Poker is always a game of strategy whether it’s played online or at the table. This means that the person with the best strategy usually wins in poker.
Developing an online poker strategy can be tough for a lot of people because they can’t rely on traditional poker tactics. Spotting tells and bluffing often doesn’t work online because people are playing the cards and nothing else. Instead, you’ll have to spot the other players patterns of play.
Once you spot the patterns of play, you can devise a strategy to use against those players. Watch when the other players fold and when they bet and how much they bet. Some players will always try to bluff when they have a decent hand, others will only bet when they have a good hand. If you can spot those patterns, you can figure out when to bet and when to fold.
A really good strategy when playing poker online is to vary your play. To do this you’ll have to figure out what your usual pattern of play is. You can discern your pattern of play by taking notes about how you play. Simply write down when you bet and when you folded it and think about it after the game.
Once you’ve figured out your pattern of play, break it. Occasionally, do something completely out of character. For example, if you normally only bet when you have a good hand, bluff on some lousy hands. If you like to bluff a lot, don’t bluff for a few games. Or, just try to do something out of character in every game.
The reason that you vary your play is that you want to throw the other players off. Remember they’re following your patterns of play and trying to anticipate what you’re going to do. If you do something weird or erratic, you can throw their strategy off and get them guessing about what you’re going to do. This will make it easier for you to bluff or harder for your opponents to spot your bluffs.
Pay close attention to other player’s patterns of play and start devising strategies to use against them. A good way to do this is to write down all the moves the players you normally face online make. Then after the game sit down and figure out what to do against them. This way you can devise an effective internet poker strategy that can put some money in your pocket.