How to play poker online
As a gambler of vast experience who has been playing long before online gambling was even possible I will now share my expertise with you.
Online poker is quite different from playing with your friends or in poker tournaments. It has some marvellous advantages over traditional poker. You can ’sit’ at a table at any time and more importantly you can leave at any time. Your opponents will be from a pool of many thousands of online players who ’sit’ at tables at random. Sometimes you will see the same ‘faces’ i.e. their pseudonyms. It is totally impersonal. In traditional poker you can actually take a dislike to some players because of their mode of play or their expressions etc. but in online poker you leave all those emotions behind you.
There is a notion out there that playing online poker exposes you to fraud. I think this is false. The people at your table do not know you and it is unlikely you know them. Two people cannot play from the same computer. The exchange platform will not allow it. You are playing for yourself only. I think it would be impossible for two people to ‘rig’ a game. Assume two people were in contact by mobile phone. What information can they give except what is in their own hands. They cannot see yours or anyone else’s. If they attempted to raise the stakes that could be their undoing if someone else has a red hot hand! And then think of the cost of the phone calls.
Online poker (or any poker for that matter) is not for fools. You must concentrate on what you are doing. If you are in a penny ante game (and there are plenty on the betting exchange) learning how to play poker then treat that game as if you were in a ‘big’ money game. The rules are exactly the same and the strategies that work in small games will work in big games.
Texas Hold ‘Em The most popular game is Texas Hold ‘Em. As you probably are aware you are dealt two cards and after the first round of betting three cards are flopped by the computer. Everyone uses those cards in conjunction with their own to make the best five card hand. After the first three cards are flopped by the exchange computer there is another round of checking or betting. Then another card is flopped and another round of checking or betting follows. Finally the fifth card is flopped by the exchange computer and the final round of betting or checking takes place. The best hand is the winner. The best hand is determined by using one or two cards from your hand and three or four cards from the table. In some cases the cards on the table constitute the winning hand on their own and the pot is divided by the players remaining in the game.
When should you play or not play. Let’s assume you know the general rules of poker e.g. the rankings of hands - best hand a Royal Flush (10
Jack
Queen
King and Ace of same suit) down to one pair or if there is no pair then the hand with the highest ranking card from the Ace down. In Texas Hold ‘Em I feel you should not play unless you are dealt a combination of cards from the 10 to the Ace or a pair. Of course if you were to rank those sets of two cards the best set would be two Aces
then two Kings down to a pair of deuces. After them an Ace and a King are the best and then an Ace and Queen
Ace and Jack
Ace and ten. If you have an Ace and any other card they too are worth playing with. But if you want to be clinical about this game don’t play at all until you get a combination as described above. Do not be tempted to play with two of a suit unless they are one of the combinations described in this paragraph.
Bluffing Bluffing is part of poker. There is no doubt about that. But I think it is less important in online poker. The reason I take this view is this. In the traditional game of poker you played the other players as well as playing the game. You read their expressions and their body language. You could sense if a p
layer was bluffing. This is not the case with online poker. There are no faces and no body language. I have found that when people bet
and more importantly when they look at a bet
they usually have strong hands to back up their actions. You might occasionally try the short corner - if everyone has checked and there is only you and one other person left to check or bet then you could try a bluff. You only have one person to fear because the other players would have bet if they had anything worthwhile. Of course this is not always the case and people who check might just be waiting for a bluffer to operate. The only way you will find out is to try a bluff.
Assessing the value of your hand The value of your hand depends on the value of the other hands at the table. Your ‘run’ may not be worth a fig if another person has a ‘blue’ or a ‘house’. You must look carefully at the cards on the table. If there is a chance that any of the other players has a stronger hand than you then you would be better to check. If you have a run and there are three of the same suit on the table then you must assume that someone might have a blue. My advice is play with extreme caution. I was caught recently with a top blue - Ace
King
10
5
3 of Spades. I could not see anything on the table that would suggest there was a better hand out. But there was. On the table at the end there was 10S
3S
5S
5H
8D. The betting was hot and I was beaten by the last card - the 8. My opponent had a pair of eights in his hand and a house of eights at the finish. He bet his entire bank and I looked and lost. A tough but valuable lesson. In a situation like that ‘die’. The clue was there in the pair of fives. I was too impetuous and did not think it out.
Play slowly Many poker players
and I used to be one of them
play too fast. You must give yourself time to think and study what is on the table and what possible hands there are against you. If you are new to this game then this is especially true. You will be given an adequate time by the exchange or betting site.
The Betting
If you are dealt a combination of the cards I just mentioned above you can commit yourself to go to the limit required to stay in the game
provided it does not entail betting your entire bank. However if you are the dealer and you have paid your ante money only stay in that game if you can do so by checking
unless of course you have been dealt a possible winning combination already mentioned. Sometimes the betting may go quite high in the preliminary round so be a little circumspect. Remember the best hand that can be out there is a pair of Aces. If you have a pair of deuces you may not be so confident. Personally I would not be prepared to go any more than 5 times the ante money to stay in a game playing anything less than a pair of Kings or an Ace and a King. After the flop check even if you have a very good hand or even a full hand. Don’t show your strength at that stage. You will only frighten off the potential catch. Poker can be a bit like fishing in that regard. After the 4th card is flopped and everyone checks around to you then bet less than half the pot. If people stay with you they have possibilities. After the last card is flopped you must decide to check or bet. Your decision will depend on where you are in the chain. If you are first it might be best to bet half the pot. If anyone else has a good hand they will either look or raise the bet. If you know (and you should at this stage) that you have the best possible hand then re raise the last bet to whatever you think might induce the other player or players to ‘look’ (i.e. matching your bet). If you have the best possible hand you can bet your entire bank (All In). Sometimes you will get people to look by doing this as they may think you are bluffing. Patience
Poker
like fishing
requires plenty of patience. You cannot make cards win. You cannot force your luck. Some days you will get cards that leave you second best on numerous
occasions. Those are the worst possible cards. You will not win every time you play but if you follow the simple rules above you will win most of the sessions. Stay calm and be patient. There is no use cursing at your computer!
How long should you play for
This really depends on your stamina. Some players can play for many hours but I would advise everybody to take breaks. I think that after one hour you begin to lose your focus or get bored. Stop - sit out and take a break. Walk around the house
go to the loo or have a drink or snack. The cards will still be there when you come back. If you feel sleepy and it is getting late pack it in.
Drinking and playing poker We have all seen the movies where the great poker players have been able to down their whiskies and still win. My advice is don’t try this in front of your PC. Drinking alcohol slows down your thought processes. Of course drinking alcohol can have a relaxing effect but over indulging can make you make wrong decisions. I sometimes play after dinner having had a few glasses of wine but in general I would advocate not drinking alcohol at all prior to playing poker.
Poker Tournaments
If you prefer to play in poker tournaments the advice given above will stand you in good stead. But don’t be tempted to go All In prior to the cards being flopped. Never go All In unless you know you have the best hand or if your chips are perilously low and the only chance you have is to go All In at the preliminary stage.
