Make better use of your online poker room software.
How do you make money at online hold ‘em? You take advantage of players that aren’t very good, or at the very least not as good as you. With that in mind, it seems counterproductive to tell someone in the chat box how bad they are or specifically what they did wrong when they suck-out on you. Don’t point out what they did wrong, you want them to continue to play bad. Instead- make a note about said player. As far as I know, most online poker room software allow you to make notes on players, PokerStars does and I made good use of it this last week. I decided at the beginning of the week that I would no longer publicly badger someone who made a terrible play and got lucky, but take the information from the hand and make a note about them. More times than not, they will continue offering good (bad?) info that you can add to the notes. Of course I was already using notes, just not to its full extent. This approach offers more than just information. It also reduced how frustrated I was, considering the resulting chat with said bad player usually increased my blood pressure even more. Plus, since I multi-table, I found myself neglecting other tables and missing key plays / information while I tried to keep up with the conversation. Even more, it could even help with table image. You know the saying, “It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt“. I know when I see two people arguing in the chat - although entertaining - it usually gets childish with name calling and I think they both look like tools in the end. By eliminating these worthless chats- I made better use of my time, gathered info for future use, and reduced my frustration. This is probably pretty basic to most people, but as much hatred as I see in the chat boxes, maybe not. On the flip side of this idea, check back for my tip on when someone starts insulting you in the chat box.
Hold ‘em journey update: I had one of my better weeks in a while, making about $21 and increasing my bankroll to a new all-time high of $225 (previous high was $215 after I moved up to $10NL and soon found myself down to $149). I can’t be sure how much the above effected my good fortune this week, but there is no doubt in my mind it helped.
There is always something to learn with Hold 'em.
October 21st, 2008 at 11:38 am
You hit the nail on the head. Notes are critical when multi-tabling. PokerTracker helps with this as well. And I think you can Import/Export note from PT to different poker room’s software. That way you can make notes offline if you use PT to analyze your play afterwards.
Geoff Mannings last blog post..10 Common No Limit Hold’ Em Mistakes
October 21st, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I think typing in “nh” or something might be +EV as long as you don’t come off as sarcastic. You are then encouraging their mistakes by providing positive feedback. It says, thank you for paying me off (since they do from a theoretic standpoint). I think it can also help you put it in perspective and not tilt if you type something positive, which helps to counteract any thoughts that are negative. Then move on, looking to get into situations with that player where you can benefit from them making the same mistake.
October 30th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
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