Poker Live

Play the Starting Hands in Online Poker

This is the online poker player’s mentality and the reason that, no matter how skilled any one player is, they can still be beaten by luck.

There are many variables that go into the decision-making process of whether to play the two cards dealt with you. The most important being your position at the best online poker table.

For now, it’s important you understand the categories of poker online India starting hands and the general rules and strategies behind playing them.

Big Pairs

Big pairs tend to get players in trouble because they overvalue their hands. The more players to the flop, the less likely you will win the pot. With big pairs, you should always raise pre-flop.

Some players try and slow play and “check” when they have an overpair to the flop. An overpair means the pair of cards in your hand is better than the highest community card. Slow playing is a poor decision because it is unlikely your hand will improve. Bet and make the lesser hands fold.

Medium Pairs

Medium pairs are good starting hands, but difficult to play poker when the flop comes out, particularly when there are overcards.

You can raise with a medium pair from late position. You might even consider a raise from middle position, but with an early position, a call might be your best option.

Small Pairs

If you have a small pair, you are hoping to catch trips on the flop. Otherwise, it is unlikely you will win the hand without bluffing.

Small pairs are good to limp in from a late position, especially if there are a lot of players in the hand. If you raise pre-flop from an early or late position and don’t catch trips on the flop, play carefully. Before making a continuation bet, think about what hand your opponent may be holding if he caught any of the cards on the flop, and if the size of the pot warrants a bluff.

Bet if you catch your set and think your opponent caught a piece of the flop. Many players check after they hit their set, hoping to trap their opponent into betting. Realize though, that this method doesn’t always extract the most chips. It may be hard for others to put you on a set, therefore, you are at an advantage to win a good-size pot, particularly if your opponent has top pair.

Happy playing!

Read more:
How to Master the Card Game In Online Poker
Mix Up Your Online Poker Game

Using Aggressive Play Poker Online Strategy

All long-term winning play poker online players share one thing in common: they play an aggressive poker game. Aggression in poker doesn’t mean bluffing a lot, it means playing your hands with confidence. An aggressive player doesn’t make a lot of checks and calls, he either raises his hands or he folds them.

Aggressive poker online players come in with raises preflop, not weak calls. After the flop, aggressive players bet and raise their strong hands and fold the hands that don’t pan out. They don’t make weak calls, not knowing where they stand, hoping to get lucky and improve to a better hand.

The key to playing an aggressive online poker real money game is being very selective about which hands you play preflop and which ones of those you continue with after the flop. If you play the best 20% or so of your hands, you’re naturally going to be betting and raising because you’re playing great hands.

If you have to check and call a lot, you’re probably playing poor hands preflop and taking your weak hands too far after the flop. You want to either play a hand hard or not play it all. Don’t get stuck in that halfway land of mediocre hands that leave you wondering if you’ve got the best online poker hand or not.

Yes, there are times to check and call, but aggressive players keep that kind of play at a minimum. Just save yourself the trouble and drop your marginal hands early.

Aggression gets money in the pot with your strong hands

Well, this statement is a little obvious, but it’s a commonly overlooked fact. If you have a strong hand, whether it be a big pair or a full house, you probably want to get more money in the pot because you like money.

It’s easy to get caught up trying to be all tricky and forget that all we want to do is get more money in the pot while we have the strongest hand. If you wait until the river to try and get the money in, you’re going to have a heck of a lot harder time convincing someone they should put all their money in the middle.

Why? Because on the river, all hope is gone. Your opponent has either made his hand or missed it. If he made his hand, you’re just going to lose money. If he missed his hand, he’s not going to call anything. You need to charge them early in the hand when they still have hope.

Aggression makes people more likely to pay off their strong hands

An aggressive game gives you an aggressive image. If the people at your table see you making lots of bets and raises, they are naturally going to wonder if you’re just full of hot air. Some people even resent your aggressive play and will say nasty things to you in the chatbox. That’s great because these people are just dying to catch you in a bluff.

The more aggressive your image is, the more likely people are going to be to call you down with weaker hands than they normally would. All this aggression makes it hard for them to tell if you really do have a strong hand. Your aggressive game doesn’t include making weak calls that indicate weak hands. Because of that, it’s that much harder to read you.

Aggression charges people to draw

By betting and raising with your strong hands, you make it expensive for your opponents to try and get lucky with their draws. If you don’t bet your strong hands, you let opponents draw for free which is a complete disaster. It is your duty to charge your opponents for the opportunity of trying to outdraw you.

Occasionally their draws will hit and you’ll get mad but that’s OK. If your opponents draws never hit, they’d never play poker. It’s good their draws hit sometimes because it’s that hope that keeps them coming back every day. As an aggressive player, you exploit the hopes of other people.

Aggression forces your opponents to play more straightforward against you

When people suspect they’re up against a strong hand, they tend to play a straightforward game. They don’t really have a choice if you think about it. If they think they’re up against a strong hand, they obviously don’t want to bluff and they don’t want to play weak hands. In the end, they fold all of their weak hands and only continue if they have a strong hand. That’s oversimplifying it a bit, but the basic idea is sound – aggression makes it harder to play tricky against you.

Happy playing!

Read more:
Using the Check Strategically In Play Poker Online
Play Poker Online Texas Hold’em Tactfully

How to Master the Card Game In Online Poker

Is it truly possible to learn how to master no-limit Texas Hold’em online poker by reading a single post? Not even close. Although no single resource can single-handedly teach someone how to master the game, this post will teach you how to learn. Basically, we are going to teach you what resources are good for advanced topics and how you should think.

You must remember that there is always more to be learned when you play poker. No matter what stakes you play at, there’s something out there you don’t know. Always be striving to improve your game. As soon as you stop putting the effort into improving, you’ll start sliding backward.

There are five things that can be used to improve your skills:

Get into the learning mentality

The first step in getting the right mentality is to remember that you’re the only keeping score and the score is tallied by dollars. The score is not kept based on the difficulty level of your opponents, the stakes you play at or how much you can bluff. And since nobody else is keeping score, it pays to be honest with yourself.

Give yourself specific reasons for the actions you take

When you’re playing, take the extra effort to give yourself a conscious reason for every single action you take at the tables. If you have to, speak out loud as if you’re recording an instructional poker online video. Better yet, record a video of you playing and post it up on some poker forums for some feedback. Getting into the habit of requiring conscious reasons for your actions will develop your poker logic and improve your ability to make difficult decisions on the spot.

Practice reading your opponents’ hands

Take the extra effort to give your opponents a reason for every action they take at the tables. Stay awake and pay attention to the table even when you’re not playing a hand. One of the best exercises for an online poker real money player is to watch the opponents and try to put them on specific hands. You won’t get it right very often at first, but as you practice it will develop your skills and prepare you to move up in stakes.

Join and Participate in Poker Forums

We put a lot of faith in poker forums. Our belief in poker forums is not unfounded; they will bring your game to the next level. Make sure you join a couple of the bigger poker forums and participate in the discussions there. The information and the things you’ll learn will greatly benefit you – way more than any book.

Post Hand Histories on Your Poker Forums

Every time you play poker online a particularly difficult hand, save the hand history for later analysis. When you finish the session, visit some poker forums and post your hands for discussion. It is amazing how much you can improve your skills by discussing hand histories on poker forums.

Happy playing!

Read more:
Mix Up Your Online Poker Game
9 Tips for Online Poker Players to Note

Table Position and its Worth In Poker Online

If you want to become a great NL Texas Hold’em, poker online player, it is imperative you know the importance of table position and the general strategies behind each position.

Playing too many hands is the number one mistake that new players make.

If you already believe online poker India is pure luck, then stop reading right now. But if you want to take your game to the next level, you need to have a thorough understanding of table position. With this knowledge, you will naturally rely less on luck and receive fewer “bad beats” as a result.

The position lets us see how other players at the table act. The position should not define how you play your starting cards, but it should give you general guidelines. Play selectively and aggressively and you will begin to see your poker game (and your winnings) grow.

The Blinds

The blinds are used to create action at the best online poker table. To the immediate left of the dealer is the small blind. The small blind is the smaller of two forced bets and is half of the big blind. The big blind is the larger of the two forced bets. The big blind is equal to the minimum bet at the poker table.

Generally, the blinds are in the worst position because they are forced into betting without even looking at their cards. However, they have the advantage of going last before the flop.

After the flop, the blinds are in the worst position because they are first to act. Keep this in mind before you call with a subpar hand pre-flop. New players tend to call raises just because they already have money in the pot.

You stand to lose a lot of money if you chase cards from the blinds. Before you call, take into consideration the raiser’s table position, and anything else you know about him.

Early Position

Early position is the most difficult to play from because you have no idea how the players after you will act. All other circumstances aside, you should play premium hands from early position. Aces, Kings, Queens, A-K suited and A-K unsuited should be played here and from any position other position at the table.

Middle Position

Players in the middle position have the advantage of seeing how the players in the early position act, but the disadvantage of not knowing what the players in the late position will do.

If there is a bet from a player in early position, fold everything but premium hands. If you have a good hand and are the first to make a raise pre-flop, make a standard raise of three to four times the big blind. You want to get the players in the blinds from calling with marginal hands and getting lucky on the flop.

Late Position

Late position is a big advantage in NL Hold’em and should be treated as such. Even if you don’t have a particularly good hand, if no one in front of you has raised, you have the opportunity to raise/bluff and steal the pot. As such, the late positions are sometimes referred to as the “steal positions.” It can be a great move to pick up the blinds.

Happy playing!

Read more:
Playing the Short-stack in Poker Online
Poker Online Tips for Playing Multi-Tables

Playing the Short-stack in Poker Online

When playing in poker online rooms, the person with the fewest number of chips at the table is generally known as “the short stack.” It’s an unenviable position to be in and one that is far from ideal. However, if you’re regular player you’ll surely have found yourself in this kind of position for one of reasons.

Losing your chips can be one cause

The first one will be due to the fact that you’ve lost your best online poker chips throughout the progress of your current game. In other words, whether it be down to bad luck or just poor play. You’ve ended up giving most of your chips away to your opponents.

However, if you decide to enter poker tournaments that have already been running for a little while, it’s more than likely you will sit down at the table in the last place. Either way, you need to think about how you’re going to add to your pile of chips quickly. A successful short stack strategy can be the difference between a strong player and an average one.

The main problem with finding yourself low on chips is that your room for maneuver is greatly reduced. In Texas Hold’em, the vast majority of poker online chips are bet on the turn and the river. Therefore, a player who finds themselves in the position of the short stack is unlikely to find that they can afford to play much past the flop round.

Taking a risk on marginal hands

With this in mind, when you find yourself with few online poker real money chips, you should make sure that you play big on strong hands that have a good chance of coming out on top rather than taking a risk on marginal hands such as small pocket pairs or suited connectors. This sort of speculative hands is best played with a deep stack of chips. This is mainly because you could easily find yourself being re-raised.

And also, because the chances of you hitting your straight/flush aren’t particularly high. With big pile of chips, you can afford to lose a small percentage because the potential reward is so high. That luxury is taken away when your chips are running thin on the ground. Taking a punt on making an improbable hand is likely just to decrease your stack of chips yet further. Instead, try to play big suited hands.

The strategy needs to be implemented

The players around you can also have a big impact on the way that your strategy needs to be implemented. If you find yourself in a position whereby the players seem to be playing in a very loose manner. Then try to stay patient and wait for a strong solid hand before making your move. If, on the other hand, the players behind you tend to be quite tight. Then you can relax your starting requirements slightly and throw your chips into the middle of the table with slightly weaker hands. Don’t wait too long and try to be the first to get your chips into the pot.

Short stack strategies should generally come into play poker when you find your chip stack is worth less than 40 big blinds. They need to be played with a clear head and a brave heart, but are ultimately very rewarding when they come off.

Happy playing!

Read more:
Poker Online Tips for Playing Multi-Tables
Poker Online Strategy for Playing Trash Hands

Mix Up Your Online Poker Game

The number one enemy of an online poker player is predictability. If opponents can put you solidly on pattern of betting relative to strength of your hand, you are doomed. This is why it is so crucial to mix up your game when you play Texas Hold’em.

What it Means to Mix Up Your Game

Generally, what mixing up your best online poker game means is shifting gears. That is to say, if you’ve been playing tight for a while and have developed a conservative image, mixing up your game might be to start throwing in a few bluffs or lose calls. Conversely, if you’ve been a maniac, bullying people left and right. You are also slowing down and playing only premium hands can pay great dividends. This is especially if you’ve just been caught bluffing a few times.

How to Mix Up Your Game

If you’re not accustomed to playing poker a way different from the way you normally do, it may take some getting used to. A good idea is to wait until a situation where you’ve had success with your given style. This way if shifting gears is not successful, you should still be ahead. The best time to switch up your game is immediately after your playing style becomes obvious.

For example, if you just got caught running a huge bluff in a big online poker India pot, it’s a great time to hunker down and wait for a monster. If someone has just remarked after you bet and dragged a pot about how you only put in chips with the nuts, it’s your cue to start bluffing and playing unusual hands.

Notes on Mixing Up Your Game

You shouldn’t necessarily take mixing up your game to extremes. If you’ve been playing tight, you don’t have to recklessly splash every pot with chips to take advantage of your image. A few well-timed bluffs or stabs at pots that no one seems to be interested in will be fine. If you’re a maniac, you don’t have to take a time-out from the game to switch gears, just play the best hands in early position and strong hands in late position, then bet your hand when you hit.

Happy playing!

Read more:
9 Tips for Online Poker Players to Note
5 Ideas to Improve Online Poker Skills

Poker Online Tips for Playing Multi-Tables

One of the biggest changes to modern poker online came with the introduction of multi-tabling. Every online poker room makes it possible for its players to play at several tables at the same time. This means that micro limits, which did not represent a reasonable source of winnings in the past, can now be used to actually make money. Taking advantage of the weak level of play there makes more sense now than ever before.

Live poker players and best online poker purists generally regard multi-tabling as yet another exaggeration a generation grown up on massively multiplayer online games have come up with. Their foremost argument is that by having to pay attention to so many tables. One will effectively rob himself of the chance to play his absolute best.

The latter part of this statement is certainly true: you will not be able to bring your absolute best to several online poker India tables at the same time. When multi-tabling though, your absolute best may not even be required. What you need to focus on is to be good enough to compensate the edge. You give up by leaving your best game behind, with the sheer volume of hands that you play.

Give smaller edges

Your edges will be smaller, but they’ll be put to work more often. This means whether you reach a reasonable level of winnings only depends on how many hands you play per hour. This is the mechanism behind successful multi-tabling. You give up a small edge for the chance to gain one which can be as big as you’re capable of making it.

The most difficult stage of learning to play poker at multiple tables is the start of course. Obviously, if you’re having trouble making money at one table, you shouldn’t even consider multi-tabling. If you’re a long-term loser, by playing multiple tables, you will only add to your losses. As soon as you feel confident enough in your ability to handle a single table, you may want to add one more. Don’t forget to sign up for Rakeback before you get to multi-tabling. Playing multiple tables will mean more hands/hour which means you’ll pay a lot more in rake too. You may even want to consider a prop deal, but that may restrict the limits you can play on.

Rake back is essential

Don’t tell yourself that you don’t need to rake back because you’re only a beginner at multi-tabling. Rakeback has nothing to do with actual poker skill. The more of a beginner you are, the more you’ll need it. As soon as you feel comfortable playing at 2 tables. Add one more and don’t be afraid to move back down to fewer tables if you feel overwhelmed at any time.

You are overwhelmed whenever your time out at a table on account of the time you spend on another one. The last thing you want is to give up value on one table because you’re too busy limiting your losses on another. One of the most important skills called upon in multi-tabling is the ability to prioritize.

Whenever you’re multi-tabling, you’ll be confronted with several decisions in a short amount of time. Not all these decisions will be equally difficult though. As a matter of fact, most of the time you’ll be up against easy calls, only a few of your decisions will require more time than the minimum possible. This is why it is important that you’re able to think about one decision while acting automatically on the other tables.

Don’t forget table selection

The fact that you’re playing at 6 tables doesn’t mean you should settle for even one table where making money is next to impossible due to the players there. Use a 4-color deck, organize the layout of your table, minimize the intricacy of the interface and take notes on your opponents. Sitting in the same seat at each of the tables you’re involved in will also help shorten your decision making.

Happy playing!

Read more:
Poker Online Strategy for Playing Trash Hands
Poker Online – Bluffing in Hold’em Poker

9 Tips for Online Poker Players to Note

If you are a fan of online poker game, you will no doubt need some tips to try your hand and skills on your game. And who can give you better tips than the experts?

Mastering the subtle art of playing the best online poker games is potentially most important for the players. In our experience, new players can take note of the following tips. Let’s have a look at them:

Don’t play every hand or play too many hands

One of the biggest mistakes new players make is playing too many hands and playing hands out of position. We will skip the “position” part and just focus on playing too many hands part.

Stop Bluffing

A majority of online poker real money players have seen all the big-name pros pulling off huge bluffs on TV, but playing online poker is not TV, and bluffing is an art and not something you should do on a regular basis. Don’t get me wrong, bluffing is a part of the game, but it is not a huge part.

Don’t keep people honest

You do not need to take a stand against another player just because he’s playing too loose. You do not want to be the table sheriff! even if you are sure he is just betting and bluffing.

Don’t throw good money after bad

In poker online sometimes things just don’t go your way. One card can change and ruin a hand and sometimes it can be extremely frustrating and we end up calling additional bets even though we know we are beaten.

Pay attention to the table

When you are first learning Texas Hold’em it can be challenging enough to remember your cards. You can have a major advantage if you pay close attention to the flop and other players. After every flop, you should know what the best possible hand could be, and you need to gauge how strong your hand is by comparison.

Don’t Play mad, sad, or tired

Poker is a challenging game and it will take all of your mental energy to focus and play your “A” game. Never play when you are sick, angry, or upset because you will not be able to play poker effectively.

Pay Attention to other players

Of course, this proves impossible when playing online poker, but when you are playing “live” poker you should be watching the other players especially when you not in the hand. Watch players when they bet, win hands, lose hands, etc. everyone gives off tells and information and these bits of information will help you win more money playing poker.

Play within your bankroll

This is another tip that will hit home with a lot of players. When they take a bad beat or make a mistake, then lose their bankroll and have to start over. Of course, it is ok to take a shot at higher limits if there is a good game, but you should never be able to lose your bankroll because of a few bad beats. You need to have a cushion.

Games are supposed to be fun!

Sometimes we all forget that poker is a game and games should be fun. If you are not having fun and enjoying playing poker, then don’t play! You might just need some time off, but do not let poker affect your life and well-being.

Poker is a great game and meant to be enjoyed and can be very rewarding. it important to keep this in mind sometimes when things are not going well at the tables. Poker is a game and money is how we keep score.

Happy playing!

Read more:
Online Poker Tips for Playing on Flop in Texas Hold’em
5 Ideas to Improve Online Poker Skills

Poker Online Strategy for Playing Trash Hands

It often happens that you have taken risks in poker online. Of course, betting always involves risk, but the risk becomes much more when the cards you are betting on trash. Trash cards are the cards of very low value, which have meager chances of winning. But as you are on the table and have made the initials bets, taking the risks is often the right decision.

The important thing to keep in mind while playing online poker India is the right time when you should take this risk. You have to make up a strategy. As your odds of winning are less, you win will totally depend on luck. If luck does not favor you, you can keep on playing trash hands a hundred times and loose in a row. So, avoid such a thing from happening, what you need are an alert mind and a sound strategy. You don’t have to fold every time you get a trash hand. It’s not only the hand that wins. If you take the right risks at the right time, you may just end up being lucky.

Recognize weak hands

An important thing to learn is to recognize best poker online hands are weak by their value but have the odds of winning. For instance, if you consider the card combination- Q-4. This hand is very weak, but in case your opponent happens to have a card with only a Q in it with something of value lesser than 4, you will win. No matter how low the chances of this being the case may be, but they cannot be totally overruled. Your opponents may have a stronger hand than you.

The more the number of opponents on the table, the more are the chances of your loosing. But as we said before, such risks should be taken at the right time. If you are alert, enough you will get a rough idea of the type hands in the possession of your opponents and you will be able to make the right moves accordingly.

Some cards are trash individually but make good connecting cards. Cards that are suited usually are good options for such sets. However, you should mind the gap between such cards. If they’re just one card missing between the connecting cards, the chances of this gap being made up are good. But in case the gap is two or more, then you should not think about trying to connect them, as the chances of having the right cards being dealt are extremely less. You can’t make it straight if you need 2 or more cards and so it is not advisable to keep waiting for something like that to happen.

Choose smaller pairs

You should prefer pairs which are smaller. Pairs are thought to be trash by some people but they are not all that useless. You can indeed make successful flops with such pairs, but the timing of such flops has to be right. If you have such a pair in your hand, don’t wait too much, because the more you wait, the lesser your winning chances shrink.

In online poker real money, you get to know if your trash hand is good enough or not, at the flop. To gain the most, you should observe the hands of your opponents after the flop. Look at the kinds of hands that they had and make a comparison of these hands with yours. In case you find that your trash hand is better than your opponents are, take the opportunity to raise your bet. But in case, you see that your trash hand really deserves to be called trash, then stay tight and don’t hurry into making the bets.

The final and the most effective solution for avoiding losses due to trash hands is to fold. Don’t be egoistic and play on just for the sake of completing the game. If you don’t see yourself winning, fold. After all, poker is all about grabbing the chips and so there is no use of playing on if you don’t see yourself being able to do that.

Happy playing!

Read more:
Poker Online – Playing Aces in Poker Texas Hold’em
Poker Online – How to Know When to Fold

Online Poker Tips for Playing on Flop in Texas Hold’em

Poker is an interesting online game, where the players tend to use their mind. Here are some tips for how to bet on the flop with some common hands and situations in Texas Hold’em online poker.

If everyone checks on the poker online India flop, you should bet on the turn even if you have nothing. Most of the time your opponents will often fold in such a situation. Exceptions to this are when there are too many players or just loose players in the group.

If someone suddenly bets into you or raises, and you are considering folding, be sure to first look at the number of chips that the player has in front of him. If he is practically out of best online poker chips it’s likely that he is bluff raising/betting because he knows he will go all-in on that hand anyway.

Bet with an ace or minor card

If you have overcards on the flop, you can bet with an ace or two minor over cards, but you should fold if someone raises your bet. If someone bets before you on the flop you can call with two overcards, but be sure to fold them at the turn if your hand does not improve. You can call with two major overcards (ie A-J) if someone raises your bet on the flop. You can also check-call a bet on the turn with that kind of hand unless the board looks threatening.

A small pair with an overcard kicker is a strong hand that you can call, even cold call, a raise with on the flop. You should probably fold it on the next round if it was raised on the flop and you haven’t improved the hand and someone bets before you.

Players can bluff-bet

Sometimes you can bluff-bet if the flop contains an ace. Your opponents will often fold in such a situation if they don’t have any pairs or an open-ended straight because it’s impossible for them to have any overcards when the flop contains an ace. This will usually only work if your opponents aren’t too many or too loose.

Happy playing!

Read more:
Basic Playing Style of Online Poker Card Game
10 Richest Online Poker Player around the World