Internet Texas Hold'em for Improvers-by C Harvey

... these are players who win money given a period of time, watch the other players betting patterns, know all the odds and play good poker.

This is my guide to improving your Internet Limit Texas Hold'Em play.

On the Internet I would put players into 4 categories:

- Dreadful players: very rare, but those who bet and raise very frequently with little regard to there actual hand.
- Poor players: more common, those who tend to call too often and overrate their hands, and do not think about what the other player(s) may have.
- Sound players: the overwhelming majority of internet poker players, they know how to play, fold 4 10 off suit preflop (unlike the Poor players who think call as they will get bored if they don1t see the flop, and Dreadful players who only consideration is raise), generally know what hands are good and what hands to fold early on.
- Winning players: these are players who win money given a period of time, watch the other players betting patterns, know all the odds and play good poker.

This article is aimed at Sound players, who see other players winning more and wonder why they are not.

The following are what I consider to be the key factors to help you develop from being a Sound player into being a Winning player:

Be willing to lose:
Accept that when you play you may get dealt a high number of bad cards, or even worse, unlucky cards, and you may play for an hour and be down despite playing every hand perfectly. It1s how you react to the bad beats that is important. Many Sound players try to then call despite pot odds and try to steal too many hands expecting that their bad luck must change and to win back their losses.

Observe the other players:
This is crucial. You must know what type of players you are up against. If you know that one of the players on the table is playing tight and he finally bets and you hold a mediocre hand then you should be far more likely to fold than if the player is loose. Obvious, but too many Sound players ignore this basic element. Also, just because a player has bet frequently in the first ten hands doesn1t mean he is loose; he may just be getting good cards so always concentrate on the hand to the show down. This is also crucial when you hit good hands. Profit maximisation comes about by when you hit the two pair, knowing that depending on the opponents on the table whether you should bet, call, or check. If I've observed the players carefully, ill know whether I should bet as I should get callers, whether I should check knowing Ill get a better and hence can raise later on the turn if my hand still holds, and whether I can rule out someone who has called me as having over cards, if I have observed him calling with over cards in a previous hand or whether he folded. Knowing the betting patterns of your opponents is key to maximising those winning hands and minimising the losing hands. Winning lots of hands is easy; it1s getting as much money as possible where the skill part of internet poker comes into play.

Find those Bad/Dreadful players:
What to these players do? Lose money. So to maximise your profits you must try as often as possible to play against Bad players rather than Sound player. Too many times in my early internet poker days I would stay on a table full with Sound players, knowing if I got a good run of cards I1d win.
Whereas if I moved table and looked for Bad players then even if I didn1t get a good run of cards so long as I hit some hands I could win big money on those hands, rather than relying on hitting a higher flush vs. a sound player.

Obviously it is not easy to find bad players, but I find whenever I play to make notes on the players (many sites have this facility) and to search for them (the Bad and Dreadful players) before I pick a table.

Know when to leave the table:
There are two reasons why you make money on internet poker. Firstly getting good cards vs. Sound players. If you are on a table with Sound players and have hit a good run of cards then leave. It is tempting to stay, but over 75% of the time you will stay on the same total dollars or go back down so it doesn1t make sense to stay on. However, if you are on a table with a few Bad players and in profit, then it1s probably because you haven1t had any real bad beats and just played much better than the call-station Bad players. So that1s when you should stay on the table when you are up: when you1re playing with Bad players.

Know the odds:
Far too many Sound players know the basics, but do not know when you1re facing a bet on the turn and holding a flush draw with 1 player still to act after you whether or not to call given the pot size. For long term profit maximisation this is key. Learn the pod odds and play by them.

Betting speeds:
Slightly more obscure and less important, but observe the players on your table speed at betting. Some always bet quickly, some have a bad connection and take a while, but some are more variable. If I'm playing a guy who usually bets quite slow and then is betting fast at me then this makes me slightly more cautious if on a mediocre hand.

Position:
Far too many Sound players do not pay enough attention to position.
Personally, if I hit a flop with some potential, middle pair, draw, even over cards etc and am last to act with it being checked round to me, then I am strongly considering betting. If you don1t hit the turn then so often if other players have hit something they will check expecting to check-raise you on the turn. And so if you miss your turn you can check to see the river rather than being faced with a big bet. However, if I hit a middle pair and am first to act and bet it and everyone calls, I am then faced with a check/bet option on the turn, if I bet it is bad play as someone is likely to have me beat yet I am betting, and if I check I am probably faced with a big bet to see the river rather than having it for free if I had late position. This is an example of playing differently with the same hand depending on position.

Conclusion:
If you follow the points above, then you should make money over a period of time. Do not expect to play for a couple of hours once a week and expect to then go down the pub with your winnings. Winnings players still have periods of bad cards and no winnings, but it is minimising these losses by not trying to make money from them by calling too often and trying to steal pots to make back these losses. And then when the good cards come around knowing who your opponents are in the hand and being able to make as much money from the winning hand by knowing if they like to call (in which case you bet), like to steal (in which case you may check), which stay in on draws and which stay in on over cards solely from observing the previous hands.