Bulletproof way to poker success

If you're getting troubles navigating between the countless online poker strategy sites, you came to the right place.

Poker has become the most popular card game, played for real money in the past few decades. Everyone knows the game, its biggest names became main-stream superstars, so even if you talk about poker with non-professionals guys like Phil Ivey or Daniel Negreanu need no introduction. As the old saying goes "it takes five minutes to learn the rules and a lifetime to master the game".

And this couldn't be truer. Texas hold'em enjoys widespread popularity because the basic rules are simple. However, to become a winning player, you need a lot more than just playing the cards you got dealt.

Those who read this probably know very well the most important basic of winning poker, but just in case you're a beginner let's walk through the hand rankings [3].

• Royal Flush: Ace, King, Queen, Jack and a Ten of the same suit – A♣ K♣ Q♣ J♣ T♣
• Straight Flush: combination with five cards in a row with the same suit that is not A-high. For example T♠ 9♠ 8♠ 7♠ 6♠
• Four of a kind: combination with 4 cards of the same rank, like 8♠ 8♥ 8♦ 8♣ 4♣
• Full house: three cards of the same rank and a pair, like J♥ J♦ J♣ 5♥ 5♣
• Flush: five cards of the same suit that are not in a row, like K♥ Q♥ 8♥ 5♥ 3♥
• Straight: five cards in a row, like 5♥ 6♦ 7♣ 8♣ 9♦
• Three of a kind: three cards of the same rank and two cards that do not match, like 9♥ 9♠ 9♣ 6♥ 3♠
• Two pairs: combination with two different pairs, like 4♣ 4♠ 7♣ 7♠ K♣
• One pair: two cards with the same rank and tree random cards, like A♦ A♥ J♣ 7♦ 3♥
• High card: when all your cars are with different ranks and no combination is possible, like K♥ Q♠ 8♣ 3♠ 2♦

Now that we made sure, the fundamentals are rock-solid, we can move to more advanced concepts. Concepts that differentiate the pros from the recreationals. When you're comfortable with the game, the betting rounds and the hand rankings, it's natural to start thinking about how to outplay your opponents.

You might've already noticed that there are certain types of players, who you all need to adjust to, in order to beat them.If you play against a so-called 'calling station' it's import to bluff less often, than against a 'nit', who folds everything besides from premium holdings.

It can certainly took a long time, to figure all of the player types out, but the world's best players at Upswing Poker [4], can certainly help you out!

Speaking of premium holdings, beginners often make a mistake of only thinking in terms of certain hands. "I put you on ace-king" is a wrong approach, which can cost you a lot. It's really important to understand, that poker is a complex game, and your strategy should be tailored to be a winning one - instead of only thinking about your and your opponent's hand during single hands, you better try to put them on a range of hands and play according to it.

Newbies often make mistakes before the flop, which determines the rest of the hand. The most expensive mistakes are made before the flop, that's why you need a preflop hand chart. Once you have a basic understanding of how to play preflop, you can move forward and learn the best ways to play in the most often situations.

Flush draws, 3-betting, MTTs 6-max. If any of this sounds unfamiliar, you might wanna take a look at the poker 'cheat sheets' [5]. While this can be pretty tough for less experienced poker enthusiasts, here is the good news: there are multiple softwares [6] which help you create a solid, winning strategy.

If you take poker seriously it's inevitable to use these tools to improve your game. If you learn how to play preflop, what hands to play, how to continue after the flop and even have the tools the analyze your game, the process is not over. As the game develops rapidly, the opposition gets better every day, you have to constantly improve your game [7] to stay ahead of the curve.

While this takes a lot of dedication, time and energy, becoming a winning poker player is certainly a reward worth working for! Now that you have a basic guideline of how to start your journey all we have to say is: enjoy the ride!