Internet Poker Strategy

There's some psychology and usability aspects in this statement. On the usability level, it's much easier for a player to click on a 'Call' button as opposed to reaching into their stack, counting up their chips and putting them on the table. Psychologically, most people also feel emboldened while online, because they aren't under the scrutiny of others like in a casino or real life. Whereas someone hitting a runner-runner in a casino will often be glared at or had a something said to them, this 'embarassment' factor doesn't quite apply on the internet. Sure, people will mouth off online, but a poker confrontation in the casino vs the internet is more psychologically significant.

How to defend against constant callers?
Simply put - you can't. You're just going to be drawn on more than normal and get rivered by many more callers. Your variance or "swings" will thus be greater in internet poker as opposed to casino poker (especially in low-limit internet poker). There is no good defense against this except to realize that you are still playing correct poker as long as you are punishing others for their draw. However, it's usually much more prudent to check-call the river when you have many callers on the river with you, because the chances are raised that someone has a two-pair or better.

Ignore internet poker nicknames / aliases



Both good players and bad players will pick names like "ALL-RIVER" or "ALWAYSBLUFFIN" so you can't assume this person really is a river rat or a strong player trying to fool you. If you look at the rankings for any of the tournament ladders for any of the internet poker sites, you'll see that there are all sorts of strange and 'deceptive' names at the top. (Quick note that ladders aren't perfect measurements of skills however). Don't let people use this internet only strategy fool you. You'd probably be on your guard if some guy dressed in a bright pink tuxedo sat in a casino game, so treat this the same way.

Learn to spot tells by observing betting / calling / checking speed



Some people think you shouldn't pay attention to how long it takes someone to perform an action, because they might be on a modem, not paying attention or other stuff. While that might be true in some cases, it's my opinion that for most players, this is a major tell and should be incorporated into your online strategy. Sophisticated players or higher limit players probably won't give off too many of these (unless it's a ploy to throw you off), but most low limit players inadvertantly will.

Long pause, followed by a raise (the nuts):
This has to be the cornerstone tell of most players. The irony is that by using this strategy, they are actually giving off their own tell. The whole logic behind this play screams strength, because people usually only do it when there is a big possible hand on the table, like a flush or straight. You bet, your opponent pauses for about 20 seconds and then raises you. In English, he might as well be saying: "Hmm... there's a flush possibility on the table and you've bet into it. Man, I really have to think about this because you might have a really strong hand! Oh well, I think I'm beat, but I *guess* I'll raise...". Don't fall for this. Sometimes, a player legitimately thinks you're bluffing the river or whatever so he's raising you back, but most of the time he's got the nuts.

Instant / automatic raise (very strong / the nuts):
By automatic raise, I mean a raise that is so fast that it can only happen when a user has checked the 'bet/raise all' button. While occasionally this is used by maniacs and bluffers, most of the time it's used by a player who is so ecstatic about his hand that he absolutely MUST bet/raise his hand. This usually means that you want to tread real carefully and fold or check-call this down. It should always raise a big warning sign.

Instant / automatic checking (aka: drawing, weak):
This is a pretty straight-forward tell, since most players won't go to the trouble of clicking on auto-check in order to come back and check-raise you. So, when you're in a decently small field and it's autochecked to you and lead out with a quick bet, you can often take down the pot right there and then.

[Heads up / Shorthanded] Fast calls to your bet (marginal/medium hands):
Usually when someone is chasing you or has a marginal hand, they'll call you down fast to try and scare you from betting the next round, as they're trying to indicate they're going to call you down to the river. So, with reverse psychology, you can see their strategy is to intimidate you from betting all the way to the river, since they want to see it for cheap. If they did have a strong back, they'd be raising you or check-raising you. In this situation, if you do have strength, you should most likely continue to bet. If you don't have strength, this might be a bluffable situation.

(Warning: In high limit games or against tricky opponents, calling down fast is actually fairly normal. In addition, some players just act fast. Use your judgement when figuring which player is calling because he's weak or trying to draw on you.)

Learn to bet consistently yourself!
Poker would be easy if it were merely about spotting what other people are doing wrong, but you could be giving off all sorts of signs to your opponents at the table without knowing it. A good idea is to always give yourself the same amount of time before making an action. When the action is to you, make two mental counts and then select your action. If you're going to fold, then it's probably ok to simply auto-fold if it's pre-flop. What you want to do is simply not let anyone onto your game at all.

Betting tells



One thing you don't get to play in a casino poker very often is no-limit, unless there is a tournament game going. One of the reasons is that no limit has usually been reserved for the high rollers and high stakes poker players and it's hard to find casinos outside of the big poker rooms that offer no limit. As such, many new and weak players are unfamiliar with what amounts to bet in no limit poker. Since no limit poker is a popular form of poker on the internet, where players can play small limits at their wish, there will be some giveaways to their game.

Small bets in a no-limit poker game (aka: weak hand):
This applies to casino poker as well as internet poker games really, but it's very apparent in internet poker, when people play no-limit games without using the slider bar. An example of this tell would be a pot that is currently worth $500 for example. There's 4 players on the flop and it's checked to the button, who bets out a measly $50. *More often than not*, this is a tell of a weak holding. Either no pair or bottom pair is usually the case here. Often when this happens, many players will fold and this person will just scoop the pot with this small bet. If it comes down to you and him, this is usually a very superb time to check-raise and steal the pot, even if you have nothing.

(Warning: Many tricky players will often do this on purpose to goad another player into coming back at then. I actually use this poker strategy with great success against other tricky players. So if you engage in this, be sure that you're not walking into a trap. Be sure to observe who is making the bet and also don't over commit yourself to the pot. You want to be able to fold your hand if you get popped back.)

Massive all-in bets compared with actual pot value (aka: AA, KK, etc)
This play is usually reserved for the very weak players and sometimes a tricky player in the early stages of a tournament. For the weak-tight player, many of them wait until they get AA or KK and then push all-in, without care for what the actual pot might be. Weak-loose players go all-in with just about any pocket pair however. For some "tricky" players, they'll pull this same stunt with AA or KK even though they might know how to play some 'regular' poker. However, most good poker players won't pull this type of stunt because it increases variance too much.

This means unless you have a strong hand yourself, it's a good idea to let go of the hand. There's not a lot of sense gambling with a maniac and it's even worse to be against the weak-tight rock, so unless you have an absolutely premium hand yourself like AA or KK, it's a not a good strategy to get involved. However, that said, if the player is constantly going all-in, then you can be patient enough to wait and get a decent hand and call him down if you think you're in a good position to go heads-up and not a multi-way pot.

Internet player chat (usually a big hand)



There will always be people chatting it up in a poker game, whether it's casino poker or internet poker. From my personal observation, most solid players don't do a lot of talking. That said, you can often hear many of the TOP players doing a lot of talking, but that is because they are in their own league and are probably trying to wrestle some information from you or are comfortable talking and playing at once.

I find that most people who talk in game regularly aren't good players. However, this isn't the internet poker tip I want to focus on. A tell that happens both in casinos and on the internet is when someone who is *usually* quiet begins bantering or talking. They don't have to say much, just like "I'm bluffing" or "I guess I'll bet" or something to that extent. From a psychological viewpoint, when you're truly bluffing, you're probably a bit nervous and scared and your heart is racing a little bit. Most people in this situation are not in the mood for talking and are just praying for the other person to fold. So when the shy, quiet guy is suddenly so relaxed that is able to talk to the table, it tells me he is NOT worried. From deduction, there only one reason he's not worried - because he's got the nuts or something like it.

Now, big disclaimer that this is my general observations from both real life poker and internet poker. This tell spotting strategy works most of the time for me. I've folded a few winners to it before, but I've had positive net gain on it so far from what I can tell. Your mileage may vary.

Don't be tricky in low-limit internet poker
Normally, you can't even be that tricky in a 3/6 game in real life, but with internet poker, it's almost worthless to try and be creative in any of the low-limit tables. Up against an entire field of opponents who are willing to call you down, bluffing and other methods of deception will go right over the heads of your opponents. Your opponents are likely willing to showdown with down mid pair, low pair and sometimes even Ace high against you, so you will get caught with your pants down more often than not if you're not careful. The best defense against tricky players in low-limit games is to just check-call questionable hands (but please hold some strength if you call).