Online Poker

With the boom in online poker, there are lot of players taking a seat at a virtual table for the very first time. Poker has always been a popular game offline, so most new online players have experienced home or casino games before they ever buy in for $50 and try their luck against 'JuggernautOwnz' from Denmark and 'RebelYell67' from Kentucky at an online poker room like Poker.com.

They think they know what to expect. They know how to play poker, so they'll have no problem playing online.... But is that really the case?

Do you think Kobe Bryant would be the world's best Xbox basketballer? Cordination, reacting to visual cues and responding to in-game situations are all talents that would be valuable both on the court and with wireless controller in hand. But when it comes to the matchup of Kobe Vs Kim Moon from Korea one on one on the big screen, I'd be putting my money on the 11 year old from Seoul every time! Anyone who plays online poker for the first time, expecting everything to happen exactly as it does at their local casino or home game is kidding themselves.

There are many differences between online poker and real life poker, and a lot of new or inexperienced players don't seem to realise this. Their failure to account for the differences can often lead to them making bad decisions or going on tilt and therefore not being as succesful playing online as their previous experience playing with real cards would lead them to expect.

So what are the main differences between online and live poker?

• You can't See your Opponents
  Okay, call me captain obvious, but you have to think about ALL the repercussions of this. Sure you can't see your opponent's physical tells - everyone realises that. But what about how not being visible affects your opponenet's play from a psychological perspective?
  
  Everyone who took undergrad psych at college had to sit through lectures and probably experiments dealing with audience effects, or how knowing that someone is watching affects behaviour. If you know that you won't have to sit through the visual grilling from your opponent, are you more likely or less likely to try and bluff? If you know that nobody knows what you look like and will not be able to think of you as a donkey forever more, will you be more likely or less likely to call with your middle pair with a possible flush on the board? Perceived anonymity has a big influence over decisions online.
  
  You just can't always use the same tricks you could use in a real poker game, because people simply do not have the same fear of failure, or wish to uphold their reputation as they would in person. They will call you with weaker cards than they would if you were sitting two feet away with 8 other players and a grumpy dealer watching.
  
  So lesson #1 for players new to online play is - Adjust your game to allow for more weak hands being played than you would normally expect. Weaker cards being played for longer, leads to more 'bad beats', as hands that you would not normally consider to still be alive, will be. But in the long run it leads to solid strategy being MORE successful than it would be offline.
  
  
• Your bankroll is intangible
  Whoever invented the first set of casino chips was a genius. Whenever you have a handful of colourful plastic discs, are you thinking about paying the phone bill with them or buying gas for the car? No - you're thinking about which game you can try you luck at! Actual money and what you need it for is the last thing on your mind - that's why casinos are fun.
  
  Poker players are typically a lot more protective of their chips than your average weekend blackjack warrior as your chances at a poker table rise and fall according to the size of your chip stack. But what happens when you don't have those piles of colorful little noise makers to play with?
  
  Online, you have a number in a box - nothing tangible to touch & feel. Bankroll management becomes just that little bit harder when the only thing between you and risking all your chips is a quick click of the mouse. Humans rely on their senses a lot more than we often realise and the simple fact is most of us are more inclined to risk something that we cannot touch and hold. You'll call off that river bet knowing that you are beat just because it's only 'virtual' chips right? Wrong - that mouse click costs you real cash!
  
  Lesson #2 for new players - guard your chips more ferociously than you would at any real casino. Don't drop your concentration and forget that you are playing with real money here!
  
  
• The Stakes are usually lower
  Typically in a casino the lowest games available will be $3/$6 or $4/$8. Online you could be playing for anything from 2c/4c. This is not the case for everyone, as there are online games up to $500/$1000, but for most of us who play online for some fun we are playing with bankrolls a lot smaller than we would walk into a Vegas poker room with. Walk up to the cashier at the Bellagio and ask them to transfer $25 from your NETeller account so you can sit at a game and see what they say....
  
  Playing with less money = playing with less fear & caution = playing loosely
  
  You may be playing for pennies, but if you are going to play online for fun it doesn't mean you should be throwing money away!
  
  Now, not everyone does this, but everyone has played AGAINST someone who does. This is the flip side of this situation and another factor that contributes to the prevalence of loose play online. If you think people are playing too loose at the limit you are playing, then maybe you need to move up a rung to where the amounts bet mean more to the players and you can get better reads.
  
  A lot of 25c players might be scared to play at $1 table because they think that it is too much money, but what you might find is that you will have a much better game at that slightly higher stake because the bets actually mean more to the people playing.
  
  Lesson #3 for new players - make sure you are playing at a stake that you, and your opponents are taking seriously. That will help you make good reads, good bets, and help ensure you don't get complacent and waste your chips.
  
  
• The games are quicker
  Online there is no waiting for the dealer to shuffle, no waiting for cashouts and the waitress to deliver the guy on the button's 7&7. Online poker is much, much quicker than playing in real life.
  
  This is probably THE BIGGEST difference between online and casino poker. Playing one hour online will often be the equivalent of spending an entire night at your local card game. You will see 60 or more hands in an hour online, but how many would you see per hour when you take all of the Saturday night casino delays into account? No shuffling, no counting pots, strict time limits, no wait service, no delays.
  
  We've all heard an online newbie say 'I've never seen so many river winners as I do online'. That's because you are playing ten times as many hands ya jackass!
  
  You'll readily admit that Bill, the town drunk, out-drew you twice on the river in your home game last Tuesday night - so what happens when you multiply Bill's two suckouts by the factor of how many more hands you would have played online? Bill would have fumbled your chips onto the top of his dirty chip stacks 10-15 times!
  
  Lesson #4 for new players - you will be seeing more hands. Remember that always, and don't let that fact affect your usual strategy too much until you are used to playing faster. If you are a player that usually eeks out plus or minus 1 BB per hour in your local limit game, then expect to multiply that by however much faster the online game is. Your swings will be bigger and they will happen quicker.
  
  
• Online Poker is a worldwide game
  At any one time at an online poker table, you could be playing people from 10 different countries and timezones. This is not an insignificant point.
  
  One of my favorite places to play is a predominantly British poker site (I can't play at Poker.com!). And I always choose to play just after the pubs are closing all over London. Relieving lagered up Englishman of their pounds sterling before they pass out on a Saturday night is one of my favorite, and until now - secret - poker pastimes...
  
  This can backfire on you too! Plenty of times I have gotten all my chips into the middle with the best hand, only to see the drunken Brit call with his pair of 2s and hit his set on the river, probably whilst munching on a kebab and laughing at the stupid Aussie he sucked out on! It's another factor that can lead to both bad beats and solid winning sessions depending on the time and opponents you are playing. I'm confident that I will have a good winning percentage against geezers with a skinful, so I keep playing at that time and place.
  
  Lesson #5 for new players - Consider where the people you are playing against are actually located, what time it is where they are, and what their probable level of awareness and state of mind is. It can come in very handy to take note of this sort of thing, and it can also contribute to loose play by your opponents.
  
  
• When do you play online poker?
  Now I know I'm a fully fledged internerd, but I spend about 70% of the time that I am not sleeping, in front of a computer. This means that I could fire up a quick heads up sit and go at just about any time in my day. If I'm slaving over a hot spreadsheet, I might play a game on the side just to have something to multitask and stop the numbers and columns from sending me crazy.
  
  What about everyone else? Do you set aside specific times to play poker online? Or do you do it on the spur of the moment when you have some time to kill or fill?
  
  Nearly everyone, apart from those of us lucky to live in Vegas, would plan real life games ahead of time. Would you ever drop everything to play a cash game at the board room table with your CEO? Probably not....
  
  People often play poker online with a much different state of mind, and less preparation than they would play a real life game of poker. This is a BIG factor in how they play and the decisions they will make. If you're sitting at the Bellagio and want a coke - you call the waitress. If you're at home you have to run to fridge, trip over the dog, grab some ice, answer the phone and then struggle to move your mouse to that little button on the screen, move your slider and make a bet that makes sense despite just having missed seeing the action from every player that acted before you!
  
  Lesson #6 for new players - Plan when you are going to play poker online, and make sure you can devote enough attention to the game. If you are playing while cooking dinner or studying for an exam, you're not going to play as well as you possibly can.
  
  Once again this point affects every player in reverse also. How can you make a good read on someone if their baby is crying and they only went all in to buy themselves 30 seconds of cuddle time? All of these factors affect the players you are playing against also!
  
  
• You know nothing about your opponent
  Now this is not true for players who have been online for a while as we all keep great notes on every opponent we face right? Sure we do....
  
  But this is definitely the case for new players. They have no idea who the person they are playing is, how they play, how much of a bankroll they have etc etc
  
  At a real table you could get a read on an opponent straight away. If they're wearing a Rolex and diamonds with more sparkles than Wayne Newton's smile you're probably not going to try and bluff him with a $5 raise are you?
  
  Until you get some experience online or a good read on your opponent you have no idea if you are playing the Bill Gates of online poker or someone that is down to their last $1. So be cautious - there are plenty of sharks out there that have thousands in their account but will sit at a 5c/10c game to chase the smaller fish.
  
  Lesson #7 - Be careful of how quickly you assume you 'know' an opponent, keep good notes and always play with a lot of patience. You could be playing against the lastest teenage pro from Sweden, or Barney the Dinosaur for all you know. Patience and calculated decisions will help you play a winning game. Remember if you never go all in, you will win the tournament....
  
  
• Limit V No Limit
  No limitHold'em is apparently the 'cadillac of poker' if you listen to Vince & Mike, but if you walk into a casino poker room, limit games will dominate the play board. Online a lot more people tend to play no limit which means all of your chips can be risked a lot more easily.
  
  If you usually play limit poker offline, why would you suddenly start playing no limit as soon as you log into an online site? They are totally different styles of games.
  
  Lesson #8 for new players - Wet your feet online playing limit games first, so you keep your possible risk at a minimum. Don't jump into the deep end of the pool straight away with low stake No Limit Hold'em games - they are the craziest games online.
  
  

Now this post has gone on far too long and there are a few more differences I could talk about, but I think I've illustrated that online poker and real life poker are very different games. Sure they have the same rules, but if you want to be successful at both versions of the game you need to adjust the way that you play and consider all of the points that I've mentioned.

You can still get a 'feel' for an online game just like you can at a real table, but the things you look for are different and your strategy to take advantage of these cues will be different also. But that's a blog post for another day.

Just remember one thing and you'll be fine. We all play poker for fun - if it's not fun, then what are YOU doing that's stopping it from being fun?

If you are a new player, complaining about how online poker is rigged or not 'as good' or 'realistic' as your regular home game, then expect to hear some sniggers and giggles of joy from the experienced online players around you waiting to take your money.

They already know that online poker is is every bit as fair, fun and 'realistic' as any live casino game - it just takes different skills and some online experience to be successful. The fact that you haven't realised that yet paints a big bullseye on your virtual chip stack.

Kris @ Poker.com