will employ:
*) Bluffing
*) Positional Play
*) Slow Playing
*) Checking, Betting and Raising techniques
| Bluffing |
All successful online poker players will bluff. Bluffing is an art form that is improved with experience. By bluffing too much, or at the wrong time, you can have your bluffing exposed to the other players. Although, this can play to your advantage if you receive some good hands as well! If you do not bluff at all you are relying on a good proportion of top hands to bid on and this may not be a long-term strategy that will pay off. If it does, good luck! |
| Positional play |
To be a successful online poker player you need to be aware of your position on the poker table. If you have a reasonable hand and are first to bid you are in a much worse position that you would be if you were last to bid and the majority of players had folded before you. The poker table can be divided up into 3 positions: early position (first 3 players to bid); middle position (next 3 players to bid); late position (final 3 players to bid). The hands you may use in a late position can be weaker than those in an early position. |
| Slow playing |
If an online player consistently waits the maximum time before making their bid, they can be reported for slow play but it's unlikely. However, the use of your maximum bidding time can sometimes be used to your advantage to emphasise that you are not sure about whether to keep bidding. This technique needs to be used wisely to reap rewards and, if used too much, will just annoy other poker players. |
| Checking, Betting and Raising |
Books are written on when to Check, Bet and Raise so all we will say is that the techniques in this area aer down to experience. If you raise too much on a strong hand, you are in danger of scaring everyone off and reduce your winnings; if you raise too little on a strong hand you may not get all the chips you deserve; and if you raise too late, other players hands may improve with the additional community cards when the other players could have been put off staying in the hand at an earlier stage. |
Reading a poker book, or watching a DVD, can help you to further understand the techniques that can be used in poker and a list of our recommended Poker books and DVDs, available to buy online, are shown here - Buy Poker Books.
A lot of poker knowledge is gained through frequent play, and therefore, experience. The more you play poker, the greater the number of situations you will experience - every poker player learns from their mistakes.
Obviously, the strategies above are just the tip of the iceberg. There are far more strategies that expert poker players use, many of which are discussed in poker books.
