They say the grass is always greener on the other side. You as an online poker player may feel this way sometimes, too. You’ve been playing for months – or even years – at the same poker room, content with your profits, your loyalty points, and possibly your rakeback. But maybe you start to feel like you’re in a rut, that every poker session is the same. Logon, find your favorite table, play for a while, log off. You decide that it might be time to move some of your bankroll to another internet poker room, if only to mix it up little bit, to give yourself some variety.
It’s simple enough. Do some research, find the room that best suits your needs, sign up, deposit, and play. I have done it many, many times – I probably have or have had accounts at twenty different poker rooms (and, as an American, I don’t have access to tons of others). But one thing many players forget is that some of the differences between the different online poker software platforms, subtle and otherwise, can really throw you for a loop when starting out at a new place. At best, they are annoying. At worst, they can actually lose you money. Over the years, I have developed a short list of potential pitfalls when switching online poker clients. I present my top three items on the list below.
Bet Amount Field
While this isn’t the very first thing I check when I start at a new poker room, as I can’t actually test it out until I sit down at a table, it is easily one of the most important software traits to notice. I look to see how the text field in which I enter my bet is used. Specifically, when the action is on me, is the bet amount in the text field already highlighted? If it is, then any number I type will automatically be entered as my bet. More significantly, if I accidentally press enter when it is my turn, whatever is in that field, usually at least the minimum bet or required amount to call, will be bet. This could spell disaster if someone before bets a lot and I unknowingly call because I innocently hit enter rather than using my mouse to click the fold button. Of course, if the software does not allow you to hit enter to confirm your bet (some require you to click an action button on the screen), then this isn’t nearly as big of a deal, but enter can be used at most poker rooms.
Many poker rooms have figured out that this can cause problems and have either made it so the bet amount is never highlighted automatically, or have added the option to turn it off. If it is turned off, then you have to manually click on the bet field before entering your bet.
Table Focus
“Stealing focus” is the bane of multi-taskers. An online poker table steals focus when it becomes the active window on your desktop when it is your turn. I frequently work while playing poker: my article is up on one screen, while the poker table is running on another. I, personally, can’t stand it when I’m typing away and suddenly the letters stop appearing on my Word document. Why does this happen? Because my turn in the poker game has come up, the poker table has stolen focus, and now everything I’m typing is in the chat box at the table. The poker table became my computer’s active window, so all of my keystrokes are now entered there, instead of on my poker article. Then, I either have to go delete the text in the chat box, or if I accidentally posted it for everyone at the table to see, apologize for the nonsensical discussion.
What is worse is when the table steals focus and the bet amount, as discussed above, is highlighted. Then, I could be typing, and if I hit enter in my Word document right when the focus moves to the poker window, my keystroke will be recorded as a bet confirmation, making me put chips in the pot that I likely did not want to commit.
Most online poker rooms allow you to customize how the poker table acts when it is your turn. You can often have it steal focus if you want to make sure that you never miss a turn, but you can also turn it off so it does not immediately interrupt what you may be doing in another application. Often, you can also choose to have the poker window jump to the front without stealing focus, so that it pops up in your face when it is your turn to play, yet nothing you type is registered on that window until you click on the table. This is what I do, especially since I usually have my poker table on another monitor. I am able to see that it is my turn, but I can still complete my last few keystrokes in my active window.
Raising
One of the most difficult things for me to remember when I used to play at several different poker rooms (I only play at one or two now) was how the software treated raises in No Limit and Pot Limit games. At some poker rooms, the number you type into the bet field is the amount you want to raise to, while at some rooms, that number is the amount you want to bet on top of the amount to call (think of “I see your bet and raise you”). One software client even had a drop down list when you could bet multiples of the big blind, yet I always forgot if that if I chose one, I would actually bet this amount in addition to the blind. I have noticed that the rooms at which I play have made the raise button now say “Raise To,” so that there is no confusion, but when you try a new poker room, be sure to note how the raising works if it is not obvious.
With any of these software traits, the easiest and most fool proof way of assuring that you don’t get tripped up is to investigate the software options before playing and then play a couple orbits at a play money table before risking the real thing. You get a Cliff’s Notes version of what to expect if you read the reviews of the poker rooms at BonusWhores.com, but I highly advise you to still check out everything for yourself. Chances are, you’ll still find yourself confused about something at some point as you continue to get used to the software, but if you test it out thoroughly you will avoid the most dangerous pitfalls.