To play poker online effectively, you must maintain a level of spontaneity or else you risk being predictable. From bluffing to folding, a player’s poker strategy should combine different betting styles and tactics. A game of online poker can last several hours, meaning a large portion of a poker strategy for beginners and advanced players is knowing when to strike and sit back.

As you begin to hone your poker skills and move up to higher-stakes games, you’ll be exposed to a long list of different poker players, each with more skills and more knowledge of the game. But you need to know how to win at poker when your opponents know all of your tricks. This is where unorthodox play — saying or doing something contrary to what is traditionally accepted — becomes more prevalent within poker games and tournaments. 

There are a lot of different opinions on what the best strategy is for poker. However, no matter which poker betting strategy you use, you need to test how it works for you and know when the best time to use it is. The same concepts are true for implementing both traditional and unusual poker tips into your strategy. Keep reading to learn how and when to test out unorthodox poker strategies.

Why Is an Unorthodox Poker Strategy Important?

A cornerstone of any optimal poker strategy is analyzing your opponents — how they play, their tells, their strengths, and their weaknesses. You’re ultimately looking for aspects of your opponents’ gameplay that you can exploit or use to your advantage. That said, the fact of the matter is that the other players at your poker table will be doing the same thing to you. so sticking to the same strategy all the time isn’t going to help your chances.

Placing unusual bets is a great way to keep your opponents on their toes, not giving them a chance to predict your hand. Once an opponent understands your poker personality, your game becomes tougher and more tedious. For example, if you’re folding 85% of the hands and only betting when you’re holding strong hands, players will identify that you don’t bluff and only bet when you’re comfortable doing so. This allows players to play against you accordingly — often folding to avoid facing a strong hand.

Moreover, the element of surprise that comes with unorthodox plays is a great way of encouraging opponents to place out-of-character bets. Experienced players are always looking into the future and deciding how to bet if certain cards appear or when an opponent bets a certain amount. However, an unconventional bet may cause players to throw out their prearranged strategy and bet in the moment, therefore, making them more prone to mistakes.

It’s important to note that it doesn’t work every time, especially if your table is full of players. The more players involved in a round, the less likely you are to succeed. Be sure to play strategically when calling unorthodox bets, because doing so repetitively won’t help you.

Unorthodox Poker Strategies

Playing online poker for real money requires facing many opponents of different skill levels, meaning you’re dealing with a lot of different strategies and tricks. When a table is full, it’s all about differentiating yourself from players — and that’s where unorthodox strategies come into play.

Going the unorthodox route can expose you to big payouts and large pockets. And, if you don’t get lucky, you can always fold during the round. Here are a few strategies to try out.

Stop-Loss Strategy

Remaining mentally and emotionally stable during a poker game is crucial, as tilting (encountering a losing streak) can be catastrophic. However, it happens to everyone at some time or another. It’s important to identify when you start to tilt and leave the table to avoid chasing losses and losing your hard-earned money unnecessarily. This is regarded as a stop-loss strategy.

Playing while tilting can cause you to make out-of-character bets. More harmfully, it allows individuals to get into the mindset of having to make up for their losses. This can result in players’ strategies going out the window — a big “no-no” in online poker. Once you find yourself doing this, you should immediately leave the game.

Another way to avoid tilting is to set win, loss, or duration limits. For example, before the game, you decide that you will leave the game after four hours, regardless of the situation. Remember, playing while tired is a common trigger for tilting.

Turning Your Hand Into a Bluff

When you don’t have the strongest poker hand, pretending that you have a better hand than you actually do is one of the most common poker strategy tips. The goal of representing a weaker hand as strong is to deceive your opponents into folding their own hands because they believe that they can’t beat yours. However, bluffing works on the opposite end of the spectrum as well.

Traditionally, bluffing in poker refers to representing a weak hand as stronger than it actually is. However, there’s an unconventional poker strategy tip called reverse bluffing that flips the script. This strategy involves making your opponent think that you’re bluffing (that you’re trying to make a weak hand look strong) when you actually do hold the strongest hand at the table. 

Reverse bluffing is a high-risk, high-reward tactic that can be a game-changer for your poker strategy. By making your opponents think that they have the winning hand, you’re laying the groundwork for them to make reckless decisions or become overconfident in their betting. This overconfidence can, in turn, increase the size of the pot and your potential winnings when you reveal your true hand strength.

Reverse bluffing is particularly effective against tight, cautious players who typically only bet with strong hands. It disrupts their game plan and forces them to make decisions they might not usually make. 

In a game where predictability can be your downfall, employing the reverse bluff adds an element of surprise to your playing style. Your opponents won’t be able to pigeonhole your strategy, making it more challenging for them to read your moves.

Turn Your Focus to Ranges Instead of Hands

A common perception made by beginner and intermediate players is that your hand is the most important factor — this is not always the case. In order to progress in poker, you need to look at the game differently than you’re used to, and identifying a range of hands is a great way of doing so.

Professional players create ranges with their hands, for example:

• Weak hands: third, fourth, or fifth pair.
• Draw: straight draw, flush draw.
• The nuts: straight, full house.
• Strong hands: top pair, top kicker.

Throughout a game, it’s important to take mental notes of what ranges appear, as some are more common than others. For instance, a weak hand is more likely to appear than a draw. This can help you analyze what hand ranges your opponents could have and, with this in mind, and based on your own hand, you can bet according to what hands can beat you and the likeliness of it appearing.

Limping

Often regarded as an inexperienced move, limping is the process of calling a bet rather than raising. It usually occurs when people are semi-bluffing and want to see the next card. Although it’s seen as a novice move, it can be a strength.

Why? It’s a great way of building up the pot, keeping players involved and staying under the radar. When holding a strong hand, it’s easy to get carried away and bet big. This is an effective way of winning a pot, but it scares off opponents, meaning you haven’t maximized the size of the pot. Limping allows opponents to do the raising and betting for you. All of this while you sit quietly and patiently in the corner, waiting to raise on the river.

Play Poker at Borgata Online

Wondering how to play poker online? Looking for somewhere to test out an unorthodox online poker strategy? Borgata Online is regarded as one of the best online poker sites and it’s got a Borgata Poker welcome offer (available for a limited time only) to help you get started. Register today and put your skills to the test. And if you need a break from the felt, there’s also a huge range of live dealer casino games, online slots, and so much more to explore.