When playing online poker the mindset is very different than when playing a private game or in a casino. Online games are a totally different experience than a private game or casino. There are a couple of reasons why this is so. We are going to discuss them in this article online casino games.
Online poker games move at a very fast pace. Private games and casino games need to shuffle decks of cards for each hand that is played, chips are sold to players, players take more time to decide what action to take, while online card games have the advantage of dealing multiple hands per hour than a live dealer has. What this results in is that the blinds come much faster and so your bets are at risk more often. Each of these scenarios must be considered when the impact of the online game is that your bankroll fluctuates faster than the live game.
Anyone who understands the math of all of this would ask, “Doesn’t this mean that the large numbers of hands dealt would actually lessen the variances rather than increase them? Shouldn’t there be less of a variance in the larger numbers than in the smaller numbers?” One might believe so, but that is wrong.
Increased hand counts stabilize the overall cards that are received in a given amount of time. The short term variances still exist; it is just pushed into a smaller amount of time. The math doesn’t play out for those times when the cards just don’t come to you. In a very fast moving online game, when Lady Luck is just not with you, you will lose much more than when playing in a private game or at a casino.
The secondary reason online poker requires different money handling skills is that most gamers do not play their best game online. In a live game there are more bluffs; bets are made more often on marginal hands. More draws are made with odds that are not so good in an online game than if one were playing a private game or at a casino. Why this is true is hard to understand, but it is true. Some who have studied the online games say that it is boredom that causes the gamer to act differently online than in a live game. Whatever the reason this happens, players tend to play much more freely than in a live game.
If you have been able to avoid this, that is great. Most players are unable to avoid these behaviors and must watch the bankroll more carefully. Two ways to do this are to promise yourself that you will follow the 10% rule of thumb. Do not allow yourself to lose more than ten percent of your bankroll in one day. Once you enter a game, only buy ten percent of your bankroll in chips. If you win and keep winning, this number will continue to go up. If you are losing, you will be less likely to go bust if you don’t bet more than ten percent. This keeps you in the game to “fight” another day. Lady Luck may be elusive that day and it is better to sit out than to loose your whole stake.
