When you are playing against someone who just started to play poker online, they are more than likely going to play with two different styles: They are either going to play every hand and call all the way with any draw or they are going to play only strong starting hands and just check call you all the way even if they have the nuts!

At online poker secrets, we recommend STRONGLY: Figure out what kind of newbie you are playing!  Figure what kind of player they are and play their kind of poker. If you bet into them and they call and call and then show the nuts on the river you know that next time you bet into them and they call you should be checking it down unless you have the nuts!  A lot of the time, a player like this will still call you down with a straight on a flush board, or 2 pair on a straight board – so profiting off these players can be easy!

Just a little tip to keep you from going on tilt in a situation that can be avoided.

You may not think it, but your health is a very important factor when playing online poker.  If you dont feel well, you would just call in sick if you were working at an office right?  So what is the difference between your day job and playing poker? 

Treating poker as a business (if you are looking to profit of course) is exactly what needs to be done, so if you are under the weather, take the day off.

There are many reasons for betting…You can bet to see where you are in the hand, bet for value or bet to bluff someone out of a hand.

With all the intricate ins and outs of how people play Texas Holdem Poker you are not always going to be right. Like I was always told when I was growing up: that is why there are backs on the cards!

The key in this game of incomplete information is to use your tools (chips) to make the best decision as possible to maximize your profits. The decision in the end may have you folding, even if you have raised to see where you are. You have to just remember that you need to follow your plays and trust what you think your information is telling you.

Its tempting to play weak when the bubble approaches in an online poker tournament.  You have played for a while and made it so far, just a bit of a stretch to go until you make back a bit of money.

I think the best question to ask yourself at this point is: Did you play this tournament to win your buy-in back, or to take down first? 

We all know the answer to this question, so my question to you is – why bother playing weak to wait and make back your buy-in?  The biggest mistake made by less experienced poker players, is to become reserved during the bubble period.  This is a point in the tournament where you can take advantage of everyone elses weakness to pick up blinds and build your stack to be in better position once the bubble breaks!

Our best online poker secret for tournaments is most definitely:  PLAY THE BUBBLE, DONT LET THE BUBBLE PLAY YOU!

You’re playing in a tournament and you get deep with about average chip stack. You pick up a big pocket pair (TT,JJ,QQ), how do you play it?

This is a good online poker secret to maximize your play with these hands. If you are in early position it is a good idea to make a bigger than normal raise. You don’t want to see a flop multi-handed and the blinds are normally big enough to make it worth it if everyone folds. If you are in middle or late position with an early position limper or raiser then I would suggest going all-in to protect your hand. If you get called then you probably have to win a race but you put the decision on your opponent to make the mistake of calling with a weaker hand. The last scenarios on how to play these hands are in the blinds. If you yhave a limper or raiser, pushing is the best option, but if you are facing an all in from any position except the button or cutoff then I would suggest thinking about the size of the all in or if it was a reraise all in. You may have to let this one go if it looks like you have a multi-way pot when you may be dominated.