by Jerry "Jet" Whittaker
the Gambling Wiz

Some people claim that live poker is the only real way to play, because you cannot read other people if you play online. Anyone who believes this either hasn't played online poker, or is just really bad at it. It is in fact just as easy to read players online as when playing live poker. Sometimes it is even easier to read people online because they do not have the chance to fake you out with planned visual cues.

When you are playing Live Poker, someone may look very frustrated when the cards are dealt in an attempt to fool you, when in fact he has the best hand possible. When playing online, all these variables are taken away and you are left with the game in the purest sense. All you have to be able to decipher is how people bet when the cards are dealt.

Tendencies in Live Poker
People tend to over exaggerate their visual cues when playing live poker. This works if you are playing against a beginner, but any experienced player can see right through it. It may even lead other players reading you better than if you were to simply show no emotion at all.

The term "poker face" refers to the ability to keep a plain expression on your face no matter what kind of cards you get. This can be quite a difficult thing to do when you know that you will win the pot, but you need to be able to convince others that you do not have a good hand so that they will bet into you. When playing online poker, you have a permanent poker face on, which is a huge advantage if you know the game well. It is better to have a straight poker face than to try and give your opponents the wrong cues, which may turn out to go against you.

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