Not everyone is a seasoned poker player. While some have had more than ten years of playing the game, others are new and excited to learn.

This means they are most likely going to lose a considerable amount of money before they can claim to be a pro. In this writing, we share important poker tips in the hopes that our new poker-playing readers spare themselves too much of a loss. 

The following suggestions are used by pros and are updated for this year (2023). Basically, we’re giving away fresh pro tips. Let’s dive right in. 

Beat the Micro Stakes

Admittedly, this first tip is an unpopular one. Most players do not start at the micro stakes. Wondering what micro stakes are? Micro stakes in an online poker game are exactly what the name suggests, the lower stakes starting from 1cent/ 2cent (2NL) blind games to 25cent/50cent blind games (50NL). 

A few online poker sites start at 2cent/ 5cent blind games and sometimes even 5cent/ 10cent blind games. Our advice always starts at the lowest stake available. Many people go for high stakes hoping to win big, but if you haven’t been or are a beginner player, smashing the bad players at the lower limits makes more sense as it makes for good practice.

Enter the Pot With a Raise 

Always enter the pot with a raise pre-flop, which is our next top tip for new poker players.

If you’re from a live poker background where calling the blind a pre-flop is common, then this may sound a little crazy to you at first. However, in online poker, limping is not a prevalent thing. 

And, if you limp a lot, one of the stronger players may isolate you frequently and make your life difficult after a flop.

Limping often creates a bad situation, a snowball effect. It’s a better idea to take control of the pot before the flop with a raise. 

Often Re-Raise Preflop

Another great tip is that you should always re-raise often before the flop, also known as a 3-bet. The reason why is to increase the ways to win the pot. There are two options here.

You can either keep betting or raising. In other words, you can take the 3-bet down pre-flop, make the best hand post-flop, or force them out of the pot after the flop with aggression.

Just don’t go crazy with 3-betting in low-stake games because you can get called quite frequently. 

Calling 3-bets Out of Position is a no-no.

Whatever you do, do not call 3-bets out of position. The term “out of position” refers to a situation where you have to act first on all three streets, post-flop (flop turn and river).

A severe disadvantage in poker is when you mistake calling a re-raise pre-flop when the latter is happening.

All you need to do when you are in and out of position is to check your Poker Tracker database to see how much you are winning.

The cardinal rule in poker is that position is everything. It can never be overcome, no matter how good a poker player you think you are.

The Power of the Pre-flop 4-bet

A 4-bet is when there is a raise, followed by a re-raise, and then another. Poker players must respect the power of the pre-flop 4-bet, especially at the lower limits. The reason is most players will do it knowing that they’re holding AA, KK, QQ or AK. 

A major mistake is when people call a pre-flop 4-bet to “see a flop”. The problem here is that with 100 big blind starting stacks, a pre-flop bet requires 25% of your stack in the middle before seeing the flop. Therefore, you cannot profit from calling a 4-bet with a weak 2nd-tier hand. 

Know when to Move Up

Only move up when you have 30 buy-ins for the next stake. A buy-in is a hundred big blinds for your current stake.

A bare minimum of 30 buy-ins is good for any poker cash game, or 100 buy-ins are a bare minimum for tournaments. What you also should do is move down if you find that you’re not successful.

Conclusion

At this point, if you’re a new poker player, then we hope the tips mentioned above are enough to save you some money. Always start small when new to a game and follow hycasino for the best guides.

Beating the micro stakes only makes you sharper for the higher levels. Knowing when to call a 3 or 4-bet makes the difference between increasing your winning chances at the pot and losing dismally. 

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