Online Poker
I’ve been playing online poker now for well over a year, and I’ve got a few tips to share for anyone who may decide to venture in the arena.
First: I play only for fun. I don’t play high stakes, because I have no desire to lose money. I think I’m a pretty good player, but so does everyone else who plays so that doesn’t really mean anything. But, here’s a few foods for thoughts:
1. There are no “wow” hands. Yes, I’ve seen four aces. Yes, I’ve seen royal flushes. They don’t happen very often. But they do happen. It’s the luck of the cards man. You shouldn’t be surprised that they come up sometimes.
2. Pocket aces only win 81% of the time. That’s a pretty good percentage, but you can be beat. If you’re not all in before the flop, you’ve got to know when you’re beat and get out of the hand.
3. You will lose. It’s inevitable. I just played a hand where I went all in with aces against a guy with pocket 10s and lost on the river. I also had a hand the other night where a guy made a big bet as a bluff, and I went all in because I had two pair, and for some reason he called and he ended up making a straight with the turn and the river. It was pure luck, but it happens.
4. People will chase cards, even when the odds are against them. Your average poker player has no idea what the odds are that the card that they are chasing to make their straight will come up. They bet big and blindly. And sometimes they catch the card. You should NEVER get mad at these people. Why? Because they’re the fish who keep the game alive. The odds are against them, and the more you get a chance to play them, the more money you will get back from them over time. These are the people who are valuable to poker!
5. Bluffing is very overrated in low limit games. I tend to stick to 9 player games with a 6 dollar buyin. Sometimes I play 18 person games with a 1.75 buy in. I’ve played 25 dollar buyins. The place I play has them all the way up to $5000. You should know that when the most a person has to lose is a dollar, a lot of times they will call your bluff if they have even a marginal hand. That’s not the case when they’ve put up $5000 to play.
6. If you have a hand that is good enough to play, you should consider a pre flop raise. It will drive out a lot of people with marginal hands, but hands that could still beat yours if the right cards came off.
7. All-in is very overrated. It’s good for two things: when you have the nuts (the best hand), and when you’re making a stone cold bluff and trying to drive someone away. Just because you have a pair of aces doesn’t mean you want to put all of your money in the pot. There are ways to lose it, and sooner or later you will.
8. If the blinds are 20 dollars, and three people have called (meaning there’s 60 dollars in the pot), there’s no reason to push all of your chips (say 1500) in. You’re betting 1500 to win 60? You’re taking the chance that someone will call you and beat you. Isn’t that a stupid way to lose your chips?
9. Don’t think that hands can’t be repeated. I’ve had pocket jacks dealt to me four times in a row. That’s very unlikely, but it does happen.
10. Toss up your style of play. I am a pretty tight player. Every once in a while I take a stab at the pot with a hand that is pretty bad. A lot of people may think I’m tight and think that I have a good hand. And sometimes you get the cards that marginal hand better and nobody would recognize.
11. I’ve noticed a lot of times people who show their cards to you after a big bluff (to rub it in I suppose) and on the very next hand make a very very wild bet usually have a really good hand. They’re trying to take advantage of you by making you think they’re bluffing again.
12. Pocket Kings are a good starting hand. So is Ace-King. But compared to pocket aces, they’re not so good. Think hard about your hand if a lot of raising and reraising happens preflop.
13. Remember, the idea in poker is to win money. You do this by taking it from other people. It does you no good to make big big bets only to scare people off, unless there’s a good pot at stake. Sometimes it helps to make smooth calls and try and milk some money out from other players. Sometimes it’s good to check the flop if you get a good starting hand, to incite some action. Sometimes it’s good to make a strong bet with a strong hand, because people wouldn’t think that you’d do that with a strong hand.
14. Understanding how to calculate odds, especially pot odds, is very key. Until you get good at it, I recommend only playing very very low limit poker.
15. Have fun. Sometimes you’ll be mad after you lose, especially if it’s a bad beat. But remember, there are plenty of times you’ll be playing and you’ll do the same to someone else. It’s all part of the game. As long as you win more than you lose, who cares, right?