Online poker games keeps growing and evolving to be the best at any casino, but one thing has remained constant: Texas Hold’em is still the world’s most popular casino game in regular casinos and online casinos when betting for real money. The vast majority of players at Bodog Poker can be found at the no-limit casino Hold’em tables, with some limit Hold’em on the side, for real money. Want a piece of this casino holdem action? The following eight tips are the essential building blocks of any sound Texas Hold’em strategy for beginners or intermediate players when playing for real money in a real casino or online. Hold on for these tips!
1. Be Aggressive, Don't Hold Back
This is the No. 1 poker game tip for any online poker game strategy, whether it’s Texas Hold’em, Omaha, or any other game variant. There are two ways to win in poker games: Get your opponents to fold the hand, or have the best hand at showdown. Most Texas Hold’em hands don’t make it all the way to the river, so you’re going to have to use “selective aggression” to make the other player or players lay down their hand. Focus on betting and raising when in position – and be prepared to fold yourself if they fight back from across the Texas Holdem poker table.
Of course, there’s a time to be a passive player at the Texas Holdem poker table and hold firm. That’s why it’s called “selective” aggression. When you play Texas Hold’em, mobile or desktop, live or online, you’re going to run into some players who are aggressive themselves especially for real money. If they overdo it, you can take advantage by laying traps. Here’s a good one: You open with AA, they 3-bet you from the blinds, and you call in position rather than re-raise. Then you can call down their continuation bets, or maybe raise once the board starts looking a bit scary with possible draws for your opponent at the Texas Holdem poker table online.
2. Emphasize Pre-Flop Play During Games
There are four streets in a Hold’em hand: pre-flop, flop, turn, and river. The real money pots get bigger as you move through the streets, and the most important decision you’ll make is whether to enter the real money pot in the first place. Use a strong range of starting different Texas Holdem hand combinations, especially in early position, so that you’ll be more likely to have the best hand when you do get to showdown during the Texas Holdem game online for real money.
As a betting beginner, you can use pre-set “ranges” of starting hands from every position at the table. This is one of the most useful poker strategy tips we can give you, but don’t hold on too much to these ranges; treat them like training wheels as a casino player, especially in online games, and be ready to throw them away once you’ve developed your poker skills sufficiently. A true expert player is prepared to open (or 3-bet, or call, or fold) with any two cards if the situation calls for it.
3. Have a Plan for When You Play
Although pre-flop is the most important street in Hold’em, you need to have a “road map” for every hand you play in Texas Holdem, a play map that can get you to showdown, get your opponent to fold, or allow you to make a correct fold beforehand. Again, making aggressive plays is usually the correct choice when you’re in poker position; a more passive approach will help you when you’re out of position. Mixing the two approaches is best– once you’re ready to learn more advanced Texas Hold’em poker tips and strategies online.
To help you draw this player map, you can try another pre-set new player's strategy that’s based on the strength of your Hold’em hand. If you have a pair, that’s worth putting in one street of value as a bet or call. If you have top pair with top kicker (like AK on an Ace-high board) or second kicker (like AQ), that’s worth two streets of value. Two pair in hand is good for all three streets, and a straight is worth putting in an extra raise on top of that. Here's a warning to hold onto your chips for a second: These betting thresholds are another set of training wheels that you’ll eventually need to get rid of before you can advance as a poker player in Texas Holdem at all casinos including online.
4. Minimize Mistakes When You Play at Casinos
Until you’ve got a hold of Texas poker fundamentals, it’s far more important to cut down on your play mistakes than it is to attempt more advanced play moves at the Texas Holdem poker table. As a general, and one of the best, rules of thumb, mistakes will cost you twice as much money in the long run every hand at all casinos. Don’t fall victim to Fancy Play Syndrome game; stick with a simple Texas game plan for Hold’em that will keep your “decision tree” small and easier to execute. Also, play all Texas games for smaller stakes while you’re still learning how to play the game. Mistakes will happen. Make sure you can afford them.
One simple trick for pulling this off online as a player: Only buy in with real money for 50 big blinds at the cash Texas tables, instead of 100. This means you’ll be risking half as much money when you deposit, and it also prunes your decision tree by limiting the number of moves you can make at all casinos – and the moves your opponents can use against you. For example, if you open and get 3-bet, you can often choose to 4-bet shove or fold your play hand, rather than call and have to deal with a sticky situation post-flop.
5. Attack Weaker Players in Casino Games
No matter where you are on your Texas Hold’em journey, you always want to have an edge in the games you play at casinos, even online. That Texas edge comes from players who are worse than you at poker games. Texas game selection is key; you’ll tend to find the weakest opponents at the smallest stakes of real money, and they’re more likely to be playing poker tournaments than cash poker when betting real money. From the best educational standpoint, it’s also good to play against tougher competition, but for the most part, you want to play at the softest tables possible. Don’t let pride interfere with your poker development especially when you play online for real money.
While you’re targeting these weak players, make sure you’ve identified exactly what it is that they’re doing wrong, so you can counter-punch effectively with every hand and not have to deposit more money. If they fold your hand too much, you can be even more aggressive with your bluffs during the games, then take your hand out of the cookie jar when they continue instead. If they call too much, bluff less, and bet more of your marginal hands for value. If they bluff too much, make more “hero” calls. And if they check too much rather than betting for thin value, call less often.
6. Manage Your Stack and Your Betting
This concept applies mainly to online poker tournaments at Bodog Casino, playing for real money online, but it’s also useful at the cash tables at all casinos – especially when you’ve got a lot of chips (i.e. more than 100 big blinds). The size of the stacks in play will dictate what moves you can make at the game table. For instance, if you have around 15 big blinds or less in your stack, the only viable options are to go all-in or fold pre-flop. If you have 200 big blinds or more, having the nuts – or the nut draw – becomes super-important. Losing a giant stack with bottom set or a King-high flush is an absolute disaster during the casino game.
To help you manage your stack in casino game tournaments, consider using the “M-ratio” to keep track of how deep you and your opponents are. Add up all the blinds and antes, then divide the stacks by that number to see how many “M” everyone has. This tells you how many orbits (i.e. turns around the table) everyone can survive without having to deposit any chips in play. Big blinds are still a useful counting tool, but they don’t take antes into account.
7. Manage Your Bankroll with Each Deposit
Going broke playing poker can happen to anyone, at live betting games or online betting games, but if you manage and hold onto your bankroll properly, you can greatly reduce your chances. As a very general rule of thumb, when you’re at the cash tables, make sure you have at least 20 buy-ins in your account for the stakes you want to play, don't over deposit, hold back a little. And for poker tournaments, never put more than 1% of your bankroll on the line. This will help you ride out the times when you happen to get a bad run of cards, hold on for a "rainy day."
As you get more familiar with poker, you can use concepts like the Kelly criterion and the Sharpe ratio to help you manage your bankroll more efficiently. You’ll also want to change your benchmarks to account for what kind of tournament you’re playing – Turbos and Hyper-Turbos will require more buy-ins, since your edge will be smaller – and how many people are in the field. The more opponents there are to wade through in the hold, the more buy-ins you’ll need to smooth out the variance.
8. Manage Your Best Self
All the casino Hold’em game tips we’ve given you here will be useless if you don’t execute them properly. Poker is a mind sport, so if you’re not thinking clearly, you might as well be donating your chips to your opponents. Never play poker when you’re not feeling right for any reason especially online at our casino. If you’re at the cash tables, limit your sessions to around 60-90 minutes each so you don’t get tired. For online tournaments, use those built-in hourly breaks wisely to refresh yourself and get your head back in the game. And don’t forget about the importance of good diet, exercise and sleep habits- don't hold back.
With these eight essential casino Hold’em concepts you can deposit in your arsenal and hold onto for future reference, you’re now ready to put your poker skills to the test. Fire up a table or two at Bodog Poker and show your opponents who’s boss with every deposit – the more you practice, the more these skills will become second nature. Best of luck on the felt! Play for real money at online Bodog Casino now.