How to Win Money at Poker - Simply Beating Bad Players

Stephen Erickson

Fixed Limit Poker
Suppose 10 people sat down and played texas holdem and no one ever folded, but instead called every hand all the way to the end. If they played long enough, they'd all end up with the same amount of money. If they were playing online or at a casino, everyone would end up with nothing because the rake would slowly take all of their money. This is how some players play at the low limit tables and this is why they lose consistently. So the question is, how do you win money at poker?

Making by Saving
There's only two main ways to win money playing poker and that is by successfully bluffing and by folding. You can make gains with more sophisticated plays but only small gains. Bluffing, no matter the type of players you are against, will not work enough to play every hand. Bad players tend to call all the way to the end so you can't bluff them successfully, and good players will soon figure out what you are doing and make you pay dearly. So that leaves only one option - folding. Many beginners don't understand this at first and it is where players fail the most.

Taking a holdem game as an example, if there is a full table you should be folding anywhere from 60 to 70 per cent of the time before the flop. After that, you should only be calling a raise if you think you have the best hand, or if you have a very good chance to get the best hand - for example, you have 4 hearts and only need one more for a flush - or if you are only in with one or two other people and you think you can bluff them. Every other time you call, you are giving away your money.

Easy Money - Picking a Table
What is the easiest type of players to beat? Players who call almost anything and never raise are easy pickings for almost any player. If you can find a table where a large number of the players call every hand and, additionally, there is very little raising before the flop you are in for a good day.

One way to find this type of game online is to check the total average money listed for each table, and the average number of players seeing the flop. The more players seeing the flop the better. Be careful though as more money can also equal more raising so it's best to pick a table that looks good, and than play a round or two. If you don't like it, move on to the next. Once you find your game, play very simply by just bidding when you have cards and folding when you don't. You won't have to, and in fact, shouldn't bluff. When you get a good hand, the other players will keep calling and it will pay off, and when you don't have a good hand you can just fold and wait. It isn't an exciting way to play poker, and you will find yourself folding a lot but it is a profitable way to play.

Avoiding Tilt
If you play poker for a while you will learn the term "tilt". Tilt refers to a tendency of poker players who lose a few hands in a row, or a couple of unlucky hands and then basically get emotionally in a rage, and start playing badly. Everyone goes on tilt occasionally but limiting these times and playing your game is paramount to winning. It sounds easy, but it can be very hard to fold when you see a player winning hand after hand with bad cards. But you have to learn to trust the odds, and believe that if you play better than the other players you will win in the end.

All you have to do to beat bad players is fold more times than you have thought you should. It sounds simple and it is. The frustrating part can be when players, who don't play smart, get lucky and hit a couple of long shots in a row and win money that should have been yours. That's when you have to rely on your long-term strategy, stay calm and continue to play smart.