When you play poker online, you’ve got available choices that you don’t have at the card room or at your regular home game. Capitalizing on these extra options can improve your online poker results. Let’s take a look at the main things you may take advantage of when playing your poker online.
Choose the right Site- Simple, huh? Play at a site in which you feel comfortable. Find a site where the levels of competition are soft and plentiful. Locate a site that offers the games or tournaments you are trying to find. Determining the best site is a matter of personal preference. Check out several sites and find the one that is right for you.
Pick the best Game- Make use of your online poker room’s lobby. Most lobbys list such basic information as flop percentage, number of hands played per hour, and average pot size. You may scout the different tables from here. Additionally, should you have a buddy list; you can look for players that you know to be weak.
Have a buddy list- If you play routinely, you will see several of the same players over and over. You should quickly be able to tell the tendencies of many players. Whenever you locate a player whose game you can exploit, put her or him on your buddy list. You’ll find an abundance of “buddies” if you pay attention.
Pay Attention- Whenever you play online it is easy to become distracted. Quite easy. Let’s see… there is e-mail, the baseball game you’re watching out of the corner of your eye, the phone, the children, the dog. And, since all you will need to do to play online is to just fire up the computer, it’s easy to play when you are distracted or tired.
Play Only When you Are Prepared and Rested- Imagine what one advantage you would have over your average opponent if you just followed this rule. Many players play online betting on a whim. Maybe they have been online for hours and just impulsively click on their favorite poker site just to unwind. Likely the one thing that will be unwinding is their bankrolls. So provide your playing sessions a little bit of thought prior to deciding to play.
Play for only a Set Time or Specific Range of Hands- Do not fall in to the trap of “just one more hand” syndrome. Before you decide to start determine a particular time-limit or hand limit to provide your game focus. Playing for just one more hand has a way of turning into many more hands. And, if your playing with a just one more attitude, I doubt for anyone who is paying much attention or taking any notes.
Take Notes- This really is a good way to keep your focus when you are not in a hand. Develop your own shorthand for keeping notes. By way of example, I might write, “CC w/ junk” (cold calls with junk) if I have noted a player who continually comes in for two bets with hands he shouldn’t.
Utilize a Four Colored Deck if Available-Why wouldn’t you. The online card icons are much smaller than real world cards. It is easy to mis-read a club for a spade or vice versa. If changing to a 4 colored deck saves you from making one mistake, it’s well worth the time it takes to change.
Adjust the Chat Feature- Ensure this really is set to your preferences. Maybe you like the chat. It keeps you involved and you pick up tells from others chat. Great, leave it on. But if you end up in anyway distracted, turn it off. Many sites also let you turn individual player’s chat off.
Avoid the Auto Functions- If you sometimes use the auto buttons to “Raise Any Hand” when you’re strong or “Call Any Hand” when you have the best draw, good observant players will pick up a tell on you. Best practice is to always wait for your turn and attempt to take the exact same amount of time to make your play.
There you have ten tips to help your online poker play. Some take a bit of effort. Some just require a one time adjustment of your options. All are pretty simple. But I believe if you follow them, it’s going to help your online game.