Why Online Poker Sucks

There are many good things about online poker.  To name a few, it is very convenient, easy, comfortable, and there is always a game.  In addition, you also play many more hands than you do in live poker.  This does create some problems.  There are more suckouts and bad beats than you could ever imagine online.  I believe that there are many more online than there are in live poker.  For instance, tonight I entered a $55 tournament with 1200 people.  There was a huge pot and first place got $11,000 and 180th got $80.  I was sitting at the tournament for 1hour and 50 minutes and I was second place in chips at the table.  The chip leader at the table, the only person beating me, wound up hitting a one outer on the river to knock me out in 389th place leaving me with no money for the tournament.  I am now going to go through the hand to explain the poor play of the chip leader.

I started the hand with $8k in chips and he had $12k.  I was dealt pocket aces and was first to act.  The blinds were $150/300.  I made it $1200 to go preflop and I had one caller, that was the chip leader.  We were now ready for the flop.  It came down A  5  9, a complete rainbow.  I flopped a set and I had him right where I wanted.  I still wanted to play it hard so I bet $2000.  He thought for a few seconds and called.  The turn came a 6.  It was my turn to bet so I bet the rest of my stack which was around $4800.  He called me almost instantly.  The river came off an 8.  The chip leader now flipped over pocket sevens giving him a seven to nine straight.  He insta-called me with nothing but a pair of sevens and a gutshot on the turn.  This type is play is horrendous and very rarely works out as it did.  All he had was 4 outs in the deck (the 8’s).  This made him about 8% to win and me 92% and he still manages to hit.  It is complete bullshit but i guess that is the nature of the game.  Still, it is a shame when numbers that heavy to one side don’t work out.  O well.

Week Summary 4/1 – 4/8

These week I had 4 posts (including the process letter) with a word count of 1309.

High Pockets

High pockets are a rare bunch.  These hands usually range from pocket 10’s to pocket Aces.  When these hands do appear you want to get as much money out of them as possible with as little risk as you can.  Although these hands are elite when they are facing one opponent, when more than that enters the pot, the odds in their favor are severely hindered.  That is why with all of these hands the play is to raise.  The raise should be pretty much the same across the board, four times the big blind.  On a side bar, you should generally keep all of your pre-flop raises the same as to not give away any information about your hands.  The opponent can not pick up a betting pattern if you do not have one.

So all of these hands are played the same way pre-flop.  The only thing that differs with these hands is the post-flop play.  This is where each hand differs.  With 10’s or Jacks you could easily have two overs come on the flop leading you to fold, while with Aces or Kings you do not see overs nearly as much so they can usually be played faster.  All of these hands should be played generally fast because you do not want people in there beating you out when you had them the whole way.  The proper way to play these is to feel out your opponent and make your move on that.  Play the hand cautiously but do not let people catch up to you and beat you when you could have won the pot on the flop.  The only time these hands should be played slow is when you flop a set with them.  At that point you are generally good and you want people to hit their two pair on you so that you can get paid off, but other than that fast and hard.  Never put yourself in the position that you are calling someone down.  You have to be the leader with these types of hands.  If you do not feel like playing the hand post-flop, do not worry about it, just fold.  You are not obligated to call them down.  Follow up with these rules and you should limit your loses and your profits should skyrocket.