[ Posted March 24th, 2026 ] by admin

So, you’ve decided you want to learn how to play poker. Excellent! I believe that if you approach poker in the right way, you like many millions of players around the globe will come to admire and appreciate this great game. So where do you start? Below I will outline what I consider to be some of the best ways to get a solid introduction to, and core understanding of poker.

In this day and age you have a great resource available to you – the Internet. Now-a-days you don’t have to spend hours and hours huddled over weathered poker tables in dimly lit poker rooms. To start your poker career I suggest finding a good online poker resource such as the website you are on right now. Step one completed. Read what you can about basic poker rules, poker hand rankings and even some low-level poker strategy. Next its time to play a few hands. Find yourself an online poker site and download some poker software, there are heaps of sites around to choose from. At this stage it doesn’t particularly matter which site you go with, as you will start by playing for fun only ( No real money, yet ). Choose your game and your limit and off you go. A few hours a week and you’re well on your way to understanding basic concepts such as the blinds, betting structure, table position and basic play.

As you play online and develop your poker skills and poker senses you will undoubtedly start to ask questions such as; "Why didn’t I win with those pocket rockets?" and "How should I play that hand better next time?". At this point I’d like to stress to all new players not to rush your poker development. Slow and steady is the way to go, you will learn much more and ultimately become a more skilled poker player by approaching the game this way rather than hurrying through trying to learn all you can in a few short weeks or months. Your path to glory has only just begun.

The questions above are the types of questions you should start to ask yourself. Try and think about why you are playing a certain way, and why you made a certain bet – what was your intent and what happened? Just as important, ask yourself why your opponents are acting the way they are. You will find and develop the answers to some of these questions solely by contemplating them; others however lie within a great poker tool – the poker book.

As with poker sites, there are many, many books that have been published dealing with poker. To find some excellent books I suggest you check out the  Poker Learning  link on this site. A poker book like David Sklansky’s The Theory of Poker will open your mind to new concepts and strategies you may have never before pondered. Read as many poker publications as you can ( by read I mean study ) and take pieces of information and idea’s and experiment with them. Incorporate these into your game and review the results, again I urge you to take it slowly. Some of you are thinking "You can’t learn poker from a book, you have to play!". This is a valid point, but, contained in some of these books are the thoughts and concepts of some of the worlds most renowned professional poker players. You have access to a lifetime of poker experience, use it. Soon enough you won’t be able to quench your thirst for poker knowledge.

It is at this stage in your development that you should also be starting to play some real life poker. Play with your friends, family and perhaps even dabble at some low limit casino tables. Soon enough you will have played 100′s, if not 1000′s of poker hands online, with friends as well as having studied hand after hand in your mind. One of the best ways to continue to develop your skills is to network with people who share your interest in poker. Play a regular poker game and discuss poker theory with your mates. Poker can be ( and should be ) a social outlet as well as a means of generating cash. It is by playing some blood and guts poker that you will acquire the skills that you cannot when playing online, such as reading people and the feeling of sitting at the table. There is no substitute for playing in the real world.

This is a brief guideline to starting and then continuing your journey down what one-day may be your Path to Glory ; the World Series of Poker Championship Event: every poker players dream. Remember, take it slow and most of all enjoy the game, it’s an extraordinary thing. A wise man once said of poker:
"It takes a minute to learn, and a lifetime to master".

-SS

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