Online Poker Beginners: Watch, Read and Learn

Card games are an excellent pastime, often needing strategy and observation to win. None, though, are as demanding as poker. Whether in a friendly game or a professional tournament, you know that victory is not just down to luck. Staying calm, reading opponents, calculating probabilities and risks are all important if the pot is to be yours. As daunting as it sounds, it is an exciting game to play and, the more you learn, the better the experience and your chances of making a profit. Then, the pros might beckon, an alluring but tricky opportunity that should not be tackled unprepared. And the best way to ready yourself for the real poker scene is by practising online. Here is a leg up with a few starting tips.

Make Use of Promotions

How can you get to know poker without sitting at an actual table and playing? Gather the equipment and a bunch of friends, and enjoy the game properly, looking your opponents in the eye. Premier Poker Chips is one of a number of retailers with clearance sales on sets, priced at £19.99 minimum, or individual accessories, including decks, chips, even tables, between £1.99 and £7.49. Without knowing the real game, the feel of the cards, the tension, the surprises and thrills, you have already lost the point of poker. Combining this with online practice should help make poker second nature.

There are promotions aplenty at online casinos to sooth your pocket, while boosting your poker chops. In addition to cash and no deposit bonuses, not to mention an array of prizes, from gadgets to holidays, players can get free tickets to poker tournaments. Texas Hold’em is the typical game a prospective professional will find, but that does not mean that you cannot try your hand at Razz or Omaha. Educating yourself about poker is as advisable as playing it, if only to avoid the embarrassment of not knowing that there is more than one variation, an overview of which is to follow.

Once the basic rules and environment have become familiar, developing tactics, the true nit and grit of poker, will push your game even further. Information on this area can be found free throughout the internet but, for those more trusting of books, several options exist, like Gus Hansen’s Every Hand Revealed (2008). It offers an exclusive insight into each of his moves during the 2007 Aussie Millions Championship, which ultimately won him the title and $1.2 million. Physical and online stores can fill a poker-dedicated shelf with cheap copies on the mathematic, logical and psychological factors behind game-changing decision-making.

Choose Your Variant

To put the poker industry into perspective, there are at least 45 different ways to play, split between three categories. Community card poker deals a private incomplete hand, also known as hold cards, to each person and a communal set face-up on the table to complete them. Within this grouping, Texas Hold’em and Omaha, both Hi and Hi/Lo, are played professionally, their differences involving the number of hold cards, the combinations allowed with the community cards and more. Blinds or antes can also vary depending on the venue and event.

Stud poker, characterised by players receiving a set of face-up and face-down cards with every round in order to create the best hand, was hugely popular during the American Revolution and Civil War, producing its four and seven-card versions along the way. Seven Card Stud and Razz are the prominent variants in tournaments today, but it is the betting structures that make this type of poker additionally exciting, due to the number of rounds and, therefore, the sizeable pot that can be accumulated.

Last but not least, draw poker is perhaps the variant that everyone learns when first introduced to the game. Players are dealt five cards, all or some of which they can discard in the second round for new ones in order to form the highest hand. Rules on positions, buying in and the splitting of the pot are other features that set it apart from its fellows. 2-7 Triple and Single Draw are two versions also found in tournaments. All this information and terminology is meant to show poker’s complexity and the importance of picking variants that suit you for greater profit and enjoyment.

(Poker Players’ Memorable Plays)

Watch the Pros

Kicking back and learning by sight is also a good option. YouTube is an excellent source of inspiration by offering hours and hours of tournament footage to be absorbed. Since its new messenger feature was added, studying the professionals with your poker buddies is easier than ever. Watch the grandeur and stress of full events, pros, like Scott Blumstein and Jamie Kerstetter, replaying memorable hands or simply describing a day in their lives. As experts in your field of interest, it is essential that you listen to their stories, tips and, especially, warnings.

Twitch is, of course, another prime platform for poker education. Follow WSOP champion and founder of Run It Up TV Jason Somerville’s channel for tutorials, as well as the chance to win a seat in tournaments or even against him. Courtney Gee’s so-called Swarm of fans is fun to join too. Chat with her and the community. Browse her huge selection of videos. Get to know her experience. Randy Lew is yet another figure to watch, if only to understand how to play multiple online tables at once. One of the reasons that professionals take to social media is to share their knowledge and resources, so do make use of them.

The digital and literary world is bursting with guides, examples and training opportunities that every budding pro must take advantage of. At the table, whether online or live, you may be going it alone, but it is the support and preparation that will help get you there, wits sharp and collected. A successful career is a challenging goal, one that feels that much more satisfying once achieved and looking back at the personal growth the effort has granted. Poker can be a life-changing bundle of fun, but only if played right.