Online (free) poker...

I really enjoy poker and I'm trying to get better. I play in tournaments with folks at work whenever I can, but that isn't enough.

I also play online, but am realizing I'm not learning anything from douchebags who go all in before the flop with 2/3.

Are any of you into online poker? I'm wondering if there is a site where you can play with people who bet like it is real money. I've tried Bodog, Poker Stars and UB Poker, they all seem to have the same problem.

I realize this is a long shot, but it never hurts to ask :)

I find that people play like complete donkeys with play money, in freerolls, and even in low buy-in tourneys and at low stakes. Unfortunately, with the demise of Neteller, funding a poker account from the U.S. has become more difficult.

online, its free...but, the same people are there too, but if you choose Pot Limit tournies/games, it slows down on the all in freaks that infest a lot of the online sites. I play Texas Hold'em the most, and if I want a long drawn out/smart game, I usually play the pot limit tourney's.

... I suppose I could try a tournament. If they keep rankings that might be an incentive for people to play poker and instead of "I'm real bold when it's play money" :)

and the tourneys were the way to go....the single tables, where players could come/go as they pleased weren't all that great. So, be sure to look for pot limit tourneys...almost all of your big play money advantages are in those tourneys...plus, in pot limit you cannot bet more than whats all ready in the pot, so it stops fools from going...I got a 2/9 off suit, so I'm going all in! :)

with Party Poker after my state made "gambling" online a felony punishable by ten years in prison. I play tournaments at the local card rooms but I miss playing for money on the computer.

Online I mostly play the play money NLHE SnG's at PP. Yeah, there are idiots that go all in on the first hand and they usually get several callers. They figure if they win they have a huge advantage over everyone else and if they lose, they just join another table.

What I like about the SbG's is that's it's terrific experience for playing in tournaments.

But here's the deal. Unsound poker is still unsound poker. If you just play a solid game, you should be able to do all right whether you are playing for real money or not. I love the players that push all in laying 8K to win 45 in blinds. I just fold and praise them for their boldness while waiting for a premium hand to call with. Betting 200 times the pot is never, ever the correct move. It's seldom necessary to over-bet the pot unless the blinds are to the point where you only have 10x or so BB's left in you stack. The logic being if you raise 3x the big blind (stardard preflop raise) and get re-raised 3x, you're gonna be pot committed anyway.

Usually, after the idiots have been weeded out you are left with more or less serious players and the one idiot who quadrupled up with 6-3 or something. I call him lord of the idiots because while he might have half the chips in play, he doesn't haven't a clue what to do with them. One rule: do not try to bluff this person. Just be patient and wait for a hand.

I can normally finish in the top three in a ten player SnG more than half the time by just playing tight/agressive poker. Learning to deal with reckless players is a skill that you need to develop anyway because you'll see those types at all levels.

Good luck.

... yes , you do find those crazy folks here and there in real life. But with online poker, they seem to be the norm rather than the exception they should be :)

But you are right, playing good tight poker is a pretty good defense. I generally end up knocking these chumps out with a pocket pair or the like. And that's how I wind up with $80K of play money on these boards :) :)

But it would be a lot more FUN to play with serious players intent on learning the game.

And then the three or four of us can settle down to some real poker.

Sometimes the chump survives. Just last night I was heads up against one of those idiots and he had about a 3:1 chip lead. But I just kept grinding him down. He made one of his silly preflop all-in bets when I happened to have KK. After I doubled up, it was back to grinding him down. After 45 minutes or so, he just gave up and left the table. lol

kind.

... with real people, is a lot better. Especially if you've played with them a while before.

Really, online poker is a somewhat different game since the element of "reading" your opponent is largely missing :)

it's just different than in live play. The best tool I have for getting a read on opponents is a statistics program that will show the percentage of flops my opponents see, %showdown, %showdown won, etc. % flops seen is a good way of evaluating how loose a player is and the strength of his starting hands. The length of time they take to act can also be a tell. Sometimes you can tell if they are pre-selecting their actions or just pretending to take a long time to think about calling when they actually have a strong hand. It becomes pretty apparent after awhile.

Poor players vary their pre-flop betting according to the strength of their hand. If I have a hand/position combination that is worth raising, I almost always raise the same amount relative to the big blind.

I will limp in on occasion (maybe 20% of the time) partly to set them up later when the blinds are huge and the table shorthanded. Sometimes I will then limp with a monster for deception purposes.

I try to do the Gus Ferguson thing with the time. Try to take the same amount of time to think even if it's an insta-call or an insta-fold.

Try the sit & go tables. They are set up more like tournament tables...you lose your chips you're out. People play more sensibly there. 1st & 2nd place (some larger tables 3rd too) get the winnings from the buy ins. You can buy in at $1,000,000---$500,000---$100,000---$10,000---$2,000---$250. You start out with $1,000.