9 Tips for Beginning Online Players
Chapter 10
Tip 1. Why Your Credit Card Never Works
Online poker is a gray area in the finance world and credit card companies just don’t want to touch it with a ten foot pole. That is the reason you can not deposit money with most credit / debit cards.
There has been a lot of changes with funding poker accounts. Most of this was set off by the US online gambling legislation. Neteller was dropped by many players and many believe the future will be something called Youteller. An ewallet called epassporte also became popular overnight.
Tip 2. Begin by Playing Low Stakes Sit n Go’s
Even if you are an experienced poker player start off by either playing play money games or playing very low stakes poker. It takes awhile to get accustomed to the fast pace action online. Sit n Go’s are also a good way to get started because they are slow paced. Sit n Go’s are 10 man tournaments.
Tip 3. Online Poker Safety Issues
One of the most commonly asked question among novice poker players is whether online poker is safe or not. Beginners are always worried if their money is safe when they deposit and if they are going to get cheated at the poker table. In my 4 years of playing online I have never heard of 1 single player having money stolen from them or their checking account identity ripped off. It just doesn’t happen and if it did online poker would get banned so fast it would make your eyes spin.
Cheating is a total different story. Cheating at poker online does happen but it is just as common in live games as it is online. The only way to cheat online is to work with partners. This doesn’t help you as much as you would think. In live games you have to worry about people manipulating the cards but in online poker it is all automatic and done by something called RNG or the Random Number Generator.
Beating the RNG is about as hard as figuring out which numbers to pick for the lottery. Don’t believe the myths about players beating the RNG because it’s just not possible.
Tip 4. The Bonus Hunting Begins
Don’t get caught up in bonus hunting. You will soon figure out that bonuses don’t work like they make them sound. There are rare cases where a poker bonus is given as soon as you deposit like at Pacific Poker or Bodog.com.
All of the poker rooms besides these two make you play a certain amount of hands before your bonus is released. Basically they want you to generate enough rake so they can pay you with your own money. Don’t fall into picking a poker room just because it has a big bonus. Pick a poker room because your friends play there or they have good graphics or interface.
Tip 5. What Freerolls Are and How You Get In
Freerolls are free poker tournaments that the poker room hosts for their players. They are free to any player with a poker account and are a great way to begin playing poker.
Most of these games are populated by high school students who can’t deposit because they are not old enough so beware of the childish behavior. Usually poker rooms put up $100-$1000 per tournament and they give priority to players who have real money accounts. Usually if you play real money games you can accumulate points to play in bigger freerolls.
Tip 6. Referring Friends and the Bonus Given
Most poker rooms will give you money for each friend you refer. I wouldn’t advise referring friends because it defeats the purpose. Once you refer a friend that friend gets tracked to you.
The poker room now knows there is a relation to you and that player and they don’t allow you to play at the same table. They give you a small bonus that is released upon playing a certain number of raked hands but you never get to play with your friend because they block you from joining the same table as your friend. It’s a bad scheme poker rooms use to get new players without letting you know what the pitfalls are.
Tip 7. Check/Fold Buttons – Be Careful Where you Point that Mouse
The check/fold/raise buttons are all preset when you enter a poker room. It allows you to speed up the game and preset your next move. Be careful when you use these buttons because they can exert online poker tells to your opponents.
Watch where you are clicking when you are playing online poker as well. Just about everyone who plays online poker has accidentally hit the call button when they meant to fold. This can cost you a lot and there is no way of getting it back. Always pay attention because the call boxes can pop up out of nowhere if you’re not paying attention.
Tip 8. Pace Yourself or You’ll Go Broke
New players need to pace themselves when playing online. You can lose a lot very quick if you are new to online poker. You play 5 times as many hands online as you do in live poker so the money can go quick if you are unskilled. Put $50 in for the week and if you lose just play some freerolls or fake money tables. If you keep depositing money you will lose track of how much you really lost and will be hurting come the end of the month. Winning takes time so pace yourself for god sakes!
Tip 9. Just Have Fun
I can’t believe I’m saying this but just have fun. Don’t risk what you can’t lose. Put $50 in expecting to never see it again. You’re new to the game so take it as a learning experience. If you do make some money it will be a plus. Take that money and keep building your bankroll and just have some fun with the whole process of becoming a skilled winning online poker player.
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