Online Poker Myths

With the ever increasing popularity of real money online poker, it's no surprise that a number of myths have gained a good amount of popularity. These myths are generally repeated by players who are down on their luck, or even just outright bad poker players. It is very easy to blame a string of losses on other players or the poker room than admit that you are actually quite terrible at your favourite past time. Even good poker players will perpetuate these myths at times.

It's Easier to Win at Online Poker

Unfortunately, this is a myth that is outright false. It's likely perpetuated by players who find a few lucky streaks. However, it's not any easier to win at online poker than live poker. In fact, in many ways it is more difficult. Online poker- especially for US players takes a great amount of effort to fund their accounts. The extra steps this takes tends to filter out the most casual players. This means that players who are on online poker sites, even the new players, have made a large effort to play. This greatly reduces the number of very bad players in one shot.

In live casinos, you will have players who don't usually gamble, or are there for a long-awaited vacation. These players tend to be absolutely terrible at poker. They don't play, or prefer playing other games. They may even have a larger bankroll to play with than online players. Instead of having to go through online cashier and waiting a few days for payment to clear, all live casino players need to do is hit the closest ATM. On top of this, online poker allows for multi-tabling, which is very popular with professional level players. This means that at times as many as 6 tables can have at least one pro. When you're playing in live casinos these same sharks can only sit at one table- and they won't bother with the lower limit tables when there's bigger fish to be caught and comps to earn at the higher levels.

Online Poker is Rigged

This myth is common in players who lose frequently, or have a few too many bad beats. It can be disheartening and frustrating to players to lose a lot, however it's extremely unlikely that the poker software is at fault. First of all, online poker is full of sharks. Multi-tabling means that sharks can be anywhere, especially if a site is known to be loose.

This high volume of professional level players makes it very difficult for poker sites to deal unfairly. On even some of the mid-range poker rooms will have a fairly high percentage of good poker players that will notice inconsistent cards. On top of that there are quite a few hand history trackers, which would make it very easy for unusual activity to stick out like a sore thumb.

You Cannot Consistently Win at Online Poker

This myth may have a small amount of truth to it. Movies and television shows have made poker a very popular past time, and glamorizes the life of a professional poker player. Movies don't tend to show the boring hands that go on for ages, the hands folded, or even just the small wins. The popular opinion of poker is fast, with aggressive betting and constant bluffing.

If this is how you walk in to the world of online poker, it will be very difficult to win. Professional players can win consistently, and some can successfully make playing poker their full time job. These players obviously win enough consistently to be able to rely on to pay their bills. But as exciting and glamorous this life may seem, the real way to succeed at online poker is with a great deal of patience and strategy.

The Best Players Always Win

Life isn't fair, and to that end, either is poker. It is very difficult to keep playing a perfect strategy. Even professionals will get tired, or respond emotionally now and then. Players can work on strategy and plan, use good bankroll strategy, and pay close attention to other player's tells to limit the possibility of making poor choices, but even the best players can at times be beaten. Many of the biggest poker sites will offer a bad beat jackpot. These jackpots can be claimed by players who had a great hand that they could have logically expected to win with that got beaten. These “bad beats” are sheer unfortunate luck. Players shouldn't depend on these sort of wins to fund their bankroll, and they should also be wary of the fact that bad beats do happen to even the best of players, and always keep good bankroll management in mind while they play.