Play online poker with World Series of Poker

We don’t know about you but watching the poker pros win big in Las Vegas and over in Europe really makes us determined to put some serious time into our game. It’s not just the professionals that get us fired up, when a player no one has heard of comes through and scoops up the pot – now that’s what poker is about for us! If you’re one of many dreaming of international poker success, online poker is a great place to start. Here are our tips for getting started…

Train with the best of the best

If you want to learn, you might as well learn from the very best. We’re talking the most prestigious and well-established name in the poker world – the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Not only do these guys run the most respected tournaments in the world, but they offer you the chance to hone your skills online, on your desktop or mobile, at WSOP.com. Step into America’s largest online poker room and earn your stripes in a variety of no-limit hold’em, stud and Omaha games. Continue reading

Switching from Live to Online Poker

In todays increasingly digital world, online poker has become highly popular and played by many all around the world. So if you are planning to make the switch from live to online poker and take advantage of some of those online poker bonuses sites like www.pokermira.com offer, keep on reading this article.

There are several important differences between live and online poker, the majority of which tend to be overlooked by players seeking to make the switch. Understanding these differences is, however, essential if you are to ensure success. So whether you wish to go online for financial or practical reasons, it is worth preparing yourself in order to make the most of your transition.

1. Reading your opponents

Probably the most critical difference to consider when making the switch from live to online poker is that reliance on reading other players’ tells will not suffice in the virtual world. It is betting skills, not reading skills, that are of utmost importance when playing online, so live players seeking to make the transition must ensure their tactical decision-making is up to scratch before switching.

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2. Speed and concentration

In a live game, poker players tend to have a few minutes to recompose themselves after coming up against a bad beat or making a bad play. Due to the speed at which hands are dealt in the digital world (up to 200 hands per hour), this is not the case when playing online. Newcomers to online poker must learn to adjust to this faster pace, particularly if you are prone to tilting during the course of live games.

3. Sociability vs. solitude

Another often-overlooked psychological element to online poker is the hours of solitude that playing entails. Online poker inevitably involves long periods alone, without distractions, in front of a computer screen. It lacks the social interaction and atmosphere that live casinos provide, and can often become a serious sticking point for players used to live games.

4. Poker tourism

There is no guaranteeing the calibre of player your will be facing when playing live poker, Casinos are usually comprised of a combination of standards, from the occasional gambler and complete novice to the seasoned expert. Online casinos, on the other hand, are usually frequented by many more online poker professionals; those who actually play online poker for a living and are thus a great deal more competent than your average casino player. Newcomers to the online game should certainly bear this in mind and perhaps expect to come up against stiffer competition than they are used to.

5. Multi-tabling

For newcomers to online poker, multi-tabling should be approached with caution. It demands a quick wit and a great deal of stamina to pull off successfully, but can be greatly profitable for those who do in fact succeed. If you chose to play single tables, you should remember that many of your opponents will not be. As a result, marginal hands and careful prioritising will be taking place, unlike in a live situation where players are often a lot looser and more impatient, risking more on marginal hands than in online situations.

Understanding the differences between live and online poker is essential if you are to make a successful transition, so ensure you are fully prepared before taking the leap into the digital world.

Poker for beginners: how to not go broke

Online Poker is undoubtedly the biggest gambling phenomenon of the past 10 years, with over 40million people (6.8%) playing some form of poker online. This figure is ever-increasing, with high profile televised and web broadcast games bringing new players to the tables every month.

Whether you’ve played a small game at home or frequently play online, you will certainly know how fun and potentially profitable poker can be. That being said, becoming a successful player is difficult, as it requires lots of work, studying and playing to get to the stage of being profitable.

One of the most common problems faced by beginners is going broke. It’s all too common for new players to deposit a small amount of money into one of the many online poker rooms and lose it all within the same day. Whilst this may not hurt your pocket initially, going broke isn’t fun and can lead to you spending more money that you may not have in order to play more.


The key to becoming a good player is to never go broke. If you never go broke, you can get enough experience to become a good player. This means that you should never risk too much of your bankroll (the amount of money in your cashier) at any one time.

By consecutively losing more money than you can afford, you will not only play worse, you will cause yourself significant mental and possibly financial anguish. If you’re considering playing poker and don’t want to go broke, follow these guidelines and your risk of ruin will be lower than 5%.

No Limit Cash

If you play no limit cash games, you should have a minimum of 2,500 big blinds (bb) in your bankroll. This is the equivalent of 25 games with a 100bb at each table. You should always move down a level if you have less than 2000bb. Move up if you can show to be profitable and have over 2,500bb for the desired level you wish to move up to.

Sit ‘n’ Go

To play at any level, you will need a minimum of 45 buy ins (up to 80 if you want to really reduce risk of ruin). In order to move up levels you will need 75 buy ins of that level. Move down a level if you ever have less than 40 buy ins.

Multi table tournaments

Because the field and pay outs of multi table Poker Games are significantly larger than other games, the chances of winning are significantly smaller. As a result you have to have more buy ins in your bankroll to compensate. To play tournaments, you are expected to have 100 games worth of money in your bankroll.

By employing this method of controlling your bankroll size, you can drastically reduce your risk of ruin whilst getting a firm understanding of the game. Good luck at the tables!

Dispelling the Myths of Online Poker

There are a ton of myths circulating around about the game of online poker. And as with all myths, some are true and others are false. In order to keep from losing money because of inaccurate information, it is important to differentiate the inaccurate information from the factual information. The following are some of the major online poker myths and what you should instead believe.

Internet Poker Websites Are Rigged

This is simply untrue. In actuality, online poker sites that allow players to gamble for real money cannot take the risk of rigging their Random Number Generators. Doing so is not only illegal, but also impossible to not get caught.

Poker Bots Are Better Players Than Humans

This yet another widely believed, but entirely false myth of the game. Even though this does hold true for games such as checkers and chess, bots are unable to speculate in the manner that human beings can. This fact contributes to the superiority of human online poker players.

Cards Can Be Viewed via Hacking

Wrong again! No player ever needs to worry about their cards getting hacked by another player. Online poker rooms are highly secure areas, allowing a player’s cards to never be seen by anyone else. A poker site’s reputation stands on its ability to protect its players.

There Is a Greater Chance of Losing When Playing Against Unskilled Players

This is one poker myth almost every player has heard at one time or another. Honestly, those who convince themselves that this is true are simply trying to justify the fact that they are unable to utilize certain winning strategies. If your skills are sharpened and you are holding a great hand, the skill level of the other players holds no bearing on your poker game.

Aggressive Playing Is the Best Strategy

Coming into a poker game with guns blazing is not the way to dominate the table. What you see as the ideal aggressive playing strategy your opponents will view as the strategy used by someone who cannot back up their mouth. It is crucial to find a healthy balance.

Bluffing Is the Way to Go

Then there are those who come from the school of thought where bluffing is the key to poker success. But just as with any other strategy, too much of a good thing can poison a game. Most casual poker players fail to realize that bluffing is a fine art that takes a lot of practice to master.

Poker Is a No-Skill Gambling Game

This statement is unbelievably far from the truth. The cream-of-the-crop poker players know how to utilize their skills and strategies to take what seems to be a terrible hand and turn it into something workable if not winnable. You must know how and when to bluff, fold, call, size up your opponents and calculate your winning odds.