Playing Poker Online (Intermediate) Tips on playing poker online & online tells

It's probably obvious to even the least observant that the biggest difference between real life and online is the inability to see the opponent. You could be playing a dental receptionist from Cheltenham, England, or Doyle Brunson a former world champion. So you really don't know just who you are playing, and on top of that you also do not know their response to looking at their hand, or their reaction when you take your turn.

This inability to read your opponent caused many poker purists to scoff at the mere idea of online poker when it first came out. Of course recent history shows that poker is now a multi billion dollar industry that has received quite a boost in no small part due to the online game.

Tells: Showing Cards A tell is something that an opponent does that gives you a clue as to what they hold in their hand.

Do they hold a monster hand or are they attempting a monster bluff. Do they speak louder when they raise on a bluff? Does their hand shake as they move their chips in? Of course, a tell is also something you do that gives away how you play. The good news is that although these tells are not apparent in the online game they still exist, just in a different form. The bad news is that you may also be giving away tells in your online poker game if you do not realize how your actions are viewed by others.

Probably one of the most obvious online tells is the use of the show cards feature. At most online card tables you are given the option of mucking either a winning hand or a losing hand. You can either pre-select this or you are prompted by the computer at the end of each hand. This type of tell is very important and it is just one of the tools in your online arsenal to make you stronger.

It is possible to use the showing of cards option in a variety of ways, just as one would in real life. At some card rooms, like PokerStars.com if you have all the dealer speak turned on, it tells you if a player mucked their hand or not. At the end of a hand the commentary says "PlayerX does not show hand." Now if their auto-muck options are set this will come up immediately. If they manually mucked their hand there is usually a delay while they move their mouse to the muck button. If they do nothing there is a few second delay while their computer asks them if they wish to muck or not. If they do nothing the dealer says nothing and the next hand begins.

This tell alone is very useful. Some books recommend that you record every hand your opponents show so you can establish a pattern. If they do not auto muck, do they manually muck after a bluff, almost as if they want to hide the evidence of their lie? Probably the best strategy is to keep the auto muck option off and never press the Do Not Show button. This way you always finish the hand in the same way and give away no tells. Of course you can choose to show a hand in order to convey a message to the table. Show them a few bluffs if you want them to start calling you down, or show some really strong hands to convince them you might be a very tight player.

Tells: Other Auto Action Buttons This is a big one! Many players online are aware of it but it is surprising just how many people still make this mistake. Most poker sites give you a series of choices that you can make automatically when your turn happens.

For example you start with a 7 2 off suit, clearly not a great hand. So you click on the auto fold button. When the action comes to you the computer automatically folds your hand instantly. You have just told everyone at the table who is astute enough to notice that you auto folded. Now this is not necessarily a huge tell since you have already left that hand. However, what if you had a pair of deuces in the big blind. It is always nice to have a pocket pair but this is the weakest of them all. So you click on the Check/Fold button. This means if no-one raises, as soon as it's your turn the computer checks for you. This immediate checking right behind the previous player tells an observant player that you are probably playing a marginal hand. So the game progresses, there is a pair of fives on a low rainbow board and you decide to bet strong on the river since you have two pair. You figure that even if you're beaten your strong bet might just buy you the pot. Guess what? You're called and lose to a higher two pair. The player that called you noticed your weakness when you auto check/folded pre-flop and on the river he assumed you might be bluffing.

This is just one example of how making auto decisions in a game can spoil your game. Another is the use of the raise any button. You're playing and you get a run of terrible cards, the best hand you've seen in the last twenty minutes was J 6 suited. So you've been clicking on auto fold almost every hand, waiting for a monster hand to come along. So you finally get your pocket rockets and you're ready to take down a big fat pot. Just before the action arrives at you it stops at the player on your immediate right and you have to sit impatiently as she struggles with her internet connection before finally raising. Unfortunately for you, you lose your patience and hit the auto raise any bet button. So the players at the table see a raise followed by an immediate auto raise by you. Sure, some may not notice, but some will and it will cost you. In this example a bunch of players fold after seeing two raises (yours has scared them especially) so you carry on to win a much smaller pot than you might have had you not given away this tell.

In general terms, you should never use an auto action button. If you want to give a false tell just click the manual button quickly and it should look almost the same as an auto action. If you want to stay free of tells try and pace yourself so you take the same amount of time to make each decision. Never rush, never take too long. Try and keep an even pace, don't let your tells ruin your game.

Tells: Talking Too Much

On the Paris leg of the 2003 World Poker Tour an Australian player managed to put almost everyone at the table on tilt by being what can only be described as an obnoxious prick. He would goad the players constantly and offer to show them one of his hole cards at the end of a hand. He knocked out several players including poker master player Howard Lederer. Howard is normally so calm at the table with a famous demeanor that gives nothing away. However, this Ozzy put the entire table on tilt and his behavior (although questionable) still had the desired effect of putting people out of the game and making him a bunch of money in the process.

Most people have enough respect for other players in a real life game not to behave in this way. In the online poker game people feel they have enough anonymity to behave in a way they might not normally in real life. So you will find that the chat box that most poker sites have can be silent or can have people chattering away. It is important not to be drawn into a conversation if you want to do well. If you want to make friends use IRC or other chat rooms online, don't use a poker room. The chat in an online poker room will range from lies to stupidity. Some people will give away what cards they just folded or sometimes people will even tell you what they are holding right now, while still in the hand. All kinds of nonsense will appear in this window as you play and many of the better players just turn it off. The important thing to do is not let what you see in the window affect your game. When someone tells you that you play badly or that you just got lucky it is easy to get riled and this will put you on tilt. Just ignore and goading!

On some poker tables players might type N1 (Nice One), NH (Nice Hand) or VNH (Very Nice Hand) after you win and it is polite to reply TY (Thank You) TYVM (Thank You Very Much) or THX (Thanks). Some players go overboard and reward your courtesy with YVW (You're Very Welcome) or YW (You're Welcome). Whether you want to bother with any of this is a matter of personal choice, it probably doesn't hurt. But the moment you give away a hand, how you play, what books you've read, what tournaments you've played or anything about you or your game you are potentially giving someone some information to use against you.

Other Online Poker Considerations

There are many other considerations to playing internet poker online and entire books have been written on the subject. Some of the information on playing online poker is therefore outside of the scope of this page. However, here are just a few issues you should be aware of.

Legality

Is it legal to play poker online where you live? In the United States there is clearly confusion about this issue since different states have different laws on gambling, and some states consider that poker is a game of skill. At the time of writing no one has yet been prosecuted or arrested for playing poker online.

Financial

As with gambling, never bet more than you can afford to lose. One of the dangers of online poker is that it seems less real than playing in a Las Vegas card room. Clearly there is an obvious difference between wandering into your computer room with a bath robe on and playing a poker tournament versus getting on a plane and flying to Vegas. In a real card room, real people are staring at you, you have really heavy poker chips in your hand that feel like they are worth something. The game is going to seem very real to you.

When you are playing online it seems more like a computer game than a real one. But make no mistake the money you can lose is very real. Go to PokerStars.com and check out the ultra high stakes invitation only $100 / $50 real money limit holdem game. You can see people win and lose $1000 pots every few minutes. There is a very real danger of calling hands you know you should fold because it's only a computer game. That kind of thinking though is terminal for your bankroll.

Reliability

The major web sites we link to on PokerXL.com are generally big businesses with no plans to up and leave with your money. But what if they do? You need to be careful about having no more than you can afford to lose invested in your online account. Although the major poker sites have been very stable in the past few years don't leave yourself open to financial ruin for the sake of a game.

In terms of reliability consider also your computer, electric supply and internet connection. If you are playing a monster hand for a monster pot and you lose power for a couple of minutes your hand and money will have gone by the time you get back online. Most online players have been knocked out of a hand by a technical issue at one time or another. So if you are playing a $3/$6 Omaha game and winning that pot is the difference between paying rent next month or not, you are playing out of your means and you need to step down to a lower limit table. You might have the best skill at the table and a nuts hand, but if you lose your connection and lose it all it doesn't matter.

In the good old days poker web sites most poker tables had all in protection. This meant if you lost your connection to the internet you would be considered all in. In this way you could still win the pot you had already invested in, you just could not win any more that was bet after you got disconnected. Sadly, as is usually the case this got abused. Players who wanted a shot at winning but did not want to risk any more in that hand would simply knock themselves off line and then reconnect a couple of minutes later to collect their winnings. So without all in protection if you lose your connection these days expect your hand to be automatically folded.

If you are going to play high stakes you might consider having a broadband connection, a back up power supply, a dial up modem and account so you can re-connect quickly and finish a hand. But even if you take all these precautions, even if you have a separate laptop computer to take over if your main computer goes down it really doesn't matter, something unexpected could still potentially happen. This is why you must select a level of play that you can afford. Online poker has the advantage over real life poker in that one site can hold tens of thousands of virtual tables and this allows them to make more rake than a bricks and mortar casino. As a result there are literally games out that with a penny ante and a big bet of 2c! So anyone can afford to play, just choose your level wisely and stick to it. As a rule of thumb you should never play in a game unless you have at least 100 times the small bet. So if you are going to play on a 25c/50c table have at least $25. If you are going to play no limit you should probably have at least four times that amount.

Final Thoughts

When you play online poker, be serious about the game. If you are tired or playing to relax or for fun don't play for real money. The chances are you'll just lose. Just because the game is on a computer does not make losing the money any less painful. Concentrate hard and watch the players you are playing. Watch for their online tells and guard against your own tells. Don't get lazy and use the auto buttons, they will give a lot away that will cost you dearly. Try to maintain a consistent betting pattern, but don't become predictable. If you spot a sucker at the table make a note of it, most good online games let you keep notes on your opponents. You always want to make a note if you spot a flaw in an opponent so you can exploit it in the future. If you play for real money, only play what you can afford to lose.

Good luck out there!!!