What Home Poker Players Need To Know Going Online
By Brad Colen
Many online poker players start their career playing home games with family and friends, before challenging online poker rooms. If you still play poker at home, but plan to go online, then this article is meant directly for you. There is certain difference between home and online casino game, so you must understand it before going online.

Generally, all players would ante a certain amount of money (say, $0.50), and then the betting is structured to have to set minimum and maximum bets. For instance, player bets and raises would vary between $0.50 and $4 every betting round.

At home, the game usually goes bet and call, (or sometimes bet, rise and call), and most hands come to showdown. A player who has the strongest hand grabs the pot at the end of each game. It is obvious that the players rely on luck, not skills.

Speaking about online poker rooms we can outline three fundamental differences, which distinct home and online poker room games: these are the ante structure, the betting structure and the nature of competition.

• Ante structure

First difference between home and online poker room games is the ante structure. Unless you play Seven Card Stud, there is no ante in the rest of poker games – first two players to the left from the dealer post blinds instead. First player sitting to the left from the dealer posts small blind and the next player posts big blind, which are forced bets, e.g. those, which must be paid before the game starts. The rest of the players shouldn’t bet anything to get their pocket cards. However, they have to match the big blind or any rise made to the big blind in order to see the flop. Hence, a game involving six players, where the small blind will be $0.5 and the big blind will be $1 may go as follows at the preflop:

First seat (posts the small blind): $0.5

Second seat (posts the big blind): $1

Third seat: folds

Fourth seat: calls the big blind: $1

Fifth seat: raises the big blind: $2

Sixth seat (the dealer): folds

First seat: folds

Second seat: calls raise: $1

Fourth seat: calls raise: $1

And after that the betting would start over with the big blind, since a player, who posted the small blind folded right after the flop.

• Betting structure

Betting structure at home and in online poker rooms is also different. No limit games are the most similar to spread limit games – the ones with the minimum and maximum bets. No limit games have fixed minimum bet, but at the same time the maximum bet is only limited by the amount of chips you have.

There is a false belief that in no-limit games if one of your opponents bets more money than you have, then you are ought to fold. However, this myth has nothing to deal with real rules of no limit games. In fact, if your opponent bets $60 and you have just $30, then you need to bet $30 to call.

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If you have just one opponent, then he is ought to bet an equal amount of money - $30. If there are two players besides of you, which have $100 each, while you have $30, then first player bets $60, you go all-in for $30 and the third player must call $60 to stay in the game. In this case $90 ($30 from each player) goes to the main pot, while the rest of the money will go to the side pot. Therefore on showdown, you will compete for $90 pot, while the first and the third players will compete for $90 main and $60 side pot. In this case, if you have the strongest hand and the third player has the second strong hand, then you win $90 and the third player wins $60 (from the side pot, which is played between first and third players). If first or third player has the strongest hand, then he wins the entire $150 pot.

Pot limit games are very similar to no limit games. In pot limit games you can bet from the minimum to the pot-equal bet.

The third and the most popular form of betting are fixed limit games, where all bets are fixed. For instance, in $4-$8 games, the size of the bet is $4 or $8 depending on the betting round. In Omaha Hold’em and Texas Hold’em, each bet at preflop and the flop is $4, but if someone wishes to raise, then he must put another $4, so the typical fixed limit game played by 4 players will go as follows:

First seat: check

Second seat: bets $4

Third seat: braises $4 to $8

Fourth seat: calls $8

First seat: folds

Second seat: calls $8

Thus the bets at the turn and the river will reach the higher amount - $8. And this is how betting may happen at the turn:

Second seat: bets $8

Third seat: folds

Fourth seat: raises $8 to $16

Second seat: calls $8

• Competition

While most home players rely on luck, they must consider good skills going online. Forget about luck, stupid bets and “going to the showdown just to see if I’m cool enough”. Online poker is a serious game, where people make millions of dollars and if you are planning to become one of successful online poker players, then you must study and practice. Studying and practicing poker strategy, rules of different poker games is your must.

Of course you have a chance to win in the very first game you play online, but you will definitely feel difficulties in the long run, where you will meet tight and wise players that came to earn, not play fools. The rest of articles available on Real Money Poker Guide will help you to learn much more about poker strategy, rules and so on.

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