Increase your chances of winning even in the best poker room in Vegas with these tips
Imagine you’re new to poker, walking into one of the best poker room in Vegas and immediately feeling intimidated by the sheer amount of information you’ll have to take in. Everyone seems to know what they’re doing, and are happily gambling away.
Everyone must have started somewhere at some point, and this applies to players of all levels. If you look online, you’ll be able to find a number of guides and tips shared by experts on how you can improve your poker skills. As a beginner, sifting through the large amount of information could be overwhelming, so we’ve come up with a comprehensive guide of how doing these five things will significantly improve your skills in poker.

Understand the Game and Practice with Other Poker Variants
Nothing’s more important than to understand the basics of poker before plunging into the game. Playing blindly into the game is the last thing you’d want to do especially in a game of poker. Unlike games like Blackjack or slots, which requires less to absolutely no knowledge for players to be able to play, poker consists of a set of more complex rules.
First, you’d have to understand terms like flop, turn, and river, as well as how it works in the game. Learn about the hole-cards, which is basically what players are dealt with in the beginning, as well as the community cards, which will play a huge role later down in the game. From there, you’ll get to learn more about hand rankings and what hands you’ll need to win the game.
If you’ve been playing poker for quite some time, you’ll notice that a number of poker variants have been created since poker started to become popular in the 1800s. Knowing how to play other poker variants is a valuable skill not all poker players are equipped with. Believe it or not, your knowledge
with other poker variants could become the determining factor of whether if you win your next game of poker or not.
Learning how to play short-handed and heads up could be a great way to start. You may not always get to play in a full table, and your understanding on how card values change from other games may help you with analyzing your opponents’ and your own card hands.
Some of the more popular variants you may begin learning with that’ll improve your game play could be Texas Hold’Em, Omaha, and stud poker.

Get to Know the Common Strategies and Know What Works Best For You
Knowing how to use a number of strategies is one thing, and knowing which works best for you is another. There are a ton of strategies for you to choose from out there, and while it’s important to learn as much strategies as you can as a beginner, it’s just as important to figure out which ones you’ll stick with when you’re in a difficult game.
Understanding the mathematics behind poker is one of the more famous strategy, and no, you don’t have to be a math genius to be able to do it, but if you’re comfortable with math, this could be one of the strategies you could adopt.
Another strategy you could adopt is knowing how to position yourself in the game. Typically, the player sitting by the ‘button’ has the most advantage when it comes to betting as they would’ve already know what and how the other players bet.
It’s important for players to try out different strategies before settling down with the few they are comfortable with. It’s also just as important for players to know how and when to use them interchangeably according to the flow of the game.
Play Against Bad Players
Playing against bad players is a definite way of ensuring you have a higher chance of winning, this is evident, even in the best poker room in Vegas. While this is not recommended if you’re a beginner who genuinely wants to improve, it’s a great way for players to try out different strategies in a low risk environment.
This comes down to choosing the right table to play in. It’s also an important skill to have, knowing how to pick out bad players in a table. Bad players usually play in a very straightforward and passive manner, so if you’re confident enough, you’ll get to test out your strategies with actual players.
With bad players, you’ll also learn to deal with a different type of player. Bad players will make questionable decisions at times, which will test your ability to react in an unexpected situation. Silly bluffs for example, could be an example of a pattern you can pick up from bad players.

Learn About Tells and Try Not to Give Out Tells
Poker tells are crucial in providing information to other players about a certain players’ card hands. Regardless if it’s verbal or physical, if it reveals anything about the players’ hands, it’s a tell. Players often do this unknowingly, so it’s important to pay attention to what other players say or do while they’re focused in the game.
Poker tells also apply to those who knows the technique and decides to say or do something else to attempt to deceive their opponents. If you are able to see through that, you’ll be able to get ahead of the game.
Players who are new to the game however, should probably learn how not to give out tells before trying to learn how to read them. Most players do it subconsciously and it’ll be a great help to new players if they can learn how to control it themselves. Pay attention to how you act when you receive your card hands, or if you’re making eye contact with any of the players and you’ll start to realize your playing style and the tells you give out to other players.
One of the more popular way to look for tells is to make eye contact with other players. Players who have stronger or better hands may appear more relaxed and are more comfortable at making eye contact, and vice versa. However, there are players who prefer to only look down on their cards or chips while they play. With players like this, making eye contact wouldn’t be a viable way to look for tells. Another way you could pick up on tells would be to analyze the conversation across the table, which in this case, could also be referred to verbal tells.
Generally speaking, most players who are more talkative are considered to be more confident with their hands. What they’re saying also carries some weight to a certain extent. Some players may choose to give out false statements, or otherwise known as false tells to confuse other players.
Players who are able to avoid giving out and picking out tells like these will be able to separate themselves from the rest of the crowd. Maintaining a poker face while you play may be a smart move after all.
Bluffing
One would think that bluffing is a strategy catered for advanced players, but bear with me, and you’ll find out how bluffing can be a technique for everyone, even for the players going to the best poker room in Vegas. Before going into bluffing though, you’ll have to make sure that you’ve completely understood what tells are and are able to hide it well.
It’s a technique which requires a high level of confidence, as you’ll have to play more aggressively than the typical player. Players who bluff will be able to win either by having the best hand, or to have all the other players fold to their bet or raise. Depending on the playing style of other players at your table, you’ll have to make the necessary bluffs at the right timing to make this strategy work for you.
Be careful not to get caught while bluffing though, as it can be taken away from you in an instant. Everyone at the table will be able to see through you and whatever you do from then onwards will be rendered useless.
One important thing to note about bluffing is that, you’ll also need to have a thorough understanding of the game. It’s easy to look over the basics of the game when you’re so eager to play the game, but it’s a step all players have to go through to become better players.
These are some of the things you could do to improve your next game of poker. Whether if you’re looking to play with friends or if you’re planning on trying these tips out at the casino, just make sure to watch your bankroll while you test out these tips if you want to avoid losing too much. If you’d like to learn more about poker strategies, or just about the game itself, feel free to browse through some of our articles from mypokerlegacy.com
Rebecca Lee started playing poker with her friends when she was in college. As a novice poker player,
she went online frequently so she could look for information and articles about poker to better
understand the game. Somewhere along the way, she decided to open up mypokerlegacy.com to
gather up all that she had learned about the game to share it to the world.
Since then, Rebecca has been writing freelance for several other websites, sharing her knowledge on
poker. She has since ventured into other table games like craps and roulette, but poker will always
have a place in her heart.
Other than writing or learning about poker, Rebecca enjoys reading up random facts about animals
on the Internet. She has a pet husky at home, which she brings out for walks every evening.