I started playing online poker about three years ago and I quickly went through about $500. My problem wasn’t that I was a terrible poker player; my issues had more to do with the environment.

Back then my usual place to play poker was a Brick-and-Mortar setting, there you get a read on people, notice little tendencies and get a good feel for the action as time goes on. Online poker takes away that element, it is difficult to read an Avatar, ‘Is he thinking, or did he just take a bathroom break?’ you just never know why someone does what they do.

With that being said you can still learn to dominate while playing online, you need to be disciplined and play the odds more than the person. Once you start playing online you will be amazed at how many different styles you will see. Here’s how I categorize them.

The Ultra Aggressive:

Style: Try’s to steal blinds when he/she detects timid players by raising well above the tables blinds, Raises almost all the time Flop, Turn, River. Will often join a table and go all-in, win and leave. This guy is all about immediacy; either wins right away or leaves.
How To Play: Let this guy steal a couple of small pots, once he’s ahead he tends to get a little conservative, you can usually catch him/her with a strong commitment to a pot, be careful and don’t let your emotions get the better of you. If you have a strong hand it is generally worth the risk of matching his output

The Poker Pro:

Style: This person lets everyone know that they are a Poker God; they are the ABC of poker and pretty much play by the book. This player will often explain to you why he/she bet the way they did and why you were an idiot for betting the way you did, spewing out odds and statistics to back up his/her claim. What cracks me up about the Pro is they tend to get highly upset upon discovering they were the victim of a Bad-Beat, they will often scold you via the chat box and I am sure they are letting you know they think you are number-one while waving their finger at the monitor. If you caused this person to lose, when statistically they shouldn’t have, they will stay at the table until they are broke or have exacted their revenge!
How To Play: Do something stupid, let him think you’re a fish he/she won’t be able to resist proving to you how smart they are, and they are going to teach you a lesson. I usually slow play these guys and force their hand on the river.. watch out for straights and flushes, I’ve lost more nuts to the river than I care to admit. Pro’s love to play those hands and will slow play with you because the value of the pot is worth slow playing with you.

Everyone’s Friend:

Style: Likes to chat with everyone, Tells everyone what a great hand they had or how well they played etc. Usually this person is a decent player, like the PRO they like to show off their knowledge of poker jargon and are more likely to bluff every now and then, show their cards (just to show you how smart they are) then condescendingly apologize for the bad-beat.
How To Play: I get a little aggressive with this guy, he tends to the conservative side and generally won’t over-commit, but will ask you to show your cards, before he folds, never show him your cards! You can usually distract him a little by indulging his need to chat.

Everyone’s Enemy:

Style: A step down on the evolutionary scale from the Ultra Aggressive, this player wants to pick a fight with anyone, usually a terrible player but for whatever reason gets lucky a lot. Enemy will play good hands or bad hands the same way, daring you to match his move, berating you if he wins and chastising you when he loses. Interesting enough this player tends to control a table better than most getting people upset enough to not play their game. Heaven help us if the Pro takes Enemy’s bankroll you will never hear the end of it.
How To Play: This guy is easy to beat, as soon as you have a good hand J’s or better, you probably will win, this guy will go all in with High card or small pairs, even if you lose once you will more than likely get it back soon enough. Nothing upsets him more than you being non-responsive.

Silent but Deadly-Shark:

Style: Folds a lot talks very little. In the online poker world this guy generally wins the big money mainly because when they play a hand they usually have a hand worth playing. They are the ones who usually bring down Ultra Aggressive and Enemy. Then go back to playing conservative waiting for their next fish to fry.
How To Play: Start out likes he’s a fish and you will generally win the first few matches, be wary when they bet according to pot size. Once I figured out that their good, I play conservative then aggressive, altering my style as the table warrants, a good bluff every now and then keeps everyone honest, beating this guy is the best feeling when playing online

Silent but Deadly-Fish:

Style: Initially hard to determine if they are Shark or Fish. They start out the same as Shark but often under-bet or over-bet, thus never really winning but slowly losing. Eventually Fish show his/her colors and gets devoured.
How To Play: Just play smart poker, don’t devour this person, drain him/her slowly, you want them coming back for more, make them your buddy, greet them every time they join your table, remember eventually they will learn or leave.

So when playing online poker watch out for these players, they will identify themselves very quickly, so adjust your game accordingly, it doesn’t take long to get the feel for playing online, don’t get caught up in ‘how long it takes’ for someone to bet pay more attention to their persona’s

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.