A question for all of you online poker players

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm not much of a poker player, but once in a great while I'll play with some friends at one of our place. I usually do well because I am good at reading body and facial expressions. I've occasionally thought about playing online poker, but the thought of playing without being able to read someone's facial expression in particular always prevents me from doing it. How do you guys compensate? Are there any poker sites that require/have video cams of the player's faces?

[rkmsuf]

the only thing you have to go on are betting patterns and data accumulated on other players.

the cam idea is interesting but it's only a matter of time before I see somebody humping while they are playing cards.

[Subby]

Online is just a completely different animal. There are no tells, really. A delay in reaction could be someone considering calling a big raise, or it could be an eight-tabling maniac busy with another hand, or it could a father dealing with one of his kids (usually my excuse).

Players join and leave tables so often that you don't get the same texture that you would live.

Now, if you use a database like Poker Tracker to aggregate all your hand histories, then you *can* get a better read on players tendencies over a small sample size. While the confidence interval isnt all that high, it is usually better than coming into a hand cold.

[MJ4H]

Well there are tells online. They just have to do with how, what, and when people bet (yes even speed: the little checkboxes to auto-act can be tells on some people).

[MalcPow]

I don't know of any places with cams. But I know playing online has definitely pushed me into the "tells aren't worth much" school of thought. Even in live games, I've got a much better understanding now of the numbers at play, and there are very few hands where a read I might make will drastically alter what I think I should do. Ultimately I can almost never make reliable reads in live games that someone is doing something particularly tricky, like limping with Aces, at least not reliable enough to lay down top pair to a moderate bet if I hit it. Playing online will actually make you better at developing the other side of your game, using betting patterns, pot odds (it's easier to calculate with the numbers in front of you, and then it just becomes habitual enough that it carries over to live games as well), etc. to do your decision making. In a lot of ways it's an advantage for most people as we really don't have the reading skills we think we have, and the internet essentially elminates more unreliable information from our thought process.

[GoSeahawks]

My friend used to give me the ol, "I don't want to play because I can't see the people I'm playing against." He's the type of guy that will sit at a table and give you the professional stare down while shuffling his chips just so you know he's good.

After hearing of my success online he deposited $300 and lost it all playing $50nl. He blamed it on bad luck, but any ace any place was the most likley answer. Oh, and no matter how much crap online players get, they are way better than the players you play against at home games or casinos.

Edit: And to answer your question....I compensate by knowing odds. It's the first thing you will need to learn to be successful. If you are playing NL, you need to know how to bet. A mini raise and a mini bet do nothing but give your opponents the right price to hit their draw. Bet the pot.

[Eaglesfan27]

I hope you or anyone else didn't take my question as a slam against online players. It wasn't meant that way. I just know that I'm good at both reading people and masking my own reactions (professional training helps as it is part of what I do at work everyday) and I think an online site with videocameras would be right up my alley.

I might give it a try just to see how I do without that part of my game. I have read up on various odds and am very good at remembering numbers including various odds in various situations.