Poker Tip 2: The Right Online Poker Room
Monday, 24 November 2008
The main difference between playing Poker online and offline is that you don’t know anything about the players on you table. You won’t know if anyone is drinking or has come to socialize and flirt at the expense of playing Poker, but there are some clues that help you decide whether you are in a good game or not.
Most of the clues can be found in your online site’s lobby. Check the average size of the pot and the number of players who typically see the flop. Bigger pots usually mean looser play, but not always. You will want to avoid games where a relative few numbers of players see the flop but the average pot is quite large. This is a sure sign of a very aggressive game, with frequent raising before the flop. In game like this it can cost quite a bit to see the flop, which is not always going to be to your liking.
However, the more players per flop, the more certain you can be that you have found a looser game. If you find a game with a relatively large number of players seeing the flop, but with moderately sized pots, you can be sure you have found a loose, passive game – and those are the easiest games to beat. Once you are at the table, pay attention to the chat unction. If you see a lot of chatter going back and forth, it is another sign of a very social game. It also maybe a sign that these players know each other very well and have played together before. While they won’t know your style at all, they will be familiar with each others play.
There are pluses and minuses to this, but if you are in a chatty game, where raising is infrequent but there are lots of players in each hand, you have found a good game.