It's hard to miss the fact that the last two winners of the World Series of Poker were not professional poker players and the fact that Chris Moneymaker (2003) and Greg Raymer (2004) are online players. It's no wonder that online poker is exploding. With so many new players out there giving online poker a shot it's feeding frenzy for the skilled player James Bradberry Hat , or even the player with a modest amount of skills. Most of these newbies start out at the lowest limit tables until they either bust out or improve their skills and bankroll enough to move onto the higher limit tables. Even if you're a veteran of the Friday night home dealer's choice poker games, you most likely will have to change your playing style to win consistently online. But fear not, there are more unskilled players at the micro limit tables than there are skilled players.
So for all the new to limit Texas Hold 'Em players who would like to improve their chance of winning at the lowest of the low limit tables, or micro limit tables Taylor Moton Hat , I've put together some very basic tips which should help you to win consistently. These tips will work for most online tables with limits of $0.50$1.00 and lower. There are several online poker rooms with micro limits as low as $0.05$0.10, which are excellent limits for honing your skills.
It's important to realize that strategies vary for different limits, due to the amount of money involved and the general skill of the players at the table. Micro limit poker has some interesting dynamics and culture due to the fact that the amount wagered at any time is not a lot of money to most of the online players. It stands to reason that the majority of the players play at these low limits because they are beginners trying to gain experience or they are on a limited bankroll. Many of the significant cultural differences between micro limit and the higher limit tables can be broken down into these key observations. (Throughout this article I will use common shorthand to represent the cards. AK means, of course Ian Thomas Hat , an ace and a king. T8 means a ten and an 8. QJs means queen jack suited, while QJo means queen jack off suited. Kx means a king and a card of no significance to the hand. A common term used will be connectors, which means cards connected in rank, such as 76 or T9.)
Typically 50% or more of the players at a table will pay to see the flop when the table if full. This is due Donte Jackson Hat , in part, to the very low limits causing many players to always call the big blind since it doesn't cost too much; it's low risk. The other reason is that these micro limit tables have many more players of lower skill levels. The often call with lousy starting cards when they should fold.
Raising preflop does little to chase out players. Players who have not contributed to the pot yet may still call, even though they shouldn't. Players who had already called will not typically fold after they've been raised. A single raise preflop does little except to increase the size of the pot, which is good if you have a strong hand.
Very few players will fold an Ax (ace and a low card). Unskilled players also like to hold any hand where they have paint (face card).
After the deal there are 20 hole cards (10 players x 2 cards). Probability says that there is approximately 1.5 of each card rank. There will be 1.5 Aces DJ Moore Hat , 1.5 Kings, 1.5 Queens, etc.
Unskilled players will hold any two suited cards in hopes of a flush, even something as bad as 72.
Unskilled players will call to the river with a weak pair no matter what.
Now that the observations are out of the way Greg Olsen Hat , I can get on with the strategy of how to win playing at these micro limit tables.
Preflop
The objective here is to go into the flop with a strong position or fold. Do you want to be a gambler or a poker player? There is a difference and not playing anything but strong hands preflop makes you a gambler. Unless you are getting a streak of good cards, you should be folding preflop 60-70% of the time.
1. Fold all but strong hands preflop. Strong hands are any pair, AK, AQ Kawann Short Hat , AJ, AT, Axs, KQ Trai Turner Hat , plus high suited connectors. The more players who see the flop, the lower your odds are of winning. So if you are going to put money into the pot, put it in when you have a strong hand. The exception is when you can call a big pot. For example, if you are in the small blind and everyone calls around to you there will be 19 small blinds in the pot already (big blind and 8 big blind calls = 18 small blinds Ryan Kalil Hat , plus your original small blind). That means you are getting 19:1 odds to call the bet with one additional small blind size bet. Any time you can get huge odds like that preflop you can play just about anything, if you like.
2. Don't protect your blind. If you are in the small blind or big blind and you don't have a strong hand don't call a raise. Too many players in the blinds will call a raise because they've already invested the blind. But since most players like to limp in (call the big blind) preflop, a raise is a good indication the player is sitting on a strong hand, like AK or a pocket pair.