Online Poker Strategy - Keep it Simple

When a player begins to play poker, he will usually try his skill playing lower limit games at first.  One does not need to be a master poker player to beat these games. Rather, one must have the ability to outplay weaker opponents!  It can be immensely hard to beat an advanced player at the higher limits, and will probably entail a complex knowledge of the game. Then again, playing at low limits is pretty straightforward, although luck plays a far larger role than it does at higher levels.

What does that mean, one may ask?  Basically, playing low limits means that other players won't be paying attention to you or your cards, and will only care about their own cards. They will play their hand as they always do, regardless of whether or not you bet... in fact whether or not you are there will make little difference to them.  The point is you are there, and your cards are live in the hand, and your game is to slowly take their money from them hand after hand. A player wanting to beat these run-of-the-mill players basically needs to play a straight game, that wins in the long run.  ie:  play tight, no fancy bluffs, raise bets only when you are sure you have the best hand, and use the pot odds for your drawing decisions.

Usually slowplaying works best as a deception tactic here, as these type of players can be easily misled into believing they are holding the best hand when they hit a pair on the turn;  so... giving a free card when you hold the stone nuts can pay you off.  But, bluffing is also a simple exercise in futility. These players will usually want to see if they have the best hand and will pay to see you cards as well.. A $2 extra bet is no scare.

A good beginner will always look to pick up the Master's art - the art of choosing starting hands, employing pot odds, and how to aggressively betting his winning hands. He must also remember though that in lower limit games psychological strategies are generally useless as opponents are not the deepest of thinkers, and too much fancy playing will only muddle your game and not theirs!