The Psychology Of Poker
The psychology of poker basically involves creating mystery,
misdirection and hesitation. Sitting around a table with your
opponents can be a challenge. You have to keep your poker face,
try to read everybody else's poker face, and not give away your
true intentions when you take a card, raise and call. After a
few hands you start to notice the physical aspects of your poker
opponents. The hesitation when it comes time to bet, an air of
resignation when some player takes three cards, the confident
betting of someone with an excellent poker hand, all sorts of
little nuances.
In online poker, the entire game is changed because you can't
read the other players' body language and quirks. An internet
casino poker game is often reduced to the game's bare essence,
but you can still take advantage of some psychological tricks to
get ahead. In the online casino, some do make their game play as
consistent as possible to fool other players when there's a big
hand at stake. Others go the opposite way and try to confuse
other online poker players with plenty of bluffing and strategic
folding.
Players such as Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese and Barry Greenstein
are considered to be among the best poker players of all time.
These players have perfected their game techniques and worked
out how to use poker psychology to give themselves an edge over
their opponents.
Of course, none of this applies if you are simply playing
against a computer program. In that case, the best you can do is
to figure the odds and find a good strategy. In the case of
online poker with other humans, it is still possible to use
psychology. You just have to learn how to read the game.
Internet casinos present a whole new series of challenges to the
seasoned poker player, but over time you can learn how to adapt
and win.