| Online Texas Hold’em Top 10 Tips |
| Monday, 22 June 2009 05:45 |
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There is no shortage of real world poker players who are curious enough to want to try their hand at online Texas Hold’em. They’ll be looking to see if they can dominate online in a game they rule in the real world, hoping to wipe the floor with what is generally seen as merely amateurs who play online. But is it really so easy for highly skilled real world poker players to make the switch to the online version of Texas Hold’em? Or are there some differences between what they’re used to and this new, machine powered discipline that might just trip them up? Here are some useful tips from the online game that might help you avoid the pitfalls and give you a winning chance online. 1. It’s a common belief that you have to play every hand to find your wining streaks, but in the online game, this can be the fastest way to erode your bankroll. Instead, exercise some patience and wait for the right hand, where the odds and your cards both give you the green light. 2. You don’t need to gamble on each and every hand. Knowing when to fold is the surest way to avoid taking a big fall, especially if you have a hand that you are not even sure you can win. 3. Avoid those players that want to bet big all the time. Big bettors often don’t know what on earth they’re doing. If they do, then they’re stringing you along hoping to sucker you into calling a bet you are almost certain to lose. If you have a hand that is certain to win, fine. Otherwise, stay away from these guys. 4. Bluffing is certainly harder online in Texas Hold’em, although it’s not impossible. While online poker tells may not be as obvious as those in the real world, they exist. Certainly you won’t be able to pick up on any facial expressions, but you can follow betting habits and playing patterns of the other players. By paying close attention to how opponents bet in similar situations, you can force the issue by calling or raising just to observe the way they respond. After a while you’ll see a pattern emerging and then you can strike. 5. Following a garbage flop, try betting two high overcards against someone’s ace to flush out passive and maniac players who tend to have little in the way of starting hand knowledge. They can rarely read the out or pot odds, so will tend to be selective by waiting on two suited cards. When you know the kind of players you’re up against in a game, you can make a lot of money from their mistakes without relying too heavily on your own skilful plays. New and bad players tend to focus on their own cards rather their opposition’s especially following that garbage flop, so they’ll likely ignore your overpair at their cost. 6. Avoid betting predictably. When you concentrate only on the cards you hold, those you need and those that will help you, you are leaking valuable information to your opponents, especially skilled players who are watching the others for any leverage they can get. It’s better to keep switching up your play from slow to fast, bluffing now and then and straight playing in a random pattern. If you prevent your opponents profiling you, you will keep your edge while you, instead, profile the opposition. 7. Make sure you get caught bluffing every so often. This way you can fool the opposition and remain unpredictable. Sometimes it’s a sound strategy to sacrifice a small chunk of bankroll in order to go after the much bigger prize further along the road. 8. Starting pocket low pairs should be played cautiously. Sixes down to deuces should really only be played if there’s a good price, but if you fail to flop trips or better, then folding is your safest option. If you do get lucky and hit a good flop, there are two ways to go. If nothing there on the board beats you, for instance there are no opportunities for flushes or straights, then slowplay. If a flush or a straight draw appears, betting aggressively will force players out who might otherwise stay in and pull something on either the turn or the river. 9. Before the flop, try fastplaying top pairs or really strong hands to force out the garbage and weak hands that may beat you by getting lucky with the flop later on while putting more money into the early pot. By paying attention to the pre-flop pot odds you can drive them down below the out odds of most of your opponents, making early seated draws and low pairs reconsider their calls. 10. Know the odds. Playing when in possession of knowledge of the probabilities can make or break players in Texas Hold’em. The key to winning is being able to accurately calculate the probabilities of a number of different sets of circumstances. Especially in the online game, the deciding factor comes down to statistical knowledge in whether you bet, you call or you fold. Texas Hold’em online is the same beast as the real world game, although knowing the subtle differences and being smarter than the opposition is what wins the money in the end. |