Poker is big business. Just look at the poker sites for example Full Tilt or Pokerstars willing to pay anybody who makes a televised event final table a small fortune only to wear a branded blazer, baseball cap or say « I play at…  » whenever they win the tournament. Every night there will be the potential for a poker player to win thousands, if not tens of thousands for a relatively small buy-in either in cash games or tournaments. Poker is a genuine chance to make real money, so it is in your interest to maximise your chance of victory by making an effort to boost your game. But how do you improve? All of us know it’s important to study and practise, but there are actually a lot of ways to do it where do you start?

You can find a selection of credible poker books that you should study and you will always go to the local casino and persuade the very best player to give you individual lessons, but this article concentrates on top 5 places to go online to improve and boost your poker play right from where you are right now; in front of your screen.

Poker Forums – The biggest online poker forums have thousands of active members. These range between new players yet to play just one hand of poker to well recognized pros and every type of player in between that dissect poker hands and argue things poker. Just reading the discussions will boost your game. If you feel brave you can add your thoughts into the threads. But beware you will be flamed (internet speak for shouted at) should you not quite answer correctly. But fear not as this really is a great place to get raw feedback on the way to play winning playing poker, so take a deep breath and dive in to the shark waters and prepare to be cut down to size, but ultimately helped.

Poker Blogs – You will discover a mass of poker blogs to read. Players will speak about all aspects of their life and poker from their actual hands to things happening on the poker scene. Look for the well recognized blogs and after that surf through the blogs on their own link lists. Participate within the blog by leaving comments. Blog owners (like this author) love receiving comments and also you will almost certainly get a positive response. Work your way through and find authors which offer the poker blogs that you identify with, that teach you what you want to know and give you what you wish to read about. You will soon build a list that you visit everyday.

Poker Training Web sites – Pros were quick to make use of the thirst for poker knowledge and there are numerous sites you may pay a monthly subscription to and watch the videos to tutor you on how to play. There are numerous types from those that simply list the videos to those that offer a far more curriculum type lesson approach. When searching for the most effective site for you keep in mind that many of the review web pages will be in fact affiliates so finding objective reviews could be tricky. The trusty poker forum members will give their thoughts freely and very honestly if you ask them. Make sure you pick a site that’s constantly adding video so that you maintain value for your subscription fee.

Poker Podcasting – There are actually a couple of large Internet Radio stations emerging for poker, and they often have weekly podcasts that you can download. This really is a great way of picking up advice straight from some of the most effective players on earth, or individuals that are good at conveying their thoughts about poker subjects that could confuse you when discussed on forums. Search through iTunes, Poker Road, and Bluff online for a start. Regardless of whether you play Stud, Holdem, Razz or Omaha you can find podcasts discussing strategy. You can listen to these podcasts whilst you walk or drive to work and several last for over one hour which are not only great learning tools but excellent entertainment.

Railbirding – Ensure you check out some of the bigger stakes cash games online. You may watch the top pros show you how they play cash games. You will see the showdowns when players are called down and you will write down some of the hands that you see played out. If you wish use a screen recorder so you may go back and watch the hands again if you would like. This really is watching the top players do what they do best, an incredible opportunity to learn. Also make sure you tune in to the Pokerstars replay of the Sunday Million Final Table every week. These guys have beaten thousands of others in the biggest weekly tournament for big money, so you’ll find some excellent tips on tournament play to pick up from them.