Poker Reviews

Playing online poker is not the same as playing in person, as you cannot watch body language, which is a great advantage if you want to win. However, there are ways you can read the action of other poker players if you know what to look for in an online poker game.

The first thing you should pay attention to is how long it takes the person to place a bet. This is known as the stall. However, many experienced players are now using this method to try to fool other players. The best way for the stall method to work is that you must know the players in the room. After you play a room awhile, you will get to know the regulars and learn who is an expert. Once you know this, then the stall method will help you know which players are new. Inexperienced players often stall due to the fact they are not sure how much to bet even if they have a great hand. Just watch your step, remember pros are now using the same method to side track you.

Watch for players that have been playing rather quickly and then all of a sudden stall or vice versa one that has been thinking a bit before betting and then bets quickly after being dealt a hand. Either one of these could mean they have something good in their hand. No matter whether you are playing online or offline, you can learn behavior patterns of other poker players and get the edge.

The pattern of poker players is probably the most important factor with online poker. Since you cannot watch their faces, you can still watch the patterns that are there from betting, to calling, to raising. You should pay attention to the way in which each player bets compared to the size of the pot as well. Online players are normally those that play all the time, they have their own routine and patterns, just as in real life. These are things you must learn if you want to win at any online poker game.

Watch those chat boxes. Yes, it can be fun to chat with your friends; however, you can also be heckled just like in real life. A matter of fact, the chat box might be your worst enemy. They can yell at you with all capitals, use rolling smiley faces, and more to distract you from your main goal. You will hear all kinds of insults such as “newbie”, the “game room cheats”, and so on and so forth. Anything to get your mind off the game and watching the other players.

Of course, you cannot watch the other players in your poker room, but you can watch the way they play and learn from experience how to read online poker players.

Let’s start with differences of online poker from off line poker game and the pros and cons of the online poker version. The main principal difference is obvious – poker players, the opponents cannot see each other. Hence, on one hand online poker player does not have to maintain his “poker image” and on the other hand the poker player cannot “read” the opponent hand by focusing on the Body Language. So, in online poker room the psychological moment of the game is rather weak, for somebody it is good and for someone it is not so good. In other respects online poker presents only advantages and it will take a long time to name all of them. Here are the main ones.

Any online poker room the same as any online casinos work 24 hours a day 365 days a year and any poker player may play all around the clock hole year.

Online poker room player does not have to tog up and go somewhere. Playing poker online at the computer is more comfortable that at the casino table.

Online poker room player can choose from a wide variety of games including the rarest ones. Online poker room player may play during a fifteen minute break; or leave the table any time. Poker player may participate in a number of tournaments and cash-games. Online poker room player can play short handed tables or face-to-face. Online poker room player may play at several online poker room tables at a time, play many games in an hour with simultaneous shuffling and dealing. Time limit for decision taking makes the game more dynamic. Online poker room player does not have to control and count the jackpot and his own chips.

Playing poker in online poker room is a good practice for the beginners playing micro limits which cannot be found in off line casino.

Before playing the game.

If you are ready to play poker in an online poker room, you should install online poker room client programs. Basically the poker software comprises two parts – server part – here the cards are generated and information about all the players is collected. Client’s part – here the player sees the cards, opponents and makes poker decisions. Both parts of the software are connected via the Internet and constantly exchange information.

Client programs.

Online poker room client programs can be of two types: downloaded (executable programs ) and non-downloaded ( flash or java, played in the browser ). Non-downloaded programs are less convenient though their number is increasing. To play non-downloaded poker room version a poker player should, as a rule, press some button like “Instant Play”, then a small browser window will be opened and the poker room software will be downloaded there. If this is java poker room program, the player should have java scripts enabled in his browser, flash plug-in should be installed to view flash. The poker players are likely to have Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher with 128-byte encryption.

If you prefer downloaded version ( and it is more convenient and functional), please find the section “Download” at the poker room site and download the program (usually 4-8 Mb, though sometimes occur small ones less than 1MB; they download the software after the launch and then will install the client). When the download is complete, start the program and it will install the poker client. As a rule the client will automatically add the icon of poker room at your desktop or to folder “Programs”.

Rules for the registration at online poker rooms, money depositing and withdrawal of the winning money are the same as in online casinos. When registering, fill out the application, indicate your full name, address, phone number, email, select login and password, and also your screen name that will be used during the poker room playing sessions. Almost all online poker rooms accept cards. There are a few e-wallets such as Moneybookes, Neteller, Firepay and so on to ease online poker room players funding options.

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Poker is a game of skill, risk-taking, chance and luck. A player must be attentive, must know his opponents well and must take decisions quickly with confidence in order to win. There are certain differences between playing traditional poker game in Casinos and playing it online over the internet. As in traditional poker game, players sits across each other thus they can observe each other’s reactions and body language whereas in an online poker game, this is not possible. In online poker game, players have to depend highly on betting models, swiftness in playing, usage of check boxes; opponents fold and flop percentages, chat box, anticipating for the blind game and other behavior patterns that are not physical in nature. In traditional casino rooms, certain time is taken to complete each hand. As the dealer has to collect the cards, shuffle it and deal them after every hand is completed. Due to this delays and other delays that are common in the traditional casinos, on an average, twenty five to thirty hands can be played in an hour. Compared to the traditional play, online casinos have no such delays as the shuffling and dealing is rapid. Also, there are no delays in counting chips and with the help of auto-action buttons; a player can choose his action before his turn. Due to these advantages and the time saved due to the swiftness in play; in online poker table on average eighty five to ninety hands can be played in an hour.

Another major difference between traditional poker and online poker game is that in the traditional poker game, if player wants to enhance his earnings, he has to enhance his limit; whereas in an online poker game, players can play multiple tables at the same time and thus can enhance his earnings. In the traditional poker game it is impossible to play more tables at the same time as the player has to be physically present at the table in order to play whereas in online poker game, a player can play multiple tables anywhere ranging from four to ten tables at a same time screening each in a separate window on the computer display. However, the number of tables that can be played at the same time also varies site to site. Hence, in an online poker game, probability of wining increases as the player can play more tables at the same time making best use of one’s skills and knowledge of the game.

Another noteworthy feature of the online poker is that some of the poker rooms provide online poker school that teaches the basics of the game and considerably speed up the learning process for the learners. Many of the online poker rooms also provide option to play free poker without any money involved so that learners can practice their skills by playing money free poker without any risk involved of losing real money. Also, using a poker hand converter available on such learning sites, learner can analyze history of played hands thus he can enhance his understanding about the online poker game. Lastly, the limits linked with online poker are much lesser than the limits linked with the traditional casinos. In the traditional poker game, the minimum limits are often $1 whereas in online poker sites (i.e. gambling sites); the player can find minimum limits as little as $0.01.