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Poker Strategy

Professional poker players have a lot to handle to stay at the top of their game, and fall somewhere between professional sportsmen and businessmen.

They need endurance, discipline and skill, but luck plays its part. However, it’s worth remembering that they also often end a day with less money than they started with, and need good money management skills, along with the right attitude. Asked how she coped with the swings, top professional Jennifer Harman once commented: “When I experience a bad beat, I think of it as overhead. If you own a business, you have to pay your bills, and I consider a bad beat one of my bills. It's going to happen, and there's nothing I can do about it.”

Here are some of the key attributes you'll need in order to succeed in the poker world:

Table selection

If you can consistently find cash games where one or more players is worse than you then, over time, you're going to be a winner.
Forget sitting with the greats at a World Poker Tour final table - this is where the real money is made, the ‘bread and butter’, and, whatever your level, if you get into the habit of ensuring good table selection, you'll have a consistent earn to progress from, whether it be bigger cash games or tournaments.

What you need to look for is weaker players, so getting to know the ‘donkeys’ in a game or on a site is the best and most obvious way. If you're new to a site though, then one useful tool of online play is the lobby, where statistics like average pot size or percentage of players seeing the flop are generally readily available and can be an instant indicator.

Money management

Finding great games is fair enough, but you need to be able to afford the swings, or prepare for the ‘tilts’ that are inevitable in them – and your own fortunes - while your bankroll accrues. There's no point seeing a big game that you can't afford and sitting in it, as you risk going broke altogether. Keep records. Businessmen do it, bookies do it, so if you count yourself a serious player then you should too. There is nothing too complicated or daunting about writing down how much you've won or lost on a given day so that you know where you are over time. If you want to get more detailed analysis, think about including factors like hours played, time of day, games and opponents, statistics from the site, and what kind of mood you were in. This way, over time you'll have a resource that can be used to figure out your optimal playing routine, as well as tell you how much you're making (or losing) at the game on a daily, or even hourly rate.

Hand selection

In most low-limit games, if you simply wait for better cards than your opponents then you will have a huge edge, as they often play any hand in any position without much thought going into it. Perhaps this is because they're just recreational players, or maybe they've had a few drinks – something you should avoid, by the way - or gone on tilt (this is the term for a player unable to cope with fluctuations in their own luck). But whatever the reason, they're offering you an advantage most of the time, so make the most of it.

This is particularly true in limit Hold'em games, where the mathematics of position and the fixed-betting structure make imagination and deception less important than in the pot-limit or no-limit varieties, and if you play on the internet it also fits perfectly with multi-tabling. Rather than playing in one game, getting bored and playing every hand, you could play in four at once and wait for premium hands to come along.

Aggression

Once you've got the discipline to wait for a decent hand and an understanding of position, you might notice that the other players start to become a bit more cautious of tangling with you. After all, if you've entered a pot, you should have a good reason to be there. When this happens, it's time to execute the next phase of most winning poker players' strategy. Careful hand selection gives you an early edge, but to really capitalize, you need to be prepared to show some serious aggression if you make nothing on the flop or miss a draw, particularly at no-limit or pot-limit. Chances are, your opponents will have nothing themselves, or give you credit for something strong and fold.

Changing gears

Tight or aggressive play will bring home the bacon, but if you stick to one style and play hands in the same way all the time, even your weakest opponent will eventually work you out and your game will drop away. Most top players have the ability to vary their styles of play, confusing their opponents. In cash games where the structure stays the same, this is quite often done at random - naturally tight players might suddenly play a wider quality or variety of hands, or bluff more to steal extra pots, or loose, aggressive opponents might slow it down so that when they get a big hand people don't give them enough credit. In tournaments, changing gears is more dependent on stack size, and what point of the game you're at.

Courage

This is what the great players who play just to win have in spades, especially in tournaments. How many times has someone risked everything and put their entire stack on the line with a bluff, or overcome a series of terrible beats to seize victory from the jaws of defeat? If you want to win tournaments you'll need to find the courage to do the same - if you just wait for good cards to carry you there, the chances are you'll fall short, or be waiting a very, very long time.

Mathematical aptitude

Most poker pros have a good working knowledge of the mathematics that underpin the game (and the rest have learned the odds by experience). Combined with years of play and seeing the same situations come up again and again, they can understand and estimate precisely whether certain actions are likely to be profitable or losing plays.

Lack of ego

When things go wrong, or every move you make seems to work perfectly, it can often have a big effect on the way you think about your game or feel about yourself and the other players. But it shouldn't do, as you'll be playing your best game most of the time and the rest should just be the ebb and flow of luck swaying your results back and forth.

But in reality poker players rarely understand the fluctuations they can experience while still being either winning or losing players overall, and so they often end up thinking they're geniuses or doubting their talents – the latter being the ‘tilt’. However, an inflated ego from a series of wins can be just as damaging, seeing you make overly risky decisions you wouldn’t otherwise entertain. Focus on the game and the long term rather than how your luck is running, and you'll stay ahead of those who already call themselves professionals.

Personal stability

Poker is certainly a tough way to make an easy living – or any kind of living - and you should avoid getting serious with it unless you work hard at it and genuinely believe you can tick all the boxes and more. This makes emotional well-being and the support of your partner, family and friends even more important than usual if you want to give playing seriously a go, and just remember that what was once a fun pastime might soon get stale if you do it every day. If any of this is making you think twice about living the poker life then maybe you should stick with the day job.

Online Poker

A mixture of luck and skill, poker is certainly not any ordinary gambling game. For a start, you’re up against other players - there's no casino or bookmaker to beat – it’s direct competition against a table of like-minded people who are all after your money.

Second, poker is not a card game - it's a game of strategy that just happens to be played with cards. If you want to become better than your average player, you need to fully understand the game, whichever variant of poker it is you favour; but the first thing to do is specialise and master just one, maybe two. You need to be able to read your opponents, spotting bluffs, and figuring out potential hands and, with practice, be able to predict their every move. At the same time, you should be as difficult as possible to read yourself. Opponents should have no idea of the hand you hold. You need to know the odds of every card and betting option available. A cool, clear head and precise judgement are also weapons in the armoury of a great poker player.

However, to be a successful online poker player, you need to know far less. Of course, you’ll need a good grounding in all these skills, plus an understanding of the most important and popular online poker variant - Texas Hold 'Em. Let's start with the basics of Texas Hold 'Em. You should know what hand beats what and how the betting, checking and raising system works. In short, you should be comfortable with the fundamental mechanics of the game of poker before playing any game for cash.

You’ll obviously need a home computer with a fast and stable internet connection, Broadband is recommended. One of the most panic-inducing – and potentially expensive - moments in a game of online poker is your system crashing halfway through. You'll lose the pot, no matter what cards you're holding.

Use a busy site, especially if you need practice, as you'll be able to find a good selection of players and games at your level and higher when you are ready to make the step up. More players also means more anonymity too. However, as you don't want regular players learning your style of play and using it to their advantage, become a member of at least a couple of sites for this reason. This will also help you shop around for the best games, loyalty schemes, bonuses, etc, just as being a member of more than one online bookmakers helps you shop around for the best prices. If you're a Mac user, your choices are more limited, as most poker software is PC-based. Mac owners can, however, use www.pokerroom.com, currently the only room to support Macs.

When choosing your game, stick with what you know for the time being. For the newcomer, Texas Hold’em is a good starting point.

You must also choose your table stakes. These usually range from $0.25-$0.50 tables all the way up to $100-$200. The $0.25-$0.50 is the cost of the blinds; they effectively set the minimum stake that you'll need to pay to see a Hold 'Em hand to the flop. Your funds will dictate the level of table you play at, but bear the in mind that the lower-value tables are almost always 'looser', attracting players who seem to believe that poker is more about cards and luck than skill – and these are the players you can take money from in tournaments. They'll see it through to the flops even with quite weak hands and generally make mistakes. The higher-value tables will obviously be home to more experienced players, and the standard of the game will be a lot higher - only play these tables if you can justify it yourself - and be honest about your ability.
By all means move to $1-$2 tables, but only if you are sure that you are better than the other players at that table. There's absolutely no point in being the worst, or even the second or third best at any table - other players will spot you and pick you off.

Your next choice is the number of players at your table. Shorthanded tables will have five or six players, some tables up to ten. Look for a table with a maximum of five other players – this amount is easier to watch and gauge than nine, and your calculations of pots, odds and the like are simpler. It will also cost you less to get to the flop, and winning lots of small pots is better than going for the occasional bigger pot.

One important factor is to watch is the chip stacks at any game. The amount you can buy in for at any table is determined by the stakes. On $0.25-$0.50 tables, this is usually $50. If you see two players with more than $100 each at this level of table, that tells you they've both doubled their stacks as a result of playing, which suggests they're good players, or “double stackers” as they are known..

Sometimes you'll meet triple or quad stackers, who are bound to be good and are probably just checking out the low stakes tables to make a consistent profit. Avoid the tables they're playing at, and try to stick to tables with a good selection of players in the $20-$70 mark at $0.25-$0.50 tables.

You next choice will be whether to play Limit, Pot Limit or No Limit Hold 'Em. No Limit, as it is probably the purest and most skilful form of the game. However, unless you're comfortable with this level of betting skill and taking the risk of having to wager your entire stack on one hand, sometimes even before you've seen the flop, it’s probably worth going for Limit poker. Limit is also a more mathematical form of poker, as at low stakes there's virtually no bluffing and less risk of really big pots. It's also a good game to help you master some of the basic skills without risking your entire bankroll.

Pot Limit is halfway between the two - the maximum raise is only the entire contents of the pot, making it a good game for people who want to master No Limit games without risking their entire bankroll.

The most common advice of watching a table for a while before you get involved in a game is sound but rarely taken notice of – people want to get on and play and some sites are so busy that just getting a seat at the table can be hard enough, especially when you are mindful about the chip stack levels at a table.

As a compromise, it's worth watching a few hands once your seat is reserved. Watch the betting at each stage of the hand and try to predict who is holding what. Try to guess their next move before they make it. You should be able to roughly estimate the hand they show at the end (you see only the winner's hand); this should also have a good idea of what was folded or mucked and why. Be honest with yourself though. If you get it wrong, try and figure out why.

Watching a few hands will give you a good idea of the style of players at the table, and also helps you to figure out the following. What hand does my opponent have? What hand does he/they think I have? What hand does my opponent think I think he has?

You should know this at every single stage of a poker game. You can't always be right, but you must always be thinking it. Remember, the first few hands you play, they’ll be watching you, trying to work out your style, what you’ve got in your hand and what you will play with. In Limit Poker, you must always believe that your hand is currently better or can be better than that of your opponent. If you don't believe that to be case, get out of the hand.

If you know your hand is better, if you have the best hand on the board or the ‘Nuts’ (for example, you hold QhKh and the flop is the 9h, 10c, Jc), keep raising and hopefully someone will follow. You can't lose unless the Nuts changes (if the Kc comes down on the turn, for example - AQ or any two of clubs would now be beating you).

Sadly, finding yourself with the Nuts is rare, and you'll constantly face decisions on whether your hand is currently better and whether it's worth continuing to put good money into the pot. For this reason, you must know your pot odds, especially in the more mathematical Limit Poker. Good players know the odds of certain situations. They know that if you have a pocket pair (paired hole cards), the odds of hitting a set (a third card to give you three of a kind) are 8/1. There are two useful cards left in the deck and you have five chances to hit one of them.

Another good example is that there's roughly a 3/1 chance of completing a flush if you have four of the same suit after the flop. You should then apply the percentages to the pot on offer. If there's only $10 in the pot and you have the flush draw - and you're sure you're currently being beaten - you shouldn't call a raise that's bigger than the pot odds; for example, $3.

This is key to any poker player and must be enforced with total discipline. Human nature is optimistic and we all remember, or want to be able to tell our friends about, the time the flush actually came, but don't be tempted; don't get involved in pots where the odds are against you, as you'll come of worse in the long term.

These pot odds also apply to starting hands. In a Limit game, there's no point playing anything other than A-A, K-K, A-K, A-K suited and A-Q suited if you're early on in the betting. If you're last to play in a later position, you're in much better shape, as you have a chance to predict every other players' hand by the bets or calls they make. In these later positions, you can consider the following if there's some betting pre-flop. QQ, JJ, 10-10 ...6-6. Some players will also play 5-5...2-2. Also A-Q, A-J, K-J unsuited.

If there's little or no betting before the flop, then drawing hands - hands that can drastically improve - can come into play; such as include K-Q suited...6-5 suited, or suited connectors, as they are known. These can also include loosely connected cards such as K-J suited...7-5 suited, A-x suited and occasionally unsuited connectors, depending again on position, stack, the size of the bet and the strength of the table.

Again, this does give some indication of the importance of your position at the table and your relative distance from the dealer.

Bluffing - using betting to represent a hand you don't have - is a much over-hyped skill in poker, especially online. It will be useful in high level, No Limit games, but the crux is that you can't bluff players who don't really know what they're doing. This makes bluffing utterly useless in low stakes, Limit games, where it may only cost $2 to see a pot with $20 in it. In No Limit, it could be $20 to see that pot, and you would hope that would encourage weaker players to fold, even if they hold an average hand, such as a mid-pair. If you suspect your opponent has a higher hand than yours, but detect a lack of confidence in his betting - a string of calls, checks or a very low raises, this is usually a good sign - you can persuade him of the strength of your hand even if you hold nothing. This is especially true if there's an obvious power hand on the board, such as three of the same suit.

Although it feels great to pull off a successful bluff, it should only be used by experienced players at higher-level tables, and then only in No Limit games. If you try bluffing at low stakes Limit games, you'll get called time and again, and you will have to watch your pot decrease, sapped away by players who will stay in to the flop regardless

Another deception tool, and one that is possible more useful, is check-raising. This is essentially the reverse of bluffing, where you convince your opponent that your hand is weaker than his even though it isn't, encouraging him to keep betting into you. This is a great tactic if you hold a powerhouse hand (full house, flush, etc) and he has little or no chance of improving. By checking or calling weakly, you can really take advantage on these types of hands, which don't come round too often.

Internet poker is virtually a different poker game from the bricks and mortar variety. Internet poker games are much faster, sometimes twice as many hands are dealt per hour than in a ‘real’ card room. Online players also tend to play a lot more loosely than in live-action games. It's easier to call a bet or raise with the click of a mouse. This can create more bad beats.
It’s also based more on relative strength of hands and position rather than tells. Bluffing is virtually none existent, and largely useless. Most of the time when playing over the internet, you are up against people you don't know and people you can’t see. In live action games, strategic decisions are often made based solely on the opponent's appearance and behaviour, otherwise known as tells. These clues do not exist online.

The biggest online poker rooms will often have hundreds of games going on 24 hours a day. This means it’s much easier to change tables to find the right game.