Home   >   Vip Guide   >   Poker Online Strategy

THE ONLY ONLINE POKER STRATEGY GUIDE YOU NEED

The good news is that absolutely anyone can learn basic online Poker strategy. And if you’re new to playing this great game online, it’s very important that you arm yourself with these simple tips!

While it may take mere minutes to get the basics of gameplay committed to memory, refining your game can take years. The subtleties of this age-old card game are part of why it’s so universally popular.  

GET TO GRIPS WITH THE BASICS

Are you an aspiring player looking to ground yourself in the basic rules? An intermediate one struggling to keep the hand rankings in order in your mind? Or are you an experienced online Poker game participant learning the nuances in the play required for Badugi as opposed to that necessary for Omaha?

Whatever the case may be, a refresher course in the basic rules is never a bad idea.

Once you’ve memorised the hand rankings, you’ll be able to enjoy many different game variations with only a few moments devoted to the rules which differentiate them at the high roller casinos you’ll find recommended here. In most case, the player with the highest-value hand wins, although in certain variants, like Razz, whoever has the worst hand takes the pot.

10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace of the same suit.

This online Poker hand consists of 5 cards of the same suit in consecutive order.

4 cards of the same value.

1 Pair and a 3-of-a-kind.

5 non-consecutive cards of the same suit.

5 consecutive cards of different suits.

3 cards of the same value.

2 Pairs of cards of the same value.

1 Pair of cards of the same value.

If you have no other hands, the high card is the one with the most value. Aces are best, 2s are the worst.

KEY STRATEGIES

Now that we’ve dealt with the basics of online Poker gameplay, here’s an overview of the tactics we’re going to be looking at in more detail in this article:

BE DISCERNING WITH STARTING HANDS

It can be tempting to throw caution to the wind and just play all the cards you’re dealt when you’ve joined an online casino Poker game. After all, why Fold and let everyone else enjoy the action?

But there’s a good reason we advise you to be more selective with your online Poker starting hand. Don’t throw good money after bad!

Regular winners will agree that the best trick to learn when it comes to strategy is knowing how to choose the right starting hands. The best ones are as follows, with Aces high:

You can also add in 10-10, 9-9, 8-8, 7-7, and 6-6, along with Suited aces like A-10, A-9, and A-8 to your overall starting hand Poker strategy. But don’t get overly attached to low-value Pairs like 2s and 3s

EMBRACE AGGRESSIVE PLAY

We advise aggressive online Poker gameplay for cash games and tournaments alike. There’s simply no point to playing premium hands if you’re not willing to take the risk of big bets that may force other players out!

One of our most important tips is to select a few hands to play at the high roller casino we’ve deemed good enough for our readers and then wagering hard on them. If you’re up against weaker competitors who favour holding, extend this bold attitude to smaller Pairs and suited connectors too.

BLUFF

If you’re not Bluffing properly, you probably aren’t winning very often either!

Learning how to do this properly will greatly increase the likelihood of the players around you folding. It works in the short term and the long term as well. There’s nothing wrong with having a reputation for aggressive online Poker play.

BUT BLUFF DISCERNINGLY

Don’t overdo it either. You don’t want to get into the situation where you’re bleeding chips because you’ve played too many marginal hands. Or you find yourself getting Called all the time because no one respects your online casino plays anymore!

Throwing in Semi-Bluff every now and then is a great way to avoid disaster. This is when you have been dealt a hand that has the potential of becoming very strong and can use it properly according to the dictates of your Poker strategy.

KNOW YOUR HAND RANKINGS AND ODDS

Mastering starting hands will go a long way towards improving your online Poker returns, but getting to know their rankings is what we advise.

For example, let’s say you’re dealt an Ace and an 8 and then a King, 8, and 2 come out on the Flop in a Texas Hold’em game. Now you’ve got a Pair of 8s and an Ace Kicker, but a Pair of Kings could beat you, as well as a Pair of 2s or 8s, possibly.

How would you improve this hand? Another 8 would give you 3-of-a-Kind but this may also bestow a Full House on your online Poker opponent. An Ace would give you 2 Pairs, but what if there’s a Raiser Pre-Flop and they’re holding an Ace and a King?

This is where a thorough knowledge of the odds of your creating a winning hand would come in very handy. You’ll need to learn about Outs, or how many cards in the deck could improve your hand. Calculating these will let you work out what the odds of your hand winning will be during online casino games.

Then you’ll need to grapple with Hand Odds, best done by looking at how much money you need to put in the pot to Call and comparing the 2 figures. If your Hand Odds are 4/1 and your Pot Odds or 12/1, you’re getting paid to 12/1 to make a 4/1 Call. A pretty easy decision to make!

Online Poker Hand Odds cheat sheets are very easy to find online so we advise that you simply print 1 and keep it within arm’s reach the next time you’re playing online.

PROTECT YOUR BLINDS

A very short while ago, Basic Poker strategy dictated that players should Fold the majority of their hands in the Small Blind and Big Blind in games like Texas Hold’em. But things have changed. Nowadays, successful players advise that you defend your blinds any chance you get when you’re playing at any one of our endorsed high roller casinos.

Taking a Big Blind as an example, you’re already out of pocket for a forced bet. And, when the Flop comes out, you’re second-in-line to act. You don’t have much information on the table to go on, so why on earth would you defend this online Poker position?

They answer lies in the post-Flop betting stage. In this scenario, you’d be last to act in the Big Blind. This means you could Raise, Call a Raise, or just Check if no Pre-Flop Raise came into play. But being in the position of last-to-act puts you in a very knowledgeable position on your opponent’s pre-Flop. You could, for example, spot a wager from someone who tends to Raise at the last minute in an attempt to steal the pot.

Armed with all this data, you can now comfortably Call the Big Blind with a variety of hands and you may well get a great price to see a Flop!

Proceed with caution, however. Always be careful on online Poker pots that have been re-raised and take note of how many players are in the hand. But try to protect your Big Blind with hands that play well in multiple ways, like premium Pairs and suited connectors.

DON’T BE SCARED OF FOLDING

One of the reasons that online gameplay is so much fun is that you’re dealt many more hands in an hour, for example, than you would be in a land-based session. As boring as it can be to continuously be Folding because you’re getting dealt terrible cards, fight the temptation to play poor online Poker hands just because you’re looking for something to do.

You may also need to Fold even when you think you’ve got a good thing going. If a normally tight player keeps reraising on an Ace, 6, 10 Flop while you’re holding a middle Pair, this may be a sign that you’ve been beaten. Give it up with grace and save your cash for another game.

A good rule to follow is that you should always be 100% certain of your play. If you feel any hesitation when facing a Raise, it’s usually recommended that you Fold.

FOCUS ON HAVING A GOOD TIME

Lastly, we feel it’s important that the No. 1 priority when it comes to playing online Poker is that you should be having fun. As important as learning strategies is, enjoying yourself is still the biggest benefit playing this way delivers.

Pick a site that our experts have investigated, reviewed, and recommended and enjoy safe, secure gameplay 24 hours a day, 365 days a year!

Copyright © 2023 www.thehighrollercasino.com