The process of improvement in online poker is constant. To be a high-level player it is necessary to keep learning, never stop being curious to experiment new strategies or to put into practice tactics extracted from expert manuals.
Trying to improve little by little and putting into practice new ways to read the games and confuse the opponents is crucial to become a poker professional. But all that takes time, and to reach that level it is important to create a routine, keep curiosity and the ability to learn alive, because poker is a game in which a novice can manage, but the big prizes are reserved for those who are in the Olympus of the world’s poker players.
Advanced online poker strategy: which one is the best?
If you want to enter the world of professional poker you will need to know the best advanced poker strategy for cash game. You will want to take – or have taken – the step towards a more sophisticated poker, so we recommend that you start by familiarizing yourself with blocker bets.
A beginner has almost automated only one way to win: to take command, to impose himself on the rest of the players through aggressiveness and to force the withdrawal through fear. That may work at the beginning, but it is a strategy with little chance.
As soon as you meet a higher-level player who is reading you and you see that your advanced poker strategy of force is useless, you will panic and you will not know what to do. That’s when the player who really knows what he’s doing will put you on the ropes and beat you.
When does a blocking bet happen? Imagine this situation: you have good cards, but you don’t want to risk a big bet. It is normal that in such a situation you want to defend yourself, and the best way to do it is through a blocker bet.
What does a blocker bet consist of? It consists of making a small bet that prevents your opponents from forcing you to bet more than you wanted. Although they have the handicap of being unprofitable, it is a good way to cushion the damage in case you sense that a player wants to force you to bet more than you want to try to rob you. With this type of bet what you get is to prevent opponents from trying to force you, stopping that escalation and keeping your stack even with the worst hands.
Be careful, blocking bets are not used against extremely aggressive players. Neither against those who seem too suspicious, since they will be able to detect your strategy.
In case you think you have the best hand, and only in case your opponent is going to call you with a worse hand, you will have to discard the blocking bet, given its low effectiveness in this case.
On the other hand, when there is a bet made by the opponent that you don’t care to call, omit this type of advanced online poker strategy because there is no place for it. Use it only when you want to protect yourself.
Advanced online poker strategies for live games
Another advanced online poker strategy is known as squeeze. Literally, it means “choke”. To understand where this strategy is contextualized you have to understand one of the most important aspects that affect novice players, which is the sophisticated gambling syndrome. Under this name is known the tactic of looking smarter than you are. A way of bluffing, but in terms of style, not in terms of a single hand. Done well it can have a great effect, but be aware that it is a somewhat risky strategy.
It only works in a limit situation, when you bet a lot of chips and have a lousy hand. It can also work in a tight play, although if there is no margin for bluffing, a squeeze play is not likely to have much of a chance.
It is not the best poker play, nor is it the most breakthrough or the most efficient, but it can be helpful when it comes to protecting yourself from an aggressive play in the last stages of an MTT tournament.
If you find yourself in the situation that the first player opens raising in many hands, using the squeeze tactic can help you to stop that raise.
Another aspect to keep in mind about advanced poker strategies is pot control. This can be achieved by two small guidelines: keeping control of your reactions, making only decisions based on mathematical calculations and probabilities, and being a master of camouflage, preventing your opponents from reading your game.
If you want to know more about the best poker strategies, or if you want to check again our basic poker strategy guide with tips on how to manage your poker game, don’t hesitate to explore the rest of the contents to improve your way of playing and keep learning new ways to manage your game.
