As I'm sure you've heard before, "Poker is a simple game to learn but will take a lifetime to master". The good news is that to enjoy and perhaps make money playing poker, you don't need to be an expert. You will generally find that the higher the stakes, the better the players. A seasoned professional will be too busy earning money at the big tables to care about winning money at the small stakes games. So don't worry, start small and you won't be out of your depth.

You will find tips and poker strategies littered all over the internet; however, no list of tips will instantly turn you into a great player. To save you a great deal of time and to hasten your rise to poker fame, PokerShare have put together a step-by-step guide to becoming a winning poker player.

1. Get comfortable with the rules of the game
   Take advantage of the Play Money tables, or low stakes real money tables, to practice a little and to get happy with the controls and running of the game. Read through the Basic Cash Game Tips for some general advice on how to improve your game.
   Note: It is important to remember that people play with play chips very differently than real money. Don't get overconfident too soon! Many people prefer to go straight to the very low stakes tables for more realistic practice.
2. Purchase a good poker book and learn some basic strategy
   All the books in the PokerShare store come highly recommended, and have been chosen because of the respect they hold in the poker community. If you do not have enough Share points to buy one, then consider putting one (or two) on your Christmas list!
   Note: If you are short on cash, take some time to surf the internet for tips. It's time consuming and not all the advice is good, but it will help you get started and playing better than most of your opponents.
3. Practice, practice, practice!
   Start/Continue playing real money. It is wise to play on low stakes tables while you are learning (even if you can afford more). Try putting what you have read into practice. Don't worry if you lose a little to begin with. Consider it a learning curve, and focus on improving your game. Practice makes perfect and poker is no exception.
4. Try learning with a friend or in a group
   Discussing poker is a fantastic way to improve your game. It's also fun. Still not enough? Then there are many internet forums where you can talk poker 24/7.
5. Move up the stakes
   As your game improves, you may find yourself getting confident enough to move up the stakes. Moving up the stakes is important if you wish to continue improving your game. However, don't get over confident, and always remember there is more to learn.
6. Practice good bankroll management
   This is crucial. You don't need to go broke. Just be content with moving down the stakes if you lose money. As a general guideline, avoid playing with more than 10% of your bankroll at any one time.
7. Don't let the bad beats affect your play
   Every poker player experiences bad luck and has bad days, weeks, even months. A good poker player will realise this, and not let it affect him. Be happy if you make the right decision in a hand, even if you end up losing! In the long term, you will surely win. Trying to win your money back too quickly after experiencing a bad beat is so common in poker, the behaviour has a name, 'Tilt'. Don't fall victim to this, as it's a sure fire way to lose even more money.

Play Good Starting Hands

Most good poker books will highlight the importance of good starting hand selection. It is perhaps the most common beginner mistake to play too many hands. Generally speaking, your results will improve if on average you are playing better hands than your opponents.

For example in Hold 'Em, good hands to play are all pairs but especially AA - TT and high cards such as AK, AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ and QJ. Suited hands are a little stronger. Keep in mind that hands such as KJ, KQ and QJ can be dangerous if an opponent has a hand like AK or AQ and you both hit a pair. So be prepared to let these good (but not great) hands go if you get too much action.

As you improve, you will find that you are able to play more hands profitably - hands such as 89 suited and other suited connectors can be very profitable if played well.

Advanced players may even choose to play "weak" hands such as 79 or J8, or even "trash hands" like 73 or 82. Quite often the cards are irrelevant in fact, as they are choosing to "play the opponent" instead. The skill here is to pick the situation well, as it certainly can't be done every hand. It is wise to avoid playing weak hands until you are very experienced.

The Importance of Position

It is an old saying in poker that, "money travels clockwise around the table". There is a good reason for this. It is a big advantage to act after your opponents. For example if the pot has been raised and re-raised before it gets to you, you know that you need a very strong hand to be involved. Likewise, if opponents have checked to you, this is usually a sign of weakness and pots can often be "stolen" with no hand at all. In Hold 'em and Omaha, the "button" is the optimal position to be in. In general, be inclined to play more hands and more aggressively in later position than early position. For example, a common tight strategy would be to only play AA – JJ and AK in first position. But the same player may well play hands such as 68 suited and TQ in later positions.

Play Aggressively

In No limit or Pot Limit games, big bets mean tough decisions for your opponents, and this is good for you. Whether you have a good hand and are betting for value or you are just stone-cold bluffing, it is a good idea to bet strongly.

Remember, by betting small you will find many hands call (often correctly) in the hope of hitting a lucky card. As a result, you will find yourself being consistently outdrawn. So protect your hand and bet big.

Note: Generally bets of 2/3 the size of the pot, or pot sized bets are considered strong bets. But varying your bet size is often a good strategy (see below).

 
Mix Up Your Game

Keep your opponents guessing. Don't play every hand the same way. This is especially important if you are often playing the same people. If players know you only re-raise preflop with AA, then you are unlikely to see much action!

 
Think What Your Opponent Could Have......

Don't just focus on your own hand, however good it may be. Keep track of how your opponent has bet in previous rounds and this will give you a good idea as to what he/she may hold. You don't need to be a mind-reader, just ask yourself, why would he/she bet like that? What are they representing? Compare this to your own hand and act accordingly.

As you improve you should be thinking, what does my opponent think I have? And even what does my opponent think that I think he/she has?

Tournament poker is exciting and offers the opportunity to win large amounts of money for what can often be a small investment. If you are a good cash game player, you should generally be a competent tournament player. However, to be a good tournament player you must be able to know when and how to divert from standard cash game strategy.

There are many strategies and concepts that are specifically intended for tournaments. When you have enough SharePoints, make sure you invest in a good tournament book from the PokerShare store, to learn more.

If you are new to tournaments, the best advice is to jump straight in! There are freerolls for those of you who don't want to risk any money, and tournaments that have buy-ins as low as a $1 so that you have a little more to play for.

If you are more experienced (or wealthy) there are many higher buy-in tournaments to raise the excitement levels.

Make sure you read through our basic tournament tips, and good luck!

Play To Come First

Tournaments often have a very top heavy pay-out structure, meaning that if you want to make money from them in the long run, you need to aim for the top few places. Scraping into the money will often just get you your money back. So fight the temptation to play tight as you near the money places in a tournament. In fact, this will often lead to you busting out just before the money. So play aggressively towards the end of a tournament and aim for first!

 
Watch The Blinds

The blinds will gradually increase as the tournament progresses. This means that the pressure is on you to keep building your chip stack or you risk the blinds getting too big and "eating you up". As a general guideline try and keep your chip stack at least 10 times the big blind. If you fall below this, you really only have one move...ALL IN! If you do fall below 10 times the big blind, try and "double up" quickly. The shorter your stack gets, the more times you'll need to risk everything and get lucky.

 
Start Cautiously

At the start of the tournament the blinds are very small, so play cautiously and don't risk too much to win too little. As the blinds increase, you should gradually become more aggressive as there is more to play for in the pot.

 
Practice for the Final Table

Sit and Go tournaments are a great way to practice for the later stages in a tournament, and especially the final table.

As players become eliminated and play becomes short handed, it is important to adapt and become more aggressive.

Making the final table is a great achievement, but it is here when decisions become really important, due to the big money involved. So don't be unprepared when you get there - Get practicing now!