Online poker has become one of the most popular games to play on the internet. Also one of the pillars of real casinos, it has reached the same, if not surpassed, its own fame in its virtual form. Many casual and avid players are hooked to this game that tournaments were held online, with people from all over the world competing in them.
What at first was a past time, became a more thrilling and fun game with all the tourneys and real money involved. Over recent years, many players have developed their skills and strategies to rule the virtual tables and widen the gap between them and others.
If you’re used to playing poker in real life, it’s a whole different animal playing it online. Navigating your way through the crowds and winning a tournament is a great challenge. Before you enter yourself in one, this article will provide you with winning strategies you can use for online poker tournaments.
Take notes and mark your opponents
Many sites allow you to use color to mark your opponents. It’s a useful tool to categorize them in a quick and visually-appealing way that will help you easily identify their player type. With this color-coding scheme, you’ll already have the information that can aid you in case you end up playing against an opponent you already marked.
This tip can also include scouting your opponents in-game and for off-table study sessions of your fellow players. Having simplified notes in place can also help you when you’re multi-tabling because those are the times where you really need all the time you have to decide your next move.
Always use Heads-Up Display
HUD is another helpful thing at your disposal when you play online poker games. This categorizes your opponents and assists you in identifying their tendencies. This also dramatically changes the game for you when multi-tabling.
Size your opens strategically
For tournament grinders, you have to size your opens correctly at various stages of the tournament. You are able to see the stack sizes everyone has at all times and subsequently determine the number of big blinds each player has at any given moment in online tournaments. Correctly sizing your opens usually means sizing down when shorter stacked and opening to a larger amount when deep-stacked, which usually happens at the start of tournaments.
Use your breaks effectively
Long online poker sessions can be taxing for your brain. Thus, it’s important that you make use of the breaks that you get every hour to reset your mind and allow it to slightly rest. Your mind will function at its best when you’re able to have those breathers.
Remember to not waste the 5-minute break that you get every hour, especially if you’re running deep and have been putting in the hours in a long session.
Play as many tables as you profitably can
If you have a pretty good idea of your winning rate and return on investment when you join tournaments, the more you play, the more you’ll likely achieve the normal winnings that you usually get. You should aim to multi-table as frequently as you can without hindering your decision making. This way, you’ll be able to profit more.
In case you’re having trouble with multi-tabling, drop down to the lowest stakes possible for tournaments and fire one table more than you usually do. From there, do another table and another one consecutively. This is so you can improve your multi-tabling skills without it having too much of a negative effect on your bankroll.
Conclusion
Winning online poker tournaments means scouting your opponents, using the tools that are provided to your advantage, correctly sizing your opens, making the most out of your breaks, and profitably multi-tabling. Exercise these strategies as you navigate your way to various tourneys so you can develop your skills and be better in the game of online poker.
Author’s Bio:
Luther Abrams is an online game and sports enthusiast who spent his younger years playing and watching basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, and badminton games, among the many others. Today, as an early retiree, he continues to write about his love and passion for sports. On most days, he also loves to play ball with his two kids.
