Playing poker online is different in many ways from live play. Some of the differences are difficult to overcome and others are a great benefit especially to the beginning player. In this series (Online Tips) we will look at some of the best online ideas to help the beginning player.

Online Tip #1: Take notes.

Yes you do have to pay attention to every hand, which means you can’t watch TV or read email while you are playing poker. When you see a player make a certain move, put it in your notes. All of the major sites have note taking options. Just click on a player and open the notes section.

Don’t write: “This player is a donkey!” that is not going to help you. But if the notes says: “Cannot lay down top pair, will call to the river.” Now that is both helpful and potentially profitable. The notes don’t have to be extensive but they should be specific. Trust us, the first time you make a big call and take down a monster pot because of a quick note you wrote two months ago, you will understand how much note taking can help your online game.

By the way, just the practice of watching every hand and looking for a note to take will also help your live game. It is not just about writing down the note but also about getting better and better at seeing the tendencies in your opponents that are worth remembering.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #201

Tournament Director’s Association Rule #31: Exposing Cards: A player who exposes his cards with action pending may incur a penalty, but will have have a dead hand. The penalty will begin at the end of the hand.

I want to say a bit about the TDA here. They and their rules are to be considered a work in progress. They as a group meet periodically to review their current rules and how those rules have worked and not worked over a period of time. They then debate potential new rules and modify the existing rules. Rule #31 is an example of a rule in process.

The idea is that you may not show a card before the hand is complete, the intention is to not influence the other player or players in the hand nor to get a read on a player when they see your card or cards. Many professional players believe that when there is only one player remaining to act that exposing a card is not in any way a violation of the rules of poker and, in fact, is often a good play. But as it stands now, if you expose a card while a hand is in play you MAY be given a penalty after the hand is over. You probably will at least be warned by the floor staff not to expose a card in the future.

Note that your hand is not dead and this is perhaps the most important part of the rule. Hands should not be killed while in play under any but the most dire of circumstances and exposing a card is not and never should be such a circumstance. Your hand plays up or down as long as you  don’t toss it into the muck or pull it out of your sleeve.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #200