Things You'll Need:
- Internet Connection
- Basic Understanding of Texas Hold Em
- An Email account
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Step 1
First you need to pick the poker site that best suites your needs and desires. I use Pureplay because their is a free account option and you can play in free roll tournaments. I have been playing on this site for six months and have not put a single cent into it, but have pulled out over 1000$ just messing around in my spare time. This will work with any texas hold em game, but I chose to use this site because it was my favorite. They also are really good about paying out prizes owed, whereas some of these sites will give you the run around and you will be fighting with them for months to get your cash.
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Step 2
Once you have signed up for whatever site you choose, pick a game to play. The key here is to check what you have to place in order to win something. If the tournament is a 10$ payout tournament that sounds cool, but if there are 500 people in it and there is only a payout in the first place spot, chances are your just gonna waste your time. The basic multi table freeroll tournaments will get you poker points at pureplay and you dont risk anything, it also pays points all the way up to like 115th place, so you have a good chance of getting something. I use the points from these tourneys to play the 500$ weekly qualifier and then play the final at the end of the week. Again, I risk nothing this way, and get paid a bit of nice change at the end of each month. You can also pay the monthly fee and you get lots more options of playing, but that is then 20$ a month that your putting into it, so you decide if its a good idea or not.
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Step 3
Ok, now down to the meat and potatoes. Once your in the game, the biggest mistake people make is playing every hand that they have a face card, and half the time going all in when they have a mid level pair. This will eat up your chips fast, and even if you win on occasion, at the end of the day, you will be behind. The key to this game is patience. I tried one time just for science not playing a single hand. I folded every single hand, even when I was the big blind. I placed 14th in the tournament and won like 20$, for doing nothing. BE PATIENT and good things will come.
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Step 4
The next big mistake people make is being boiled like a frog. What I mean is say your the blind and already have 100 chips in. You have a jack and a 5 off suit and someone raises to 200, your thinking, well, i already have 100 chips in, i might as well put in 100 more right? WRONG! Playing a crappy hand is playing a crappy hand. Let the 100 go because when a straight draw comes on the flop and you end up with a jack high and 500 more chips in the pot, your going to kick yourself. Even if you arent the blind and you decide to call, then someone raises, ask yourself this. Is my hand bad enough to lose the chips already in, OR good enough to put the extra chips in, cause it has to be one of the two. A few chips gone will still leave you in, if you go all in, chances are you'll lose and then your out.
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Step 5
Bluffing. When i first started i would bluff every time i hit a new table. My justification was "theyve never seen my tricks before." Well usually i was wrong. Even if on occasion i could take a pot with a pair of dueces, more often than not i was taking 400th place in the end. Its called bluffing because its a lie. Like a lie, you'll get away with it every so often, but if you lie all the time, no one is ever going to believe you. Reserve the bluffs for only the most critical moments. When there is one card to a flush on the table and every one else has checked, then you might get away with it, but most of the time, there is at least one person on the table who is willing to lose the chips just to see what you have.
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Step 6
Finally the biggest key to winning, reading the other players and the table itself. I have lost with pocket aces more times than i can count. You have to realize that there is only one hand that is unbeatable, the royal flush. Look at the table and see what is possible, however far stretched, and think about how likely it is that someone has it, and then if you can beat or bluff it. Watch how people bet and when. If someone makes a small bet with a Jack on the floop, then on the turn a jack comes up and he makes a bigger bet, its likely that he has a jack in his hand, or wants you to think he does. This doesnt mean fold, or stay in, it just means you need to realize that is what is happening. Think about the psychology behind the betting, both when your watching them bet, and when betting yourself. You can draw a lot of people into thinking you have nothing and suck their money right into the pot for the big haul just by betting the right amount at the right time. If you get a straight on the flop, dont go all in, unless you think youll get two or three people to call it. Bet 30 or 40, or even 100. Youll get 4 or 5 people who only have a pair or two to keep pumping money into the pot, all the while you already have your winning hand.
