Getting Personal
While playing poker online and listening to some music last Sunday, I received a familiar instant message from a longtime friend: “Poker sucks. I lost all my money again to some guy who went all in with A-7 and cracked my kings. $%^#$! I say familiar because this is not the first time she has gone through two hundred dollars in a short period of time playing internet poker. Yet there she was, complaining about her losses again. Understand, this is a girl who goes to Atlantic City every so often and is content to lose thirty dollars over the course of the day, as long as she makes twice that in free cocktails. She is so conservative with her money that she won’t go shopping at the mall unless her favorite stores are having a clearance sale. But give her money to play poker online, and she loses control. Sadly, this is a common occurrence online, because the players, the action, and the money are so impersonal.
The ability to easily move up in limits poses a huge threat to the online poker player. Most players start a session with the mindset of playing solid poker within their bankroll limits. They wait patiently for big hands and correctly fold when the odds aren’t in their favor. However, if in that first hour of play, they suffer a few bad beats or get blinded down without seeing any hands, their patience wears thin and they start looking to recoup their losses at a faster rate. Suddenly, up comes the lobby screen and a click of the mouse later, they are playing double the stakes. We’ve all been there before, and you know what happens next. Either they get their money back, or the cycle continues until they go broke, or suffer a beat so horrible that their computer monitors end up embedded in the concrete sidewalk two floors down.
There is a further problem associated with this that isn’t so obvious at first glance. Sometimes the player who moved up limits will get even, but continue to play the pumped-up stakes for which he doesn’t have the correct bankroll. Even worse, if the player does quit, the next time he decides to play, he might return to the higher stakes with ALL of his subsequent earnings, because that’s where he won. Always try to avoid the temptation to move up to higher limits unless your bankroll supports it. Remember also that it’s a lot harder to move down to smaller stakes once you’ve developed a taste for success at the higher tables. How would you feel about driving a Kia if you’re used to driving a Ferrari? Even though the Ferrari you once drove is a great ride, the Kia will get you to the same destination, just not at fast. If you are one to fall into this category, tape a note to your monitor reminding yourself that the higher you play, the more you risk.
Another potential problem for the online player is the concept of the value of money involved. Poker enthusiast/player Julius “Big Julie” Weintraub is quoted as saying, “The guy who invented poker was bright, but the guy who invented the chip was a genius.” It’s easier to part with a rack of chips than a bundle of cash. Online play removes us from our money even further. Not only are we playing on a virtual felt with virtual chips, but the money itself isn’t tangible at the end of the session. It’s simply a number that changes on a day-to-day basis in our accounts. We are unable to quit at the end of a session, walk to the cashier and see the fruits of our labor. It’s like ordering a cappuccino and having to come back three days later to get it. This tends to devalue the money in our eyes, and we become indifferent to our wins and losses until there aren’t any funds left to play with. Decisions to play larger stakes, higher buy in tournaments and/or sit-n-gos have become easier to make because you don’t have to hand over cash to play. Learning to cash out on a regular basis and using the money to pay yourself, save for the future, or make investments, will help remind you that online poker is quite real. Personally, I like to reward myself with a shopping spree after I’ve had a nice win.
The topic of online bots came up in conversation with some friends recently. No one is certain how sophisticated these bots are, but the concept sheds light on yet another problem some players have associated with online play. In brick and mortar establishments, the player is inundated with sounds, physical tells, and an endless array of bad beat stories. Every pot played has some form of psychological warfare behind it. This is not always the case during online play. We have a tendency to stop thinking when playing and just run through the motions, especially when playing three or four tables at one time. It’s very easy to play on autopilot while you’re surfing the net, or watching the latest episode of The Sopranos. Essentially, we become robots ourselves and wind up clicking fast and furious, with little thought behind each action. Granted, online play can be monotonous at times, and almost without realization, a player’s bankroll can be drained significantly as the hands play out so quickly. It’s good to play with friends and have them analyze you as you watch them, so that reckless play and robotic motions can be eliminated. Discussing hand histories and problem situations with friends will also help you learn what you might have missed during a heated session. And the simple act of conversing with a friend can remind you that you aren’t playing poker in a vacuum. Just remember to pick out friends that can be honest with you. It doesn’t help if your friend is telling you how unlucky you are when you are playing badly; no matter how much better it might make you feel.
It’s easy to see there are plenty of dangers inherent to online poker. However, as poker players, we face risk all the time in almost every hand. Players that are the most successful are usually the best at minimizing these risks. Do yourself a favor and learn to personalize online poker. You and your bank account will be much happier.