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Published: 23rd January 2014 Written by Poker Tips
Updated: 11th December 2023

poker tipsLearn the basics of online poker with just five simple poker tips for beginners these include playing tight, which cards to play, reading other players, patience and using a free poker tool.

Poker is not a game you will learn in a day it will take some time before you master the art of winning and see some profit from it.

Start off small and work your way up the stake levels, invest the time and patience to become an experienced online poker player.

5 Poker Tips for Beginners

Here are five simple poker tips for players learning to play poker online.

Play Tight and Observe

Playing tight will save you losing your entire poker bankroll in a few minutes.

Sit yourself down at the lowest stakes cash games or tournaments, preferably cash games as you can stay at the same table without the risk of being eliminated or blinded out with the ever increasing tournament blinds.

Hole cards are the two cards you are dealt every hand, these are your starting cards to be used alongside the community cards which are dealt on the table for all the other players to use.

You don’t want to play every poker hand only selected hands which have a greater odds of winning.

Cards to Play

There are only a few poker starting hands that will give you an edge over your opponents before the community cards are dealt. These hands don’t guarantee that you will win the hand as poker is a game of skill combined with luck.

Pocket Pairs – these are hole cards which can turn into a monster hand if you hit the same card amongst the community cards to give you three-of-a-kind or even full house.

Suggested pocket pairs: 9-9, 10-10, J-J, Q-Q, K-K or A-A

Suited Connectors – these are cards of the same suit which are only one denomination apart like Ks-As. This combination gives players the chance to get a flush as well as a straight.

Suggested Suited Connectors: 9-10s, 10-Js, J-Qs, Q-Ks or K-As.

Playing these cards will give you a higher percentage to win the hand before the flop is dealt.

Raise at least 3 times the bet size when you are dealt any of these hands as you will want to limit the amount of players from seeing the flop, this will increase your odds of winning.

Read the Players

Take note of how the other players are playing at the table, for example if you notice another tight player you can take advantage of this by raising him most hands and forcing him to fold.

Some players are gamblers and won’t fold for any raise, these are the players to be weary of. But at the same time they are the players you will profit the most from because they will see you to showdown when you are playing your best hands.

Patience

If you are a very patient person you should excel at poker, players can sit around for ages waiting for the right spot to get all their chips into the middle.

Don’t let a small or big loss get you down or you will go into tilt mode where you won’t be thinking clearly enough to make the right decisions.

If you start to become frustrated rather take a break or find another table with different opponents, online poker is meant to be fun and you should not get angry at any point.

Poker Tool

It’s very common for poker players to use some form of a poker odds calculator to help them win more.

These poker tools attach themselves to the poker table and offer you winning percentages, real-time odds and suggestions to play the hand.

Most poker tools are allowed at poker sites and are also a great way to learn your odds while you are playing.

After using a poker tool for some time you eventually learn which cards to play and how to play them all the way to showdown.

One of the best poker sites to learn at would be 888poker as all players can download a free poker tool.

888poker also gives new players free poker cash with no deposit required, play real money poker games for free.

Download 888 Poker888 Poker Coach (free poker tool)

Glossary

Some of the terms in this article may not be familiar to new players just starting out so we compiled a basic glossary with the basic terms with a description.

TermDescription
BankrollReal money funds available in the players account.
Hole CardsThe first two cards dealt to every player each round.
FlopThe first three community cards dealt on the table for all players to use.
ShowdownThe last of five community cards dealt on the table.
TiltSo full of rage that you seek revenge against other players and can no longer think clearly.

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