After a recent conversation with a friend of mine that plays offline exclusively, I realized that the difference between online and offline poker goes far beyond what I had previously thought.
Of course there are no physical tells, and you get many more hands in online. But, there's a whole other layer of differences. And the first of them, which I've often overlooked, comes in before I even sit at a table.
Table Selection
At a casino, you can ask for a chair at a table that is dealing certain limits. Online, you can find out the about the play at that table, or any others. Most rooms will provide information about the percentage of players that see the flop, the average pot size, a list of players at the table, and often the average number of hands per hour.
Now, you know if any sharks/fish are sitting at the table. You also know that if 50% of the people are seeing flops, either everyone is getting great hands, or some players are playing marginal hands. You also know if the betting is loose, or tight by the pot size. And, you can use this information to find a table that suits you.
That's better than just taking any seat simply because it's open.
Hand Histories
Everything is recorded at an online poker room. Every card dealt, every bet, check or raise. And, you can get copies of all of your actions at the tables in the form of a hand history. So, now you'll know exactly what the stack sizes were when you made that call, or anything else your didn't commit to memory at the time.
Plus, this information can be saved and used to give you insight into your opponents actions as well.
Poker Tools
Here's a great example of what you can do with hand histories, and a couple of programs. Click on each of the thumbnails below to see the important differences between them.
The table on the right is what a player would see when using PokerTracker and the PokerAce HUD. Poker tracker is a database that holds all of the information from your hand histories. And Poker Ace HUD takes that information, and displays any of it that you would like to see
while you're sitting at the tables.
What can you do with more information? Make better informed decisions! And that is a definite edge if ever there was one.
The insight that players gain by using tools like PokerTracker and PokerAce HUD are the same insights that top pros gain by paying attention to the different plays that are made at the tables, and committing them to memory.
These tools are so valuable in aiding in poker decision-making that I will be reviewing them in the near future, revealing their strengths and weaknesses. Both programs have demo versions available for free.
This page last updated April 17th, 2007.
