Playing Live Poker

Some people enjoy online poker as a hobby. However, they’re missing out on all the fun of playing live poker! For most people, there is more satisfaction in playing poker live, and they win/save more money as well!

Why is this the case? Well, for starters – you are face to face with your opponents! Being able to read the body language of people is one of the key components of doing well in poker. Once you can read your opponent, you can catch his or her bluffs easier and quicker, and can gauge whether they have a good hand or not, in order to make your own calls. This skill is not only good for poker, but in real life situations as well. For instance, being able to read people can get you ahead in any business, and earn you some good social karma as well!

So throw a poker party! Get some friends together and start making money! Have a crazy night! Don’t forget the poker chips and poker tables to give it a real feeling. Get some beer and some salsa and chips and let the fun begin!

Further, because of this social interaction, people are more careful about their money. Statistics have shown that people tend to play more aggressively when they are online because they do not understand the consequences of their actions.  However, when you’re playing live poker at a party you are handing out live money! You are more aware of what’s at stake and thus play your cards more wisely. Thus, playing poker live not only makes you think smarter, but also play smarter.

 

Reading a Tell Digitally?

Croupiére de Hod'em Poker

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One of the biggest complaints about playing poker in online casinos for newcomers is how they can’t see the other players, so they can’t read their tells or even judge by their poker faces. For a game that centers so much around putting on a front, it’s a bit amazing that poker has done as well in a digital online format as it has.

The days when you have to choose between physical poker and digital poker based upon tell reading ability or convenience may soon be at an end, though. Several more advanced online casinos are now offering not only the option to play poker itself, but to play it within a virtual 3D computer-generated poker room, complete with digital avatars of the players that are fully customized to match them. Players can choose what angle and zoom distance to view the table at.

Of particular interest, also, is an advanced emote system designed to show an impressive variety of emotions, including nervousness, confidence, thoughtfulness, and aggression, so that you can put forth the emotion you want the other players to think you are feeling and then let them judge whether they are reading an actual tell or just playing to your bluff.

In addition to conveying emotions through expression, your custom avatar in one of these games can show your conversation through body language gestures as you type into the usual chat box to communicate with other players. The 3D avatars are of the more realistic variety to appeal to adults instead of the typical kid-friendly avatar, such as a Nintendo Wii’s Mii.

One of the most popular 3D poker games is PKR.

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How Bet Size Shows Bluffs in Online Poker

Poker Hand Rankings

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You may not be able to see the other players’ faces or watch for any tells theymake in body language, but online poker still has more to it than just the cards you are dealt. If you make an effort to think like a pro poker player does (and all poker players want to think like a pro player anyway, really), you will find that the sizes of the bets can give you a pretty good edge on what kind of hand the player who put down the bet is holding.

In general, poker is all about guessing and second-guessing your opponants. Ideally, you want to outsmart them, but sometimes the clever ones throw you off simply by being honest. As a general rule, in online poker when someone makes an low bet they probably have a bad hand, and if they make a large bet they have a good hand.

That’s things taken at face value (no pun intended), though.They could also be exactly the opposite — a low bet equals a good hand that wants you to think it’s a bad hand and a high bet equals a bad hand trying to intimidate others into folding thinking they have a good hand. Faking people out is poker at its finest.

Other things to consider in whether a player is bluffing or not include size of the pot, position around the table, and whether you have played with this particular player before and know their habits. It goes without saying that you should always play it safe with someone you have never played against before, just until you get to know their style.

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