Planet Mark's Blog. Thoughts, News And Strategy For Poker Tournaments Of All Size

The Poker Tables Beginners See Vs The Poker Tables Grinders See

This post is aimed at those readers who are newer to online poker. It is meant as a wake-up call that the game might not be what you think it is… Not in any sinister or corrupt way, as what I am about to show you is completely legal and tailored to be approved by each poker site’s guidelines. However if you do not know just how much of an edge semi-pro ‘grinders’ have over you, then you need to take some notice.To start with, here are two table views from Pokerstars.com – the first one is what you see when you log on from the tables. The second one (image credit from the 2+2 Poker Forums) is what grinders are seeing… a sea of statistics! what-poker-beginners-see what-grinders-see These statistics are available through a lot of poker tools, many of which cost <$100. They create databases of every hand that they see, collect statistics on every player’s tendencies including % of hands played, aggression stats, % of bets after the flop, how often people go to showdown and winning percentage at showdown… when the grinder clicks on those stats they get an expanded view containing even more detail. If you are learning the game and playing ‘incorrectly’ while you gain experience. The grinders not only know about you, they will have you in a list of players to actively seek out. When someone raises you for the 4th time in as many hands, it is because the stats they have can show them how you will bet when you hit and when you miss… so they can make money from you after the flop. Online Poker is not rigged in the sense that the deal is corrupted against you. What is being used against you is information – and this information is powerful enough that you will lose a lot of stacks before you gain enough experience of your own to balance out skills against others at the tables… The funny thing is that by the time you are good enough to overcome the massive disadvantage of playing without those stats – you will probably be taking poker seriously enough to purchase one of the tools and join those people collecting stats yourself!! I’m not saying that there is cheating going on here. Far from it, these tools are approved and available to all players. What I am highlighting is an information gap, there are literally 10000’s of players using them in cash games, SNGs and MTTs – and if you are not using them yourself then online poker is likely to be a losing proposition for you, even if you are a competent player. I’m recommending you check out the suite of tools over at the acclaimed Poker Pro Labs, they have tools for players of tournaments and cash – and their new combined tool ‘Super-Hud’ comes with on-screen stats which will give you an immediate edge! Gl at the tables, Mark

If you enjoyed this blogpost I would genuinely appreciate you taking
the time to share it using the ‘Recommend’ button – thanks