Memo on Online Poker
Who needs a book?
I was thinking of writing a book on how to play online no-limit Hold 'Em but one of the other players said a memo would do:
- Play good starting hands in position
- Bet your hand
- Never bluff
That's it! Now go out and win!
Labels: poker
posted by Richard at
2:14 PM
6 Comments:
Hey Richard, this is Danny
Why not bluff?
and play some play money with me some time :)! I can't talk to you when you are in those rooms cause I have no real money.
It's simple... bluffing means committing money to a pot with a small margin to win if you're called. Playing good hands hard means committing money to a pot with a larger margin to win if you're called.
Which would you rather do?
The need to bluff is nearly eliminated in online cash games because you can play 4-8 tables at a time and hundreds of hands an hour. Just playing big hands is profitable enough without the unnecessary risk.
Now, I'd guess Richard would agree that bluffing is still essential in a tournament format.
So that's what I was doing wrong...
Ok, what constitutes a good starting hand? I've seen different theories by several different people. Keep in mind I only play live tournaments. Thanks!!!
Harrington on Holdem is a good introduction to thoughts on starting hands. It depends on a lot of factors.
QL
I think the reason you don't bluff is because you are very likely to get called online. Even in tournament play, you're much more likely to get called.
For example, say you are in the big blind. If there are 3 limpers, and the small blind calls, many pros would advocate trying a big reraise to steal the money from all of the limpers as a bluff. Well, online, if you reraise 7 times the big blind (not unreasonable considering that there are 4 limpers), you will probably make 3 people fold but someone is LIKELY to call you. I've seen it about 1000 times. You just can't make everyone fold online with this kind of bluff.
For me personally, I can't point to generic circumstances in which you can bluff in online tournies. There are times when I think it will work, and times when I know it won't. Usually, though, you can't pull off a HUGE bluff online for a big pot. Therefore, it's not as important to bluff online because you're only going to win small pots with it most of the time. It's much more important to play your big hands correctly, because you can win much more with those than you can with a bluff.
That's my two cents, anyway.
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