Top Online Poker Tips - Simple Ways to Improve Your Game

11,468 Views • on 19/10/15

Check out the top online poker tips that might seem simple, but can help you improve your online play. Let us help you play your best on the virtual felt!

Most of us are interested in improving our game. In fact, it is quickly becoming a necessity in order to survive in the current online environment. The following is a list of the top 10 ways we can improve. Put these into practice and we should start crushing in no time!

Tip 1 – Put in Good Volume

Some of us are inclined to spend a little too much time studying the game and not enough time actually playing it. Imagine you had a perfect theoretical knowledge of Chinese – you’ve read hundreds of different books. However, you’ve never actually spoken the language with anyone. Is it really true to say that you can speak Chinese?

The truth is that you might struggle in your first real world interaction. It might seem as if everyone is speaking way too quickly, and your perfect theoretical knowledge would not help in allowing your conversation to flow naturally. The only way to become a true master of the language is to apply what you have learned and use that language on a daily basis.

It’s the same with poker. If you are only playing a few hundred hands a week, your perfect theoretical knowledge might not be enough to make you a true baller at the tables. You need to spend quality time practicing the application of those concepts before you can become a true master.

Tip 2 – Study the Game

Perhaps we are the kind of player who loves to play big volume, but rarely takes time out to study the game and learn new theoretical concepts. Most players will either fall into 1 of 2 categories. Either big volume and no study, or big study and no volume. We are looking for the perfect balance here.

The perfect balance will not necessarily be the same for everyone and will depend on how quickly we learn, how efficiently we put new concepts into practice, and our overall level of experience. If we are relatively new to the game of poker we should spend a large proportion of our time studying, perhaps 50% or more.

Once we are adept at understanding the most important basic principles, we should often adopt a ratio which is closer to 80% volume and 20% study.

Tip 3 – Analyse your Own Game

Sometimes players spend a decent amount of time reading and watching content that others have produced, but don’t dedicate enough time to specific application of this content to their own personal game.

The truth is that over 80% of players use tracking software such as HM2 and PT4 purely as a means of logging hands and results. These are powerful pieces of software and can potentially be so much more than simply a results tracker. We can gain strong insight into where we are losing money and how we can improve.

These are absolutely awesome tools, something that poker players 20 years ago could only dream of. It would be a shame if we didn’t make full use of everything we have at our disposal.

Tip 4 – Get Organized Off-Table

A big reason why tips 1-3 are not applied correctly is simply down to lack of organisation. It’s hard to put in good volume if we haven’t set up a grinding schedule. If we are typically disinclined to study we will find a reason not to do it unless we have set aside a specific time for this.

There are many online calendars available, usually joined to your email account. So if you use any of the big email providers like Hotmail, or Gmail, you will see there is also the option to schedule events in an online calendar. Why not sit down and plan exactly how much time you will spend grinding/studying and which specific times you will do it?

This might seem like a chore to a recreational player, but the truth is that the more we can treat our poker like a business, the more success we will likely have.

People generally don’t show up at their jobs randomly at whatever time they please and complete work tasks on a mere whim. Yet somehow players frequently treat their poker endeavors like this and expect everything to magically be OK.

In order to schedule time for poker we will also need to be organized regarding other events in our life such as work/family commitments. Now might be a good time to get organized with these also so we can see how our grinding schedule will fit in. This may also include tasks such as tidying our desk and office – often this simple process can help us focus a lot more when we actually sit down to grind.

Tip 5 – Bankroll Management

This can’t really be overstated. Bankroll management is enough to make or break a poker player. It might be a good idea to open a new text document at this stage and write down our exact plan for moving up and down limits. Remember that for cash games it’s recommended to have at least 25-buyins in our bankroll in order to play a certain limit.

Even if you are the best player in the world, variance will often leave you busto if you do not adhere to proper bankroll management. Remember though, that being under-rolled is only one potential problem. We don’t want to be over-rolled either if we are clearly beating a certain limit. Studies have shown that we maximise our chances of long-term success if we are aggressively trying to push forward and move up limits. Having 100bi in our roll for a limit we are clearly crushing is a sizeable business leak, and will really limit our chances for long term success.

Tip 6 – Mindset

It’s only in more recent times that players are fully beginning to understand the importance of having a very strong mental state. Poker can be tough, and we need to be mentally resilient in order to survive. It’s not as simple as telling ourselves “don’t get angry”, or “don’t get scared” – we need to dig deeper into the underlying causes of any mental issues we face.

This can often involve observing our state of mind over a long period of time. Analysing our mindset on any one given day may not be that useful to us. Imagine a player comes to us with data-base containing 75 hands and asks for a full statistical analysis based on the info. Most of us realise how ridiculous this would be, the sample size is nowhere near big enough, and the relevant stats would be more a product of variance than an indication regarding this player’s game-plan.

Yet for some reason, this is exactly what players try to do with their mindset. They will analyse it over a very short period of time and try and place a quick patch on any problems they think they might have identified. Improving mindset is a similar process to improving the strategy element of poker. It takes time, deliberate study, and a sufficiently large sample size for us to analyse.

It might make sense at this stage to open a new text document and name it “mental game log” or something similar. On each day that we play we can give ourselves a score out of 10 and write down any observations. If we played well, what were the factors that led to this? If we played poorly, what do we think the reasons were? After doing this for a considerable period of time we will likely see patterns emerging that we can address more efficiently and effectively.

Tip 7 – Understand Computers

It’s a simple fact that successful online poker relies on having at least some level of proficiency with computers. We need to have a machine that can support the number of tables we like to play while running tracking software along with any other scripts/utilities that we make use of.

We also need enough know-how to avoid falling for traps such as viruses and scams. We need our computers fast and virus free.

There are some talented players out there who will never make it because they are playing on old slow computers and don’t understand how to use tracking software. There are other talented players out there who will never make it because their buddy who they think is sweating them is actually hole-card cheating them on a regular basis.

Tip 8 – Love the Game

There is no recipe for forcing ourselves to love something that we don’t really like. However it’s worth noting that there is a very strong correlation between players who enjoy poker and players who succeed at poker.

If you are logging on every day with that sinking feeling that you are probably going to get sucked out on and lose a whole bunch of stacks then you will likely not play very well. If you purely play for the money and don’t enjoy your time at the tables there is a decent chance you will not have the motivation to work hard and improve. Improving will be a chore, rather than something we enjoy – and as such we’ll find ourselves quickly left behind our hardworking and motivated opponents with a love of the game.

Tip 9 – Learn with a Friend / Hire a Coach

This tip will depend to an extent on how we learn. Some of us like to have someone to bounce ideas off or keep us motivated.

There are various ways we can do this. We can join a Skype study group, post hands for evaluation on the forums, or hire a coach. It’s not the case that this step will work for everyone, but it can produce good results in the majority of cases.

Tip 10 – Never Give Up

The day will come when you feel like quitting. It happens to the best of us. This is when you get to make an important choice. Will you give up at the first sign of adversity? Or will you power through and become one of the elite few who crush the games on a regular basis?