Four Tips for Online Poker - Tells, Changing Gears, Preflop
Raising, and Short-Handed Play.
By Nick Standlea
Tip One: Mix Up Your Play: Once you have mastered the
fundamentals of a particular game (for the purpose of this
article we'll use No Limit Texas Hold'em) it's very easy to
lapse into predictable play. This is particularly true when
playing online. While live casinos are literally designed to
keep people involved and stimulated, your home or office most
likely has the opposite effect--which can lead to just "playing
by the book." If you find yourself playing robotically: failing
to adjust your play to the table, failing to notice the
tendencies of each player, making moves without asking yourself
"what am I trying to accomplish?", then it may be time to tweak
your game a bit. Instead of waiting for Queens, Kings or Aces,
raise with a 7/2! Not only will it help get you out of your
funk, but it'll also keep your opponents off balance.
Tip Two: Online tells: The most reliable tells in
online poker revolve around betting speed. The easiest ones to
pick up are the "dramatic pause" tells. A long pause followed by
a
bet usually means the player is
strong and
wants you to think he is weak. A long pause followed by a
check usually indicates a
weak hand. This player
either wants you to check so he can get a free card, or wants
you to think he has a strong enough hand to "think" about
betting. You'll rarely be check-raised by anyone who took a long
time to check, it's not a normal betting pattern. When
check-raising most players want everything to look as normal as
possible to help make sure you'll put in a bet before they
spring the trap. If you do get a check-raise from a player who
paused heavily before the original check, be very careful. You
should also watch for instantaneous bets and raises on the turn
and river. This usually indicates a powerhouse hand and an
attempt to get you to call by intimidating you into it.
Tip Three: Limpin' Ain't Easy: Although this applies
to both live and online play, we see it so often in online poker
games that it had to be included: don't limp when you're the
first to enter a pot! The logic behind this tip us that since
you have no money involved in the pot, if you fold you lose
nothing. Therefore, if you're going call you had better have a
hand that expects to earn money--and if your hand is a favorite,
you should raise. In addition, you will also stop giving away
valuable information about the hands you are playing (astute
players will quickly divide your holdings into raising and
calling hands). By raising every time you enter a pot, you
reveal the minimum amount of information possible. (It should
also be noted that in Hold'em there a number of hands that are
not worth a call, but are worth a raise--however, that's another
article.) In short, the best way to think about this rule is
that if a hand is not strong enough to raise with, it is not
strong enough to call with.
Of course, in poker, there is an exception to every rule. If for
instance, you're holding Aces and you know that the maniac to
your left will raise if you limp in, then by all means, limp
away. However, this play is a much more advanced move and you
had better know what you're doing before you try it. Not only do
you risk wasting a big pocket pair, but you may easily end up
going broke if your opponent limps behind you and makes two pair
on the flop with a K,5.
Tip Four: Short-Handed Play: Most likely, a good number
of the tournaments you'll be playing online will be Sit-and-Go's
(9-handed games that begin as soon as 9 players signup to play.)
When playing Sit-and-Go's you'll inevitably be faced with
short-handed play (or at least you hope you will be). When
playing short-handed, aggression is key. I'm sure you've seen it
before: the game gets down to three or four players and suddenly
the guy on your right is going nuts! He's raising, re-raising,
and completely dominating the game. To the beginner, or to those
inexperienced in short-handed play, this wild-man appears to
have just thrown caution to the wind. He finally shows down a
hand and he's holding K,9! However, he probably won the
hand--and he probably stole a bunch o' blinds before that. So
what's his trick? Aggression. A complete poker player must learn
to play a solid aggressive game. It's simply not enough to sit
back and wait for good cards during 9/10 handed play, only to
fall apart when you're close to the big money spots. For
example, have you seen T.J. Cloutier at a final table? He's
about as tight as they come until he reaches short-handed play.
That's when he comes out firing. He does this because he knows
that if he doesn't, someone will--and then it'll be him getting
run over and not the other way around.
I know this tip may make you a little uncomfortable if you're
generally a tight player--but believe me, once you learn to
enjoy short-handed play it's probably the most fun you'll have a
poker table.
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About the author:
Nick Standlea is an owner of
Hold'em Shirts & Gear. and
Hold'em
Shirts">www.cafepress.com/holdemshirts/984814">Hold'em
Shirts & Gear CafePress.
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'em Shirts & Gear's article library.
