Poker popularity reached its zenith with the poker tournaments, being televised live. Much attention was gained by the Texas Hold’em variation of the game, which attracted several new players to the arena, as they wanted to be in league with their heroes. Fame and fortune were other factors, which attracted newer players and they started from the local card room. Since there are not many casinos, these local card rooms were the only place where these new players could start playing poker and learning from the real players.

The advent of online poker

The popularity of poker was cashed in by some enterprising companies, which started online poker rooms, giving the new poker players a chance to enjoy the game without being intimidated. The anonymity associated with online poker rooms became the most important factor and players started pouring in. Now one could play against real players by just funding his online account. It has been four years now and the online poker rooms have given way to a booming industry. New and inexperienced people wishing to play poker now just have to fund their accounts and play real poker. Since the time Daniel Negreanu won the WPT event, thousands of new players registered themselves with the several online poker rooms.

The breed of online players

The online poker players are the new kids on the block. Since they are new and maybe inexperienced as well, they are called the ‘fish’, which is easy to lift with bait and careful handling. When such people watch Chris Moneymaker, lift two million bucks, with nothing at hand but his entire stack at stake, they think that even if they can handle such stuff.

This breed of new online players is usually harmless but those who are in the game and have studied poker seriously can make their day merry and come out victorious. However, since they are new they may at times bluff and intimidate you off a good hand. Like when you held a hand of A-K and raised the blind 4x. Your opponent calls with A-5 when you see that he actually has A-6-5 rainbow. You re-raised in the hope of getting a K on the river or the turn.

On the next hand, you are dealt pocket aces. You call the blind early on as your opponent has a position. If a player makes a minimum raise, all the others fold to him. Everybody folds and this happens so often when the same player who rose, re-raised. Why do players just fold in and not raise or call? Or if the No-limit game is too much for them, why don’t they look for a Limit game?

Since you made the raise, all the players fold in. you have the hand with J-4-9 rainbow and you know that this is a great flop. However, after you make a good bet, your opponent comes in and raises making you put all you have at stake. When he turns a J-2 offsuit, you decide to call thinking that you got him. Nonetheless, there is a deuce in the river and a K on the turn, meaning that you have lost your hand and nearly $400 as well.

You lose and think that why did this happen to you. Real hands like these have lost in online poker rooms. The gist of all this is that online poker can be dangerous and therefore in order to keep situations at bay, you must be self-disciplined. You should be aware of how to secure your chips if you are stuck in a similar situation. Be selective at hand selection and play properly.