If you thought playing online poker was simply about turning on the PC or Mac, loading up a table or three of $0.10/0.20 NLHE and fitting a few hands in between episodes of Breaking Bad, think again.

Playing successful online poker requires dedication, an attention to detail, and some careful forward planning.

So, if you’re looking to get your online poker career off to the perfect start, what things should you be looking at? Let’s take a look at 10 ways to stave off the monkey tilt just a little longer.

1. Do successful poker players know things that you don’t know? It’s possible that they know some things that you don’t, but the truth is usually not as exciting as most people think. You can learn some secrets of poker success. I’ve identified seven secrets of poker success and cover them below.
2. Re: Poker & How successful are you at online poker? I like online poker, but I find I do not make as much money as live. I find online poker I made money years ago.

Whether you’re a novice starting out at the micro-stakes cash games or a seasoned pro at the upper limits, you’ll need to employ sensible bankroll management if you’re to prevail over the long term. Make sure you can afford about 50 maximum buy-ins at a single cash table, and about 20 buy-ins at the tourneys/Sit ‘n’ Gos. Handling your online bankroll well will mean you never go broke.

While messing with the big boys on the ballers’ tables might seem mighty tempting straight from the off, you probably won’t learn a great deal, other than how to lose a tonne of cash quick. So pick your limits according to your skill level – start off at the micro-stakes, and if you can comfortably and consistently crush them, consider moving up.

If you're just starting out in online poker, you surely dream of becoming a winning player. The key is following the right path towards success, and putting in the work to get there. In this post, we list the 5 steps needed to become a winning online poker player. Do you have what it takes? The top 5 strategies for novice poker players, and intermediate-level poker players include the following: Opening Hands, Bet Sizing, Limping, Folding, and Positioning. Once you’ve mastered these 5 Texas Hold’em poker strategies, you’ll be able to incorporate many other strategies into your overall game plan. For nine-handed tournaments at most sites, pay jumps increase every nine spots (i.e. Every time a table is closed) until you get to the final 18 players. The pay jumps increase every three spots.

If you’re a Sit n Go player you’ll find the standard doesn’t change much from about $5 - $50 buy-ins, so if you have the cash you can probably look at chancing your arm at slightly higher stakes. If you find the heat too great – whatever your discipline - simply move back down to a more comfortable level.

Sensible hand selection is one of the first things you’ll learn when you start playing poker – whatever your discipline. Most, if not all, online players begin playing Texas Hold’em just playing every single hand – even rubbish like 9-2 off-suit – just to be involved in every hand. But players soon learn that folding most hands – or playing marginal hands in the right situations – is the key to a healthy poker life.

What recreational players wanting to make money at the tables will soon learn is that betting or raising with a limited set of hands is the way to go. As you improve over time you can comfortably incorporate more marginal hands into your repertoire depending on your opponents, the stage of a tournament, whether you’re playing cash or tourneys, your chip stack, table situation, and so on.

Finding the best computer kit is almost as important as finding the right online poker site. Getting the best Internet connection is a given, of course, but so is getting your hands on the best monitor you can afford. A widescreen monitor at least 24” is essential as it means you can fit many tables on-screen at once. Learning to multi-table is key to improving your volume and ultimately, improving your ROI (Return on Investment).

“Poker takes minutes to learn but a lifetime to master,” goes the rather over-worked saying. And if you are serious about improving as a player over the long-term reviewing your play is vitally important.

Taking notes on key hands you’ve been involved in is the first thing to do – just take a note of the Hand # in the corner of the game screen of any interesting hands you get involved in and you’ll be able to visit the Hand History to see the betting details (pre-flop, post-flop, showdown etc) or watch the hand from start to finish in the site’s Re-player.

By watching hands over and over with the benefit of hindsight you can spot mistakes in your play or take time to assess your opponents’ play. Then, when you come up against the same opponents again you’ll be better equipped.

Improving your play doesn’t stop at note-taking, of course: there are countless training videos and strategy articles on the web – many of them free – where you can pick and choose those relevant to your discipline. There’s really no excuse these days to be left wanting when it comes to improving at poker.

There’s no doubt that online poker players in 2020 are much better than they were 6 or 7 years ago – particularly at the upper levels – and the number of novices coming through at the bottom levels isn’t as high as it used to be.

Hunting out the fish is certainly much harder than is used to be, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t poker sites that have their fair share of bad players. New poker rooms which advertise heavily for business, poker sites attached to big sports betting sites and rooms that focus their lobbies on the micro-stakes games – all of these places are ideal for finding fishy players who are just dying to donate their bankrolls to you.

And while we’re on the subject of utilizing the web to improve your play, consider investing in some invaluable tracking software. Buying a dedicated piece of HUD (Heads-up Display) kit will set you back around $100 but over the long-term you can easily make that back in extra profits.

HUDs like PokerTracker or Hold’em Manager “sit” on top of your poker table and give you information on your opponents’ play, tracking stats like the percentage of hands they fold pre-flop, how much they bet pre-flop, and so on.Some sites, like Bovada, have anonymous players so it’s harder to a) take notes, and b) use tracking software, while other sites have banned the use of these devices altogether, so if you’re thinking of investing in a program, make sure your favorite site allows it.

One rule that applies just as well to live poker as it does the online game is to lay off the alcohol - completely. With a crate of Bud in the fridge at home it can be too easy just to crack open another can while grinding the cash tables.

But even after a couple of drinks your judgment can be severely impaired and you can feel invincible. Going for a two-outer to send that chump on life-tilt? Why the hell not; trying out a few gamble moves when you should be playing sensible, ABC poker? It can be too easy, especially when you start to get bored of the oftentimes monotonous nature of playing online poker for hours on end.

If you think poker begins and ends with No Limit Texas Hold’em, think again. While most land-based casinos are likely to offer NLHE at a few stakes – both in cash games and tournaments – online sites boast games in everything from Pot Limit, No Limit or straight Limit Hold’em, Omaha, Stud, Razz, and more unusual variants like 2-7 Triple Draw and Badugi.

Not only do these fringe variations give you the chance to try something new, they give you the chance to fleece the fish who are trying out new forms of the game themselves. If you can learn a few simple strategies at the lesser-known games, it will put you in a much better position to make an easy profit.

The beauty of online poker is that you can start your real-money poker journey with absolutely no bankroll at all. Most big sites will hold daily freerolls that cost nothing to enter and usually offer a couple of thousand dollars as prize money.
The play is usually fast and loose – they cost nothing to enter, remember – but freerolls are a good way of trying out a few plays and bumping up your balance. Check out poker forums online and some of the bigger poker magazines – they normally run exclusive freerolls which give away cash or live tournament seats.

Table Of Contents

Be honest, how many of you reading this article have wanted to be an online poker pro at some point since discovering such a thing was possible?

I know I have — and on more than one occasion.

Being able to play poker for a living seems like the perfect job — for someone who loves poker at least. But it's harder than you would like to believe.

How to be an online poker pro? We have a few quick poker tips for you to set you on your way to your dream job.

How to become a professional online poker player in one easy step would be to quit your job and use poker as your sole source of income.

While this instantly makes you a poker pro, it is not advised, not even a tiny amount, for reasons that we'll cover shortly.

Join GGPoker's leaderboard to win a contract as a professional poker player and make your dream come true!

1. Study all aspects of the game

Studying the game of poker is crucial if you want to learn how to succeed as a professional online poker player.

When you think you have learned all there is to learn about poker, you need to study and research even more.

In fact, you should never stop learning because standing still in this game means you're going to be left behind.

Read articles on PokerNews, check out the 10 most important poker strategy books ever written, join a poker training site, or hire a coach. Any edge you can create for yourself will eventually lead to profits.

You can also practice Texas holdem and pot limit Omaha cash games and tournaments for free on the WSOP Poker app.

The games are completely free to play, meaning you can play poker for fun, try new things, play online poker with friends and never risk any of your bankroll.

2. Prove you're a winning player

Remember how we said that handing in your notice and jumping straight into being a professional poker player isn't a good idea?

This is one of the main reasons why: you need to prove to yourself you know how to be a profitable online poker player first.

Many people bag a big score in a poker tournament, or win the equivalent of two months' wages at the cash tables and start thinking that this game is an easy way to make a living.

Wrong!

You need tens of thousands of cash game hands and tournaments (if not hundreds of thousands) to prove you're a winning player.

If you're not a winning poker player over the long term, you'll soon be heading back to your old boss cap-in-hand hoping to be reemployed.

3. Be realistic

Once you've ascertained that you're a winning poker player, it's time to begin trying to figure out how many poker hands or tournaments you'll need to play in order at least to match your previous salary.

Here's where many people fail.

When you have a salaried job, you are usually paid on the same date every month regardless of how productive your week or month is (within reason). You're almost certainly paid while on vacation, or if you're sick.

Are you really going to sit grinding for 60 hours every week?

How To Be Successful At Online Poker For Dummies

The fact you have to go to work five days per week is probably enough to make you get out of bed and go to your job. But what if none of that was true?

You may have aspirations of making $150,000 a year, and that may be possible. But make sure you factor in at least three full weeks 'holiday.'

You should also plan for being sick and unable to play for a couple of weeks per year. Also, ask yourself — are you really going to sit grinding for 60 hours every week?

Do you think you can make enough money at $0.25/$0.50 to warrant giving up your job?

Do you know how many online poker pros are there who wake up at 12:00 p.m., play online poker for two hours, and then swan off enjoying life to the max?

The answer is not many. And those who do generally don't succeed as professional online poker players for any meaningful length of time.

4. Give playing poker professionally a trial run

Even if you have done all of the above, you should at least give playing for a living a trial run, so you have experience of how to play online poker professionally.

Take a week's holiday from your job and spend the next five working days doing nothing but playing poker (at least you'll be getting paid even if you have a bad week!).

You may surprise yourself at how difficult it is to motivate yourself to play poker non-stop for a week.

Or how after four hours grinding you suddenly lose all concentration.

Or how after losing 15 buy-ins during the first three days you no longer want to get out of bed at 7:00 a.m.

It's best to find out you're not cut out for the life of a poker pro before you take the plunge into playing for a living.

5. Build a big bankroll and liferoll

You have gone through all the previous steps but still think you know how to be an online poker pro. That's fine, but do you have a bankroll and your other finances in order?

Most poker pros like to have at least six months' worth of life expenses tucked away in a separate bank account in case things go pear-shaped.

Dipping into your poker bankroll to cover your bills is a big no-no.

How To Be Successful At Online Poker Games

Your bankroll should be larger than a recreational player would have because you never want to drop down in stakes.

Doing so, dropping down that is, makes it harder to reach your monetary goals — much harder. It's better to be a bankroll nit than it is going broke.

6. Act professionally

Professional poker players often cite the freedom it gives them for playing for a living, but that's not to say you shouldn't have a professional attitude towards the job.

Some of the best poker players in the world are extremely disciplined and in their approach every single day.

You wouldn't rock up to work and put your feet on the desk or lounge around on the sofa with your laptop, so don't do it as a poker pro. How to become a professional poker player?

Starting acting like one, a professional that is.

Additional Readings

_{This article was originally published on Jul. 5, 2017. Last update: May 7, 2020.}

• Tags

  Online PokerPoker PlayersPoker StrategyPoker TournamentsPokerNews StrategyPokerNews Updates