Recently, I wrote an article advising you on three potentially dangerous pitfalls you may encounter when using a new online poker room’s software for the first time. After playing at one room for a while, navigating the software client becomes second nature. It is easy to be on autopilot when trying out a new room, which can be trouble if there are fundamental differences in the software features and default settings.
While I had planned on stopping at the three danger spots listed in the article, after I was done, I realized that there was no reason to quit there. So, without further ado, let’s continue where we left off.
Hand Histories
Hand analysis software has become an indispensable tool for millions of online poker players. Software such as PokerTracker and PokerOffice has proven to be invaluable to those seriously looking to improve their games. These products need to retrieve their data from somewhere, though, and that somewhere is hand histories.
Why is this a big deal? Because you need to make sure that your hand analysis software is fed the necessary hand histories it needs to sustain itself. You would be surprised to find out how many online poker rooms do not automatically save hand histories to your hard drive. I once played for hours at a poker room, completely oblivious to this fact, only to find out that when I finally got around to importing the truckloads of hands I had played into my analysis tool, I had no histories on my computer.
Fortunately, most online poker rooms do allow you to save your hand histories locally. Just be certain that this is actually happening: find the options menu in the poker room lobby and then locate the hand history option. There will usually be a check box you can select (if it is not already selected) to tell the poker client that you would like your hand histories saved to your computer. There may also be a field in which to enter how long you would like them kept. Unless storage space is a problem, I recommend making that number as high as possible.
Action Buttons
This is going to sound painfully obvious, but please, please know what action buttons you are pressing during a hand. Most online poker rooms display the buttons in the lower right portion of screen, in check/fold, bet/call, and raise order. But not always. And then there are the advance action buttons such as raise any, check/fold any, and call any. While online poker client software has trended towards uniformity in basic design features such as these, there can still be those rooms that decide to be unique and screw with the commonly accepted layout.
I have had occasion in the past to click on what I thought was “call” because that button was what was always “call” at the other poker room at which I played, only to be shocked when I raised! The iPoker network’s software even used to have an “all-in” button that could be easily clicked if your finger just slipped a little on its way to “raise.” Yes, I had that disaster befall me as well. Fortunately, Playtech, the owner of the iPoker network and developer of the software, wised up and added an option to disable that treacherous button.
Timing of Play
This falls under the category of “More Frustrating Than Dangerous, But Still a Possible Money Loser.” As we all know, you have a limited amount of time to make your move when action is on you in an online poker game. Take too long, your timer runs out, and your hand is either checked or folded. What you need to be aware of when switching poker rooms, is that time limits can vary from site to site. For example, you have 35 seconds to act in a regular (non-turbo) No Limit game at PokerStars and 25 seconds in a Fixed Limit game. At Doyle’s Room, you have 20 seconds to act at every table.
Multi-tablers are the ones who typically have the biggest problem with varying time limits, as they are often making a decision on one table and are unable to act immediately on another. Imagine if you were used to four-tabling No Limit at PokerStars and then switch to Doyle’s Room. You may be in the middle of an important hand at your new site when you see it’s your turn at another table. Figuring you have 35 seconds, you continue to take your time at your active table. When you switch to the second table, you see that your hand was already folded because you took too long to act! You didn’t realize that you have 15 seconds less at Doyle’s Room to make your decision than you did at PokerStars. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – after all, it speeds up play and allows you to play more hands – but it’s something you need to keep in mind when trying out a new online poker room.
As I said in the previous poker software pitfalls piece, the best way to avoid any problems is to thoroughly test everything before sitting down to play for real money, even if you’ve already read a review of the software on BonusWhores.com. Go through all the software options to see what default settings you like and which ones need changing. Play a few orbits at the fake money tables to familiarize yourself with the new controls and to get a good feel for dynamics of the game. Poker is poker, but each online poker room has its own quirks that can drive you a little batty at first, if not cause you to lose a few bucks.
