There is a big difference playing at Juicy Stakes Poker Australia online or at a land based poker room. Online poker presents great challenges since the players come for all over the world. Online poker is often for low stakes. Let’s learn who plays low stakes poker and how we can win.
Who Plays Poker at Low Stakes?
There are essentially two types of low stakes players and they are truly two different species of poker players. The first group is made up of players who simply love to play poker. For the most part, the players don’t care if they win or lose since even losing in any given session can be fun.
The second set of low stakes poker players is composed of players who are cold heartedly committed to becoming winning players at poker and who know that they have to start their long march through the poker levels at the low stakes level. These players are out to win and will do whatever it takes to win!
How Should I Approach a Low Stakes Poker Game?
In any session, be it on land or online, you will need some time to size up your opponents. You have to pay attention to every hand even though you will fold about 70% of all hands.
First, you will notice if any other players are also sizing up the opponents. Any player who is clearly not paying attention and not “learning” something from each hand is almost certainly from the fun group of poker players. If you are looking for a player to win sizable sums of money from, these will be those players.
Be Careful around Players Who are Also Paying Close Attention
Any player who is paying attention will be in either of two categories. The first is the guy or gal who loves poker so much that they pay attention even after they have folded but they aren’t trying to learn anything. The second are those players who are playing at low stakes in order to get better.
In a real sense, these players are just biding their time at low stakes. They already see themselves as higher stakes players.
Doesn’t Everyone Just Call on Every Hand at Low Stakes?
No!
Some players play poker at low stakes because they can’t afford to play at higher stakes. They have to conserve their bankroll so they play somewhat close to the vest. The better question is why do these players play poke rat all? The answer is that they love the game.
People who play low stakes poker but play relatively conservatively love the game and don’t especially care if they lose as long as they lose small amounts of money. You might win a big pot from a player in this category but for the most part, you will get them to fold the big blind by making a substantial raise before the flop.
Another group of low stakes players who fold often are the players who know that they are just barely able to function as a “poker player”. These players also fold a lot in the face of aggressive play because they feel that they aren’t good enough to compete for a hand.
Should These Players Play Poker at All?
Often the low stakes poker players in these two categories are basically Friday night with pals poker players. The problem they have is that their pals play once a month and they like to play more often.
To their credit, they don’t travel to land based poker rooms. They play online at Juicy Stakes and other online poker room. They know that they are not particularly skilled at poker and they are also astute enough to know that it is likely that at least one of the other players at the table is an astute player looking to “move on up”.
Friday night poker players will often leave a game if they feel that there are too many students of the game playing at low stakes as a way to get inexpensive experience before going after some bigger guns.
Go Maximal and Go Minimal
At one and the same time, serious players who are playing at low stakes play both to maximize their wins and to minimize their losses. This seems too obvious to mention but it is not as obvious as we have seen earlier. At low stakes especially, there are a lot of players who are just out to have fun and are neither overtly trying to maximize wins nor to minimize losses.
For them the beauty of low stakes poker is that they won’t lose much if they lose at all.
Isn’t Everyone Else Just Looking to Maximize Wins?
Yes, they are!
But one of the best ways to maximize wins is to minimize losses! When you see a player give deep thought on a hand at the turn or the river in a low stakes game, you should immediately see that player as a developing poker player who is playing the hand as he or she ”should” play it if they were playing for higher stakes.
The Pots at Higher Stakes are Interesting
Pots are a lot bigger at higher stakes. There are two main reasons for this. The first is the obvious one that there is simply more money being wagered at higher stakes so the pots will be bigger. The second reason is a lot less obvious.
At higher stakes the players tend to be more skilled so they will match wits and analytical skill against each other and as a result many pots will grow. We see pots grow like wildfire on YouTube clips but these clips are of top professional players playing at high stakes.
Even at the several dollar range, there are enough good players to create sizable pots. Now, the players who are clearly considering all options on the turn or river in a low stakes game, are players who see themselves moving up to higher stakes and are playing low stakes poker for the experience.
They play each hand as if they were a lot more equity in the pot! If you pay close enough attention, you might be able to “hear” them working out the poker math for the hand in their head!
Developing Skill at Low Stakes
Maximizing wins while minimizing losses is a great poker skill! It does not follow that if a player wins a lot he or she loses a little. The proper logical sequence is that the player who wins a lot does so because he or she has found the necessary skill to lose just a little!
Poker is a Long March
We might use the insight of the ancient Chinese philosopher, Laozi . Laozi said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The same is true of poker. It is a long march that begins with a single step. That first step—even the first few thousand steps—can better be taken at low stakes.
You need to get your “poker legs” in shape for the more difficult climbing steps.
We hope you take all of your first steps and every step thereafter at Juicy Stakes Poker. We offer great online poker in several poker variations including Texas Holdem and Omaha. We also offer very low stakes for new players on up to high stakes for the more intrepid players.
Join Juicy Stakes Poker NOW and get in on all the poker action! You can read all of our poker articles as well! Now is the time to get going developing that poker player’s mindset!
