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The Key to Win at Poker: Betting Strategy versus Hand Selection

Submitted by Onlinepokerzine on February 17, 2010 – 12:00 amNo Comment

Poker-Hand AA
Though poker is a game played with cards, a winning online poker strategy is not based on holding better cards than everyone else.  It could not be, actually, since everyone will be dealt the same number of good and bad hands as the next guy, and therefore no real long-term advantage can be gained by any strategy primarily focused on the quality of your cards each hand.  While, in fairly loose games, hand selection, a basic tool in every player’s winning poker system or strategy, can give you an edge over less skilled opponents, this strategy cannot be realistically employed with confidence as the basis of a winning online poker strategy for two reasons:

  • There is the constant risk of being outdrawn or outflopped by weaker hands, and
  • Once an opponent starts betting into you aggressively it is difficult to know with certainty that you are winning.

Both of these points lead us to a simple conclusion: betting is the basis of a winning online poker strategy.  To win at poker, betting strategy principles must often outrank hand strength in a given scenario.  In fact, there are many occasions where a solid, winning player will come out betting regardless of his hand.  This is true because a winning online poker strategy is not based on winning as many pots as possible or winning every showdown.  A winning online poker strategy is based on the proper use of poker betting strategy.  What this means is that winning strategy is to win the most money by betting, and to craft a poker betting strategy that maximizes these gains.  A winning poker betting strategy accomplishes this in two ways:  by betting with a variety of hands that may not justify it to win pots that others abandon rather than engage in a betting war, and by extracting maximum value with the best hands in the right situations.  Many other poker skills complement a poker betting strategy, but winning is based primarily on the power of betting and its effective use in one’s strategy to win at poker.  Betting strategy is the foundation of any complete winning online poker system or strategy, taking precedence over hand selection and even hand-reading skills and math skills.  Even a maniac can win at poker against the right opponents simply by betting aggressively and forcing them to fold until they get that rare monster that the poker preflop percentages strongly favour over almost any other two cards.  Since those types of hold em poker preflop hands are uncommon, the maniac’s aggressive poker betting strategy and system of betting during the preflop and flop betting rounds normally convert to a nice winning streak before he is finally derailed by a monster.

A good understanding of this concept and shrewd use of a poker betting strategy is especially important to win at online poker.  Since online the betting is very aggressive, knowing sound betting strategy concepts is an even more important aspect of a winning poker system than it is in a homegame.  Most online player’s realize that aggressive betting is a good winning online poker strategy, but misuse the bet in virtually every pot they play.  Failing to bet when one should, overplaying (betting too much) with weak hands out of position, going too far with hopelessly weak hands, and over betting instead of value betting very strong hands are the norm.  These mistakes are made preflop and post-flop, and are costly errors long-term.  A correct system for bet-sizing is perhaps the most important of these concepts, and correct use of a betting system or strategy is the firrerence btween winning and losing.   Our magazine furnishes poker betting strategy articles on these topics, by the online poker tutor, which contain information on proper betting as part of a winning poker system.  For more on poker betting strategy tips, see those strategy articles by your online poker tutor!!!

To create a winning online poker system based on the power of betting, one must understand that often you are not betting on the strength of your hand, but rather the probability that your opponent’s hand is not worth betting either.  In that case, it is usually a contest of who bets most convincingly.  The best strategy against  aggressive betting is often to fold, which is why aggression is the cornerstone of a winning online poker strategy.  While just betting a lot will not always translate to winning, adopting a strong poker betting strategy as the foundation of your poker system is key to win at poker, online and offline.  Learning to use betting wisely is the main ingredient in a winning online poker strategy or winning poker system.

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