Online Poker Strategy

The secret of success is flexibility. While you obviously need to know the rules and other basics to win at poker, you’ll really want to have an entire arsenal of poker strategies at your disposal whenever you hit the tables. With so many possibilities in the cards every time you play, a one-size fits all approach won’t work here. Take a look at our tips below to build a successful strategy. Learn the basics and build a system that works for you.

Poker Strategy: Enjoy “Play Money” Games

If you haven’t played poker before, the best way to develop your strategy is by diving in headfirst.  Nothing beats hand-on experience, especially when you can play online poker for free.  The fun begins when you download our software.  You can also take advantage of our no-download poker that lets you play at our tables directly from your browser.  Hit our tables without opening your wallet and find a game at any hour.  It’s the best way to get a feel for the game.

Obviously playing online poker for free won’t give you the experience you need to win the biggest Vegas tournaments off the bat.  Players who play for free have nothing to lose and are usually more aggressive and regularly bluff or go all-in with poor hands.  You’ll need a different strategy to defeat conservative players when fame and fortune are on the line.

Basic Poker Strategy: Starting Hands

The most important part of your strategy is realizing which hands don’t stand a chance.  While a 3/5 off-suit hand is usually bad news, you’ll want to hang onto to that pair of aces.

You’ll want to familiarize yourself with conventional poker hand rankings.  Don’t forget that poker is about outwitting your opponent.  That means you might want to throw back a typically tempting pair to foil your opponents’ radars.  This handy guide will help you build a strategy for your starting hand.

• Before the flop, it's considered safe to RAISE if you are holding AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ, AQ, or 1010.
• You can CALL before the flop if you are holding AJ, KQ, QJ, J10, 109 in the same suit. 99 88 77 and A with another card in the same suit. You should be conservative, though, and only call once or twice.

Basic Poker Strategy: Pot Odds

Pot odds can get confusing, but you’ll need to understand them to build and effective poker strategy.  Basically, pot odds are all about risk vs. reward.  Imagine that a pot contains $250 and you must call $25 to remain in the hand.  In this scenario the pot odds are 10:1. Pot odds are the amount of cash in the pot compared to the cost of a call.  Knowing when to stay in the game and when to walk away is critical to any solid strategy. Pot odds are especially important during tournament play.  With longer games, you’ll want a poker strategy that will wear your opponents down.  Try your hand at some tourneys and discover the risk/reward ratio that best suits your style.

Poker Strategy: Bluffing

Even if you’ve never played poker before, you probably know what bluffing is all about, but there are different degrees.  A stone-cold bluff occurs when a player bets or raises with a hand that can’t improve. The goal is to force all the other players to fold, but this only works when the bluffing player has a lot of chips and highly favorable pot odds.  It takes skill and practice to perform these kinds of bluffs and they tend to work better if you actually know your opponent’s style of play.

Poker games that have more than one betting round provide the perfect opportunity to perform a semi-bluff, or bluff with the belief that a hand may get stronger as more cards are dealt.

Players who make a semi-bluff can win the pot either by causing other players to fold initially, or by landing cards that improve their hand.  A player who semi-bluffs with a 57 offsuit may end up playing to win if a 6 and 8 arrive on the flop.

Develop Your Own Poker Strategy

These are only a few elements that go into developing a successful poker strategy.  Every poker pro, shark, and even dabbler has a strategy of their own, although some are certainly less formal than others.  Log on, put our tips into action, discover what works for you, and develop your own set of strategies.  Whether you play in tournaments or cash games, and whatever the flavor, it’s your ticket to winning consistently.