{"id":784,"date":"2006-08-21T16:32:36","date_gmt":"2006-08-21T21:32:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2006\/08\/poker-in-the-eye\/"},"modified":"2006-08-21T16:32:36","modified_gmt":"2006-08-21T21:32:36","slug":"poker-in-the-eye","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2006\/08\/poker-in-the-eye\/","title":{"rendered":"Poker In the Eye"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Online Poker Tips<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>By Aaron J. Moore<br \/>\n<a target=\"_blank\"  href=\"http:\/\/www.inspin.com\/\" >Inspin.com<\/a> Contributing  Writer<\/p>\n<p>The key to being a good <!-- Begin  News Code --><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wagerweb.com\/affiliatesred\/AF3376\/23\/\/ww3.wagerweb.com\/join.htm\">WagerWeb <\/a><br \/>\n<!-- End  News Code --><br \/>\nonline poker<\/a> player is \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Hold on, please, while I am  writing this article, I am also playing in a $50 sit and go.<br \/>\n<em>OK, the tightwad to my left  has called my $400 pre-flop raise. He must have something like King-Jack  suited.<\/em> <\/p>\n<p>Like I was just writing, the  key to being a good online poker player is\u2026<br \/>\n<em>Can you believe this guy?  He leads out with an $800 raise on a rainbow K-7-10 flop. I have an up and down  straight draw and he puts most of his chips in from the start.<\/em> <br \/>\nRight, right, sorry about  that. Being a good online poker player means &#8230;<\/p>\n<p><em>I guess I have to fold. <\/em> <\/p>\n<p>For many online players, this  scenario presents itself far too often. It\u2019s the curse of the online player,  being deeply involved in a big game but at the same time multitasking. The game  takes a backseat to checking email, checking fantasy baseball  statsand checking out what exotic Russian women often do on the Internet. <\/p>\n<p>Therein lies a major problem  for the horde of people playing poker online. A population that includes  professional players, would-be professionals and a lot of  thrill-seekers. It doesn\u2019t take an expert commentator such as Norman Chad  to look out at that playing field and forecast the winners are most likely  those who devote most of their time and mental energy toward the games they are  playing and not on ancillary activities. <\/p>\n<p>The key to being a good online  player is to be focused. <\/p>\n<p><a target=\"_blank\"  href=\"http:\/\/www.wagerweb.com\/casino\/\" >Playing online<\/a> has its risks  compared to live games. You can not get a true read on your opponents&#8217; habits;  you can&#8217;t form a model in your mind on how he\/she plays because you can not see  them and the way they conduct themselves; and you have no idea if he\/she is  just some loose player who likes throwing chips away. <\/p>\n<p>So taking into account these risks,  if your attention easily sways away from the game, then trapdoors in front of  you grow wider.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some ways to improve  your online play. <\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>Don\u2019t allow Web surfing to distract your       game. It\u2019s always tempting to waste time between hands browsing the       Web, but that won\u2019t help you win. Pay attention to betting patterns       of the players at the table. Look to see who folds easily or who keeps       over-betting the pot. This information is extremely valuable but can       only be obtained when watching the game, not another Web site.  <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There are plenty of weak  players online, so pay attention and identify them early in the game. For those  who spend a lot of time playing online, the games can be tedious. Instead of  constantly checking your email, attempt another diversion like getting out of  the chair and walking around. This will keep you fresh but also keep your mind  on the game.<\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>Be awake. For avid poker players, online       games are like an oasis in the desert. Players can satisfy their       thirst by finding an online game no matter the time of day. However,       that 7-11 mentality of never being closed can also be dangerous. When       you crave a game, make sure you are alert. That goes for both morning and       night. Don\u2019t wake up and immediately get started with a game.  <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Take a shower and tend to your  daily business. This will greatly improve your attention span so you can sit  down at the computer and be free of a lingering notion that your daily tasks  are still ahead of you. A good rule to give yourself is not to play until you  have been wide awake for more than two hours. After you are awake and have  tended to necessary business, an online game can be your only concern.<\/p>\n<p>The same logic holds true for  the nighttime. Don\u2019t fall into the bad habit of saying to yourself , \u201cOne  quick game and then I will go to sleep.\u201d If you are thinking that, then  you are probably already tired and not at full capacity to play. <\/p>\n<p>Why put yourself in a position  to be someone else\u2019s ATM machine just because you want to play? A good poker  player should want to play good poker, not just play poker.<\/p>\n<p>If you know a night\u2019s sleep is  only a few ticks away, you are more likely to make a bad decision and easily  expose yourself to defeat. Instead of playing that last late night game,  convince yourself you will be a better player tomorrow following a good sleep  than your current state of drowsiness.<\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>Play cash games rather than a tournament if time       is an issue. Hopefully, you have set time aside during the day when       you will play online poker free of other stimuli and annoyances (in other       words, a time when your wife is not wandering around the house asking you       if you would like to go to the flower festival with her). If you are       unsure of how long you will be able to play distraction free, then make       the wise decision and play a cash game rather than a tournament. Cash       games are better for those players with time restraints. Easy-in,       easy-out is the case for cash games, but not so for tournaments. In a       tournament, you can never be sure how long it will last. If you have       somewhere to go but you are in a tournament, the chances are extremely       high you will just throw your chips away to expedite the game. If you were       in the same position but in a cash game, you could play one last hand and       be free of other financial obligations on the table. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There is a reason why college  students and professional players do so well online. It stems from their free  time and their perspective of the game being the most important aspect of their  life at that moment. While online, don\u2019t make the mistake of doing a  handful of other tasks while playing. You are likely going to lose to  someone with a much different approach. <\/p>\n<p><!-- Begin  News Code --><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wagerweb.com\/affiliatesred\/AF3376\/23\/\/ww3.wagerweb.com\/join.htm\">WagerWeb <\/a><br \/>\n<!-- End  News Code --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Online Poker Tips By Aaron J. Moore Inspin.com Contributing Writer The key to being a good WagerWeb online poker player is \u2026 Hold on, please, while I am writing this article, I am also playing in a $50 sit and go. OK, the tightwad to my left has called my $400 pre-flop raise. He must &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2006\/08\/poker-in-the-eye\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Poker In the Eye<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press_releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/784\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}