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There are a number of differences, both obvious and subtle, between online poker and live poker (in a casino or home game). To succeed at online poker, you must keep these differences in mind and capitalise on the opportunities that these differences present.
Don't Play too Loose
The first major difference is that you will see more hands per hour online than you will at a bricks and mortar casino. You don't have to sit around waiting while the dealer shuffles between hands or divides a split pot. However, the fact that you see more hands per hour does not mean that you should be playing more hands per hour. On the contrary, you should be more patient in an online game because waiitng for a premium hand won't test your patience as much as it will in a casino. Many reasonably successful live game players fail at online poker, simply because they play far too many hands with questionable timing.
You are not obliged to stay at a table when your winning a lot or losing a little
If you quadruple your buy-in in the first 2 hours at a home game, it is difficult to simply stand up, cash out and go home - especially if you're friends with the other players at the table. Chances are that you'll never be invited back to that home game if you continually take your winnings and run. Similarly, the regular opponents at your local card room will notice if you are type of player that leaves a game when you're either winning a lot or losing a little.
Online poker, by contrast, doesn't have these disadvantages. If you jump into a game and you triple your money in 30 minutes, there is no problem with leaving. You don't have to "face" your opponents as you stack up your chips and cash out. Simply point-and-click to stand up and leave the table. Online poker provides this degree of anonymity and chances are that most of your opponents will not even notice that you are gone or how much you won.
However, this aspect of online poker is more useful when you recover from a losing position. Let's say you sat down with $200 and after 40 minutes, you have $25 left. You go all in at the next opportunity and win... then you win another.. then another... and all of a sudden, you $180. This might be a good time to stand up and leave the table. You were in trouble early and you recovered signficantly. Take your minor loss now and search for another game. However, in a casino or home game, you will often receive strange and unfriendly looks when you pack up and cash out following a good recovery.
Choose the best game, not the first game you see
When ever you jump into an online poker game, you should evaluate whether it's really worth playing in during your first 20 minutes at the table. If the game is extremely tight or dangerously loose and aggressive, it's simply a matter of standing up and choosing another game. Again, the anonymity of online poker allows you to do this without any embarrassment. Search for the game that will give you the best return by taking advantage of the vast array of games on offer.
Tells in betting patterns
One major disadvantage of online is the fact that you are not physically sitting opposite your opponent and as a result, you cannot gather any information about their hand from their body language. As a result, you will need to pay more attention to your opponents' betting patterns. Watch how they bet when they are semi-bluffing and how they bet when they have a strong hand. Do they go for slowplays and checkraises when they have a monster? After some experience, you will be able to make semi-reliable reads of your opponents, just by observing when and how they bet their hand.
It is also essential to categorise your opponents' style early on. Are they tight or loose? Do they seem reckless or particularly cautious? Are they capable of folding if you raise the flop or are they complete and utter calling stations? These are the sorts of questions you will need to answer about each and every opponent if you want to uncover their weaknesses. Whats more, the ability to read players from betting patterns and observing their general style will assist you in bricks and mortar casinos.
Position
Following on from the previous tip, you need to be all the more conscious of your position in an online poker environment, simply because you have less physical information about your opponents. As with a live game, you can and should loosen your starting requirements in a late position. But more importantly, you have to be very careful playing from an early position. Playing too many hands up front is seemingly easier to do online than it is in a live game, largely because you are not physically sitting at a table and therefore more in tune with your immediate surroundings. And playing too many hands up front is the major leak of most online players - especially limping in an early position.
Too Many Tables at Once
Online poker offers you one benefit that you don't get in a casino: the ability to sit in two or more games at once. While it may initially seem lucrative, you must honestly assess you ability to keep pace with more than one game. For some players, concentrating on one game is difficult enough and there is no need for another challenge. Other players swear that they do twice as well over the same period of time when playing two or more tables at once. You judge for yourself and then make a firm decision. And one more thing: don't think that you're somehow inferior if you cannot play two tables at once. Better to stick to one table and win than to lose by continually trying and play two or more tables simultaneously. |
