Tom’s Tips for Winning in Online Poker

In this column and some future columns, I will provide some tips on how to improve your online poker game. They are in no particular order. Let’s get started.

Tip No. 1
Avoid playing too loose. One thing you will soon discover when you’re playing small-stakes no-limit hold’em online is that most players see too many flops and play too many hands. In other words, they play as loose as a goose. One possible reason is that many low-stakes players are new to the game and want to play a lot of hands; they like action. It’s a lot more fun to play than it is to fold and watch others play, right? Just remember that it’s how much money you win, not how many pots you play, that really counts. As for me, the more money I win, the more fun I have.

The way to beat these very loose small-blinds games is to play tighter than your opponents are playing. Playing tighter means that you play fewer hands than you may want to play; you also avoid playing weak or marginal hands when you are in early position, or when the pot has been raised in front of you.

Another way to increase your winnings in loose low-stakes games is to avoid bluffing too much. In these smaller games, you are going to have to show down a hand most of the time. People have a tendency to bluff too often, probably because they have been watching too much “television poker,” where they have seen world-class players successfully bluff each other in critical situations. But believe me when I say that bluffing is not the way to play in small online games. That does not mean that you never bluff, but you must really be careful when you do; you probably should not bluff against more than one opponent.

Small-stakes players who are new to the game often will excuse an unsuccessful bluffing attempt by saying something like, “I didn’t make my flush, so the only way I could win the pot was to bet.” Wrong! The only way to lose an extra bet when you don’t make your hand is to bluff-bet, because you are going to be called most of the time by an opponent, even if he has only a small pair. He wants to be able to sleep better at night, knowing that he kept you honest. In small-stakes poker games, remember this cardinal rule: Tight is right.

Tip No. 2
Adjust to the speed of the game. Online games are much faster than casino games. In a typical brick-and-mortar casino hold’em game, a fast and efficient dealer can put out maybe 30 to 35 hands per hour. With a slower dealer, or in a game with players who are slow to act on their hands, you may get only 20 to 25 hands per hour. In online games, around 50 to 55 hands per hour are dealt, depending on how fast the players act on their hands; it does not depend on the speed of the cyberspace dealer. The online dealer can deal out hands to 10 players in about two seconds. The players have less time to deliberate on their hands before a very annoying beeping sound alerts them that time is running short for them to act. If a player fails to act on his hand in time, his cards are automatically folded.

The good news is that you are able to see more hands per hour online that you can see in a casino. The other good news is that with practice and experience, you can adjust to this faster pace. Here’s a tip to remember: If you have a really tough decision to make, you have the option of requesting some additional time — usually up to two minutes. Anytime you use this feature, the time that you use from your special clock is deducted from future hands that you play, so don’t overuse this feature or abuse it. It could cost you dearly late in a tournament when your tournament life is on the line and you have only a few seconds left to act.

Here is another aspect of online play: Most online casinos protect a player if he gets disconnected by allowing him to be declared all in. This means that he can win the chips that are in the pot at the time of his loss of connection, assuming that he has the best hand at the showdown. Any additional bets after a player has been disconnected are placed in a side pot among the remaining players. However, not all Internet cardrooms allow this safety net. Some make you forfeit the hand if you get disconnected, so be sure that you understand the rules of the online site. If you have all-in protection and have been forced to use it, make sure that you request a new all-in protection option. Most online casinos will give you one upon request.

Tip No. 3
Take notes while you’re playing. At most online poker rooms, there is a “notes” box by each player’s icon that you can click. It’s a handy little device where you can store your notes in a virtual filing cabinet. Taking notes will help you determine the quality of your play, and will give you a better idea of what the opposition is up to. Many times, you will face different players, because players come and go with greater frequency online than they do in brick-and-mortar cardrooms. However, you often will find the same people playing in certain games and limits, and often at the same time of day. These are the players for whom you need your note-taking ability the most. Simply typing a few quick thoughts, such as, “Joe Blow just played Q-4 suited from first position,” can help you get a better idea of how your opponents play. The more you know about your opponents, the better your chances of beating them.

Tom McEvoy is a representative of PokerStars. He also is an instructor for Deepstacks University. Tom’s website is www.tommcevoy.com.