Updated on: March 13th, 2025
If you are looking for the best poker strategies to help you win real money, then you’ve come to the right place. Having a few good poker strategies on hand is not compulsory in the game but it certainly helps you put your best foot forward and gives you that much needed competitive edge over the other players.
Continue reading our guide for detailed information about the various strategies available to you. We also list the best poker casinos to play at, as well as list some of our most valued poker tips to use in the game.
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Top Poker Game Strategies
To give yourself the best shot at winning real money you must take time to learn the rules of the poker variation that you intend to play. You must also familiarize yourself with the key differences between each. For example, Texas Holdem poker uses community cards in its gameplay, Omaha poker uses 4-hole cards while 5-card draw games give you the option to keep or discard the cards you’ve been dealt. The differences between each may warrant a unique strategy.
Texas Holdem Strategy
One of the main things when playing Texas holdem is your opening hand. How well you play this hand may very well determine how well you fair in the game. Have a look at the table below. It indicates which hands are strong enough to play with, and which you should rather fold at this stage in the game.
The next best strategy when playing Texas holdem is maximizing position. When you have a good position on one of your competitors you are able to see what their next move is before you play. Knowing your position relative to other players around the table can be a major advantage to you. Think about it, poker is a game where you can thrive off having the upper hand and the upper hand comes with knowing what move your competitor is most likely to make next. When you have position over your competitor you do not have to guess what their next move is, you know what their next move is.
Omaha Hi-Lo Poker Strategy
Omaha Hi-Lo, also known as Pot Limit Poker, is another exciting variation of the game. This variation is different to Texas holdem in that it plays using 4-hole cards off the bat, and another 2 cards later in the game. This significantly increases the number of winning hand combinations in the game. Whereas Texas holdem in comparison begins with only two cards, thus giving you less winning hand combinations.
When deriving your Omaha strategy there are several things that you need to consider. This includes:
- Evaluating your starting hand and deciding whether its strong enough to play with. Some of the stronger starting hands include: AAJ10, AA1010, AAKK, J1098 and KQJ10 (all double suited combos).
- Playing optimally during the drawing stage of the game. You must be able to make the most out of your cards and must have enough skill to pair card combinations well.
- Know how to play big pairs during the pre-flop and post-flop stages in the game.
- We mentioned position as one of the defining poker strategies in Texas Holdem but its just as important in Omaha Hi. When you utilize position properly you get to build a sizable poker hand and you get to control the pot too.
Poker Tournament Strategy
Poker tournament games are formatted differently to other poker games and this difference often calls for a change in strategy. But poker tournaments are made up of three stages, the beginning, middle and end and experts suggest that you go as far as customizing your poker strategy for each of these stages.
In the early stages of the game, you might be able to get away with playing more calmly but as the game progresses and the number of qualifying players wither away, you must begin to play more aggressively. Here are the main tournament poker strategies to consider:
- How to advance through the early, middle and late stages of the tournament.
- How to decide whether to push or fold based on the cards you have been dealt.
- Deciding the size of your wages and adjusting these during the pre-flop and post flop stages of the game.
- How to effectively play during the final rounds, as well as how to play aggressively.
Online Poker Strategy Tips
There are many different variations to the game of poker and as you might have read above, each variation might require a different approach or strategy. But fortunately, no matter the variation of the game you are playing there are a handful of poker tips that you can use that apply no matter the variation.
Here are a few of our best poker tips to help you get by.
Understand the rules and different hand rankings
For a fair chance at winning, you must understand the key differences between the main variations of poker. you must also familiarize yourself with the different rules that come with each variation. But above that know the different hand rankings especially the high ranked poker hands because those are the ones that you should aim for as its the ones that offer the highest payout.
Now although there are different poker variations you might find it helpful to know that the hand rankings in every game stays the same. This means that when you study the poker rankings chart you only need to memorize 8 hand rankings, and that those hand rankings will apply in every variation of the game.
Play low limit games at first
When playing poker it’s better to take it easy in the beginning by making small bets and then gradually increasing your betting limits the more experienced you become in the game. Remember high stake poker games are usually played by highly experienced poker players. Therefore, you can use the stake limits of a particular table as guideline to decide whether you are experienced enough to play at that table.
Know when to make which move
It’s important to know when to make moves in poker. Making the wrong move at the wrong time can cost you your game, and a lot of money at that. Be sure to read up on the best time to fold raise and even bluff in poker.
Invest in learning how to calculate odds
If you are mathematically inclined, then you may be able to use your skills in a game of poker. Calculating the odds will give you a better indication as to whether your hand is worth playing or not.
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