The Psychology of Online Poker

Poker has always been considered to have a certain amount of psychology involved. However, most players may argue that psychology plays a much larger role in live poker versus Online poker. Some may even argue that psychology is irrelevant in Online poker. The argument that psychology is absent from Online poker is completely off base and should be reevaluated for a few reasons. Online poker requires players to use psychology through their betting actions to gain the necessary edge to be profitable in the long run.

Live Poker Vs. Online Poker

Online poker is an entirely different environment than live poker. Players play extremely different and they are not afraid of the verbal abuse they would take in live poker for some of the decisions they make. If you ever go to a casino and sit down for a while, it doesn't take long to realize that yes, there are horrible players but the play does not nearly seem as horrible as some of the play online. This could be due to the fact that the stakes are usually higher, the table is intimidating by looks or the chip stack sizes are intimidating. Who knows? Either way, the play is entirely different.

Players sitting at home in their comfortable computer chair, browsing the Online and watching TV are much more likely to make mistakes. The tendency for players to be wildly loose and aggressive is much more common in Online poker versus live poker. The home environment of Online poker takes away from the casino feel and players seem to magically forget that they are in fact, playing for real money.

Another common mistake of players that is a byproduct of psychology and is only available in Online poker is multi-tabling. For good players, multi-tabling is very profitable and advantageous. However, the majority of online poker players are not that good and they tend to be distracted by the multiple tables and possibly the other things that may be going on around their house. This situation creates for numerous mistakes and horrible play spread across multiple tables.

Online poker sites pretty much all give new players sign-up bonuses and some may offer reload bonuses. The bonus process of having to release or clear the bonus creates a psychological issue. Players are trying to get into hands and generate rake or fee to release their bonus quickly. They don't want their bonus to expire and they think this is the quickest way to double up the $100 they just deposited. However, they fail to understand that dumping their bankroll from playing horribly without even being able to clear the bonus is far more detrimental than playing correctly.

The last thing that comes into play in terms of psychology is the, "I'm The Best" syndrome. Online poker players commonly seem to think they are the best and they can beat everyone. The times when they lose, they think is what due to the worst bad beats ever and they never made bad plays. This also happens in live poker but not nearly as much. The key concept to understand is that there are millions of poker players in the world and by no means are you the best poker player. There are better players out there by the thousands and more and more players join the field regularly.

Odds and probabilities can be learned by anyone and players are doing it daily by the thousands. The key to having an edge over opponents is learning how to use psychology to your advantage. Online poker players that can use psychological tendencies to figure out their opponent's thoughts can capitalize when they are holding weak and back down when they are strong. Players that understand the psychological relativity within Online poker will be more profitable in the long run.