Many players new to online poker think that bluffing shouldn't be a part of their game and that you should just wait for good cards. Any poker player with this mentality might as well give up the game now. Bluffing should be a part of your game, you just need to use it wisely so that it is believable and makes money for you in the long run. You can not always be expecting to pickup good hands so when your involved in poker sessions where you are not getting the best of the cards, you will need to bluff at the right moments if you want to be profitable.

Some players think that if you get caught bluffing the other players at the table will always call your bets from that point onward in the session. If you do get caught out bluffing once or twice will every bet you make from that point on get called or raised? This is a very important consideration you want to make because if you have lost the tight table image you were trying to portray at the table, you can use it to your advantage.

If you have attempted to bluff a few pots and haven't been successful, you can be sure that your table image at the table is very loose and aggressive. So you would be throwing money away if you were to try and bluff again without a premium hand. Use your table image to manipulate other players. If you pickup a premium hand make it look like a bluff when really you are betting for value, and you will get called down and win a big pot.

It is important to have variety in your game to create confusion with your opponents. You want to make sure you integrate bluffing and semi-bluffing in your game if you want to be a winning player.
An important factor to keep in mind when bluffing is to know when to use it. If the pot is big and it's a multi way pot with a number of players then it's more likely that the other players will not fold because there is more money to win. So you have to be sensible with the bluffs.

Big bluffs can be profitable when you are heads up or in a three-way pot. Generally speaking, you will want to be most aggressive with your bluffing strategy on the flop and less aggressive on the following two streets. Bluffing on the turn and river has less chance of being believable because the other players have already committed a significant amount of their stack to the pot, and if they called your flop bet you have more reason to believe they have something.

Your have to be able to recognize what your table image is and what other player's table image is at the table. Tight players are more likely to fold where as loose players will be much more likely to call.

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Recognize what is the best possible hand

Evaluating your hand strength against your opponents is the single most important factor in Texas Holdem. When you know you have the best hand you want to make use of value bets, and when you know your hand is beat, even if you may have a strong hand you want to know when you are beat. When someone is holding the best possible hand is referred to as the nuts. And the nuts can change with every street. For example, let's say you have A10h and the flop comes 5,6,8 all hearts so you flop the nut flush. If the turn comes 7h and you make a bet and face a re-raise, you have to consider your opponent may have the 4h or 9h, which would make a straight flush.

When you have the nuts you should make nice size bets, usually about 2/3 of the pot so if your opponent has a drawing hand they need to pay to see another card. Where you can run into trouble is when you try and slow play a good hand and you have your opponent sucking out on you because they gave them free cards or they got to see additional cards too cheaply. By paying close attention to the board texture and recognizing when you have the best possible hand, you can avoid making costly mistakes.

Importance of position

Position is a huge thing in Texas Holdem. When you have position on the other players it means you are on the button and you get to act last. Acting last in a hand is a huge advantage because you get to evaluate the strength of the other hands before it is your time to act. For example, in a 6-max ring game if everyone limps into the pot with a raise, you have the knowledge that most likely every player wants to see the flop cheap and have pretty mediocre starting hands. You can consider a raise to try and win a small pot. What starting hands you play has a lot to do with position. When in early position you need to open with a raise with a much narrower range of hands then what you would do in late position. This is because you don't have the chance to evaluate the strength of the other hands so you could face a re-raise and be forced to fold your hand if your hand isn't very strong.

Don't overestimate suited starting hands

When you have two cards of the same suit it improves your hand, but the mistake many beginners tend to make is they overplay their suited hands. A flush is a very strong hand but the probability of getting a flush is quite low. I like to play suited connectors and suited high cards. But a hand like 24 suited is not a very good starting hand and you should probably just throw it away pre flop.
High cards are much better starting cards than low cards

The rank of cards is basically what Texas Holdem is all about. If you have QQ this is a very good starting hand but if a K or A hits on the flop, you are probably beat. You should play high cards much more aggressively then low cards, because if you hit top pair, you most likely have the best hand. For example, if you have KJ, and your opponent has 67, and both of you hit a pair on the flop, you have the better hand because you have the high cards.

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Nearly every poker player has made the same mistake. They make their first deposit of $50 online and hit the tables, to have lost it all in the first day or week. This shows a complete disregard of good bankroll management skills. How could you play optimally, taking the normal swings involved when playing a sensibly aggressive game when you are playing with your full bankroll at the table? It may force you to make some bad decisions because your full bankroll is on the line.

Winning online poker is all about having patience and putting in the hours. Good players can experience months of just breaking even. All you should be concerned about is playing your best game. Taking hits to your bankroll is all part of playing poker, every poker player has their bad sessions when they get sucked out, but losing your bankroll is a critical mistake. You will be missing out on opportunities when the games are softer.

You can avoid losing your bankroll if you follow some simple bankroll management skills. Never sit at a table with your entire bankroll. I think you should never have more then 10% of your bankroll in play at any time. For example, if you have deposited $1000 onto an online poker room, your bankroll would be $1000. So if you were playing in a cash game, don't play at stakes higher then $0.50/$1 so you can play with $100 or 100 big blinds. Some players are even more conservative then this and play only with 5% of their bankroll at any given time.

If you are losing a few buy-ins it is important to again play at smaller stakes, even $0.25/50 or even $0.05/0.10, until enough time passes and you build your bankroll back up again. Basically, you can't play correctly online until you have accumulated a correct bankroll.

Keep in mind that you should not let your bankroll decide what stakes you should be playing at. If you are a beginner you should always play at the micro stakes until you gain experience and feel comfortable playing at higher stakes, otherwise you will get owned and lose your bankroll very quickly.
The most important bankroll management tip is never to pull money from it!

You need to view your bankroll as an investment in yourself. By not removing money, you are investing for the future, when you can play higher limits and get a greater absolute return.

Work your butt off until you get to a limit where you can consistently make some real money playing poker. Once you’re there, then you can pull money off from time to time. Until that happens, try to leave your roll untouched and think about the future. The reward will be well worth the effort.

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