winning poker strategy

This article will teach you how to be invisible at the tables, and will help you make your attacks difficult to read - which will cause your opponents to make more mistakes against you.

Switch Games Frequently
So many players just sit at one game for hours on end. I do recommend staying at a game if you are reading the table well, and have a good idea how to exploit the players you are sitting with. A couple fish who keep reloading can also give you a good reason to hang around a single game for a long period of time.
However, with players coming and going games can turn from profitable to unprofitable very quickly.
If you are in a game and your reads on your opponents aren't great you have to switch games frequently. There are several reasons for this: First, while you may not have great reads there are players at the table who are developing good reads on you. The longer you stay at the table the better an observant player will be able to exploit you. Second, with statistical tracking software being used by a large percent of online players your opponents will get better at reading you as the game
goes on without even trying. The biggest problem online is that a lot of players use programs that tells them how much you raise, how many hands you are playing, and how
aggressive you are. Your opponents don't even have to remember how you play anymore, their software will tell them, and these programs are getting very common.
If you do not use this software you absolutely have to be switching games every five to ten minutes.
Third, in online games a juicy game can turn into an unprofitable game in a matter of a few hands. You may join the game because of a high Plr/Flop and Avg. Pot listing in the lobby, but you may very well have just replaced the player who pumped up those numbers.
The fact is that if those are your motives for joining a game then you need to remember that there are usually dozens of other games in the lobby. By
constantly watching the lobby you can be finding better games all the time.

Switch Sites Frequently

I like to keep a good sized bankroll on at least three sites. I also stop playing at a site after I've focused on it for awhile to avoid players getting to know me. I do this for three reasons:

1) Statistical Tracking Software
I touched on statistical tracking software above. Basically, all of the regulars are using programs that give them information about how you play - and that information goes right beside your username. The more hands you play against them, the more information they have about how you play.
Now I use this software too, but I like to switch things up to avoid being known by the regulars. I don't see any reason to become well known in the poker world, so I like to be constantly switching sites. The more frequently you play in a game, the less profit you will make because the regulars will start to get to know you, and how you play. Even if they just know you are a decent player you will lose opportunities. Most of us will call a bet if we think there is a possibility our opponent is a clueless moron, but will fold if we know that they know the basics of poker.

2) Better Game Selection
I'm always looking for the best games. Having three or more bankrolls on multiple sites guarantees that you can locate a juicy game.
For example, with Fixed Limit Omaha Hi/Lo I find that sometimes at night there is simply not enough games going (even on PokerStars) to find a game where five or more players are seeing the flop (my type of game).
Having bankrolls at multiple sites helps me to find those games.

3) Bonuses
When you stop playing at a site for awhile they start pummeling you with reload bonuses. I try to have one new site where I am working on a large initial deposit bonus, and on the other two I try to have reload bonuses going.
This means that I stop playing at a site for awhile until they send me a good offer for a reload. By having accounts at a dozen poker rooms I find that I am getting enough reload offers to constantly be playing for a bonus.
The only drawback is that it can cost you some loyalty programs, like PokerStars VIP program. However, considering the advantages above this can be a small price to pay. When you add in the fact that you are always playing for a bonus this disadvantage is not big enough to worry about.

Find Targets
There are two ways to do this. Your targets can be games or people. If your targets are games then you are constantly finding the juiciest games, and leaving as soon as you find a better one.
If you play heads up cash games then your targets will be people. You have to maintain a fish list and constantly be looking for your fish to sit down at a table.
Either way, you should be looking for the best games at all times. Don't sit at a game for hours like it's the best game you could be sitting at - there are always several juicy games on the bigger poker sites, and each individual game will go through periods where there just isn't any point to play.
It also helps to pick a player at each table you play and make them your target for the session. Learn everything about them, and make your goal to take their stack. When you pick a player to study you will find that you often get their stack, or at least steal a couple pots off of them. This can be the difference between a winning hour of poker and a break-even hour of poker.
I also like to keep a fish list, and join a table that has somebody from my list. I'll then study that player knowing that they are awful, and figure out how to best take their stack. I'm constantly searching for the players on my fish list while I play.

Don't Brand Yourself
So many players brand themselves at the poker table. On PokerStars, they add some stupid image which is easy to remember. On sites with avatars they stick with the same avatar for months.
You don't want your opponents to remember you. You want to be invisible at the poker tables.
Above all, don't brand yourself with a picture if your site offers the option.
It will only help people to remember you.
I've had times where I was twelve tabling and didn't have much time to read the table, but I noticed a person sitting at four or five of my tables strictly because they had a stupid picture.
Knowing that this player was at five of my tables I dedicated extra attention to them. To be honest, if they didn't have a picture I probably wouldn't have noticed. That picture cost them a lot of money that night, and because they were so awful they are on my fishlist and I have taken money from them a few times since that night.



Summary
Be absolutely invisible at the tables. Don't let the regulars notice you or get to know how you play.
Being invisible will add an edge to your game that very few players have. This edge is so great that even advanced players will find that their profits go up when they do this. You will get more action if you are a new face than if you are seen as a
regular. So keep your opponents off balance by switching games and switching sites as often as possible. While you are in a game don't brand yourself, and don't chat.