POKER TIPS FOR BEGINNERS
- Know the poker rules and hand rankings inside out.
- Be aware of the basic poker strategy fundamentals before you start thinking about more advanced plays. Keep the big picture in mind, always.
- Follow proper bankroll management guidelines: what might be proper for one could very well be inferior for others.
- Don't call bets with 'air'; at least have a strong draw or a strong plan.
- Don't feel obligated to call when you know you're beat.
- With fewer people in the hand you have a higher chance of winning the pot.
- Always try to identify your opponent's playing style and try to adjust to that.
- Try not to give away any tells in your bet sizing, timing or in anything else, but don't stress out about it either.
- Don't play too many hands, but don't play too few either. The former will probably be most costly though.
- Try to be patient and especially disciplined. If you know you shouldn't make a certain play, then just don't do it! What else would be the point of spending so much time reading up on poker strategy?
- Don't draw to second best hands, they never win at showdown and you wouldn't bluff often if at all, right?
- Think about the rake you pay before going all-in with the nuts on board versus a savvy enough opponent to see that.
- You can't win more than your opponents' stacks.
Beginner strategy in poker is, in a nutshell, playing straight forward. A lot of players would be surprised how easy it is to find moderate results simply by sticking to the most basic of fundamentals, particularly in small stakes online and live games. For the most part, there is little need for fancy play no matter what limits you are playing. Beginner poker strategy is something that anyone could pick up with a minimal amount of practice. So long as you know the rules of the game you are playing, a basic strategy will be easy to both understand and implement.
Pre Flop Beginner Strategy
For beginners, pre flop play is as simple as waiting for good hands. Dont worry about trying to steal pots pre flop when you are holding marginal or weak hands. First, steals require that players be able to identify the proper situations to even attempt a pre flop steal. Secondly, they are going to increase the amount of variance you experience on a session to session basis. As a beginner, both of these things will make game play unnecessarily difficult.
When you are dealt a solid starting hand you should make a raise. There are a lot of players who think that they are being tricky when they limp into pots with big hands, but more often than not this will simply screw you into the ground for no good reason. If you have a good hand and someone already made a raise in front of you, consider whether your hand is strong enough for a re raise. The actual strength of your hand is always relative to whatever your opponents are holding, so use your own judgment in determining whether your particular hand warrants a re raise. These are the types of skills that only game play and experience can teach, though, so dont be afraid to make a few mistakes as it is all part of the learning process.
Post Flop Beginner Strategy
Post flop strategy is much like pre flop strategy for beginners. Look to flop some big hands that will have a defined edge over the majority of hands that your opponents could be holding. There is little room for continuation bets and check raise bluffs when you miss the flop, especially as a beginner. These are tactics that are certainly valuable and do have their place, but they are tools that you will develop later on. Nothing will make poker more difficult for a beginner than trying to outthink someone who probably isnt even thinking in the first place. You are going to hit some big hands just by the luck of the draw. When this inevitably happens you need to extract every penny that you possibly can. The most basic rules of poker tell players to lose the least when holding a weak hand and to make the most when holding a big hand. If you can effectively adhere to this very basic approach to poker, you are going to be much better off than the majority of your opponents. Another article you may be interested in if your new to playing poker online is our low limit poker depositpage. This page outlines the best beginner poker sites and sites that accept small deposits from new players.