8 Secrets to Help You Be a Better Online Poker Player

As an online poker player, you have to make a decision. Do you want to be a recreational poker player who plays for the fun of it or do you want to consistently play winning poker? If you decide on the former option, that's fine. Online poker is a great way to pass the time and have fun. If you want a reasonable chance to win money every session, you have to approach online poker with a very different mindset.

If you want to become a winning online poker player, you would be well-served to pay attention to how the pros play. Most pro players have already gone through the painstaking process of learning how to earn a living in online poker rooms. Remember, these pros might be the same players who will be joining your tables in the future.

If you want to survive against the best, you have to play poker like them. To aid you in that endeavor, here are eight (8) poker-playing secrets to help you be a better online poker player.

1. Never Gamble With More Money Than You Can Afford to Lose

The first and most important rule of any kind of gambling is never to gamble with more money than you can afford to lose. When your gambling activities cause financial pain, you have crossed the line. That's going to make you a reckless gambler, something your poker-playing opponents will prey upon.

For most gamblers, the money that is used for gambling should be nothing more than discretionary cash. Discretionary cash is the cash that's left over after all bills have been paid and something has been contributed to investments or savings. As long as you are taking care of your financial present and future, it's more likely you'll be able to absorb losses without enduring financial pain.

2. Learn How to Play Your Favorite Poker Variations Properly

There are at least a dozen different variations of online poker. At some point, you'll figure out which variations you like playing the most. Caution: just because you enjoy playing a certain variation of online poker doesn't make you an expert at the game.

Before you ramp up your poker-playing activities and bankroll, you have to learn the rules of the game you want to play. You can ill afford to sit down at a table at a disadvantage, which is exactly what you would be doing if don't know what you are doing. Rest assured, astute players will notice your deficit and take advantage of it.

The best way to learn how to play certain poker variations is to read and practice. You can practice with free poker software or by spending time at the poker tables with the lowest limits.

3. Know Your Opponents

Do you really want to play poker against the likes of top poker pros like Phil Hellmuth Jr., Daniel "Kid Poker" Negreanu, or Phil Ivey? The day you can match up with poker greats like this is most likely way off in the future at best.

When you play poker online, you can never be 100% sure who you are playing against. That's why you should always look at the available data that's provided for each online poker player. While their names might be hidden, their skill levels will be apparent. Don't play poker against players who are obviously better than you. A good poker player knows their limitations. There is no mercy in online poker.

Remember, every table has at least one player that the other players will be targeting. Why? They are weak players and their chip stacks are there for the taking. Know your opponents to avoid being that player.

4. Pick Your Hands to Play Wisely

There is one noticeable characteristic that seems to be prevalent with poker players who consistently lose. They play too many hands, often looking to catch lightning in a bottle. According to top pro players, anyone who plays more than 40% of the hands is a weak player. These are the players that will typically feed their chip stacks to the rest of the players at the table.

Patience is a virtue for poker players. You certainly want to play hands that are going to most likely be competitive. There is also nothing wrong with trying to bluff through a hand on occasion, something you should do to keep other players off balance. The hands you shouldn't play are the hands that can't compete against multiple bettors. Remember lightning doesn't strike very often.

5. Use Poker Playing Tools to Your Advantage

Over the last 20 or so years, the popularity of online poker has been increasing exponentially. That's especially true in the U.S. where one state after another has been passing online poker legislation.

Given online poker's popularity, technology has found an open door. Today, there are plenty of poker-playing software tools out on the market. Most of these products have been developed by top poker players who know a thing or two about how to play poker properly. If you aren't supporting your playing efforts with a software platform or two, you might be in the minority. It's a material disadvantage that warrants your concern.

Note: It's your responsibility to make sure you aren't using products that promote cheating. Once you have a bad reputation as an online poker player, you'll be on the outside looking in.

6. Muck Your Bluffs

As was stated above, there is nothing wrong with trying to get a bluff through on occasion. Sometimes, it will pay off. Other times, you might get stung. Regardless of the outcome, bluffing is a great way to keep your opponents off balance, which makes it difficult for them to read your plays.

At no time should you expose your bluffs. If you win due to folds, you don't have to show your cards. If you lose, you don't have to show your cards. If you have to show, it's still possible the other players won't realize you were bluffing. Bottom line: Muck your bluffs whenever possible and keep them guessing.

7. Control Your Emotions

One advantage of playing online poker is that it allows you to play without eyes watching you. Watching eyes can be a problem in a retail poker room if someone is prone to wearing their emotions on their sleeve. If one bad beat causes a player to lose their cool, the vultures will be waiting to pounce on that player with every mistake they will make while half out of the mind.

While the Internet will allow you to hide your emotions from others, you will still be vulnerable to mistakes if your mind is living in the past. To be a good online poker player, you must have ice water running through your veins.

8. Prepare for the Grind

Don't kid yourself, you are not going to win the World Series of Poker. In fact, the chances of you having a life-changing payday from playing online poker are very small. With that said, it's possible you can become a good poker player and grind out tiny profits as you go. What you need to do is prepare for the grind. You might have to play hours and hours of poker before you earn a profit that's worthy of your pride, but with the right attitude, you can focus on the process and enjoy the final results.

Conclusion: The information provided above is intended to serve as your guide to becoming a better online poker player. The secrets provided here are things the pros think about in their quests to be the best. If you are happy being a good poker player, these secrets should be more than enough to set you on the right track.