Guide and tips for new Corona Poker players at www.coronapoker.com

1. CORONA POKER PLAYER GUIDE
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 2
UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS…DO‟S & DON‟TS: ................................................................. 3
DON‟T ......................................................................................................................................... 3
DON’T PLAY AT TOO HIGH LIMITS .................................................................................... 3
DON’T PLAY EVERY HAND / DO FOLD MORE .................................................................. 3
DON’T PLAY MORE THAN 3 TABLES AT THE SAME TIME .............................................. 3
DON’T BLUFF ........................................................................................................................ 3
DON’T STAY IN THE HAND BECAUSE YOU HAVE ALREADY PUT MONEY IN THE
POT .......................................................................................................................................... 4
DON’T CALL AT THE END OF A HAND TO "KEEP SOMEONE HONEST" ...................... 4
DON’T PAY TOO MUCH FOR DRAWS ................................................................................. 4
DO ................................................................................................................................................ 5
DO PLAY STRONG HANDS.................................................................................................... 5
DO THINK ABOUT THE POSITION ...................................................................................... 5
DO PLAY BIG POTS WITH BIG HANDS, SMALL POTS WITH SMALL HANDS ................ 6
DO PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR KICKER ............................................................................. 6
DO BE PATIENT, TAKE BREAKS, KNOW WHEN TO STOP ............................................... 6
DO PLAY AGAINST WORSE PLAYERS THAN YOU ............................................................. 8
DO FIND A PLAYER TO PLAY AT CORONA POKER .......................................................... 8
DO KEEP ON LEARNING ...................................................................................................... 8
SOME ADVANCED TIPS WHEN YOU GET ON THE GAME ...................................................... 8
BETTING..................................................................................................................................... 8
HANDS ........................................................................................................................................ 9
LINKS ................................................................................................................................................ 10

2. INTRODUCTION
Network
Corona Poker belongs to an Italian based poker network which has been operating for two years.
Earlier this network was strictly closed for Italians only but in the beginning of 2009 they chose to
open up. Corona Poker is one of the first poker rooms to take this opportunity. One can still see few
closed tables for Italian players only as a heritage of a closed network but little by little the network
is opening for all players around the world. At the moment only Scandinavian players are blocked
to play in some of the tables.
Network is widely known in Italy and has gained strong position in Italian online poker which has
resulted to an expansion to foreign markets. Currently network holds gaming licenses in Panama.
Negotiations of transferring licenses to another country are in progress.
Corona Poker
We remember having had this particular dream to open up own poker room for six years now. It‟s
similar to the dream of every man of owning a bar, where he can play his favorite music, serve good
drinks and socialize with customers, most of whom he knows personally. This man has built his
own success, he started with nothing but due to his ability to be nice for everyone, give out and
receive, and his common sense for business he was able to succeed.
This is what we hope we can deliver to our customers at coronapoker.com. We want the players to
feel they came to the right place, feel like they are home. Furthermore, we want to hear from you. I
also want to get to know the players, and want them to know each other. What‟s more fun than
playing against other people around the world, winning a satellite tournament to receive a ticket for
a live tournament and finally meet these people you have played against? At least for us, it would
be a dream-come-true. We also appreciate our customers more than anything. In reality, this means
we give best promotions, added value for playing, freerolls, player rewards, and of course soft
tables.
This guide is one example of how we at Corona Poker bring players closer to us and at the same
time closer to other players by giving common guidelines to the network to develop as a player and
socialize with others around the poker circle. We encourage Corona Poker players to start
conversations about poker with other players or with us if you wish so. Follow this guideline to get
the best out of poker and start your journey to become Corona Poker pro…
ABOUT THIS GUIDE
This guide will give you some basic tips and guidance on how to play poker at Corona Poker. Some
strategies may not work in bigger networks as the players in there already know these and the level
of playing is much higher than in our network where most players are new to the game. The
purpose of this guide is to help you to develop your game, even just a little, and perhaps turn you to
a winning player. If you play poker just for fun, it‟s alright to choose not to focus too much on game
theories and decision making but you would still benefit from reading this guide as your game
probably improves and you win and enjoy it more. The purpose of poker is to win, isn‟t it? On the
other hand, beating the other players with good poker tactics is part of the poker enjoyment. Please
remember that no one can teach you how to play perfect poker, the skills come with experience and
learning the game.
If you are completely new, first it‟s important to familiarize yourself with…
…the rules of Texas Hold „Em http://poker.about.com/od/poker101/ht/holdem101.htm

3. …the hand rankings http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hand_rankings
UNDERSTANDING THE BASICS…DO’S & DON’TS:
DON’T:
DON’T PLAY AT TOO HIGH LIMITS – start in the low limits (e.g. 0.05/0.1, 0.1/0.25) if you are
new to the game. This will allow you to learn and get better before you move to higher stakes. One
of the basic rules in online poker is to play against players who are worse than you. Remember that
the higher the stakes the better the players usually are, so don‟t jump to higher stakes immediately
when you get your first winnings. Poker involves variance, meaning sometimes you win sometimes
you lose even if you play great. It is normal and getting used to it is the first step towards a better
poker player. Patience is one of the greatest assets of a poker player and will help you also in other
areas of life. If you are inpatient type, now it‟s time to learn to be patient as it will add up to your
winnings. If you have experience and enough bankroll (total money you have for poker), we
suggest you start multitabling (playing many tables at the same time) on the level you can beat
rather than going up the stakes. When you master multitabling, then it might be time to take a step
up but never jump more than one step at a time!
Your healthy bankroll for no limit games is between 15 and 20 max buy-ins, but for Corona Poker
this can be lowered to 12-15 because the softness of the games, especially in NL10, NL30, NL50,
and even in NL100 tables. So, 12 buy-ins for NL30 level means your bankroll should be around
360€. If you plan to play NL5, you should deposit 50€ to your account to have sufficient bankroll
but if you wish you can start with even lower deposit. For beginners we suggest to try our Sit&Go
tournaments, which allow you a „safer‟ place to learn because you can only lose the tournament
buy-in amount but easily win more.
DON’T PLAY EVERY HAND / DO FOLD MORE – new players make mistake of playing too many
hands in the beginning. If you hesitate how to play hands that are not pairs (same numbers), not
connected (e.g. 10, 6), not high (2, 5)…then fold. You will simply win more if you play better
starting hands than your opponents. In Corona Poker, this will lead to good profits as your
opponents won‟t notice or believe you play only strong hands. Remember that the money you
„saved‟ by folding adds to your poker winnings.
We can say that if you learn when to fold, you will win for sure in Corona Poker in the long run.
The mistake that players in Corona Poker network make is that they believe they can beat you even
after you have shown aggression or they believe they will catch the miracle river card (last card).
Yes, sometimes this happens and you lose but most of the times it doesn‟t happen and you win
more. Don‟t make the same mistake by trying to catch miracle card when your odds of getting it are
small.
DON’T PLAY MORE THAN 3 TABLES AT THE SAME TIME – You will get enough good cards to
keep playing and still have time to observe your opponents. One part of poker is to know your
opponents; if you have too many tables open you won‟t notice the bad players and it will become
harder to exploit them. Therefore, it‟s recommended that you start with 1 or 2 tables.
DON’T BLUFF – Yes, in the movies or in poker videos you see players sometimes bluffing and
winning big pots but in the small stakes level (NL10 to NL100) bluffing isn‟t that profitable. There

4. are certain moments where pure bluffs can work but these are rare. Rather than throwing your
money away with many bluffs, play your strong hands as you will get paid most of the time when
you hit. Other players in the network won‟t pay too much attention to your game which allows you
to play tighter and still get paid when they call your good hands. Actually, players bluff a lot in our
network! (i.e. they make mistakes, see the player profiles from coming opponent section). This
means calling down with semi-strong hands is profitable but overall with focusing on playing your
strong hands aggressively you can achieve profits that are rare in other poker networks.
DON’T STAY IN THE HAND BECAUSE YOU HAVE ALREADY PUT MONEY IN THE POT – It‟s
not your money anymore! Sometimes opponents will beat you by catching their miracle card. At
Corona Poker, these players will let you know by betting a lot into a small pot:
For example, the flop comes AQT, you hold 55, pot is 1€ and the opponent bets 1.6€. You are
probably behind (unless the opponent is bluffing) and you only have a small change to improve
(catch one of 2 remaining 5s) and even then you might lose to straight, flush, higher set…Just
accept you lost this pot, make a note that opponent likes to bet big and wait for a better time to take
his money.
This requires lots of self control! Especially if you have strong hand and someone draws you out on
turn or river. Don‟t go allin if you are not sure you are still winning.
For example, the flop comes 78A, you hold AT (T means 10), pot is 1€, you bet 0,5€ and two
opponent calls. Turn comes 78A6 and you bet 1€ and one opponent calls. River comes 78A68, you
check and someone raises 5€. Now you can lose to trips (888), straight, possibly to flush, if
available, and also to A with better kicker like AJ, AQ, AK. It is best to fold and accept that you
lost this hand, minimize your losses in this hand and concentrate on next. You played correctly and
opponents were just lucky on turn or river.
DON’T CALL AT THE END OF A HAND TO "KEEP SOMEONE HONEST" - This goes with #5.
Sometimes players will bet at the end if they have a good hand, if you think you have a strong hand
then call/raise, but do not call with bad hands trying to catch someone bluffing. It‟s ok if they bluff
you and win the pot, next time you will have a strong hand and when they bluff, you raise and they
call it. The only case is if the bet at the end is small compared to the pot, e.g. 3euros in the pot and
opponent bets 20cents then you can call with pretty much any hand as you will win often enough to
make it profitable. This happens quite often as opponents at Corona Poker don‟t know what kind of
bets they should be making. Often they are betting so small that it‟s profitable for you to chase your
draws (strong hands needing a card to be completed) and when you hit your draw these players feel
committed to call to „keep you honest‟.
For example, the flop comes 259, you hold AK, pot is 0.8€, opponent bets 0.1€ and two opponents
calls, you can call also both turn and river with this price because the pot is relatively good and you
don‟t have to pay too much to see the turn and river, in which case if you hit A or K you are most
likely winning. If someone bets 0.5€ on flop, then it is better to fold.
DON’T PAY TOO MUCH FOR DRAWS - As a general rule, if you opponent is betting heavily, it is
not profitable to chase after draws. However, if there is only a small amount of betting it may be
wise to call in hopes of making your hand. It all depends on pot odds and your read of the opponent
but in the beginning you should focus on the game rather than math, so if you feel it‟s too much to
pay for the draw then fold. Most of the time close to pot sized bet kills your odds.

5. DO:
DO PLAY STRONG HANDS - Big Guns - AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs, AK.
No question at all. You should be raising/reraising pre-flop with these hands. Only a negative flop
can hurt you, such as a straight or flush draw when even these premium hands they become useless.
Yes, sometimes your opponent may hit their pocket pair and make a set (three-of-a-kind) but it
happens rarely. Remember that the more people in the pot the less chance you have for winning. So,
be aggressive with these pre-flop to knock some opponents out of the pot and take the ones‟ money
whom stay in. In Corona Poker, you can easily put all your money in pre-flop with AA, KK, AKs,
AK and against certain players at lower stakes even with QQ and JJ too as you will be ahead of
their range of playable hands most of the time.
For example, you hold KK in NL10, you should bet heavily from 0.6€ to 1.2€ or if someone has bet
already you can raise to 3€ or even go allin. You will see lot of players going allin in this network
with A3, K8 or even 95 as a bluff. With strong hands you can bet with any kind of flop.
Good Hands - AQs, AQ, AJs, KQs, KQ, KJs, QJs, JTs
These starters have potential to be great with a good flop. With an ordinary flop you should
check/fold if the action gets big. You can still raise all of these hands pre-flop as when they hit the
flop you will win. Still, be wary of trap hands which mean playing with something despite it being
the second best hand. Remember that the patience and self control are the keys with these hands:
sometimes you just have to lay down a good hand.
An example of a trap hand could be you playing QJ strongly after hitting QT2 flop and T on turn. If
your opponent raises you or bets strongly you may not have the best hand anymore as any T will
beat you but same goes with AQ, KQ, QT, 22, AA, KK. If you bet and opponent only calls you are
still probably leading.
Decent Hands - AJ, KQ, KJ, KTs, QTs, J9s, TT, 99, 88, 77, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22
Better to play these when many players are in the pot, except the first 4 hands. If heads-up (meaning
against one player), fold if the flop isn‟t good because these are not great hands to chase with. When
learning the game it‟s better to keep things simple. Remember that opponent evaluation is the key
with these hands.
For example, if you hit your set, e.g. 777 you are set, if not fold after flop. With pocket pairs you
can call pre-flop if the price is right, which means that you are not paying too much to see the flop
and your opponents have enough money on the table to be won if you hit your set. At Corona Poker
the price is almost always right as your opponents aren‟t raising enough thus making it profitable
for you to call and hit your set.
Well Connected - 98s, 87s, 76s, 65s, 54s and similar (s means suited). With these types of hands
you will look to hit straights or flushes or draws for them. Again, you want more people in the hand
to maximize your winnings but remember not to chase desperately to make your hand. Remember
the opponent evaluation and price you pay to play these cards.
DO THINK ABOUT THE POSITION – it‟s always better to act last as you already know what your
opponents are doing. This is really important in poker and many starting players don‟t realize the
power of position. In practice, this means you can raise more hands closer to button because you are
more likely to be the last to act on flop, turn and river. Acting last means you have more
information than others to make your decision to check, raise, or fold. With position some hands

6. that are not playable from early position become worth a raise in late position. Be sure to learn how
position affects the way you play your hands and you will quickly develop your game and win
more.
For example, you are first to act and you hold 98. It‟s best to fold this as you don‟t know what other
players after you will do. If someone raises big, you cannot call anymore and you just lost some
money. When you are on the button (last to act) you can bet trying to steal the blinds or take control
of the hand. If flop comes A7T, you can easily continue betting for two reasons: you represent A
and your opponent folds and you win the pot instantly. If your opponent calls (he might have A)
you still have many chances to improve to straight (any 6 or J will help you) and get all your
opponents money.
DO PLAY BIG POTS WITH BIG HANDS, SMALL POTS WITH SMALL HANDS – if you have
middle pair, i.e. you hold 98 and board is 95K you can bet but don‟t bet too much (maybe 1/2 or 2/3
of the pot) or on every street (flop, turn, river) as you will be increasing the pot without having a
strong hand. Also, a bet here is representing the K if your opponent calls he has the K or a better
hand than that.
DO PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR KICKER – means your second card, e.g. A9 on flop A47 is good
but not always the best as your opponent would definitely play AT, AJ, AQ, AK and you would be
losing. Beginners like to play all aces A4, A2 without paying attention to the kicker, which
sometimes decides the winner. In small stakes tables at Corona Poker you will find many players
that will call all your bets with A4 on flop A8T as they only pay attention to their pair of aces. They
won‟t believe you have Ace and won‟t understand their kicker is not strong. Reverse, don‟t be too
trustful if you have A6 and the betting gets hard.
DO BE PATIENT, TAKE BREAKS, KNOW WHEN TO STOP - Follow your strategy of playing tight
if you are new to poker. This allows you to learn and makes you a winning player at Corona Poker.
Don‟t get frustrated if you have to wait for good cards, for example a pair of aces comes once in
222 hands. Remember that the money you save by not playing bad cards and hoping to hit miracle
flops adds up to your winnings greatly. Just as in everything else in life, taking small breaks
between playing allows you to focus more and be on top of your game. Losing concentration only
leads to losing money. Knowing when to stop is also a great skill in poker. Let‟s say you lose big
pot when an opponent makes a bad call on turn and hits perfect card on the river to beat you. Most
poker players get angry and some even try to win the money back instantly. Don‟t do this mistake.
When you are tilting walk away from your computer, take a break, take two days off from poker or
whatever it takes to forget the loss and not allow it to affect your game. Always play your best
game! It is also recommended that if you have played NL10 for two hours and now you have 20-
30€, take a brake, put your money towards next games and start a new table with 10€. In poker
there are always bad periods when you lose even if you play well. During these times it is good to
have some extra money in your account. Don‟t get frustrated if you won‟t win every time you play.
Just be patient, follow your strategy and the money will come.
DO THINK ABOUT YOUR OPPONENT’S CARDS
It is extremely important in poker to think about the strength of your opponent‟s hand and compare
it to your hand. It is nice to have a big hand, but if you think that your opponent has a better hand
than you, you should prepare to fold. For example a straight is a decent hand, but if there are four
cards of the same suit on the board and your opponent pushes all in, do you still think you have the
best hand? No, you are most likely beat and it would be wrong to pay off your opponent as
discussed in “Keep someone honest” part. In Corona Poker this happens a lot. When your opponent

7. gets a big hand on the river he is excited and pushes all in, you should be happy because your
opponent just saved you some money by allowing you to fold to a large bet. If your opponent bets
half or 1/3 of the pot it would be harder for you to fold your straight.
DO THINK ABOUT PLAYING STYLES OF YOUR OPPONENTS - Below we have listed the most
typical players in our network in NL10 tables. Please read this carefully and be creative while using
different strategies with different players.
Player 5: 18e Player 6: 12e
Player 4: 10e Player 1: 2.3e
Player 3: 5.6e Player 2: 1.3
Player 1 is the most common profile of a player in this network. They are trying poker and have
learned a bit. They try to play carefully but when they are getting impatient they end up playing all
hands. They bet small even if they have a good hand. They usually have learned that with Big Guns
they should go allin and they do it.
Player 2 is also common profile in this network. They bluff and risk a lot and when getting
impatient, they start to go allin and call with all hands hoping a miracle to happen and make some
money. These players are easy targets with common playing.
Player 3 goes with same profile as player one but he bets harder as he has more money. They don‟t
play every hand and seem to be rational players. If you hit them one time with a strong hand, they
start tilting and probably go allin at the end of the next hand against you. If they start to win, they
might risk more to get fast winnings as they feel lucky at the moment.
Player 4 is entering the table with 10€. See if he plays many tables to analyze his profile. If he
multitables, he goes to player 5 category, if not he goes to player 3 category only with more money.
Player 5 is a rare winning player in this network. He plays strong hands and medium hands and gets
value out of them. When he plays he bets strongly regardless of what he holds. He folds a lot and
plays in many tables. When you start playing against these guys, be sure that you have a strong
hand and are most likely winning, otherwise fold!

8. Player 6 plays really aggressively and bluffs a lot. He plays all the hands, raises pre-flop with
Decent Hands cards and calls until the river with any chances of winning. His winnings vary from
5€ to 20€ all of the time and sometimes he seems surprisingly lucky. This guy seems to win a lot,
but it happens only in short term he gets lucky. Don‟t get angry or impatient if you lose to this
profile player with a miracle turn or river card, rather just get ready to beat him with strong starting
hands and favorable flops.
DO PLAY AGAINST WORSE PLAYERS THAN YOU
If you are better than the players that you are playing against, it makes sense that you will be a
winner in the long run. So choose your games and limits carefully. If you feel the table you play is
tight or there are few good players in it, you can easily leave the table and select another as there are
enough tables going on at Corona Poker any time of the day.
To give you some examples, we generally recommend that you play carefully against players who
can be seen on many tables at the same time. Also, if you find the same player sitting on many
tables with more money than the buy-in for that level, e.g. 22€ on NL10 level, then you can assume
that player is good and act accordingly. These are just assumptions and recommendations you can
keep in mind when making decisions at the table. Good players have potential to outplay most
beginners so keep your eye on them and learn their moves.
DO ASK YOURSELF HOW THIS HAND PLAYS IN THIS SITUATION – In hold‟em, there are
unlimited number of different situations. That‟s why it‟s important to learn to think, to question the
factors affecting every hand and react based on the information. During the hand it‟s useful to try to
find answers for questions like: How does this hand play in this situation against this player? What
does my opponent think when I‟m making this move? What could my opponent make that move
with? What is my opponent trying to tell me? What does he think I have? What have I done
previously and how my opponent has reacted upon it?
DO FIND A PLAYER TO PLAY AT CORONA POKER – The best way to learn poker is to share the
experience with him/her. If you have a friend who is interested in playing poker, invite him to
Corona Poker and play together. Or you could even ask more experienced player to download
software, register and then watch you play. Share this guide with him and start talking about the
topics discussed in this guide and some hands that you have played.
You can even reserve a private table only for you and your friends to get a better learning platform
and enjoy social part of the poker. Private tables are great for friendly games.
DO KEEP ON LEARNING –Get familiar with the game and the flow by playing many hands but
also remember to read more poker tips like this…
http://web.archive.org/web/20071230071244/http:/www.nitricburn.com/BACKUP/kader/Basic6Ma
xPreflopGeneralGuideUpdate.htm
SOME ADVANCED TIPS WHEN YOU GET ON THE GAME:
BETTING
The pre-flop raise in no limit game is normally considered to be between 3-5 times the big blind.
With blinds of 0.05/0.1 this would mean a bet of 30c-50c if you are the first one in the hand. If
someone has already entered, i.e. paid the blind but not raised, you can add one more per limper
(meaning the ones who only called). If you are in 3rd position with a good hand and 2 limpers you
can raise 60cents.

9. If someone has already raised, then you need to think how strong your hand is. Early position
raisers usually have stronger hands than late position raisers. Let‟s say a player in first position bets
40c and you have AA-88, AK/AKs,AQ/AQs, AJs/AJ, ATs/AT you can raise it to 2-4 times his raise
meaning something between 1€ and 1,6€.
If someone bets, another raises, then when it‟s your turn to act you need a really strong hand to
continue playing. Let‟s say you have a decent hand and call, after that the original bettor goes all-in
the raiser calls and you have to decide now do you want to risk you whole stack against 2 players.
It‟s a tough decision and good players know how to stay away from them, or until they learn the
best ways to act in most situations.
When you bet pre-flop, the flop comes and you have 1-2 players with you, then you can make a
continuation bet (cbet) trying to win the pot. Make the cbet between 50-75% of the size of the pot.
If you have position, i.e. you are last to act, and you bet 75% of the pot it would be hard for the
opponent to call without a good hand. At Corona Poker, when you have a good hand, let‟s say top
pair with top kicker AK on flop KT3, you can bet anything up to pot size, sometimes even over the
pot if you think the opponent will make a mistake and call you with a worse hand.
Betting after the flop becomes complicated but as a rule of thumb you should bet when you think
you have the best hand but make the size of the bet decent, i.e. don‟t give your opponents odds to
call. There‟s no use to bet 10cents to 2€ pot, rather bet 1,4€ if you think you are winning.
Sometimes you can try to bet 70c and see what happens as some opponents may lay their hands
down and you win a nice pot. This is a good strategy with flush or straight draws.
Also, the more opponents in the hand the more careful you should be when betting, including cbets.
On the other hand, if you have a strong hand when someone bets into a big pot you can easily go
all-in and hope your opponent calls. You will be ahead many times and win money easily at Corona
Poker. Pay attention to opponents‟ stack sizes! Small stacks are waiting to go allin pre-flop and you
should not be afraid of them as you can only lose little. If you have a large stack at the table and
another large stack goes allin, think a minute!
HANDS
Strong hands on the flop are, for example, sets (three-of-a-kind), top pair top kicker (Only at
Corona Poker!), good draws like AsTs on flop JsQs8, or even middle pair with over card, or simply
overpair to the board like AA on QT4. Your opponent will pay you off with AQ, KJ, AJ, or at
Corona Poker even with 55-99 in this case. You should not be afraid of Four-of-a-kind if the betting
gets hard as these hands come by so rarely that it‟s almost impossible to know opponent has it.
Remember, if you have the „nuts‟, i.e. the best possible hand, always bet at the end. You are betting
for value and your opponent makes a mistake when calling, leading to your profit. On top of nuts,
there are many places where to bet for value but it‟s hard to point out the situations, you have to
learn them by yourself.
GOOD LUCK AT THE TABLES!
-Team Corona Poker-

10. LINKS
You will find the action at www.coronapoker.com
You can also check for updates from our social media sites
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=55434553301&ref=ts
http://www.twitter.com/coronapoker
http://www.delicious.com/coronapoker
http://coronapoker.wordpress.com