LEARNING THE SOFTWARE - HOW TO PLAY ONLINE POKER

Part Five: Learning the Poker Room Software

written by BeatTheFish.com

Following your first deposit, you'll probably be eager to get right into the games. You'll have a wide variety of choices from individual cash game tables, single table tournaments (or Sit 'n Gos), and multi-table tournaments. When you first start playing on a new site, we recommend that you take it slowly and learn as much as possible about the software.

Typically, poker software is very easy to use. When you first launch the client and log in to your account, you'll be taken to a "lobby" with sections for tournaments and ring games. This is usually pretty straightforward, and you'll just need to click the tab for the type of game that you're looking for. Each table usually has basic statistics posted, such as average pot, flop percentage, and hands per hour.

Once you join a table, you just click on an open seat and decide how much you'd like to bring to the table. For a full no-limit ring game, I recommend bringing in at least 40-50 times the big blind. At fixed limit games, you can get away with a little less than that. As you get more comfortable, you can buy in for more. When it's your turn to act, you'll usually hear a special sound or if you have another window open, the table will pop to the front.

You'll have prominent buttons in front of you for "Fold", "Check" (depending on the situation), "Call", or "Raise". In no-limit games, you'll have a slider that you can drag to decide how much you want to raise. At most sites, you can also type the number into a box. While choices for buttons are pretty standard across all poker room software, you should take the time to get to know where they are exactly. You should be prepared to make a decision within a reasonable amount of time.

Another neat feature of online poker software is the ability to choose an action before it is your turn. These will usually be checkboxes, and only you'll know what is marked. The software will automatically act for you when it's your turn. This really helps to speed up the game, so you should use it when you've looked at your cards and it's obvious that you're going to fold.

Take the time to get to know your site's software - where each button is located, how to bet, how to choose a game, and how to register for a tournament. If you're having any troubles, most poker site's homepages will provide you with a tutorial about their software. You can always e-mail their customer support team as well. They're usually very helpful, and won't make you feel embarrassed for asking a simple question.

Finally, let's take a look at some basic poker strategy to jumpstart your game...

Back to "Making a Deposit"... Continue to "Basic Poker Strategy"

Back to Poker Strategy