Why You Need to Vary Your Hold 'Em Play Online

Whether one plays face-to-face or online, perfect poker strategy is perfect poker strategy, right? Well, no. Here are four changes to playing strategy even seasoned poker professionals must make when playing the popular Texas Hold'em online.

The first and doubtless most critical factor is the reality of playing unseen opponents. Absent visual cues, it is extremely difficult to judge the bluffing that is so endemic to poker.

This works both ways. Because every player is invisible to the others, no one has to worry about revealing their hand via their facial expressions, twitches or body language. Someone with a strong hand can be jumping for joy at his home PC and reveal absolutely nothing with modest bets. He can therefore readily give the appearance of having unexciting cards by making safe, modest bets during the post-flop stage.

Conversely (and this is more often the case), players with mediocre or downright disastrous hands give nothing away when bluffing outrageously or making otherwise appalling plays. In live poker, on the other hand, only cardsharps and professionals can maintain a stony face even when a tricky bet could bankrupt them utterly if called. Consequently, one can expect considerably more bluffing in online poker games.

What you should do then is call or raise rather more frequently than you do live because many of your nine opponents are in a hurry to win the pot. In turn, you are likely to be called more often so the rational thing to do is bluff less frequently than you would face-to-face.

The second major factor in online Hold'em play is that players come and go. In regular table play, ten players stay with the game for from five to seven hours at a stretch. At the extreme, the 2005 World Series of Poker finals table lasted all of fourteen hours.

For the most part, playing poker on the Internet is more leisure pursuit than serious professional gambling. The relatively low stakes also encourage gamers to come in for just a few hands, join one table an hour or less. There is not enough opportunity to get a fix on the playing styles of the nine other players. Conversely, your opponents do not have much chance to evaluate your playing style.

Obviously, it does no good to build up a table image as, say, a reckless or loose wild player. Deception to spring a surprise when one has a especially good hand later on may be a wan hope if participants in your online "table" keep changing.

The third point is that, even when you have somehow managed to get a group of regulars together, many Net players are distracted by playing at two tables, keeping an eye on the TV set, chatting online or over landlines, browsing email, and catching up on the news. At least some players will be inattentive to any "table image" you may try to build.

The combination of short stints and distractions bring us to the fourth point: you can get away with playing a tight game. In general, you should play perhaps 20% of the hands you are dealt. When you are first up or are under the gun, play even tighter. Go with about 1 in 20 hands only.

Being quite inattentive, your opponents will tolerate your returning with a bet after holding tight and very likely give you the action you desire.

In sum, playing Hold'em poker online means avoiding the temptation to bluff, setting aside table image, bluffing less, and calling or raising opponents who cannot resist bluffing more than usual.

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• You can also read 'tells' while playing online poker. Read the signs to take advantage of the tendencies other players are showing. Note your opponents speed of response, how often they chat, and if they are the maniac or the limp kind of player.
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• It is counter-productive attempting to transfer in toto your perfect strategy for regular, face-to-face Hold 'Em poker when playing online. Here are four reasons why you should play a tighter, more upfront game and bluff less so you can maximize your winnings when playing Internet poker.
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