Online Casino Tutorials

There is much debate over the benefits and pitfalls of the preaction checkboxes, some are arguably more useful than others.

Fold
A very useful checkbox which speeds up the game and can be utililised in plenty of situations where you know you will fold no matter what action preceeds you.

Check
A fairly useful option which also speeds up the game and there are still plenty of situations where you would only consider checking, but now there are also some spots where you may consider betting if everybody had checked to you. Using the Check checkbox indicates weakness.

Check/Fold
A harmless enough checkbox which allows you to fold if the pot has been opened infront of you but check if all active players had checked around to you; overuse of this option may cause some opponents to minimum bet into you in order that they risk the least but have a high chance of getting you to fold, which in a multiway pot can be a useful informational edge; therefore use sparingly.

Call Any
This can be a very dangerous checkbox, especially at a no limit table where your whole stack would be at risk if a player with a bigger chip stack made a bet infront of you that was big enough to put you all in, therefore you would need a very strong hand to use this box in the first place, plus observant players would notice you used the call any option and suspect you either had a big hand or were trying to set up a bluff on a later betting round, either way this would be providing opponents with information, therefore use this cautiously.

Muck Losing Hands
Always have this option checked, poker is a game of information, don't give any away for free, especially the hands you choose to play but end up losing with.

Sit Out
If you plan to be away from the poker table for longer than a few seconds, use this checkbox; it maintains a fast paced game for everyone around you and it's considered a basic form of poker etiquette.

Record keeping need not be as tiresome as it sounds, nowadays there's no necessity to manually write down your records, you can help organise them into meaningful data by using third party poker software such as Poker Tracker and Poker Office, or by accessing a poker statistics website such as Poker Dominator or Poker Charts, all it takes is a few minutes per session and it can be done while you are playing poker. The benefits are huge because the average low/medium stakes online poker player either does'nt bother keeping records or does'nt fully understand how or what to record.

There are plenty of benefits that come with keeping an accurate set of records; they will tell you which cardroom you have made the most from by showing how much has been made or lost at each site, if you are a losing player they will show how much it's costing you to get real money experience. The records will teach you about your own game; what times of the day you play best, which type of poker game is your most profitable, which opponents do you win from the most, how much you are making per hour; the record keeping software available is capable of garnishing you with a wealth of useful information that can only make you a stronger player, if understood properly.

Record keeping not only helps you identify leaks in your own game, it also highlights the weaknesses of your opponents, allowing you to become good at manipulating your poker opponents because you already know how they will most likely react to many different situations. It's well worth looking into what 3rd party poker software can do to help improve your game, or at very least so you understand what information your opponents may be using against you.

Stop loss and stop win systems are a common part of poker bankroll management strategies employed by many people in the belief that they are protecting their money, when in fact, they are doing just the opposite. A stop loss system is based on quitting for the day if you've lost a certain amount of money; stop win systems work using a similar logic, whereby you stop playing for the day if make a predetermined amount of profit. Both practices are restrictive and counterintuitive.

Stop loss systems may allow you to play without using 'scared money' because you know you can only lose an amount that you're comfortable with losing, but there are'nt many other advantages with using this system; the main disadvantage is that you will be forcing yourself to continue playing until you have lost a certain amount of your poker bankroll before making the decision to give up, when it may already be clear that you should have given up hours ago, this can lead to you losing more than you really need to. It's more advisable to analyse why you are losing and base your decision to quit on that, rather than blindly playing on until you have lost a certain portion of your bankroll; if you are tired, on tilt, playing against superior opposition or even just have something on your mind that is stopping you from playing well, these are very good reasons to stop playing, because you are'nt in the right frame of mind to do your best work. So rather than using a stop loss system, choose a system which allows you to stop when you feel the time is right, Don't let your chip stack decide.

Stop win systems have their advantages and pitfalls too; one advantage being if you do find yourself profiting from a a game where your opponents are better then you, you stand a better chance of keeping that profit by having any form of stop win system than by playing on because playing on will invevitably lead to losing money to your more experienced adversaries. That aside, stop loss systems hold very little value; when you do find yourself profiting from the game because of your skills advantage, or because you're mentally and physically fresh, or just in the right frame of mind, using a stop win system will restrict the amount you gain when you have a winning session, this does'nt allow you to take full advantage of the beneficial situation you find yourself in, rather it forces you to stop when the situation clearly favours you.

An alternative common sense strategy is advised whereby you stop when you're sure you should'nt be playing and you continue to play when you're sure you should be hammering home your current advantage.

Ring Game Selection
Online cardrooms provide you with all the information needed to make an informed decision about what the action is like at a particular ring game table, so you can find a game that's suitable for you.

Stakes
This refers to the size of the small and big bets in fixed limt, it represents the small and big blind in no limit and pot limit.

Limit
Used to determine whether the game is no limit, pot limit or fixed limt vareity.

Players
Tells us both the maximum number and the curent number of players seated at the table.

Wait
If all the seats are occupied, there is a waiting list of players which is listed here.

% Flop
This indicates how tight or loose the game is playing, the higher the percentage of players who see the flop the looser they must be playing.

hands/hour
Shows how quickly the game is being played, the fewer the hands per hour the longer players are taking to make their decisions.

Average pot size
The average pot size when used in conjuntion with the percentage of players who see the flop tells us how passive or aggressive the people at the table are playing, the bigger the pot the more aggressive the game is, especially when fewer players are seeing the flop.

So if you are looking for a wildly loose game you could pick table 'Nijinsky' because a high percentage of players are seeing the flop and the pots are huge despite the small number of players at the table. Table 'Montjeu' is a good example of a tight and passive game because very few players are seeing the flop and the average pot size is small.
Tournament Selection
Although it may be impossible to accurately predict how a tournament is going to be played before buying into the tournament, there is still plenty of information worthy of our consideration.
Payout Structure
Not every site uses the same payout structure, some sites favour the players that finish in 1st to 5th place whereas others favour the lower ranking finishers. The better Online Poker Tournament player you are, the more you should prefer tournaments that payout favourably to the top 5 players.

The best value tournament around is the poker sit and go; the typical payout structure for a 10 seater poker sit and go pays 50% of the prize pool to 1st place, 30% to 2nd and 20% to 3rd. It can be argued that multi table tournaments offer poor value in comparison to sit and go; tournaments because 30% of the players make the money in a Sit & Go whereas a multi table tournament pays out only to the top 10% of players.
Blind Structure
The poker blinds structures employed by different online cardrooms vary sufficiently enough to have a strategic impact on the way you approach that game. A conservative blind structure means tight play and an aggressive poker blinds structure means aggressive play. In order to judge what type of blind structure is being used, you would calculate what percentage the big blind would consitute of your starting stack; 1% would be considered conservative for the first level of a tournament, 5% would be considered aggressive.

Position in poker refers to where you are sitting in relation to the dealer button and your opponents, the dealer button moves clockwise after every hand so that each player gets the chance to play all the different positions an equal amount, thereby ensuring nobody has an unfair positional advantage/disadvantage in the context of the whole game, it is possible, however, to gain a positional advantage over an opponent in the context of one hand.

In online cardrooms, the moving of the dealer button aswell as the posting of the small blind and big blind is done automatically by the poker software, the user has very little to do with the process. In bricks & mortar cardrooms it's more important to keep your eyes on the action and be ready to respond to it quickly, especially at amateur level cardrooms which don't have dealers and require the players to take turns in shuffling, cutting the deck and dealing. It's not at all uncommon for online players to struggle with position the first few times they try playing in a live game, typically forgetting to post the blinds and acting out of turn.


The best position to have in community card variants of poker such as Texas Holdem and Omaha Poker is the dealer button, this means you get to act last on every round after the pre flop betting. It is referred to as being 'on the button' and allows you to play a higher proportion of marginal poker hands than any other position because of your positional advantage.

The three seats to the left of the button are the small blind, big blind and under the gun, they are considered to be in early position because they are the first to act on every round of betting; before the flop action starts with the player who is under the gun and moves clockwise around to end at the big blind, on every subsequent betting round the action begins with the small blind and ends at the button; another disadvantage is the small blind and big blind must invest half a big bet and a whole big bet respectively. It is advisable to play only the best Poker Hands in this position.

The four seats to the left of the player under the gun are considered to be in middle position, they act after the players in early position and before the players in late position, normally the action is looser here than early position because there's less players still to act behind them.

The remaining three seats are considered to be in late position, these are the most favourable in terms of positional advantage, most if not all the field has already acted so you have much more information to work with regarding the strength of your opponents hands.
Positional Plays
Below are a list of positional plays and concepts that are worthy of consideration, both for using and looking out for instances where they may be being used against you.

Pot Opening
When nobody has entered the pot before you, you have the chance to open the pot for a raise. The advantage of this play is that it eliminates any 'first in vigorish' that your opponents might have benefited from had you folded instead of opening for a raise. First in vigorish is the value that lies in the possibility of your opponents folding to an opening raise, had you folded your opponents could have enjoyed the first in vigorsih advantage, but because you have already raised, your opponents have lost any first in vigorish they would have had. Opening the pot is likely to significantly reduce the number of players in the hand and improve your chances of obtaining information about the strength of your opponents hands, typically weaker hands that may have limped had you not raised will fold, leaving you facing opponents with stronger holdings.

Stealing Blinds
Two good examples of blinds stealing occur pre flop and on the flop. Pre flop, you are in late position and the action has been folded around to you, you open the pot with a raise with the intention of stealing the blinds; a more advanced spin on this play would be to raise from mid position with the intent of bullying a specific player who is in the big blind, this is more risky though. Post flop, there are 4 players in the pot and you are on the button, everybody checks and you make a positional bet with the intent of stealing the pot there and then because of the weakness that your oppoents have shown on the flop; overuse of this play will be easily spotted by observant opponents but it's well worth having in your arsenal as part of a balanced strategy.

Check Raising
Check raising becomes more of a positional move at an aggressive table because the likelyhood of another player raising is greater. If an opponent has shown strength before the flop and is likely to bet on the flop, consider checking initially with the intent of raising them afterwards. This move indicates a strong hand.

Limp Raising
This move is useful at a loose and aggressive table where a lot of players limp into the pot pre flop to try and see a cheap flop, but there are also pre flop aggressors at the table. For example, if you hold a very strong hand in early position and you know the opponent in the big blind aggressively defends their big blind from limpers by raising pre flop, then limp pre flop with the intention of reraising and isolating the player in the big blind, at the same time forcing the opponents that limped in between to fold. The downside to this play is significant; the worst case scenario is that many other opponents limp into the pot and the aggressive player that you had hoped would raise does'nt bother raising and you go to the flop with a strong hand that does'nt do as well against multiple opponents as it would against a single opponent.

Squeeze Play
When facing an aggressive opponent who you believe has raised with a marginal hand and one other opponent has called in between you and the raiser, making a sizeable reraise is considered a squeeze play. The original raiser is trapped between you and the caller, not knowing what the caller will do is forced into folding, the remaining player who called the original small raise folds too believing their hand is no longer strong enough to warrant calling a reraise.

Sandwich Effect
When facing an aggressor in a pot with many opponents, betting into the agressor can cause a sandwich effect whereby the aggressor is positioned infront of many active players still to act, the agressor would need a stronger hand than normal to continue because there are multiple players behind that are still to act.

The Gap Concept
A concept devised by noted poker author David Sklansky which states it takes a stronger hand to call a raise than to make one. Against a table of tight opponents it is possible to lower your raising requirements slightly in order to take advantage of this concept, knowing that your opponents will consider their hands too weak to call an overwhelming majority of the time.

There are many subtle differences between offline and online poker, one of the biggest is the ability to take notes on your opponent. Although it's very much possible to take notes in a live game, it's much more common in the online environment. Despite this, most online players don't bother to make any notes at all. This means for the small percentage that do bother to take notes, they hold a sizeable information advantage over their opponents, this is especially useful against opponents you play regularly. Nearly all online cardrooms have note taking facilities built into their software.

Although there are no rules to how you interpret and document the information, there are 2 common formats for note taking, the verbose version and the abbreviated version. In order to benefit most from note taking, it's advisable to use both the verbose and abbreviated methods wherever appropriate.

The verbose method uses plain english to record pieces of information about an opponents play that will be helpful to know when you play them in the future. An example of verbose notes would look like:

Loose aggressive player, raises with a wide range of hands like small and big pairs, any 2 face cards, suited aces, chases draws all the time irrelevant of the pot odds. Constantly defends his blinds with weak hands, capable of making big bluffs, seen him reraise with just a high card on the turn and river. Very chatty player, seems to concentrate more on the chat than the game.

This method allows you to be more specific and creative in your descriptions, you can record comments an opponent might have said using the chat facility, or what you said to them on the chat facility to put them on tilt, what music they say they like or what they claim to have done last night outside the pub. Advantages of this method are that it's easy to use and understand and is quick, although it tends to be unstructured, inconsistant and messy.

Most online cardrooms offer every player a wealth of statistical information so they may analyse their own play. There is plenty of useful information to be found once you have spent a significant enough amount of time playing on one site

General Statistics
% Games Won
% Showdowns Won
% Flops Seen
Win % Flops Seen

The general statistics provide an overview of how often you are winning, how you've fared in the showdowns played, how often you are seeing a flop aswell as how many of those flops you won. These details provide you with an insight into how successful you have been and also the type of playing style being used. A high pecentage for games won, showdowns won and win % of flops seen combined with a low percentage for % of flops seen indicates a tight playing style, whereas a high percentage for games won, flops seen and win % of flops seen combined with a low percentage for showdowns won implies a looser and more aggressive style of play.

Your Actions
Fold
Check
Call
Bet
Raise
Reraise

Your actions provide an accurate picture of the style of poker player being employed; if you fold a huge percentage of the time then you are playing tight, if you mainly check and call then that's considered to be passive play, if the stats show you prefer to bet and raise then you are being aggressive. This information can be an eye opener for players who thought they were aggressive but subsequently realise they were being too passive, or vica versa.

Where You Fold
Pre Flop
Flop
Turn
River
No Fold

This section can help identify leaks in your game when combined with the other statistical information, it may uncover that you are unecessarily calling too many flop bets only to fold on the turn, or even folding on the river too much which could mean you are chasing your draws too frequently.

There are two reasons why reading the board is important, firstly it tells us how good a hand we have and we can tell what our opponent does'nt have, it's very useful to know both. This is simple enough to do but so many people don't pay enough attention to the board. This is a cardinal sin, you must be at least as vigilant as your opponent or they will have an edge over you.

Reading Your Opponents Hand
It can be tough to tell when your opponents have just a high card, one pair, two pair or three of a kind by reading the board. You will have to use other information to ascertain whether your opponent has one of these hands, you will rely on your opponents betting patterns and their styles of poker play(i.e. are they playing every hand and betting wildly, or, are they super tight and usually only play decent hole cards), you can use the current betting as a guide too, if they are betting into you then maybe they are strong, if they check then maybe they are weak, if they check and then call or check then reraise you should be more wary, they might be slowplaying a monster or at least have a strong piece of the flop.

Pair or 2 Pairs
Example: Board is A24/J/7, your opponent might have an ace. If they bet on the flop after betting pre flop, they might have an ace. If they did'nt raise pre flop, they might not have an ace or they might have a weak ace that they would fold to a big bet. You will have to rely on reading your opponent very much here; if they always bet no matter what the flop brings, you might want to not believe them, but if they only bet when they have hit the flop and they are betting right now, then save yourself some money and fold. If you believe your opponent has hit a pair or 2 pair or trips and you don't have a hand to outdraw them, there's not much reason to stay in the hand; fold your hand and wait for a better opportunity.

Example: flop is 449, it's hard to know where you stand on a flop like this. You can help yourself by betting pre flop to ensure that people holding hands like 46 or 45 will fold pre flop, plus others with hands like 89 or 910 are more likely to fold. If you don't bet pre flop then it's much harder to work out whether your opponent is ahead or not. If you have'nt bet pre flop, you will either have to let your opponents betting guide you, or you will have to bet on the flop/turn to guide you. You use your betting options not only to try and win the pot, but also to obtain information about your opponents hand.

Straights
All you need to do in order to spot a possible straight is look at the board and work out whether your opponent has the cards needed to complete the straight.

Example: flop is 789, this is quite a likely flop for a straight. Either your opponent had J10 or 56 and is well ahead, or more likely they are on a straight draw and hoping to make a straight. They could have A10 or K10 and are hoping for a 6 or a Jack. These type of boards are easy to notice the straight possibilities, or at least the possibility of your opponent making a straight by the river.

Example: flop/turn is 46A/8, this is a harder straight to spot, so your opponent will usually get paid much more on a flop like this. Plus there's an ace on the board so they will likely get some action from you when you hold AK and AA.

Example: flop/turn is 6A10/4, your opponent does'nt have a straight, but they might have a decent straight draw. This is called a 'double belly buster gutshot' and like an open ended straight draw it has 8 outs to make the straight (four 5's and four 9's, assuming your opponent has 78). This is arguably the hardest straight draw to spot and thus it's likely that your opponent will get paid well if they hit their straight.

Flush
It's pretty easy to spot a flush, there will be 3 or 4 cards of the same suit on the board, if there are'nt at least 3 cards of the same suit then your opponent does'nt have a flush.

Full House
You can spot a full house because the board will be paired. If the board is'nt paired then there is'nt a full house. Look out for this. A small percentage of the time, your full house will lose to a bigger full house, it does'nt happen very often though.

There are boards where it is more likely you would be facing another full house than other boards

Example: Board is AAK/J/Q, this is a slightly scary board texture if you hold AJ, there is a small possibility that your opponent might have AQ or AK, but this is very unlikely because there's only one ace remaining in the deck, thus the number of ways to make a higher full house is very small. Your full house will win the pot more often than not, but when you are drawing dead to a higher full house, you're likely to lose a large pot.

The rake is a charge that poker rooms and casinos impose on all real money players in order to make money. There are different ways the house can apply a rake charge; in ring games the house takes a fixed percentage of each pot with a maximum set amount for each pot, in online poker tournaments the house charges the rake as a fee for buying into a tournament and no more charges are incurred by the player during play. The industry standard charge is 5-10% of each pot played in ring games and 10% of the buyin for online poker tournaments. Many sites are now operating a 'no flop no drop' policy whereby no rake is charged if the hand ends before the flop is seen.
Beating the Rake
In order to profit from poker, not only do you have to overcome your opponents at the table, you have to overcome the rake too. There is no set industry standard over the charges imposed at the various stake levels and this information is invariably provided by most most poker rooms via their website and well worth checking out. Low limit ring games tables like $1/$2 typically pay $1 a hand and $10/$20 tables pay around $3 a hand; so at a three handed $1/$2 table that plays 100 hands an hour, each player will most likely contribute around $30 to the rake per hour.

Our poker room reviews are written by experienced poker players who have spent HOURS playing poker at the room which they are reviewing. Read our detailed poker reviews by clicking on the links on the left of this page.

There are two methods used to charge rake, the dealt method and the contributed method; the dealt method divides the total rake between the players that were dealt into the hand, whereas the contributed method more fairly charges players based on how much they have contributed to the pot. For sites that use the contributed method, tight aggressive play is often the best approach to reduce the effect of the rake, the less you play the less you pay.

The rake structure changes as the limits increase, each poker room operates their own rake structure, it is advisable to investigate this futher as some ring games will invariably provide better value than others within a poker site. A good rule of thumb is to play at the highest limit for a particualr rake structure, for example, a poker site may use the same rake structure at their $3/$6 tables aswell as their $5/$10 tables and may also have the same maximum amount of rake taken per pot. By playing at the tables that have the highest ratio between rake and bet size, you are effectively minimising the impact the rake has on your bottom line. It is also worth understanding that there are some low limit online ring games in which the rake is so high that it's virtually impossible to profit long term at those tables. A little investigation into how the rake works on your favourite poker sites could easily translate into a significant increase in profit long term.

Whether frequenting an online cardroom or the bricks & mortar version to play poker, there are rules of etiquette and codes of conduct that all players must adhere to. Failure to abide by the rules usually results in the offending player being punished in some way; online, this may mean having your chat privileges withdrawn, disqualification from an event before/after it occurs and in the worst cases being banned from the site. In a bricks & mortar cardroom, offending players may be punished with a penalty where they are dealt out of the action for a predetermined amount of time, or are disqualified during the tournament and in the worst cases asked to leave the premises.
Roberts Rules of Poker
For a comprehensive guide to etiquette and codes of conduct in poker, please consult Roberts Rules of Poker. Roberts Rules of Poker was written by Robert Ciaffone and is regarded by many as the definitive text regarding poker rules and etiquette. He has worked as a rules consultant and drafter for numerous prestigeous cardrooms which still use his rules to this day.
Online Poker Etiquette
Below are a list of rules that are designed to keep you out of trouble and below average poker players in your vicinity:
No Swearing / Abusing
Be courteous to your fellow poker players aswell as the site customer services staff, everyone has the right to play poker without fear of being insulted or abused. From the other side of the coin, displaying such emotions could leave you even more vulnerable at the table, your opponents are more likely to target you as a player who is likely to tilt.
No cheating / collusion
Any form of collusion, whether on a small scale such as telling a friend involved in the game your hole cards via an instant messenger service or telephone, or on a larger scale like playing on a table simultaneously with multiple accounts via separate Internet connections, is against the rules and punished by seizure of money in a players account(s), banning from the site and in some cases, prosecution.
No In Running Comments
It is unfair to anyone involved in a hand to have an inactive player commenting about that hand. Any comment that might provide another player with vital information should not be made until after the hand, if at all.
No Criticising Opponents
Criticising an opponent is counterintuitive; why give away free lessons to the type of player who you hold an informational advantage over? Such criticisms are also likely to scare away lesser opponents through fear of further reprimand, in the long run this could have a negative effect on your bankroll because novice opposition don't like playing against you. Make it a pleasurable experience for them and they might just stay for longer.

The online poker market is heavily saturated with cardrooms, there has never been a wider choice of venue to play poker. With so much choice, what factors does one use to choose a site?
Bonuses
There are more than enough sites offering a 100% bonus on your 1st deposit to be able to have a wide variety of venue and still cash in on these 'free money' deals, with many sites offering up to at least $200 and a number of them offering up to $500 and $1000.

Click on a link on the left of this page to claim a poker bonus now!

There are plenty of other rewards for shrewd poker players willing to do a little investigating, most sites run daily freeroll tournaments with $500 or $1000 prize pools; there are player points schemes where players earn points while they play which can be redeemed for cash, free entry into special tournaments or prizes like baseball caps and MP3 players.
Rake
Although the unofficial industry standard rakes are 5-10% for ring games and 10% for tournaments, it is worth checking out the website of the poker room you're interested in signing up with to see how competitive their rake structure is for the specific level(s) you wish to play. Some online cardrooms charge more rake than others, especially at the lower limits, make sure you are'nt being overcharged.
Financial Security
Again, it's worth checking the website of the poker room for details, the most reputable cardrooms provide all the relevant details about this on their website. There are a multitude of banking options available, arguably the most secure methods are credit cards such as Visa and Mastercard or by e-payment via Paypal and Neteller.
Opposition
This is often one of the most overlooked areas when it comes to choosing a site. It really depends on what you hope to achieve; there are sites that pride themselves on having the best quality players and there are sites that are known for having loose players and excellent earning potential. A good rule of thumb, if you are more interested in playing quality opposition then choose a site which is purely a poker operation i.e. they don't have a sportsbook or casino side to the company. If your primary goal is to make money from playing poker then choose a site which also has casino and/or sportsbook customers as the standard of poker play will invariably be a lot lower and therefore easier to profit from.
Table Traffic
Site traffic is divided up into 2 categories; ring game traffic and tournament traffic. Whichever game type you prefer to play, make sure there is enough traffic on the site for the times of day that you are most likely to play at. During offpeak hours, on some sites, it's commonplace to wait 15-20 minutes for a 10 seater Sit & Go to fill, whereas on other sites it takes only a few minutes. If you only have a limited amount of time to apportion to poker every day, this can be an important factor.

Bankroll management is one of the most overlooked aspects of the game, especially in relation to moving up in table limits. There are no end of theories available on the subject with many conflicting opinions; and quite rightly so. Poker comes in many shapes and forms, your bankroll considerations should change as variables such as table limit, game type and reason for playing change, to name but a few.

There are a number of benifits to a good bankroll strategy and while it's possible to use a generic 'one size fits all' strategy, it is more appropriate to tailor make a strategy based on a number of relevant factors about your own personal situation. The generic bankroll strategy employed by many is to play with at least 300 times the amount of the big bet for the level you wish to play; although this number is a good starting point to your bankroll considerations, there are a number of factors which should be used to personalise your bankroll for your specific situation.

Many people fail see bankroll management as a skill of the same importance as being able to calculate pot odds or read your opponents. For a player who wants to move up in limits, it is one of the most important skills you can have.
Bankroll Management Strategies
No matter what factors you consider when choosing the size of bankroll that's right for you, understand the following fundamental; it's is much better to have a robust bankroll than a small one. Typically, a more experienced player requires a smaller bankroll than an inexperienced player; an inexperienced player is more likely to be effected by bad beats and less equipped to analyse their own play through keeping poker records, resulting in greater potential for negative swings in their bankroll.

The types of poker game you play has an influence on how big your bankroll should be, this is typically determined by the number of betting rounds the game uses and the type of betting structure. A game with less betting rounds requires a smaller bankroll, so five card draw requires a smaller bankroll than 7 card stud, a fixed limit game does'nt need as big a bankroll as a no limit game of the same poker variant, so fixed limit Hold'em needs a smaller amount than no limit Hold'em.

It is also important to look at the reason you play poker. If you only play poker for fun at the weekend your bankroll means less to you than if you relied on it to live, your bankroll does'nt form part of your income and therefore does'nt need to be as robust as the bankroll for a professional player. If you are a poker professional, having a sizeable bankroll is preferable for a number of reasons; you are more likely to experience long losing streaks where the cards and percentages turn against you, your bankroll must be big enough to withdraw a wage every month in order to pay bills and maintain your standard of living, psychologically you are far less likely to feel pressure if you have plenty of reserves to fall back on if you experience a number of losing sessions.

A professional player must make more use of his bankroll than a recreational player, not just at the tables but off the tables too. Rather than leaving large chunks of money scattered across many online poker accounts, it is advisable to withdraw and invest part of your bankroll so that it can earn some interest for you. Consider this, by investing a percentage of your bankroll into other areas, you are helping to offset the negative effect of the rake that you pay. Give your bankroll the greatest potential to increase whilst still maintaining a reasonable level of liquidity. As a professional poker player lives off of their bankroll, it is more important for them to start with a significantly larger bankroll than a recreational player would.

Your style of poker play also plays a major role in deciding how big your bankroll should be; if you're a loose and passive player your bankroll will fluctuate considerably more than a tight and solid players', you must understand which type of player you are before you can understand which size bankroll is right for you. Also, the type of opponents you play is a factor; usually the players at the lower table limits are more inexperienced and will suckout on you more frequently, due to a larger number of players seeing every flop. The worse your opponents play, the bigger you bankroll should be. Infact, I'd suggest that 300 times the big bet is only just big enough for a very good player at the looser lower limit tables and insufficient for a player who is still learning the game.

There are differences in opinion regarding stop losses and stop wins, some players swear by them while others question their effectiveness. Some argue that stop losses reduce your ability to recoup when the you are playing well but the cards are going against you, while others believe that they provide the perfect opportunity to take a break and analyse the reasons for the losing session. A similar situation arises with stop wins; some players maintain it's best to quit while you're ahead thereby guaranteeing at least a few profitable sessions while others argue that it limits the positive effect a good session can have; there must be a reason for the profitable session, whether it's just that you're playing well on that day or you're at a table full of poor opponents, by stopping you are giving up the opportunity to profit from whatever factor is having a positive effect on your bankroll.

When moving up a table limit, add enough to your bankroll amount to cover you for 2-3 losing sessions at the new level, this way you are guaranteed at least 2-3 sessions of vital experience before having to drop back down to a smaller table limit if unsuccessful. You will also reduce the likelyhood of playing scared poker in fear of having to drop down a level because there is a buffer of money between you and the drop.

There are differing opinions over dropping down a table limit. The general consencus is that once your bankroll has decreased below a certain amount, it is correct to drop down a table limit until you have recouped your losses and have sufficient bankroll to play at the higher level once again. Another school of thought says this is counterintuitive; by dropping down a limit you restrict your ability to earn because the stakes are smaller; this only rings true though, if you are certain of your ability to play profitable poker at the higher level, if there is any doubt over this it's probably best just to drop down a table limit while you further your poker education.

Never ever put your whole bankroll at risk! Your bankroll should be used as an emotional tool to support your emotional well being at the table. If your whole bankroll is at risk, you are more likely to play defensive and scared poker with the risk of losing everything in the forefront of your mind. Risking a maximum of 20% in a day is a much more sensible strategy.

In shorthanded games with 6 players or less you must have a bigger bankroll than normal because the variance is higher in those games compared to a full 10 handed play table.

There are 4 basic styles of play that poker players can employ; tight, loose, passive and aggressive. It is best to use these styles as a point of reference when characterising your opponents play aswell as your own. In a nutshell, loose and tight play refers to the number of Poker Hands played, the more you play the looser you are; passive and aggressive play refers to how you play the hands you've decided to get involved with, the more you bet and raise the more aggressive you are. Let's delve deeper into each style.
Tight
A tight player is cautious and selective in their approach to the game, they choose their starting hands carefully in order to maximise their chances of playing winning poker. Whilst the social side may still be important to them, the primary goal is to play winning poker while taking the bare minimum of risks. An astute tight player understands the pot odds involved and is'nt prepared to pay over the odds when drawing to a hand.

Loose
A loose player plays a lot of hands, they like to see more than their fair share of flops and are regularly paying to see up to the river with average starting hands. The type of person that plays this style is often not overly bothered about making profits, they are in the game for the social aspect and have a carefree attitude accordingly, they consider playing tightly is a waste of their time as they want to be involved in the action, not watching it. They are willing to pay over the odds to continue with their hand, thereby making this style of play unprofitable in the long run.

Passive
A passive player plays with timidity, rarely raising and betting if at all, opting to use a strategy based on checking and calling instead. They are happy enough to let an opponent dictate the action, they are capable of calling large bets when chasing their draws and refuse to bet the pot when they have the best hand; thereby minimising their own winning potential and maximising their opponents. Passive players may win their fair share of pots but usually at the expense of recieving poor value on their gamble and virtually never by making their opponent fold. When a passive player does raise, they usually have a very good hand and are therefore considered much easier to read.
Aggressive
An aggressive player prefers to bet, raise and reraise when involved in a hand, in order to put maximum pressure on their opponents. Their goal is to either force their opponent out of the pot, or to create an environment where their opponent is more likely to make mistakes. An aggressive player has a burning desire to win and ultimately profit from their aggressive tactics, they can be highly unpredictable and much harder opponents to read because their raises mean relatively less than other types of players' raises. An aggressive player will win more than their fair share of pots, their style allows them to win a higher percentage of uncontested pots aswell as winning with the best hand in a showdown.
Categorising Poker Opponents
While it is possible for a proficient player to change their style, you will find that the majority of online poker players are either tight or loose with the number of hands they play, and either passive or aggressive with the way they play their hands. This allows us to further characterise our opponents into 4 distanct categories:

Tight/Passive (The Rock)

Tight/Aggressive (The Pro)

Loose/Passive (The Calling Station)

Loose/Aggressive (The Maniac)

It is important to understand the characteristics of each playing style so you can recognise how your opponents are playing against you and the other opponents at the table. Once you have a clear picture of how your opponents are playing, only then can you adapt your playing style to minimise their strengths and maximise their weaknesses.
Adjusting To Tight Play
Tight players rarely put up any resistance, you should play more aggressively, expecting to see them fold in most cases. If they call your bets, you can be certain they have a good hand, you must slow down accordingly. You won't make much from a tight player due to the nature of their game, be happy to conituously win small pots against them.
Adjusting To Loose Play
Tight, disciplined play is effective against loose players. They are only too happy to turn a small pre flop pot into a big one after the flop, so keep it tight pre flop, wait until you make a decent hand and then bet it aggressively. Bluff less against this type of opponent as you are more likely to get called.
Adjusting To Passive Play
Passive players are happy for you to dictate the pace of action, so do just that at every possible opportunity to try and make them fold. Keep chipping away at them, taking down small pots, if they show any significant strength, slow down because they most likely have you beat.
Adjusting To Aggressive Play
Your options are limited against this type of player, it's best to employ solid tactics. Favour good position over bad, tighten up your starting hand selection, wait until you have a strong hand and then look for an opportunity to trap. Your opponent will do most of the betting for you, go right ahead and let them, unless you find a good enough reason to end the hand there and then, or at least put them in a tough situation when they are committed to the pot.

A tell is an activity that tells you something useful about the strentgh of your opponents Poker Hand Rankings or what they're likely to do next. Your goal is to observe as many tells as possible from your opponents while giving them as little information for them to work with.

The speed a person is playing can be a tell, whether it be a slow opponent who suddenly plays fast, or vica versa. Just be aware that this tell carries less reliability now that more people are multitabling, but it's still useful information in a battle for meaningful information. Having the ability to know that an opponent is currently playing on numerous tables is a useful tell as it's likely they won't be giving any game their full attention, this is where find player facilities and buddy lists can come in useful.

Poker betting patterns are a huge part of playing online poker, former WSOP champion Dan Harrington once said "A player is nothing more than the sum of his betting patterns", this is never more true than with online poker where an opponents betting patterns are the main piece of information to work with. By studying their betting patterns, you can use this information to predict the strength of their hand aswell as their likeliest actions in future betting rounds.

Anyone that uses the chat facility to reprimand their fellow players or to question the fairness of the game they're playing in is more likely than not to be in a volatile emotional state, normally players in such a state will be far more reckless than usual, put pressure on this type of player and invariably they will provide you with multiple opportunities to take their money, this does'nt mean you should change the way you intend to play but you should definitely inflict as much pressure on tilting players as possible to capitalise on the informational advantage you possess over them.

Use of third party poker software can be considered a tell that is impossible not to give off, programs like Poker Tracker allow you to gain in depth statistics on all of your opponents, it's impossible for any player not to give this tell, the more they play on a certain site, the bigger the tell they are providing to their opponents; being registered to many online cardrooms negates this tell but no measure can be taken which will completely irradicate it.

Use of preaction checkboxes in poker is a common tell, normally a player using the 'check' checkbox has a weak hand, although it could mean the exact opposite if they are trying to sell you a fake tell, the key here is simply to recognise a change in their behaviour and then try and understand what it means; if they never normally use the autocheck feature, but you notice them using it, suspect that there is a reason why they are now using this feature and tread with caution. If a player is using the 'call any' checkbox, expect them to have a hand which at very least they would like to see another community card with, for example if they were on a big draw or they had a strong made hand. Obviously, the use of checkboxes can be manipulated to give off fake tells aswell as real ones, but if you can learn anything useful from your opponents actions it will be a tell worth studying.

An opponents screen name can provide invaluable information regarding their age, sex, location, skill level and style of play; while these may all be used as fake tells, a significant amount will actually be true, plus the fake ones may still provide us with enough insight to get a usable read on them.

There are 5 options available to all players at the table; bet, call, raise, fold and check. Texas Hold'em has 4 rounds of betting; pre flop, post flop, the turn and the river. It's crucial to understand your betting options and the mechanics of the game as these are the tools you constantly work with in order to achieve success.
Bet
The only time a player has the ability to bet is when you are the first person to contribute to the pot on that round; if someone has bet before them in that round, they can only call, raise or fold. Betting is also referred to as opening the pot.
Call
The only prerequisite that comes with calling is that you must match the amount of any previous bets or raises in that round. So if someone has raised to 100 infront of you, you must call 100 in order to continue.
Raise
Only if another player has already opnened the pot on that round of betting are you able to raise. By raising, not only are you calling your opponents bet, you are also forcing them to add more money into the pot in order to continue. If the pot has already been raised on that betting round, reraising is also an option.
Fold
No matter what, you always have the option of folding, you receive an opportunity to fold on every round of betting.
Check
Checking is only available as an option when the pot has'nt been opened yet, if someone has bet you no longer are able to check, you must either call, raise or fold.

Every decision you make at the poker table involves basic mathematics whether you choose to factor it into your thought process or not, having a comprehensive understanding is an invaluable tool as it gives you the power to determine whether the odds are in your favour.
Expectation is the amount of money you expect to make or lose by making the same play over and over again in the same situation, if you will lose money in the long term by making such a play then it has a negative expectation whereas if the play makes money in the long term it has a positive expectation.

Example: If you are in a situation which earns $20 80% of the time and lose $100 20% of the time then your play has a negative expectation.

(20 * 0.8) - (100 * 0.2) = 16 - 20 = -$4

Example: If you are in a situation which earns $40 70% of the time and lose $50 30% of the time then your play has a positive expectation.

(40 * 0.7) - (50 * 0.3) = 28 - 15 = +$13

An out is a card in the deck which will improve your hand, it's possible to count the number of outs you have and convert this information into a percentage chance of winning the hand, odds can be derived from the percentage and compared with pot odds to determine whether you are getting good or bad value to continue with the hand. The usefulness of your outs not only depends on your hole cards in relation to the community cards but also your opponents hole cards, if they already hold the nut flush and you have just a straight draw, your outs are useless because they won't make you the winning hand.

Example: You have KcQc, the board shows Jc10c4s so you have an open ended straight flush draw with 2 overcards which means you have 21 outs (9 for flush, 6 for straight, 6 for overcards) and equates to a 69.9% chance, you have nine clubs and three aces and three 9's, plus you have three Kings and three Queens to make top pair. You don't even have a pair yet and you are a 69% favourite to crack an opponent holding J7.

Some outs can be counted on as being more useful than others, if you have an open ended straight flush draw with 2 overcards, the 15 outs that make the straight and the flush are more likely to win the hand than the 5 outs that would make top pair; a sensible strategy factors this in especially when you just have 2 overcards or when you are unsure about the strength of your opponents hand.

Some decisions are easy in poker, like when you are holding the nuts and are facing an all in bet from the only remaining player in the hand, but others can be incredibly complex and confusing to decipher, it can be useful to use an opponents table image to help you decide what to do, particularly in borderline situations. Seeing what an opponent played to a showdown can provide a clear indication of what type of player they are, at very minimum you should be watching the showdowns and evaluating them in relation to the betting patterns for that hand.

Creating a professional image can be counterproductive, sometimes the best way to keep weaker players at the table is by placing them into an environment that is friendly and chatty rather than intimidating.

Let the way a table is playing help decide which table image to use, if the table is playing tight then loosen up a little or vica versa; also understand that it is sometimes preferable to change the way you play based on specific opponents rather than the whole table, if you are sitting to the left of a maniac you can be a lot looser with your table image than if you were on their right.

Many >a href='http://poker.online-betting-guide.co.uk/Pro+Poker+Players.htm'>pro poker players frown on giving away free information like showing your cards, but if it helps you to achieve a certain table image then it's acceptable; the problem with showing cards is all parties understand you chose to show them and may have done so to set them up later on. Alternatively, you can continue to keep bluffing without showing them until you get caught, some opponents may already suspect you of bluffing and will struggle to believe you have a hand once you have confirmed their initial suspicions.

Your image should'nt be too similar to your actual style of poker play, otherwise you are making it too easy for your opponents to predict your next moves; a more balanced approach could be to vary between playing styles while trying to represent an image, for example switching between tight and loose at random intervals whilst conveying a tight table image.

Table image becomes increasingly important as the table limits go up; not everyone will even be paying sufficient attention to your play in order to read your table image in a small stakes game, it is much more likely your opponents will be studying your every more at the higher limits, thereby making table images more important and potentially more profitable at the higher table limits.

Finally, don't go broke creating a table image for yourself, while it is very useful to be able to influence your opponents play, it is even more important to increase the size of your stack; a strong table image is nothing if you have no bankroll left to exploit it.

Table image is the identity created by yourself based on your actions and your opponents interpretation of those actions. It is an important factor both in online and live games, although more opportunities arise to create a misleading image of yourself in the live games.

It is important to create a strong and clear image that your opponents can easily read and equally important to be proficient at reading your opponents image, aswell as understanding how to manipulate your poker opponents based on their perception of you and how they believe you percieve them. Successful use of table image involves multiple level thinking at its most complicated and generally less levels of thought in its simplest forms.

At its simplest, table image is about the image that you project to the players at your table and the images being projected back by them. At its most complicated, its about understanding the manipulation that occurs and reacting correctly to it.

In offline games, table image starts with your opponents sensual perception of you, like the types of clothing you have chosen to wear, your posture at the table aswell as your tableside manner, the comments you make, even how you smell. Your opponents will make their first impression of you based on these factors. Dressing more professionaly suggests to your opponent that you have come to take the game seriously, whilst dressing more casually suggest you are there primarily to have fun. If you are talking implied odds with the player seated next to you, the rest of the table are likely to suspect you're well read and know how to play, whereas if you are continuously asking the dealer what the denominations of the chips are worth and apologising for not knowing it is more likely your opponents will tag you as a rank amateur. Your opponents will use these first impressions and your betting patterns and frequency to determine what type of player you are.

In online poker, it's harder to make that first impression, if at all; your opponent can't see how you are dressed or detect nervousness in your voice as you raise out of position. Table image is derived from considerably less information in the online game, your opponents may choose to read your chat comments and be influenced by them, the more astute players will glean information from their opponents betting patterns and frequency of play. The more you can make your opponent believe your table image the more you can use it to your advantage, especially by making them think they are using it to their advantage.

Obviously there is a big difference in the mindset of most free table players in comparison to real money players, the free tables are filled witha high percentage of people who are just looking to have fun or are using the game to pass time; the real money players are more likely to be taking the game seriously, even though they are still playing the game for fun. Real money players are more aware of losing because there is money involved, this changes the way the games are played; real money games have more structure to the betting rounds and a greater level of strategy is applied, generally the standard is considerably higher than on the play money tables.

The main difference between free money and real money play is the action is a lot looser on the free play tables with bigger pots and a much higher percentage of players staying in the hand for the flop. There are significantly less pre flop all ins on the real money tables, with players preferring to leave themselves room to maneuvre after the flop, it's common to have half the table all in pre flop at a 10 seater free money table, whereas it's uncommon to have more than 2 players and rare to see more than 3 players all in before the flop on a real money table.

One must adjust their strategy when transitioning from the free play games to the real money environment, typically there is more opportunity to use a wider range of tactics because the playing environment is more diverse, the vast majority of play money players would do well to tighten up when stepping up to real money play.

The free tables provide the opportunity for new players to learn how to play poker without losing any money. All poker players have to start the learning process somewhere, why pay for a poker education when it could be free? The play money tables look and function exactly the same as the real money tables, this helps to familiarise yourself with the cardroom software being used; each site has different sized and placed buttons, the cardrooms also provide the free tables so you can try the software before committing any money; it is advisable to try them before making your first deposit, if possible, incase you decide that you don't like the software and/or the site.

It can be very intimidating playing with real money for the first time, there is merit in becoming desensitised to the betting process by using the free tables first; it won't make your decisions much easier when you do play for real, but at least you will be accustomed to the environment aswell as the process.

Nearly all inexperienced poker players start out by losing money, online cardrooms allow you to replenish the amount of free play chips in your account as many times as you require; there are literally no restrictions to the number of hours you can apportion to playing poker, your learning curve can be much quicker than an unprofitable novice player who chooses to learn on the real money tables that only has a limited amount of cash per month to spend on playing poker.

There is a common misconception that free play games tell you very little about your ability, many fail to realise that if you can't win at the free tables it is likely you will struggle at the real money tables. Only once you can beat the free money games is it worth testing the water for real. Although the quality of opponent is well below average, one can learn vital information about your styles of poker play, temperament and stamina aswell as being a useful guage on how much and how quickly you are improving; if you lost 20 racks of 1,000 virtual chips in your first week, 10 racks of 1,000 in your second week and only 5 racks of 1,000 in your third week, it is likely that you are improving. You also have a benchmark to compare your future play to, allowing you to learn a lot about the progress you are making.

Learning to use discipline and good poker bankroll management may seem silly when there is no money to play for, but if you can't display these good characteristics from day one you run the risk of developing bad habits. Many associate picking up bad habits with playing on the free money tables, this is counterintuitive though, play money tables don't promote bad habits, indisciplined and impatient players promote bad habits, play money tables promote learning.

Play money tables are also utilised by experienced poker players who are'nt technologically savvy, in order to learn the nuances of online play in comparison to the Bricks & Mortar experience.

Free play poker is evolving for the better, some online cardrooms have made the free play experience feel more real by forcing players to earn the right to play at the higher limit free play tables; this encourages tighter play and more solid play aswell as incentivising good poker bankroll management as the right to play at a higher level is at stake. These types of innovation are likely to improve the standard of play and therefore make the experience more worthwhile.

Most online cardrooms have free play poker tables for their customers to use in order to Learn Poker aswell as daily freerolls, providing you with the opportunity to play a lot of poker for absolutely nothing. There are plenty of reasons to start your poker career on the free play tables rather than the real money tables, there are also differences between the free and real tables that are worth noting before transitioning over from free to real money play.

There is a wide choice of free play poker available on the Internet, spread across numerous online cardrooms. Poker varients offered normally include Texas Holdem, various types of Omaha Poker aswell as different types of Stud Poker; many game formats are provided such as ring games, poker sit & go's and multi table tournaments; normally there are fixed limit, pot limit and no limit versions of these poker variants and game formats.

The rules of poker only paint half the picture for you when learning the ropes, there's lots more information to soak up before you should consider yourself truly prepared for a poker game; this section deals with some of the less well documented aspects that are rarely introduced to new players but are worth understanding before risking any cash.

The mechanics of the game may seem simple at first, but the Poker Betting Options each have benefits aswell as drawbacks within the context of any poker hands, sometimes checking will be more appropriate than raising and vica versa; this section covers your poker betting options to enable you to start thinking about how they should effect your play. A comprehensive guide to poker hand rankings is featured here with use of images and examples to get you used to reading your hand aswell as how to read the poker game.

For every game of poker hosted on the Internet there is a charge called poker room rake, you must first be capable of overcoming the rake in order to stand any chance of being profitable; understanding who charges the least rake out of the plethora of online cardrooms will stand your bankroll in good stead.

An introduction into Poker Terminology and Poker Hands Slang aswell as details of some well known Pro Poker Players have been included in this section to give you a crash course into the more diverse areas of your poker education.

This section also covers the very important subject of Poker Etiquette; poker is a game of discipline and there are well documented guidelines over how to behave at the table, following the rules set out here will ensure you don't get into trouble with your fellow players or the site hosting the game. Discipline is of course vital to maintain
Responsible Poker Playing.