Try not to play your mediocre hands like K-J, J-10, and suited connectors from early position. Sure, we all get tempted to play trash hands from time to time, but try to keep that temptation to a minimum. There is nothing worse than trying to sneak into a pot with a trash hand only to have one of your opponents throw a big raise at you. You'll have to throw your hand away and you've just cost yourself a bet. There is a time for drawing hands, and we'll get to that in late position. An important concept to keep in mind: money you didn't lose is just as good as money you won.

As you advance to middle starting position (4th - 6th), you can be a bit more liberal with your starting hands. You can start to play medium pocket pairs like 10s, 9s, and 8s and drawing hands like K-Q and A-J. If you're first to enter the pot preflop with one of these hands, consider making a reasonable raise, as no one has shown any strength in the hand. You'll gain control of the hand and your opponents will look to you to dictate where the action will go on subsequent betting rounds. Having control of the hand is an important concept that will allow you to win many pots uncontested. Be advised, however, that you should rarely bluff in low-limit online play. Many players will stay in a hand if they've caught any piece of the flop and if you're on a total bluff, they're going to call you and beat you.

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