Poker is a tricky game that if not played strategically, you could end up on the bottom sooner than you’d imagine. We are here to save you from ruining your poker game, you’ll be surprised that a few minor changes in your approach could turn the tables and offer you more consistent wins in Texas Hold’em poker.
Play Tight But Bold
A common misconception is that the more hands you play, the more chances you could win. The opposite is true in most cases. The truth is the more hands you choose to play, the sooner you’ll bleed out your chip stack. You’ve got to be mindful and disciplined during pre-flop and only choose to play with more than average starting hands to increase your winning possibilities in online poker games.
The poker hands you do choose to play, you must play them fast and aggressively to build the pot. This means you must be the first to raise and keep the momentum going thereby, giving your opponents a difficult time to speculate your hand range and make them fold under pressure.
Never Limp
Limping is a big no no in Hold’em poker games especially when you go first. This gives away very favourable pot odds to your opponents, thereby decreasing your own chances of winning the pot in online games. The only suitable situation to limp is when someone else has already limped before you.
This way, you get to stay in the hand and explore your chances of catching decent pot odds as the flop unfolds and you might actually hit something worthwhile, if lady luck favours you.
Defend Your Big Blinds
We can’t say this enough, but we got to reiterate just one more time. In order to maintain a decent stack, you must actively defend your BB because it is an exclusive position to be at. You are already invested here, so, whenever you face a raise when sitting in Big Blind, in actuality, you have better pot odds to call than your opponents.
Since, you will be the last one to act pre-flop, you can confidently call with more hands than if you were sitting elsewhere. Borderline tricky hands become more playable at times like these. So, how do you defend yourself?
- Say, if the bet size is massive, you play tight and similarly, vice versa, if the situation is reversed.
- If you are short stacked in an online poker game, you must play tight and take lesser risk with speculative hands.
- Adapt your play depending on the position of the raiser. Keep it tight if someone raises you from an early position and loosen up when raised from a late position.
Capture Your Opponent’s Weakness
Players usually check with relatively weak hands as opposed to stronger ones at the table. This implies they will often fold if faced with multiple bets. So, when a player does let go of a betting opportunity on the flop or the turn, you take it and attack aggressively with a strong bluff. Go with your gut and bet with semi- bluffs and even pure bluffs if the situation favours you. This way, you get to force more folds from your opponents in online poker games.
Tilt is Passive Bleeding
Tilt is the mother of ruin in online free poker games. It bleeds you out emotionally, financially and mentally. It is a common scenario when someone goes tilting, they literally give away a massive amount of their bankroll if things get overwhelming at the tables or simply because they have been impatient about their game.
Also See: How To Play Poker
It will help you plenty if you accept right away that such situations are inevitable in the long run and you just have to take a deep breath and go on playing your usual game and not react to sudden unplesant encounters. The moment you lose control, you have subconsciously given up on your winning strategies and the results shall be inevitably catastrophic.
Emotions have no space at the poker tables and the moment you surrender to a particular bad beat or a downswing, you are replacing reason with emotion just when you could use it the most and that’s the end of it.
Be Selective With the Table
As a beginner, it always bodes well if you choose to play at a table that has a few players who play poorly. If you are sitting at a table packed with decent players to professionals, make the switch immediately and pick a table where you can spot a couple of fish. Do not jump stakes just with the idea of quick money earning games , a rookie mistake that often destroys a beginner’s game.
Lower your stakes and you will soon find a table where you can bring your A game and see your strategies working for you the way you had planned. So, the moment you start wondering your place in an online poker game, switch tables without hesitation especially if you are playing for the money and not just for the sake of fun.
Learn the Poker Odds
When playing online poker games, in order to form a near accurate strategy, you must learn the poker odds calculator to anticipate your results better. To make an accurate prediction on improving your hand, simply multiply your outs by the number 2 to figure out the probability of hitting your hand on the next street. If you are looking for the exact number to improve your odds, simply multiply the outs by 4.
For instance, if you have an open straight draw on the flop with 7 outs, you can be certain that you will improve your chances approximately 7*2=14% and hit your hand at least 7*4=28% of the time by the river. Remember, these aren’t accurate numbers but very close to it, and hence, the best and easiest way to form a winning poker strategy in online poker games.
Final Words
The action is relentless and seamless at the felts of PokerBaazi all week long. We are proud to offer the best player driven events to India’s online poker community where each one of you can find your place and hinge on opportunities that allow you to embrace the challenge and also validate your outcome with generous winnings.
Explore the entire list of tournaments and events and pick your game as per your choice. All the best!
