What am I doing wrong??

I've been a student of the game for about 12 months, read numerous books and lots of internet sites. When I play live small stakes games I do very well. Usually making between 3 to 5 times my buy-in during a 8 hour session.

My question is this: When I play online I seem to really struggle and have lost several times. What adjustments should I be making to play smaller stakes online. I'm not an absolute beginner and feel that I use good strategy in live games, why can't I win online??????

W

[ncboiler]

Post hands.

Don't have specific hands to talk about. Just wondering if there should be different strategies when playing online. I am playing fairly tight and aggressive. Tight in early position and loosening up in later position. Playing very tight against raises and re-raises. Using high card value, suitedness and connectors as good starting points in hands. Seem to keep loosing to draw outs even if I'm aggressive early with strong hands.

W

[Harv72b]

In a nutshell:

-The online game is much tighter and much tougher than most live small stakes games. For example, most people would consider online .50/1 to be on par with live 3/6. If you're trying to play the same limits online that you play live, you're going to struggle until you adjust.

-Bluffing is a much bigger part of the online game than at live tables, at least when we're talking about small stakes, limit games. It's a lot easier to bluff when all you have to do is click a button, and you don't have to worry about giving off physical tells or being embarassed in front of everyone if you're called. There's also more of a disassociation for most players between their chips and real money--since you can't hold a cyber chip, or exchange it immediately for a clean crisp bill, it's much easier to ignore their dollar value and therefore to risk them.

-Some players are just naturally good at picking up live tells, and thus struggle in the online environment. Online requires much more skill at quickly working pot odds and estimated equity, which just may not be your cup of tea. You'll also never be able to adjust your betting strategy in an online game after seeing the player to your left stacking up chips for a raise.

The basic ways to improve your online game:

-Tighten up.
-Play more aggressively.
-Tighten up.
-Play more aggressively.
-Tighten up.

As always, post some specific hands on here (or the appropriate forum if they don't fall under small stakes hold'em) and listen to the evaluations you get. Join in on discussions of other posters' hands.

Think of this site as a free poker coach. Yeah, you may get differing opinions from different posters, and you may not get much attention at all on some of your hands, but it will improve your game over time, if you put forth the personal effort.

Welcome to the forums. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[djhoneybear]

I see posts like this from time to time and usually I think the poster isn't as good a player as he or she believes (not that you won't be soon). There are more hands played on-line per hour and this may be the cause of you loosing more frequently - you are probably making a small mistake more often. Strategy doesn't really change but table selection is very important on-line. Also depending on where you play live and at what limit - I have generally found live players to be more passive and loser. Study SSLH.

[W. Deranged]

[ QUOTE ]
In a nutshell:

-The online game is much tighter and much tougher than most live small stakes games. For example, most people would consider online .50/1 to be on par with live 3/6. If you're trying to play the same limits online that you play live, you're going to struggle until you adjust.

-Bluffing is a much bigger part of the online game than at live tables, at least when we're talking about small stakes, limit games. It's a lot easier to bluff when all you have to do is click a button, and you don't have to worry about giving off physical tells or being embarassed in front of everyone if you're called. There's also more of a disassociation for most players between their chips and real money--since you can't hold a cyber chip, or exchange it immediately for a clean crisp bill, it's much easier to ignore their dollar value and therefore to risk them.

-Some players are just naturally good at picking up live tells, and thus struggle in the online environment. Online requires much more skill at quickly working pot odds and estimated equity, which just may not be your cup of tea. You'll also never be able to adjust your betting strategy in an online game after seeing the player to your left stacking up chips for a raise.

The basic ways to improve your online game:

-Tighten up.
-Play more aggressively.
-Tighten up.
-Play more aggressively.
-Tighten up.

As always, post some specific hands on here (or the appropriate forum if they don't fall under small stakes hold'em) and listen to the evaluations you get. Join in on discussions of other posters' hands.

Think of this site as a free poker coach. Yeah, you may get differing opinions from different posters, and you may not get much attention at all on some of your hands, but it will improve your game over time, if you put forth the personal effort.

Welcome to the forums. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

OMG [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].

This is great, Harv. I might put it in some kind of "SS FAQ."

[ncboiler]

You need to post hands. Asking "what am I doing wrong" cannot be answered without more information. Post hands, discuss hands, post hands, discuss hands, ponst hands...you see the pattern. If you want help that is the best way to get. Just some helpful advice.

Thanks for the replies so far. I typically play in live 4/8 or 6/12 games in Biloxi (pre hurricane Katrina) That's why I started playing online (Biloxi is gone!) I've really concentrated on calculating drawing odds vs. pot odds and equity positions in pots. I can't say that I am expert at it but it has definately guided (and helped) my live game. Harv72 also gave some good insight into the online game that I wasn't thinking about. I think the key is that when I play live I am getting some really bad players (tourist) at the small stakes games and been able to expose the weakness pretty easy. Any more advice for online play is certainly welcome as it looks like Biloxi won't be back for a while.

Thanks

W

[Harv72b]

Wow...just noticed your new font. They'll make anyone a mod on here. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

(Newbies, I'm just kidding--if you haven't figured this out, W.D. is a great poster & can help your game immeasurably).