In this article we take a look at how exactly you might win a game of texas hold em online. We cover spotting tells in an online environment, chip strategy, and the use of aid software.
Online poker and offline poker are very similar. The same general rules all apply, and most people who play face to face poker well will also be comfortable playing online poker, after a few rounds. There are a few important differences though, and these will inevitably require some adaptation if you've previously only played poker offline. Recognizing and taking advantage of the quirks of online poker can make you a consistent winner.
Tells:
The main difference between online and offline poker playing is that online players are much more protected from tells which might normally reveal their hands. Though few players take full advantage of tells, or even consciously ‘read' their opponents, you'd be surprised by how much influence body language can have over your play style – for better or worse!
If you are a player which relies heavily on tells (either consciously or unconsciously) you may find online poker to be disconcertingly clinical. In many respects a computer could play online poker and win in most low to moderate chip games it enters by relying purely on mathematical calculation of hand value.
That said, tells do exist in online poker. Look out for the time it takes player to bet, how frequently they bet, what their bet tends to be – any routine which might reveal a significant hand when it is broken! If a player typically sees a blind without pausing, but suddenly takes a while to see the blind he is certainly considering his cards. They may be very poor, or they may be excellent – that's for figuring out later in the hand!
Chips:
Take plenty of chips into online poker games. The simple presence of a large chip stack next to your avatar will send out the message: “I'm a shark, I'm here to take your money and I'm not afraid to wager mine!” You'll be surprised how many Texas hold'em hands are taken by simply looking tougher than your opponent.
Software:
You might be under the impression that using other software with your poker game is cheating or illegal, but that simply isn't the case with most of the software available. Poker advice software comes in many forms, but generally aims to give you statistical information, (which poker pro's learn to calculate in their heads, or guess through intuition and experience) which is available to all players.
Good software will plug right into your online poker client and use available information to give you play by play recommendations about hand quality and the most statistically advantageous move.
