Target Audience: This strategy post is intended for players who describe themselves as “freeroll whores”, players who haven’t deposited any money online yet, or players who have made a few deposits & are breaking even or losing.

Introduction: Making money playing poker on the internet is much more than just being good at poker. There are several things that successful players do to increase their expectation that happen away from the poker table. They choose profitable games, they manage their bankroll well, and they maximize the rakeback that poker sites give to you in return for playing. This post will be a short guide to getting started at online poker in a profitable way.

This guide is also written to be as short & sweet as possible. Also, at the end of each section, you’ll find cliff notes, summing everything up in 1-2 short sentences.

Rule #1: Start at a smaller poker site

There are several good reasons to start at a site that is smaller.
The smaller sites give you more rakeback & bonuses.
Smaller sites are often softer.
You won’t be able to make use of the advantages large sites offer.
Smaller sites need players, and in order to entice you to play there, they often offer bigger bonuses or more rakeback than the big two. And because the rake you pay is a large portion of your win rate at microstakes, earning more of that rake back by clearing a bonus or getting rakeback is very important when you’re first starting out. And when you’re new & barely winning, very often whoring bonus is the only thing growing your bankroll.

The biggest mistake beginning poker players make is with their starting hands. In fact, most poker “fish” are surprised to find out that there is actually a system for picking starting hands. They will play almost any face card, no matter what the second card is.

In some ways, poker is a bit like dating. The better the “car” you show up in, the better chance you have of getting lucky. The same is true with starting hands.

Rolls-Royces
1. A-A
2. K-K
3. Q-Q

These are the best of the best hands in NL Hold’em. All three of these hands are ones you can feel fairly confident going “all-in” before the flop. The odds will be on your side.

Mercedes
1. J-J
2. A-K suited
3. 10-10

You should feel good if you pick up any of these three hands. The chances of someone having something better before the flop are slim. Go ahead and put a good pre-flop raise out there. If you chase everyone off, so be it. But beware, the value of these hands can diminish depending on what the board yields. If over cards, pairs, flush or straight draws materialize, you need to protect your cards with a big raise, or fold and fight another day.

Cadillacs
1. A-K
2. A-Q suited
3. K-Q suited

These are good hands, but all three can be tricky to play. A pre-flop protection raise is a good way to play them. Keep your eyes open after the flop for draws and over cards. With A-Q suited, you have a lot of ways to make your hand, but be careful if just an ace comes out, someone may have A-K or two pair with the ace. The same applied to K-Q suited.

Chryslers
1. A-Q
2. 9-9
3. K-Q
4. A-J suited
5. 8-8
6. Q-J suited
7. J-10 suited

Some good hands need a little help. All of these hands are worth raising with, but they need a little bit of help to be really strong. For example, a pair of eights is in trouble if an over card comes out on the flop. But get a third eight and bingo-bongo-bango, to borrow a phrase from Mike Sexton.

Mustangs
1. K-Q
2. A-J
3. K-J
4. Q-J
5. 7-7
6. 6-6
7. 5-5
8. 4-4
9. 3-3
10. 2-2

Any of these hands can get better with just a little bit of luck. With the pairs, you are looking for three of a kind, or “trips”, to come out on the flop or you should be ready to ditch them if someone bets into you. The general rule with face cards is you want them to match up with other face cards in order to play them before the flop. In other words, Q-J is playable, while Q-6 is a hand that most players should fold.

Saturns
1. A-10
2. K-10
3. Q-10
4. J-10
5. A-9 suited
6. A-8 suited
7. A-7 suited
8. A-6 suited
9. 10-9 suited
10. 9-8 suited
11. J-9 suited
12. 8-7suited
13. 7-6 suited

Play these hands at your own risk. All can get really good in a hurry. But all of them can be worthless in a hurry as well. If you can get a cheap flop, all are worth hanging around to see if you hit a jackpot like a nut flush or a straight with the list of connectors.

The bottom line is have a plan. If you’re just starting out or playing in your first tournament, you might want to limit yourself to the top three categories on this list. As you feel more comfortable or as the field gets smaller, you could loosen up to include all of these hands. Only if you’ve found a pigeon at your table or if you’re down to heads up should you play many hands that you don’t see here.

Good luck and be careful out there.

From: http://msn.foxsports.com/other/story/3555426

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