Making rash decisions online

[Unknown Soldier]

(I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post this so i appologise if it isn't)

I play online poker mostly, and hardly any live at all. I believe that I am of a reasonable standard, but I
sometimes find myself making rash decisions due to the time limit of online poker.

Here's an example:
heads up in a 10 person $22 SNG. I have about a 4:1 chip lead. I call in sb (I forget my hand, but it doesn't matter) bb checks.

flop is K23 i bet 400 (bb at that point) representing a weak K bb calls (usually folds a flop bet unless he has something) turn J (I think) I check, so does he. River K my opponent has about 1600 chips left so i put him all-in. What a terrible bluff!! (he had 23 incidently) I would have never made that bet if i had more time. I realise that 30s is enough time to see that its an awfull move but a bluff seems to be more effective if done quickly, and in a situation where a bluff would be a good move it is less effective if you think for a while.

Which brings me on to another problem: when you take time to put your opponent on a hand figure out odds etc it makes you look weak, and are more liable to being bluffed at (in my experience).

Does anyone else have this problem? I guess experience is the only way to combat it?

[PokerZombi]

Yes it's a big problem I faced when going from live to online. It makes a world of difference. I still make mistakes due to time pressure but less often. Some mistakes you may keep making e.g. you may call too often in some spots. So try be aware of your tendencies under time pressure..

Pot odds / implied odd should become second nature. As well as knowing your bluff outs ahead of time. Play few tables too since you may not actually feel the time pressure 99% of the time, until you're in a big hand..

[Unknown Soldier]

Thank you Zombi; some good advice there. I'm glad I'm not the only one experiencing this problem [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Thinking about it my main problems caused by the time pressure are as follows:

1: in respect to calling too much; this is where I mainly do it: I have raised the pot with a strong hand like AQ and I am faced with one caller who is out of position for the rest of the hand. The flop comes something like T62 rainbow, and my opponent bets into me (the nerve of some people! [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]) the odds I usually get in this situation are about 3-4:1 not nearly enough with 2 overcards plus I could be drawing dead. But in the 1-2s time it takes me to act the following flashes into my head: firstly if hes bluffing (so unlikely!) if i think for a while then call he'll be more likely to bluff me again on the turn/river so I have to act quickly. Secondly: I don't want to appear weak and fold after taking the initiative pf (even though i almost always fold to a turn bet!) and finally the thought of ridiculous implied odds justify my call as I think I will get paid off if a Q or A hits. Which is just plain stupid as he either has me drawing dead to a set or has AT where an A will make two pair and if a Q comes on he probably won't give me that much anyway as it's higher then his T.

2: After raising pf I can sometimes go overboard with my continuation bets making them on the turn and the river after being called in the previous round. Usually withought thinking what the person has, or what type of player he is (or thinking what he thinks I have etc - multiple level thinking?? I wasn't even thinking about the 1st level!) as I think I have to act quickly so my opponent doesn't detect weakness. And of course my opponent will rarely fold on the river and will usually take a large pot off me.

3: general stupid, aggressive plays like the one in my original post

Thinking about it, it seems to me that my general problem lies in the fact that I'm not willing to give up a pot that I have raised, especially pf. I think that by raising it I have a right to win it, which is of course rubbish. I just have a better chance of winning it. I also hate looking weak and folding after I raise the pot. But I guess that fact is that alot of the players aren't paying that much attention anyway and also, it gives me a chance to raise, check, check-raise a huge hand in the future. I think that is my general problem in playing poker wherever I am, however the time pressure and the fear of seeming to weak if you take along time makes me exersise these poor plays more online. Where as in a live game I can think mre about what I am doing withought the fear that if I take say 30s to act the raise won't seem that weak.

Wow, what a ramble! As usual I would appreciate any thoughts/advice! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[PokerZombi]

Yes I agree it's just too easy to press a few buttons to bet or raise especially when the adrenaline is going. In my experience the fight or flight response is very strong under time pressure, even the most rationale people will make the dumbest plays because of it. Take your time, try not to be one of them. If in doubt t's ok to fold a small pot and play ABC if you don't have a read.

Whenever I bluff I always ask myself what hands I can bluff the guy off given the board texture or future board texture. Also whether it'll take more than 1 bet. Yeah it takes practice to think that fast, but eventually it becomes somewhat instinctual.

At the lower limits, alot of players can't be bluffed easily if they have much anything so it's ok to give up lots of small ones if you can wait for a monster! You want to win the big pots when you have sets, fullhouse, straights, two pair, and don't get married to pairs e.g. pair of queens ace kicker etc..

Don't get married to good preflop starting hands, try to be more flopcentric and positioncentric and look for good flops rather than hole cards. I like to keep the pots smaller (small raise or limp) out of position even with some good starting hands (AK, QQ etc) in some loose / aggressive games.

Call-bluffs are ok occastionally if you read the guy as weak / bluffing and you feel you might be able to move the guy off the hand later on a potentially scary board. Though you sometimes have to think whether they were semibluffing their draw.

You can also take your time or delay when you have a monster hand, so that when you are thinking of bluffing next time you have plenty of time to think about the situation.

It's ok to check behind after preflop raise on some boards especially if you have bad position and/or the chance of someone hitting the board is too high. It's ok to check the turn too and take the river for free. Sometimes I'll continuation bet the flop with a decent hand (top pair mid/weak kicker) and check the turn to trap a bluff on the river, or extract more on the river against an aggressive player. In this way there's no shame in looking weak once they get trapped a few times.