babyrosejr said:
Now I am learning to play poker and only play online. Is it significantly different online from offline?
The big things you need to be aware of are:
Firstly online
poker games are a lot cheaper and more accessible than live games. You’ll struggle to find $1 games live (therefore the value is less to players and can mean they play loser
You see A LOT more hands online than live - I think it’s about 3 x more so 20 hands live in an hour would be 60 hands per hour online. Now this makes a difference when it comes to noticing bad beats, People think bad beats happen more often online and in micro games (say up to $11 games). I think people play loser and probably have less skill than those playing smaller games live but statistically hand for hand if you compared youd see the same probabilities of hands winning/losing. You just see it more often so feel like it’s happening more.
bankroll management can be harder for some people online as well as tracking your wins/losses - it can be very easy to let it take over your life. To start I would set yourself a budget; plan out maybe weekly what you want to play and when and stick to it. It can be easy to go on a bad run and get knocked out of a game and jump in another without even thinking - also be aware of how long tournaments are expected to last especially mid week if you have work the next morning because when it gets deep and you realise it’s 4 am that maybe $100 top prize might not seem as worth it lol
If you are someone who takes beats personally or plays emotionally turn off the animations - I hate them anyway - I can just imagine some online player turning up at a casino armed with eggs to throw at folk
On that note don’t expect good etiquette online or any. Don’t expect people to play any particular way. Just don’t react to their play badly don’t call light don’t limp AA and let the BB hit a flush with 53s and get mad play every hand independently not with a grudge, and have patience. Keep an eye on the lobby, make the right plays based on where you are, Don’t lose patience don’t marry blinds or pocket 22s be aware of how the hands play out, watch the hands your not in, be aware of your table perception and have the ability to switch it up.
To me a live game is a night out; I think I play tighter because if you go out that’s it for the night your sat watching - this can be boring with how slow the hands are hence why you see a lot more limping. Playing live you have to put in your own blinds and antes and be on that, and be clear with any action you make, and also know what the min bet sizes are etc you have to be really aware of your position and when it’s your turn to act and where your chips are on the table, but if you aren’t sure the dealer and other players are usually great at helping out and explaining stuff live games are usually deeper stacked with much longer rounds ie a round would be 1 hour instead of 8 mins online (but you’d see the same amount of hands).
Online you have tools to help you learn, a lot of
freerolls and so it’s cheaper to learn. party poker has a great new coaching tool in ‘whizz’ but it’s only available on PC - but it’s really good at spotting leaks in your game and setting missions to help you get rid of them. They have a ton of freerolls and ways to get free tickets to satellites that it’s a cheap way to get experience on line along with some pointers
