Online Blunders - Part I

It was only in the summer of 2005 that I made my definitive switch to online play. In the months prior to that, I had honed my online skills by playing in some fairly small games. I wanted to get used to the flow of Internet play, the proper use of various software programs, and the specific characteristics of the sites I played without it costing me too much money. Even though I am a skilled poker player, I knew that online, things are quite different from the way I had always played in brick-and-mortar casinos. So, it was clear that I would need some time to get used to the unfamiliar nature of online play.



In about four or five months of play, I worked my way up from $100 buy-in pot-limit Omaha games to the $2,000 games that I play now. In addition to that, I also started playing in extremely small no-limit hold'em ring games, hoping that in time, I would be able to move up to the biggest limits. (Because my no-limit hold'em experience is much more limited than my pot-limit Omaha experience, I expect that I will need at least one year to reach the biggest games.)



So, it was August 2005 when I had gotten where I wanted to be in the games and stakes that I played. I knew that the minor mistakes that I could sometimes afford to make in the smaller games would be very costly in these games, especially because of the extremely high speed of online games, the high caliber of the opposition, and the fact that I had just a couple of months of multitabling experience under my belt. Nonetheless, I would inevitably find myself making some minor mistakes, and even some blunders. I made some serious mistakes that I had never made in brick-and-mortar casinos – mistakes that I will share with you in this two-part series.



A few minor mistakes involving blinds
When I first made the shift to Internet play, I limited myself to playing just one table. Because I could always see what was going on and had more than enough time to make my decisions, I did not make that many errors. I opted not to use the "Auto Post" button. My reasoning was simple: I didn't want to put any money into the pot until it was entirely clear to me that I would be in a profitable situation. I especially wanted to avoid having my blind posted automatically when the table had just become, or was about to become, shorthanded – knowing that shorthanded play is not exactly my forte.



But when I slowly but surely started adding more tables and became a "multitabler," this theoretically correct strategy got me into trouble more often than not. I would be involved in one or two big pots, only to find that at a third table, I needed to confirm my blind, and more than once, I got back too late to say, "Yes, I'll post." This meant that I had to sit out or post both blinds behind the button when just playing along would have been much better. Or, if I posted my big blind and was too late to confirm my small blind, I missed the button and had to post a big blind after the button. What's more, all of this confirming blinds was unnecessarily confusing, and even if I did respond in time, it kept me from what I should have been focusing on – identifying profitable situations and exploiting weaknesses in opponents. So, from then on, I decided to always use the "Auto Post" option. I declined this option only when it seemed the table was not good enough to automatically post and would need re-evaluation.



Now, while most pot-limit players consider $10-$20 blinds to be peanuts, and look at the "big picture" when it comes to posting, I am always very displeased when I make what I perceive to be an error.



Two other errors that I occasionally make

I still occasionally make two mistakes:



1. Being too fast or too slow when picking a seat. Sometimes I am simply too fast when a seat opens up, and I settle for one that is worse than other seats at that table. For example, overaggressive/tricky or extremely tight players are seated in a bad position for me. The way players are seated in relation to me may make it harder to isolate them and to play marginal hands, may not lead to situations in which I can maximize my wins, may make it harder to use a check-raising style of play, which I have used in a successful manner, and so on. (More about this strategy will be in my upcoming pot-limit Omaha book.)



On the other hand, it also happens that more than one seat sometimes becomes available, including one that is very good for me because of the positions of various types of players. However, if I don't respond fast enough, some other player who is also on the waiting list for that table may pick that seat before I do so. This failure on my part to act quickly has led me to lose my preferred seat, resulting in my having to settle for a less profitable or even unprofitable seat – and I consider this an unforgivable mistake.



2. A common problem that many multitablers experience is that sometimes so much is going on at the same time that they are too late in responding when the action is on them. If this happens in a situation in which you have a bad or mediocre hand, the damage done is usually relatively minor. (Having said that, some sites will automatically deal you out on the next hand if you haven't acted in time. If this happens when you're in the small blind, you will be dealt out when it's your button. Every time that happens to me, I get very mad at myself, knowing that my laziness and inability to cope with the fast pace of the game has led to my giving up lots of expected value.) Sometimes, though, your hand is folded when it's playable or could be a clear winner. Even experienced pros like myself are sometimes guilty of an absolute beginner's mistake of not responding in a timely manner, and having a possible winner folded. If this happens to you frequently, you know that you are playing too many tables or simply are not good enough to perform at this level/pace.



Some final words

Even if not all of these mistakes should be considered blunders, they do cut into your hourly rate – or big blinds per 100 hands, the term that most online players think is more important. If you play to maximize your expectation at all times, it should be clear that even these minor errors should be avoided at all times.



I will share the major blunders I've made in Part II.



Rolf Slotboom is a longtime professional, specializing in limit hold'em, pot-limit Omaha, and, more recently, no-limit hold'em ring games. He is the co-author of Hold'em on the Come, the author of the upcoming book Pot-Limit Omaha My Way, the commentator for Eurosport EPT broadcasts, and the Card Player Europe bureau chief. He is the semiofficial 2005 Dutch champion, and maintains his own site at http://www.rolfslotboom.com/.