 Chuck Blount on Poker: Challenge automatic folders when playing in cyber world
Chuck Blount on Poker: Challenge automatic folders when playing in cyber world
San Antonio Express-News
There's no shortage of differences between the online poker world and its live-game cousin.
Since it would take a novel of “War and Peace” proportions to hit on everything, let's examine a key aspect to the online game that can be immediately exploited.
Every online poker room presents players with the option to auto-select their plays in advance. Players can check little boxes in advance of the action getting to them that signal to the program their intentions.
For example, the interface on Pokerstars.com — currently the most popular online site — allows a player to auto-raise, call any bet, check or fold among other options.
It's online poker's way of catering to the very lazy, inexperienced and super busy in one swoop. The busy players like the options because they are often playing multiple tables at the same time, and know what they want to do as soon as the cards are dealt so they can focus on another hand.
My recommendation to players is to avoid using these functions. They are convenient, but have a haunting effect on your overall results — specifically the auto-fold option. What you want in an ideal poker setting is for everybody else at the table to use them.
Auto-select options are instantaneous when the action gets to a player. The cards immediately shoot back to the dealer with a fold, and the chips are shoved on the table with any bet or call. It's very clear to every player at the table who is using the auto-select features.
If you are a player who prefers to use the popular auto-fold option, and uses it frequently, the hands you do decide to play can stick out like a sore thumb. A case could be made that this is a good thing. Players are bound to give you more credit for a having a hand, which could open up some serious bluffing opportunities.
Most auto-folders aren't thinking this way, though, and do play with a tight range of hands. This is good information when you are playing against them.
Auto-folders are generally easier to bluff than your standard online player because they are prone to base all of their play strictly on hand value. The odds of consistently being dealt strong hands are slim.
This doesn't mean you have free license to steal any and all pots from them, but it does open the arsenal quite a bit.
An ideal situation would be to have two auto-folders directly to your left. In this scenario, you can bet with any two cards in an unraised pot when they are in the blinds and stand a good chance to take it down uncontested. If one of them holds the button, go ahead and attempt to steal it from them and take over the best position at the table.
If you get reraised by an auto-folder, it's a clear sign that you better have the goods to stay involved in the hand. Yeah, he may be firing back just to slow down your aggression, but again, that's a maneuver that's likely too fancy for this type of player.
There's no way to be certain if an opponent has an auto-fold option selected. If he has used it a large percentage of hands, the number of successful steal attempts will more than cover the chips lost when he wakes up with a hand.
Unfortunately, you won't run into a lot of scenarios where two auto-folders are sitting directly to your left. It is very common to have one of them though, and many of the principles remain the same, provided a great player isn't sandwiched in between.
__________________ I OWN THE PERSON THAT BEAT RIVERLOSER!!! I AM GONNA BE ALL OVER YOU LIKE A RAT ON A CHEETO  | 
