Nerdistan

If you are new to playing poker online and have been searching the internet to find out the basic rules, strategies and how to play the game, you might be a bit puzzled right now. There are so many variations of poker and so much conflicting advice, it really is hard to know where you should start.

The most frequent poker variation played online is Texas Holdem poker, so this would be a good starting point for people wanting to learn the game. Our own internet poker site, InternetPokerToday.com has some very strong video guides to help you learn Texas Hold Em, 5 card draw and many other varieties of poker.

The most effective way to learn Texas Holdem and the other poker games is, once you have spent an hour or three mastering the rules, hand rankings and how the betting works, to watch professional poker players do their thing. You’ll learn more in a couple of hours watching the likes of Gus Hansen and Phil Ivey go head to head in large stakes games than in 6 weeks reading books or playing with your equally amateur friends.

There are plenty of websites out there where you can watch and download poker videos - from televised tournaments such as High Stakes Poker to the big daddy of the poker world - the World Series of Poker.

And once you are feeling confident enough to play poker, then you can find a website that welcomes new players and start playing for real. You don’t even need to play for real money to start with - you can play the freerolls and improve your skills still further. But there’s nothing more satisfying than the very first time you win your first real money pot. Trust me on that one!