POKER is an evergreen casino game, maintaining a constant level of popularity for generations and becoming a popular choice at online casinos and also brick and mortar venues.
While the early 2000s poker boom that saw televised poker tournaments on a near weekly basis have faded, the famed card game is still probably played somewhere in the world every minute.
When it comes to poker, one of the first things people ask is what is the best strategy? How do I win at poker?
Unsurprisingly, there is no straight answer. Poker is a game of skill, but one that relies on the luck of the draw too, so wins can never be guaranteed. However, there are certain tips and strategies that can be used when playing poker either online or in a land-based casino.
There are near countless variations of the game of poker, and these tips are designed to apply to them all. This isn’t about knowing how to play one specific game of poker; this is about starting your journey towards potentially becoming a winning poker player.
1) Know Your Game
There are many variants of poker available, and choosing the right game to suit your playing style is important. Obviously, if you’re just starting out, you may not know you’re playing style yet, so it’s worth starting with the easiest poker variant to recognise, Texas Hold’em. If you ever watched late night televised poker tournaments, where players had two cards of their own and five community cards on the table, that’s Texas Hold’em.
Whatever poker variant you choose, make sure you put in the research to know exactly how it works, whether hands are scored in traditional poker fashion or whether there’s anything different. Get to know the game inside out, so when you’re ready to play, you know what you’re dealing with.
2) Practice with Video Poker
Video poker is a simple form of poker available online and via machines in land-based casino venues. In this form of poker, there are no opponents, the aim is simply to get a poker hand good enough to ensure a cash win.
A five-card hand is dealt, players can then discard any number of cards and have them replaced to try and form a winning hand. Video poker helps players get used to poker scoring and gives practice for learning what cards to discard in more traditional poker variants.
While video poker can be played for real money, freeplay versions are also available which are a good choice when you’re looking to get some practice in before moving onto real money poker play.
3) Remember the Fundamentals
Poker is played differently depending on the hand you have been dealt. When you’re first starting out, the instinct may be to play very straight, fold a bad hand, keep a good hand, and see what happens.
These are the basic fundamentals of poker play, if you have a good hand, play aggressively, if you have a bad hand, fold. Then there are the middle hands, those which don’t seem like much, but have potential, especially if you’re playing Hold’em where the community cards can change a hand. When you have a mid-level hand, it’s good to play passively.
Check whenever possible, fold if someone bets big, and if they don’t, see if you can ride the hand out and get lucky.
4) Master the Basics of Bluffing
While the above seems like a good idea, it won’t take long for the other players at the table to realise you’re playing that way, and simply fold their hand whenever you bet big. This often means big pots never come your way and can result in a fairly boring hand with limited chance of winning.
This is where bluffing comes in. Bluffing is the most important tool in a poker player's arsenal because it ensures you are not predictable to other players. While the instinct may be to go straight into buffing big, trying to win with seven high in your hand by playing aggressively and forcing the other players around the table to fold, this is a high-risk strategy.
When you’re starting to play, the sensible thing to do is bluff the other way, play passively when you have a big hand, so that nobody assumes you are a threat. Keep the big bets for when you have a genuine chance of winning but maintain unpredictable behavior at the table when the risks aren’t too high.
Through all this, however, continue to fold very bad hands, because it is rarely a good idea to take on the high risk world of trying to bluff everyone else off a hand with big bets when you’re not holding anything.
Aside from those terrible hands, try and play some weak and strong hands in exactly the same way, you never have to turn your cards over, so nobody needs to know you’re doing it. Again, this just helps make you a little less predictable.
5) Bluff with the Community Cards
This is specific to Texas Hold’em, but is an important thing to remember when bluffing. Everyone at the table sees the community cards, so play this to your advantage. For example, if three hearts are turned as the first three community cards, and then you make a relatively big bet, the other players may well assume you’ve just landed a flush, or at least the chance at one.
Same goes for if a pair, or even three of a kind, lands on the table. You can then bet even bigger if the fourth or fifth community card adds to this flush opportunity but be aware that this also makes it more likely that other players have landed that flush.
On the other side of the coin, however, if three cards that are unsuited and are three different low numbers are turned as the community cards, betting big may not be a good idea. Sure, it may lead players to believe you have pocket aces, but pocket aces don’t actually hold too much weight in Hold’em.
Always bluff with the tools you have, Hold’em gives you an extra tool, so learn how to use it.
6) Fold Most of Your Hands
This may seem counterproductive, but poker, despite the necessary skill, is also a game of chance, and unless you’re very lucky, you’re going to lose most of the hands at a five person table if you play every hand.
You will find aggressive players at any table, but you will also likely find that these players tend to lose their chips early. Show patience, fold any and every hand you’re not happy with, and save your bluffs for special occasions.
This may make you a little more predictable for players, but it is also likely to cause some hesitation when it comes to calling the bets you do make, because if you’re folding most hands, players will probably assume you’ve got a very good hand when you do bet.
7) Avoid Conversation
This is easier in an online environment than in a land-based casino, but it is advisable either way, especially when you’re new to the world of poker. Other players may well try and speak to you, either to have a casual conversation, or to trash talk.
Whatever conversational style a player chooses, they will always be doing it to try and throw you off your game. Keep your head down, concentrate on the game, and ignore everybody and everything else. Even a second of distraction could lead to bad decision-making.
8) Watch Other Players
While bluffing is arguably the most important string to a poker player’s bow, being able to spot another’s player’s bluff is right up there too. Most poker players, with the exception of hardened professionals, will have habits. Tells are somewhat of a thing of the past, players don’t tend to give anything away with their facial expressions these days because such things are well documented. However, how a poker player handles their cards can still tell you a lot.
For the first 10 or 20 hands, fold everything unless you land something really big, and take the time to watch the table. There will be players you can read from their betting style, and others that you can’t, take note of this. The players you can read are the ones you want to end up facing off with.
Once you’ve learnt the patterns of these players, you have a chance at predicting their next move, and that can be the difference between knowing when to fold and knowing when to bet big.
9) Keep Your Raises Steady
The big bluffs aside, which are something that should be done very rarely, keep your raises at the same amount with every hand that you choose to play. If you’re betting big with every great hand, and small with every average one, it won’t take long for your movements to be obvious to your opponents.
This is one to consider once you’ve got a bit more used to being a poker player, once you’re moving away from the fundamentals and into the important and complex world of deception. If every time you raise, you do so with the same amount, it will make you essentially impossible for your opponents to read.
10) Know When to Walk Away
This is by far the most important part of any poker strategy, and it applies to singular hands, and to the game in general. It is never too late to cut your losses and step away.
Maybe you’ve been bluffing big and hoping an opponent will fold, but instead of doing that, they re-raise. It is natural at this point to think ‘I’ve come all this way’, but the truth is, you are likely to simply lose more if you continue to play. Yes, it’s a shame to lose the money already in the pot, but it’s even more of a shame to increase it before you lose it.
The same goes for the poker game itself. Maybe the hands aren’t falling your way, or maybe you’ve found yourself up against opponents you simply can’t beat. Whatever the reason, if you see your funds depleting in a hurry, it’s important to know when to leave the table.
The best way to do this is to go into the game with a budget, a maximum amount you can lose, and as soon as you cross that threshold, it’s game over for today. Never bet money you can’t afford to lose because the risk will always outweigh the rewards.
When it comes to poker strategy, there are no perfect answers. The truth is, you may play your strategy to the letter and wind up losing, and another player may use terrible strategy and win, it’s just the luck of the cards sometimes.
The important thing to remember is that poker is a long game, if you keep to your strategy, and you always bet within your limits, then you’ll win some, you’ll lose some, and your losses will never be enough to affect your life.
Even professional poker players lose more than they win, and if you’re not a pro, then you should never be expecting to win big at every table. Remember, above all else, playing poker is supposed to be fun. This is a complex, exciting game that is there to enjoy, so make sure to enjoy it.
