Playing Texas Hold'em Online, The Professional Guide - Chapter 6

How to Win Money in Texas Hold'em Before the First Card is Even Dealt

Decisions, decisions, decisions. Poker is a game of constant decisions. They range from the critical to the mundane and they occur at a dizzying pace; often dozens of times per minute. Online card play is especially fierce and the pressure can be intense. Do I raise? Do I stay? Do I call? Do I fold? Even when a loss attributed to a wrong decision is small, it eventually adds up. Making the best decisions based on the information you have at hand is the key to beating your opponents.

A great example of a critical decision in Texas Hold'em that happens on almost every hand is the problem associated with defending a small blind. Suppose that while playing online in a Texas Hold'em game, with $1 and $2 blinds, a player always defends their small blind – stays in even with a garbage hand because they've already invested the $2. Based on the random distribution of cards, you're typically dealt such a throwaway hand about one‐third of the time.

At 50 ‐ 60 hands per hour ‐ a typical pace in online card rooms ‐the average player is dealt the small blind six times every 60 minutes. If they always call, they wind up calling twice each hour when they should be folding. That's $6 per hour minimum. If you play ten hours per week, at the end of the year you've given away over three thousand dollars. Ouch.

That's only one example of the kind of 'big picture' thinking that can make the difference between being a winner or a loser over the long haul.

All the latest research (from the online casino's themselves) shows quite clearly that over 50% of your winnings at the online poker table will be determined BEFORE YOU ARE DEALT A SINGLE CARD (some would suggest it's even higher than 50%).

Here are the Ten key non‐card based 'decisions' you must make in Texas Hold'em poker to be successful. Few of these have anything to do with the bricks and mortars version of the game. After the summary, we will go into more detail. But even if you never read the follow‐up, if you adopt these simple basics your winnings will increase dramatically.

1. SELECT A CASINO. Rule number one. Be a member of no less than six online casinos so you can rotate and move around from casino to casino during play. Select only well‐known casinos with excellent reputations for paying quickly and maintaining industry‐accepted randomizing algorithms (more on this later).
2. SELECT A BETTING LIMIT. But only if it's $1/2, $2/4 or $5/10 blinds. This section will discuss the research, the math, and the studies on human nature that prove conclusively that high‐stake limit tables are not the place to make money. They are however an excellent place to lose large amounts of cash in a big hurry. The return on investment (ROI) is best at medium limit tables.
3. SELECT YOUR STAKE. No decision here if your smart. You must have 50 to 100 times the Big Blind. Any less and your chances of making money nose dive. More will only improve your table 'cred' and help to intimidate weaker players.
4. SELECT A TABLE. Spend at least 15 minutes watching the play at each table. Review your notes if recognized players are present. Check out at least three tables before you start. Then select the loosest table. To win at Texas Hold'em Poker you must play tight in loose games and play in loose games only. If all the tables are tight, run. Go back to Step 1.
5. SELECT A POSITION AT THE TABLE. Watch for the tightest player at the table. Pick a spot to that player left. We have dedicated an entire chapter later on to table position strategy.
6. TAKE NOTES ON PLAYERS. Record playing styles. Do they raise before the flop? Do they fold before the flop? What's the size of their stake? Do they react quickly or slowly when their turn comes up? What kind of cards did they play on? Everyone should take player notes at casinos like Party Poker where they offer the feature. Don't know how to take notes? Just right‐click on the avatar (picture) of the target player and click player Note. That feature is there for a very good reason – use it.
7. TURN OFF CHAT. It's distracting and rarely valuable. If you want to chat, use MSN –but never while you're playing for money.
8. TURN OFF TV's, MUSIC, OTHER DISTRACTIONS. Now is not the time to catch the score on your favorite game or consume a bucket of chicken. If anyone's going to be distracted, it should be your opponents. Let them miss cues, watch their stack disappear and wonder what happened.
9. PLAY TIGHT. Follow the Food Chain Theory. Learn the rules. Understand the odds. Bet like a 'shark', not a 'fish'.
10. PLAY FOR ONE HOUR –then take a break, regardless of whether you're winning or losing. This will keep you sharper than the other players who are hanging on for that one last win. And there you are. Ten steps that will make you thousands, maybe a lot more over time. Interested in understanding the machinery behind these basic rules? Read on.

Never Start Short Stacked!

One of the keys to winning Poker is having enough chips. You need to be able to weather a streak of bad cards and be there when the cards finally turn in your favor.

So, what would we suggest for a minimum buy in? If you are playing a $2 ‐$4 game, start with at least $400 to $800 (roughly 100 times the big bet). The degree of variation accounts for your style of play. A super aggressive player should bring more to the table than a tighter player.

Bigger stacks tend to get bigger respect as well. Especially from new players. So, keeping a decent amount of chips in front of you not only improves your chances of winning, it provides an intimidation factor. However, you should always have enough chips available in your bank to jump into a different game. If you keep your whole bankroll in front of you, you can't buy‐in to second game without cashing out of the first.

The Awesome Power of Short Playing Sessions

One big difference between the Internet and live bricks and mortar play is that players are constantly moving in and out of games. The accessibility of the Internet allows players to just sit down and play a few hands, a few minutes, or maybe just an hour. In a live game, you generally are playing with the same opponents for at least a few hours and maybe even up to seven or eight hours. This rarely occurs on the Internet. How does this affect strategy?

Your opponents will not have a very long time to evaluate your play. This means that you should play more straightforward and less deceptively than you would in a live game. One of the benefits of playing deceptively or trying a bluff is the advertising value you receive on future hands when your opponents think you are a loose wild player. A loose table image can help you earn more chips later when you hold strong hands that your opponents call because they think you might be bluffing. On the Internet, you may not be sitting with the same opponents long enough to benefit from this image.

Against regular opponents, you still need to mix up your play on the Internet, but overall, you should mix it up less than you would in a live game. Against new opponents, the best strategy is to simply play a straightforward tight game without worrying too much about how your table image might affect future hands.

Some Useful Online Bluffing Tips

On the Internet, you are dealing with names and avatars, not faces. Some of the most powerful cues used in poker are no longer available to us. This psychological part of poker makes for a different type of game on the Internet. For example, there seems to be more bluffing on the Internet compared to live games. Players feel far more anonymous on the Net and are therefore prone to wilder, less cautious moves.

Another reason why players may tend to bluff more online than in a casino is the ease in which you can bluff. Online you just have to click your mouse. In a live game, you have to physically move your chips and stare down your opponents at the table. Chips is popular in casinos because they remove us emotionally from the concept of real money. Studies have shown that players are more reckless with chips than with real cash. Online, we are even more removed from the idea that this is real money (they are virtual chips) so the average bluffs are larger and more common.

Insider Tip: "Overall, if you look at the data, players tend to be more deceptive online than in a live game."

This impacts online strategies in two ways. First, you can't assume your opponents are bluffing all the time, but you will need to call and raise a little more often against those opponents who are trying to win every pot.

On the other hand, you should probably bluff a little less often since your opponents will tend to call you a little more. They also realize that players online bluff a lot, so they will tend to call more even with weak hands. They will also find it easier to just click the mouse to call compared to physically moving their chips in a live game.

Remember! Early Decisions Matter Most

Early choices in Texas Hold'em usually mean more than later ones because of their impact on subsequent decisions. Whenever you make an incorrect move up front, you run the risk of rendering each subsequent decision incorrect as well. That's why your choice of starting hands is usually much more critical than how you play on future betting rounds.

• Pre‐flop: The person with the best two-hole cards is most likely to win at showdown.
• After the flop: The player currently holding the best five‐card hand is most likely to win at showdown.
• After the turn card is dealt: The player currently holding the best five‐card hand is most likely to win at showdown.
• After the river card is dealt: The player currently holding the best five‐card hand has won at showdown.

What have we learned from this? The value of your present cards is always much greater than the expected value. If your opponent has you beat now and you know it, calling heavily for a card to come is not tight play. Evaluating the hands of your opponents will only help your game if it helps you to avoid unreasonable risk.

Working The Lobby

Don't rush through the lobby of your favorite online casino. Spending some time there can be as important as the time you spend playing the game itself. Take a walk around the room. Check out the games and the limits being played. The online lobby offers a wealth of valuable information that is only a click away: info on the number of players seeing the flop, the average pot size, number of hands played per hour, names of the players in each game, who is on the waiting list, and how many games of a particular limit are in play.

This information is essential to choosing the right game and limit. Some folks prefer wild games. Some prefer more passive ones. Some like full games; some like short‐handed. Players Who are nearly equally competent in all games can choose between a dozen or more games at the limit of their choice.

Game and table selection is a critical part of casino poker. Fundamentally, it is even more important online. At first glance it might seem that table selection is less important online because it is extremely easy to move from one game to another. This is not the case. The tools are available for players to be constantly aware of where the good games are. Constant vigilance is a price of winning online.

When signing up for games, never choose the any game at this limit option. This takes away your ability to manipulate your position on each sign‐up list. For instance, if you've signed up for any $15/30 Hold'em game, and your name comes to the top of the list in a game filled with players you don't want to play with, if you pass this game, you are removed from all the $15/30 lists automatically. Likewise, if you rise to the top of the list on a game that doesn't look good now, but has potential because of others behind you on the waiting list, you may want to un‐join that list and then rejoin again at the bottom perhaps when your name, now sixth, rises to the top, the game will be good. If you've signed up for any game that option is not available to you. You simply will be put at the bottom of every single list you are on!

At the most popular online card‐rooms, you have greater options ‐and a lot of information to use in choosing. Don't restrict yourself. Keep several card‐rooms on your computer to choose from. Look for the games that fit with your style. When your game style evolves and improves, cruise the lobby for a better fishing hole. Keep constantly vigilant. Field intelligence is the key to winning.

Look For Distracted Players

Many players assume that strategy for online and live games is the same. After all, you still receive two down cards, five community cards, and play against nine opponents. However, there are several characteristics unique to Internet play that requires subtle adjustments including playing shorter sessions, adjusting you're playing environment, and avoiding distractions at home. Let's discuss these unique characteristics in a little more detail and the impact they may have on your strategy.

You'd be surprised how many players play two poker tables at one time, read e‐mail, watch television, or even talk on the telephone while playing online poker. Those delays we all experience waiting for someone to take their turn is often caused by something other than a complex odds calculation. Based on all of these distractions, some of your opponents may not be aware of all the action that is taking place. This is yet another reason to use less deception in your game, since some of your opponents will not even see some of your plays so that you can gain some future value out of them.

Since players move in and out of games a lot, can't see your face, and are distracted by many other things, they tend to notice less that you are playing a tight game. In a live game, if you sit there a couple of hours without playing a hand, don't expect a lot of action when you decide to bet or raise. On the Internet, you can play a straightforward tight game for a long time and still get good action when you bet since opponents either do not notice or have not had enough time to realize that you are such a tight player.

On the other hand, if you don't play many hands in a live game, your chances for pulling off a successful bluff are high, while on the Internet I doubt this gives you much of an advantage. A bluff on the Internet is usually only profitable by the merits of the play of the particular hand, not by table image. So, remember, table image is not as important online as in a live game. Play a more straightforward game with fewer bluffs and protect your hands against those opponents who try to win every pot by bluffing too much.

Look Around For A while

Once you have a solid low limit game plan, this becomes extremely important for becoming a profitable online player. What good is being a good player if you only play against other good players? Everyone will shuffle his or her money back and forth and the house will take it all. Fortunately, there are many easy games online. Find games with players playing 50%+ hands pre‐flop, most sites keep statistics of this on their table lists. Many sites also have note‐keeping systems; you can flag a player as fish. Every time you see players making poor decisions, mark them. If you spend enough time on a given site, you'll notice many players have been marked as poor. Join the games with these players. Look out for players with large (800$+) bankrolls playing very low limit games (1‐2$). These are usually tight aggressive players.

Monitor Their Stack Sizes

Keep a very close eye on the exact size of the short stacks of the other players. Paradise Poker has a very poor rule where a bet of any size below a full bet does not constitute a raise. For instance, playing $10/20, on the turn you check with the intention to check raise. A player bets all‐in for $19, and another calls.

Your plan is screwed. All you can do is call. On the other hand, if you know that player has $21, you will be able to check raise. In bricks and mortar casino poker, you very often can't tell how many chips a player has left. Online you know within $1.

Another thing to consider is be careful about completing bets. If two people check, then somebody bets $19 all‐in, you better have a super‐monster to make it $20. Those first two players can't check raise the $19, but they can check raise you when you make it $20. Likewise, a player behind you can raise it to $40 if you make it $20, but can only raise it to $20 if you just call.

While everyone has his or her favorite sites, it's best to spread yourself around. Having six different online poker accounts makes it easy to find soft games at any given time. Don't miss out on profitable games because you have confined yourself to one site.

There are plenty of soft games online, you just have to do a little searching!

Stay Extra Cool When Playing Tournaments

Because of the nature of tournaments and the escalating betting limits, your bankroll is the key to your ability to win. If you become short‐stacked, try to stay calm and play as tight as possible. Only bet on high‐ranking pairs (the Fish 40), And only continue playing the hand if the flop has improved your hand.

Example: You are dealt Q, Q as your hole cards.

The flop comes with A, K, 3.

If someone bets, I would fold the hand immediately.

Why? Because you have not built on your pair and the betting is going to get expensive.

Some players make it a habit of playing loose during the first couple of rounds hoping that they can catch up later. There is no logic for this kind of play in a tournament and can reduce your stack and push you into panic mode. An example would be to go all‐in on a hand like J9 suited. Even if you see that you will likely be short on coming blinds, this is a bad move. Wait.

Play Like A Rock

As long as you have chips in front of you, you have a chance of winning. Wait, wait and wait longer, if need be, but never panic. You have time. In limit games, patience is supremely importing ant.

You may go an hour or two before you get a playable hand. This is normal. This will set up two things for you. Credibility and more playing time. Why do you want credibility? One word, bluffing. The more you fold or take pots with an extremely strong hand the better you lay the groundwork for a bluffing situation. You will become known as a rock (A rock is an extremely tight player). The tighter the player, the harder it is to win against that player.

In poker perception is everything. Be patient, It Will Pay Off!

Turn Down The Music But Turn Up Your Sound

Researchers now that we learn faster and engage our brains better when we use more of our senses. The online casinos supply plenty of color but make sure you take advantage of the sound as well. Turn up the sound effects. Sure, it may get annoying sometimes listening to all those clinks, shuffles and chip sounds but they help us tune into the game and out of those things going on around us. You are much less prone to make mistakes when you can hear and see what people are doing, as opposed to just seeing it. Click between game tabs to refresh your table listings. This trick is useful mainly for tournaments, which are notoriously quick to fill up. Many times, you'll see wing for 5 players as the table status, but when you click on the game, it will have already started. This is due to the table status not updating quickly, which you can force by clicking between tabs. Of note however, is that Party Poker has recently upped the refresh rate of the tables substantially, so this isn't a major issue like it used to be.

How To Get Hand Histories

Your opponent didn't show don't show their cards? Here's a great Party Poker trick. Click on the hand number at the top right of the screen and request the hand history for that game via email. Depending on how busy Party Poker is at the moment, you should get an email with the history in a matter of minutes. Scroll to the bottom of the history and you can instantly find out what the other player was holding. You can do this in conjunction with player notes to get a good idea of what a player is willing to play with on a river. Showdown information is always the most critical, as you can analyze their decision-making process from the ground up.

Get Caught Bluffing Once In A While

Once in a while this is not a bad idea. It is a way to vary your play and not be too predictable. You win pots that you don't deserve when your bluff works. You lose a few chips when it doesn't work but it will get you calls from weaker hands down the line when you have a strong hand and need the action.

Bluff With Caution In Low Limit Games

One should be extremely careful in efforts to bluff playing low limit online poker. You will find many players will call you just to keep you honest even if their hand doesn't warrant a call. For the most part, you should forget about it until you are already a very successful low limit online player. When you do bluff it should be done with careful attention to pot/implied odds: I estimate I have a 1 in 10 chance of winning this bluff, do I get better than 10‐1 return Since these estimations can be even harder to make online sense there are few tells to go by, it's a difficult play.

Never Let Them See You Sweat

I think this is a significant tip because when you lose a big pot, it's easy to let your emotions show – even online. Don't let the cards defeat you. And never boost the confidence of the other players by letting it get to you.

If you want to keep your psychological edge; it helps to take away theirs. Never give them a reason to be able to feed off of you, even if you are losing (by the way everyone loses and has bad beats. No one can win 100% of the time; never give them the edge, even if you are fuming.)

Get Up And Stretch

Taking a small break will help you to focus. While you are on break don't think about the game. it will only hurt your session as time goes on.

Stay Away From Alcohol

Do we need to even say this? Nothing can alter your thinking more than alcohol. You need to be aware and focused at all times. I have no idea how many online players are drinking or doing something else while they are playing but I can tell you that focus is everything. There is a lot going on in a game of online poker and it's happening at warp speed. You really need to stay clear.

Keep Accurate Player Records

If you don't keep records of your Texas Hold'em Poker playing, start now. Make a form in MS Word or MS Excel that you are comfortable with. Develop something you can use to track and update notes while you play online. If you have the software, even better, set up a database that you can search on and create reports. If none of this works for you, at least get a fold‐flat notebook that you can use while you play. Accurate play records will tell you a lot about yourself, your strategy and your opponents.

Everyone falls into a losing streak, it's normal. What you want to avoid is having this negatively affect your play and attitude. You'll be asking yourself ‐ am I playing too tight? Should I change my strategy? Am I playing too loose? Will I ever win again?

Look over your play records. You'll find the answers there. A good set of records is the best thing I know for a poker player's peace of mind and a good night's sleep.

Your play records should include the date of each session, start and stop times, hours played, wins or losses, running totals and an hourly win rate. You'll also want to have totals in terms of big bets. If you play in Hold'em games of various limits then big bets per hour is a better indicator of how you are doing than dollars per hour. Your play records should have notes about your play, your opponents, tells you've noticed and other information that might be useful. At the very least, your play records should be good reading later.

Texas Hold'em Poker is enjoyable. Winning is great. Keeping play records is unexciting at best, but the information in good play records is essential if you want to win. Without play records you won't know if changes in your strategy have had a positive or a negative effect. You won't know if you're getting better or worse or why. In fact, if you don't keep records, you don't even know if you're winning or losing in the game and you certainly don't know how much.

Learn How To Know When You're Done

This is really just a general poker tip, but it still nabs even the poker pros at times. If you find that you are being outplayed, outclassed or just unlucky at the table, it's ok to leave. Don't think about getting your money back or getting revenge on the bastard that rivered you for the 3rd time now. If you are losing money at your table, you do NOT have good table image no matter what you might think. Not only are you not in a good mood, which puts you on tilt (admit it or not), but other players will be more likely to make plays against you. This makes your game harder in more ways than you want. With so many tables at Party Poker, just get up and go, it's that easy.

If the game gets short‐handed (6 or less players) and you are not familiar with short‐ handed play, get out. This is an easy way to lose a lot of cash if you don't know what you are doing. I see this happen all the time, when a table breaks up and players are stuck with two tight players and three fish who don't realize they are about to get run eaten alive. Don't be 'chum' when all it takes is a single click to safer waters.

When you feel yourself slipping and playing too loose or having trouble focusing on the game, gather your chips and go home.

It should not matter if you are up or down, leave the table. If you are up, why risk your winnings? If you are down, why risk more of your bankroll? There is not a good reason. Get some sleep. Playing when you cannot focus is a recipe for losing.

Don't Let The Rake Beat You

Why do online casinos make so much money? Because they make a profit from every single poker pot that is played –often millions of pots per month. The more games you play, the more the casinos make. Their profit from each pot is called the rake. The rake is a percentage or a flat fee that the casino charges you to play. No matter how good a poker player you are, the house has an edge on you. The rake is built in so that the house takes money from you in small, unnoticed amounts. There are a few guidelines you can go by to minimize this.

Some poker rooms will only rake the pot once it has reached a certain amount, so you want to play opposite the style of the table in these cases.

If the rake is a set percentage (usually 4% to 10%), the tactics for an aggressive player won't be as successful as if the rate was a flat fee.

Every failed attempt at blind‐stealing, for example, is going to be raked, and all bluffing is now 4%‐10% less worth it. You have to be a better player to overcome that percentage, and once you get to that point, you shouldn't be too preoccupied with the rake. If you are a beginner, play tighter than usual.

Most online casinos charge a percentage of the winning pot.

Example: The winning pot is $125. The casino or the 'house' takes a minimum of $1 and 5% of the balance.

Total rake is $7 or 5.6%. That leaves 94.4% for the winners. Compare that to 60% on most lottery games. The less the rake is the more money you can win and the better your return on your investment.

The size of the pot and the betting limit can have a huge effect on your chances of winning.

Let's apply the same rules to a game where the maximum bet is only 2$.

Example: The winning pot is $22. The reason for the lower pot is the low betting limit. Now let's apply the same rake to the pot. Minimum of $1 and 5% or $2.10. This doesn't sound like a lot but it's actually 9.5%. The amount left to the winners in this game is now 90.5%. It may not seem like much, but the house can now pull from the table an entire pot every 10 games. That's a pot you can't win so your odds of winning are much lower.

The opposite of this effect is to play a very high maximum game – for example, a $50 maximum bet. This could create a $1000 pot or more. Sure, the percentage will now be even lower, but can you afford to play these high stakes?

A rule of thumb is to have 100 times the maximum bet with you when you start the game. A $50 maximum bet would mean having $5000 with you when you start. A maximum bet of $5 would allow you to play for $500. Quite a difference.

For most players, a $1‐2 maximum bet is too low. The rake just becomes too high as a percentage of each pot.

The ideal game range is the $5‐10 maximum bet range. This range will give you the best odds at winning and will not require that you mortgage your house to get into a game.

What happens if I start playing a $5‐10 maximum bet game with only $100?

The problem is you may need several hands before you get the right cards to win. With too small a bank, you may run out of money before you get a betting hand. Years of experience have shown that the 100x rule works. Having more certainly won't hurt. The 50x is a minimum requirement to play to win.

Playing Texas Hold'em Money Games For Free

Betting in Texas Hold'em is dictated by the big and small blinds. When it becomes your turn to place the blind (the initial bet ) you can pass. This means you can see two cards without any cost unless you are down card from the dealer.

The only problem is you can't come back into the game until the deal passes you again. That mean in a game with 10 players you have to sit out three hands per turn.

In a game with six players, you would only be able to play for free in three out of the six games.

It may not sound like much fun – but you can play for free and it's totally legal and within the rules.