Online Poker for Beginners: Everything You Need to Start
New to online poker? This step-by-step guide covers hand rankings, table selection, HUDs, and bankroll management to get you started right.
Poker Hand Rankings (High to Low)
Royal Flush > Straight Flush > Four of a Kind > Full House > Flush > Straight > Three of a Kind > Two Pair > Pair > High Card. Memorise this before anything else.
Starting Hands: What to Play
As a beginner, play tight — only the top 15–20% of hands. Premium hands: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AQ. Good hands: TT, 99, AJ, KQ. Marginal (position-dependent): 88, AT, KJ. Fold everything else until you understand position.
Position Is Everything
Acting last (the Button) is the most powerful position. You have information everyone else lacks. Play more hands in position, fewer out of position. This single principle separates winning from losing players more than any other.
Choosing Your First Poker Room
Start at micro stakes (NL2 = $0.01/$0.02 blinds, max $2 buy-in). GGPoker and 888poker have the softest micro-stakes fields. Don't worry about rakeback or VIP schemes until you're beating the games consistently.
Bankroll Management
For cash games: minimum 20 buy-ins. At NL2, that's $40. For tournaments: minimum 100 buy-ins for your chosen stake. Never play with money you cannot afford to lose entirely.