Online Poker

I haven't been blogging much lately. To be honest I lost a little interest in poker over the past few months and haven't felt like talking about it too often.

Why did I lose interest you may ask? Well it's because I've been losing....

It happens to all of us from time to time. You hit a rough streak and nothing seems to be going right. I'm not what I'd regard as a serious player - ie; I don't play poker for a living. And my losses haven't been that big either - certainly not enough to affect me financially. In fact most of the money I lost, had been built up from winnings over time.

But it still sucked... And it meant I wasn't having fun.

I moved around, playing at a lot of sites we feature here at Poker.com, like Carbon, PokerStars, Full Tilt, & Bodog. No matter where I played the river was unkind and other players where hitting one outers on me as often as tequila shots get slammed in Cancun during spring break.

It got me thinking.... What different types of online players are there out there, and how would a losing streak affect each of those groups of players differently?

I came up with the following core groups of online poker players.

• Sharks / Pros
  These are the players that make money. They can be found at any limit, but they are the players that know how to fold when they're behind. They know how to manage their bankroll, they multi-table to stay focused, choose their battles and keep notes and stats. I'd guess about 5-10% of players are in this group.



• Rounders
  I named this group rounders because a lot of them will say that is their favorite movie. A lot of rounders will pony up the cash to play in big tournaments and live events, but will often be dead money. Sometimes rounders break through for big wins, and there will be some winning players in this group - but on average they are break even players. Online poker depends on these players to keep the action juicy and although they know a lot about the game, they're not as dedicated or focused as the sharks, and are often young too. They'll read all the message boards, be up with the hip lingo at the tables and boast about how many tables they can play at once. This group probably makes up about 20-25% of online players.



• Bankrollers
  I struggled to quickly think of a name for this group, but bankrollers fits well enough. This group is the players that might know a bit about the game, and could be quite a good live player. But they don't have the focus or motivation to do what it takes to win online over time. They will expect everything to be the same as their home game or local casino game. They will play above their comfortable limit and complain the loudest about bad beats. They're bankrollers because they usually have more money than online poker sense and eventually pad the bankrolls of the rest of us. About 10-15% of online players would fit in this group.



• Casual / Could Care Less
  This group plays for fun. They don't really care if they win or lose, they log on for something to keep them entertained. Sure they'll get upset if when they lose and they might even scream 'it's rigged' from the rooftops, but they'll keep coming back to play and will often be a member of a poker forum or league. Some of these players will even finish on the black side of the ledger, but over time the great majority of casual players lose, despite many knowing better. About 20-30% of online poker players would slide into this group nightly for a quick sit & go and the limits they play is governed simply by the balance of their account at the time.



• Fish / Newbies
  About 15-25% of the players online at any one time are fish. They've been playing for a few months or less and really don't know what they're doing yet. 99% of these players lose and a lot of them will externalize those losses - meaning they blame everything else but themselves and their own play. They'll suckout on you for the runner runner flush and play any two cards, and usually leave the table with nothing. We love them and hate them all at the same time, but every player should be doing everything they can to help these fish so they graduate to casual, bankroller or even rounder status and keep the pots juicy for longer. Fish usually don't last very long and give up on online play quite quickly simply because they don't take the time to learn and understand how to play.

That's my quick grouping of online players. Which group do you fit into?

I decided I'm probably a casual / could care less type player at the moment. I don't really play to make money, or even care that much when I lose. I know more about the game than most, but don't necessarily put that knowledge to use at the tables. It's rare that when I sit down to play, that's it's all I am focusing on - I'm usually at the computer to do something else and will fire up a game on the side.

But because I usually won in the past, and should know better, it got to me a little when I hit a losing streak. But what do I expect? I don't keep notes or stats on other players or my own play. I don't dedicate time just to playing poker and I don't use any bankroll management sense at all. I play when I feel like it at the limit my balance allows me to play - which is stupid if I expect to make money, and even dumber when I am just throwing away money that could be donated to a charity or put to another good use. It's fine to lose if you are having fun, it's just like paying to see a movie or buying an xbox - but I wasn't having fun...

So I have a decision to make... Do I keep playing as a casual player, most likely keep losing and not really enjoying it that much. Or do I use my brain and actually focus on becoming a better player?

I've decided on the second option - with a twist. I'm going to try and learn how to play a new game and try to have some fun while I'm at it. I'm a horrible Omaha player so I'm going to start playing both Omaha and Omaha Hi/Lo at the very lowest limits and see if I can work my way up the ranks.

Hopefully it'll be a fun change to start playing a game I don't know much about. Just call me the Omaha fish!