Online Poker, specifically Texas Hold’em, can be a very fun way to spend time and possibly even make some money. Before you can go out and conquer the online world, you must first learn the very basics to online poker. The basics are hands, position, and betting.

A necessity to playing good poker is knowing all of the hands that one can play. It should be said that in Texas Hold’em a player is dealt two cards and there are five community cards. A player must use the best five cards out of those seven cards to create the best hand they can. Lets go over the hands of poker starting with the best and going to the worst. The very best hand is a Royal (Straight) Flush, which is when you have a A-K-Q-J-10 of the same suit. A straight flush follows which is five consecutive cards of the same suit. Next is four of a kind which is four of the same card, such as four aces. A full house is the next best hand which is three of a kind plus a pair. An example of a full house would be three jacks and two threes. Following that is a flush which is five cards of the same suit. We are now at a straight, which is five consecutive cards, like 2-3-4-5-6. Following a straight is three of a kind. Next we have a two pair, which is having two of two different numbers. An example would be two aces and two fours. Following is a pair, which is two of a card. Last we have a high card, which is simply your highest card. Once you are able to master the hands you are ready to play poker for fun, but until you master position and betting I would not recommend gambling.

Position is one of the most important things in poker, other than your hand, when it comes to gambling. Position is where you are in the betting, or where you are seated at the table. Position is usually broken into three categories: early-position, mid-position, and late position. Early-position would be the first three people to bet at a ten person table. Mid-position would be the next four people at a ten person table. Late-position would be the last three people to bet. This may seem weird to put so much emphasis on where you are sitting, but it really determines what you can get away with betting. If you are in early position you are not going to want to bet unless you have a very good hand, because others could raise you and if your hand is not great you may not want to call the raise. In mid-position you can get away with betting a little worse hand, but it still has to be a good hand. In late-position you can usually get away with a lot, especially if others at the table have folded. One of the key strategies to keeping your money is to raise the pot when one person at the table has called. This can only be done in late-position though so you have to make sure that no one will raise on that hand. If someone raises it usually means they have a good hand, opposed to a call which usually signifies they just want to see how the flop goes. If you raise with one person calling, they usually will not call your raise and you will get the blinds (money two players put in to stay at the table, this rotates every turn). Now that we know about position I am going to step back and talk about betting.

Online Poker and Offline Poker can be very different when it comes to betting. In the online world you should not call the majority of your hands. Most players will say that you should never call and always raise. This is a good mantra for whether or not you should put money in the pot, if you are not willing to raise than you should not be calling. That being said in order to even call a hand you need to have a decent hand. Usually I will only call if I have two cards of ten or higher. I will definitely bet if I have a pair or two of a suit of tens or higher. Some players may say that this is to conservative of a strategy and in some applications it is a very conservative strategy. What it comes down to is you have to analyze what the table is doing and then set your limits for when you will call and when you will raise.

Poker hands, position, and betting are definitely the three keys to succeeding in online poker, but there is one last thing that must be considered and that is mindset. One should only approach online poker in a positive, happy mindset when one is ready to relax and have fun with the cards. If you approach online poker in a negative or tired mood your game (and bankroll) will suffer. Online poker is a game where you must pay attention and focus so that you can make good bets that will make you money.