Player tactics

In general
The tactics of Poker can be epitomized in one simple sentence: it is all about losing as little as possible when you have a bad hand and with a good one win a lot.
It sounds very simple, but in fact it is quite difficult.

"The most important thing is that a player possesses the ability to make what is known as a poker-face. If the other players can read in a player’s facial expressions if he has a good hand or not this player never gets a lot of money out of his cards."

When playing poker online, you do not need to read a player's facial expression, you will have to base your bets on what the other people bet. The rule of thumb is that players who have good hands, normally bids high. But it is permitted to bluff, and that is the most inportant factor in this game!

Use more than one tactic
The most secure way of playing is to only participate in the game when you have a good hand, and when having a bad one drop out. The bad thing about this tactic is that if you use it you will undoubtedly lose all your money. Of course you will win the pool when you have a really good hand, but most frequently the other participants will know your tactic. They will lay down their partly good hands so the pool will not contain much more than coins.
This is why it is necessary to keep varying one’s tactics. It also introduces the concept of bluff. If one merely bids when he has a good hand, he is rarely asked to show his cards. Sometimes it is essential to bid on a bad hand. By doing this the player creates confusion whether or not he has a good hand. Using this tactic there is a good chance that the player wins a big pool; your opponents will want to show hands because they think you have a bad one when you in reality have the best.

The judgement
Another decisive factor is to be able to judge whether or not you have the best hand in the game. The hands that will cost you the most is the next best ones – you contribute with big amounts to the pool and win nothing.
In Poker patience is a virtue. If you receive a bad hand in several games, it is highly important that you accept the situation and make an effort to minimize your loss. Making crazy overbids on a bad hand will only increase your loss.
When you buy new cards it is wise frequently to hide the actual value of your hand. If you e.g. have three of a kind it is not always the necessary to buy two new cards. If you merely buy one you may have the luck to trick your opponents into believing that you have bought a card to make two pairs or you have made a wrong buy with the purpose of a Straight or Flush. If two cards are bought they will often be bought with the intention of Trips or a pair and a high card. Buying two cards to get a Straight or Flush is an act of desperation. If you receive a good hand from the beginning (this being Straight, Flush or higher) you should definitely not buy new cards. Note that if you from the start of a round have Quads you do not lean back in your chair smiling. Frequently, you have to buy one card to give the impression that the hand is not good enough yet. By doing so, you may trick another player to show cards.

Making the bet
Everytime you need to make bed to the pool, there is a number of factors you need to estimate:
1) the value of your hand,
2) the chances of improving your hand by buying new cards (good or bad odds),
3) the other players’ hands (their eagerness of raising the pool),
4) the required bid to pay for the pool and lastly
5) the amount of money that can be won. In these estimations it is important that you do not let youself be influenced by how much you have already contributed to the pool.

The Bluff
There are two purposes of bluffing. Some big pools can be won by skilled bluffing (raising the pool at the right time, so the opponents get scared and withdraw from the game). Sometimes, though, it can be useful to reveal a bluff once in a while. By doing so, you whet your opponents need to show hands. In the long run this will pay off in a lot of good added bonuses. If you had the best hand it would be quite bitterly if no one would pay to see them.
In Poker it is legal to try to mislead your opponents in almost every possible way. There are no ethic laws as in Bridge. In Bridge it is a violation against the rules to hesitate to make a bid to the pool whereas in Poker it is no offence against the rules if you wait a while before you make your bid – even if you know for sure that you have the best hand.
The majority of Poker games are in the long run determined by the player who has the best skills in estimating the chances of bidding to the pool and by cards with the right odds.

See also:
Poker Hand Ranks
Probabilities in Poker
Statistics