Getting action at thr right levels:

You may have read or heard some professional advice from big-name players about the fact that you generally have to give action to get action in tournament poker or cash game tables. In fact, most high-level professionals make their living from poker by playing this way. One of the most famous of which is Gus Hansen, who even though goes through massive bankroll swings, usually comes out millions ahead of the game.

For professional poker players, I can heartily agree through observation at least that this is correct game strategy. However in the world of online poker, in particular, the lower limits giving action to get action not only isn't necessary - it isn't prudent. All of the work involving pot control, bluffing, position, profiling and general risk management involved in giving action not only is it worth it in the levels, will likely actually take away from your bottom-line profit rather than add to it.

Here's the reason why. Low limit online players generally are not good enough players to think themselves out of dangerous situations. They lack essential skills in comprehending hole card strength, position, pot control, opponent profiling and most of all, a lot of them simply do not care enough to exercise patience and judgment in the game.

After playing online poker for nearly 5 years, I can honestly tell you that the lower limit you play, the tighter you should play without worrying about what your profile is to your opponents. They simply won't care or won't care to interpret what it means. At the end of the day, you WILL get action on your big hands simply by virtue of how ignorant your opponents are. So don't worry about spending your money in small pots in the name of building an image. Leave that to Gus Hansen. Just play your big hands, play your position - pots will come. Remember this rule in poker - the lower the limits, the tighter your game should be.