Online play strategy

empirix

Ok, some people here are making out that online play can be a money spinner. So i ask whats the strategy, myself personally have never played past $2/4 blinds, and while i was signigficantly up, I always manage to get stung by a bad beat on the turn or river to make my profits(now losses) tumble.

I am by no means a great player but i can hold my own (it seems) especially playing cash games on the Live scene.

While i don't expect people to give away their game plans, but how do you approach playing online. If you hit something on the flop do you raise huge etc. How about AA preflop etc - whats the raise, what blind limit games do you find to be the best to play at online etc.

Curious to hear a brief rundown of your approach, help me out where i am going wrong etc.

Very curious because i for one cannot make a profit at all and i know i am not alone, i have also stopped playing online but would like to give it another shot sometime.

Opinions...

accensi0n

All the replies to you questions will be "too general, can't answer" etc.

Your better off posting up specific hands you've played and discussing your thought process through the hand and then have people analyse it.

accensi0n

Also. Go to the boards homepage and type in "cash game" etc. into the search box. Will bring up lots of very helpful threads for you.



Gholi made a recent post that was very helpful.

pok3rplaya

empirix wrote:

Ok, some people here are making out that online play can be a money spinner. So i ask whats the strategy, myself personally have never played past $2/4 blinds, and while i was signigficantly up, I always manage to get stung by a bad beat on the turn or river to make my profits(now losses) tumble.

Judging by this you should not be playing 2/4. Move to 25NL or lower.

Here is your strategy:

1) Make sets, get paid.
2) Do not get stacked with top pair.

Poker is EZ

joebhoy1916

I can remember it clearly...

When I first started playing online poker I'd log
on to a low-stakes game... thinking I'd win EASILY
against all the fish.

I'd make my deposit... buy-in to a tournament or
ring game... and use the same strategies I'd use
in casinos and local cash games.

But in no time... sometimes MINUTES... I'd be out
of money.

Poof!

Just like that. Back to zero.

I'd think to myself, "Wow, I just caught a cold
streak of cards... I'll make it back."

I'd put in another deposit (this time without the
bonus) and play again...

Poof! Gone again.

And again.

And again.

Then I started thinking, "Wow, these poker rooms
must be rigged somehow... or someone must be
cheating..."

The WORST part was when I'd catch a "bad beat".

But not just ONE bad beat...

It seemed I was catching them CONSTANTLY-- way
more than in "regular" poker...

I'd hit trips and put my opponent on two pair...
only to learn that he chased an inside straight
draw and hit it on the river.

Opponents would bet middle-pair aggressively...
and then make three-of-a-kind on the turn.

I'd have K-Q and the flop would come K-10-3. I'd
bet my top pair aggressively and my opponent would
call. Then I'd watch in awe as he beat me with A-5
as the Ace fell on the river...

Then I'd scream at my computer:

"WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS HE CALLING WITH? THIS IS
COMPLETE BULL$&#@! WHAT AN IDIOT!"

Has this ever happened to you?

If so, give me a silent nod.

Now... here's the thing:

After a lot of frustrated nights of cursing at the
avatars on my computer, I made a BREAKTHROUGH.

It was this breakthrough that helped me turn my
online poker game into a PROFITABLE, money-making
MACHINE... the same as when I played in casinos
and cash games.

What was this breakthrough?

I STARTED TO USE THE "BAD BEATS" TO MY ADVANTAGE.

Yes, you read that right.

Now hear me out...

It all started when I finally asked myself one
crucial question:

"Could it actually be MY FAULT that I'm suffering
all these bad beats?"

And the answer was YES.

Indeed... I wasn't necessarily CAUSING them to
happen. But I was LETTING them happen over and
over.

You see, online poker is RIPE for bad beats. If
you've played much, you already know what I'm
talking about.

The reason is because the amateurs chase when they
shouldn't, bet when they shouldn't, and call when
they shouldn't.

It's that simple.

Now as I've explained in previous newsletters,
when you pick up a monster hand pre-flop you MUST
narrow the table down to one or two callers.

DO NOT see a flop with pocket Kings with five
other players in the hand. You'll lose.

The solution is to raise EXTREMELY aggressively--
more so than you'd do at the local casino.

Then the odds are fully in your favor going into
the flop... and your chances of getting "sucked
out" decrease dramatically.

Now... the SAME EXACT CONCEPT can be extended to
your betting patterns AFTER the flop.

It just gets more tricky.

For instance, let's say you limp-in with a hidden
hand like suited-connectors or a small pocket
pair. Then you hit big on the flop. What do you
do?

Obviously there are a lot of considerations. But
in GENERAL, the natural thing to do is SLOW-PLAY
it...

But online, you CAN'T do that if there are
multiple players in the hand. Because that's what
leads to bad beats.

The key is to BET AGGRESSIVELY and always find out
"where you stand" against your opponents.

And when I say "aggressive", I mean AGGRESSIVE.
You'll have to risk more chips than you're used to
in order to get rid of the chasers.

To find out where you stand in the hand, you've
got to use some special techniques...

The first is simple: RAISE. If your opponent is
chasing, he probably won't go over the top of you.
But if he's already made a hand, he'll re-raise.

Another technique is to simply make two very
large bets in a row. Anyone who calls TWO large
bets in a row (after the flop and turn) probably
already made a good hand.

Also, watch for "check-calls". That's when you
have positioning on your opponent and he checks...
then calls your bet. This is a sure sign of a
chaser, or someone with a marginal hand.

"Check-call" usually translates to:

"Please don't bet... Please don't bet... Damn! He
bet. Oh well I have to call... I have to see the
next card..."

OK, one last point.

DON'T be afraid of scaring EVERYONE out of the
pot. Sometimes you'll mis-judge the situation and
EVERYONE will fold to your bet or raise... and all
you'll have won are some blinds.

That's OK. It will happen... but it's better to
err on the side of TOO AGGRESSIVE rather than
getting busted.

All right... let me show you an example. This will
show you how to use bad beats to your ADVANTAGE...

Let's say you're in the big blind. You pick up
your cards:

Jd-9c

Three players limp-in... including the small
blind. You check to see a free flop.

The flop hits:

Jc-9h-3d

Nice. Top two pair.

The guy in the small blind is first to act... and
he comes out firing with a medium-sized bet. Now
it's on you. What's the play?

You have to raise. You want the next two players
OUT and to go heads-up with the SB. He'll probably
call your raise if he came out firing first...

But let's say you DON'T raise. Let's say you call
and the other two players call.

Now let's look at your PERCENTAGE CHANCES of
winning this hand... based on some "hypothetical
cards" that your opponents are holding.

Let's say the guy in the small blind is holding:

Qs-10s

That means he just flopped the open-ended straight
draw.

joebhoy1916

The other two players have:

Ad-9d and 2c-2h

The guy with A-9 has middle pair. He can hope for
the Ace or runner-runner diamonds.

Deuces boy on the button is just looking for a
third deuce.

IF THIS WERE THE SITUATION, WHAT ARE YOUR ODDS OF
WINNING?

Well, if the hand plays out with all four of you,
the odds of you winning are just 45.9%.

That's right... LESS THAN 1/2!

Now if you were playing this hand in real life and
lost to either:

- The Ace on the river...
- A deuce...
- Or a King or an eight...

...you'd probably call it a "bad beat".

At least it would FEEL like a bad beat, right?

After all, your odds of winning are HIGHER than
anyone else's!

But the fact remains, your odds of winning this
hand are LESS THAN 50%.

Now here's the kicker...

Probably MOST of your low-stakes opponents online
WOULD call a medium-sized bet with those hands...

SO, the solution is to raise. You already know
that. When you raise, your odds go way up...

If you raise enough to force only the small blind
to call, your odds of winning are about 70%. Sure
beats below 50%!

Now... the turn comes:

7h

Great. You know this didn't help him... He checks
to you, which suggests he has the straight draw or
a marginal hand.

Now THIS is where you make your move.

After the turn your odds of winning are over 80%.
LEVERAGE THOSE ODDS.

If you know your opponent is on a draw MAKE HIM
PAY FOR IT.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you let him see a
free river. Because if he misses he's going to
fold.

This is where your all-in move is good. You've got
an 80% chance... and your opponent is feeling
pot-committed.

Get all your money in the middle RIGHT NOW.

OK, so you go all-in. Your opponent calls with the
open-ended straight draw... all he can pray for is
a King or an eight...

The river hits:

Kh

BOOM!

Your opponent MAKES HIS STRAIGHT and you lose all
your chips.

Haha... I'M JUST KIDDING!

The river is a five of clubs and YOU WIN!

(Hey, they're my examples... I gotta have fun with
them once in awhile... ;-)

The key is to LEVERAGE those loose players by
UNDERSTANDING what makes them "tick".

LEVERAGE means RAISING THE STAKES. You've got to
put all your money in the middle and be OK with
losing it 1/5 of the time... and enjoy the rewards
of winning MASSIVE POTS the other four times.

Now the IMPLICATION of raising the stakes is that
you must CHOOSE BATTLES WISELY.

Don't bluff very much... certainly not from the
beginning of a hand. Only bluff towards the end
when you sense weakness.

Choose the high-stakes showdowns when you've
already made a hand... not when you're on a draw.
And do it against opponents who don't have as many
chips as you...

When you take everything into consideration, you
realize it's not just about "betting big". It's
about adopting BAD BEATS into your OVERALL STYLE
OF PLAY.

For example, you'll think twice about getting into
a showdown with 60:40 odds (in your favor) when
you're playing in a big tournament. Because you
know that there's a 40% chance of getting
ELIMINATED... and you know that your opponent is
probably loose enough to risk all his chips on it.

It's the same way with something like flush and
straight draws. How you play them will depend on
WHERE you're playing them...

Ring game? Multi-table tournament? 6-player Sit
and Go?

And WHO are you playing them against... Chip
leader or short stack?

And at WHAT STAKES?

Listen... the thing that immediately transformed
my online poker game was simply realizing that all
the bad beats were coming for a REASON.

Don't just play the cards... and don't just play
the players... also play the fact that PEOPLE WILL
MAKE IRRATIONAL DECISIONS.

Risk lots when the odds are in your favor... and
don't count on your opponents being too
intelligent. You'll start winning HUGE POTS by
feeding on the "fish".

Here's something SCARY...

Rumor has it that 99% of online poker players LOSE
money over time.

Yeah... 99%.

A portion of that is because of the rake, of
course. I mean... if you play break-even all the
time you'll end up DOWN because of the rake.

But the rake doesn't account for THAT big of
percentage!

If this is true that 99% of online poker players
are losers, it means something VERY important...

THAT 1% IS MAKING A FORTUNE!

Think about it: The only other place for all that
money to go (besides the rake) is to those
winners!

Crazy to imagine, huh?

Now if you're one of those LOSING players right
now, you have three options:

1. Stop playing and go spend your money somewhere
else.

2. Keep playing for the fun of it... and think of
your losses as the price of "entertainment".

3. Figure out how to be in that top 1%.

Option three is pretty damn sweet... I'm not gonna
lie. Because there's nothing better than knowing
you can sit on the couch in your underwear, click
your mouse a few times, and START MAKING MONEY.

The next step is to put these strategies and tips
into ACTION... through practice and hard work.

You should also study and LEARN MORE about poker
every chance you get. If you haven't read my eBook
yet, go get it now...

Dont really know if it will help because im kinda in the same boat as ya lol.

http://www.NoLimitHoldemSecrets.com/e_res?o=3&m=12&i=&s=