Understanding basic poker math, the importance of position, playing within your means and recognizing opponents playing styles are crucial to be a successful player both online and at live games. Knowing the variables that determine how to play hands in different situations comes with experience and solid knowledge of key poker fundamentals.
Choose Your Ground: One advantage to playing online is that you can pick from literally thousands of tables to find the one that is right for you. When selecting a table ask yourself two things: Is this a table that offers me a chance to make money, and are the other players better players than me?
A very tight table usually offers little action because tight players fold most cards while waiting to play only very strong hands. By being aggressive you can steal blinds at a tight table, but if your raise is called and you only have a moderate hand you are most likely behind. On the other hand a loose table offers a lot of action, usually several players call to see a flop with a wide range of hands. This makes for big pots and exciting play but with multiple loose players in the hand you seldom know where you stand. When dealt a good hand be aggressive and force loose players to pay to see a flop.