How to Learn Poker: Useful Tips, Strategies, and Resources

How many of you were dreaming about becoming professional poker players? Did you ever picture yourself on a gigantic, international poker tournament, engaged in the game of nerves, talent, luck, and knowledge?

We are sure many of you, our readers, answered yes to the first question since poker is one of the most popular card games in the world. Not only is it fun, but it can potentially bring very hefty winnings.

However, it’s not enough to just like the game, to want to play it; becoming good at poker involves a lot of learning, exploring, and practicing.

Fortunately, this modern era we are living in provides tons of information on how to become a virtuoso at playing this world-known game.

Keep on reading – you are in for some solid advice on how to become a poker master!

Basic Poker How-Tos and Tips

Provided that you are already familiar with the basic poker rules, we will dig deeper and provide some advanced tips about the game. But, first, let’s look into the three most important things you need to keep in mind:

Poker Math: Every professional player needs to understand that math has a lot to do with the game.
Strategy: Don’t get involved in the game if you haven’t yet developed a smart winning strategy.
Tactics and psychology: When you think about it, life is just one big tactic. Playing poker is widely similar to acting. If you are not good at that… well, improve it. You need to learn to control your emotions and never let your opponents know what you might be thinking and feeling. Bluffing is a big part of the game, and all true pros utilize it to their advantage.

Now, with this out of the way, let's get more specific.

Win or Play for Fun?

This is fundamental. Decide if you want to simply enjoy the game without the goal of winning or if your first priority is to make a profit.

If you choose to play in order to win, prepare yourself to study and explore. It’s massively important to make a gaming plan if you are in it for the bucks.

You Cannot Always Win

Always, absolutely always, keep in mind that luck has a lot to do with this game. Sometimes, you will just be unlucky, but that doesn’t mean that you should give up or blame yourself.

Learning poker the right way

Don't make a rookie mistake and think that if you explore poker enough, you will definitely become rich. It doesn’t work that way. Simply, don’t judge your capability based on the result of each game.

Play Less, but Be Aggressive

Don’t get too deep into the game – don’t try to play too many poker hands. Very rarely can this bring you a win.

Investing too much usually ends up being a bad idea; you are pushing the game, trying to buy yourself more time to score a win.

A much more sensible approach is to play a range of strong cards, aggressively and powerfully. This way, this self-confidence will help you in disguising the real strength of your actual hand.

Unsure About the Outcome? Fold!

Similar to the tip before, you need to be the king of your own game. When they feel beaten, professional poker players will always rather lay down their cards than continue the agony.

Even if you are holding a good hand, rip off that bandage and fold. This is the opportunity to learn from your mistakes, which, in the long run, can be pretty helpful.

Don’t Call Too Often

And, here we go again. Don’t push the game! In any way. Calling too often will not bring you any luck. If the situation for calling is not favorable, do yourself a favor and fold.

Play Just When You Feel Like It

Playing poker can be a real job, but it can never be a chore. You get our point. Playing poker when you don’t feel like playing will not help in any way.

Serious poker players need to have their heads clear, to feel joy, to get into that gambling thrill. Not to mention how mentally exhausting gambling can be.

If you feel anxious during the gameplay if you are nervous or frustrated, depressed… Quit and don’t bang your head over it.

This, of course, goes for playing in a virtual entertainment hub as well. Yes, it’s much less physically demanding to play from the comfort of your home, but still, don’t play if you don’t feel like it.

We Can Go On and On

But the truth is that poker strategies are very complicated, they require a lot of time and attention, and they cannot be learned in one day.

Use free poker resources

If you are really serious about becoming a true master of this gambling art, we strongly advise you to engage in an online poker course, read a book, take a look at video tutorials, and, of course, practice!

There is so much stuff to learn, starting from behind-the-scenes math, bluffing, breaking the rules, and much more.

As we promised our help at the beginning of this story, we present you with a couple of valuable book titles that can help you improve your poker skills: