Remember that playing more hands doesn’t necessarily give you more chances to win. It’s fine to fold when you have a poor hand, and even seasoned players would rather fold than play with a poor hand of cards. Beginners often feel that they need to play all of their hands just to stay in the game, but this will usually only lead to more losses.

It takes a while to master the poker table – in order to lay well you need to be able to concentrate not just on your own hand, but on the cards on the table too. When playing 7 card stud, you should try to pay attention to what cards are showing and which cards have been folded in order to work out which other cards are left in the game.

You may well have put some money into the pot, but that does not mean you have to keep adding to it. You can bow out of the game at any stage, although many beginners feel tempted to keep adding to the pot because they’ve already invested in it. This is not a good strategy as you don’t win games by simply throwing more money at it. Learn that if your hand is poor, no amount of money can save you, and you will only lose more!

Make sure that you’re playing at your level. Some people are tempted to move on to higher stake games because the cash prize is bigger, the line is shorter, or because they want to impress. None of these is a good reason to play at a level that you’re not used to. When you’re feeling confident and playing consistently well at lower stake games, then you can try moving up a game.

If you’re looking for more tips, or just want the ins and outs of the various forms of poker that are available, look for online poker sites that offer extensive help sections. The popular 32Red.com online casino has its own dedicated Poker School section where you can brush up on your skills or learn the very basics. Back to Part 1...

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