The Psychology of Online Poker
There are not many of us out there who do not enjoy winning in one way or another and playing poker is for many an art form, playing the game within the game replete with all of its subtle nuances.
Many games are games of chance and whilst it is true that your cards are random, the psychology behind the game if learned well can make you into a master, and in turn can make you very, very rich.
Poker boasts the largest and richest, long running tournament involving many countries in the industry, having run for over 40 years and making some people instant celebrities and millionaires, just take a look at one of the many news articles available to see what is going on and who is battling it out with who.
There is a great deal of difference when you look at playing poker in a bricks and mortar venue compared to playing the games online, as the intricacies of a good poker strategy are based on knowing your opponent, of guessing correctly how they will react to your actions and learning through these things how to outwit them.
Having a ‘poker face’ is a well-recognised term with deception being at the root of the game. Players can conceal their thoughts at the table and even change their playing style from aggressive to passive to outwit and un-balance their opponents.
Being aware of your opponent’s strategy then is of utmost importance, so how does a player achieve this when playing online, without being able to physically see any opponent in effect ruling out any reading of emotions or body language?
Even when playing the live games online which take place in a real casino, in real time with a live dealer and with other players does not offer the subtle changes in body movements you would get at a bricks and mortar venue, and it costs the casino site a lot of money to set these types of games up compared to those run by randomly numbered generators (RNG) These games are however the closest you are going to get to a bricks and mortar game and can be found on only the best quality sites such as Mr Green Casino and the games are well worth some of your time and coinage.
If you cannot detect dishonest behaviour online then the best strategy is to effectively unbalance your opponent by varying your approach and sending out messages that are not the same, being inconsistent is the answer. You could start by varying the size of your raises so that your opponent cannot interpret your betting pattern which in turn reduces the chance that they couple exploit an y weakness you may have.
Use the chat box. When you use the chat box whoever you are speaking to will view you less as a threat and more as a friend, and is less inclined to do bad things, plus it is possible that they will underestimate your hand, of course this principle could also be used in the opposite way as if you insult your opponent or boast about how great you are you run the risk of angering them, and overheated emotions can often lead to showdowns, putting your opponent on tilt.
Knowing how to ‘get to your opponent’ and how to read them as best as you can will also prove useful if these tactics are used against you, and if you sense that your opponent is using one of these techniques then you will automatically know that they cannot be trusted.