This approach is just as applicable to free poker games as it is to paid, practice it with the free money and chips and you’ll be doing it naturally when the time comes to play with real green.

Before you even hit the tables, set yourself a couple of ground rules on spending money and time. You DO NOT want to spend an hour losing money over and over again. I tend to set myself three conditions. Upon meeting one of them I quit the table and take a break from poker.

While it may seem like they will restrict your winnings, and cause you to make slow progress in the poker world, you limit your losses, and so stop yourself progressing backwards. A penny saved is a penny earned, and those pennies will build up over time if you restrict your losses and have PATIENCE!

The purpose of this is to prevent a huge blowout of all your money and thus causing you to miss out on a huge win after lots of bad calls. Here are my three rules that I stick to:

1. If I have lost half the money I bought in with, quit and come back later.

2. If I have doubled the money I have bought in with, and start losing it, quit and come back later. On a side note never risk losing a big hard earned stack by going all in. I made this rule and adhere strictly to it so that I never make a loss on what I have earned.

3. If you don’t seem to be getting anywhere in the game (say, no wins for about half an hour) and there is no major losses or gains then have a break and come back later.

After joining a table to win big it’s all about playing the people, not the cards. It’s no use going all in with a royal flush knowing you’re bound to win, and watching everyone at the table fold.

Something else to look out for is bluffing styles…. If they have a great hand, many players will try to get as much cash as possible from other players so will be likely to bet small. However, if they are betting big, then its likely they are bluffing.

This may not always be the case though. First look at the players at the table, try to guess their playing styles, notice patterns in their behaviour and then apply this guideline to them. It works for me I would say around 80-90% if the time.

You will notice that good poker players tend to play this way, so the trick is to stop being predictable and make yourself harder to read. E.g. start off by folding weak hands and only playing the good ones. When people see that you raise whenever you get a good hand, and fold on weak cards they will write you off as unable to bluff, and you can bluff your way through the next couple of weak hands, with most being too scared to call your bluff.

If you have a rubbish hand and have no chance of winning, make it clear that you are bluffing. Then as soon as a good hand does come along (it will eventually, it’s all just about PATIENCE) then you can bet big, people will probably call your bluff, and you can just rake in their cash.

When starting out playing poker, its best to stick with playing free poker games before taking a risk with your own money. You’ll find that many free players don’t do rules very well and play silly but you will get a lot of experience in general game aspects on free poker sites so that you won’t waste too much money when you play for the real thing.

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