Internet Poker Strategy

Example of playing three tables of poker at once online

Playing in a casino and playing internet poker has a number of little differences that you should adjust to. It's a fact that people tend to act differently on the internet than they do in real life in areas outside of poker, so it makes sense that people act differently in internet poker vs real life poker also. Here are some internet poker strategies and observations that I think applies to most online sites.

Players will call you more on the internet

There's some psychology and computer aspects in this statement. On the computer level, it's much easier for a player to click their mouse on a 'Call' button as opposed to reaching into their stack, counting up their chips and putting them on the table. Psychologically, most people also feel more confident while online, because they aren't under the scrutiny of others like in a casino or real life.

You can see the example of this, where someone will be a little embarassed to outdraw or suck someone out playing a live poker game, but wouldn't care at all doing the same over the internet. This is also why you'll see people berate and argue with one another more through internet chat than in real life, because there just isn't that same presence of being in someone else's company when behind a computer monitor.

How to defend against constant callers?

Simply put, you can't. You're just going to be drawn on more than normal and get rivered by many more callers. Your variance or "swings" will be greater in internet poker as opposed to live poker (especially in low-limit poker games).

There is no good defense against this except to realize that you are still playing correct poker as long as you are punishing others for their draw. However, it's usually much more prudent to check-call the river when you have many callers on the river with you, because the chances are greater that someone has a two-pair or better.

Ignore internet nicknames and aliases

Both good players and bad players will pick names like "ALL-RIVER" or "ALWAYSBLUFFIN" so you can't assume this person really is a river rat or a strong player trying to fool you. If you look at the rankings for any of the tournament ladders for any of the internet poker sites, you'll see that there are all sorts of strange and 'deceptive' names at the top. Don't let people use this internet only strategy fool you. You'd probably be on your guard if some guy dressed in a bright pink tuxedo sat in a casino game, so treat this the same way.

Learn to spot online tells by observing actions

Even though you can't really see your opponents when playing internet poker, you can see what their actions are. One of the biggest things to spot is how fast they bet. Generally, if a player bets fast, that means they have a strong hand. If they bet slow or take a long time for their action, it usually means they need to think things over, which means their hand likely isn't very strong.

If you want to read more, check out the poker tells page for a good lesson on how to spot tells.

Don't play too tricky in low-limit poker games

Normally, it's not even worth it to be tricky in a $5/10 game in real life. With internet poker, it's almost worthless to try and be creative in any of the low-limit tables until you are at the $3/6 game. Often, against an entire field of opponents who are willing to call you down, bluffing and other trick plays will backfire against you.

The biggest mistake is trying to get smart against dumb opponents. When your opponents are willing to showdown with down mid pair, low pair and sometimes even Ace high, you will naturally see why it's foolish to try and bluff against them. These are the types of players that you will see the most in low limit games, so save most of your neat plays for tournaments and for special situations.

Additional Resources:
UnknownPoker is an internet site with a list of online poker rooms and other poker reviews.

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