Playing Hold Em Poker Online

As popular as this game has become, there’s still a good chance that you won’t be able to find a neighborhood game when the poker urge hits. That’s why so many poker players turn to playing hold em poker online.

There are countless online poker rooms where you can take a seat at a virtual poker table and try your luck against an electronic room full of other players from around the world.

When you’re playing hold em poker online, you’re playing the exact same game, with the exact same strategies you’d use in a game at your buddy’s house. The only real difference is, the guy to your left won’t be blowing cigar smoke in your face all night. That, and it’s harder to read the other players’ tells.

I said it’s harder to read the other players’ tells, but not impossible. Sure, you can forget about watching for raised eyebrows, that nervous mouth twitch, the furtive nose rub, and other physical clues that give you some idea of how good or bad other players’ hands are, but there are still some clues available if you know what to look for.

How to Read Hold Em Poker Online Tells

• Watch betting patterns. If a player raises before the flop, bets heavily after the flop, but drops his bet dramatically after the river, there’s a good chance he has blown his hand.

• Pay attention to how fast players place their bets. For example; a player who raises quickly pre-flop, and then hesitates noticeably before betting post-flop, has probably missed their card and are now worried about their hand.

• Pay attention to what’s said when chatting. A player who tries to psyche you out in the chat window probably isn’t holding a very good hand. Otherwise he would keep his mouth shut and pray that you raised.

Yes, it’s a little more difficult to read tells when you are playing online, than when you are playing in person, but it can be done if you pay attention.

Here’s a great tip for uncovering tells: If you often play against the same people, use your player’s notes to keep track of how your opponents handled themselves in chat, and how they bet. To improve your sit n go strategy, compare that with how their hand turned out and you’ll become good at decoding tells when you’re playing Hold em Poker online.