How to Start Playing Poker: Five Simple Steps to Keep You Safe from Losses and Disappointment

At the movies, poker looks glamorous—you bluff, pick up that missing ace at the last minute, and take home the jackpot. In the real world, however, things look a bit different.

A great many new poker players are burned once and never play again, unaware they've done anything wrong. Worse, they come away thinking poker—and gambling in general—is evil. But if you're not bothered about gambling addictions, then there's nothing wrong with playing now and then, especially if you're using a safe and easy service like PokerStars Mac in the first place.

But if you are not prone to gambling addiction, then there is nothing bad in having the occasional game.

Especially poker—a cognitive challenge that will make your brain, instincts stronger and develop such traits as patience and self-control.

Poker is also an excellent way to learn the art of reading people more effectively.

Hence, if the idea of card games doesn't repel you immediately, then it is a thing worth attempting.

But how do you do it without getting burned out or frustrated?

Here are five simple-to-apply tips by poker pros.

1. Don't Dream About Big Winnings

And in general, just don't think too much about money.

Even veterans admit that the heyday of poker on the Internet is behind us. Now it is extremely difficult to make good money unless you play professionally (gaming entire nights in front of multiple screens with special software).

Nearly nobody has a regular income from playing on the Internet. The majority either lose or win from time to time.

So first, play poker for fun. Don't expect to become an overnight winner.

2. Don't Try to Master All the Rules at Once

Another common newbie blunder is spending hours and hours learning all the rules of all varieties of poker. It's like how new drivers study all the road rules in the handbook before sitting the driving test.

You don't need to.

There are several dozen forms of poker, and more than 20 are staples on the Internet. Don't worry about finding out all that stuff before you sit down to play.

The way to go is starting with No-Limit Texas Hold'em.

It's the most popular poker game, and if you get hooked, you can always branch out later.

The rules don't appear to be simple at first, but experienced players recommend you start as soon as you learn the basics. The best way to learn Hold'em is to play it.

3. Choose a Good Poker Site

There are hundreds of places where you can play poker nowadays.

Don't get caught up in flashy advertisements of smaller sites. Rather, employ one of the large, well-known sites with plenty of players.

Why?

• You'll never be lonely to play.
• You can choose tables that suit your bankroll.
• These sites offer fast and safe deposits and withdrawals.
• Above all, only big platforms provide effective protection from cheats.

4. Attempt to Play as Much as You Can

Practice is essential to build experience and skill. The more you play, the faster your game will improve, says poker pro John Young.

Online, you can even play at multiple tables at once—learning your maximum in the shortest possible time. 

Only by consistently being faced with poker scenarios will you begin to get on top of them. Briefly: theory is worth its weight, but only practical experience makes you an actual poker player.

And the more you play, the higher the chances that you'll learn from your own errors.

Veterans indicate that in poker—much like chess—reviewing your mistakes is best done to improve.

Manually or by using software that specializes in analysis is how this can be achieved. There are now many tools available to analyze your play and that of your opponents.

Sophisticated players tend to set up several monitors: one where they play, the rest for live analysis.

5. Shed the Romanticism and Superstition Early On

Perhaps the biggest poker myth of them all is that it's all about psychology, and bluffing, and an intuitive ability to "read your opponent."

Bluffing, yes—is involved—but taken to enormous extremes, where Hollywood maintains, by so-called experts.

Yet the single most important thing about poker in the real world is… simple arithmetic, and the theory of probability.

Don't panic, though—this isn't NASA-grade maths.

Even if you weren't great at math in school, you can still play fairly well at poker—if you have discipline, curiosity, and a little grit.