Why You Need an Online Poker Strategy

If you plan to play poker for profit, or even if you just want to play regularly for fun, you need to develop an online poker strategy that will consistently enable you to win more than you lose.

What is an online poker strategy?

It is a game plan that you fire up and use every time you sit down at your PC to play poker. If you were running a poker playing business, which in a way you are, you could think of your online poker strategy as your sales and marketing plan. Those business plans dictate how the company will make profits and your plan dictates how you will win more chips.

No one can write your own strategic poker plan for you. It needs to be uniquely yours so it encompasses your strengths, weaknesses and your financial situation.

Here is what your plan should include:

·        An understanding of your risk tolerance. This means knowing how much you can afford to dedicate to playing poker as well as how much you can afford to lose. If you are playing with money you need to feed your family, or pay your bills, you’re playing with “scared money.” Whenever that happens, you’re bound to make poor choices on how to play your hands.

·        A Money Management Plan.  There is a direct correlation between the size of your bankroll and the amount of buy-in you can afford. As a rule of thumb, you move down to lower buy-in levels when your bankroll shrinks and higher buy-in levels when your bankroll grows.  You also need to have rules for when you fold, check, bet and raise.

·        Have an education plan. No poker player can ever know enough about the game. Create a plan to set aside time each week to read books, watch videos, or watch games on TV and online. As you expand your knowledge of poker, you’ll expand your bankroll.

·        Be your own worst critic. Download the hand history after every game, or at least every other game, and review what you did right and what you did wrong. It’s not only important to know why you won, it’s important to know why you lost as well. The chances are you’ll see that whenever you had a losing streak it was because you violated your personal online poker strategy.