If you have an inclination towards poker and know how to play poker, you have landed on the right page. We have got some tips and strategies that will help you get the better of your opponents. Try to understand these valuable tips and implement them in your game. See you at the poker table and hopefully, you use the following poker tips and tricks.

Call, Bet, or Raise

If you place your bets wisely, you can get a distinct edge over your opponents. When you ask any experienced poker player, they will tell you to call, raise, and bet effectively and use it as a strategy to win poker games consistently.

When to Call?

If you want to assess the pot odds in a particular game, call. Some players also call to prevent other players from re-raising their bets.

Once you have a strong hand, you must call, as the other players might increase the bets in the pot and you may win the entire pot. Calling can also be used to bluff; this is done by players to make their opponents believe that they have a strong hand.

When to Bet?

There are various reasons to bet in poker. Some of them are:

• Get more chips in the pot
• Drive out competition
• Information
• Bluff
• Free card

When to Raise?

Raising and re-raising tactics are essential to building an effective poker strategy. As an online poker player, you should always know about raising from the small blind, raising from the big blind, and raising when there are many people already in the pot. Once you when to raise, you will start winning online poker games consistently.

Bad Beats in Poker

A bad beat is when a poker player has a good hand that is most probable to win but loses to another hand. An example of a bad beat would be pocket Kings beating pocket Aces with a third king on the river.

Bad beats are a normal part of poker and happen to even the best of players. The important thing is that you must not get shaken up by bad beats. If you are upset after a bad beat, walk away from the table for a hand. In case you continue and are not able to concentrate, go to post and fold or quit; return to the game later. 

Mix up your Play in Poker

Don’t be predictable in the game of online poker; this will help your opponents anticipate your moves and get better of you. Try to bluff or mislead your opponents by changing your playing style. Pull out a random trick to confuse your opponents. Especially when you play cash games, it is best that you mix up the way you play. Diversifying your game against good players will give you the best possible chance of winning. 

Use the following tactics to mix up your game occasionally:

• Raise preflop with suited connectors.
• Try varying the betting amount.
• Re-raise with a hand from a late position where normally you would have called.
• Call with a hand where you would have raised otherwise.
• Make a bluff or a semi-bluff.
• Bet drawing hands such as 4 cards to a straight or flush.
• When you pick up a big hand on the button, don’t raise immediately.

Dealing with Tilt

Tilt is an emotional effect caused due to stress where you play compulsively rather than making rational moves. When you make decisions purely based on emotions, your chances of winning reduce significantly. You will lose money because of tilt; the following are ways in which you can stop tilt in online poker games:

Play earlier in the day

Play for less hours

No compulsive play

Keep your emotions in check

Set Limits

Slow Play in Poker

Slow playing which is also known as sandbagging or trapping is a poker technique in which you check or call with a very strong hand. A poker player does this in anticipation of his opponents raising. This technique comes in handy to disguise the strength of your hand and increase the pot size. To execute sandbagging successfully, you need to take into account your position at the table and your opponents’ skills.

There are risks involved in slow playing, you will learn how to slow play with time. The more you use this technique, the more you will be able to mitigate the risks involved.

All-in Poker Tactics

All-in, as the name suggests, means betting all your chips. Newbies often make the mistake of going all-in frequently and at the wrong times. Following are some of the reasons to go all-in:

• When you have the best hand and are sure that you will beat your opponents.
• If you think you can convince your opponents that you have the best hand, irrespective of what you hold.
• When you are in a tournament mode and are one of the small stacks.

The all-in is used to scare the opponents so that they fold their hands. If you have a tight player image, then this tactic becomes doubly effective.

Now that you know how to play poker and which poker tips and tricks to use, start playing your favourite online poker games on India’s most loved online gaming platform, First Games.