On Line Poker

The Real of the Virtual: Online Poker Strategy

So maybe you have a regular poker night with your friends, maybe you have even played live poker at a casino, and definitely learned some strategy. Maybe now you want to try playing poker online, for all of its advantages over brick and mortar poker rooms, but have doubts on how different the playing field is. Say no more, here are some realities about the virtual game which will help you develop some online poker strategy.

In order to create an effective online poker strategy, must see what differences there are between conventional poker and online poker. A well-known difference is that players do not face each other, and therefore could not express themselves and see other players' physical reactions and body language. A player cannot see facial expressions, or hear changes in a player's voice.

This means that reading players' behaviors would rely heavily on the game itself - patterns of betting, the time of reaction, playing speed, fold or flop percentages, and some online features like auto plays and check boxes. An effective online poker strategy would therefore also have to rely less on the physical reactions and body language.

For example, bluffing would rely heavily on one's betting pattern instead of one's rowdiness or silence. It would go the same for slow-playing. If a player uniformly slow-plays, that is, bets a small amount with a strong holding, a large raise would then be suspicious.

One good online poker strategy is to keep an erratic betting pattern. Use combinations of slow-plays, bluffs, and hard bets to throw your opponents off-track. One good thing about online poker is that you don't have to worry about being all fidgety when you bluff or when you hold a good hand, since no one could see you.

Another factor that would create an efficient online poker strategy is to keep a close watch on pot odds. Pot odds actually determine most of the behavior of online poker players, as to how positive or how negative their expected reaping is in relation to their bet.

For example, if one's winnings would be smaller than what one is betting, it is a pretty erratic move which has two possible motivations: either to discourage players from calling, and therefore winning the pot, which is the best case for a bluff; or to encourage people to bet, and therefore making the pot size larger, which is the best case for a good hand.

Remember, a good online poker strategy relies on the knowledge that the playing field is entirely different. Since players do not sit face-to-face, physical reactions and body language become insignificant. Reading other players' behavior heavily relies on the game itself, and more importantly, on betting patterns and pot odds. Try to keep an erratic betting pattern so as to confuse other players, and keep a close watch on the pot odds. With an efficient online poker strategy, one does not even need good luck to win.