One of the most important factors for winning at online poker is table section and where you sit at the table. I like to play in 6-max and 9-max ring games. This way you get more of a choice on which players you can sit next to. It's good to have patience. Sometimes I may even watch everyone play from the rail before even sitting at a table. Although you don't get to see their cards from the rail, you can still get an idea of how aggressive some players may be. What you want to be able to establish is which players are passive, aggressive, or just suck in general.

When you are playing you want to take notes of who is playing their draws aggressively, who limped in the pot with AK, who attempted to bluff a hand, who is raising all the time, etc. All of these tendencies will give you a better picture of what type of playing style you are up against. If someone is raising in every position all the time, then you can safely say they are a very aggressive player, known as a LAG (loose aggressive. So you will need to adjust your play accordingly.

When in a game more then anything else you want to decide whether or not the other players are better then you and will have your number. If you feel uncomfortable playing with players you probably will not play at you're A game so you should look for another game or just quit the session all together. If you are constantly feeling uncomfortable playing at certain stakes it would be recommended that you go down a level. Don't let your ego get in the way of what is important. And that is winning at online poker!

Whether or not you should avoid games with aggressive players is a question of debate. I personally like playing against manic type players who do lots of pre flop raises and bets on the flop, you just need to adjust your play accordingly. It's important that you don't let your emotions get in the way when playing very aggressive players. Their objective is to constantly put the pressure on you hoping that you will fold your marginal hand.

The first thing you want to try and do is get position on the aggressive players. What I mean by this is that you want to sit to the left of them. The reason for this is because you will always be last to act. If the opposite was true, they could always be coming over the top for a raise and put you in awkward spots. Also, if you sit to the left of the aggressive player you are always evaluating the hand after he or she checks or bets. So you can re-raise their bets to try and get them off mediocre hands.

On the flipside you want to sit to the right of a tight passive player. You can steal the blinds much easier with tight players and they are much less likely to raise their hands pre flop so you can see a lot more flops with mediocre hands. Also, tight passive players are much more likely to call a bet on the flop then re-raise, so if you have a drawing hand and you made a bet, you get to see more cards without paying anything extra for it. Due to their passive nature they don't like to get involved in big pots unless they have the nuts or something close to it. So you can more easily make river bets and get them off marginal hands making them think you have the nuts.

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With the anonymity of online poker rooms you could have the misconception that playing online poker isn't very safe and you should only play poker at a brick and mortar casino where you can see the cards being dealt and actually see your opponents. Whilst it's good to be skeptical, there are safe ways to play poker online.

Some online poker players are worried about hackers who could potentially see hole cards. With the advancements in internet security technology there are obstacles like SSLv3 and TLSv1 encryption and lots of multi-layered random number sequencers which prevent cheating. With the encryption advances it has basically made it impossible for hackers to exploit the game.
The most recent poker scandal involved two partner sites, Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker, which didn't involve random players hacking the site at all. As it turned out certain individuals involved in the site development were given special privileges and were playing high stakes games with the ability to see whole cards. To prevent yourself from getting caught up in something like this, it is recommended that you only play on popular sites that have credibility. Online poker rooms like Poker Stars and Full Tilt Poker are very safe to play on.

The most common form of cheating which happens at the tables is collusion, which is against the poker rooms TOS. This can happen when two or more friend's site at the same table and reveal to each other what cards they hold. If collusion is occurring they are at a distinct advantage in the game for obvious reasons.
One way to prevent you from being involved in a game where collusion may be taking place is to be observant of what's being said in the chatbox. If you see players talking in a different language and always folding to each other's raises, you may have reason to be suspicious and it would be a good idea to change tables. Whilst collusion is not a big problem with online poker its something you should be aware of. Online poker rooms have security in place that is capable of detecting any collusion type of behavior.

It’s very rare for some poker players to even attempt cheating with online poker, but there is no benefit in being naive and to think it could never happen to you. You should never accuse anyone of cheating. If you experience suspicious activity you can either contact the online poker room’s customer support. The most immediate action you can take is just get up and leave. There are plenty of other games you can play for honest poker.

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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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