Top tips for playing poker online

Whether you are a novice poker player or a veteran player looking to transition to playing online, it is a good idea to brush up on a few online poker playing tips before you give it a go.

Online poker involves a slightly different skillset to playing poker in person, and it can be a challenge to master.However, once you have learned how to play poker both online and in brick-and-mortar casinos, you will find that your skillsets for both versions of the game have developed significantly.

Start out with a single table

When you are just starting out with online poker, it can be tempting to jump right into multi-tabling, because one of the biggest benefits of playing online is that it allows you to play multiple games at once. However, when you are just starting, you should work to control this impulse because it is worth taking the time to slow down and really learn and get acquainted with the technical aspects of online poker.

Once you feel completely comfortable and confident negotiating one table, then you can expand to multi-tabling and see how you like it.

Eliminate distractions

Online poker allows the players to cut out all of the background noise and activity of a casino floor and instead focus on the game at hand. However, this only works if you do not have any distractions at home. It is worth making the extra effort to ‘get in the zone’ and create a distraction-free area for your online poker playing, because small domestic distractions oftentimes lead to the player making a mistake or misjudgement they otherwise would have caught. This might entail wearing noise-cancelling headphones, waiting for everyone to go to sleep or taking the dog for a walk before you start playing.

Practice, practice, practice

You could potentially be the best poker player in the world, but if you do not put in the practice, you will not be able to hone your skills [3], get comfortable with your strategies [4] and develop your own style. Practicing can be a painful process, since we all want to be naturally good at something the very first time we give it a try.

However, if you really want to be a good online poker player, you should be comfortable with dedicating a certain amount of time and energy to improving your skills. Practicing your poker skills also does not have to be expensive. There is a mammoth amount of free information available online, including electronic books, articles, videos and seminars. Many online casinos also offer great bonuses and registration offers to new players.

Many novice players also find playing online poker or live dealer poker to be much less stressful than playing poker on a busy casino floor. The best online casinos are brands like Rizk [5], which have a wide range of different online and live dealer poker options for you to choose from.

Consider investing in software

At some point, you may want to consider investing in software programs that are specifically designed for online gambling. Many of the programs that are for online poker are designed to collect data on the games and synthesise it to show you your equity verses range, push/fold charts, equilibrium calculators and more.

There are also a number of great free software downloads available for poker players, such as Universal Replayer and HoldemResources.net. Efficiency software programs such as Table Ninja, Auto Hot Keys and Place Mint also assist players by helping the player to act in certain ways that are intended to maximise efficiency. Other efficiency software programs assist players by helping the grinder with multi-tasking and even helping players to mod their setup.

Purchasing software is certainly a more technical approach to improving your poker playing skills, but many players have found that it makes an appreciable difference in their playing and helps them to better understand their weak areas and their strengths.

Play responsibly

Playing poker online can be a very different experience to playing in person, and your concept of money might be skewed by the lack of physicality. When playing online poker, it is a good idea to set yourself a specific amount of time that you are allowing yourself to be on the app or website; this will help you to easily disconnect and set comfortable limits for your playing. You can start making a habit of setting monetary boundaries as well – and sticking to them while playing.