Texas Holdem Poker

Have you ever signed into an online poker room and seen the same name on table after table and wondered how they could do that?  A single individual may have 8 or more tables going at the same time!  How can they keep track of each table and how can they possibly make money?  Well, there are several reasons that this is possible and you will soon find that regardless of the levels you are playing, you can take advantage of the same things that the online pros do to make money by playing online poker.

The first thing that you have to consider is variance.  By playing so many tables, you actually increase your chances of making a profit.  It may sound a little crazy, but it is true.  Have you ever sat at one table and got killed in a very short period of time?  Then you go the next table and don’t seem to be able to miss a hand and want to know where this luck was earlier when you actually had money.  By playing multiple tables, you are all but guaranteed that these single losses will be offset by the big win tables.

If you are playing on 8 tables, more than likely you will find that you have one table that you are not doing very well, another table that you are absolutely crushing people on and then the rest of them will be floating right around even.  The moment that one table goes bad, you remain in action on the other tables and eliminate the bad table.  You are now tilting the odds back in your favor.  Simply go to another table and start playing there.  Because of something we are about to discuss, you don’t need to make a lot of money on the table to be profitable; you just need to make sure you don’t take any heavy losses.

The next thing to consider is rakeback.  This is percentage of the money that you contribute to the rake that gets returned to you at the end of the month.  This alone is the reason why so many online pros make so much money when they play.  Consider the fact that if you are sitting at 6 man tables where $60,000 in rake has been collected over the course of the month, 1/6th of that would be considered your contribution to the rake, or $10,000.  Most rakeback sites will offer their players anywhere from 25-30% back on their rake.  Worst case scenario here, you would be getting back $2,500 at the end of the month for doing nothing!  This is as much as some people make at real jobs and you are getting it as a refund just for playing poker.

Whether you would consider this a good thing or bad is up to you, but the guesswork of playing is totally eliminated when you are playing this way.  Every decision you makes comes down to pure odds.  If they are there, you make the call.  If they aren’t you fold your hand.  Even with tracking software, you are not going to have the time to evaluate the players or figure out if they are making moves.  You are going to have far too much going on.  However, this is where most amateur poker players make the most mistakes.  They are trying to be the next Doyle Brunson and end up outplaying themselves with foolish moves.  Leave it up to the numbers and you will be surprised at how often it works out in your favor.

Playing this many table is never an easy thing and you are going to have to work your way up to it.  I would also recommend that you do this at much lower levels than you play on playing at permanently.  This is going to allow you to absorb those inevitable mistakes that will happen as you are learning to juggle 8 tables at the same time.

I am sure we have all enjoyed the amusement provided by the “Matusow Blowup” and Phil Hellmuth’s endless rants. I always get a kick out of watching someone lose their mind after a sick beat or an unbelievable call. But what about when the explosion is from you? Is it all part of the game or is it a serious leak in many peoples games?

I have never understood what good can come from an explosion of emotions, in any direction, let alone negative. If you play this game to win money, there really is no room for emotion in your game. I have watched hundred of players blow through their bankrolls because their emotions got the better of them. Now, most people understand that going on tilt can have a very adverse affect on your game, but let’s look at how the flood of other emotions can affect your play.

One common scenario that is evident online, in live play and in some of the top games is the berating of opposition players. Whether the victim of the tirade has just delivered a huge suckout or was just out played for a massive pot, our berating poker player is hurting his game. What good comes from insulting a player for playing badly? I guess the opposing player could begin to play better poker, but why would we want that?

Not only does this tirade force our opposition to play better, as no one wants to be the subject of poor play, but our opponents will begin to tighten up their calling restrictions in many situations. As we discussed earlier in the week in “Table Image,” we want our competitors to call us down lightly. We want them chasing draws and calling down with middle pair. Sometimes we are going to catch a bad beat, but we will make up for it in the action received.

Psychologically poker players want to be accepted, they do not want to be singled out for bad play or berated at the table. This argument has taken place amongst many of the great poker minds as to why online games are often most looser and aggressive, as players do not have to face their peers face to face and be held accountable for their play. But that’s a debate for a different day.

I have always loved the demeanor of poker players such as Allen Cunningham, Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius. These players have the ability to control their emotions, along with their game and to a large extent their opponents. They understand that luck plays a role in this game in the short term. Most players know the percentages and the fact that 2 out of 10 times, AA will lose to a smaller pair, but these players seem to take it in stride, just as they do when they win.

For the large part, pros seem to handle the swings of the game in stride compared to the average player. I believe this comes from the mentality and understanding of the long-term goals in poker. They know that if they keep making the right play, that over time the luck will even out and they will be long-term winners.

Poker is a series of decisions that add up to a long-term profit or loss. If you are making profitable decisions each day then over time you will be a winning player. You may go days, even weeks, when luck goes against you, but in the long-term the statistics don’t lie. You will win or lose based on your skill and decisions.

With all the decisions that take place in each hand at the table, emotion just doesn’t have a place at the poker table. Next time you find yourself itching to go on a tirade and fuming from a bad beat, remind yourself that this is part of the game and the statistics will even out in the long-term. Separate your emotions from the table and you are on your way to becoming a much stronger player. Until next time, get your money in with the best of it!