Here’s the best tip you’re going to get so listen closely: Play tight!
You should only be playing 18-20% of the hands at a standard nine-handed table. You generally want to be playing good hands when you are just starting out.
But what are good hands? You can start with 9-9, T-T, J-J, Q-Q, K-K, A-A and A-J, A-Q and A-K. You can loosen up that range if you’re playing against less than eight other opponents.

Try to avoid calling a lot

The call is one of the poker newbie’s favorite plays.
It’s easy to understand why: New players aren’t sure what they actually have and whether it’s any good.
Rookie poker players would rather call than bet because they don’t want to risk even more on what might not be as strong a hand as they originally thought.
Here’s the thing about poker, however: Betting is much stronger than calling.
How come?
You can win a pot without showing your cards by betting. You can’t do the same thing by calling. It’s that simple.
Furthermore experienced poker will take beginner poker players for a ride. Once an experienced poker player finds a good hand they’ll simply bet a moderate amount on every street as the rookie pays them off on every street.
For all these reasons it’s worth putting in a bet or re-raise in even if you don’t feel completely comfortable doing it.

Don’t get embarrassed if you lose a hand

Poker has a way of making even the most experienced players look absolutely silly. It’s just the nature of the game.
You’re going to get caught with the worst hand. You’re going to lose big pots. You’re going to misplay your hand.
Sometimes when you’re learning that can lead to serious “Feels bad, man” moments.
Don’t sweat it. Just keeping playing and working on your game. It will take some time to get the hang of it.

Intermediate Tips

Sets and straights are especially valuable.
Without knowing the context of hand you can’t arbitrarily say what hand is going to win but there are hands than tend to win more than others.
Say you have pocket fives. The flop comes A-8-5. This is pretty much an ideal flop because your hand strength is very concealed. People are going to have a very hard time putting you on that exact hand and they may have even flopped a big pair of aces.
You can make the same argument about straights and full houses.
On the other hand there are hands that are difficult to conceal. If you’ve got trip fives (that’s one five in your hand and two on the board) then a lot of people are going to expect three-of-a-kind.
Same thing goes for flushes, which are very easy for even beginners to identify (although you might catch someone with a lower flush, which is great).

Position is very important in poker 

position in poker
What’s position you ask? That’s the order in which players are forced to bet/check.
After the flop the order always starts with the player on the left of the dealer.
Generally it’s always best to go last because you get to see what everyone else in front of you is going to do. Here are the four biggest reasons to play in position:
Four Biggest Reasons to Play in Position:

  1. When it’s your turn to act, you have more information than your opponents.
  2. Position gives you “bluff equity,” meaning simple, cheap and effective bluffing opportunities.
  3. Acting last lets you make more accurate value bets.
  4. Having last action gives you control over the final pot size.
That means you might want to make a few more bets when the dealer’s button is in front of you since everyone else will have to go before you after the flop.

Don’t get too attached to good hands.

Pocket kings and pocket queens are very strong hands. The fact remains, however, that an ace on the flop can spell doom for you if you’re holding them.
An ace on the flop doesn’t necessarily mean the end for kings or queens but you should at the very least be cautious.
Furthermore if the board has tons of flush cards or straight cards you should be wary no matter what your pocket hand is.
Be very careful when playing ace-queen.
You know how we said that sets and straights are fantastic because their value is concealed?
Ace-queen is kind of the opposite in that it looks good but it tends to be a huge loser in an inexperienced players hands.
It is singlehandedly the biggest trouble hand in poker (with pocket jacks as a close second).
Why is ace-queen so bad? It just tends to happen that in really big pots ace-queen is a big loser.
Ace-queen gets dominated by ace-king when an ace lands on the flop and it can also fall prey to two-pair type hands quite easily.
Pocket jacks are also a troubling hand but they have much more value if you manage to get a flop with no overcards (aces, kings or queens).

Advanced Tips

Play the player.
Once you have the fundamentals down you should start to pay close attention to your opponents.
You might be surprised to learn that a large amount of poker reads don’t come from subtle physical “tells” (such as scratching your nose, or playing nervously with your chips) but instead from patterns.
If a player is betting all the time then the chances are they are playing some pretty crappy cards. Similarly if a player folds all the time then you can make the assumption they are only playing fairly strong hands.
This is very simplified but’s the basis behind reading other players, which is a pivotal part of poker.

Learn some basic poker odds 

poker odds
Poker involves math. You don’t have to be a numbers genius to improve your game however.
Just understanding the basic odds behind hitting certain hands can be very beneficial for people just starting out.
Here’s a really simple one for you: 221-1. That’s the odds of getting pocket aces. That means statistically you’ll only get aces on average every 221 hands. Puts things in perspective doesn’t it?
Here’s a guide to some of the most common odds you’ll run into in online poker or live poker:
  1. Being dealt a pair — 17-1 (5.9%)
  2. Being dealt aces — 221-1 (0.45%)
  3. Being dealt ace-king suited — 331-1 (0.3%)
  4. Flopping a set with a pocket pair — 8.5-1 (11.76%)
  5. Flopping two-pair (without a pocket pair) — 48-1 (2.02%)
  6. Making a flush by the river (flopped four of one suit) — 1.9-1 (35%)
  7. Making an open-ended straight by the river — 2.2-1 (32%)
  8. A full house by the river (flopped three-of-a-kind) — 2-1 (33%)