Best Online Texas Holdem
Good Texas Hold'em Strategy
Texas Hold'em is the most popular poker format available for low stakes real money play online. If you're not familiar, Hold'em is a game of two hole cards (face down) and five community cards (face up). The aim is to make the best possible hand of five cards using your two and three from the community. Play Limit Hold'em Poker Online. Texas Hold'em (or simply Hold'em) arose from relative obscurity to worldwide recognition in the 2000s, ousting long-reigning seven-card stud from the top poker spot across US casinos. It was the talk around the water cooler, the Beatles of the gambling world! In my opinion, James owns one of the best Hold'em training sites out there. He has worked with 500+ students, has written best-selling poker books, and made hundreds of videos. James even taught me to play poker in during my early days over at the thepokerbank.com. The browser you're using is not supported by PlayWPT. For best performance, download Chrome here.
Although it's possible to talk about Texas Hold'em strategy indefinitely, due to the game's subtle complexities, we've compiled three of the most salient pieces of poker advice every aspiring pro should know.
Pulling off fancy bluffs and check-raising the river with a small value bet may be enticing propositions. However, if you haven't mastered the basics, then you'll never have the ability to play like Phil Ivey and run these sorts of complex plays.
With this in mind, here are some good strategies online players with a burgeoning bankroll should commit to memory.
Cut Down the Amount of Hands You Play
One of the biggest mistakes novice players make when they first start playing Texas Hold'em is to get involved in too many hands.
Although the prospect of making a strong hand or bluffing our opponent is appealing, it's can actually be a major drain on your bankroll if you get involved in a lot of pots.
One important fact to remember is that if you play a lot of hands you will make a pair less than two-thirds of the time and this often means you'll have to fold a lot post-flop.
Secondly, if you do manage to make a hand it will be usually be weaker than average, which means you'll lose pots (and therefore money) at showdown more often.
Be More Aggressive
Coupled with a habit of playing more hands than is profitable, newbies will often adopt a passive strategy when they enter a pot.
Instead of raising or re-raising they will usually limp or call and allow another player to take control of the hand. This is potentially fatal because it means the passive player is more likely to be bullied into submission and, therefore, lose the pot.
There's an old adage in poker that you should try to remember if you want to avoid being passive and make more money: 'If a hand is not worth raising, then it's not worth playing.'
Be More Active
Although standard online Texas Hold'em strategy advocates that you take regular breaks, the reality is that most professional grinders never stray too far from their computers.
It may not be the right thing to do, but many online poker pros will put in 18-hour sessions without a second thought for their health, or, indeed, the health of their bankroll.
In the world of Texas Hold'em online, volume is king and if you aren't prepared to sit for hours on end at a computer then being a professional isn't for you.
Always Try and Play in Position
Position is king at the poker table and before you enter any pot you should consider where you are in relation to the button, the blinds and to any active players. Essentially this means you should play more hands the closer you are to the button because you'll have the benefit of extra information. Sometimes playing out of position is unavoidable, but if you want to have the greatest advantage over your opponents it's important to always play in position.
Get Ready With Your HUD
Hand reading is a basic tenet of good poker, but when you're an online pro you can often get away with substandard powers of deduction by using your HUD. A Heads Up Display unit can uncover a multitude of tendencies on your opponent and help your decision making process immensely.
Here at TexasHoldemPokerOnline.com, we are meticulous about our Poker Room Reviews. We don´t just say that “XYZ” is a good poker room without giving you reasons why we think that, and we´ll let you know if there is anything publicized on the site which is not as good as it sounds. For example:
- If you are looking for the best first deposit poker bonuses, you will want to know what the clearing requirements are and how long you have to redeem the bonus.
- How rewarding is the “Rewards Program”? Is it worth staying loyal to one site, or moving somewhere else to clear your next first deposit poker bonus?
- What is the standard of play like? If you are a new online poker player, you don´t want to lose your bankroll playing at a site which is full of experience grinders – no matter how large the first deposit bonus!
Our list of poker reviews below is divided into those at which practically anybody can play Texas Holdem online (US Poker Sites) and those which don´t accept players from the States – but do have a presence in Europe´s ring-fenced countries.
We identify the strengths and weaknesses of each in a hundred words or less, but for more comprehensive information read our poker room reviews.
Please note that it is recommended for players living in ring-fenced countries, or States within the US that have regulated poker, to read the terms and conditions of playing at a site to ensure you are eligible to play Texas Holdem Poker online before making your first deposit. If you would like to see the full list, please take a look at our list of all poker sites.
US Friendly Poker Sites
Best Free Texas Holdem Sites
Other Poker Sites – Rest of the World
