• How To Get Good At Online Poker
• How To Get Good At Online Poker Deuces Wild
• How To Get Good At Online Poker Game
• How To Get Really Good At Online Poker

The easiest way to review your play by far is with the aid of a poker tracking program. This is one of the biggest reasons why I suggest getting familiar with one as soon as you get a little bit of experience playing online. One of the best features of poker tracking software is the ability to filter for specific scenarios. Playing low and middle stakes tournaments will turn out to be a good thing in the end. You can crush these games because this is where tons of fish are in the online game. The lower buy-ins attracts bad players, and you can capitalize on this by learning how to progress through tournaments and beat the weak online poker players.

Tip 10: Develop A Good 3betting Strategy. Whilst 3 betting aggressively is a strategy many players employ, especially in online poker circles, failure to apply optimal 3 betting strategies has certainly led to a lot of spewy poker. Simply attacking opponents who are suspected of opening wide doesn't cut it in the modern poker world.

How long will it take to become a winning player?

So, you’ve been playing poker for a little while but you’re not winning money just yet. So you started to wonder... how long will it take before I start winning money from poker?

Quick answer: 3 to 24 months for most players I’d say. However, not all players have it in them to become consistent winners in online poker.

If you asked this question on a poker forum, you would struggle to get even one reply with an ounce of seriousness in it. The problem is that there are so many variables involved that it’s impossible to give an exact answer.

The variables that will affect how long it takes to become a winning player.

• The time you spend playing poker.
• The time you spend reading strategy.
• Where you get your strategy from.
• How intelligent you are.
• How quickly you learn.
• The stakes you play at.

...and that’s just a handful. One player may be able to progress in to a consistent winner within a few months, whereas another may never be able to win money from Texas Hold’em (or whatever variant they play).

However, this wouldn’t a very interesting article if I just left the answer to the question as “it depends” (even though it really does). So, here are a few rough guesstimates to satisfy your quench for tangible answers.

By the way, a winning player is defined as someone with a positive winrate, regardless of how small that winrate may be.

1) The super quick learner - 3 to 6 months.

• Plays at least 3 hours a day every day.
• Reads quality strategy articles daily.
• Has subscribed to a training site and watches strategy videos daily.
• Participates in strategy forums and posts hand histories for review.
• Purchased tracking software and actively analyses their play on a regular basis.
• Is generally a very intelligent person - capable of getting a degree in some form of science if they put their mind to it.

Three months, in my opinion, is an attainable time frame in which a very clever individual with the right tools can turn from a complete beginner in to a winning player.

This would involve some serious dedication, passion and through a strong desire to win money from online poker. If you’re a bright guy or girl and you absorb information from quality sources, I don’t see why you couldn’t achieve a positive winrate within 90 days.

This timeframe is certainly not for everyone though.

If you are a super-quick learner.

If you keep going at this rate you should see a lot of success. You have the potential to rise up the stakes very quickly as long as you make sure you keep your bankroll management in check.

However, be sure to not burn yourself out. Poker can be draining, and a week break here and there can actually be beneficial to your game. Be careful not to demand too much from yourself if you have early successes. Variance can hit you for six if you’re not accustomed to the swings.

2) The hard worker - 8 to 12 months.

• Plays around 10 hours of poker a week.
• A bright individual and tries their best to think logically about their decisions.
• Browses poker forums for advice but doesn’t participate in discussions too often.
• Genuinely interested in reading about poker strategy, but only reads for about an hour or so every now and then.
• They have tracking software, but only know the basics of it for when it comes to helping to find leaks in their game.
• Subscribes to a training site and enjoys to casually watch training video series’.

The hard worker has a similar passion to learn about poker as the “super quick learner” above, but they likely have other commitments outside of poker that reduces the amount of time they have to play and learn about the game. If they could spend some more time playing though, they would.

They have a strong drive to improve and it means a lot to become a winning player, but it’s not everything to them. They are happy to do ask best as they can with the time they have available without letting poker take too much precedence.

If you are a hard working player.

If this describes you and you’re not quite a winning player after the first few months, you should be confident that you’ll get their eventually. Keep the desire there and give it time, you’ll be a winner eventually if you stay on track.

Keep at it basically and don't give up.

3) The casual player, but still wants to win - 18 months to 24 months.

• Plays about 2 or 3 hours of poker on a good week. Home games account for a fair amount of play time.
• Can think logically, but probably doesn’t put as much brain power in to poker as they could.
• Only started to browse over different poker forums after about a year, but still hasn’t created an account.
• Googled a few strategy related topics but is not a frequent strategy reader.
• Has heard of training sites but suspects that they might not worth the money. Considering checking them out though.
• Bought tracking software but only really uses it to keep track of wins and losses.

These players are very slow learners and could definitely put a lot more effort in to their game. On the other hand, they probably don’t mind taking their time when it comes to learning good strategy, although deep down I’m sure they wish that they could have become a winning player sooner.

Casual players gradually draft in all the important tools for improvement over a longer period of time as they are skeptical about their value. They’ll eventually participate in forums, read articles, subscribe to training sites and purchase tracking software, but it happens over a longer period of time due to their lower drive to become a winning player.

If you are a casual player.

If you’re one of these players, there is so much room for improvement that you can drastically slash the time it takes to turn that negative winrate in to a positive one. Stop being so tentative and invest in training sites, software and time spent participating in forums. They are incredibly valuable, honestly.

Disclaimer.

All of these time frames for the different player types have no scientific or mathematical basis. They are just my best efforts to provide numbers in response to a vague question that is incredibly difficult to answer. All these estimates are from my personal experience with a bunch of guesswork thrown in for good measure.

There’s a good chance that you will fall way out of these estimated time frames, so don’t follow them too closely and get disheartened if it’s taking you longer to progress than you would like.

Just remember that every video you watch, article you read and hand you analyze is another step forward toward a positive winrate. Keep it up and you’ll get there one day.

Go back to the interesting Texas Hold'em Articles.

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Table Of Contents

Are you struggling to turn a decent profit at the poker tables on a consistent basis? Are your results best described as 'somewhere around break-even'?

First off, don't worry because you are not alone. This describes the results of the majority of poker players.

Often, however, it is just a few small poker strategy adjustments that can take your game from mediocre to amazing — from break-even to crushing it.

In this article, I am going to provide you with seven subtle but highly effective poker tips to take your game to the next level.

While I can't promise you'll win a lot of money with these beginner tips, you should add everything you find on this guide to your poker strategy if you really want to improve your poker games.

Continue reading to discover poker tips like:

I've also added something about pocket aces because you should be always careful when you get them. I have seen so many people play them the wrong way...

1. Think About Ranges, Not Hands

It doesn't matter what type of casino poker you play: one of the easiest ways to spot average and beginner poker players is to look at how they think about what their opponent has.

• Beginner poker players try and put somebody on a specific poker hand.
• Advanced poker players think in terms of ranges. This type of thinking that can be extremely important when calculating pot odds.

A range is the entire spectrum of poker hands somebody can have in a specific situation. For example, player X can have a flush, top pair, middle pair, bottom pair, a draw, ace-high or a complete air-ball bluff.

Good players who have already gone through a few poker strategy articles understand that player X will show up with this entire range of hands with various frequencies. They don't focus on identifying a single winning hand, but they try and figure out those frequencies and then make the best play.

Average players try to put an opponent on exactly (or some other specific hand) because that's 'what their gut tells them.'

If there's one thing you need to know when you learn the game, this is that poker strategy tips and 'gut feeling' don't go well together. Basing your tournament strategy or cash game play on what you 'feel' is never a good idea.

In the first video of this beginner's guide to poker tips for beginners, poker pro Jason Wheeler explains how uses every possible information available to understand his opponent's cards and choose his play.

Poker Tip Key Takeaway: Be Realistic

Don't put your opponent on a single hand but think about ranges. Nobody has a specific hand in poker — they only have a range.

If you are in still the process of learning the game and you need some help, have a look at the complete poker hands ranking.

2. Ditch Your Favorite Hand

A lot of people have a favourite hand. I know that every time I get dealt the old -suited my eyes light up and I want to play it so bad!

However, in reality, I know that -suited is a mediocre hand. Definitely not one of the best starting hands you can hey in a game of Texas hold em.

Calculate your poker odds FOR FREE with the PokerNews pot odds calculator!

It makes sense to play it in some spots — late position, for instance, in an unopened pot. But it should almost always be folded in early position.

If you currently have some favourite starting hands, that's fine — most people do. But don't give them preferential treatment and make bad plays with it.

Winning poker is about math and cold hard logic, not superstition.

Poker Tip Key Takeaway: Be Smart

Playing too many hands is a widespread mistake (see: Five Common Mistakes New Poker Players Make).

One of the best ways to avoid it is to introduce range-based thinking in your reads.

3. Adopt a Consistent Strategy

Another big key to becoming a great poker player (and perhaps one of the most important poker tips on this strategy guide) is to consistently apply a winning strategy.

It is not okay suddenly to change things up (e.g. to open with -suited from early position or turn yourself into a calling station) just because you are bored or tilted.

All of your learning, experience and study over the years has given you a body of knowledge telling you how to play Texas holder poker profitably.

But your poker strategy only actually matters if you apply it at the poker tables all the time. Every hand counts and every session counts.

The best poker players, those ones who know how to win at poker, apply the same winning strategy over and over again, no matter how they feel or what their recent results have been.

Poker Tip Key Takeaway: Be Consistent

Poker is a long-term game. You need time to build your bankroll and find the right cash game or poker tournament strategy that works for you.

You should not change your strategy after a big win or a big loss (here's why).

If you really feel like your approach needs to change, make sure you read this article on Handling the Ups and Downs of Low Stakes Poker first.

4. Always Have a Reason

Big-time winning poker players will sometimes break from their standard, successful strategies, but always for obvious reasons.

An average player might start raising -suited in early position because he is bored or wants to make something happen.

An elite poker player will raise with this hand in this position on occasion because he notices the table is playing passively and there are a couple of recreational players in the blinds.

There is a clear reason then to believe that raising -suited in early position (typically a fold under normal circumstances) might be a profitable play in this situation.

If you can produce a well-reasoned argument why deviating from your regular strategy might be more profitable, then it is okay. It is the 'because I feel like it' or 'I am bored' reasoning that has to go.

Poker Tip Key Takeaway: Be Reasonable

Think. Use your experience to analyse the situations, and then understand 'why' you would take one road and not another.

If you don't have enough experience to evaluate different situations yet, you better go back to the free games and grind.

5. Know When to Fold Your Aces

Another clear difference between average poker players and great poker players is the ability to fold an overpair.

Do you know that little sick feeling you get when you have and a tight opponent raises all-in on the turn? You make the so-called 'crying call', and he turns over the set yet again.

Playing online poker for free is the best way to hone your poker skills and practice with no risk.

You need to start paying attention to that feeling a little bit more often.

Certain patterns are easily recognizable at the lower stakes — especially when you play online poker — where it is 100 per cent the correct play to fold your overpair.

Good players can let go of any emotional attachment to their pretty-looking hands. Average players get married to their aces or kings instead, and can't let them go even when they know they are beat.

Poker Tip Key Takeaway: Aces Lose Too

Starting with the best of all poker hands isn't enough to guarantee you a winning hand.

Ask anyone for good poker pro tip, and they will all tell you the same thing: sometimes, you'll need to fold those Aces.

For more info on this specific topic, have a look at this article on How to Play Pocket Aces.

6. Realize Tilt Only Hurts You

Tilt is a destroyer of bankrolls, dreams, and poker careers.

I can't tell you how often I receive emails or comments from people who describe to me how they've tilted vast amounts of their bankroll away when things went badly at the poker tables.

The reality of poker is that sometimes things will go badly for you, and there is absolutely nothing that you can do about it.

This is what you sign up for every time you sit down to play card games.

There's always the possibility you might run terribly. You might run lights out as well, though.

When you allow yourself to lose control of your emotions and throw your strategy out the window, the only person you are hurting is yourself.

All those hours you've spent trying to learn and improve your game were basically wasted because you decided to choose your emotions over reason when it mattered.

Respect the work that you have done. You owe it to yourself to maintain more composure and stop throwing away money when the cards go south.

Poker Tip Key Takeaway: Relax

The psychological side of poker can be overwhelming, and you need to be ready to deal with it.

Swings happen and bad beats will come. If you don't know how do deal with this, have a look at the poker tips Italy's poker pro Rocco Palumbo shared with PokerNews at the PokerStars Championship in Prague.

If these poker tips work for Palumbo, they may as well work for you!

7. Don't Play Bad Games

One more way beginner poker players can sabotage their poker results is by stubbornly playing in games that are full of decent-to-good regulars.

If you can't find somebody at the table who is playing very poorly, then you have to ask yourself why it is that you are even there.

If you only play poker for the mental challenge or recreation or pleasure, then this is fine. This poker tip doesn't necessarily apply to you.

Use this guide to set up your next home game online and play online poker with your friends for free or real money.

But if winning real money or chips is at all a priority for you, then you need to remember you don't turn a significant profit in poker by pushing tiny edges against good poker players.

You win big by playing against players who are making significant fundamental errors and giving away their money over the long term.

As the classic movie Rounders reminds us, 'If you can't spot the sucker in your first half-hour at the table, then you are the sucker.'

Poker Tip Key Takeaway: Choose the Right Games

Don't sit with the pros if you can't beat them. Selecting the right games is key to your successes in poker — one wrong move, and you are out.

Again, there's no shame in playing free poker games or in looking for the best freeroll poker tournaments to play online if that's what you need.

How To Get Good At Online Poker

Final Thoughts

The divide between break-even beginner players and big-time winners is not as wide as many people think.

How To Get Good At Online Poker Deuces Wild

It is often just a few simple little adjustments you can learn over time that can carry you over to enable you to start winning at a higher clip.

A lot of it has to do with starting to view the game in a much more cold, detached, mathematical, and logical way than you presently do.

Emotional and/or superstitious poker players almost always lose or struggle to remain even.

Elite poker players, meanwhile, know they are in it for the long haul and don't get overly wrapped up in each hand or moment. They continue to make the most profitable play again and again, no matter what.

Playing online poker for free is the best way to hone your poker skills and practice with no risk.

Nathan 'BlackRain79' Williams is the author of the popular micro stakes strategy books Crushing the Microstakes and Modern Small Stakes. He also blogs regularly about all things related to the micros over at www.blackrain79.com.

How To Get Good At Online Poker Game

_{This article was originally published on Feb. 13, 2017. Last update: Oct. 12, 2020.}

How To Get Really Good At Online Poker

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