Our strategic Poker tips will put you in a better winning position when you’re up against any level of Poker Player whether you’re a beginner or an advanced Player.

8 Strategic Poker DOs and DONTs:

1) DO Fold A losing hand

As simple as this advice may seem, it is crucial to playing winning Poker. Lots of times, egos get in the way of plain, simple common sense. Take John for example. He read a few books and feels he’s a pro. So, John is up at a pretty aggressive table and doesn’t want to seem like a novice or risk being bluffed by the other more advanced Players. He makes a bonehead play which puts him out of the game completely. Don’t let this happen to you. Don’t let your ego get in the way. Pause, think, and make good, common sense plays and you will eventually be successful and come out a winner. Also, if the pot gets large and you’re playing with an obvious losing hand, do these four things - F-O-L-D!!! Don’t let the size of the pot cause you to make an otherwise poor judgement in play. No matter how strong your hand looks, if you think someone has a better hand than you, fold and wait for a better opportunity.

2) DO play as few hands as possible before the pre-flop

Beginners play too many hands pre-flop and this leads to their quick demise. In any single Poker game, you should play only 19% - 24% of your hands and fold the rest. Also, take only a top or high pair or a strong draw to the river.

3) DO play using mathematics rather than feeling

Poker is a game of mathematics and involves odds in practically every circumstance. Play your hands if they have good odds of winning and not because you feel lucky. Luck has nothing to do with the skills and mathematical odds involved in Poker.

4) DO take the long view when you assess potential winning action.

Poker is a long term game and sometimes, although you make a correct play, you may end up losing the hand. This doesn’t mean that you played incorrectly. It just means that the other Player played a better winning hand than you. This will happen from time to time - you win some, you lose some. Don’t draw ridiculous conclusions from a losing hand or game. Remember, your goal in Poker is to make money in the long run. Put the short term out of your mind and make the best possible move at any given time and you will be well on your way to being a winner at Poker.

5) DON’T compound errors

To err is human. In Poker mistakes are bound to happen. After all, if mistakes weren’t made, then no one would win, right? Although, you will make mistakes here and there, the important thing is not to make your mistakes compound. So, you played a bad hand. So What?! Let it go, move on and FOCUS on your next hand. Be sure to play that new hand optimally. The sooner you can get past your previous mistakes, not let them pile up, and take each decision as it comes; the sooner you will be on your way to playing winning Poker.

6) DON’T slow play all the time

There’s a time and place for everything. I can still hear these words echoing to this day - words of wisdom from my Mom. This advice can also be carried over into Poker. Sometimes, slow play is in order. However, there are times when slow playing should be used sparingly.

7) DON’T confuse agression with looseness

Playing aggressively is sometimes confused with playing loosely or recklessly. Loose play will more often than not result in substantial losses. Aggressive play will give the perception of being reckless while you’re racking up your chip stack, much to the amazement of your opponents. You can successfully accomplish this by giving the perception that you’re only interested in big pots (i.e. that you’re an action player) but what you’re really doing is getting your chips in with the odds in your favour without being too noticeable by your opponents. If you think about it, didn’t the fox use this same principal to get into the hen house?

8 ) DON’T make a bad bluff

Bluffing well is a skill and takes time to learn. Beginners typically lose bets where they make the bluff so obvious to a trained eye. One easy way to bluff successfully is to set up the bluff early on. If you play let’s say four consecutive streets as if you’re holding something weak and then show strength on the River, rest assured you WILL get called down.

Our Golden Poker Rules will put you at a vantage point. Learn Poker the easy way and save time and money.