Playing Poker Online | online poker guide | avoid Tilt

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Playing Poker Online | First time online poker guide | Avoiding Tilt in poker
by NoLuckNeeded member ttwna2k

Playing Poker Online for the First Time and avoiding Tilt

With the exposure that poker has received from television and print media in the last few years, thousands of new players are playing online every day. However, if it weren't for a few things holding some players back, there would be many more new players. A few of the things that are causing fear and/or apprehension are the safety of your hard-earned money at an online room and exactly how to set up accounts not only at a poker room but also to fund the account. These are what this article is about, so if you want to play poker online but haven't started, read this short tutorial and you'll be started in no time.

The first question I am often asked is about the safety of a player's money online. Drawing from my personal experience, I have been playing online for about two years and have never had a poker site cheat me or steal the first cent. One of the reasons for this is I have followed these rules, which I recommend to you. When I started, I only played at the larger rooms online. (There are over 250 rooms so even restricting yourself to the top 30 or 40 rooms is safe and gives you plenty of options.) My reasoning was that the rooms with the most players must have players that were receiving cash outs in a timely manner. Also, the larger the room, the more they had to lose by cheating players. The way poker is designed, rooms will make more money by being honest than by stealing from players who will never come back. I also read reviews about the different sites in order to become comfortable with my choice of a site, then downloaded the free software and practiced at the play money tables before depositing.

The next question is the best way to get money in and out of an online poker site. Here are a few simple and safe steps to get started.
1. Find a poker room you would like to try on this site and download the free software.
2. Open a checking or savings account with a local bank. (You probably already have one, but some players open a separate account for poker.)
3. Set up an account at the poker room from step 1. Usually you will click on "register" or "cashier". You will enter a screen name and password as well as some other information.
5. Either practice at a play money table or make your first deposit and jump into the live action.
Good luck!

Bankroll Requirements
Your bankroll is the amount of money you have set aside to play poker with. Some players can easily add to their bankroll from outside sources while others have no way to add if they lose theirs. If you fall into the latter category, it is very important to not play at limits that exceed your bankroll. One very important point you should know is that until you become a consistent winner it doesn't matter how big your bankroll is. The only thing that will matter is how much you have to lose. For this reason, the information below is written for you assuming you are a winning player overall.
The first rule is to not confuse bankroll and buy-in. A buy-in is the amount you sit down in a game with or the entry fee in a tournament, not the entire amount you have available to play poker with over a period of time. For example, you may have a bankroll of $10,000 to play 15/30-limit holdem. If this were the case you would probably buy-in for between $500 and $1,000.?

I have seen bankroll size suggestions ranging from 200 times the big bet at the level you are playing at ($800 at 2/4) to 300 times the big bet ($1200 at 2/4). My recommendation, particularly for holdem, is to start with 300 times the big bet. I play much better when I have this cushion. I have played at levels that I had much less than 300 times the big bet in bankroll and it sometimes hurts my play. This is a psychological hurdle but when reduced to facts it makes sense. 50 times the big bet is a common downswing, even for professional players, and nothing to become too concerned about if you are still playing well. However, if you start with only 100 times the big bet, if you are down 50 big bets you have lost 50% of your bankroll. If you had started with 300 big bets and are down 50, you have only lost roughly 17% of your bankroll.
If you are a very sound Omaha/8 player, you can play with a 200 big bet bankroll. This is because Omaha/8 is a much more mathematically direct game than holdem, or in other words there is less short-term variance or luck. Because of the short-term variance in holdem, even professional players may see a 200 big bet downswing at times. For this reason, that extra 100 big bets may keep you from being forced to drop down a level before the cards turn in your favor.

Play Your Best Poker Game
Everyone who plays poker has a game they play best. Many players only play one game. It used to be Stud and now it is holdem. For those of you who play more than one type of poker, when you are having a down swing, do you often switch games?
From personal experience, my best game is Omaha/8 but when the cards aren't going my way I often switch to holdem or Stud. The problem with this is that I'm an average holdem player and a terrible Stud player. So why would I switch to games that aren't my best when I'm struggling? Have you ever done the same thing? Maybe we think our luck will change or we just need a new outlook to turn things around. I'm here to tell you that this technique rarely, if ever works out. Usually it just prolongs a down streak.

Unless you are an accomplished professional poker player, or can afford to throw money away, you should play only your best game when things aren't going your way. The first reason for this is your comfort level. I am much more comfortable playing Omaha/8 than any other game so when I play others, I exit my comfort zone. This is not to say that you shouldn't play other games, just don't play them on a down swing. The next reason is psychology. Especially if you are a fairly new player, your emotional state while playing poker will have a tremendous effect on your results. For this reason, switching games, and probably extending your struggles, may make you lose confidence and stunt your learning.
Consider this as fair warning and hopefully the next time you consider switching games, think of this article and decide if you are switching for the wrong reasons.

Online Poker Avoiding Tilt
As many experts have said, poker is a game that must be viewed as one continuous session that lasts a lifetime. If one can keep this simple statement in mind, it can make the short-term variances, or luck, less painful when the underdog wins. Recently this point was driven home to me not once but twice in the same night.
I often play in a local weekly No Limit Texas holdem tournament and the following two hands came up involving my wife and me. Just before I left, she decided to play in her first poker tournament and went with me. She was very nervous and I told her to play like she had learned and not like Gus Hansen. As it turned out, she lasted longer than I did and just missed the money. She played tight and aggressive and got all in with the odds in her favor when it mattered.

The first hand I want to discuss is the one guys story that got him knocked out of the tournament. He was under the gun and had about 900 chips left (average was 1500). When he looked down and saw pocket aces, he decided to move all in, as he had built a rather loose image and felt one of the large stacks would try to keep me honest. Well, he got his wish. A very solid player in middle position raised all in for about 500 more to isolate him and had no other takers. When his opponent turned over AK off suit he was elated as he was over a 92% favorite to double up. Of course if his aces had held up you wouldn't be reading about it here. After all of the burns and turns the board read Q, T, 6, T, J giving his opponent a straight and me a seat on the sidelines.
The next hand I want to discuss is the one that knocked my sister out of the tournament. It was down to four players and she and the other middle-sized stack both got all in before the flop. She had AK off suit against his A8 suited, which made her a 69% favorite. After the flop came K, T, 9 rainbow she was a 91% favorite. The turn was a 6 and the river was a 7, giving him a straight and her a place beside me. She would have been the chip leader and in the money if she would have won that hand.
Some people would whine about both of these as being bad beats and act like the cards owed them something. The way I choose to look at these situations is a little different and helps keep me focused and off tilt. If I'm a 95% favorite and the 5% wins, then I feel that the next time I'll be a 96% favorite because I know that I'll win 95 out of 100 times and I've already used up one of the losses. I also know that if I continue to strive to put myself in these situations, I will be successful.
Of course this is not the only method one can use to avoid tilt. Here are some suggestions and methods that work for some players. The most important thing is to have a plan in place ahead of time. So find something that works for you and your game and stick with it.

Understand that you will receive bad beats as a poker player. As a matter of fact you will receive more bad beats, as you become a better player. This is because you will be less likely to get your money in the pot as an underdog than your opponents who don't play as well as you. Therefore you will have fewer chances to give bad beats than receive them. The simple process of consciously recognizing that you will receive bad beats is the first step in handling them well.
Often a bad beat or two in a short time is a good excuse to take a break. Remember that poker is a lifelong game and there will be another hand dealt when you get back. Missing a few hands or even a few hours can be beneficial. Often a breath of fresh air and a short walk will do wonders for your frame of mind.

Make a conscious decision to tighten up your starting hand requirements for a few rounds. If playing Hold'em, play only AA, KK, QQ, and AK. This will guarantee that you will not be playing many hands for a few rounds and will only let you enter the pot with a strong hand. What will happen most times is you will play no hands except your big blind and this will give you time to start thinking correctly again.
Short bouts of tilt are least harmful in limit poker. If playing pot-limit or no-limit, even a short stint of tilt can put a large dent in your bankroll or eliminate you from a tournament. For this reason, when playing pot-limit or no-limit I strongly suggest a short break, or even switching to a limit game for a while if you are able.
Some players start drinking when they receive a bad beat. Do not let this be you. No matter how bad the beat was, drinking will in no way help you make the correct decisions to turn your session around.

As many before me have written, get your money in with the best of it and over the long run you will be not only a winning player, but a profitable one too.