Poker: An Online Odyssey

Poker dates back centuries, having been known by many a name. It’s origins are fuzzy but the German game of Pochspiel and Persian game of As Nas suggest its roots lie in the 15th or 16th Century. The riverboats of the Mississippi facilitated the spread of the game as we know it throughout the US, and poker’s popularity has increased ever since. One of the biggest developments in poker’s history, however, is linked directly to technology and the emergence of the internet. Online poker rooms have made poker accessible to a global audience, giving anyone who owns a computer the ability to enjoy a game from the comfort of their own living room.

Choosing a poker room online

So in this day of plenty, choosing a place to play poker can be fairly overwhelming. Online poker sites are improving all the time, offering better and better poker experiences. When choosing a poker site there are a few factors you should consider to help you make the right choice for you.

Assess your playing requirements
Are you looking for a poker room for leisurely play or do you want to make fast cash? By being realistic about how often you get the chance to play poker and how much you want to spend playing poker you can refine your selection criteria. Poker sites such as PKR offer 3D gaming experiences for a more casual player base by recreating the casino environment with video gaming style graphics. If you prefer to grind it out through multi-tabling then this isn’t the site for you.

Tournaments
Have a look at the type of tournaments the poker room offers. If you want to play poker with minimum financial risk, look out for freeroll tournaments. Check how frequently a poker room runs their freerolls as these can be daily, weekly or monthly with varying prizes depending on their popularity. If your time is limited, look out for the quality of a site’s Sit n’ Go games. Busy sites can offer 24/7 Sit n’ Go action so you can join a game whenever you like without having to wait ages for a table to fill. Other tournaments to look out for are satellites to larger events whereby you could find yourself getting a seat at the next WSOP!

Traffic & players
Check how popular your shortlist of sites are. If they have high numbers of players outside of peak times as well as at peak times, you’ll be surer of securing a game when you are ready to play. The more popular poker rooms also tend to have the power to provide good promotions and great prizes. Spare a thought for your level of play too. If you are a beginner, you will probably want to go to a poker site that attracts a lot of learners so as not to get taken advantage of by card sharks. Heavily marketed sites tend to attract new players as well as sites that have other functions i.e. Betfair poker has a natural migration of people from their sports betting site who try their luck in the poker room with no prior experience.

Software
As we mentioned above, software is improving all the time and you can now enjoy a full ‘casino experience’ online. If you like avatars, chat functions and so on, there are a number of sites that cater for this. Play in these rooms tends to be looser than more hard core poker rooms. The key thing is that you want your game to run smoothly with no kinks. Some sites have put their efforts into providing great multi-tabling action, while others allow you to access statistics as you play to help you improve your game. Check out a site’s lobby to get an idea of their software and product selling points before you sign up.

Poker game variants

Every poker room will offer Texas Hold’Em as this is the most common form of poker. But if you would like to play Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, Stud poker and so on, make sure you check that you can get those variants on the site and that there is enough traffic going to those games to ensure regular play is available.

Poker bonuses

Bonuses are a key tool for poker rooms enticing new players to their sites. It’s important that you assess the sites using the criteria above before being completely swayed by a killer bonus as that bonus will only be as good as the game of poker you are able to play. If you have a shortlist of good sites, compare their welcome bonuses, reload or loyalty bonuses and whether they offer rakeback deals. You’ll find your experience in a poker room can be more financially rewarding if you’re aware of and take advantage of their promotions.

As you develop, so will your poker room requirements. It’s ok to switch to another room if you decide you’ve outgrown your existing room, just make sure you’re not jeopardizing any loyalty benefits you’re due or any terms related to a sign-up bonus for example. The important thing is that you feel comfortable in your chosen poker room and enjoy playing poker with like-minded individuals who will give you a good challenge.

Online poker tells

There is one other area of poker that has morphed due to the game’s shift online and that is how to read an opponents poker tells. Psychology is a key part of playing, and winning at, poker, so when your visual stimulus has gone, it is very hard to assess what your opponent might be thinking. You have no real life verbal or non verbal cues to help form an assumption.

However, as there is a human calculation occurring behind every computer generated move, there are things you can look out for to give you an idea of the type of hand another player may have. For example, keep some notes on how long they usually take to act when it is their turn. Watch their timing bar and tally the time taken on a hand with the ultimate outcome and betting amounts. Taking a long time to act could suggest a poor hand in which the player is assessing the risk. To avoid leaking this timing tell yourself, you should try and regulate your play so that you take the same amount of time to act, whatever your cards.

Does your opponent peak at their cards a lot? On many poker site tables you can see each time a player checks their hole cards. Regular checking could either signify excitement or uncertainty. Cross-check this activity with their betting amounts to figure out which it is. If it is uncertainty, you could probably pressure a fold.

As with bricks and mortar poker, monitoring the frequency of folding, raising and betting against the final show of a players cards, can tell you what kind of opponent they are. Regular folding will suggest a tight player where as someone who is in the action on every round is likely to be a loose player or ‘calling station’. Chat functions in online poker sites can also give players away. Some players will give a lot of mouth to their opponents in an attempt to make them play irrationally. Avoid getting sucked in as in most cases the person with all the chat has actually taken their eye off the cards in a bid to put you on tilt. More effort is needed to bluff verbally online than at an actual table and is generally more detrimental to your own game.

If you’d like to check out some online poker rooms with a view to signing up, have a read through our poker site reviews. And remember, regulate your play so your opponents don’t take your money away!