What I am about to say is common sense and may insult your intelligence, if so I apologise but it is surprising how many people do not play sensibly and do not heed the warning signs when they are in trouble. Please gamble responsibly and safely and you will have loads of fun.
First and foremost you must play within your means. If you have no money to bet with, don’t bet. Simple as that. The attraction of winning can cause people to gamble money they don’t have but if you need to win you shouldn’t play.
If you do have money and want to play then as long as you set your limits, and stick to them, you will be fine. Good money management is almost as important as good poker strategy and the two should be synonymous. If you are comfortable money-wise you won’t be looking to take risks and playing hands you shouldn’t. You can wait for the good hands to come along and clean up!
A common mistake people make is when they lose they ‘double up’ the next bet. Lose that and they double up again. And so forth. This is known as going ‘on tilt’ and can often lead to one thing – losing all your money. Good players will be on the lookout for somebody on tilt with a view to fleecing them even more! With poker if you lose, don’t fret. Just sit tight and wait for the next good hand. One will come and you will have a chance of winning back your lost money.
It’s a good idea to set yourself winning and losing limits. This means that if you lose the amount you have set as your limit you stop and try again another day. By the same token if you are up to your winning limit, come away and don’t push your luck! It’s amazing how different you feel when you are playing within your limits. Even if you have lost, in your mind it’s an amount you were prepared to lose so you don’t feel the pain. Just play another day and your luck may be different. Don’t be temped to win too much more than your winning limit because in poker things can change quickly and you might end up kicking yourself.
Follow these simple guidelines and treat it sensibly and you can have a lot of fun playing poker, you might even win some money.