You found out about online poker, did you? Glad to hear it! I’m looking forward to seeing you at the tables. Really, I am—I’m always looking to pad my bankroll. Sit down, stay a while.
Let me take your money.
What’s that you say? You don’t want to give me your money? Pffh. Do you know who I am? Oh, you want to learn how to win, do you? You want to make some cash off of this gig?
I tell you what—I’m feeling nice today. I’ll help you out. I see players like you all the time, and all of them make the same mistakes, over, and over, and over, and… If you want to win, just avoid making newbie errors. There are tons of them. I’ll make a list for you.
1. Don’t play every hand!
Pretty basic, right? Maybe, but it’s possibly the most important advice I can give you. Believe it or not, just because you have one ace in your hand doesn’t make it invincible. A2 offsuit kinda sucks. K7 offsuit really sucks. If you hit your high pair with either hand, chances are pretty good there’s someone with a higher kicker waiting to stack you.
2. If you wanna play, learn how to bet!
If you wake up with AK preflop, raise! You’ve got a great hand, and probability says it’s the best at the table. Get some value out of it.
Something I see all the time is beginners limping with pocket aces. Their reasoning is usually something like, “I don’t want to scare everyone out of the pot”. This is really poor reasoning. Listen: your hand is incredibly strong preflop, so you need to raise the stakes. That’s all there is to it. You want to create a massive pot. Limping isn’t going to fool anyone, and it’s not going to get you paid off. It’s just going to allow other people with random hands to outdraw you on future streets.
3. Know when to play, and when to sit back—don’t sit on the fence.
In politics, ‘sitting on the fence’ means you’re a spineless jerk who can’t do your job.
Same thing in poker. If you limp preflop (call the big blind), you’re sitting on the fence. You can’t decide whether or not your hand is good enough to play, but you want to call, just to see if you can hit a flop. This is horrendous. I can’t describe to you how much money you’ll lose if you do this a lot.
This rule goes hand in hand with #2. If you want to play, be aggressive--pump the pot full of value. If you’re not sure whether or not your hand is valuable, it isn’t worth playing. Just fold it.
4. Position is important.
It’s true: the order in which you act has a huge effect on how you should play your hand. Think about it: If you’re first to make a decision in a hand, you’re basically making a move blind. If you’re going to bet, you’d better be pretty darn sure your hand is strong. All those late position players might want to raise you up, and if you’ve got a weak holding, you might be wasting your money.
In late position, you can afford to play some marginal hands. You’ve got the benefit of acting last; everyone before you is afraid of what you’re going to do. Postflop, you control the action. If the flop comes rags, you can bet, and take down your fair share of hands, even if you don’t hit yourself.
5. Pay attention!
If you thought the first rule was basic, check this one out! You need to focus on the game. I don’t mean focus as in, watch television in between hands, pay undivided attention when you’re involved. I mean focus as in:
- Turn absolutely all electronics, except your computer, off. This includes your phone. If you think your television isn’t distracting you, you’re wrong. It is, and it’s losing you money.
- Tell your wife to leave you alone. And your kids. And your mom. And your roommate. And insert person here. All of them need to go away.
- Keep your desk free of books, papers, and anything else that isn’t directly connected to your computer.
In every session you play, you should be able to recall every showdown that happened at your table. You need that information in order to judge your opponents’ skill levels and playing styles. If you’re watching television in between hands, you’re not learning anything about your table. This will cost you money. |
