Free Glide

Getting a bad beat is pretty much inevitable-if you play enough online poker tournaments and games, someone’s going to draw out against you eventually. It’s brutal, but every now and then, someone’s going to draw a card that’ll beat your winning poker hand. While it’s an unavoidable part of the game, there are a few things that players can do to keep bad beats to a minimum, and making your opponents pay to draw the next card is a great way to do so.

Make your opponents pay to see the flop. When you’ve got a good starting poker online hand, don’t give your opponents a chance to draw a winner on the flop. If you’ve got pocket Queens, you still have a chance of getting beat if someone with a 2-9 unsuited draws a 2-2-Ace . Scare those small hands out of the flop by betting into the hand instead of limping in.

Don’t give any free cards. If your Ace-King suited flops high pair, you’re still at risk of an opponent drawing a higher hand, so unless you’re fairly certain that your opponents can’t draw out against you, don’t check after the flop and give them a free look at the next card; make them pay to try to draw out against you.