Control Tilt

You cannot stress this enough.  Tilt is best defined as losing your cool after losing a hand, usually when you were the favorite.  Even the best players in the world occasionally go on tilt, but one of the reasons they are so successful is because they know when to take a time out.  If your aces get busted by 2,7 off, and you feel yourself getting angry, step away from the computer.  There is nothing worse than blowing through your entire bankroll in record time because you are angry.  If you are able to get through your time in tilt mode with minimal damage you are going to feel a lot better later, and most likely hang on to a lot more money in the long run. 

Beginners Beware

When new players log on to a poker room for the first time they sometimes get blown away by the higher limit games.  If you are like most players you probably deposited the minimum amount in order to get used to playing online, which is great.  There are plenty of poker rooms that give new players depositing for the first time a bonus of up to 100 percent.  However you’re 50 dollars isn’t going to make it in a 1/2 limit game.  You’re best bet is to build up your bankroll until you have at least 300 big blinds.  Some players suggest you have as many as 600.  Either way, 300 should be the point you reach before even considering moving up in blinds.

Myth: There are no online Tells

There are many poker players out there that will tell you that there are no such thing as online tells.  These people probably never played online poker before.  One of the surest ways to tell if a player has a weak hand is how fast they play it.  A lot of people will check the box that says check/fold long before it is their turn.  That means that they think their hand is weak, so you should pay attention to this.  If you notice that a player does this a lot you can go ahead and raise and win the pot. 

Another thing that can be described as a tell is the way a player bets the pot.  If there is already 500 chips in the middle, and the person is betting 30 into it, chances are they aren’t happy with what they have.  Occasionally this person will be slow playing, so an easy way to check is to just double or triple the bet of 30.   If they are indeed slow playing a monster hand they will probably take this time to make a big raise.  However, if they thought their hand was weak; as you did, they will fold without much of a fuss.