The first way to know if you can trust online poker site reviews is if they categorize their rankings based on different criteria and evaluate each of those criteria individually, including giving both praise and criticisms when they’re due. Online poker site reviews that give general praise for every quality of a site aren’t very helpful. But if a review tells you, for example, that a particular site has great bonuses and promotions but not a lot of competition at a stakes level that you’re interested in, that tells you information you can use.

So what is a better player supposed to do? He can try to negotiate with poker sites directly to get a way better deal. Sometimes this works (depending on the poker rooms policy) but it’s a waste of time more often. A better idea is to look for somebody with good contacts that can arrange such deals with poker rooms that are ready to give better players better deals, so called VIP rakeback.

It’s easier to find good rakeback deals at some of the networks like ipoker, ongame, entraction, boss media, microgaming, cake and so on. It’s almost impossible to find special Full Tilt or Pokerstars deals. We can highly recommend entraction rakeback. This network is the fastest growing network and one of the best places for European players. And you can get some good deals there.

So what does the media have to say on poker bots? Let’s see…

Well, some latecomer “journalists” are merely predicting that these emotionless statistics spitters are poised to take over the online poker world. But as we already know, poker sites are wise to their ways and ever-savvier in singling them out and banning the players who use them.

Still other writers are pointing out, with plenty of evidence to back their theories up, that the makers of poker bots are constantly devising better machines, and whereas human poker pros once had a decent shot against a poker bot, the ones they’re coming up against now seem almost impossible to beat.

What to know about poker bots as a player?

1. They’re legal – in the sense that you can’t get prosecuted, sued, or taken to jail for using one
2. They are, however, unethical–and using them does qualify as cheating
3. And they do violate poker sites’ terms of use and can therefore hold onto any profits you’ve won on the site but haven’t yet cashed out, and worse get you banned not just from the site on which you use the bot but on every site in that particular poker room’s network

So the bottom line on poker bots is: Bot-er Beware!

As for all you ethical players out there, a word of advice: Bots are best at heads-up limit and pot limit games. To minimize your risk of playing against a poker bot, pick No Limit multiplayer games.

It was a revealing piece that focused on the importance of discipline and self-control when seated at the internet poker table—perhaps even more important in online poker than in offline poker.

The piece describes how emotions are the detriment of the online poker player.

It also discussed the importance of the ability to think several hands ahead, much like a chess player thinks several moves in advance. Only novice players, we are told, focus solely (or even primarily) on the hand at hand (so to speak).

And of course, no discussion of the meritous traits of the winning online poker player would be complete without assert the requirement for nerves of steel. Courage is not to be confused with aggressiveness at the poker table, as the former can help you win as often as possible and avoid losing your shirt the rest of the time, where the latter is always more of a gamble than anything.

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1. Kind of player – It’s better to bluff tighter players. If you peg your opponent as a loose player don’t bother trying to bluff them.
2. Number of players – It’s better to bluff one player than many. Don’t even bother trying to bluff groups of three or more.
3. Your image at the table – It’s better bluff if you’re seen as a tight player than if you’re seen as a loose one.
4. How well you can read other players – This should be obvious. It’s better to be able to read other players well before you consider trying to bluff them.
5. The cards – How the board looks is very important in pulling off a bluff. If you can represent the hand you’re pretending to have, that’s best. It’s also helpful if there don’t appear to be a lot of obvious outs for your opponent.
6. Size of the pot – This includes the actual size of the pot and how much your opponent is invested in it. It’s easier to bluff smaller pots that your opponent is not heavily invested in than large pots that your opponent has already dumped a load of chips into.
7. Position – It’s easier to pull off a bluff in last position because you can see what the other players are doing first, before you make your move. On the other hand, good players know this, and are more likely to expect a bluff from the person in position. It’s harder to pull off a bluff when you’re in the blinds, but it’s less expected and you can benefit from the element of surprise.