Delete These Mistakes From Your Online Poker Game

Online poker has its own traps

Online poker is fast, convenient and available any time. Those same strengths create mistakes that live players rarely make. Here are eight to delete from your game.

1. Playing too many tables

More tables feel like more profit, but they usually mean worse decisions. If you're timing out or clicking without thinking, you're playing too many.

Fix: one or two tables until your results are steady.

2. Playing distracted

TV, phone, chat apps — all of them cost you attention, and online speed punishes every lapse.

Fix: treat a session like a live game. Close everything else.

3. Misusing pre-action buttons

"Check/fold" is handy. "Call any" is dangerous: it acts before you see what others do and can reveal your hand strength.

Fix: use pre-action only for clear folds.

4. Ignoring position

Online, it's easy to play every hand the same way. But hands that are fine on the button lose money from early position.

Fix: keep a simple starting-hand plan for each position.

5. Copying live bet sizes

Huge live-style raises make your play predictable and expensive.

Fix: standard opens around 2.5 times the big blind and continuation bets of a third to two-thirds of the pot.

6. Ignoring table selection

Online you can choose your table in seconds. Sitting at a table full of tough regulars is an avoidable mistake.

Fix: look for tables with bigger average pots and more players seeing the flop.

7. No stop-loss

Losing streaks happen. At online speed, chasing can burn through a bankroll in an hour.

Fix: decide your stop-loss before you start, such as three buy-ins.

8. Never reviewing hands

Hand histories are free lessons. Players who never review keep making the same errors.

Fix: after each session, review your three biggest pots.

Quick fixes

New to the game? Start with online poker: how to get started.