Poker Bonuses

With the popularity of both poker and its online cousin burgeoning beyond imagination, even the lowliest punter has recognized a number of differences between play in the two media. Some even argue that online poker, with its stress on the game’s mathematics and utter de-emphasis on psychology, may even be considered a separate animal altogether.

So where are the greatest gaps and what is a newbie online player to do? Glad you asked! Consider the following items when redefining mental parameters for the home game.

No tells. Clearly the biggest difference between the two milieu comes in the player’s, you know, physicality. When playing poker online, suddenly players are left without visual clues which might normal reveal a bluffing opponent; no shuffling chips, no quavering voice, no obvious change in demeanor: No tells.

Now some will claim that the observant online poker player can still discern whether an opponent has ticked off one of the “autoplay” tickboxes that most internet casinos offer in in-game play. However, at least one clear strategy answers these readers: Just don’t use the tickboxes! No proper player worth his/her salt would ever hit “BET/FOLD” anyway, and surely some enterprising online poker stud is right now compiling a book detailing how to detect and execute bluffing online.

Of course, considering the flipside of the non-tell internet poker world, another bit of useful advise immediately becomes obvious: Don’t read anything into that long pause between wagers. It may merely be a bad connection, after all…

Bonuses. A casino bonus in Las Vegas? You must mean those buffet comps you get thrown once in a while. Truth is, real-life casino bonuses are all but unheard of unless you’re habitually tossing thousands at the craps table.

Online, however, it’s a completely different story. Most casinos give initial deposit bonuses, rakeback bonuses, loyalty points and the like. While there often is a fair bit of small print attached to such rewards – an invaluable tip about online bonuses: Read the small print! – such bonuses will simply allow you to play for longer. Online poker bonuses can often give the marginal poker hack a lease on life and surely has extended the viable table time of many an online player.

Quality of play. So Chris Moneymaker came from an online tournament to win the World Series of Poker, as did Greg Raymer, as did god-knows-how-many final-table finishers this decade. So what? The truth is that the overwhelming majority of the world’s best players have built a curriculum vitae in real-life games as well; consider the established household names. Besides Moneymaker and maybe Raymer, how many play mostly online? And what about the (in)consistency of those big-time online players?

The point here is that there are simply too many people with easy access to internet poker for the quality of play to be anywhere the level of a big-city card room: The odds can be in the average player’s favor if he/she only remembers to keep a cool head.

Distractions. One would think that a nice at-home location for poker would allow proper concentration, letting the player focus on his/her poker game. Yeah, right! Anyone who has watched a DVD can tell you differently. Go ahead, pop in that movie, sit back, relax and … oops, gotta get up and go to the bathroom. Or the children need your attention. Or the stove is on fire. Any number of things can distract the player at home that normally wouldn’t disturb the thought process in a casino card room, an environment designed for poker, poker and poker.

The serious online player – even more than the “real-life” player – must schedule his/her playing time with firm boundaries for anyone else sharing that crucial personal space. And whatever you do, no matter how slowly the game is proceeding, do not open another browser window to mess around on the internet. You will suffer for this folly.