People play poker for a variety of reasons. Some play it for entertainment; others play for rewards, and social recognition among their peer group. Poker is more of a mind game. One can master the game if some of the following tips are kept in mind. These are general guidelines for the game. Several websites offer specific poker tips for games like Texas Hold’em and 7 Stud.

Starting Hands
The basic thing to know when playing poker is which are good hands and which are bad hands. One should start at $1 –2.The hands to raise with are premium hands that one can jam the pot preflop; AA, KK, QQ, AK, JJ, AQ, TT. The hands to call with when one wants to see the flop are AJ, KQ, QJ, JT, T9 (only if of same suit), 99, 88, 77, Ax (same suit).

Deception

Poker involves a degree of deception to confound one’s opponents. Deception techniques include bluffing, semi-bluffing, and slow playing.
Bluffing - should be undertaken at a higher limit when there are fewer players. This is a useful tool in a no limit game.

Semi-Bluffing –This is akin to bluffing except that one has strong chances of getting a strong hand in later betting rounds. This is useful in no limit games.

Slow playing -To fool competitors into thinking that one has less of a hand , only if there is no likelihood of anyone drawing and there is little chance of the opponents getting better cards.
Four Key Poker Skills.
A poker player must develop the following skills to succeed in the game.

Math skills- One must know how to calculate and read pot odds to determine chances of winning and a share in the winning pot. One should know the number of outs that will improve one’s hand. Calculate the chance of hitting the pot by counting the number of outs, multiplying them by two and then adding one.

Discipline – The player needs to be disciplined enough to know when to stop or to quit the game. A disciplined player in a no limit game knows how to avoid losing his whole stack in one hand. A disciplined limit player has good pre-flop skills. Such a player knows when to make a loose call with a speculative hand.

Psychological Skills – These are essential to know what cards an opponent might have and to preempt his moves based on this speculation. One must also outwit the opponents by using deception techniques described above.
Weighing one’s risks- A good player knows what poker strategy to adopt based on his bankroll. These players take a risk only when the returns are far higher than the risk.

General tips
Many players play too many starting hands. Professional players play only 20%-30% of their starting hands. So one must concentrate on the higher value starting hands to be sure of winning a hand.
One must know when to stop betting. Depending on the opponents’ actions it is more profitable to lay down the cards then to continue losing.

In order to win one should place bets at limits where one can defeat the opponents. In case one is losing, one must move down in betting limits. These limits depend on whether one is a novice or a seasoned professional. One must also keep in mind the competition and one’s financial ability for the game
One can learn a lot from observing the opponents’ betting and playing styles. This can be achieved when one is not heavily involved in the hand.
One must bet not only to win but to also gain information.

One should try and guess the opponents’ moves by trying to think like him and to learn from his actions.
A smart tactic is to learn to bluff and semi-bluff when it is least expected, at the right time and to outwit one’s opponents.

A good player is one who doesn’t stick to the routine. It is a good move to change one’s game by playing some lower value starting hands, or by bluffing at some point during the game. However this should be done subtly to surprise one’s opponents.
It is necessary to understand player position. If one plays last, one can move after observing other people’s betting. So every position has an advantage based on which one can decide to bet, raise or fold up the game.

The best way to improve one’s game is to make notes of various moves and hands and create one’s own unique playing style. At the end of every game one must keep a record of the moves, bets and the amount of money won or lost. This helps improve one’s technique and skills.

It is wrong to get emotional at the table in case of a loss. Emotions should never one’s judgment at the poker table.
For a beginner it is important to improve the game by using pot odds and a pot odds calculator that is available at various sites. This helps one set a limit on how much to call for the next card on the board.

Usually two color decks, red and black are used in the game. This can confuse some people and they end up misreading their hand. So one must learn how to read a four-color deck for the four suits that is now used on several gaming tables to avoid mistakes.
A common mistake made by beginners is to copy somebody’s playing style. While one must definitely learn the good moves of professional players blindly copying is bad for the simple reason that one ends up imitating the person’s mistakes too. Secondly standard playing techniques do not take situational factors into account. Hence one should learn the various aspects of the game and understand the decision making process to evolve one’s unique playing style. This can be achieved with patience over time with a lot of practice. One can learn from the hand histories available on various gaming sites.
Since poker involves an element of luck one can get superstitious about wining or losing. The important thing to remember is that one should play well since the game is random and luck evens out over a few games.

Many beginners consider a suited hand to be a bonus. But this is a misconception since it is the ranking and pairing of cards that needs to be considered. A hand like A and K of different suits is more valuable than a hand like 4 and 10 of the same suit.
Poker is thus a fun game, which can be rewarding too. One should just keep the simple tips highlighted above to learn the art of choosing starting hands, employing pot odds, and aggressively betting one’s winning hands.