How to find an edge in online poker in 2022

The online poker ecosystem has evolved dramatically over the past decade, and the days of soft fields on bookmaker-based poker rooms are ended.

Now, even low-stakes amateur players are beginning to learn advanced poker strategy.

Much of this has come from the rise of streaming on platforms like Twitch, where professional players will often stream entire 12-hour sessions while discussing the thought process behind each decision and hand.

There has also been a sharp increase in poker training from the likes of BBZ Poker, which sees a variety of casual players and professionals spending money in order to increase their edge.

To establish that edge in an increasingly competitive environment, players first need to decide what game type suits them best.

In the early days of online poker, the selection of formats was limited – you had MTTs, sit-and-goes, and cash games.

Now, sites like partypoker, PokerStars and GG Poker have launched a series of new formats like the Spin and Go, all-in or fold, short deck and zoom/rush and go.

Users will often find that the field of players in these new type of formats are a lot weaker as recreational players don’t want to invest a full day into an MTT.

When a player finds a game type they like, the next key is to preserve bankroll at all costs. Strict bankroll management, combined with a good knowledge of average ROI and expected value (EV), will see a poker player become succesful in the long-term.

While poker is considered a skill game, a lot of it still depends on chance and odds. The key is to getting chips into the pot when you are a favourite over your opponent. This means that, over a long period of time, or a high volume of hands, you will be profitable.

If players keep risk low with strict bankroll management, it doesn’t matter if they get bubble in a tournament with pocket aces against a 2/7 offsuit as, over time, that edge will end in a series of positive results.

The final key, which has been fundamental to being a succesful poker player for decades, is the ability to control emotions and tilt. It is very easy to blow an entire stack after a brutal river card, but it’s important to stick to a strategy that feels comfortable.

One way to do this is by using software to track hand histories over all online poker sites. Reviewing this weekly will give users a sense of where they went wrong, and potentially where they went right, in order to fine-tune a strategy to increase expected value.

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