Choosing
a game
The procedure for
choosing a game is invariably the same no matter what Internet
poker site you've chosen: In the lobby - generally the first
screen you see when you reach the site - you'll find tabulated
lists of games and limits offered.
First find the tab or row for the games of your choice -
be it hold'em, stud, Omaha or something else - and click
on it. Then scan the resulting list for the limits, betting
structure, and games size you have in mind. When you've found
a game you like, left-click once to highlight it.
In most cases you can just eyeball the list and make a selection,
because games are often grouped by betting limits. If so,
the games with the higher betting limits are generally at
the top. Pot-limit and no-limit games, if any, will be grouped
together in a convenient place, and play-money games will
either be at the very bottom of the list beneath the lowest
limit cash games or under a separate tab altogether. Often
it's possible to "hide" the play-money games list
- or make it reappear - by clicking "Options"
on the main lobby screen and choosing "Hide play-money
games" or "Show play-money games," from the
pull-down command list.
At some sites, if you don't like the way games are grouped,
you can rearrange them by clicking on the top of a column.
If, for example, games are arranged alphabetically by table
name, with low limit games mixed in seeming haphazard fashion
amongst larger games, experiment until you know how to arrange
them more conveniently, or write to customer support and
ask what the procedure is.
Tournaments are usually
a separate category under their own tab, where they're organized
according to games type and buy-in amount, with special events,
such as satellites for major tournaments or freerolls, grouped
separately. When you've found one you like, double-clicking
it will bring up either a registration screen (if the tournament
is imminent) or information about when and how to register.
For some major online tournaments, there are ongoing satellites
during preceding weeks in which you can earn your way up
the ladder to buy-ins for the main events.
Every site is different
in its tournament policy, but only the largest sites have
major tournaments, so if you're interested in competing
for big money, stick to the largest and best-known sites.
Make use of all lobby
information to choose the best games! Most sites supply helpful
statistics adjacent to each games listing, so do pause and
see what's offered:
You can usually see
at a glance:
- The average percentage of seated players seeing the flop
(or Fourth Street)
- The number of seated players
- The average pot size
- How many players are waiting for the games
Also, at some online
cardrooms, selecting a particular games and table yields
more detailed information in a small box that appears on
one side of the lobby. This information may include screen
names of those playing, and how much money each player has
in the games.
These details and
statistics will tell you a lot about the games before you
even see it. (Compare this advantage with the situation
in brick and mortar establishments, where you often know
little about the games until you actually take your seat!)
Remember: Poker is a game of incomplete information, and
the more information you have about a game and its players,
the better decisions you can make. Online, scout things
out!
Besides the games stats, there may be a player list. If
so, only screen names will be listed - no real names. If
you're lucky there may be a Smidgen of accompanying information
like the city or country given on the registration form
as the player's place of residence. Some people - to avoid
giving away any free info about themselves - manage to slip
by with a locale like "Planet Earth" or "Mars"
or "Erewhon," but that tells you something, too,
doesn't it?
