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Groundwork
Some recommendations: 1. Have a bankroll of at least 100 times the buy-ins of the game you intend to play. If you intend to play $10 buy-ins, you need to start with a bankroll of at least $1,000 (preferably $2,000). This is one of the most ignored aspects of the game. Players playing with small bankrolls are playing with scared money. The result is that every loss represents a larger proportion of their funds making the pain of the loss that much more and increasing the chances of going on tilt and playing bad poker. 2. Understand and practice position. If you dont understand it, read up on it. Basically, you want to be the later one to act in every round of betting. The later your position, the more information you have and the marginal hands you can play; the earlier your position at the table, the less information you have and the stronger your hand has to be. 3. Poker is a game of skill and luck. Luck (both good and bad) plays a more obvious role in the short-term but, over-time, skill prevails. If you play poker with a short-term mindset you are going to experience more bad beats you just have to expect that. But if you understand that bad beats are a shorter-term phenomenon, you can avoid going on tilt or becoming disillusioned with the game. 4. Work on your heads up game. Every game eventually becomes one of heads up and the tactics of heads up is radically different from the tactics that precede it in a normal game. 5. Stop thinking youre entitled to win a pot. This is the source of all tilt. For example, your chances of making a flush draw when you hold two suited hole cards and the flop shows another two suits is only about 35%. 65% of the time you will miss your flush! Yet so many players think they should win this pot. 6. Get good at maths. Understand the odds and numbers behind the game. That way, youre always making the most optimal decisions. And what if you suck at maths (like me). Dont worry, there are ways around it as you will discover.

Recommended game type

The game is No-Limit Texas Holdem. 95% of the time, I play low-stakes, 6-seater Turbo SNGs. I only play Turbo. I dont play anything faster than Turbo (the blinds increase too quickly and luck is more of a factor as youre forced to make moves sooner) and I avoid Regular tables because theyre just too slow (and I want a minimum return on my time). I rarely play 9-seaters or above too many player unknowns for my liking. I stick to the 6-seater tables. I dont play cash-games. Cash games favour those with deeper pockets. I want my opponents to be knocked-out permanently for making poor decisions. I dont multi-table because Im no good at it. If you are good at it, go for it. I always have chat turned off and I hide avatars because I find them a distraction. Besides, nothing of value ever comes through on the chats. Welcome to the internet

Poker room
I generally play on Betfair or Pokerstars. Most recently, I have focused solely on Betfair because I find there are fewer maniacs playing there. Sure, you can make a lot of money from maniacs but thats generally in cash-games. Because of the type of game I play (see above), I prefer to minimise unpredictability in the form of loose-aggressive players.

Dealing with bad beats

Special mention needs to be given to bad beats because they are the principle reason for players giving up or losing even more money. Bad beats happens to everyone. Theyre more noticeable in the online game because we see far more hands than in a live game so bad beats are more obvious. Bad beats cause many players to go on tilt and start revenge playing. There are a few things you can do to build up resilience against tilt.

Developing the correct poker mindset

Will you always make the money with this strategy? Of course not. Poker is a game of skill and luck. You can make all the right moves and decisions and the other players can all make dumb moves and you can still lose... Repeatedly. Sure, its as frustrating as hell and you might go on tilt. But heres the thing to bear in mind. Luck plays a big part in poker in the short-term. Luck plays a small part in poker in the long-term. You need to start looking at and playing poker with a long-term viewpoint.

Only care about playing correct poker

All you should care about is, Are you playing good poker, i.e. are you making the correct moves each time? If you are making the correct moves, the money will take care of itself in the long-run. If you are making more correct moves and fewer incorrect moves, you will be more profitable. Your job is to make the correct moves regardless of the outcome. Remember, you are going to experience a lot of bad beats, i.e. bad luck but in the long-term, skill, i.e. making the correct moves, not luck, will prevail.

Would I have done the same thing in the other persons position?
A short stack goes all-in A3o. We call with AKs. They hit a 3 and win the pot. That seems like a bad beat maybe it is but if you were in the other persons position, bleeding chips, with fewer than 3 BB, all-in with A3 may be a reasonable move.

Should I have been in the hand in the first place?

Sometimes we limp in with a hand we should fold (e.g. negative EV, dont have correct win odds), e.g. 75o and we hit the board: 77Q The other player goes all-in with AK, say. We call only for them to hit runner-runner for a straight: 77QJT

We can complain all we want but we had no business calling to see the flop with 75o. Instead of bitching about our luck, we should ask ourselves, should I have been involved in the hand in the first place? The answer is clearly no.

Dont play when your not fully-focused

Dont play drunk. Dont play when youre angry or annoyed. Dont play when youre tired. Dont play when youre bored and just want something anything to do. Dont watch TV when playing. Dont surf the net. Dont multi-task. Pay attention to the play. Whilst you can learn a lot from the TI software, theres nothing quite like watching the table and get a feeling for all the players style. Dont revenge play. Dont play when youre on tilt. Avoid tilt by reminding yourself that luck is more prevalent in the short-run and loses its power in the long-run. Youre in this for the long-run, remember.

OK, thats the groundwork laid out. Lets get started.

How to Make $100s a Month Playing Near-Perfect, Low Stakes Online Poker
The Easy Way To Play Texas No-Limit Holdem Poker Like a Pro!

My wake-up call
Most people who try to make money playing online poker give up pretty quickly. The bad-beats, poor bankroll management, mental anguish and anti-social aspects of the online game take their toll, fast. After a year of playing day-in, day-out, I knew I would never make the heady-heights of the world famous players. I could not make consistent profits. If truth be told, I didnt have the skill; I didnt have the temperament; I didnt have the passion. I knew my mediocre poker brain could not compete with more skilled players. But there was one obvious advantage to online poker that I couldnt ignore something that live players dont have. You can use calculators and charts to help you play near-optimal poker. What more could you really ask for? Its like having a seasoned poker pro next to you telling you what to do. When this obvious truth dawned on me, my game changed. Two things happened. First, I stopped playing poker by gut instinct. Most beginners do the same thing with the same cards, raise AK, over-raise/all-in with middle pairs, over-play AJ, cant put down KK and so on. They play the game solely from the perspective of their hole cards and ignore everything else. Second, I realised there was no need to master the game. There was no need to calculate the odds like the professionals. You could download software and other tools to do all the heavy-lifting for you. Is that a crummy thing to do? Does it diminish the game? Does that make you a poor poker player. Probably. Frankly, I couldnt care less. Heres where Im coming from

An honest look at my relationship with poker

I have no aspiration to master the game of poker; I have no aspiration to be a professional player. I am and always will be a low-intermediate player at best; I have no ambition to play in the World Series of Poker;

Poker would not feature in my Top 1,000 list of important things. I have no love for it (and even less for the players I meet); I have no time for the bullshit machismo and inflated egos. I play it because it beats digging ditches; I dont care about being respected by other players; I care about making correct (i.e. mathematically-sound) decisions in poker because thats how you make money in the long-run. I care about making the right decision every time, i.e. playing good poker, regardless of the outcome. Luck is always a factor in poker especially in the short-run. As Im making good decisions, I can live with the variance of luck. I only care about making money in poker. Period.

If you share a similar outlook, read on.

Essential tools
To play more consistent, profitable poker, you need: Tournament Indicator (essential). You can download a free copy here, http://bit.ly/1bGriyZ Poker charts (for the final heads-up stage of the game). With practice, you can forego the charts. You can print out the charts towards the end of this guide, under Late/heads-up strategy.

Getting started
1. Download a free copy of Tournament Indicator (TI) here, http://bit.ly/MGikvj 2. Print off the Heads-Up charts (under Late/heads-up strategy) for the final stages of the game Now, the strategy I use comprises three parts: 1. TOURNAMENT INDICATOR (TI) STRATEGY, plus 2. GENERAL STRATEGY, plus 3. LATE/HEADS-UP STRATEGY The first two parts of the strategy (TI STRATEGY and GENERAL STRATEGY) are used in conjunction with each other. The last part of the strategy (LATE/HEADS-UP STRATEGY) is used on its own.

Tournament Indicator (TI) Strategy

Tournament Indicator is a poker calculator that will change the way you play poker. You can download a free version here, http://bit.ly/1bGriyZ. After youve installed TI, fire up your poker program. Then, load TI. (You have to load your poker program first or TI wont work). Once loaded, TI docks itself to your poker program. (You can adjust its settings so that the stats hover over the players on the table but I find this too crowded and distracting). Nothing much happens until you join a table and the game starts. Once the game starts, TI does the rest. Its simple.

Using the Tournament Indicator (TI) software

TI looks confusing at first but its really very straightforward and you only need a few of its features. (TI has a lot of additional features that I have never used). Note: I use TI with its default settings. The most important features of the TI software are: EV (Expected Value) number Win Odds versus Pot Odds VPIP % (Voluntary Put In Pot) MZone number Player-type icons

EV Number

One of the most important decisions in poker is whether you should get involved in a hand in the first place. How many times, based on gut-feeling, have you played a hand, caught a piece of it, only to be massacred by a stronger hand? Paying attention to the EV number avoids many of these situations. What is the EV (Expected Value) number? In TI, EV is the average amount of big blinds (BBs) this hand will win or lose. For example: AA has an EV value of +2.71. Lets assume the BB is $6. 2.71 $6 = $16.26. That is, on average, you would expect to make $16.26 playing AA. 27o has an EV value of 0.22. If BB is $6, you will make 0.22 $6= $1.32. That is, on average, you would expect to lose $1.32 playing 27o.

The EV number is crucial. It tells you which hands to play and which hands to fold before even seeing the flop. Only play a hand when you have positive EV and/or your Win Odds are greater than the Pot Odds or, preferably, both. This brings us nicely to

Win Odds and Pot Odds

As the name suggests, Win Odds are the odds of you winning a hand. Pot odds is the amount of money you need to put in the pot to see the next card, e.g. if you have to pay $1 into a pot of $3, your pot odds are 3:1 or 33% Only play a hand when your Win Odds are greater than your Pot Odds. If youre not sure which odds are larger, just look at the bar graphs. You want the Win Odds bar to be larger than the Pot Odds bar. CAUTION. Beware of players trying to milk you. They will deliberately raise small amounts so that the Pot Odds never exceed the Win Odds, just to keep you paying into the pot. So dont blindly proceed just because the Win Odds are greater than the Pot Odds, you need to read the board cards too and get a read on what the player(s) might be holding.

VPIP % (Voluntarily Put In Pot)

VPIP % tells you what percentage of time the player voluntarily put money in the pot. The higher the number, the looser, fishier the player. This is a crucial number. Consider the following scenario: Youre holding AJ and you raise, everyone folds, except one player. This player (Fish) has a high VPIP %, e.g. >30%, and goes all-in. What should you do? Call. This player plays far too many hands and its likely they have come with a mediocre hand. Another scenario. Youre holding AJ and you raise, everyone folds, except one player. This player (Rock) has a low VPIP %, e.g. 5%, and goes all-in. What should you do? Fold. This player has only played 5% of their hands so far. Now theyve gone all-in. Its obvious they havent come along with junk. Respect the re-raise. Besides, AJ is not as strong as you think. Against a player with a high VPIP, you might consider widening your own range of playing hands. Although you maximise your chance of beating them by remaining patient and only playing the stronger hands. VPIP% is a powerful indicator of the type of player youre up against. It helps you play the player, not the cards.

MZone number

You shouldnt play too tightly in poker or youll just get blinded out. Similarly, you cant be afraid to pay to see cards (if your EV and win odds are correct) for fear of losing chips. This is where your MZone number is important. Its a useful reminder of when you need to be more aggressive or when you can afford to play tighter.

The MZone number is a measure of your overall stack health. TI calculates your MZone number by dividing the size of your stack by the size of the BB. So if you have 1,200 chips and big blinds are 100, your MZone number is 1,200/100 = 12. Your MZone will change as you win/lose chips and as the blinds increase. If your MZone is: Greater than 20 (Green), all options are open to you, i.e. call, raise, re-raise; Between 10-20 (Yellow), start widening the hands you play to include pairs, suited connectors and above; Between 6-10 (Orange), you need to start making moves or you will be blinded out. Be aggressive. If you have a good hand, go all-in. (Your stack is too small now to intimidate the table with a re-raise). Between 1-6 (Red), go all-in with any high-card or above. Less than 1 (Grey), call with any cards.

Player-type icons
TI assigns small graphics to indicate what type of player youre up against. There are a lot of icons but the main ones to pay attention to are:

Calling station. A loose, passive player. Will call and fish to the end. Gambler. A loose, aggressive player. Will raise and continuation bet even if they have nothing. A tricky player to deal with. Sad face. Tight, aggressive player. Will bet strong when they have the goods. Rock. Rock solid player. Generally only plays the strongest hands. A tight, passive player. May fold if re-raised and there are threats on the board, e.g. over cards, straight possibilities etc. Its easy to see how you would use this information. Youre more likely to call a Calling Station who raises pre-flop, for example, than a Tight, Aggressive player who does the same.

TI strategy summary
So lets round up what weve learned so far using TI: 1. Only play a hand when you have positive EV and/or your Win Odds are greater than the Pot Odds or, preferably, both. 2. If your MZone number is less than 12, your stack is starting to shrink. You need to start widening the range of hands you play, e.g. play pairs 55 to AA; suited: AK, AQ, AJ, AT-A6, KQ-K9, QJ-Q8, JT-J8, T9, T8; unsuited: AK-AT, KQ-KT, QJ-QT, JT. 3. A player with a high VPIP % is loose and is playing a much wider, i.e. weaker, range of hands. Take advantage of this when you have a strong hand they will probably pay you to the end. 4. If your MZone is 6-10, go all-in with good hands. (Your stack is not large enough to intimidate the other players with a pre-flop raise nor a raise on the flop). 5. You can get an idea of the type of player your up against by looking at their player-type icon and their VPIP.

Remember, the overall strategy comprises: TI strategy + General strategy + Late/Heads Up strategy. Weve looked at TI strategy, now lets move on to General s trategy.

General strategy
Having a general strategy will ensure that you play strategic, strong poker from the start. 1. Play very tight at the beginning. Loosen up when: a. There are only four players left (assuming six players start), and/or b. Your MZone number is less than 12 2. Always raise or fold, dont call. Calling is a weak move. It doesnt put the other player under any pressure and, more importantly, it gives you no information. Also, by raising, you could take the pot down there and then. But, the main purpose of raising is to acquire information. If you raise 3BB and someone calls, theyre probably holding significant so if the flop shows high-cards or potential straight, for example, you have some warning. But if you just let the other

person limp in to see the flop, you are no clearer as to whether theyve hit or missed when the flop lands. 3. Dont try to be a hero. Most tables have a LAG (loose-and-aggressive) player that bullies the table, steals all day long and fishes. Dont feel like you have to take them on. But if you do have a hand against such a player, make it expensive for them to see the next card. 4. If you completely miss the flop, fold if raised. Dont fall in love with your cards. 5. If youre in the blinds, dont think every dealer raise is a steal. But if the player has a high VPIP (>30%), consistently raises from the dealer position and you hold an A, K or Q high-connectors or any pair, re-raise or put them all-in. 6. Bluffing is rare amongst beginners. But if the player has a high VPIP %, try calling/raising. Similarly, if the player has a low VPIP, respect any raise they make. 7. Raise on the turn if you want to maximise your payout. If the other player is trying to hit, they will pay to see the river. They wont, obviously, pay you if they miss the river so the turn is the last chance you have to maximise your pay-out. 8. Position is still all-important. In early position, you need to play stronger hands only: Pairs: 77 to AA Suited: AK, AQ, AJ, AT, KQ, KJ, KT, QJ, QT, JT, J9, T9 Unsuited: AK, AQ, AJ, AT, KQ, KJ

In middle position, play: Pairs: 55 to AA Suited: AK, AQ, AJ, AT-A6, KQ-K9, QJ-Q8, JT-J8, T9, T8 Unsuited: AK-AT, KQ-KT, QJ-QT, JT

In late position, you will play a much wider range of hands: Any pair Suited: Any ace, KQ-K2, QJ-Q8, JT-J7, 97, 96, 87, 86, 76, 75, 65, 54 Unsuited: AK-AT, KQ-K9, QJ-Q9, JT-J8, T9, T8, 98, 97, 87

Now lets look at the last component of the overall strategy, the Late/Heads-Up strategy.

Late/heads-up strategy
9. Pay less attention to TI in the final stages of the game its calculations are skewed the fewer players there are. With fewer players, card values change, e.g. aces and kings become much stronger, high suited connectors are more powerful etc. So if you have these high cards, play them aggressively. 10. Go all-in with any ace. 11. Be super-aggressive on the bubble. No one wants to be the one to be knocked out when theyre so close to the money so play on that fear. But there will come a point when the other player has nothing to lose and will call with anything, so be aware of this. Generally, make sure youre holding something when youre being aggressive A, K, Q, high-connectors, any pair. 12. Bully the short-stack but know when to stop. Again, generally, make sure youre holding something when youre bullying A, K, Q, high-connectors, any pair. But again there will come a point when the other player has nothing to lose and will call with anything. 13. When you get down to heads-up, be loose and aggressive when you have the button. Raise with any of the following hands. (You may be surprised at the range of hands below but this is a near-optimal strategy according to Nash Equilibrium).

14. When you get down to heads-up and you are the big blind, tighten up and only call/raise with the following hands in the yellow range.

15. High cards have greatly increased value in heads-up situation. If you have any picture card or ace, thats a potential calling hand. As the blinds become huge, you dont have the luxury of waiting for great hole cards. Heads up is a different game to regular poker.

16. In heads up, any pair on the flop is powerful.

Summary
There you have it. A strategy to make the money in SNGs more often. You dont need to be a poker-odds genius you only need to get a free copy of Tournament Indicator at http://bit.ly/MGikvj and apply the three parts of the strategy outlined above: 1. Tournament Indicator strategy, plus 2. General strategy, plus 3. Late/Heads-up strategy Try it you may be surprised by the results. I would wish you good luck but as you know, luck has little to do with it (in the long run!). All the best with this strategy I hope it works for you.