Not all Americans have access to online poker sites anymore. Those in Delaware, Nevada and New Jersey are limited to regulated sites in their own state, while residents of about 40 other states can still gain entrance to a few offshore poker sites. If you fall into those categories, wherever you play, there are a few ways you can increase your profit potential on the virtual felt.
Explore your Online Poker Options
Residents of Delaware are restricted to a single online poker network that spans three state-regulated websites. In Nevada, players have two options – WSOP.com or its barely-floating rival, RealGaming. In New Jersey, the opportunities are better as four sites across two networks provide decent competition. Residents of other states can visit sites like those on the Winning Poker Network (WPN).
Wherever you are, check out all of your options (even RealGaming in Nevada). You may find one site has juicy cash games for a few hours a day, or only on certain days, while another site is brimming with fish at other times. Knowing when to visit different sites for the best competition can do wonders for your win rate.
The same goes for online poker tournaments. Large guaranteed prize pools are attractive, but so are smaller guarantees that don’t attract so many players. Finishing low for a $50 score in a $20k GTD isn’t as good as finishing high in a $1k that pays $250, and the time dedicated to those tournaments makes a difference too.
Evaluate and Leverage your Multi-Tabling
If you’re not already multi-tabling, it’s time to start. If you fancy yourself a strong poker player, you should have no trouble playing more than one cash game or tournament at a time. If your win rate is $5/hour at a single table, you should be able to increase that to $8-$10/hour at two tables, and so on.
If you are a multi-tabler already, have you ever evaluated your win rate for the number of tables you play? It could be that adding more tables would benefit your bankroll, or conversely, subtracting a few might give you a better edge.
Keep track of your overall win rate for a few hours a day at the number of tables you generally play. Then try increasing and reducing your tables by 1 or 2 and see what happens. Understanding your own abilities to play the optimal number of tables is a great way to boost profits.
Consider Poker Training
If you’re really serious about making supplementary or even full-time income by playing online poker, training programs are a must. No matter how much you think you know about strategies and psychology, there are countless poker pros who you could be learning more from.
If you watch live poker games, you’ve probably picked a favorite pro that you’d like to emulate, but a better route might be to pick a player who’s tendencies are more like your own. Choose a pro that plays the way you do (but better, of course) and join a training site where they coach. If you’re terrible at bluffing, or have trouble reading opponents, focus efforts in that direction.
You may have to shell out a few bucks to build your skills, but dedicating a few hours a week to poker training can increase your win rate enough to cover the cost, and then some.