When playing Online Poker for the first time, you realize it is considerably different from playing a regular game of face to face poker. For example, you may be very good at reading facial expressions and have based your whole poker game on it, only to realize that it does not have any worth at all in a poker online game scenario. When it is online, the usual indicators are gone, replaced by information that scrolls in a heads-up display as you play with others. The graphical interface alone may need to get some getting used to and for some of the older players is just not worth it. There are advantages online such as a website’s free trial period where you can try out their games and have a look around without depositing a single cent. Below are some simple tips to ease your way into playing digital online poker.
Realize That It Is Different
When you first log in, realize as early as possible that it will be the same game at the core but will have a very distinct and different way of being played. An example is the time constraints for you to make a decision online, usually, a poker player offline will have a few minutes for his or her decision. With an online poker game, you have a timer that will give you only a certain amount of time to act. Starting with a trial period is highly encouraged, here you can try out different hands such as poker, aces, or jacks until you become comfortable with the interface to play with other players online.
Start Playing Small
It is highly practical to try out the game first and try your hands on smaller tables firstly. Do not be overconfident with your skill in the usual game of face-to-face poker as this will most probably be not relevant to an online poker session. It does not mean that if you are the top player in your local pub you automatically win in online poker. So wet your toes in the smaller tables first until you get the lay of the land so to speak. Understand the differences between live and online poker at this stage.
How to Watch Online Poker Opponents for “tells”
A poker “tell” in a usual face-to-face game of poker is how a player reacts to his or her “hand”. Various facial reactions, body language, and overall posture can be used to ascertain whether an opponent has a winning hand or no. In an online poker scenario, the equivalent of tells would be observing how many hands are your opponents playing, what kind of hands are they playing? how do they bluff? what kind of hands do they have when they raise? These types of questions can be the equivalent of a “tell” in online poker.
Keep track of details and focus if you want to be a winner in an online poker game. When you master this, it will become no different than a game of poker in a roundtable with face-to-face players.
