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online poker
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online poker mistakes
Online Poker Mistake: Playing
Short-Handed With Little Experience
This is the last article in a series called Top 10 Mistakes of
Online Players. The mistakes are not given in any particular
order. Most of the mistakes apply to live play also although two
or three of them are more applicable to online play. So far we
have discussed the following mistakes:
#1: Playing Too Many Starting Hands
#2: Drawing to Outs That Won’t Help You Win
#3: Miscalculating Odds with Two Cards to Come
#4: Calling Raises Too Often on the Turn
#5: Automatically Betting or Raising the River When They Think
They Have the Best Hand
#6 Playing at Limits Too High in Relation to Their Bankroll
#7 Not Paying Attention
#8 Bluffing Too Much
#9 Trying to Get Back to Even
This leads us into our next common mistake…
Mistake: Playing Short-Handed with Little Experience
Short-handed play is one of the most profitable forms of poker. My
earn rate has always been much higher short-handed than it is at a
full ring game. There are basically two reasons for this. 1/
Advanced players have a bigger advantage over most opponents
short-handed than they do in a full ring game and 2/ You get dealt
more hands per hour so there are more opportunities to take
advantage of your opponents’ mistakes.
Let’s discuss these two points just briefly. Short-handed play
requires more skill than in a full ring game. Understanding your
opponent’s tendencies is much more important short-handed than a
full ring game. In a full ring game, you can often just stay
patient and wait for cards and this alone will net you a profit.
Short-handed does not give you this luxury. You are paying blinds
at a faster rate so you must learn to play weaker hands. Much of
your profit comes from taking advantage of each opponent’s
individual weaknesses. It takes an advanced player to be able to
identify these weaknesses.
In a full ring game you get dealt about 70 hands an hour. In a
short-handed game this can be between 100 to 120 hands an hour.
These extra hands give advanced players more opportunities to take
advantage of their superiority over their opponents. The end
result is an earn rate per hour much higher than what you can earn
in a full ring game.
These two points make it sound like I am advocating playing
short-handed. It is true that it can be more profitable, but
beginning players are facing an uphill battle trying to play
short-handed. They just do not have the experience to do well.
Every once in a while they hit a big run and become addicted to
short-handed play, even more so than in a full ring game, but more
often than not the advanced players will walk away with the money.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is playing in a game
where you are overmatched, especially when the hands are dealt at
a rate of 100-120 hands per hour. Not only are beginning players
overmatched but they often do not have the bankroll needed to
withstand the high fluctuations. These fluctuations also lead
players to tilt more often which is another weakness of players
starting out. The bottomline is that short-handed play is a
completely different form of poker and you had better have a lot
of experience in order to do well. My advice is to get your full
ring game to an advanced level before trying to master other forms
of poker.
This completes the series of my Top 10 Mistakes of Online Players.
Hopefully after reading these articles you now notice these
mistakes in your opponents and not yourselves!
Online Poker Mistake 9: Trying to Get Back To Even
By Matthew Hilger
All rights reserved
This is the ninth article in a series called Top 10 Mistakes of
Online Players. The mistakes are not given in any particular
order. Most of the mistakes apply to live play also although two
or three of them are more applicable to online play. So far we
have discussed the following mistakes:
#1: Playing Too Many Starting Hands
#2: Drawing to Outs That Won’t Help You Win
#3: Miscalculating Odds with Two Cards to Come
#4: Calling Raises Too Often on the Turn
# 5: Automatically Betting or Raising the River When They Think
They Have the Best Hand
#6 Playing at Limits Too High in Relation to Their Bankroll
#7 Not Paying Attention
#8 Bluffing Too Much
This leads us into our next common mistake…
Mistake: Trying to Get Back to Even
Most poker players have short-term goals. They sit down at the
table and they want to win money…now! Many players suffer having
to close a session with a big loss. It kills them! How often have
you stayed up late at night trying to get back to even? Do you
always have in the back of your mind where you stand in a given
session?
Unfortunately this type of mindset will hinder quality play.
Trying to get back to even is a losing proposition. This is
especially true when you are sleepy. You’ll start to play a few
more hands than normal hoping to hit that big hand. On the flop
you might hold a weak draw but decide to go for it in hopes of
hitting that one pot to get you back to even. You don’t hit on the
flop so you decide, “what the heck, one more bet won’t hurt me”,
and you call the turn. You end up chasing in situations that have
a negative expectation. You know better, BUT you just want to go
to bed with a clean slate! In many cases you just keep digging
yourself a bigger hole.
For all of those who can relate to the above I have one simple
piece of advise…you can always get back to even tomorrow or the
day after. Poker is one long continuous game which never ends.
Thinking in terms of sessions or even weeks will throw many
players into a bad mood a lot of the time. To approach this game
with the right mindset you must think of your results with a
long-term perspective. I always like to look at my results in
terms of months.
The Internet is so great because there is always a game going.
When things are going bad and you feel yourself start to press
hoping for that one big pot, you are probably just better off
quitting and waiting until another day to get things back on
track. It’s a pretty easy decision when you think about it. You
can either dig yourself a bigger hole or come back another day
with a fresh start. So remember, you can always get back to even
tomorrow or the day after.
Online Poker Mistake: Not Paying Attention
This is the seventh article in a series called Top 10 Mistakes of
Online Players. The mistakes are not given in any particular
order. Most of the mistakes apply to live play also although two
or three of them are more applicable to online play. So far we
have discussed the following mistakes:
#1: Playing Too Many Starting Hands
#2: Drawing to Outs That Won’t Help You Win
#3: Miscalculating Odds with Two Cards to Come
#4: Calling Raises Too Often on the Turn
#5: Automatically Betting or Raising the River When They Think
They Have the Best Hand
#6 Playing at Limits Too High in Relation to Their Bankroll
This leads us into our next common mistake…
Mistake: Not Paying Attention
Everyone likes to talk about reading your opponents, playing your
opponent, etc but how can you do this if you are not paying
attention to the action at the table? A very common online mistake
is not paying attention. This mistake can lead to numerable
mistakes in important strategic decisions.
Let’s first look at some of the common distractions which tempt
online poker players:
· Reading email
· Talking on the phone
· Watching television
· Playing two tables
· Surfing the web
· Talking with your partner, friends, children, etc
One critical step to improving to an advanced level of play is
creating an environment where you can focus on the action and your
opponents. Identifying your opponent’s tendencies and playing
accordingly is not an easy skill to learn and constantly requires
your full attention.
It is very easy to play with a robotic playing style where you
simply play your cards. You can even make money this way which is
what many players do when playing multiple tables. However, this
type of play will not mazimize your winnings nor will it help you
grow as a poker player to give you the experience in making
decisions based on each opponent’s tendencies. So create an
environment which is conducive to improving your game.
What are some things you can do? Read your email before sitting
down at the tables. Make sure that there is not a TV near the
computer to tempt you. Don’t answer the phone! If possible,
schedule your poker playing time outside the main social time of
your family activities.
The consequences of not paying attention can be the difference
between mediocre and advanced play. Let’s look at some examples.
You are sitting in the cutoff with AJ offsuit and the player
immediately before you raises first in. Normally this would be an
easy fold against a “typical” opponent. However, what if this
opponent has raised 7 out of the last 10 hands dealt at the table?
If you didn’t notice this because of distractions you would simply
fold but knowing you are against a maniac would be a strong case
for a reraise. Other examples are not so evident and require more
attention to identify.
For example, a particular player at your table never checkraises.
He always bets out his strong hands or checks his weak hands. If
you are paying attention, you can fold your mediocre hands when
this opponent comes out betting and you can bet if he comes out
checking. This is valuable information but it will not be too
apparent unless you are paying close attention to the action at
the table.
Next time you sit down at the table, pay attention for 10 minutes
and then ask yourself some simple questions:
· Who is playing tight preflop and who is loose?
· Are there any aggressive loose players in the game?
· Who are the rocks postflop and who will draw to anything?
· Who are the top two players at the table?
Ten minutes is not very long so your first impressions might
change but you must start building a story on each player as soon
as you sit down at the table. Pay attention to the action and
first learn how to identify basic tendencies of your opponents.
Eventually you’ll be able to focus on more complex tendencies such
as which opponents like to checkraise, which opponents like to
slowplay, and which opponents like to semi-bluff. I often like to
compare learning Hold’em to learning a foreign language. As soon
as you feel like you’ve reached a plateau, something new will
become obvious to you and your skills will jump to another level.
So pay attention and develop your skills in reading your opponents
to help you make better poker decisions.
Online Poker Mistake 8: Bluffing Too Much
By Matthew Hilger
All rights reserved
This is the eighth article in a series called Top 10 Mistakes of
Online Players. The mistakes are not given in any particular
order. Most of the mistakes apply to live play also although two
or three of them are more applicable to online play. So far we
have discussed the following mistakes:
#1: Playing Too Many Starting Hands
#2: Drawing to Outs That Won’t Help You Win
#3: Miscalculating Odds with Two Cards to Come
#4: Calling Raises Too Often on the Turn
#5: Automatically Betting or Raising the River When They Think
They Have the Best Hand
#6 Playing at Limits Too High in Relation to Their Bankroll
#7 Not Paying Attention
This leads us into our next common mistake…
Mistake: Bluffing Too Much
There is nothing more glamorous and exciting than making a big
bluff at the poker table. For the poker player, it doesn’t get
much better than raking in a nice size pot with the worst poker
hand. For the poker player, satisfaction comes in knowing that you
have outplayed your opponent.
Unfortunately, many poker players get themselves in trouble by
bluffing too often. This is even truer on the Internet than in
live games. Bluffing a lot is just not a profitable endeavor on
the Internet, especially in the low-limit games where you
frequently have hands go to showdowns.
There are two main reasons to try a bluff in poker. The obvious
one is the immediate profit you gain on your successful bluffs.
When playing observant opponents, it is also necessary to bluff
occasionally so that you will get action in the future when you
have solid hands. This is one of the key reasons for Gus Hansen’s
success. He wins and loses a lot by all of his bluffs. It is those
payoffs he gets when he has a real hand that makes him such a
successful player. If you never bluff you won’t get paid off very
often while a frequent bluffer will often be challenged. So it is
the combination of the immediate profit gained and the advertising
value you receive that makes bluffing profitable when done in the
right spots.
Realize however that the Internet game is very different than live
play. Bluffing on the Internet doesn’t have the same advertising
value online as it does in a live game. First, many players don’t
pay as much attention to the game online as they do in a casino
and won’t even notice your bluffs. They might be playing two
tables, watching television, or reading email. In addition, you
rarely play with the same opponents very long on the Internet to
take advantage of your “loose” image. You might try a bluff online
and then 15 minutes later there are four or five new players
sitting at your table. Of course, sometimes bluffing is needed in
games where the players don’t move in and out of the game a lot or
you are against regular opponents, but this is the exception
rather than the rule on the Internet.
The bottom-line is that bluffs on the Internet generally only
derive value from the particular hand you are playing. Since the
advertising value of bluffs goes down, bluffing in general is less
profitable on the Internet than in a live game.
Yet many players bluff too often on the Internet. I believe this
is the result of two characteristics unique to the Internet. The
virtual wall of the Internet makes many players play a little more
deceptively than they would against a live opponent. Players gain
a little more courage and confidence when they don’t have to look
their opponents in the eye. The virtual environment also makes it
easier to commit your chips to try a bluff. If you are
contemplating a bluff, all it takes is one click of the mouse.
Compare this to a live game where you have to physically move your
chips into the center of the table while your opponents are
watching you. Many players become careless with these “virtual”
chips.
Be careful to not let these temptations guide your play. Also
realize that since so many players like to bluff on the Internet,
players will call your bluffs a little more often than they might
in a live game. This is yet one more reason to be very selective
with your bluffing.
In fact, in most low-limit games, profitable bluffing
opportunities are far and few between. The best times to try your
bluffing tactics are in the short-handed games and the tight
high-limit games. Of course there are always times that you might
be presented with a profitable bluffing opportunity but just be
sure that you evaluate the situation very carefully.
Online Poker Mistake 6: Playing Limits Above Your Bankroll
The sixth article in a series: Playing at Limits Too High in
Relation to Their Bankroll
This is the sixth article in a series called Top 10 Mistakes of
Online Players. The mistakes are not given in any particular
order. Most of the mistakes apply to live play also although two
or three of them are most applicable to online play. So far we
have discussed the following mistakes:
#1: Playing Too Many Starting Hands and
#2: Drawing To Outs That Won’t Help You Win
#3: Miscalculating Odds with Two Cards to Come
#4: Calling Raises Too Often on the Turn
#5 Automatically Betting or Raising the River When They Think They
Have the Best Hand
This leads us into our next common mistake…
Mistake: Playing at Limits Too High in Relation to Their Bankroll.
If a good poker player who normally wins one big bet an hour plays
100 hours of $2-$4, he could win as much as $2,000, but once in a
blue moon he might lose $1,000. This same player could play 1400
hours and still only break even. Given any time below that, he
could possibly lose despite the fact that he is a proven winner in
the long-term.
Looking at the luck factor from the other direction, a poor player
who should normally lose $4 an hour could actually earn up to
$1,000 over a 100 hour period by getting lucky!
Do these statements surprise you? As you can see, the “long-term”
can be quite long indeed when talking about the luck factor in
poker. A good understanding of the fluctuations that will occur
playing Hold’em is essential to your enjoyment of the game as well
as to how you should manage your bankroll.
The All Important Bankroll
Because of the fluctuations in this game, it is essential to play
at limits within your bankroll; otherwise, you risk going broke.
For some people, they just keep digging back into their extra cash
to keep playing but if you are on a limited bankroll you need to
ensure that you protect it and play within the confines that your
bankroll sets for you.
Many beginning players play at limits too high in relationship to
their bankroll. Some of them will get lucky, start winning, and
their game will improve enough to maintain the limit they are
playing at. However, many will suffer the consequences and will
find themselves broke and trying to figure out a way to explain to
their significant other how they need some additional funding to
keep playing.
How much do you need? As with many questions about poker it
depends. It depends on how good you are, your style of play, and
the type of game you play in. It is obvious that if you are a
losing player there is no amount of bankroll large enough. Better
players need smaller bankrolls as the negative fluctuations they
experience will not be quite as large as say a player who barely
breaks even. Aggressive loose players need larger bankrolls than
conservative players as they will also experience more
fluctuations in both directions. You need a larger bankroll
playing in loose aggressive games than you do in tight passive
games.
For many players, a good benchmark is about 350 times the big bet.
This practically ensures that a good player will not go broke.
However, it takes time to reach the skill level of a good player.
Beginners should start out with even higher bankrolls.
One other criteria in setting your bankroll is how much risk you
are willing to take of going broke. If you don’t mind increasing
the chance of going broke by say 5%, you could play with less
bankroll. Another strategy is to play at a slightly higher limit,
but drop down a limit as soon as things start to go bad. The
problem with this bankroll strategy is that many players do not
have the discipline to do this. It is hard dropping down limits
when you start to realize that it will take more time to get back
to where you want to be. Nevertheless, this is a viable bankroll
strategy for disciplined players.
My advice is to always have at least 250 to 400 times the big bet
depending on how much risk you are willing to take and your
willingness to drop down a limit if things go sour. If you are
just starting out, begin with at least 500 times the big bet to
get your feet wet to help you gain some experience before moving
into higher limits. Like anything in life, to be successful you
need to make a plan. Make a plan for your bankroll and the limits
you want to play and stick to it. Be sure to have a plan “B”
incorporated into the plan for stepping down limits when things
don’t go as well as you had hoped.
The worst mistake one can make is playing at limits too high in
relation to your bankroll. It is the worst mistake because the end
result is that you won’t be able to play anymore. If you don’t
mind going broke, then you can take more chances. But if you want
to play poker for the years to come, you must ensure that you
manage your bankroll effectively.
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