Tips for Beginning Online Poker Players

Table Search for Donkeys at High Limit Tables

Before you sit down at a table online you can search to see what kind of players you will be up against.  A good habit to get into before you sit down is to click on the “Average Pot” tab located in most lobbies under the list of tables to choose from.

You can also purchase Poker Tracking Software which will feed you instant information about the players at your table.  You get access to millions of hands worth of information on your opponents.  An icon is displayed next to their name showing you what type of player they are.

Understand Your Opponents Online

90% of poker players online are losing players. This percentage is astounding, but true.  There are so many donkeys playing online.  Even if they do have solid fundamentals, they don’t follow the basic rules.  They play too long hours, play when they shouldn’t be, and go on-tilt way too often.  Why else would so many pros choose to play online if there wasn’t so much money to be made.

The one huge factor that separates top players from the rest of the losing player’s, is they have discipline in their game.  Losing players play way too many hands, and get stuck in bad positions.  Anytime you feel like going on-tilt, playing marginal hands, or playing when you shouldn’t, just remind yourself that not doing these things is what makes you part of the elite 10%.

Begin by Playing Low-Stake Sit n Go’s

Even if you think you’re a better than average player, start off with play money games, or even play low stake sit n go’s. It takes awhile to get accustomed to the fast paced action online. Sit n go’s are a good way to get started because they are slow paced.

Over Bet, Rather Than Slow Play

Too many online poker players are willing to call large sums of money, so slow playing is really not all that necessary. When you’re on the fence as whether to slow play a hand, or to bet big, lean towards the side of betting big. Online poker warrants bigger bets than normal to induce calls.

Play More Than One Table

Multitabling is a tricky subject. Some players are very good at it, and some just can’t concentrate playing more than one table. Your best strategy is to test it out, and see how many tables you can handle. Just about all online pros like to play 2-4 tables at once, which lets them win more per hour.

Best Times to Play

The majority of online poker players come from the US and the UK.  If you are from the US, the best times to make money are from 10:00pm – 3:00pm especially on Friday and Saturday.  For UK players, the best time to play would be early in the morning from 5:00am-8:00pm. Time and exhaustion is what makes this the best times to play.  When others are tired and can’t think straight, they become easy targets. 

Since the UK is five hours ahead, US poker players can’t really play late at night.  They would be playing against the players who are fresh.  In order for players to go up against tired opponents, they must play early in the morning to catch the players that are tired, or desperate to win their money back.

Why Your Credit Card Might Not Work

Online poker is a grey area in the finance world, and credit card companies don’t like to touch it. That is the reason you cannot deposit money with most credit /debit cards in the US.

There has been a lot of changes with funding poker accounts.  Most of this was set off by the US online gambling legislation.  Neteller was dropped by many players and many believe the future will be something called Youteller.   

Online Poker Safety Issues

One of the most commonly asked questions among beginning players, is whether online poker is safe or not.  Beginners are always worried if their money is safe when they deposit, and if they are going to get cheated at the poker table.  In my years of playing poker online, I have never heard of one single player having money stolen from them, or their checking account identity being ripped off.  It just doesn’t happen.

Cheating is a totally different story.  Cheating in online poker does happen, but it’s just as common in live games as it is online.  The only real way to cheat online is to work with partners.  This doesn’t help you as much as you would think.  In live games you have to worry about people manipulating the cards, but in online poker it’s all automatic, and done by something called RNG; the Random Number Generator.

Beating the RNG is about as hard as figuring out which numbers to pick for the lottery.  Don’t believe the stories about players beating the RNG, because it’s close to impossible.

Bonus Hunting Appeal

Don’t get too caught up in bonus hunting.  You will soon figure out that bonuses don’t work like the poker rooms make them sound.  There are rare cases when a poker bonus is given as soon as you deposit.

Many poker rooms make you play a certain amount of hands before your bonus is released.  Basically they want you to generate enough rake, so they can pay you with your own money.  Don’t fall into choosing a poker room just because it has a big bonus.

What Freerolls are and How You Get In

Freerolls are free poker tournaments that the poker room hosts for their players.  They’re free to any player with a poker account, and are a great way to begin playing poker.  Most of these games are populated by people who can’t deposit because they’re not old enough. Usually poker rooms give priority to players who have real money accounts.  Usually if you play real money games, you can accumulate points to play in bigger freerolls.

Referring Friends and the Bonus Given

Most poker rooms will give you money for each friend you refer.  I wouldn’t advise referring friends because once you refer a friend that friend gets tracked to you.

The poker room now knows there is a relation to you and that player and they might not allow you to play at the same table.  They give you a small bonus that is released upon playing a certain number of raked hands, but you never get to play with your friend because they block you from joining the same table. 

Check/Fold Buttons - Be Careful Where You Point Your Mouse

The check/fold/raise buttons are all preset when you enter a poker room. It allows you to speed up the game, and preset your next move.  Be careful when you use these buttons, because they can give away tells to your opponents.

Watch where you are clicking when you play.  Just about everyone who plays online poker has accidentally hit the call button when they meant to fold. This can cost you a lot, and there is no way of getting it back. Pay attention because the call boxes can pop up out of nowhere.  

Pace Yourself or You’ll Go Broke

New players need to pace themselves when playing online.  You can lose a lot very quick if you are new to online poker.  You play five times as many hands online as you do in live poker, so the money can go fast if you are unskilled.  Winning takes time, so be patient.