Thursday, 3rd September 2009
Playing poker for play money chips
A lot of players that are new to the online game get to grips with the software by using the ‘play money’ tables that are available at mot, if not all, online poker rooms.
That certainly is a great idea. But there are some big pitfalls to this approach that you should be aware of.
First things first, using the play money tables to learn how to play cards in an online poker room or casino is a great idea. You can get to grips with the software, how the game is played online, what buttons to press and when to press them. All that is great. But that should only take you about an hour or two. One good session on the play money tables and you should know all you need to know about how the online game works.
Spending any longer than that at the fake poker tables can cost you a whole lot later on.
You see, the big problem with the play money tables in online games is that there is no money involved. “Obviously”, you say, sarcastically. The point is, if there is no money involved there is no pain, so the other players at the table don’t treat the chips the same way they would treat real money chips.
For example, if you ever sit into a play money game of limit hold’em you will quickly notice that every round of betting goes to the limit. One player raises, the next player in the game re-raises, and so on round the table until the cap is reached. This will happen on every betting round.
What is the point of that? You can’t bet to get players out. No one will fold any half playable hand. Sure it’s a bit of fun, but don’t think that you are learning how to actually play the online card game – because you are not.
Just use the play money tables to get familiar with the software, and quickly move on to the real money games, or at least the freerolls of you don’t want to deposit. Bad habits learned at the fake tables can cost a whole lot later on.