Whether you’re a serious veteran transitioning to the online idnpoker scene, or a fresh-faced player just wanting to get their feet wet, online poker has something for just about everyone.

But before you get started, there’s something you must note before you play – online poker and live poker are two different animals.

There are similarities, but as a beginner player, it’s best to get yourself situated with the basics first.

RESEARCH FIRST BEFORE JUMPING INTO A GAME

The most successful poker players are those who have taken the time to study strategies.

These strategies could be on what tells to look for, ways to up their hourly winning rate, or game theory where they research which hands are stronger in certain situations than others.

The one common denominator is that all poker players want to enter a game with an edge over other players.

Edge refers to the advantage players have over one another. Superior hands have an edge over weaker hands. A player with superior skills or positions at the table also provides an edge.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT STAKES BEFORE PLAYING

You need to note that online poker has a higher variance than live poker. Edges between players – skill gaps or position gaps – are a lot smaller.

That makes online games harder because you’ll be playing against people who are around the same experience level as you and you won’t have an automatic edge over other players at your table.

Breakdown of Stakes Categories

The stakes are broken down into something similar to this,  please note that NL here stands for No-Limit.

$0.01/$0.02 – 2NL – lowest stakes available on most sites;

$0.05/$0.10 – 10NL – lowest stakes available on all sites;

$0.25/$0.50 – 50NL – anything at this limit and below are “micro-stakes”;

$2/$5 – 200NL – lowest stakes available live in most locations;

$10/$20 – 1000NL – Start of online high stakes;

$25/$50 – 5000NL – Start of live high stakes.

TRUST THE WEBSITE OR APP YOU’RE PLAYING ON

Don’t leave money on the application or website you’re using unless you plan on spending all of it. You won’t properly benefit from the games you’re winning unless you understand their payout processes. Also, check to see if they’re RNG certified.

RNG Certification

To be RNG certified means that iTech Labs, one of the world’s leaders in RNG certification and RNG evaluation, has verified at least some of the following:

Proof that a numerical sequence, or in this case the cards being drawn, have no recognizable pattern (statistical randomness);

Testing the randomness of the deck shuffling (internal state of RNG);

Checking the initial point for all number sequences to ensure that there are no repetitive patterns. This makes it impossible to predict the next cards drawn ( also referred to as seeding, and cycling);

Ensuring that randomized decks are not “rigged” by checking for non-repeatability;

By ensuring the RNG of all cards drawn, players can play with the confidence that they aren’t being cheated and they can win on their skill alone.

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