How to Get Started in Online Poker

Have you heard than poker is a lot of fun? Indeed Daftar IDN Poker has a perfect combination of a social friendly circle or club versus battling wits and adrenalin of winning. When getting started with poker some people rush out to deposit a considerable sum at a biggest online site they can find. They usually quickly lose their deposit, sour on the game and leave. There is a better way and it is more fun. Instead I recommend starting at any quality free online poker sites. There are many out there to choose from.

While poker rules are simple, the game is fairly fast paced. Usually you have less than 30 sec to make a move. Thus it is critical to be able to quickly grasp at least what cards you have, how they combine with community cards and all different ways you can win. Do you want to learn all that when you have your real, hard earned dollars on the table? Perhaps you do. As for me – that would make me nervous and where is fun in that? Free multiplayer poker sites, where you play against other people online, are perfect for learning these basic poker rules. You will learn them with no pressure and no hit to your wallet.

There are reasons why many sites encourage you to make a cash deposit as soon as possible. The most important one is to bring new money into the game. Poker is a zero sum game. That is what someone won someone else must have lost. New inexperienced players are called “fish” or “patsy” in poker parlance. Good players purposely seek them out. Poker is a game of skill after all. The better you skills are the better and more consistent your payday is. You are certainly not a patsy. Since you are reading this article you are already ahead of 90% of poker newbies. You have mastered poker basics on safe play money poker sites for free. So when you are ready to play for real cash you enter the game with some confidence. You are not intimidated or confused by a strict dealer and quick pace at casino tables.

Some poker experts believe it is detrimental for your poker skills to train on free, that is play money, poker sites. They explain that when there is no real money on the line players modify their behavior. In other words players have no fear of losing their money and become maniacs raising every hand just to see what happens. I agree with that observation. Play money sites often feature reckless, hyper aggressive even maniacal players who never stop for an instant to think what they are doing. Well, they are easy to beat if you have a minimal discipline and not engage in the same over the top playing style. Poker has what is called a perfect strategy – strategy which guarantees to win the most over the long term regardless of what cards you are dealt. The closer your play to perfect strategy the bigger your edge becomes. Think of it this way – if you cannot beat a free poker game, why do you think you would prosper in cash game where players, on average, are much more competent? Make sense? This way of thinking goes further. When you can consistently beat a free poker game, it is a solid indication that you are ready to move up.

There are at least three fundamental skills you must learn before you go on a roll in Las Vegas. Obviously learn the cards. That is understand how cards combine into winning combinations in Texas Holdem poker. How different combinations rank against each other. Most of the players you will encounter do know that. But those hours you spent online will pay off there. Since you played for free you could afford playing more hands. More practice made you faster and more comfortable running card combinations in your mind. The other two skills are being observant and adapting to current playing style. What is there to observe online you might ask? Even in online poker you can observe a lot. Watch how much time your opponents take to respond. Make mental notes how they respond to different situations. Discern patterns in their play. It sounds like a lot of work. That is because it is but so is walking. You do not consider walking hard because you learned it once and it became you nature through constant practice. It works the same with poker skills.

Finally, adapting means adjusting your game to take maximum advantage of specific individuals seated at your specific table now. You cannot play mechanically applying “best practice” rules like raise with your good cards and fold your junk cards. I want you to do better than that. Here your sharp observation starts bearing fruit. You will notice that a raise from maniac means a lot less that a raise from a tight, cautious player. Betting out into four players after a raise on previous round says a lot more that an automatic bet on the flop. You have to adjust your play by loosening up and tightening down as opportunities come and go. There is one thing I learned well – playing poker is fun and playing is the important thing. But playing and winning is even more fun. Spend a little time preparing then you can enter on your own terms and be a dangerous opponent not a fish.