Best Online Poker Lessons
With so much to learn, beginners to poker often feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. It’s difficult to grasp the concepts of poker in one fell swoop and learning takes time. This is why we’ve developed this study guide – to plan a course of study for beginners and to provide the structure that’s so important when learning new skills.
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We have a wide variety of poker lessons here at Pokerology.com and they don’t all feature in this study guide. Instead, we’ve carefully selected the most appropriate lessons to help build your poker skills step-by-step and to provide a solid foundation upon which to build.
This study guide is split into various skill levels and each major section is followed by a quiz. If you’re new to poker then we recommend you start by studying the lessons within our entry level.
We hope you enjoy learning how to play poker with Pokerlogy.com.
Entry Level
The following group of poker lessons provide an introduction to the game. You’ll learn the basic rules, how the betting works, the different variations of poker, along with a few basic poker terms.
Please note: All links within this study guide will open in a new window by default.
Finished? If so, take the entry level quiz.
Beginner Level
The beginner level of this study guide will provide a solid foundation on which to build your poker skills.
If you studied our entry level lessons then you’ll understand that there are many ways in which poker can be played. This means there isn’t a poker course that will suit everyone. So, before we continue with more lessons let’s discuss your options at this early stage of your development.
The first decision point is whether to play cash games or tournaments. As a beginner we believe cash games are your best bet. This is because the variance – what we call fluctuations in luck – is much higher in tournaments, so much so that it can take a very long time to determine if your tournament results are due to a lack of skill or simply a run of bad luck. Because the variance inherent in cash games is less, you should be able to assess whether it’s your ability or simply a run of bad luck in a shorter time frame.
Once you’ve played cash games and seem to be making an improvement in them because you’re studying, learning, and growing as a poker player, you should be able to move to tournaments with the assurance that your basic game is good. Once you know you play well, you can begin the make the adjustments that are required to play tournaments well.
It comes down to personal preference and it’s entirely your choice. You may wish to supplement your learning as and when you’re ready, but the poker lessons that are referenced in this study guide remain applicable to either format. Although we argue in favour of cash games for beginners, a combination of both would also work at this stage – giving you time to decide which challenge you’d prefer.
The next decision point is the variety of hold’em that you learn to play; either limit or no-limit. Many of our poker lessons focus on general concepts that will help you in either variation, but these games play very differently. Limit hold’em is well suited to beginners because it’s a more mechanical and structured game. However, because no-limit hold’em is currently the most popular variation of poker, it will be the focus of this study guide.
With all this out of the way, let’s move on and get back to the lessons. We’ll start this section of the study guide with a look at the basics, including some simple betting concepts:
Knowing that you’re eager to play, let’s focus your efforts on the importance of choosing the right hands and introduce you to the concept of positional play with these two very important lessons:
The following resources should also help guide your understanding of these topics:
- No-Limit Hold’em Starting Hands Chart (PDF – print out or bookmark for easy reference)
You should now have an understanding of what starting hands to play in no-limit hold’em based on hand strength and your position. This next selection of poker lessons will provide further guidance on how and why you should play your starting hands.
Math is a key concept in poker. You don’t have to be a math genius to succeed at poker, but knowing the math is essential. In the next group of lessons we’ll cover basic poker concepts that will help you tell the difference between good bets and bad bets and put you on the road to playing profitable winning poker:
There’s more to poker than math, so now it’s time to introduce you to the psychology of poker:
As we approach the end of this section of the study guide, it’s time we suggest you start playing poker for real money. Maybe you are already, if so, then great. It’s important to reiterate that poker is a game of money played with cards and there needs to be something at stake, even if it’s only pennies. If you’ve yet to make the transition to real money poker, we suggest you start now – but only at stakes you can afford. This is also an appropriate time to introduce you to the fundamental poker concept of bankroll management:
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And here’s our final lesson of this section:
Finished? If so, take the beginner level poker quiz.
Intermediate Level
This section of our study guide will introduce you to various poker concepts and strategies that will take your game to the next level.
The following lessons are those we consider to be the most important at this stage of your development. Remember, there are many more poker lessons on Pokerology.com, which you can also study – but these are the ones that we believe will help get you to the next level in the fastest possible time.
The first group of poker lessons are important concepts in no-limit hold’em:
Here is a selection of poker lessons that focus on post-flop betting strategies:
The following two lessons cover two very important concepts that will get you thinking about maximizing your profits, which is the key to successful poker:
This next group of poker lessons are all about ‘playing the player’ and provide effective strategies for playing against different types of poker players:
If you have followed this study guide from the beginning you should now have amassed a wealth of knowledge on the subject of poker. There’s still much more to learn, but the next step is to make sure you plug any leaks that reside in your game. Therefore our final group of lessons all focus on the winning poker skills:
Finished? If so, take the intermediate level poker quiz
Minnesota Fats, the legendary American pool hustler, was once asked about the technical aspects of billiards in order to improve one’s play. His response was, “Ya’ just gotta hit balls and balls and balls – and you’ll learn”. In that regard poker is much the same. The concepts we’ve presented throughout this poker course should help you think about how to play poker, but you need to play and play and play to truly understand and excel at the game.
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Further Learning
The learning never stops at Pokerology.com!
The intention of this study guide has been to teach the fundamentals of winning poker. We deliberately streamlined this guide and excluded many of the poker lessons on Pokerology.com. This means there is still lots to learn, but at this stage of your development it’s less important for us to provide you with structure and guidance. The best advice we can give is to continue playing poker and browse our poker lessons at your leisure, picking out the topics that you think will benefit your game the most.
Don’t forget that there is more than one game in town and no-limit hold’em is just one of them. Many players stick to the game they initially learned, but a true poker player feels right at home with other poker variations. We therefore recommend you learn how to play limit hold’em, along with variations such as stud, Omaha, and razz. You’ll find lessons on all these variations of poker right here at Pokerology.com!
Video Tutorials - Watch these videos and start playing poker
The Mechanics - 7:35
Don’t know your community cards from your royal flushes? This easy-to-follow video will show you the basic rules, hand rankings and actions that define poker’s most popular format: No-Limit Texas Hold’em.
Showdown Rules - 1:18
Discover what it means to get to showdown at the poker table, and when you do and don’t have to show your hand in No-Limit Texas Hold’em. Plus, learn key poker phrases like ‘muck’ and watch useful examples of hands in action.
Starting Hands - 3:32
Learn the differences between the starting hands in poker, what ‘non-paired’ and ‘suited’ mean and how valuable your cards are pre-flop. There are even a few basic strategies for winning at the tables thrown in for good measure.
Familiarise yourself with the 10 basic hand rankings that govern Texas Hold’em. For details on how to play other games like Omaha and Razz, check out the Games page.
Royal Flush
Poker’s most famous hand, a royal flush cannot be beaten. It consists of the ace, king, queen, jack and ten of a single suit.
Straight Flush
Five cards in sequence, of the same suit. In the event of a tie, the highest rank at the top of the sequence wins.
Four of a Kind
Four cards of the same rank, and one side card or ‘kicker’. In the event of a tie, the highest four of a kind wins.
Full House
Three cards of the same rank, and two cards of a different, matching rank. In the event of a tie, the highest three matching cards wins.
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Flush
Five cards of the same suit, not in sequence. In the event of a tie, the player holding the highest ranked card wins.
Straight
Five non-suited cards in sequence. In the event of a tie, the highest ranking card at the top of the sequence wins.
Three of a Kind
Three cards of the same rank, and two unrelated side cards. In the event of a tie, the highest ranking three of a kind wins.
Two Pair
Two cards of matching rank, two cards of different matching rank, and one side card. In the event of a tie, the highest pair wins.
Pair
Two cards of matching rank, and three unrelated side cards. In the event of a tie, the highest pair wins the pot.
High Card
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Any hand that does not qualify under the categories listed. In the event of a tie, the highest card wins, such as “ace-high”.