Fantastic Gambling 293
Online poker will be very not the same as playing with your pals or even in poker tournaments. It has some marvellous advantages over traditional poker. You can 'sit' at a table at any time as well as more importantly you may leave at any time. Your opponents will be from a pool of many thousands of online players who 'sit' at tables at random. Sometimes you shall see the exact same 'faces' i.e. their pseudonyms. It's totally impersonal. In traditional poker you may actually take a dislike to some players as a result of their mode of play or their expressions etc. but in online poker you leave all those emotions behind you.
There is a notion around that playing online poker exposes you to fraud. I think this really is false.
The people at your table do not know you which is unlikely you know them. Two people cannot play from the same computer. The exchange platform will not allow it. You are playing for yourself only. I think it will be impossible for two people to 'rig' a game. Assume two people were in contact by mobile phone. What information can they give except what is in their own hands. They can't see yours or anyone else's. Whenever they attempted to raise the stakes which could be their undoing if somebody else has a red hot hand! And after that think of the price of the telephone calls.
Online poker (or any poker for that matter) isn't for fools. You need to concentrate on what you are doing. If you are in a penny ante game (and you'll find plenty on the betting exchange) learning how to play poker then treat that game as if you were in a 'big' money game. The guidelines are exactly the same and site also the strategies that work in small games will work in big games.
The best game is Texas Hold 'Em. As you probably are aware you are dealt two cards and after the first round of betting three cards are flopped through the computer. Everyone uses those cards in conjunction with their own to make the best five card hand. After the first three cards are flopped through the exchange computer there is yet another round of checking or betting. Then another card is flopped and another round of checking or betting follows. Finally the fifth card is flopped through the exchange computer and the final round of betting or checking takes place. The best hand will be the winner. The best hand is determined by using a couple of cards through your hand and three or four cards from the table. In some cases the cards on the table constitute the winning hand on their own and the pot is divided through the players remaining within the game.
Let's assume you know the general rules of poker e.g. the rankings of hands - best hand a Royal Flush (10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace of same suit) down to one pair or if there's no pair then the hand with the highest ranking card from the Ace down. In Texas Hold 'Em I feel you should not play unless you are dealt a combination of cards from the 10 to the Ace or perhaps a pair. Of-course if you were to rank those sets of two cards the top set would be two Aces, then two Kings down to a pair of deuces. After them an Ace and also a King are the best and after that an Ace and Queen, Ace and Jack, Ace and ten. Should you have an Ace and every other card they too are worth playing with. But if you want to be clinical about this game do not play at all until you get a combination as described above. Don't be tempted to play with two of a suit unless they can be one of the combinations described within this paragraph.
Bluffing is part of poker. There's no doubt about that. But I think it really is less crucial in online poker. The reason I take this view is this. In the traditional game of poker you played the additional players and playing the game. You read their expressions and their body language. You could sense if a player was bluffing. This isn't the situation with online poker. You can find no faces and no body language. I have found that when individuals bet, and more importantly once they look at a bet, they usually have strong hands to back up their actions. You could occasionally try the short corner - if everyone has checked and there is only you and one other person left to check or bet in which case you could try a bluff. You only have an individual to fear because the other players could have bet if they had anything worthwhile. Of course this isn't always the case and men and women that check might just be waiting for a bluffer to use. The only way you will find out is to try a bluff.
Poker, like fishing, requires a lot of patience. You're not able to make cards win. You cannot force your luck. Some days you could possibly get cards that leave you second best on numerous occasions. Those are the worst possible cards. You won't win every time you play but if you follow the simple rules above you will win most of the sessions. Stay calm and be patient. There isn't any use cursing at your computer!
How long should you play for
This really depends on your stamina. Some players can play for many hours but I would advise everyone to take breaks. I think that after one hour you begin to lose your focus or get bored. Stop - sit out and take a break. Walk around the home, go to the loo or have a drink or snack. The cards will still be there whenever you come back. If you feel sleepy and it is getting late pack it in.
We have all seen the movies where the great poker players are already able to down their whiskies but still win. My advice is do not try this in front of your PC. Drinking alcohol slows down your thought processes. Of-course drinking alcohol may have a relaxing effect but over indulging might make you make wrong decisions. I sometimes play after dinner having had a number of glasses of wine but in general I would advocate not drinking alcohol at all prior to playing poker.
