The Most Effective Strategies For Online Poker

The vast majority of poker players prefer to play online since online poker rooms offer so many advantages in comparison to its live counterpart. So, it is not surprising that many people are interested in the most effective strategies for beating online poker games. But it’s not so easy, because there is no single strategy or mix of strategies that will work every time you play an online poker game. In this article we’ll try to help you understand all the intricacies of playing online poker and find some answers.

Determining Effective Strategies for Play

So lets say you sit down to play poker online for the first time and you need an effective strategy?  First of all, you need to determine the type of game, since the winning strategies will differ greatly depending on the game being played. Sit-n-Go’s, Multi table tournaments, and cash games are all popular formats of poker that can be played online and at land-based casinos around the world. But they all require very different strategies. For example, cash games tend to have deeper stacks (100bb+) then poker tournaments like MTTs and SNGs.

Furthermore, the play money tables are not a good way to learn how to play poker. If you play with virtual money, than any online poker strategy you’ve read and studied for real money games will not mean a thing.

Why?  Because real money poker games will play very different to free to play games on the internet. At the virtual money tables, people do not worry about their hard earned money being at risk, and as a result they are not afraid to make irrational moves. If they lose all their chips they can just reload, which can turn the game of poker into a lottery, with lots of players going all-in with junk hands, and very little poker being played.

Importance of Stack Sizes

Playing for real money depends on various factors that can impact on the strategy that should be adopted to beat the game.  But just remember, stack sizes are going to be extremely important when it comes to playing any effective poker strategy.

If you are playing in a deep stacked game, you can play a lot more speculative hands that gain in value as stacks get deeper, such as suited connectors like 87s.

On the contrary, if you are playing in a shallow stacked game, you will need to adjust your starting hand requirements, as you will be looking to make hands on the flop that you will go with.

For instance, during the later stages of a tournament, there is very little poker being played after the flop. The stacks are that shallow that if stacks don’t go all in pre-flop they do on the flop.

By playing a narrower range of hands when the blinds have become much larger in comparison to relative stacks, you will generally have a stronger hand on the flop that is straight forward to play. You don’t want to be min raising a hand like 77’s and then wondering what you should be doing on a Q-J-4 flop.

Profiling Opponents Properly

In addition to playing stacks correctly it will be hugely beneficial to begin profiling opponents at your table to learn how to exploit each player, and may entail playing conservatively to begin with so it gives you a chance to figure out how they play, after which, you can choose the right strategy to beat them.

As you play against the same opponents, and learn to draw conclusions about the other players based on observing their play, you will get a better idea of how often they bluff, as well as what types of hands they play. Collect this information information bit by bit, it is useful for future hands you play against them, although it can take some time to get this info as not all of the hands will get to showdown.

What can you do with this information? Well, if you happen to know an opponent is tight and only playing premium hands, when they come out betting strongly after the flop, there is a good chance you’re beat unless you have a monster hand. On the other hand, if you know an opponent is aggressive and very capable of making moves, then you can set a bear trap, and allow them to bluff off their stack. When equipped with this information, you will be able to play perfectly against them, to extract the most amount of value from your hands, as well as be able to make a more informed decision in picking good targets to bluff.