Evolve or die

Submitted by: TightEnd on Mon, 09/03/2009 - 10:17am

One of the things that I get asked the most is “how similar is online poker compared to live poker?” This isn’t an easy question to answer in a relatively short time frame and to help the person asking the question to see what I mean, I try to use analogies. I say something like, it’s like comparing Snooker with Pool or Boxing with Judo……similar in many ways but yet totally different. 

This in my opinion is like comparing online poker with live poker. But these differences contribute to many players failing to win money online…..they just think that online poker is just a representation of live poker but on a tiny screen. 

I dare say that it used to be years ago when I first started playing. No one was using tracking software simply because it hadn’t been invented and there was an innocence about online poker compared to what it is today! Money was easier to make and in fact easier is probably the wrong word…..it was EASY to make. 

But we are not playing a representation of live poker anymore and we haven’t been for some considerable time. This became painfully apparent to me last year when I had my worse year ever and only just ended up making money by the year end. Something had to change and I invested in Poker Office and everything has altered dramatically for me this year as a result of this single piece of software. 

I have highlighted flaws in my game that I never knew existed and it helps me to find beatable games when last year all I was doing was sitting down and playing. But nothing has changed this year except for the fact that I am now using Poker Office whenever I play above certain levels. 

There are millions of poker players the world over who either are unaware of these things (because they are new to the game and play in total innocence) or they simply cannot be bothered with the hassle of using them. Yet these people still want to play online. Well to those people I say this, you had better not play too high or too seriously because if you do then the playing field will certainly not be a level one. 

Personally I don’t know where online poker is going to end up and there is something about poker software that I don’t like and I feel that it has possible adverse consequences in the future. It is for this very reason that I decided to endorse Cake Poker last year and spend most of my playing time on their site. This is a site that does not allow tracking software and also allows its players to change their screen name every week as well. 
 
 
 

I have always felt that the more novice type of online player must go down two very distinct but different paths. They either need to get themselves a serious poker education with regards how to use tracking software or they need to sidestep these things altogether by playing live or in an online cardroom that does not allow them. 

Surviving in online poker these days is no different to trying to survive in any other environment. You need to adapt to an ever changing landscape and I know numerous players who were successful online years ago who cannot beat the game now and that has nothing to do with variance either.  

However there is a different type of player that is coming into online poker these days and that is one who is totally ignorant of the environment that they are stepping into. If you were a non swimmer then you wouldn’t go diving for pearls would you unless you were out of your mind. 

There is a need now more than ever before to be aware of just what kind of environment you are stepping into before you play online. But this doesn’t mean that you cannot play online at all. You can easily entertain yourself and make a little money as well just by sticking to micro and low stakes games. In fact you may even fancy doing something like trying to create money out of nothing by taking advantage of freerolls.  

One thing is certain though and this is that if your desire is to play serious poker online then you need to know more now than what you did a few years ago. Also remember that the average online game is tougher to beat than your average live game. But if you have been playing successfully over a period of time and you now find that your earnings are drying up then you need to take a good hard look at yourself and how you are operating. 
 
 

Carl “The Dean” Sampson is sponsored by Cake Poker and can be seen at www.cakepoker.com/thedean and at www.pokersharkpool.com