Real Money Poker Tips for Beginners
If you are just starting out, playing real money poker can be intimidating, after all, you can win or lose a lot of money in just a few seconds after just a couple of clicks. This turns away many promising players. If you play with restraint and wisdom you will be able to do well.
Many beginning poker players mistakenly think that playing real money poker, whether it is online or in an actual casino is about getting lucky. Sure you get unlucky from time to time on “bad beats” and you get lucky every now and then, but over the course of a game or even a poker career, luck evens out. In the end the difference between doing well in real money poker and falling flat on your face comes down to your knowledge of the game and how well you can read other players.
Thankfully it is pretty easy for a beginning poker player to learn about the game. The best way to do so is to play poker online, for free. You have nothing to lose and you get to gain valuable knowledge. Guess what else… it will be fun! Download software and join a free table, that is all that you have to do. However it is important to realize that people play differently when they are using “pretend money”. People play much looser online, there has to be at least twice as much action every hand and three times as many all ins. Playing poker online for fun may not be a perfect match to playing real money poker, but it is as close as you are going to get. If you are a beginner, it is in your best interest to take a month or so to play online for free before you gamble with any of your hard earned money.
The second best way to learn the ins and outs of real money poker is to take advantage of all of the free online resources available to you. There are hundreds of great websites that offer quality information about playing real money poker online. You are investing nothing other than a small portion of your time and the returns could eventually be great. There has to be millions of pages on the web about any poker topic you would ever want to learn about. You can research basic topics, which hands beat which, and pot odd for example. Once you have the basic topics down you can look into more advanced topics, like bankroll management and suited connectors. You can also look into different poker software programs. There are programs that will replay your hands you play online so you will be able to analyze every move you made and see if everything really went the way you thought it did. You should never have to pay for poker tips, advice, or software online, there are simply too many quality free options available.
Now that you have gotten valuable playing experience online and you have looked into every quality online option, it is time for me to give away a few tips:
Never play with money that you cannot afford to lose online. They call it gambling for a reason, over time you might come out on top if you are the better player, but there are plenty of ways for you to lose your money in the short run. Bad beats, happen, they hurt and they are tough to overcome. Another reason why you should only play with spare money online is that you will play better when you gamble with extra money. You will play looser and smarter, you won’t be nearly as nervous. Many players fail when they go from playing with loose change to trying to make a living out of the game. Every hand is a grind, nothing is easy online, play with money that you will not mind losing.
Do not play on tilt. We all know what tilt is, you lose a tough hand and then you become overly determined to win the next and get your money back. This is a great way to wipe away all of your bankroll. Everyone plays worse on tilt, they forget the basics of the game and play the next hand no matter what. You simply will not come out ahead in the long run if you play on tilt. If you just lost a tough hand, log off of the computer and go do something else. Come back thirty minutes later with a clear mind and you will do much better.
Remember that your hand and the way you are playing is only half of what determines your success. Everyone else that you are playing makes up the other half. Even while playing online you should be able to get a read on the other players. Some play loose, some play tight, some like to bluff, some like to play straight up, some can be bullied out of important pots… Everyone has tendencies, if you recognize them you will be in a position to take advantage of them eventually. Continue to pay attention to your table, even if you have already folded, you will learn tons about the other players at your table.
Keep poker in perspective, it is just a game. You are going to lose a lot of hands that you should have won and vice-versa. If you manage to keep your head on your shoulders while playing you might end up having fun and winning money, which is the best case scenario.
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