Yes ladies and gentlemen. I have caught the bug and ever so late, as it happens. My friends were all doing it way before I, and a couple have even made a decent part time income. What is this might you ask? Online gambling of course. The ever so popular Texas Hold ’em in fact. Yes, I never would have thunk it, but it hit me.
I am unemployed and have lots of time on my hands you see. And the devil will make work for idle hands… But enough moralizing, here’s what I personally have learned from playing Hold ’em on Pokerstars.com.
First, do practice at the play money tables and get a feel for what’s going on. There’s a certain way to play online poker that does not apply to real poker at all. The pace, the cards, the kinds of hands that are dealt and the kind that win. Get used to the look, the feel, and the strategy used for online poker. You will also get a large payroll to play relatively small hands. This is something that I will discuss later.
Secondly, do watch the good players play for money. There are some large stake tables and you can usually see some of the better players playing for large pots. You will notice that these players are tighter than you might expect, but they will be aggressive when they have hands. There’s not too much bluffing going on. Find out which hands are the winning ones.
Third, watch out for cons. There is cheating going on, online, just like in real poker. You must watch for some these tables. If there are two guys waiting at a table with the same amount of money, avoid that table. If there are a couple of players with large banks out betting each other every hand, you may want to avoid that one too. These people work in teams, so you need to look out for anything suspicious and leave immediately. Check their bankrolls, watch the hands being played. Most of this stuff is pretty evident.
Fourth, Use the one-to-two percent rule. If you have fifty dollars to waste, go to a 50cent/one dollar table. Why? You are going fold a lot of weak hands, and this means you are going to burn money on bets and calling. You have to remember, that once you start betting into a hand, you are just burning money (payoffs notwithstanding).
Fifth, use fifty dollars. Use fifty dollars for your initial deposit. You can win a good amount of money with this amount, and fifty dollars is affordable for most people to lose, if they lose it. You will probably end up losing just learning the ropes, which is another reason why I suggest you stick to the one percent rule.
Sixth, know when to hold em, know when to fold em. You have to know when enough is enough. If you are getting losiing hand after losing hand or just not playing them right, then you need to back off and return later. If you are winning, you need to step away as well. Play a few more hands maybe and see where the momentum is shifting. But remember, if you are hot, you eventually won’t be, if you sit too long. Set a general monetary goal and try to keep within those parameters.
Seventh, get a job. If you are planning on doing this for a living, think again. Gambling is high risk and the house wins in the long run. Then again my friend is doing this part time….
