Poker is a fascinating game. It is a game of psychology, probability, strategy and a bit of chance. Real money poker strips the game down to its essentials and besides the luck factor, it brings the game to be about the player.
Every hand is different and need a big bag of tricks to handle unique and difficult situations. So where that big bag of does tricks come from? Obviously experience. Experience requires a lot of time at the poker table. The learning curve takes time and also can be expensive. Online poker players need to pace themselves and play without losing much money. So start small and slowly, work your way up to larger stakes games.
The new online poker player should start out on free tables. It is one of the best arenas to learn the basics and see many hands. It is important to realize that free poker is a different game than poker for real money. Playing with money, the players are more willing to play hands they should be folding. It is true for both you and the opponents.
After playing free poker for some time, the new online poker player will begin to understand what types of hands win more often. They will begin to play them in such a way to maximize the profits from winning hands. They will realize that to stay ahead you should fold a lot of hands. Meager hands don’t win enough to cover the frequent losses from these types of hands.
At this stage, the player should realize that he is playing against others who are throwing their free play money around like it is, well, play money. It is important to develop strategies to cope with the player that will call any raise or bet because they are playing to have fun. Developing these skills will become profitable when playing for real money.
A new online poker player has the experience and few tricks up their sleeve. It’s time to venture onto the real money tables. They expect to lose the money at first. The transition is difficult as the game drastically changed with real money on the table. Start at the lowest stakes tables and expect to stay for longer than you think.