Internet Poker

Dear Players,

I'm thinking about playing poker on the internet.

There is no opportunity for me to advance to

a higher limit stud game in my area.;there is only 1-5 stud.

I need help in determining the pro's and con's of Internet poker. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.


Larry"Sitting Bull"Duplessis

I play at Paradise regularly and have been quite happy with them. They are reliable with payouts and there are some good games there. You should buy in for $50 or whatever small amount you feel like and see how you like it. The tournaments there have been bogus so far but the real money is at the tables anyway. I've heard good things about absolutebet.com too. Good luck!

Stay off the net, man. Poker is a PEOPLE game not a computer game. Go to your poker room management and ask for them to spread a bigger game. If you can get other players interested and be persistent with the management they WILL spread your game. Good luck to you.

Dear VK,

Thanks for the info. If,in the future,you find anything suspicious,let me know.


Sitting Bull

Dear Mirageroom,

Thanks for reminding me that poker is a people's game.


Sitting Bull

Mirage room has a point, but it's not all that valid. I have made thousands of dollars on Paradise poker, because i realise it is different to live poker. Internet poker is more mathematical, less psychological, and it is harder to get people to fold. This means playing strong hands, and getting plently of calls. Less margin for expert plays, but the internet is a 24 hour gold mine if you play it right.


Oh yeah and the tournaments don't suck they rock. Most people play them as a ring game and wonder why they keep getting busted out.

Hello, Mr. Peterson,

Thanks for your I/P.

What games and what limits did you play?

Are you implying that an expert's edge on the Internet is

extremely small compared to his edge in a live game?

In your opinion,what qualities must an Internet player have to beat the stud game? Do at least 30% of the players stay in with a 3-card random hand?

Do you still play? If not,why?


Sitting Bull

Hi Larry,


Overall i am up around $7,000 since February which was when i started playing seriousl online.


Ring games:


I play 7 Stud 8, at small limits. Mostly 50c/$1 (stop laughing), where i have won about $3,000 since February, and occasionally $2/$4. I also play omaha/8 and stud hi at the same limits, and have done well there too. The higher limit games look very juicy at times, but since i mainly play split pot games, i try to avoid any chance of effective collusion by never stepping over $2/4. Even in $2/4 i have seen some suspicious plays. Having said that i average almost 4 big bets an hour in ring games overall.


Tournaments:


Omaha 8 and 7stud8 tournies are good, and easy to get a good finish but harder to win 1st place. The split pots make it more difficult to eliminate players, and therefore your greatest weapon inactivity, is somewhat bluntened.


Holdem:


Here is where a good player can really get in the money. I used to play the $10 tournaments (1st $50, 2nd $30, 3rd $20), and had a return on investment of 182% over nearly 300 events.


Now i have moved to the $20 tournies, where me ROI has been 227% so far. I have never placed worse than 5th, and all but one of my eliminations i held the best hand either preflop on on the flop, only to be drawn out on. I think the $20 events are actually a lot easier to play in than the $10 events, and the average player knows how to play the end of a tournament better in $10 events.


The trick to tournament play to play very tight early on. You should look to play big pairs, AK, and smaller pairs if you are getting odds. I will muck AQo in bad position in most cases early on, and won't call a raise with AQ in the initial stages. I look to play about 2 or 3 pots only in the first 30 hands of the tournament, and can usually pick up about 1300-1500 chips from the initial 800, during this time. Look to make a big hand and be aggressive, otherwise stay the hell out.


Once you get into round 4 you will need to try and pick up the odd pot, but don't get involved in trying to defend your blind with QT, or K7. There will be plenty of opportunity for that later. When you get down to 4 or 5 players you must use your stack if it is big, or hold onto it as long as possible if not. Try to bully players with less chips, at this stage one hand and you are out, so they are unlikely to get involved without a quality hand.


If you can make $40 (or more) by folding QJ or 88 in your blind now and waiting for the man who is due allin on his next blind to be elminated take that chance.


Basically you never limp with 4 to 5 players left. Consider it to be a raise fold table. Once in the money, steal or fold with average hands. Push any big hand AT or better, 88 or better but be wary if aces flop. Almost all players will go allin on a lone A here.


Best of luck to you.

Dear Mr. Peterson,

Thanks for your I/P on Internet Poker.

I suspect that you do not have live games readily available in your neck of the wood.

I have no doubt that you would be able to mop up the middle

limit and upper limit games in any part of the USA.

You are very wise to be cautious of Internet Poker limits.

One never knows what is going on behind the scenes.

Although I've been averaging 6500.00/yr. for 8 years, I'm still

struggling to maintain 1 Big Bet/hr. in the 1-5 stud games.

There are no higher limit games spread on a regular basis.

However, there is a regular 20-40 limit game about 100 miles from where I live,but I do not have a poker bankroll of 24000.00

to play.

Hence,until I have this bankroll I will not play.


Again,thanks for your I/p.


Sitting Bull

Yeah, you're right about the live games. I have two games a week with between 5 and 9 players. And we play Manilla, which is the greatest luck game there is, and one of the only games where folding top full on the river is often the smart play.


We used to play holdem and had 8 players, but after i averaged over 9 big bets an hour for 3 months playing, the game was called off.


Anyway, i do suggest you give Paradise a go. I initially bought in for $50 and have now cashed out almost $7,000. Planet is also good but the software is a bit prehistoric, they do have very good rewards and promotions though. The other place i play is Ultimatebet. I have only played in the nolimit cash games there, but the software is good, and i have found the competition to be soft.


Having said that i just suffered a shocking beat with KcQc, calling a small raise flop came KdQd4c. I led into the raiser for the pot size got called. 9c came on the turn giving me top 2 and a flush draw, i overbet the pot for $30, got called, and then checked and called when the Th hit the river, and i looked at JJ for the straight, and the losing end of a $93 pot.